Artist Information
Biography
A FRIEND IN LONDON was formed in 2005 when 4 guys met at a art school for music and theatre in Vostrup, Denmark. From day one the hunt for powerful and catchy melodies was the main focus of the band. Through the past years AFIL has been touring Denmark with more than 100 shows refining the expression of their work. The music combines the simplicity of boy-band pop with the complexity of British influenced indie rock backed by powerful choir arrangements.
In 2008 A FRIEND IN LONDON won the European final of the Bodog Million Dollar Battle of the Bands, with more than 40.000 bands from around the world participating. This event ignited a spark for the band in Canada and since 2009 there has been 4 successful tours in the province of Ontario, including shows at NXNE (North by North East) & Canadian Music Week, as well as a performance at Breakfast TV, the no.1 morning show in Toronto, ON.
2011 has been a defining year for A FRIEND IN LONDON. The band was chosen to represent Denmark in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest and finished in the Top 5 out of forty-three participating countries. AFIL has been working on their highly anticipated debut album with North American producer David Bottrill (Tool, Muse, Placebo, Coheed and Cambria) with a release set for 2012.
Welcome to the FRIEND zone!!
Instrumentation
Tim Schou - Guitar, Lead Vocal
Aske Damm Bramming - Bass, Vocal
Sebastian Vinther Olsen - Lead guitar/ Vocals
Esben Svane - Drums, Vocal
Discography
CALLING A FRIEND - SINGLE (iTunes: Aug 23, 2011)
1. Calling A Friend
NEW TOMORROW - SINGLE (iTunes: Mar 8, 2011)
1. New Tomorrow
A FRIEND IN LONDON EP (iTunes: Nov 3, 2009)
1. What a Way
2. The Light
3. Freddie
OUT OF TRACK (iTunes: Oct 26, 2009)
1. Time Took My Words
2. Break and fall
3. Me and my Heart
4. It's Odd
Links
Video
Press
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From Denmark: A Friend In London
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Rhythmically diverse grooves underline simplicity as it threads its way through masterful arrangemen...Rhythmically diverse grooves underline simplicity as it threads its way through masterful arrangements. That’s one way to describe at least part of the music that radiates from this band that hails from Copenhagen, Denmark called “A Friend in London”. Tightness, clarity, and impact are all understatements. They are at a point that I call “lateral moves only”. That’s the level where all musical polish and virtuosity peaks and you can only make a lateral move towards defining your own direction. And it’s obvious that this fine group of musicians know where they are going.
We hear many bands in this genre, but only that few shine as bright as A Friend in London. Their sound is raw and edgy on one side, and smooth, tasty, and melodic on the other. This makes the perfect recipe for a crossover of listeners that range everywhere from Punk to Pop. But my favorite thing about their music is the fact that every song has a slightly different musical color that keeps me from having to skip over tracks. And with as many bands as Dorothy and I listen to, that’s a rarity and well worth our time.
We want to welcome Tim Schou, Sebastian Vinther, Aske Damm Bramming, and Esben Suane to our fine family of independent musicians. They are now among some of the finest musicians in the independent music scene and will always live on our pages and keep us going. And as long as bands like A Friend in London keep contacting us, we will be going for a long, long, time.
– JJ Rocks
You can visit them at this link:
www.myspace.com/afriendinlondon -
Canada Welcomes A Friend In London
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Somewhere amongst the busy streets of Denmark's capital Copenhagen, you can find Tim Schou: visionar...Somewhere amongst the busy streets of Denmark's capital Copenhagen, you can find Tim Schou: visionary, go-getter, and musical genius. Schou was not only the recipient of Denmark's young talent prize, but he was also the trigger that helped kick start the musical careers for three other young Danish artists.
Since 2005, after walking away with the Danish Young Talent award, a title that left so many other Danish musicians in the wind, Schou soon joined forces with Esben Svane, Aske Damm Bramming, and Sebastian Vinther to create "A Friend in London" - a rock n' pop collaboration.
"We started [attending] a boarding school in Denmark," remembers Vinther. "And the three of us used to hang out a lot. But we only started playing music after leaving the boarding school, after Tim won the songwriting competition."
Fast-forward five years later and the four soft-spoken Denmark natives are recording single after single and touring Denmark. The boys also recently won Europe's Bodog Million Dollar Battle, a battle of the bands contest sponsored by the BoDog Entertainment Group. Schou says the band competed against 40,000 other artists to claim the title along with a record deal. Although despite the win, Schou and co. turned down the contract in the hopes of landing something bigger.
Equipped with a truly impressive sound that has already gotten airplay on large Canadian stations like The Edge 102.1, the band seems well on their way to the top of the charts.
Svane says the band has received an overall positive reaction from home too. "They tend to like it," he says. But there have been a few "weird" situations he counteracts. "There was a girl showing up every time I played in Copenhagen. She showed up at the shows, stalking me."
Nevertheless, the band is still excited to conquer the rest of the globe - particularly the North American market. How do they expect to do that? Well for starters, they have begun a tour across Ontario, visiting Burlington, Kingston and London. They are also scheduled for shows during Canadian Music Week, playing at venues such as the Toronto's legendary Horseshoe Tavern and The Great Hall.
And even though the band has experienced some sporadic weather changes while staying in Ontario - from snowstorms to heavy rain showers - they remain in fantastic spirits. "It's cool. We've been rehearsing for a month leading up to this tour in Toronto and Ontario. So, we're really psyched about being here. Toronto is a really, really great city," says Schou.
But these fellas are no foreigners to the land of ice and snow. Last summer the guys played a set at the North by Northeast (NXNE) Music Festival. There, the group had the chance to meet fellow indie acts, interact with music-biz big wigs, and their favourite memory, connecting with new fans.
For anyone who is unacquainted with the group, know one thing about Schou's music. "I write most of the lyrics and it is always something that is from my life; it is always something I experience. It's really from my heart," he says humbly - a characteristic lost in many musicians these days.
Click to watch A Friend in London's official music video for "The Light." We love it, but what about you? -
Canadian Music Week 2010 Snapshot
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All the way from Copenhagen, Denmark, came A Friend in London. The music of this four-piece band has...All the way from Copenhagen, Denmark, came A Friend in London. The music of this four-piece band has an immediate appeal. Obviously excited to play during Canadian Music Week, A Friend in London drew in the audience and delivered a very convincing show. For friends of melodic pop rock music, this is a band to check out.
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A Friend In London / Horseshoe Tavern / Toronto, Canada / March 16th, 2010
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The Danish band A Friend In London, a curious moniker for a quartet of musicians from Scandinavia, r...The Danish band A Friend In London, a curious moniker for a quartet of musicians from Scandinavia, recently wound down their tour of Canada with a sold out concert at Toronto’s Horseshow Tavern, and opened their set with “Climbing Clouds,” a rock tune on which the two guitarists Tim Schou, Sebastian Vinther and the bassist Ajke Damm harmonized their vocals and drummer Esben Svane kept the beat. Recently, the foursome performed at Canadian Music Week and it was evident then, as it was at the Horseshoe Tavern, that this is not a newbie group, merely hoping to make their mark by blasting concertgoers out of their seats with a thundering kick drum or overwhelming guitar riffs that are intended more to dazzle than they are to act as the foundation for solid tunes. A Friend In London has been performing together for five years and it is obvious with the poise the four lads show on stage, the good mix of tempo to their songs and the mere crafting of some solid tunes, such as, “The Light,” which was oddly left off their set list, although it is arguably the band's best tune.
Tim Schou fronts the band as the lead singer, often opting for a falsetto voicing as he did on “What A Way,” which was introduced by an uneven drum beat which resembled a marching riff, before the band moved into a mid-tempo rock tune. There is not a lot of heart wrenching moments in this relationship song, as things are kept light, while the singer reminds the person to whom he is singing that they share a life together that has survived some bumps along the road, but they have come through the fire together.
The members of A Friend In London easily engage their audience, the ladies will find their boyish good looks appealing and the band members are very comfortable on stage, never seeming out of control and they segue in and out of two and three part vocal harmonies with ease. They can rock the house on songs such as “Old Land,” on which Esben Svane made liberal use of his toms, and Schou is more than capable of seducing the listener with songs such as “Completely Yours,” likely the prettiest song in their set. “Time Took My Words,” starts gently, before Svane adds some heavier beats from his kick drum and Vinther did some note bending.
The set came to an end with “Now You’re Here,” a song on which Svane left his position behind the drum kit, Schou’s vocals lead the way, and then on the chorus he becomes silent, while his fellow musicians do the singing. Schou’s vocals were emotive and he matched them with moving to the front of the stage to create an air of intimacy. .
A Friend In London, should easily be embraced by North American music fans and their songs stylistically and lengthwise are well suited to commercial radio, if program directors pick up on them.
March 16th, 2010 -
A FRIEND IN LONDON /// 3-TRACK SAMPLER
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Catchy and Trafficable. It’s not an album. It’s not long enough for an EP. It’s a three-track fre...Catchy and Trafficable.
It’s not an album. It’s not long enough for an EP. It’s a three-track freebie sampler dished out by Denmark’s A Friend In London. The DIY ethos rings throughout as the rock outfit, with frontman Tim Schou, warbles catchy pop songs, and the caprice to dance might just rear its ugly head, even if you convinced yourself that you would just give the guys’ songs a listen. In What A Way, a syncopated beat throws you off as you try to find your footing to an upbeat promise, but the build-up towards the end brings it back to a veritable thriving popiness. Freddie flaunts Schou, with his genuine splintered vox, and The Light parades his à propos falsetto. The production might need some fine-tuning, but all the fundamentals for marketable radio play are there: euphonic sounds, four saleable faces, and a stirring appetite for songwriting. Now if someone out there would just help them put out a full-length album, I would be curious to see what A Friend in London chalks up…
band myspace: http://www.myspace.com/afriendinlondon -
Denmark has A Friend In London
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Danish Rock band A Friend In London, fronted by vocalist and primary songwriter Tim Schou, who is co...Danish Rock band A Friend In London, fronted by vocalist and primary songwriter Tim Schou, who is complimented by Esben Svane (drummer ), Sebastian Vinther (guitarist ) and Aske Damm Bramming (bassist), are about to land in Canada for the third time, as they embark on their second tour in Canada, following their initial visit in 2009, when they performed at NXNE in Toronto. During a recent interview Tim Schou revealed that while A Friend In London plans on playing crowd favorites such as; the Pop–Rock Noire song “Freddie,” “The Light,” which should chart well in North America and the guitar mashup, “The Way, the band also plans to unveil a few new songs.
While back home in Denmark, the music of A Friend In London has been played on the larger radio stations, Canada is just starting to discover this band and soon television audiences will as well, because A Channel and Breakfast Television have planned interviews with the band and they will be performing live.
When asked about A Friend In London’s growing popularity in North America, drummer, Esben Svane replied, “Sometimes you’re more interesting when you’re from “across the pond.” Many North Americans like Scandinavian music and /or European music in general. I think A Friend In London, could be appealing to North American music fans because Tim is inspired by John Mayer and some of the melodies could remind you of the way he (Mayer) would do it. A Friend In London has a more “rock band feel” to it though, and when we are playing in Canada, people said we sounded like Coldplay, U2 and Radiohead. So maybe there is a reminder of something North American (such as) John Mayer, but with a European rock sound.”
Guitarist Sebastian Vinther says "The lyrics of our songs always have a personal angle. They're based on something that we experience in our every day lives, the way we look at a certain issue etc. In the making of the music and melodies we then try to make the lyrics into a catchy tune that we think would have a broad appeal as long as it is something that we ourselves enjoy playing. Making catchy tunes is not a dogma for us, I think it comes very natural for us."
Svane is quick to point out that he is a big fan of North American bands and solo artists such as; Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Neil Young, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! And Still Life Still.
Tim Schou has found the crowds in Canada to be refreshing. “Music fans in Canada seem to be more into the music (than Danish fans) and they love the music. They do what they have to do, to follow the band and to support the band, compared to at least, people in Denmark, where people are more like, ‘I don’t know if I am going to go to that concert, because it’s raining, so I think that I am going to stay home.’ That is how they tend to be in Denmark, not that they aren’t musical fans, but in Canada they are more into it and they go for it the whole nine yards to follow their band. I think that is cool.”
"When making our set lists and deciding which tunes to record we believe in finding a good mixture of songs that you remember after hearing them for the first time and then some songs that require a little more patience from the listeners. They are not always the newest songs in our catalogue, sometimes bringing in a few oldies can bring some excitement into the performance. It's always good to go with a little insecurity instead of just a plain routine," says Vinther and it is the band's willingness to take risks which seems to be the magnet that draws new fans to them.
Svane adds, “We have had great experiences with Canadian audiences. Canada is an amazing place for a Scandinavian band to play because the Canadian audience is a lot different than the Scandinavian (music fan) and Canadians seem to like the Scandinavian sound a lot. Abba, Roxette and The Cardigans from Sweden have been very popular in North America as well.”
The song “What A Way,” begins with thundering guitars, heavy bass and lots of kick drum, before it segues into a prominent snare drum accompaniment of Tim Schou’s vocals and the guitars slip more into the background.
“The song came together, because of this desire to go somewhere, to go to foreign places and to take it to another level for the four of us and that is what it is all about. It is about that unity thing. It could also be about another relationship of course,” says Schou and then explains about the video, “It is a big mashup and it is a relationship between this young guy and the ballerina. It is about his desire to be with her. Then there are these really, really good dancers, so we wanted to give a picture that this song can be about everything. It is about doing everything to the fullest and taking your passion to another level.”
With darker lyrics such as, “I can’t stand the light / It is killing me inside,” there are some music fans who have described the song as being melancholic, however, Schou suggests that the song is more about just wanting to avoid being in the spotlight.
“It is when you most of all want to crawl in your little hole and just be there,” he says.
The Danish lads have been together for seven years now, and their cohesiveness is clearly evident on stage. They do not need to rely on hype or gimmicks to engage their audience, they simply play their music and they are relaxed while doing so.
“We met in 2003, and I do not know how to say this in English, but I think that it is called a continuation school or it is like a boarding school, Vostrup Efterskole for Musik og Teater (Vostrup Boarding School for Music and Theatre). You can choose what you want to do and at our school it was about acting, performing and playing music. I went to the acting section and they went to the music school. Then we got together and I started writing some songs. I could see that maybe I should focus more on writing songs and singing than on being an actor. The other three guys had already played together and they told me that they thought I had some really good songs and if I ever needed a band that I should just let them know. I wrote the song "Thoughts of a Boheme," and I won a competition called Danish Young Artist in 2005. The prize was to record a single with a top Danish producer. Of course I needed a band for that,” Schou recalls.
As for the band’s name, “We started out with calling the band my name, Tim Schou, because it started with just me and my guitar and with me writing songs. It is only about a year ago that we changed the name to A Friend in London, because we wanted this unity thing. With just my name people thought it was a solo act and we needed to bring it altogether. I write the songs, but the whole thing comes together when we are in rehearsals. I went on a solo tour in London and then one day we sat and brainstormed about what would be a good name for the band. I made a decision that I was going to stay with a friend in London and then our guitar player Sebastian said, ‘Hey a friend in London, that sounds cool dude.’ We kept it in our heads for a couple of days and then we thought it was great. It is also about people interacting, building bridges and being friends,” as Schou explains that the name A Friend In London, gives the band more a global appeal.”
Vinther and Schou performed as a duo in London, England and Schou has performed as a solo act in Berlin. A Friend In London's global appeal appears to be continuing to grow and it should get a boost with their Canadian tour in September.
To listen to the music of A Friend In London please visit their myspace site.
August 2010 -
A FRIEND IN LONDON MAKES FRIENDS IN CANADA (NXNE review)
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Straight out of Copenhagen, A Friend in London offers an eclectic fusion of sounds on their latest E...Straight out of Copenhagen, A Friend in London offers an eclectic fusion of sounds on their latest EP. Tim Schou, Sebastien Vinther, Aske Damm Bramming and Esben Svane, four music-savvy friends from boarding school got together and formed A Friend in London in 2005. The band has since taken off, grabbing the attention of many spectators and fans alike in the Danish community and have begun turning heads in Canada.
A Friend in London had the opportunity to debut their powerful-yet-cozy EP tracks while headlining a NXNE show put on by Ur Artist Network at Montana’s in Toronto. They shared the stage with other acclaimed indie acts such as Magneta Lane and Crush Luther and were handing out copies of their EP for the crowd to enjoy. The energy-invoking sounds of A Friend in London had the crowd cheering and anticipating the next song in cue. The band members were excited about the Canadian response to their music, and are enthusiastic about playing more shows in the future for their Canadian fans.
"It was such a rush to perform at an amazing indie festival like NXNE for Canadians. We love bringing a crowd together, and sharing our music with everyone uniting everyone under one roof for an intimate jam session." said Tim Schou, lead vocalist.
Catchy tracks such as ‘The Light’ and ‘Time took my words’ are perfect tunes to cozy up and keep warm with this fall. Experience the sound of A Friend in London at their myspace address, "http://www.myspace.com/afriendinlondon". -
BODOG MILLION DOLLAR BATTLE
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STENGADE30 - 10/22/2007 Singer songwriter Tim Schou played powerful, commercial songs backed by a g...STENGADE30 - 10/22/2007
Singer songwriter Tim Schou played powerful, commercial songs backed by a great band - all without that layer of commercial-made cheese we..d like to scrape off some top 40 hits.
THE ROCK - 12/13/2007
Incredible set once again from Tim Schou with pop rock at its very best.Tim and his band are the full package professionals, and at such a young age. The crowd absolutely ate it up. (BodogBattle.net)
PUMPEHUSET - 01/30/2008
Tim Schou could be pop’s next big thing. This young guy looks like Justin Timberlake, is talented, has a great band, is listenable, marketable and radio friendly. We think he should be signed now! (BodogBattle.net)
VEGA - 02/13/2008
Tim Schou was a shoe in to move on to the final round of the European leg of the tour. The crowd was loving every minute of it. Men were jealous and Women were swooning. -
Icarus Club - Review April 23th 2009
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A Friend In London are an excellent four-piece band from Copenhagen. Two of the band, Tim Schou ...A Friend In London are an excellent four-piece band from Copenhagen. Two of the band, Tim Schou (who played solo at the Icarus back in December) and Sebastian Vinther, were in the UK for a short tour to play some acoustic versions of the band compositions, five of which they played tonight, "New Grounds", "Remotely Close", "Fredi", "Out Of Track" and "Bring It Forth". They play with great energy and conviction and Tim's soaring voice is perfectly complemented by both his own and Sebastian's excellent guitar playing. You can download a very fine band track, "The Light", and get more info from their myspace which is www.myspace.com/afriendinlondon.
Setlist
The following months our set list will consist of songs from our debut album:
1. Unite
2. Are You Lost
3. Calling A Friend
4. Rocket
5. Messed Up Weekends
6. Out of my hands
7. Rest From The Streets
8. Get Rich In Vegas
9. Stage Dive
10. New Tomorrow
11. Time Took My Words
12. Solo Machine
13. The Light
Xtra: Running Cities
Basic Requirements
Calendar
There are no upcoming dates at this time.

