Komeda

Komeda was formed in 1987 in Umeå, Sweden by Henrik Andersson, Lena Karlsson and the two brothers Marcus and Jonas Holmberg. The band borrowed their name from Polish musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda, who among other things composed the scores for some of the early Roman Polanski movies (Krzysztof Komeda actually died in a Polish hospital in April 1969 from an accident during a heavy drinking party in Los Angeles in December the previous year, caused by Polański and a common friend). The interest of film music had been cultivated by the band members in Projektor 7, a unique constellation who had written prized music to silent movies presented live at different film festivals. The band members also composed music for plays, often in collaboration with Profilteatern in Umeå. Komeda's debut album Pop på svenska ("Pop In Swedish") was released in the beginning of 1993 - a thoroughly dealt with album with lots of strings and big sounds. Two years later the EP Plan 714 till Komeda was released. A new member, replacing Henrik Andersson, was guitarist Mattias Norlander who earlier played in the rock band Blithe. The long due followup, The Genius of Komeda, was subsequently released in January 1996. The album was praised in Swedish media, and later on in American media when the album was released in the USA on the Chicago label Minty Fresh. The album was also released in Japan by Pioneer (3) and in Europe by PLR, and was well received even by the British critics. At the end of 1996, the band supported Beck at his own request on his European tour. March and April 1997 saw another tour, this time it was Ben Folds Five who wanted to be supported by Komeda through USA and Europe. The summer of 1997 the band spent performing on several Swedish festivals. In September 1997 the band entered Tonteknik Recording Studio, and during the autumn Komeda's third album was recorded, co-produced by Friend (Magnus Åström), a graphic designer and musician signed to the leftfield techno label Dot. On this album the band combined their love for melodic pop, film music and 70's and 80's punk, new wave, krautrock and electronica with their very own original expression. The album got the somewhat wondering title What Makes It Go? - a question that surely can be answered in various ways, depending on the listener. Feelings as happiness, curiosity and wonder over the absurdities of life are gathered on this album, which in many aspects is an epitome of the best of Komeda's earlier albums. During the fall of 1998, Komeda made yet another trip to the States, this time supporting British act Eve. In 2000, the band wrote two songs for Måns Herngren’s and Hannes Holm’s 2000 motion picture Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sig ("It never turns out as planned"), as well as the theme song for the animated children's movie Pettson och Findus - Kattonauten the same year. They also appeared on the soundtracks for Cartoon Network show The Powerpuff Girls, which topped Billboard's children's music chart for six weeks upon its debut. In 2001 Mattias Norlander left the band and in April Komeda signed with Universal Music Group. Their last album KoKoMeMeDaDa was released in 2003, and was followed by a short Swedish tour that ended in early 2004, after which the band called it quits.