Art Nation

Art Nation
Origin Sweden
GenresMelodic rock
Years active2014–present
LabelsSony Music Entertainment
MembersAlexander Strandell
Christoffer Borg
Richard Swärd
Alexander Lundgren
Past membersFelix Borg
Theodor Hedström
Simon Gudmundsson
Sam Söderlindh
Carl Tudén

Art Nation is a Swedish melodic rock band from Gothenburg, founded in 2014 by Alexander Strandell.

Their debut album Revolution was released in August 2015 by German record company Metal Heaven.[1]

The band was nominated for one of Sweden's biggest music prizes, "Gaffa- priset", 2015, 2016, and 2017, as "The Best Live Act of the Year" and "Swedish Breakthrough of the Year" [2] and "Swedish Group of the Year" like Zara Larsson , Ghost , Laleh , Håkan Hellström and In Flames.

The song "Look to the Sky" featured in the newspaper Aftonbladet's best-selling list 2015 and was named "Beautifulest Ballad of the Year".[3]

In early 2016, the band signed a worldwide record contract with Sony Music Entertainment[4] / Gain, which led to a sharp success curve in a short period of time. In mid-2016, the band was highly featured with "We Are Better Together", this year's specially written Gothia Cup song,[5] performed during the opening ceremony at Ullevi on July 18, 2016, for an audience of 60,000. In this connection, the band also participated in [6] SVT where the "Gothia song" was played live.

The tour summer also included many play dates at festivals, clubs and other contexts. Sweden's biggest rock magazine online, Rocknytt , praised the band through the sentence - "[Art Nation] is a magnificent show in how damn good melodic hard rock can sound in 2016!"[7]

The group has played and shared a scene with bands and artists like Sabaton, Europe, Twisted Sister, H.e.a.t,[8] Dokken,[9] Takida, Stiftelsen,[10] Måns Zelmerlöw, D-A-D, Petter[11] and Carola.[11]

In April 2017, Art Nation released its second album, Liberation, with a tougher and more modern sound than before.

"We wanted to broaden the boundaries and see what was possible to do to renew," says Alexander Strandell.

In autumn 2017, Christoffer Borg, Simon Gudmundsson and Carl Tudén were replaced by Sam Söderlindh, Richard Svärd and Linus Thomsson respectively. Efraim Larsson (ex-Diamond Dawn) was temporary as a drummer between July–September 2017.

  1. ^ "Art Nation - Revolution (2015)". Kritiker.se. 2016-04-15.
  2. ^ "Svensk grupp med hedervärt uppdrag – klara för Ullevi" (in Swedish). GAFFA.se. 2016-04-15. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  3. ^ "Årets 99 bästa låtar - Nöjesbladets Musikblogg" (in Swedish). Nöjesbladets Musikblogg. 2016-04-15.
  4. ^ "Den melodiösa bloggen: Art Nation skriver på för Sony Music Entertainment/Gain". calmridge.blogspot.se. 2016-04-15. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  5. ^ "Svensk grupp med hedervärt uppdrag – klara för Ullevi" (in Swedish). GAFFA.se. 2016-04-15. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  6. ^ "Gothia Cup 2016 | Barnkanalen". www.svt.se. Archived from the original on 2016-08-26.
  7. ^ "Art Nation - Liverecension från Skogsröjet 2016-08-06". www.rocknytt.net. 2016-08-24.
  8. ^ "Törebodafestivalen 2015". Törebodafestivalen 2015. 2016-04-15.
  9. ^ "Debaser.se » 2015-10-28 » Dokken + Art Nation". debaser.se. 2016-04-15.
  10. ^ "FÖRFEST I KUNGSAN NÄR AC/DC KOMMER TILL STOCKHOLM" (in Swedish). Mynewsdesk. 2016-04-15.
  11. ^ a b "Latitud 57 – 2015". Issuu. 2016-04-15.