Mats Anders Björke (born 10 June 1982 in
Falun
Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabita ...
, Sweden) is a Swedish musician (keyboard) and producer. From 2004 to 2014, he was a member of the Swedish band
Mando Diao
Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album ''Hurricane Bar''. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan. Band members are Björn Di ...
.
Biography
Mats Anders Björke was born on June 10, 1982, in Falun (Sweden).
In 2002 he moved to Stockholm due to music studies; at the same time he worked and played in bands. In spring 2003 Mats ended his music studies with no intention of continuing at another public institution. When he heard that Mando Diao were looking for a new keyboarder after the break-up with Daniel Haglund, he immediately applied for the job. Two months later he was accepted. According to Gustaf Norén it was silly that he didn't think of him in the first place, as they had grown up together in the same street, and had even been schoolmates.
Officially he was not a band member in the beginning. The band even temporarily announced that being a four-piece (Gustaf Norén, Björn Dixgård, Carl-Johan Fogelklou, Samuel Giers) worked out much better. But touring together made them feel closer, and in 2004 Mats was officially accepted as a member of the band.
Touring bars and small locations all over Sweden was soon followed by performances in Central Europe; the United States and Japan. Each of Mando Diao's album releases became more successful; today they are one of Sweden's best known bands.
At the MTV Unplugged - Above and Beyond performance in September 2011 Mats was also to be seen playing the guitar.
Mando Diao's biggest success in their home country Sweden was achieved with the sixth studio album ''
Infruset'' where ten poems of 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 ...
were set to music in 2012.
Björke is the producer of the Swedish Indie rockband Caviare Days. and is working together with the Swedish musician and actor ''Thorsten Flinck''.
In November 2014, Björke left the band.
Discography
Mando Diao
*2002: ''
Bring 'Em In'' (without Mats Björke)
*2004: ''
Hurricane Bar
''Hurricane Bar'' is the second album from the Sweden, 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 reco ...
''
*2006: ''
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 ...
''
*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 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 ...
''
*2012: ''
Infruset''
Caviare Days
*2012: ''Caviare Days''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mats Bjorke
Artists from Dalarna
Mute Records artists