‘I’m pretty overwhelmed,’ bandmember Pontus Winnberg says of the group’s success. By Joel Hanek Miike Snow Photo: Downtown Records While not yet a household name, Miike Snow is the band that the household names are listening to. Having only released one album thus far, last summer’s self-titled debut, Miike Snow has quickly gained a following among the blogosphere and established acts alike. Along with inescapable pop sensation Ke$ha , “American Idol” breakout star Adam Lambert named the trio’s debut as one of his favorite albums of 2009, even if he had a little trouble pronouncing the name. He raved to MTV News , “That album is unbelievable!” Blogger Perez Hilton also told MTV News that Miike Snow was one of his favorite acts at this years’ South by Southwest festival , and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” director Edgar Wright said the group’s uptempo dance track “Animal” was one of his favorites of ’09 . Although the band is relatively new in music years, the members are not amateurs. Miike Snow, an “indie electro-pop trio,” are comprised of American writer/producer Andrew Wyatt along with the Swedish writing/producing team of Chris Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg. The Swedish duo, also known as Bloodshy & Avant, have written for major acts like Madonna and Britney Spears — and won a Grammy for penning Spears’ 2004 infectious hit “Toxic.” Winnberg explained why the Swedes were so good at writing music. “[Sweden is] cold and grim and the only thing you can do is rehearse with your band and write songs and be depressed,” he said. The group formed in 2007 when Wyatt met up with Karlsson and Winnberg. “I was in Sweden because I was touring with another band, stopped off and did some stuff with [Andrew and Chris], just for fun,” Wyatt explained. Even though the three members are mainly experienced behind the control board, they describe the songwriting process as very natural. “It’s very organic,” Winnberg offered. “We like to be in the same place at the same time, so it’s just like us three f—ing around in the studio and whatever happens, happens.” The group has been touring in support of their debut album since last May to a string of sold-out club shows around the country — even making a stop at the Coachella festival along the way. “Yeah, I’m pretty overwhelmed,” Winnberg said of the fans’ response. “I mean, the first time you saw people singing along with the lyrics it was a very cool experience.” “Amazing, and in some ways surprising for us because it’s a new thing for us to be touring,” Karlsson added. Not only does the band have a cavalcade of celebrity followers but, thanks to their production experience, Miike Snow have gotten involved with the best in the world of remixes and remixing. DJ heavyweights like Mark Ronson, Crookers and Fake Blood have remixed “Animal,” and the band themselves have done re-workings of songs by indie darlings Vampire Weekend and Passion Pit. “I guess you kind of take away everything from a production standpoint that is kind of boring — it’s just the fun parts,” Winnberg explained about remixing. “You don’t have to record the vocals, you can more or less just do what you want.” Miike Snow plan to continue touring throughout the summer and hope to record the follow-up to their much buzzed-about debut by the end of the year. Have you heard the Miike Snow album? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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Miike Snow Count Ke$ha, Adam Lambert, Perez Hilton And More As Fans
