Johan Tommy Karlsson (born April 10, 1976 in Hässleholm) is a Swedish techno/

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

artist who uses the alias Familjen (, "The Family").

Biography

Karlsson grew up in Hässleholm,

Skåne Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...

(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. In his youth as a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

fan he also formed bands with

Sophie Rimheden Sophie Rimheden (born 24 March 1975) is a Swedish electronica artist. Born in Lund, Sweden, she began making music as a child and moved into electronic music at age 13. She has stated she is heavily influenced by Madonna. Early career Rimhed ...

from nearby Bjärnum 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 David & the Citizens was a Swedish rock band formed in 1999 in Skåne. In 2022 David moved back to Sweden to pursue happiness in doing what he loves most (composing and creating music). History The band was created in 1999 by the singer and son ...

. Karlsson describes his music as indie- techno: ''"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 The term Scanian (, or ) can refer to: * A person born or living in the province of Scania proper (Skåne) * The people and language of the historical provinces of Scania (Terrae Scaniae, Skånelandene (Danish), Skåneland (Swedish) * Scanian dia ...

to be more precise. He performs live with Andreas Tilliander on

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. Both the album and the single ''Det snurrar i min skalle'' are released on Tellé in Norway, the same label as Röyksopp,

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 community The Pirate Bay, 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

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 Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

'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 (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'' - Season 5 - Ola Salo Day) * 2014: Regn hos mig (from '' Så mycket bättre'' - Season 5 - Orup Day)

Videos

* 2007: "Det snurrar i min skalle" (English translation: "My mind is spinning") Directed by

Johan Söderberg Johan Olof Anders Söderberg (born 14 November 1962 in Bollnäs) is a Swedish film director and editor. He was considered part of the now terminated Swedish multimedia collective Lucky People Center. Söderberg is recognized for the work he has ...

. The video was named by Pitchfork Media as one of the best videos of 2007.ideo> It also won a grammy in Sweden for best video. * 2007: "Huvudet i sanden" (English translation: "Head in the sand") Directed by

. Pitchfork Media said the video was "one of the most inspired and rewatchable videos of 2007".ideo> * 2010: "Det var jag" (English translation: "It was me") Directed by Mats Udd. Nominated to the best Scandinavian music video by the Bergen International Film Festival in Norway. * 2012: "Vi va dom" Directed by Mats Udd.

References

External links

Official website

MySpace page

Adrian Recordings

Hybris

Tellé

Short interview in Swedish on Dagens Nyheter
{{Authority control Swedish electronic music groups Swedish indie rock groups Swedish-language singers