Kristoffer Ragnstam is a Swedish singer/songwriter who started out as a drummer. He could not actually play drums, but he soon found out that he wanted something different. The kind of kit you could not buy in a shop. So he designed his own drum kits, sold a couple to fellow drummers - mostly jazz guys. He was part of a group of non-musicians called Blind - none of the members could play their instrument, but they went ahead anyway, only playing original material.
Ragnstam found out that he could write songs and tell other musicians what he would like to hear. A demo was cut, after which he was picked up by a record label releasing a six track EP called Do You Want a Piece of Me. He blends his own kind of lyrical weirdness with music that conquers up mid-seventies David Bowie peppered with catchy hooks from the New Wave era. After the record deal was signed, the company bought him a guitar which allowed him to front his current band Electric-4: saxophonist Andreas Gidlund, guitarist Per Stålberg from Division of Laura Lee, and, on one track, (International) Noise Conspiracy drummer Ludwig Dahlberg.
His first full length album Sweet Bills was mixed by Chris Brown of Radiohead fame.
Kristoffer Ragnstam is an original, operating in left field. That's not where the money is, but it's where the cognoscenti and the critics hang out. Not a bad place to be.
From the ep Do You Want a Piece of Me:
MP3: Kristoffer Ragnstam - Beauty
MP3: Kristoffer Ragnstam - Woke Up Left Handed
MP3: Kristoffer Ragnstam - Do You Want A Piece Of Me
From the full-length album Sweet Bills:
MP3: Kristoffer Ragnstam - Breakfast By The Mattres
MP3: Kristoffer Ragnstam - Too Close To The Curb
Kristoffer Ragnstam is on the Blu Hammock Music label.
USA tour dates:
- 11/08 Triple Door- Seattle, WA
- 11/09 Mojito's Café- San Francisco, CA
- 11/10 Monterey Live- Monterey, CA
- 11/11 Rocks- Santa Barbara, CA
- 11/13 Hotel Café- Los Angeles, CA
- 11/15 Knitting Factory Tap Bar- New York, NY
- 11/17 World Café Live- Philadelphia, PA
- 11/18 Fire Station 8- Gaithersburg, MD
» ragnstam.com
» myspace.com/ragnstam