Efterklang Gets Busy

Efterklang Members: (L-R) Casper Clausen, Rune Mølgaard, Thomas Husmer, Rasmus Stolberg, Mads Brauer
Hometown: Copenhagen, Denmark
Album Title: Parades
For Fans Of: Sigur Rós, Múm, Sufjan Stevens

I was like, ‘What is going on?’” jokes Rasmus Stolberg in response to the critical success of 2007’s Parades, the latest LP from his Copenhagen-based ensemble, Efterklang. As we talk, he’s hustling from car to tour bus with a borrowed cell phone pinched between his shoulder and ear, moving luggage and fielding questions between breaths. Stolberg and his seven cohorts have just arrived in Boulder, Colo., and still need to make it to the post office in time to snag a rush shipment of T-shirts before heading into Denver for the first show of their extensive (and jokingly titled) Danish Dynamite tour with their friends in Slaraffenland. Today is slightly chaotic.

Though this is the band's first time in the States, Efterklang is hardly an obscure name in the European underground. Since the release of 2004’s Tripper, the group has remained somewhat of a well-kept secret, quietly fine-tuning and further realizing its intricate coalescence of dramatic orchestration and complex glitch-electronica. The aptly titled Parades is an elastic collage that can quickly move from the sublime nuances of an Arvo Pärt choral arrangement to the startling riffle of a marching-band cadence.

The group took shape in 2000 when Stolberg and longtime friends/collaborators Mads Brauer and Casper Clausen moved from their hometown of Sønderborg (on the small Baltic island of Als) to Copenhagen. There they met Rune Mølgaard and Thomas Husmer.

“I grew up in an old farmhouse,” Stolberg recalls. “I had two pigs, two cows and two sheep. There was all this time, and the only thing that we liked to do was play music. At the time, Copenhagen had a great electronic scene. I think that influenced our compositions.” He pauses, then adds, “The three of us are just really old friends, so if anything were considered an influence…” He trails off, interrupted by someone. “Hold on, sorry.”

Garnering the group a handful of notable awards, including 2 DMAs (the Danish equivalent of the Grammys) and 3 Steppeulvens (presented by the critics of Denmark), the current that carries Parades has hardly left Stolberg and company a free moment to reflect. “Ok, sorry. I’m back,” he says. “But actually, we’re about to leave. I have to go get the shirts now.”