Johan Tommy Karlsson (born April 10, 1976 in
Hässleholm
Hässleholm (older da, Hasselholm) is a locality and the seat of Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 18,500 inhabitants in 2010.
Overview
Hässleholm was gradually developed from 1860 in connection with the construction of the ...
) is a Swedish
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
/
electropop artist who uses the alias Familjen (, "The Family").
Biography
Karlsson grew up in
Hässleholm
Hässleholm (older da, Hasselholm) is a locality and the seat of Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 18,500 inhabitants in 2010.
Overview
Hässleholm was gradually developed from 1860 in connection with the construction of the ...
,
Skåne (the same town as fellow electronica producers
Andreas Tilliander
Berndt Andreas Tilliander (born 1977) is a Swedish electronica, drone and techno producer who significantly contributed to the evolution of the 'clicks & cuts' genre with his first albums ''Cliphop'' (Raster.Noton) and ''Ljud'' (Mille Plateaux). ...
and Stefan Thor (Folie)), but is currently based in
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...
. In his youth as a
synthpop fan he also formed bands with
Sophie Rimheden from nearby
Bjärnum
Bjärnum is a locality situated in Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of ...
and joined the industrial act Morticians with
Stefan Thor and
Andreas Rimheden
Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. The name ...
. Karlsson has previously produced Swedish indie band
David & the Citizens.
Karlsson describes his music as
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
-
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
:
''"I'm pretty fed up with guitar - Indie and techno can get a bit monotone after a while."''
All his lyrics are in
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 ...
, or the southern dialect of
Scanian to be more precise. He performs live with Andreas Tilliander on
synthesizer.
Both the album and the single ''Det snurrar i min skalle'' are released on
Tellé in Norway, the same label as
Röyksopp
Röyksopp (), a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland.
Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway. They enjoy ...
,
Annie
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
and
Kings Of Convenience
Kings of Convenience is an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway, consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe.
History
Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on 21 November and Bøe on 25 October) and have known each other since they ...
.
Creative Vibes Recordings released the album in Australia in 2008.
In October 2007 Familjen won the Swedish web-based music competition ''Rampmusic'' (competitions were also held in Norway and Denmark). Some unexpected help came from the
file sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...
community
The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay (sometimes abbreviated as TPB) is an online index of digital content of entertainment media and software. Founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank Piratbyrån, The Pirate Bay allows visitors to search, download, and contribute ma ...
, who on their website encouraged their visitors to vote for him (without Karlsson's knowledge).
Both music videos directed by Karlsson feature a previously shown image overlaid with a hand-drawn heart for the last few seconds.
In 2015 he produced the
...Baby One More Time-single by the
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 ...
singer
Tove Styrke
Tove Anna Linnéa Östman Styrke (; born 19 November 1992) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She gained popularity as a contestant on '' Swedish Idol 2009'', finishing in third place. After the show, she started a solo career in electropop. Sh ...
, a cover of
Britney Spears's hit song released in 1998.
Discography
Albums
* 2007: ''Det snurrar i min skalle''
* 2008: ''Huvudet i sanden''
* 2010: ''Mänskligheten''
* 2012: ''Allt På Rött''
* 2018: ''Kom''
EP
* 2006: ''Familjen EP'' on Adrian Recordings
Singles
* 2006: "Första/Sista" on Adrian Recordings
* 2006: "Hög luft" on Adrian Recordings /
HybrisHög luft
* 2007: "Kom säger dom" on Adrian Recordings / Hybris
* 2007: " Det snurrar i min skalle" on Adrian Recordings / Hybris / A:Larm (Denmark) / Tellé (Norway) / Creative Vibes
Creative Vibes was a record label that sourced, signed and released local Australian acts. It also licensed material from overseas and imported CDs and vinyl from around the world and had its own sales and distribution arm.
Creative Vibes was n ...
(Australia)
* 2007: "Huvudet i sanden" on Adrian Recordings / Hybris / Tellé
* 2010: "När planeterna stannat" on Adrian Recordings / Hybris
;Others
* 2014: Göra slut med gud (from ''Så mycket bättre
Så mycket bättre (, "So Much Better") is a Swedish reality television show that airs on TV4. The basic premise is that each artist attempts to do their own version of another artist's well-known songs, with each person getting an episode feat ...
'' - Season 5 - Ola Salo
Ola Salo (born Rolf Ola Anders Svensson; 19 February 1977) is a Swedish rock musician, and the lead vocalist of Swedish glam rock band The Ark.
Early life
He lived in Rottne, Växjö Municipality, in Sweden when he was a child, where, in 1991, ...
Day)
* 2014: Regn hos mig (from ''Så mycket bättre
Så mycket bättre (, "So Much Better") is a Swedish reality television show that airs on TV4. The basic premise is that each artist attempts to do their own version of another artist's well-known songs, with each person getting an episode feat ...
'' - Season 5 - Orup
Hans Thomas Eriksson (born 29 November 1958), known by his stage name Orup, is a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician who enjoyed major success in his native country and Scandinavia in the late 1980s and early 1990s with songs like " Jag blir he ...
Day)
Videos
* 2007: "Det snurrar i min skalle" (English translation: "My mind is spinning") Directed by Johan Söderberg. The video was named by Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
as one of the best videos of 2007.[ideo
IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, enviro ...]
> It also won a grammy in Sweden for best video.
* 2007: "Huvudet i sanden" (English translation: "Head in the sand") Directed by
.
said the video was "one of the most inspired and rewatchable videos of 2007".