Don Juan Dracula

Artist Information

Biography

Don Juan Dracula (DJD) is a Norwegian electronic synthpop band that during the last couple of years has broken through from the Oslo underground, attracting a larger audience. Dressed in white suits; they have charmed Norway through memorable performances at the major festivals and every small town since 2001

They released their debut album Young Debutantes II in 2005, an album of electronic synthpop tracks that was widely acclaimed by the critics and record buyers in Norway. The album was produced by Alex Møklebust (Seigmen, Zeromancer).

Don Juan Dracula is first of all a live band. A band that treats every show like it was their last. The members of the band give everything to their live performances, always trying to please their audience. They traveled to China in late 2006 performing at the Beijing Pop Festival with lots of Press coverage from Print and TV stations. In the same year they were invited to the CMJ Music Festival in New York and received rave reviews for their Showcase gig.

In 2007 the band started working on their new Album which is Mixed by Legendary Producer Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys, OMD, New Order, Erasure).
As well as Producer Ed Buller (Suede, Pulp). The new Album titled "New Sensation" will be released in Norway on June 23rd 2008. Top Scandinavian Fashion Designers Arne & Carlos have chosen DJD's music for their 2008 Campaign. DJD was personally selected by the designers to be the exclusive Artist to Showcase their new Collection in Europe. The song "The Night" is the featured track, from their forthcoming Album.

If that is not enough to keep the band busy in Europe. They have just signed Licensing deals for their Album to be released in Australia, New Zealand and South Korea in the next few months. More Territories will follow and the next 12 months look like being a very busy period for these four guys from Norway.

Don Juan Dracula members:

Henrik Lysell; lead vocals, lead guitar
Henning Krane; keyboards
Ola Eriksen; bass guitar
Thomas Lute; Drums

Instrumentation

Henrik Lysell (vocals & guitar)
Henning Krane (syntesizers & keyboards)
Ola Magnar Eriksen (bass)
Thomas Dirk Lute (drums)

Discography

2001 Perfect Girl EP
2003 Happy Boy EP
2005 Take Me Home EP
2005 Young Debutantes II
2008 New Sensation

Audio

• New Sensation
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• Take Me Home
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• Shotgun
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• Changing You, Chaning Me
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• Mexico
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Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Øya Festival - 2005 [+ Show ]
  

  Don Juan Dracula - The name of an actual band, and starting next Tuesday, the name I will insist peo...Don Juan Dracula - The name of an actual band, and starting next Tuesday, the name I will insist people call
  me in public. Synth-happy, Human League-y, these dudes kicked off Øya Festival day two, arriving in a
  chopper, playing some silly-ass electro shit that worked if only because they aren't Fisherspooner.
  I jest but let's get down: You can actually draw the line here why DJD work and Fisherspooner don't. FS have
  costumes and stage drama and self-satisfied cool but all these are knacks--totally incongruous with the music,
  totally boring and empty. DJD, like my boys Datarock, or your boys Devo, actually care about presenting a
  seamless aesthetic: Their songs are sexually absurd, hot but fading like early TV color, so we get slinky
  moustachios wielding keytars, bassists in eye-glitter but white sweater vests, a live high school marching band
  playing foreplay songs, cheerleaders in short skirts, but in braces too, and choreographed as if to play up their
  gawk.

• Øya Festival - 2005 [+ Show ]
  

  Anyway, once back on terra firma we race up to the site, where we've been promised a bit of a specta...Anyway, once back on terra firma we race up to the site, where we've been promised a bit of a spectacular
  display from Norwegian band Don Juan Dracula. They arrive by helicopter, have a children's marching band
  and a vampire string quartet accompany them, and release a flock of homing pigeons from the wings of the
  stage. Yup, that sport beloved of dour flat-capped Yorkshiremen is big in Scandinavian lands too. Don Juan
  Dracula's bassist and keyboardist could advertise that 118 phone service thing if it had a Norse equivalent,
  and they're all dressed in white. They put the necks of their instruments together, igniting something, and
  showers of sparks scatter from the tuning heads. Woo! Ah yes, the music, nearly forgot about that. Don Juan
  Dracula play very Scandinavian guitar pop, you know, the kind of thing that's as clean and unthreatening as
  their motorway hard shoulders, and although it's all very simple fodder - lyrics are of the "let's stay together /
  things will be OK / wooo" mould, it'd be churlish to deny Don Juan Dracula our praise. Especially as they follow
  the pigeons into the sky and leave the site by helicopter, cutting their set short because they didn't want to
  overstep their hour's rental.

• Øya Festival - 2005 [+ Show ]
  

  The rain stopped, at last, and we enjoyed a dry, sometimes sunny, day. Norwegian act Don Juan Dracul...The rain stopped, at last, and we enjoyed a dry, sometimes sunny, day. Norwegian act Don Juan Dracula
  kicked off proceedings on the main stage, featuring their local schoolband in a wacky blend of electro-pop and
  baton-twirling. After Fischerspooner ruined me for all things synthesized the day before, I wanted to stay away
  from Don Juan Dracula, "Norway's Fischerspooner" by one account-- dressed in white, mullets, and sweater
  vests, a high school marching band and drill team on stage. Oh, and they arrived in a helicopter. Don Juan
  Dracula did 'Spooner better, really, because the kink sex-drip stage/lyrics/gawky teenager aesthetic went the
  extra mile for Devo consistency-- not afraid to see the shtick out to its logical conclusion. In this case, it was a
  set cut short because the band needed to return the helicopter (it was a rental), and a marching band playing
  the theme from Police Academy for their exit music.

• Øya Festival - 2005 [+ Show ]
  

  Øya Festival - live review Playing the early sets at the festival doesn’t faze anyone, least of all...Øya Festival - live review
  Playing the early sets at the festival doesn’t faze anyone, least of all Don Juan Dracula, who touch down in a
  chopper, setting off fireworks and kicking out the early afternoon jams with a set of Spinal Tap via Pop Will Eat
  Itself rock-n-roll. You can almost hear them say, “We’re not playing last, but goddamn it, we’re gonna
  headline.” Pretty much every band that plays early gets a huge crowd, but Don Juan Dracula take Willy
  Wonka’s lift straight through the roof.

• Young Debutantes II – Album Review [+ Show ]
  

  Young Debutantes II is the first full length album from the Norwegian electronic pop wonders Don Jua...Young Debutantes II is the first full length album from the Norwegian electronic pop wonders Don Juan
  Dracula, produced by Alex Møklebust of Zeromancer. The band is well known in Norway for their crazy
  entertaining live-shows, but on this album, you'll also hear that Don Juan Dracula is the masters of elegant pop
  music. Don Juan Dracula was a part of the Norwegian casio-pop scene, together with bands like Remington
  Super 60, Safariari and Kawaii, but has lately drifted away from the casio-aestetics incorporating real liveinstruments
  as well. Featuring the hit single "Take Me Home"
  

• Young Debutantes II – Album Review - Hip-ometer Rating ~ 9.1 [+ Show ]
  

  This is apparently the first long player from this Norwegian four piece whom I had not heard of befo...This is apparently the first long player from this Norwegian four piece whom I had not heard of beforehand but
  who appeared to be the Scandi version of Har Mar Superstar. (If you don't know Har Mar, imagine the love
  child of Jon Lovitz and Ron Jeremy singing Madonna songs while he undresses) So I took the chance and
  ordered it, and upon getting this it really turned out to be pretty much what one would expect. Well recorded,
  dancy poptronics sung with catchy choruses.The songs clearly tend towards the quasi disco-anthemic with No
  Control being perhaps the most perfect example of it on here, and it's even the ideal song of that genre type
  perhaps, the poster boy if you will. You'll find this is an outing that just goes along non stop: It drives, it bumps,
  it grinds, it's got it's mojo working over time, yeah baby..... it's all that and a bag of potato chips. Of course
  there are some old people so stiff they don't like this sort of thing, and some young people so depressed they
  don't like it either. However if you are the sort who thinks John Travolta looked dressed perfectly normal in
  Saturday Night Fever and you don't let people touch your hair either, then this is the album you've been
  waiting for. Like it says in the inner sleeve, "It's not about the money, it's all about the fluffy bunny". Honestly,
  what can I add to that.
  This has it's moments and quite a few really good tracks, but it clearly is best at the beginning and tends to get
  a bit over blown near the end, losing some of the disco sensibility for rock edged droning. That said there isn't
  much else out there like this, and it's a wonder.....

• Happy Boy EP - Review [+ Show ]
  

  Hot new Norwegian group, 2nd EP, Indiepop with organ, like a cross of The Sounds and Stereo Total, 6...Hot new Norwegian group, 2nd EP, Indiepop with organ, like a cross of The Sounds and Stereo Total, 6
  tracks, nice digipack. Six catchy pop-melodies from the Norwegian Don Juan Dracula, which has evolved from
  a casio-pop-duo to a four-piece pop-band, but still with focus on the catchy synth-melodies. Not unlike
  Swedish bands like the Shout Out Louds, Melody Club or The Sounds. The song “Together” and its novelty
  music-video has become an underground hit in Norway during the summer. The band played all the biggest
  festivals in Norway this summer to raving reviews, they are absolutely one of the most entertaining live-bands
  in Norway right now. They also played the Arvika Festivalen this year.

Setlist

Fashion Girl
Sick Little World
It’s The Bomb
Changing You Changing Me
Mexico
No Control
Run Away With You
Frxta
Fluffy Bunny
Take Me Home
Into The Sunset
Erection Reflection
Together
Jetlag

Basic Requirements

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