Eskobar
Encyclopedia
Eskobar is the name of a Swedish
indie/pop band that was founded in 1996 some 30 kilometres north of Stockholm
, in the small town of Åkersberga
. The band features Daniel Bellqvist as its lead singer, Frederik Zäll on guitars, and Robert Birming on drums.
was the popular musical style of the time, the band settled on this genre as their signature style. During this time the band also changed its name to Cripplefish.
In less than a year, Cripplefish's sound began to evolve from Grunge into Pop
, prompting the lead singer, Staffan Atling, to leave the band. This shift in genre style led to a significant reformulation of the band. Cripplefish was renamed, this time taking the name The Bugs, but without a lead singer, Daniel was forced to pick up the slack on vocals while playing bass. Another reshuffling of the band's lineup brought in Robert Birming as drummer and Jojjo, the band’s only female member, was brought on as The Bugs' acoustic guitarist and backup vocalist.
By 1996, the newly-revised 4-piece band had continued to make inroads with their upbeat pop style, but another shakeup was looming on the horizon. As they booked their first Stockholm gig, Jojjo decided to leave The Bugs, citing the stresses associated with daily rehearsals as her main motivation for leaving the band. The three remaining band members decided to stay on and continue making music, however, and used Jojjo’s departure and their ever-evolving style to change the band’s name yet again. The Bugs' shift from mainstream pop to Brit-Pop came about as they changed their name to Browneyed Susan.
, where Sony eventually agreed to finance a ten song demo. This critical demo ultimately became a watershed moment for the band: one of the ten songs, "Tumbling Down", had a sound that set it apart from the other nine. Instead of being of a derived style like all of the band's previous songs, for the first time in Eskobar's history, this song demonstrated the band was capable of originality. The other nine songs were discarded, and a newer more free-flowing set of songs was recorded. This demo saw the band signed with V2 Music
where they took the name Small Change.
Under its new label, the band saw a lot of exposure playing as the opening act for well known Swedish bands such as The Wannadies
. Eventually, though, the band's popularity grew to a point where they were in the prime position to release their own albums. The only problem was that the band didn't have a concrete name. It was one thing to shuffle through names when the band was unsigned, but things had changed and Eskobar now needed to be conscious of the fact that many of the names they were coming up with were already taken. After a lot of thought, the band became frustrated and nearly gave up. The name problem was later solved when a friend of the band met an American manager and asked for help. He suggesting the name "Escobar
", and the band liked the sound of it, so they approved of the name acquisition with one slight change: The 'c' was swapped out of the name for a 'k' to make it the band's own.
", a duet with Heather Nova
released in 2002, was an international hit and has since taken on a life of its own. Although both artists are still primarily known in Europe, the popularity of "Someone New" saw Eskobar and Heather Nova's fan base reach America through MTV
.
. They were among the last artists - the "wildcards" - to be confirmed and competed in the third heat in Linköping
on February 23. The title of the song is "Hallelujah New World". Eskobar did not manage to qualify for the Melodifestivalen final, placing last in their heat and becoming the first wild card entry not to qualify at least for the second chance round.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
indie/pop band that was founded in 1996 some 30 kilometres north of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, in the small town of Åkersberga
Åkersberga
Åkersberga is a locality and the seat of Österåker Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 26,727 inhabitants in 2005.-History:In 1901 a railway station named Berga was opened on this rural spot some 30 km from Stockholm. Some shops and a post office followed...
. The band features Daniel Bellqvist as its lead singer, Frederik Zäll on guitars, and Robert Birming on drums.
Formation
Eskobar has its roots in the early 1990s when Daniel Bellqvist left his band to join Frederik Zäll’s band called FOF (an acronym for "Fish Or Fantasy?") in 1994. The two musicians had previously met in their high school band class. In their incarnation as FOF, Daniel played bass while Frederik played guitar, and since GrungeGrunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
was the popular musical style of the time, the band settled on this genre as their signature style. During this time the band also changed its name to Cripplefish.
In less than a year, Cripplefish's sound began to evolve from Grunge into Pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, prompting the lead singer, Staffan Atling, to leave the band. This shift in genre style led to a significant reformulation of the band. Cripplefish was renamed, this time taking the name The Bugs, but without a lead singer, Daniel was forced to pick up the slack on vocals while playing bass. Another reshuffling of the band's lineup brought in Robert Birming as drummer and Jojjo, the band’s only female member, was brought on as The Bugs' acoustic guitarist and backup vocalist.
By 1996, the newly-revised 4-piece band had continued to make inroads with their upbeat pop style, but another shakeup was looming on the horizon. As they booked their first Stockholm gig, Jojjo decided to leave The Bugs, citing the stresses associated with daily rehearsals as her main motivation for leaving the band. The three remaining band members decided to stay on and continue making music, however, and used Jojjo’s departure and their ever-evolving style to change the band’s name yet again. The Bugs' shift from mainstream pop to Brit-Pop came about as they changed their name to Browneyed Susan.
Getting signed
After a year floundering with Swedish record label MNW, the band recorded a three track demo in 1998 that was shuffled from EMI to Sony PublishingSony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing is a music publishing company co-owned by The Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony. The organisation was originally founded as Associated TeleVision in 1955 by Lew Grade. In 1957, ATV acquired Pye Records as a wholly owned subsidiary...
, where Sony eventually agreed to finance a ten song demo. This critical demo ultimately became a watershed moment for the band: one of the ten songs, "Tumbling Down", had a sound that set it apart from the other nine. Instead of being of a derived style like all of the band's previous songs, for the first time in Eskobar's history, this song demonstrated the band was capable of originality. The other nine songs were discarded, and a newer more free-flowing set of songs was recorded. This demo saw the band signed with V2 Music
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
where they took the name Small Change.
Under its new label, the band saw a lot of exposure playing as the opening act for well known Swedish bands such as The Wannadies
The Wannadies
The Wannadies were an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten , Christina Bergmark , Stefan Schönfeldt and his younger brother Fredrik Schönfeldt with Gunnar Karlsson and Björn Malmquist .Early influences...
. Eventually, though, the band's popularity grew to a point where they were in the prime position to release their own albums. The only problem was that the band didn't have a concrete name. It was one thing to shuffle through names when the band was unsigned, but things had changed and Eskobar now needed to be conscious of the fact that many of the names they were coming up with were already taken. After a lot of thought, the band became frustrated and nearly gave up. The name problem was later solved when a friend of the band met an American manager and asked for help. He suggesting the name "Escobar
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord. He was an elusive cocaine trafficker and rich and successful criminal. He owned numerous luxury residences, automobiles, and even airplanes...
", and the band liked the sound of it, so they approved of the name acquisition with one slight change: The 'c' was swapped out of the name for a 'k' to make it the band's own.
Fame
"Someone NewSomeone New
"Someone New" is a 2002 single released by Eskobar featuring Heather Nova. The duet was an international hit.Although both artists are still primarily known in Europe, the popularity of "Someone New" saw Eskobar and Heather Nova's fan base reach America through MTV.- Music video :The success of the...
", a duet with Heather Nova
Heather Nova
Heather Nova, is a Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. She has released eight full-length albums and has found lasting success in Germany where two of her albums South and Storm have made their way into the Top-5 of German official album chart.-Biography:Heather Nova was born in Bermuda...
released in 2002, was an international hit and has since taken on a life of its own. Although both artists are still primarily known in Europe, the popularity of "Someone New" saw Eskobar and Heather Nova's fan base reach America through MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Melodifestivalen 2008
On January 15 it was announced that Eskobar will be one of the participants in Melodifestivalen 2008, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. They were among the last artists - the "wildcards" - to be confirmed and competed in the third heat in Linköping
Linköping
Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
on February 23. The title of the song is "Hallelujah New World". Eskobar did not manage to qualify for the Melodifestivalen final, placing last in their heat and becoming the first wild card entry not to qualify at least for the second chance round.
Albums
- til We're Dead (2000)
- There's Only Now (2001)
- A Thousand Last Chances (2004)
- Eskobar (2006)
- Death in Athens (2008)
Singles
- Promo Single (7" Vinyl) (1999)
- On A Train (1999)
- On A Train (7" Vinyl) (2000)
- Good Day For Dying (2000)
- Tumbling Down (2000)
- Counterfeit EP (2000)
- Tumbling Down (Dead Mono Version) (2001)
- Into Space (2001)
- Tell Me I'm Wrong (2001)
- Someone NewSomeone New"Someone New" is a 2002 single released by Eskobar featuring Heather Nova. The duet was an international hit.Although both artists are still primarily known in Europe, the popularity of "Someone New" saw Eskobar and Heather Nova's fan base reach America through MTV.- Music video :The success of the...
(2002) - On The Ground (2002)
- Move On" (2002)
- Love Strikes" (2003)
- Singles Collection Volume One (Box) (2003)
- Singles Collection Volume Two (Box) (2003)
- Love Strikes (2003)
- Love Strikes (3" CD) (2003)
- Bring The Action (2004)
- You Got Me (2004)
- Even If You Know Me (2005)
- Persona Gone Missing (2006)
- Devil Keeps Me Moving (2006)
- Whatever This Town (2006)
- As the world turns" (2008)
- Halleluja New World" (2008)