Miike Snow (pronounced "Mike Snow") is a Swedish

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band formed in 2007. The band consists of producing team

Bloodshy & Avant Bloodshy & Avant are a Swedish songwriting and production duo consisting of Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson and Pontus "Avant" Winnberg. They have worked with many prominent artists, including Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Ms. Dynamite, Madonna, ...

and American singer

Andrew Wyatt Andrew Wyatt Blakemore is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, he began his career playing in New York bands such as The A.M. and Black Beetle. He gained wider notability as the frontman ...

. The band is often represented by a silhouette image of a

jackalope The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. The word ''jackalope'' is a portmanteau of ''jackrabbit'' and ''antelope''. Many jackalope taxidermy mounts, including the original, ...

. In their career, the band has released three studio albums: ''

Miike Snow Miike Snow (pronounced "Mike Snow") is a Swedish indie pop band formed in 2007. The band consists of producing team Bloodshy & Avant and American singer Andrew Wyatt. The band is often represented by a silhouette image of a jackalope. In their ...

'' (2009), ''

Happy to You ''Happy to You'' is the second studio album by Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow. It was released in the United States on 13 March 2012 by Downtown Records and Universal Republic Records, and in the United Kingdom on 19 March 2012 by Columbia Re ...

'' (2012), and '' iii'' (2016).

History

Early years

Miike Snow was formed in 2007 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 ...

, Sweden. Band members Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg were childhood friends who spent time playing in bands and working on various projects in studios throughout the city of

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. Karlsson was a former member of the Swedish hip-hop band Goldmine, who toured with

The Fugees ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. After separate moves to Stockholm, they reunited in 2000. Karlsson and Winnberg collaborated under the moniker

and enjoyed a significant amount of success as producers and songwriters. They have worked with artists such as

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

Sky Ferreira Sky Tonia Ferreira (born July 8, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress. As a teenager, Ferreira began uploading videos on Myspace of herself singing songs she had written, which led to her discovery by producers Bloodsh ...

, and won a

Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

for

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 ...

' track "

Toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

". In 2004, while working on writing a pop album for

, Karlsson and Winnberg met the third band member, American songwriter

. Wyatt reports "I was in Sweden visiting, and someone told me that I should hook up with these two guys. Actually, it turns out I'd met Christian in the studio maybe a year before, but we only actually recently remembered that". The name "Miike Snow" is said to have come from one of their friends named Mike Snow. Contrary to suggestions or statements to the converse, the spelling of "Miike" does not derive from the Japanese film director

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent an ...

; Pontus Winnberg states that, "When we sat down to come up with a name one of us got an email from a mutual friend by the name Mike Snow. We liked it and added the extra "I" because we liked the look of it. We once found a possible classic Swedish film on our tour bus once, called ''Jävligt Jagad''. It's a bit like if Bergman's ancestors would make a movie inspired by Takashi Miike". Miike Snow have, however, indicated that they are fans of Miike's work, specifically noting ''

Audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

'', ''

Visitor Q is a 2001 Japanese erotic black comedy- horror film directed by Takashi Miike. It was filmed as the sixth and final part of the Love Cinema series consisting of six straight-to-video releases by independent filmmakers via a brief but exclusi ...

'', '' 13 Assassins'', and ''

Ichi the Killer Ichi the Killer may refer to: * ''Ichi the Killer'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film based on the manga series of the same name * ''Ichi the Killer'' (manga), a manga series written and illustrated by Hideo Yamamoto {{disambig ...

''.

''Miike Snow''

'' is Miike Snow's eponymous debut album. It was recorded in Stockholm and released in the United States on 9 June 2009 by

Downtown Records Downtown Records is an American record label based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles. Owned and operated by Josh Deutsch and Terence Lam, the label is distributed by Geffen Records (formerly Interscope Records and The Orchard) in the ...

. A single for the track "

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

" was released on 17 February 2009. Upon a UK release of the song later in the same year, the track reached number 98 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The 'Punks Jump Up' remix of "Animal" is used as the theme music for the British

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

sitcom ''

Friday Night Dinner ''Friday Night Dinner'' is a British television sitcom written by Robert Popper and starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap. The comedy is focused on the regular dinner experience of the middle-class Bri ...

''. The second single was " Black & Blue". Both singles have made the BBC Radio 1 Playlist B-List. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' spoke highly of the band, saying Miike Snow's "coolly emotional pop suggests

A-ha A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...

meets

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...

." In an interview for ClashMusic.com, Wyatt revealed their unexpected popularity, saying, "I don't think our project was that thought out when we started. We just wanted to make music together. Three people just messing about. I don't think we anticipated the level of attention that it's getting right now. We didn't even think about touring when we started the album." Miike Snow have remixed tracks for

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

, Passion Pit,

Peter Bjorn and John Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie pop/rock band formed in Stockholm in 1999, named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriks ...

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

I Blame Coco Eliot Paulina Sumner (born 30 July 1990) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. Career I Blame Coco Sumner began writing songs at the age of 15, and signed a multi-record deal with Island Records at age 17. They spent six months writin ...

and

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, ...

. Their music has been remixed by

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

Crookers Crookers is the musical project of Italian DJ and producer Francesco "Phra" Barbaglia. Crookers was originally a duo consisting of Phra and fellow producer Bot, who worked together from 2003 to 2012. When the two artists met, both were trying to ...

, Treasure Fingers, Tiga, Caspa, Style of Eye,

Emalkay Martin Knowles, better known by his stage name Emalkay, is an English dubstep producer and DJ from Birmingham. He is best known for his 2009 single "When I Look at You", described by '' Clash'' as a "monster", which was released on Caspa's ...

Fake Blood Theatrical blood, stage blood or fake blood is anything used as a substitute for blood in a theatrical or cinematic performance. For example, in the special effects industry, when a director needs to simulate an actor being shot or cut, a wide v ...

, Benny Blanco, Savage Skulls, Netsky, Hood Internet and

DJ Mehdi Mehdi Favéris-Essadi (20 January 1977 – 13 September 2011), better known by his stage name DJ Mehdi, was a French hip hop and house music producer and DJ. He was signed to the label Ed Banger Records, founded by his friend Pedro Winter, in ...

, amongst others. A remix of the song "

Silvia Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the mythological god of ...

" by DJ's

Sebastian Ingrosso Sebastian Carmine Ingrosso (; born 20 April 1983) is a Swedish DJ and record producer. He is also a member of the Swedish House Mafia, together with friends Axwell and Steve Angello. Career 1999–2007: Career Beginnings Sebastian Ingrosso ent ...

and Dirty South was released on 2 April 2010. Their song "In Search Of" was originally a collaboration with Crookers for the song "Remedy". The band liked the end result so much that they decided to create their own version for their album. In 2011, Miike Snow won a

European Border Breakers Award The European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) was an annual prize awarded to recognise the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year. ...

for their international success. Every year the European Border Breakers Awards
EBBA
recognize the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year. In 2012, the band toured the United States.

''Happy to You''

On 30 May 2011, the band announced on Facebook that they were working on a brand new album to be released in the fall. On 7 October 2011, the band announced on Facebook that they had begun mixing their new album, and that new music would be released by the end of the year. On 29 November 2011, the band announced via Facebook that the album is complete, the videos are being shot, the artwork is being finished, and the tour dates are being planned. On 20 December 2011, the band announced via Facebook that their second full-length album, ''

'', was set to be released the week of 26 March 2012. They also said that there will be no upcoming information on the track titles, singles. The single "Devil's Work" was made available on Spotify on 15 December 2011. On 19 January 2012, Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe premiered "

Paddling Out "Paddling Out" is a song by Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow from their second studio album, ''Happy to You'' (2012). It was released as the album's lead single on 23 January 2012 through Columbia Records, Columbia, Downtown Records, Downtown and ...

", the first single from their second album. Subsequently, the band released the song online and also announced concert dates for their North American tour. At the same time, the track list and album cover art of ''

'' were revealed via Amazon UK. On 24 January 2012, another song from the album, called "Black Tin Box", a collaboration with Swedish singer

Lykke Li Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson (born 18 March 1986), known as Lykke Li (), is a Swedish singer. Her music often blends elements of indie pop, dream pop and electronic. Her debut studio album, ''Youth Novels'', was released in 2008, and has been fol ...

, was presented at Pitchfork. On 9 March Miike Snow visited Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show and debuted a new ''

'' song "Bavarian No. 1 (Say You Will)". "Paddling Out" was released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 13 March 2012 and is featured on the FIFA 13 soundtrack, the

Forza Horizon ''Forza Horizon'' is a 2012 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 on 23 October 2012. The game is the fifth instalment of the '' Forza'' series, having originally spun-off from Turn ...

soundtrack, and the new UK

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...

advert. On 15 March the video for "The Wave", the second single from ''

'', was released. It was once again directed by Swedish director Andreas Nillson, who also worked on the video for "Paddling Out". Both videos form together a unified story.

''iii''

In 2013, Wyatt confirmed that Miike Snow had been working on their third album. On 30 October 2015, after a three-year hiatus, Miike Snow returned to making music as a cohesive unit. The trio of pop-progressives returned with a new song entitled "Heart Is Full". Premiered by Zane Lowe on his Beats1 program, " Heart Is Full" served as the first single released in support of the third studio album from the group. On 4 December 2015 they released their second single of the album, "

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

", which was well-received by critics. Their third studio album, ''iii'', was officially released on 4 March 2016. The band has promoted the album through multiple live performances, including events like

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

and a concert series for ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

''. In addition, the band has announced tour dates from 3 March 2016 to 30 July 2016. The tour began in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and features shows in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The dates also include performances at music festivals, including

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

, the Governors Ball Music Festival and

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

, as well as others. Miike Snow co-headlined at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, NV and the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA with

Phantogram Phantogram may refer to: *Phantogram (band) *Phantogram (optical illusion) Phantograms, also known as Phantaglyphs, Op-Ups, free-standing anaglyphs, levitated images, and book anaglyphs, are a form of optical illusion. Phantograms use perspectiv ...

in the summer of 2017. They also performed at the 96.5 The Buzz show in June 2017 with

Glass Animals Glass Animals are an English indie pop band formed in Oxford in 2010. Founded and led by singer, songwriter, and producer Dave Bayley, the group also features his childhood friends Joe Seaward, Ed Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane. Bayley wrote ...

. Headline tour dates with Klangstof supporting were added, as well.

Other activities

On 30 July 2011, the band announced via Twitter that their new record label,

Ingrid Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name) * Ingrid (record label), and artist collective * Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones * 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid * InGrid, the grid computing project ...

, founded by Miike Snow,

, Coco Morier, and

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 ...

, was open for business.

Artistry

Instruments

The Blob

Miike Snow has expressed a preference for not using laptops when recording and playing music. Thus, in 2011, in anticipation for the ''Happy to You'' tour, Miike Snow collaborated with the Swedish electronics lab

Teenage Engineering Teenage Engineering is a Swedish consumer electronics company and manufacturer founded in 2005 by Jesper Kouthoofd, David Eriksson, Jens Rudberg and David Möllerstedt and based in Stockholm. Its products include electronics and synthesizers, with ...

and one of the engineers from Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) to create "The Blob", a 9 ft × 9 ft hexagonal synthesiser The Blob has been introduced by vocalist Wyatt as "Part synthesizer, part testosterone, all headache, ladies and gentlemen, we happily bring you a costly device with planned obsolescence written all over it". consisting of digital samplers and old synthesiser parts, some of which were bought from

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

. Operated by Karlsson and Winnberg and emblazoned with the band's jackalope logo, the Blob has been used on tours and is known to be able to be taken apart, to facilitate travelling.

Discography

* ''

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2012) * '' iii'' (2016)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2007 establishments in Sweden Alternative dance musical groups Columbia Records artists Musical groups established in 2007 Musical groups from Stockholm English-language singers from Sweden Swedish musical trios Swedish house music groups Swedish indie pop groups Swedish indie rock groups Swedish synthpop groups Downtown Records artists MapleMusic Recordings artists