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Lukas Graham: Set to Rule the World
The band’s rise to the top is founded on three important things: hard work, commitment, and humility
Last year, Danish pop quartet Lukas Graham unlocked the power of pop to their advantage. While the band has been together and playing since 2010, it was their 2012 self-titled first full-length album that helped them make their mark in their hometown. With smash hits like “Drunk in the Morning” and “Better Than Yourself,” Lukas Graham became a quadruple-platinum success in Denmark with nearly 40 million collective streams to boast.
But 2015 was when the band really struck gold. With their second studio album and eponymous album, “Lukas Graham (a.k.a. Blue Album),” they have really carved out their brand of folk-soul-pop in the international stage.
The album’s right balance of keys and strings and pierce-through-your-heart honesty has simple yet power compositions like “Mama Said” and “Strip No More” to offer. But it is the album’s movie-edit top-hit “7 Years” (which has topped charts in Sweden, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom with significant chart appearance in the US) that has turned casual pop listeners to genuine fans. The song discusses facing one’s mortality and the journey that comes with it.
2016 has been looking just as good, if not better. Lukas Graham—vocalist Lukas Graham, bassist Magnus Larsson, keyboardist Kasper Daugaard, and drummer Mark “Lovestick” Falgren—is currently on tour at the UK until August. If world domination has been part of the band’s agenda, it seems that they’re on the right path. Here’s why:
1 In an interview on live online radio show Zach Sang Show, lead singer Lukas Graham said with that their hit song “7 Years” was written in just three hours. All things considered, they can actually write eight possible top-chart hits in just a day.
2 They are arguably one of the industry’s hardest working acts, touring non-stop since February 2012. Meaning by now, everyone—at the very least—is familiar with what beautiful music the band has to offer. It’s only a matter of time before they turn into fans.
3 It may not look like it, but the band is as tough as where they are from. Christiana is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood in Copenhagen, Denmark where its history includes biker gangs and hard drugs. Talk about resilience and inspiration for unique song material.
4 “Folk music and classical mixed with soul, rock n’ roll, and rap would be my main base of operations,” says Lukas in www.lukasgraham.com. If you’re wondering about the possibilities the band could stretch their musicality, genre-wise, it seems “endless” is the right answer.
5 These guys dropped lucrative career options at the beginning to keep the band going. Lukas dropped out of law school, Magnus put a halt on formally studying jazz in Berlin, and Casper ditched becoming a stockbroker. “We’ve all sacrificed a lot to be where we are,” says Lukas. Focused, much?
Image by: Getty Images
