I'm from Barcelona: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• The Polyphonic Spree
• The Heavy Blinkers
• Bodies of Water
• Je T'Aime Mon Amour
• The 1900s
• Suburban Kids with Biblical Names
• Architecture in Helsinki

• Harry Nilsson
• Phil Spector
• Monkees
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• The Beach Boys

Formed:

Jan 1, 2005 in Jönköping, Sweden

Genre:

Rock Music

Decades Active:

2000's

When the rock histories of the 2000s are written, at least one long chapter will have to be written about the explosion of the concept of the rock band not as a small, discrete unit with relatively stable personnel, but as an amorphous, free floating collective that could at times expand to include literally dozens of people. Canada's Broken Social Scene and the panEuropean ensemble the Envelopes are perhaps the best known examples, but I'm From Barcelona who, naturally, are actually from the small, picturesque, but not at all Catalan city of Jonkoping, Sweden may have them beat in terms of sheer scale. The magic number for I'm From Barcelona is 29, which is how many named participants performed on the group's debut EP.

That EP began as a oneoff lark inspired in part by Sweden's legendarily generous labor laws. Given four paid weeks off from his office job in the summer of 2005 and armed with a stack of unrecorded tunes, parttime singersongwriter Emanuel Lundgren decided to invite all of his friends most of whom were not in fact professional musicians to help him make a DIY EP. Recorded at Lundgren's house and various public spots around Jonkoping, the EP's completion was celebrated by what was supposed to be the group's debut and farewell performance, with a band name chosen almost at random from the classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers. ("I'm from Barcelona" was the catchphrase for incompetent waiter Manuel.) However, when Lundgren selfreleased the EP, Sing, the popular response was enthusiastic enough that the Swedish branch of EMI signed I'm From Barcelona and it became an ongoing concern. The band's blend of sunshiny choral vocals, chamber pop instrumentation (heavy on the horns, banjos and accordions) and folkinfluenced tunes comes off like the Polyphonic Spree without the weird culty associations, Sufjan Stevens without the creepy Max Fischer Players vibe and the Flaming Lips without the drug flashbacks, and developed an almost instantaneous online cult. Their debut EP Don't Give Up On Your Dreams, Buddy, featuring the single "We're From Barcelona," was released in the early spring of 2006, followed by the fulllength debut Let Me Introduce My Friends that summer. Live incarnations of I'm From Barcelona depend upon how many of the 29 members can attend on any given date; Lundgren and Swedish electronica artist Adventure Kid occasionally perform allelectronic dates as a duo.

- Stewart Mason, All Music Guide