Marching Band

"All we need are two bikes, one laptop, three microphones and our keen sense of whimsical instrumentation," says ERIK SUNBRING and JACOB LIND of Swedish-based indie-pop/rock duo MARCHING BAND.

Marching Band combines eccentric musical elements with mainstay rock sounds, creating a unique sonic fusion that finds instrumentation of marimba, banjo and vibraphone meshing with guitars, bass, drums and lush vocal harmonies. The duo’s distinct sound and style can be heard on their first full-length studio album, Spark Large, which was released by U&L Records on August 5, 2008. The album’s popularity is growing, moving into the position of #52 top album download on Emusic, and has garnered critical praise from such outlets as NPR, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Saturday Night Magazine.


Produced by Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo, Clem Snide), Spark Large features 12 tracks of beautifully crafted indie-pop and atmospheric folk. Indie rock stations quickly started to pick up on some of the album’s stand out tracks. The disc's first single "Gorgeous Behavior" promptly caught the attention of KCRW's Nic Harcourt, who had them perform live in-studio on Morning Becomes Eclectic in Los Angeles, CA. In addition, another notable track from the disc, "Feel Good About It," has been put into rotation on Los Angeles' Indie 103.1FM.

Sunbring and Lind note that the development of Marching Band was a natural progression: “We met four years ago in our first year at university through our mutual friend, Benjamin, who, ironically enough, now tours with us as our lead guitarist,” the pair says. “I invited Erik over to my apartment to listen to some music I had and we began jamming,” said Jacob. The pair’s songs started off with a singer-songwriter style with a distinct folk sound from the beginning, but quickly moved towards more pop influenced songs. “Since then, we’ve been constantly evolving,” adds Erik. In the winter of 2007, U&L Records connected the pair with producer Lasus whose earlier recordings they were already fans of and they then began a conversation about producing this studio album. “We are very pleased to have been able to work with a great producer like Adam who really brought a distinct sound to our songs that helped highlight our talent.”

Beyond Marching Band’s early radio and critical attention, the band has also piqued the interest of some of film and television’s top music supervisors. Marching Band wrote an original song, “Trust Your Stomach” for the film Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist that is currently featured on the film’s soundtrack. Marching Band has also had additional songs placed in 90210 (CW) twice, Privileged (CW), How I Met Your Mother (CBS), LA Ink (TLC), Bomber (Borris Films), The Ex List (CBS), My Sassy Girl (Gold Circle Films), Play The Game (Story Films), and Aliens In America (CW). Most recently, the duo hosted a residency at Los Angeles’ indie staple Spaceland throughout the month of November where their following steadily grew. During their time in Los Angeles, they performed at the first ever Hollywood Music Awards, which aims to highlight the talents of some of music’s leading indie and unsigned artists, where they won an award for ‘Best Original Song- Film’ for “Trust Your Stomach.” The band currently resides in Sweden where they are gearing up for the international release of Spark Large and are scheduled to play Europe’s major music festival, Eurosonic, in January 2009.

Pitchfork’s Marc Hogan says, “This duo of Erik Sunbring and Jacob Lind play low-key, folk touched indie pop…[they] trade high, close harmonies and reassuring words over a warm, slightly ramshackle backing of acoustic guitar, piano, drums, and light electronic effects, like the Shins sliding down better-fitting chutes,” and Rolling Stone says this “Swedish duo crafts pillowy pop, brightened with bands of pyschedelia.” Billboard says, “[Spark Large] is chock-full of luscious melodies and arrangements,” and Under the Radar says “Spark Large is laid back and melodic, with sweet harmonies…a light and blissful listen.”