Lukas Graham hits it big with 7 Years

Confusion is perfectly understandable when it comes to Danish quartet Lukas Graham. The band have stormed to top spot on the UK singles chart with 7 Years. The song is also rapidly climbing Billboard’s Hot 100. But is Lukas Graham a band or an individual?
The answer is both. They have embraced a similar route to their band name as American superstars Bon Jovi. Just as their name is taken from frontman and founder member Jon Bon Jovi, so Lukas Graham take their name from singer, songwriter and frontman Lukas Graham Forchhammer.
“I suppose people can find it a bit confusing,” smiled 27-year-old Lukas. “(Drummer) Mark (Falgren) and I were in a folk band together about ten years ago. We used to play Irish folk songs.
“When we decided to change to the funk soul pop that we play now, we obviously needed an entirely new band name. We couldn’t come up with anything that we thought sounded particularly good. The suggestion was made that we should call the band my two given names, at least until we could think of something better. We never have so we’ve stayed as Lukas Graham.”
Lukas has been in show business since childhood. He played Grunk in the five Krummerne family movies and was a member of the Copenhagen Boys Choir.
“My parents always encouraged me to explore whatever life had to offer. So, my interest in acting was actively encouraged as was my interest in singing. I developed an appreciation for classical music from being in the Choir and had the benefit of vocal coaching which means I have a classically trained voice.”
The band was formed five years ago. Lukas, Mark and bassist Magnus Larsson have been permanent members but Kasper Daugaard is their third keyboard player.
“We’ve had something of a revolving door at keyboards,” Lukas laughed. “But we think Kasper is here for the long-term. He is a great musician who adds so much to our sound so we hope he has no thoughts about ever leaving the band.”
Lukas Graham were yet another band who promoted themselves via social media. They created home-made videos for two songs, Criminal Mind and Drunk in the Morning. After posting them on YouTube, the videos were shared among friends and quickly notched up several hundred thousand views. The interest was such that Copenhagen Records recognised a hot property and signed the band.
The rewards were immediate. Lukas Graham’s debut single, Ordinary Things, hit second spot on the Danish chart. This was followed by Drunk in the Morning becoming the first of five number ones. They also have a sixth chart topper with Lukas providing the vocals on Danish DJ Rasmus Hedegaard’s Happy Home.
Their albums have proved equally popular. The band’s 2012 self-titled debut album remained atop the Danish chart for 15 weeks. The 2015 follow-up, “Lukas Graham (Blue Album),” was even more successful. It has so far spent 18 weeks in pole position.
“It is great to have so much success in our home country and some other parts of Europe,” Lukas reflected. “But we wanted to see if we could also become popular on the international music market. Our single, Mama Said, was our first attempt but we really didn’t promote the track properly. It got some international success but not in Britain or America which was where we’d hoped for big things.”
It has been a very different story with 7 Years. With the right kind of promotion, the song has become a worldwide smash. In addition to the enormous success in Britain and rapidly increasing popularity in America, 7 Years has enjoyed massive sales throughout Europe and places as far afield as Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
“We knew 7 Years was a great song but I didn’t think it would become so universally popular,” Lukas admitted. “I think many people can relate to the lyrics. It’s about the progress of life, what I’ve done so far and what I hope to achieve in the future. It’s also about my dad who died quite recently. I had the perfect father and I want any kids I have to feel the same way about me.”
7 Years is taken from the “Lukas Graham (Blue Album).” The band will release a restructured version of the album as their introductory LP on the international market.
“It’s out on March 25,” Lukas stated. “The record is a sort of greatest hits album in the sense that some of the big hit singles from our first LP have now been included on the ‘Blue Album.’
“It’s also got different cover artwork. This is probably a good thing. We want our songs to be heard by everyone and we realise the drawing of a nude woman on the original ‘Blue Album’ cover would not have been appreciated or acceptable in certain parts of the world.”

in
brief

Viola Beach

2016 has so far been a terrible year for deaths in the pop music fraternity. Every week seems to bring news of yet another passing.
But almost all of the stars and lesser known artists enjoyed at least a reasonable length of life. This was not the case with an up and coming band from Warrington who called themselves Viola Beach.
Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin were in their late-teens to mid-twenties when their car plunged 25 metres from Sweden’s E4 motorway bridge into the Sodertalje Canal.
Part of the bridge had been raised vertically to allow a ship to pass. Witnesses said the band’s car shot straight through the warning barriers and fell into the gap.
Their manager, Craig Tarry, was also killed in the crash. A life-long Manchester City fan, Craig and the band were commemorated on the Etihad Stadium video screen during City’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.
In the immediate aftermath of their deaths, shocked and saddened Viola Beach fans began a social media campaign to get their single, Swings and Waterslides, to number one on the UK chart.
It is one of three songs posted at (no www.) soundcloud.com/viola-beach
All proceeds from the single will be donated to the families of each band member and their manager.

Lady Gaga

Proving you can’t please everyone no matter how sincere your efforts might be, David Bowie’s son, film director Duncan Jones, took a dim view of Lady Gaga’s tribute to his late father at the Grammy Awards ceremony.
Gaga’s medley of classic Bowie songs such as Space Oddity, Fame, Let’s Dance, Fashion, Heroes and several others drew rave reviews from most critics. It can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fGBZhsa4VU
But Duncan used the dictionary definition of Gaga to express his opinion of her performance on his Twitter account. “Overexcited or irrational, typically as a result of infatuation or excessive enthusiasm, mentally confused.”
Oh well, it will be interesting to see what Duncan thinks of the honour which will be paid to his father at this week’s BRIT Awards ceremony.

Gwen Stefani

It is ten years since No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani released her last solo album. “The Sweet Escape” was the follow-up to her hugely successful 2004 debut solo album, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.”
There has been just one new No Doubt album, 2012’s “Push and Shove,” during the intervening years but Gwen has only recently created the songs on her new album, “This Is What The truth Feels Like.”
She had issued a pair of singles from a planned album in 2014. But these songs were so poorly received that Gwen decided to scrap the project and begin again.
Some of her new songs clearly deal with the break-up of her 13-year marriage to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. Lead single, Used To Love You, is one of these. The video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeT_nYtjgTQ
The video for Gwen’s new single, Make Me Like You, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uljUDtv1Kw
Amazing as it seems, the video was actually filmed live in one of the commercial breaks during the Grammy Awards ceremony. This made Gwen the first artist to create a song video on live television. The video involves multiple sets and costume changes with the only concession to time restraints being the use of a body double during part of a roller skating sequence.