Dungen ("the grove", ) is a Swedish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band based in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Often classified as

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, Dungen is also influenced by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(and other)

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

. The band is fronted by singer/composer

Gustav Ejstes Gustav Ejstes (born 23 December 1979) is a Swedish musician. He is the singer and frontman of the Swedish psychedelic rock band Dungen. Ejstes himselfs plays many of the instruments within his recordings, alongside bandmates Reine Fiske (guitar), ...

, who writes all music and plays the majority of instruments on the band's records. Live, Dungen plays as a four-piece. Ejstes, who in his teens started his songwriting with hip hop, is backed live by Swedish progressive rock veteran

Reine Fiske Nils Reine Fiske (born 4 October 1972) is a Swedish guitarist, art director and sound engineer at the record label Subliminal Sounds, who put his signature to many prog-rock projects such as Landberk, Morte Macabre, Paatos, Motorpsycho, Elephant ...

on guitar, bassist Mattias Gustavsson, and drummer Johan Holmegard (who replaced Fredrik Björling), all of whom have played parts on Dungen's studio albums.

History

Following two vinyl album releases on Swedish record label

Subliminal Sounds Subliminal Sounds is a Swedish record label founded in 1989, based in Stockholm. Artists * Bo Axelzon & His Exotic Sounds * Baby Grandmothers * Backdoor Men *Dungen *Entheogens *Merrell Fankhauser *Peter Grudzien * D.R. Hooker * Abner Jay * Jade ...

, Dungen briefly signed to

Dolores Recordings Dolores Recordings is a Swedish record label owned by Telegram Studios, whose roster includes I'm from Barcelona, Swingfly, Caesars and some releases by The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Dungen. In May 2021, Dolores was acquired by Round Hill Mus ...

(a subset of

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

) in 2002, on which they released the CD ''

Stadsvandringar ''Stadsvandringar'' ("''City Walks''") is the CD version of the Swedish psychedelic rock group Dungen's second album. It was originally released by Subliminal Sounds in 2002 in a limited vinyl edition of 500 copies under the name Dungen 2. The ...

'' and three singles, including one for ''Djungelboken 2'' (the Swedish version of ''

The Jungle Book 2 ''The Jungle Book 2'' is a 2003 animated adventure film produced by the Australian office at DisneyToon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. The theatrical version of the film was released in France on Febr ...

''). Ejstes soon returned to his friend's independent record label

, stating that a major label did not feel right because Dungen is not a pop act. Although Dungen's songs are sung entirely in Swedish, 2004's ''

Ta det lugnt ''Ta det lugnt'' ("''Take It Easy''") is the third album by the Swedish psychedelic rock group Dungen. It was produced by Gustav Ejstes, the lead singer and instrumentalist of the band. Ejstes also recorded and mixed the album. It was originall ...

'' received great acclaim within indie rock circles and established the band's international reputation. This resulted in the band headlining two US tours and landing distribution deals in the US and UK. Dungen also performed their song "Panda" on the television talk show

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

. Dungen played at the 2006

Bonnaroo Music Festival The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in ...

and toured with

Wolfmother Wolfmother is an Australian hard rock band from Sydney. Formed in 2004, the group is centred around vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, who is the only constant member of the line-up. The band has been through many personnel changes since ...

and the

Tucker B's Tucker B's are an Australian band, originally from Perth, but based in Sydney since 2005. History The Tucker B's were formed at the end of 1994 by Matt Rudas and Andrew Houston, performing their first gig together at the Harbourside in Fremantl ...

in Australia. Dungen released their fourth studio album, ''

Tio bitar ''Tio Bitar'' ("''Ten pieces''") is the fourth album by the Swedish psychedelic rock group Dungen. It was released as a CD on 23 April 2007, by Subliminal Sounds (Sweden), with a vinyl version to follow on the same label. The album was release ...

'' on 25 April 2007 but did not tour in support of it. The group's sixth studio album, entitled ''

Skit i allt ''Skit i allt'' is the sixth album by the Swedish psychedelic rock group Dungen. The title literally means "Screw it all" in Swedish. It was released as a CD and a limited edition red vinyl (1,200 copies only) on August 30, 2010, by Subliminal So ...

'', was released in 2010. The group played the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York in September 2010. The group announced their seventh studio album on 23 June 2015, before releasing it on 25 September 2015. Entitled ''

Allas Sak ''Allas Sak'' is the seventh album by the Swedish psychedelic rock group Dungen. The title loosely translates into English as "everyone's thing" or maybe "anyone's thing". It was released as a CD and vinyl on 25 September 2015 through the Norwegi ...

''., the album title translates loosely into "everyone's thing" or "anyone's thing". Once again, the songs are sung largely in Swedish by Gustav Ejstes. "These songs are my everyday experiences, my thoughts and stories from the life I live," he said in a statement. "I hope people can create their own stories around the music and maybe we can make music together, the listener and I." The album was an international success, placing at no.14 on Australian publication
Happy Mag
''s list of "The 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s" in October 2019. Around 2014, the group undertook a project to create an instrumental score for the 1926 animated film ''

The Adventures of Prince Achmed ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'' (known as ''Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed'' in German language, German) is a 1926 German Animation, animated Fairy tale, fairytale film by Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film; ...

'' to be performed live with the film. They did so on several occasions in Sweden in 2014 and at the first Marfa Myths Festival in

Marfa, Texas Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, Texas, Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Cens ...

, United States. Inspired by what they created, the passed recordings to their producer Mattias Glavå with instructions to 'make it into a record'. The album was released on 25 November 2016 as an official Black Friday

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

release and then re-released in a limited edition by

Mexican Summer Mexican Summer is an independent record label founded in 2009 by Keith Abrahamsson and Andres Santo Domingo. Based in Brooklyn, New York, the label has released recordings from artists including Best Coast, Kurt Vile, Ariel Pink, Allah-Las, Weye ...

with a bonus 12" live EP recorded in Sol de Sants Studios after their show at

Primavera Sound Festival Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espany ...

in Barcelona. It was released in February 2017 to coincide with Dungen's US tour of art studios and small theaters performing the full score live accompanying the film.

Discography

Albums

* ''

Dungen Dungen ("the grove", ) is a Swedish rock band based in Stockholm. Often classified as psychedelic rock, Dungen is also influenced by Swedish (and other) folk music, classic rock, progressive rock, garage rock and alternative rock. The band ...

'' (2001) * ''

Dungen 2 ''Dungen 2'' is the vinyl version of Swedish psychedelic rock group Dungen's album Stadsvandringar. It was released by Subliminal Sounds in 2002 in a limited edition of 500 copies. The CD version, Stadsvandringar, was released that year on Dolor ...

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2007) * '' 4 (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2015) * ''

Häxan ''Häxan'' (, "The Witch"; Danish: ''Heksen''; English: ''The Witches''; released in the US in 1968 as ''Witchcraft Through the Ages'') is a 1922 silent film, silent horror film, horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. C ...

'' (2016, Smalltown Supersound) *''Dungen Live'' (2020) * ''Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog'' (2022)

EPs

* '' Ta det lugnt / Tyst minut'' (2005,

) (12" vinyl, also included with 2005 re-release of ''Ta det lugnt'') * '' Samtidigt'' (2009,

Kemado Kemado Records is an American record label based in New York City founded in 2002 by Andrés Santo Domingo and Tom Clapp. In 2006 the label released the ''Invaders'' compilation, which featured many of the label's bands alongside other hard rock ...

) (limited-pressing (500) tour-only 12″ vinyl containing an extended 15-minute-long version of the song "Samtidigt" from ''4'')

Singles

* "

Solen stiger upp Solen may refer to: * Solen, Ancient Greek name for the Thamirabarani River * Solen, North Dakota * ''Solen'' (bivalve), a genus of molluscs in family Solenidae * ''Solen'' (ship), a Swedish galleon * Solen Désert-Mariller Solen Désert-Marille ...

" (2002,

) (CD) * "

" (2002, Dolores Recordings) (CD) * " Jag vill va' som du / Har du vart' i Stockholm?" (2003, Dolores Recordings) (CD) * "

Panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white animal coat, coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is ...

" (, 2005,

Memphis Industries Memphis Industries is a British independent record label. Memphis Industries was established as a record label in 1998 by the brothers Ollie and Matt Jacob with the first release being Blue States' Forever EP. It is perhaps best known for The ...

) (CD, 7" vinyl) (#168 United Kingdom) * "

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

" (2006, Memphis Industries) (7" vinyl) * " Sätt att se" (, 2008,

) (12" vinyl) * Öga, näsa, mun (2011,

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...

) (7" vinyl)

Compilations

* ''Who Will Buy These Wonderful Evils'' (2002,

) * ''Mojo Presents Dave Gilmour & Friends'' (2015, Mojo Magazine)

References

External links

Official website in Swedish and English

Dungen: Pitchfork Live Review (9/20/05)

Dungen: Lyrics in Swedish

October 2008 Interview
with

L.A. Record ''L.A. Record'' is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In Mar ...

{{Authority control Swedish indie rock groups Swedish alternative rock groups Swedish psychedelic rock music groups Swedish progressive rock groups Swedish jazz-rock groups Jazz fusion ensembles Neo-psychedelia groups Musical groups established in 1999 Memphis Industries artists Dew Process artists Astralwerks artists 1999 establishments in Sweden Mexican Summer artists Smalltown Supersound artists Dolores Recordings artists Subliminal Sounds artists