Dick Clark Productions Digital/Danny ClinchLukas Graham is one of more than a dozen artists who are performing on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest Saturday night. But unlike most of those acts, the Danish band had never even heard of the show before they were booked on it.
“Growing up in Denmark, we were not aware of the show,” says frontman Lukas Graham Forchhammer. “And when we were told how many people actually see the show, it was like six or eight times the population of our country!”
He laughs. “So yeah, everything is just a little bigger in America!”
The appearance caps off a huge year for the band, which was essentially unknown in the U.S. a year ago. Since then, they’ve done several tours, made numerous high-profile TV appearances, scored a massive hit with “7 Years” and been nominated for three Grammy Awards. So what’s on tap for 2017?
“Finishing our American headlining tour,” says Lukas. “[Then], we’re gonna do some of the biggest shows we’ve ever done in Europe, we’ve got a bunch of festivals lined up, we’re gonna travel the world and we’re gonna start writing the second album.”
He adds, “We’re always writing, but we’re gonna really start writing!”
Some of the stuff Lukas has written so far has been inspired by his new baby daughter Viola, who arrived in September. He says that during his seven-week paternity leave, the band “rented a big mansion and set up a whole studio…and the guys got to meet my little baby girl.”
“Yeah, it’s already affecting the songwriting,” Lukas explains, “I write from where I stand. I’m not writing from anywhere else, and right now I’m a father and I’m a friend and I’m a traveling musician, so of course that’s, that’s gonna be in the songs.”
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