Denmark has a knack of producing some great bands. And dare I say it, bands far better than many in the US and the UK.
But here’s the problem: For whatever reason, they just never ever make it.
Sorry, but Aqua is hardly a band and even Danes think that Michael Learns To Rock [MLTR] “died” many years ago.
MLTR only “live” in Asia and even in Asia, they are on a life support system.
A Danish band like Nephew is/was brilliant.
When guitarist Kristian Riis first played me a rough mix of “007 Is Also Going To Die” off their “Denmark/Danmark” album, I thought, Holy shit, Batman, this track is going to be massive.
When I saw them perform ‘live’ in someplace like Aarhus, it was the same thing: This band with charismatic singer Simon Kvaan will be massive.
And then? Well, and then nothing. Pfffft.
Same with the brilliant band called Spleen United- the best ‘live’ band I have seen to date.
Where and what are they doing today?
The last I heard they were going to perform at China’s EXPO 2010.
Kashmir, Mew, Blue Van and hundreds of others from Denmark- they “make it”, but not nearly as big and bright and sunshiny as they should and could have been.
Perhaps it has to do with the Danish winters.
Perhaps it’s the chilled-out, laid-back, que sera sera Danish lifestyle, but soon, a band like Nephew will have members pushing forty.
They’re content to remain in Denmark with their families, they make good big bucks playing to a fan base that knows them and have kinda given up on any dreams they might have had of “breaking” outside their neighbouring markets.
A hit in Norway is good enough and why not play it safe and make a comfortable living?
To me, there are two Danish bands that really knock me out – The Raveonettes and The Asteroids Galaxy Tour.
What I respect about them is that both bands didn’t hang about Copenhagen waiting for something/anything to happen.
They’ve been busting their nuts to get away from what I call The Danish Lethargy Syndrome where being Okay is Good Enough.
From the land that gave the world Lego and has some of the most creative designers, restaurateurs, artists, storytellers, film-makers, that’s one helluva sad attitude to have and sadly, this doesn’t augur well for the Danish music industry.
There are a few local labels, there are the usual industry-type wankers, the most aggressive major is Sony Denmark and artists are signed and nothing happens.
Why? Don’t know. Or maybe I do.
Having worked in an International music company, all I know is that if the product is not from the US or the UK and isn’t a “Priority” release, we never bothered even listening to music from any other part of the world: “What? A good Rock band from Denmark”, we squealed like pigs in heat? “Nah, they only have all those Aqua-type of crappy Pop.”
Perception is a dangerous animal.
While the Raveonettes continue with their quirky and dark lyrics skillfully hidden in safe, retro melodies, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour is a showcase of sound and vision.
I first heard of TAGT and their music through Tim Clarke of IE in the UK, the management company that also manages Robbie Williams.
Wow, I thought, a Danish act managed by the same team that manages Robbie. What a fucking great break.
And very quickly, it seemed to be working with one of the band’s tracks being picked to be used in an iPod commercial.
The band then toured the States – a few small clubs like the Raveonettes have done and there I was thinking, “This girl Mette can be huge in Japan.”
I still think she can: Mette can very easily be a fashion icon in Japan and everywhere else, at a time when image has over-taken the music.
The great thing about TAGT is that Mette and fashion mesh beautifully with their music.
This is no Lady Gaga or Rihanna and where clothes and outrageousness are used to cover the musical pock marks.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour is the total music and entertainment package, baby and we’ll bust our nuts to make sure they’re seen, heard and appreciated.
Though no longer with IE, the group has certainly not been idle.
Far from it.
Just read the press bumf below:
THE ASTEROIDS GALAXY TOUR.
“The Golden Age” EP released April 15th. Album “Fruit” released June 6th. Headline show at London’s ULU on May 26th.
It seems Denmark is so hot right now. The hit TV show (The Killing), An Oscar winning Film (In A Better World) and apparently the world’s best restaurant, so, what better time to introduce Denmark’s finest band THE ASTEROIDS GALAXY TOUR.
The band reached instant global exposure when their song Around The Bend was featured in an Apple iPod Touch advert a while ago. Their music also appeared in US hit TV series Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries and CSI Miami. Around The Bend was also one of the key tracks to the R.J. Cuttler documentary “The September Issue”, based on Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
You are about to hear much more from The Asteroids as their latest single The Golden Age was also picked up by the advertising fraternity as it features in a new super cool global ad for Heineken, due to launch in the UK this April which has already had over 3 million hits on Youtube, see the advert here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLgetLmlggA
Plus band long version here with over 600,000 hits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzoeh6Q6Kig
“The Golden Age” is part of a new EP which also features the brand new tracks Fantasy Friend Forever, Runner and One Giant Freak For Mankind. The EP is available on iTunes and for physical release on April 15th through BMG Rights & EMI. The band’s impossibly delectable debut album “Fruit” will be given a proper UK release on June 6th. Packed with colourful gems of unhindered playfulness, it’s easy to see why excitement abounds for “Fruit”. Straight from the off, opener “Lady Jesus” combines the true story of a dubious Danish religious leader, with a decidedly non-Scandinavian horn section and Mette Lindberg’s irresistible high-pitched vocals on a bed of sonic alchemy fresh from Lars Iversen’s bedroom lab. Following on from “The Sun Ain’t Shining No More” and “Push The Envelope”, “Satellite” allows for a bit of trippy respite complete with mesmeric organs while “Crazy” displays the dubby side of AGT. Then there’s “Around the Bend” and the blissful summery Hammond grooves of “Sunshine Coolin'”, the drum machine-powered Stax style ballad “Hero”, and the toe-tapping glory of “Bad Fever” Finally there’s “The Golden Age” which offers a rare glimpse into Lars’ jazz piano playing past, albeit merged with a strictly non-orthodox hip hop beat”
The seeds of AGT were sown in a Danish smalltown in the late 1990s when teenage Lars Iversen launched his career as a jazz pianist. After discovering David Bowie, he turned a corner; before only listening to black music, like jazz and soul, he realised there was this thing called Rock’n’Roll. Lars and his brother built up their own little studio in his very small apartment and experimented, making beats and loops, cutting and sampling, learning the basic recording skills that way. Inevitably, Lars crossed paths with Mette Lindberg, “the coolest singer in Copenhagen”. Their first band project came to nothing, but they kept bumping into each other. A few years later, Lars found himself in need of some distraction from his tedious course work at architectural college. He started writing new material in his by now rather sophisticated home studio. He went back to his love of black American music; Sly & The Family Stone and George Clinton – the type of music that combines soul with psychedelia and Rock’n’Roll and pop sensibilities. It seemed a natural choice to call up Mette, who didn’t show much interest at first: But then Lars slipped a CD under her door. It was exactly the sound that she had in my head.. And so The Asteroids Galaxy Tour were born.
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour will be heading off on the road with their band of trusted companions who like to swap instruments onstage and all have a thoroughly good time. AGT have already garnered coveted support slots with the likes of Amy Winehouse and Katy Perry but have headlined their own tours. They arrive in London on May 26th where they headline at ULU with supports TBC.