By Sinead Garvan
Newsbeat music reporter
“We don’t know how that happened,” laughs Lukas Graham, frontman for the band named after him, when asked about de-throning Zayn Malik from the top of the singles chart.
Not only did they knock Zayn’s Pillowtalk off, they are on course for a third week at number one with 7 Years.
“It’s amazing, very weird,” Lukas says about their current success.
Newsbeat caught up with the band on a recent trip to London.
“We were standing in line for the passports yesterday, checking into the UK,” Lukas begins.
“This whole school group was walking in singing our song, and one of the guys said, ‘They know who we are’ and I was like, ‘Dude, they do not know who we are. They are not even looking at us.’
“They are singing the song and they have no idea this is us, so thanks to those schoolgirls for making us feel our first little bit of stardom in the UK.”
The schoolgirls can be forgiven for not recognising them and also, maybe, for thinking Lukas Graham is a solo act and not a band.
So what is the story behind that?
“Well, that is the thing,” Lukas starts.
“It’s my songs and we were actually brainstorming for a while to find another name. The Revolvers and The Mechanics just sounded wrong.
“We are not in the 60s and we are not a creative collective as such. I am the vision for it.
“I don’t play any instruments, I don’t produce, I don’t know which keys or chords I am using, so in essence I need the band and the production team – otherwise I am just some guy with a hat and a song.”
The rest of the band are in agreement.
“It is all Lukas’s stories, his perspective of life, so it kind of makes sense that it has a personal narrator,” says Kasper Daugaard, who plays the keyboards.
Lukas says both parents were a huge influence on him, as was the place where he grew up, Christiania in Denmark.
If you haven’t heard of it, Lukas describes it as “the largest squatted area in the world, it’s basically a huge commune”.
It is a self-governing neighbourhood of about 850 residents. It has its own currency, flag, laws and is made up of a mix of homemade houses, workshops, art galleries, music venues and organic restaurants.
“There is no police force. When the police come in, it’s in riot gear. We have a little street called the pusher street where you can buy weed, hash, pre-rolled joints.
“It’s a weird commune because it is a little tougher in terms of, there is some drug dealing, but then it is less tough, very soft and colourful children that come out of that neighbourhood.”
Lukas says the environment he grew up in has given him a sense of calm, loyalty and means he is very down to earth.
We can expect their self-titled debut album, Lukas Graham, on 25 March.
Source: BBC
