Mando Diao is an

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 ...

band from

Borlänge Borlänge is a locality in Dalarna County, Sweden with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality with a total population of 51,604 inhabitants as of 2017. History Originally Borlänge was the name of a tin ...

, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album ''

Hurricane Bar ''Hurricane Bar'' is the second album from the Swedish band Mando Diao, released in 2004. The album was chosen as No. 92 of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. The tracks for the limited edition's bonus disc were recorded at ...

''. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan. Band members are

Björn Dixgård Björn Hans-Erik Dixgård (born 8 May 1981) is a Swedish musician (vocals, guitar). He is the frontman of the Swedish band Mando Diao. Biography 220px, Dixgård in 2013 Björn Hans-Erik Dixgård was born on 8 May 1981, near Falun, Sweden, as the ...

(vocals, guitar), Carl-Johan Fogelklou (bass),

Jens Siverstedt Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) * Jenssi Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) ...

(guitar), Daniel Haglund (keyboard) and Patrik Heinkipieti (drums).

History

Early years (1999–2002)

The roots of Mando Diao date back to 1999 when

(vocals, guitar) and Daniel Haglund (keyboard) played in a band called Butler, which they had founded in the middle of the 1990s. In 1996,

Gustaf Norén Gustaf Erik David Norén (born 1 February 1981 in Borlänge) is a Swedish musician (songwriting, vocals, guitar) and actor. He was previously one of the two frontmen of the Swedish band Mando Diao and is one half of the duo ''Gustaf & Viktor Nor ...

(vocals, guitar), joined the band. In 1999, Carl-Johan Fogelklou (bass, backing vocals) and Samuel Giers (drums) became members and completed the original band. The current line-up decided to take the project more seriously. Björn Dixgård and Gustaf Norén locked themselves up in a summer house and spent 14 months writing songs. They claim the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

as their original source of inspiration. Allegedly, Gustaf joined the band after he and Björn had talked all night about this band. The two renamed their band ''Mando Diao'', a name that appeared to Björn Dixgård in a dream in which a man came up to him and shouted "Mando Diao!". Mando Diao made their first public performances in the clubs of their hometown

in 1999. A local writer described them in an article as the best unsigned band he had ever seen. This was soon followed by a record deal with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Sweden.

First breakthrough (2002–05)

The release of their debut album '' Bring 'Em In'' in 2002, and of their first single "

Sheepdog A sheep dog or sheepdog is generally a dog or breed of dogs historically used in connection with the raising of sheep. These include livestock guardian dogs used to guard sheep and other livestock and herding dogs used to move, manage and co ...

" made the band popular in Sweden; the 1960s and 1970s music style and sound as well as the singers´ voices were soon seen as the "typical" Mando Diao sound by their fans. Gustaf Norén once compared ''Bring 'Em In'' to music by

The Kooks The Kooks () are an English pop-rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums). Their music is primarily influenced by the ...

, the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The band w ...

and

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

, declaring his band's music best and even better than many albums by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

.
The band began touring Sweden and other Scandinavian countries together with local bands as

The Hellacopters The Hellacopters are a Swedish garage rock band that was formed in 1994 by Nicke Andersson (vocals and guitar), Andreas Tyrone "Dregen" Svensson (guitar), Kenny Håkansson (bass) and Robert Eriksson (drums). Andersson (sometimes known as Nick R ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Daniel Haglund left the band in 2003, due to some minor disputes, and was replaced by

Mats Björke Mats Anders Björke (born 10 June 1982 in Falun, Sweden) is a Swedish musician (keyboard) and producer. From 2004 to 2014, he was a member of the Swedish band Mando Diao. Biography Mats Anders Björke was born on June 10, 1982, in Falun (Sweden) ...

International success (2005–11)

With every album release, the band's international success increased; in 2007 Mando Diao appeared for the first time as headliner on a music festival, the

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the beli ...

concert in Hamburg. After the recording of ''Above And Beyond - MTV unplugged'', Samuel Giers left the band at the beginning of 2011. Since September 2011, Mando Diao is supported by Patrik Heikinpieti (drums) and Daniel Haglund (guitar, keyboard).

Swedish album ''Infruset'' (2012)

In 2011, Gustaf Norén and Björn Dixgård began working on poems written by the Swedish poet

Gustaf Fröding Gustaf Fröding (; 22 August 1860 – 8 February 1911) was a Swedish poet and writer, born in Alster outside Karlstad in Värmland. The family moved to Kristinehamn in the year 1867. He later studied at Uppsala University and worked as a journali ...

, and setting them to music. The result, their first album in Swedish, '' Infruset'', was highly rated and appreciated all over Europe even before the official release . On 28 October 2012, the world premiere was broadcast as a live cinema event - ''Mando Diao live på bio'' in theaters and cinemas in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland. ''Infruset'' has turned out to be the band's most successful album in Sweden: it has won a Swedish Grammis award, sold four times platinum in Sweden. Due to their success, the band was awarded with the Swedish Rockbjörnen, a fan award, as best livegroup in 2013. The album has been charting on the Swedish Albums Chart for 101 weeks from November 2012 until June 2015 and is Sweden's 9th all-time best-charting album. The single " Strövtåg i hembygden" remained in the Swedish radio top ten charts for 127 weeks in May 2015.

New influences and reorientation (since 2012)

On 23 April 2014 Mando Diao's seventh studio album '' Ælita'' was released in Sweden; the international release was on 2 May 2014. The first single, "Black Saturday", was released in Sweden on 11 January 2014. The new synth rock sound has led to many disputes amongst fans of the band and critics. The Russian synthesizer "Aelita" has been the source and inspiration for this album, leading away from the former music style. On 18 November 2014, keyboard player Mats Björke officially left the band. His main focus is on working as producer in his own studio.

Projects (2015)

On 16 October 2014, "

Love Last Forever Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the lov ...

", the official song for the ski world championship 2015 in Falun, featuring

Maxida Märak Ida Amanda "Maxida" Märak (born 17 September 1988) is a Swedish-Sámi joik singer, hip hop musician, actress and activist. Märak is a human rights activist with a special interest in the rights of the Sámi people. She has taken part in protests ...

, a young Swedish-

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Rus ...

artist and, who by her singing and wearing Sámi clothes while performing this song is raising awareness for the minority problems in Sweden, has been presented to the public. On 15 February 2015 "Love Last Forever" was performed during the opening ceremony in Falun. With their new song "Leave No Trace" (March 2015) Mando Diao are supporting ''Låt Östersjön Leva'' - a project under the patronage of World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF); the issue is the protection of the wildlife and the heavily polluted Baltic Sea. Björn Dixgård and Gustaf Norén, who emphasized the importance of all kinds of art, have supported the annual street art and music festival ''164 festivalen'' by KFUM in Stockholm on 30 April 2015.

New era (2015)

On 3 June 2015, Gustaf Norén and Mando Diao separated.

Albums (2017–2020)

On 12 May 2017, Mando Diao released their eighth studio album, ''Good Times''. The first single was released on 7 April 2017. On 18 October 2019, ''BANG'' was released as Mando Diao´s ninth studio album, continuing the band´s rock history.

Recordings

In September 2002, their first album '' Bring 'Em In'' was released in Sweden. It contains early demo versions of their songs, partly recorded in the basement of keyboardist Daniel Haglund. In 2003, the album was released internationally by MUTE label, along with their debut single ''Sheepdog''. , the band is hailed enthusiastically by the music press as one of the most

sanguine Sanguine () or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown colour, so called because it resembles the colour of dried blood. It has been popular for centuries for drawing (where white chalk only works on coloured paper). The word comes via French fr ...

newcomer bands of the year. Their second album ''

'' was released in March 2004 and became an immediate international success. Their third album, ''

Ode to Ochrasy ''Ode to Ochrasy'' is the third studio album by Mando Diao. The first single to be from the album was "Long Before Rock 'n' Roll"; the second was "Good Morning, Herr Horst". "The Wildfire (If It Was True)" appears in the video game ''NHL 08''. T ...

'', was released on 24 August 2006 and again was praised by the international music press, being unanimously described as the band's best album. By the end of 2006, the band released a DVD called ''Down in the Past'', a documentary of the band's history, accompanied by rare interviews, concert snippets, backstage videos and unreleased songs. ''Ode to Ochrasy'' was released in the UK through the

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

label on 2 April 2007, in a previously unreleased format including 4 bonus tracks. On 26 October 2007 the band released their fourth album ''Never Seen The Light Of Day''. Their fifth album, ''

Give Me Fire ''Give Me Fire!'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish band Mando Diao, produced by Salla Salazar of hip hop group The Latin Kings and his brother Masse. The album was released in Sweden on 13 February 2009. One of Mando Diao's roadies knew the ...

'', was released on 13 February 2009. The album's first single, ''

Dance with Somebody "Dance with Somebody" is a song by the alternative rock band Mando Diao. It was released in January 2009 as the lead single from their album, ''Give Me Fire''. A segment of the song was the theme song for the twelfth season of '' Dancing With The ...

'', was released on 9 January 2009 and became the most sold single and most popular song of Mando Diao so far. ''The Malevolence Of Mando Diao 2002 - 2007'' is a collection of B-sides and previously unreleased songs and was released on 12 October 2009. On 12 November 2010, the recording of their MTV Unplugged performance, ''Above And Beyond - MTV Unplugged'', was released as CD and DVD. In December 2011, the band published '' Ghosts&Phantoms'', a Christmas calendar for download, containing 24 non-released songs. Due to the calendar's success, ''Ghosts&Phantoms'' was released as vinyl LP limited edition. Mando Diao's '' Greatest Hits Volume 1'' album was released on 6 January 2012, representing a collection of the band's best known songs. '' Infruset'', was released on 31 October 2012. It is the band's first album in their mother tongue, ten poems of Swedish poet

set to music. The album '' Infruset Guld'', containing new Swedish songs and studio versions, was released on 5 June 2013. A new album called '' Ælita'' was released in April 2014. The single "Black Saturday" was released in Sweden on 11 January. In contrast to earlier records of the band, ''Ælita'' belongs to the

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...

genre. The album also features the cover shot for a gay magazine. This album has been released in Auro 3D immersive sound.

Touring

Mando Diao has been touring all over the world, though their biggest following is in Germany, Japan, and their homeland Sweden. In 2004/2005, they started a tour with appearances at big music festivals in Germany, Austria and Hungary. The band supported

The Bravery The Bravery is an American rock band formed in New York City in 2003. The band consists of lead vocalist Sam Endicott, guitarist Michael Zakarin, keyboardist John Conway, bassist Mike Hindert and drummer Anthony Burulcich. They are best known ...

on their tour in 2005, along with the Los Angeles band

The Colour ''The Colour'' is a 2003 novel by Rose Tremain, which was nominated for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction. It is set in New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists ...

. On their 2006 European tour, they were supported by

Razorlight Razorlight are an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in London by lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell. Along with Borrell, the current line-up of the band is composed of founding members Björn Ågren on guitar and bassist Carl Delemo ...

and

Johnossi Johnossi is a rock duo from Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm County, Sweden, consisting of songwriter, singer, guitarist John Engelbert and drummer, percussionist, singer Oskar Bonde, Oskar "Ossi" Bonde. History Engelbert and Bonde first met when they w ...

, and for the British leg of the tour they were a joint support act for the Dirty Pretty Things along with

Larrikin Love Larrikin Love were an English four piece indie rock band from London. Consisting of singer-songwriter Edward Leeson, guitarist Micko Larkin, bassist Alfie Ambrose and drummer Coz Kerrigan, and also occasionally including violinist Rob Skipper f ...

. At the end of January 2007, Mando Diao were widely covered in the Swedish media because of an incident at their live concert on 27 January 2007. They were performing at the Amplified festival at Norrlands Opera House in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Ume� ...

when a part of the floor the audience was standing on collapsed, leaving at least 25 fans hurt. Five people were taken to the hospital with injuries such as broken arms and legs. According to the management of Norrlandsoperan, the hall had been checked, but they had never thought the floor, consisting of several moveable parts on concrete girders over a hole, wouldn't hold the 170 people in the room, since the fire department had given them approval for 800 people. After this unfortunate event, Mando Diao stayed in Umeå in case they could do anything to help the injured fans. They also visited the hospitalized fans personally. Mando Diao appeared on 29 April 2007 at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

and on 7 July 2007 they performed at the German leg of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Since the summer of 2007, Mando Diao has had support from a horn section consisting of renowned Swedish

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

musicians Nils Janson and Nils Berg. Björn Dixgård toured Europe solo during the end of 2007. On 3 November 2008 the band played one US date for the "Give Me Fire" tour with the Capshuns and We Barbarians at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. On 2 September 2010 they recorded an ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'' concert at Union Film-Studios in Berlin, featuring guest appearances by Daniel Haglund,

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voca ...

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including "You're So V ...

Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...

and

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...

. The concert was released on CD and DVD in late 2010. Following the unplugged album, an acoustic tour was started in October 2011, with concerts taking place in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In the summer of 2012, Mando Diao had appearances at four open air festivals in Croatia, Italy, Czech Republic and Hungary. Mando Diao toured Sweden in the winter of 2013 and a Swedish summer tour (Folkparksturné) followed in the summer of 2013. In 2014, there were appearances at open air festivals in Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands and Sweden. In November 2014, an autumn tour including Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria, took place.

Caligola

As of late 2011, Björn Dixgård and Gustaf Norén have a new side project with the Salazar Brothers, called Caligola. The project's first single, "Sting of Battle", was released on 27 December 2011, followed by the first album, ''Back to Earth'', on 24 February 2012. The second single "Forgive Forget" was certified gold in Germany in May 2012. In 2012, they appeared on the 10th track of

Paul van Dyk Matthias Paul (; born 16 December 1971), known professionally as Paul van Dyk () is a German DJ, record producer and musician. One of the first true renowned DJs, van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy Award nomination in the newly a ...

's album ''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'', titled "If You Want My Love"."News - "If You Want My Love": Caligola auf dem neuen Paul van Dyk Album – Immer top informiert über die neuesten Alben, Konzerte und Musik-Videos - Universal Music"

Discography

*2002: '' Bring 'Em In'' *2004: ''

'' *2006: ''

'' *2007: ''

Never Seen the Light of Day Never Seen the Light of Day is the fourth studio album by Swedish band Mando Diao. The album was produced by Björn Olsson and engineered by Patrik Heikinpieti. It was recorded in 2007 while the band were on an exhaustive tour of the world. Fro ...

'' *2009: ''

Give Me Fire! ''Give Me Fire!'' is the fifth studio album by Sweden, Swedish band Mando Diao, produced by Salla Salazar of hip hop group The Latin Kings (hip hop group), The Latin Kings and his brother Masse. The album was released in Sweden on 13 February 2009 ...

'' *2012: '' Infruset'' *2014: '' Ælita'' *2017: ''Good Times'' *2019: ''Bang'' *2020: ''I Solnedgången''

Band members

;Final members * Björn Dixgård - vocals, guitar (1999-present) * Carl-Johan Fogelklou - bass, backing vocals (1999-present) * Daniel Haglund - keyboards, organ (1999 - 2003; 2011-present) * Patrik Heikinpieti - drums, percussion (2011-present) * Jens Siverstedt - guitar, backing vocals (2015-present) ;Former members * Gustaf Norén - vocals, guitar (1999 - 2015) * Samuel Giers - drums, percussion (1999 - 2011) * Mats Björke - keyboards, organs (2004 - 2014) ;Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:350 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1999 till:31/12/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:backing value:pink legend:Backing vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboard, organ id:drums value:orange legend:Drums, percussion id:lines value:black legend:Release studio album Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1999 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2014 LineData = at:23/09/2002 color:black layer:back at:22/09/2004 color:black layer:back at:25/08/2006 color:black layer:back at:22/10/2007 color:black layer:back at:13/02/2009 color:black layer:back at:31/10/2012 color:black layer:back at:23/04/2014 color:black layer:back at:12/05/2017 color:black layer:back at:12/05/2019 color:black layer:back at:12/05/2020 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Björn text:"Björn Dixgård" bar:Gustaf text:"Gustaf Norén" bar:Jens text:"Jens Siverstedt" bar:CJ text:"Carl-Johan Fogelklou" bar:Samuel text:"Samuel Giers" bar:Patrik text:"Patrik Heikinpieti" bar:Daniel text:"Daniel Haglund" bar:Mats text:"Mats Björke" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Björn from:01/01/1999 till:31/12/2022 color:vocals bar:Gustaf from:01/01/1999 till:03/06/2015 color:vocals bar:Björn from:01/01/1999 till:31/12/2022 color:guitar width:3 bar:Gustaf from:01/01/1999 till:03/06/2015 color:guitar width:3 bar:Jens from:04/06/2015 till:31/12/2022 color:guitar bar:Jens from:04/06/2015 till:31/12/2022 color:backing width:3 bar:CJ from:01/01/1999 till:31/12/2022 color:bass bar:CJ from:01/01/1999 till:31/12/2022 color:backing width:3 bar:Samuel from:01/01/1999 till:04/04/2011 color:drums bar:Patrik from:04/04/2011 till:31/12/2022 color:drums bar:Daniel from:01/01/1999 till:30/04/2003 color:keyboard bar:Daniel from:01/01/2011 till:31/12/2022 color:keyboard bar:Mats from:01/10/2004 till:19/11/2014 color:keyboard

References

External links

*
Mando Diao Facebook

Mando Diao Street team

Video Interview Mando Diao: What is really important to you?

13 Songs
chosen by and a
Interview
with Mando Diao on Klangschau.com]
Mando Diao live at GreenSounds Festival, Bucharest 2016 (Gallery)
{{Authority control Mute Records artists Swedish rock music groups Swedish indie rock groups Swedish garage rock groups English-language singers from Sweden Swedish-language singers Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in Sweden