Babel Fish is a Norweigan pop rock band consisting of Tarjei Jan van Ravens (Vocals, Guitars), Hal Holter (Keyboards, Vocals), ‘Odd’ Harald Jensen (Drums, Programming) and Simon Malm (Bass), best known for their songs “Killing Time”, “Mania” and “Depend On Me”.

Originally a cover band formed in 1989 who began releasing original music in 1993 under the name B-Flat without finding success, they later released the song “Light Of Day” under the name Daily Planet, but soon learned a Swedish group was already using the name.

In 1997, they changed their name to Babel Fish, taking the name from the book Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy, and self-released a two-song CD featuring “Light Of Day” and “Mania” of which the latter became a radio hit in Norway. Atlantic Records A&R Man Jim Welch took interest, quickly signed them and Atlantic released their debut album Babel Fish in 1998. It debuted at #4 in Norway that September.

In 1999, Babel Fish opened for The Corrs on their Talk On Corners Tour in February and performed at Rock Am Ring that June. Their music video for “Light Of Day” won a Spellemann Award that year.

For their 2002 sophomore album Coming Up For Air, Babel Fish had felt neglected by Atlantic, so they moved to WEA (Warner Elektra Atlantic). But by 2007, band members had become involved in other projects. Jensen wrote and produced a song for Ronan Keating, and played drums for LoMsk, Lucy Swann & on a couple songs for Maria Arrendondo. All four members participated on Arrendondo’s track “For A Moment”. Halvor performed on singles for Maria Haukaas Storeng. Van Ravens performed on a few songs with M2M.

In 2011, Babel Fish entered a new song “Depend On Me” into Norway’s Eurovision selection process – Melodi Grand Prix 2011. They made it into the top 8 finalists, which helped the song reach #20 on the Norway Pop Chart. A ‘best of’ compilation including two versions of “Depend On Me” along with several older tracks was released that year. The band then became largely inactive until a one-off reunion show on August 5, 2017.