It’s rare that a Scandinavian band makes it across the pond and into the hearts of Americans. We're happy to announce, that lately we have seen a surge in talent emerging from the Scandinavian countries. Just a few days ago we mentioned Norwegian Ida Jenshus who performed at the Norwegian Tree Lighting ceremony in Washington DC. And, if you tune into just about any pop radio station these days, you are likely to hear Swedish Tove Lo’s famous single “Habits” or Danish Mø’s and Major Lazer’s smash hit “Lean on”. Though none of these have yet reached the point of popularity as ABBA, Ace of Base, and Roxette did in their time, we can only hope to see more of all of these new artists.
The Lukas Graham band is about as Danish as can be - except for the fact that they sing in english. The band makes up a quartet that includes lead singer Lukas Graham Forchhammer, Mark “Lovestick” Falgren on Drums, Magnus “Magnum” Larsson on Bass, and Kasper Daugaard on Keyboard. Though the name seems to indicate the lead singer as a solo artist, it covers the whole band.
Danish band Lukas Graham WOWs on CONAN
by Sara, 11 December 2015 (Updated February 9, 2016)
The band still keep its home base where they were founded — in Christiania — the famous, and sometimes controversial, freetown located smack in the middle of Copenhagen. The attachment to Christiania clearly carries into the lyrics of Lukas Graham’s music. They make liberal reference to weed, and sing of childhood memories related to roaming freely, sharing, and building a community, but also touch on the rougher aspects in Christiania — like crime and drugs. Before the band came together, Lukas took 6 months away from Christiania to escape this darker side.
The band had its first appearance online in 2011 on youtube with two homemade videos—“Drunk in the morning” and “Criminal Mind”— both filmed in Lukas’ home. The rehearsal of "Criminal Mind” truly showcases this band’s talent and harmony. They instantly became a YouTube hit, and even before their first album release in 2012, their tour across Denmark drew more than 30,000 people. They are hugely popular in both Denmark and Sweden, and are gaining popularity across Europe.
We welcome them to the US!
The single “7 Years” hit no. 1 on the real-time Twitter + Billboard Emerging Artists on November 16th, which may have led to their performance on CONAN — we can only speculate. It’s currently down to no. 5, but we will not judge them for this. We’re proud and excited for their breakthrough in the US and around the world. Besides the hit song “7 years” we also love “Mama Said”.
Unfortunately, we will not see them tour around the US on this trip, but we’ll keep our eyes open and ears out in hopes that maybe they’ll be back, so we can get to experience them live.
Go Lukas Graham!
UPDATE February 9, 2016: We're excited to announce that after their hit performance on CONAN, Lukas Graham secured a US tour. Tickets for all shows go on sale February 12, 2016. Check out if they'll be visiting a city near you.
Yesterday Danish band Lukas Graham wowed millions of viewers when they performed their hit song “7 Years” on Conan O’Brien’s show CONAN. Before then, we hadn’t heard of Lukas Graham. We were equally impressed, to say the least. Their funky soul/pop sound and the unique voice of lead singer Lukas drew huge excitement from the crowd and high accords from Conan himself who exclaimed “FANTASTIC… that was fantastic Lukas” at the end of the show.
Why are we so excited about this appearance?
Los Angeles, CA Troubadour, March 28, 2016
Los Angeles, CA Resident, March 3, 2016
Montreal, QC Petit Campus, April 3, 2016
Toronto, ON Velvet Underground, April 4, 2016
Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge, April 11, 2016
Seattle, WA The Crocodile, April 12, 2016
San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop, April 14, 2016
Salt Lake City, UT The State Room, April 16, 2016
Denver, CO Marquis Theatre, April 18, 2016
St. Louis, MO Firebird, April 20, 2016
Detroit, MI The Shelter, April 22, 2016
Norfolk, VA The NorVA, April 24, 2016
Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre, April 25, 2016
Atlanta, GA Vinyl, May 5, 2016
Nashville, TN 3rd & Lindsley Nashville, May 6, 2016
Washington, DC U Street Music Hall, May 8, 2016
New York, NY Highline Ballroom, May 9, 2016
Brooklyn, NY Rough Trade NYC, May 11, 2016
Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall May 12, 2016