Kalaha (band)

Kalaha is a Danish band consisting of Emil de Waal (drums), Niclas Knudsen (guitar), Rumpistol aka Jens Berents Christiansen (synthesizer) and electronic producer Mikael Elkjær aka Spejderrobot.https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2017/10/11/beijing-beats-j-fever-blue-note-kalaha-dada-and-dj-sodeyama-lantern. 
The band takes inspiration from Afrobeat, Anatolian rock, electronic rave music and jazz improvisation. 
Kalaha has collaborated with a wide range of artists from around the world including Hilal Kayahttps://www.tv2lorry.dk/dma-jazz/kalaha-feat-hilal-kaya-ozgurum-ben, Uffe Lorenzen (Spids Nøgenhat (band)https://www.discogs.com/Kalaha-Featuring-Uffe-Lorenzen-Dans-det-op/release/14953835.
In 2019 they played a show together with American bass player Bill Laswell at Black Diamond (library) during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival.https://jazz.dk/en/copenhagen-jazz-festival-2019/concerts/56905/ 
Kalaha's debut album "Hahaha", released in 2014https://soundvenue.com/musik/2014/09/kalaha-111772, was a live recording from their first show ever as a band. Their follow-up album "Masala" (2016) received a Danish Music Awards (Jazz) in the category "Special Release of the Year"https://jazzdanmark.dk/artikler/her-er-arets-vindere-dma-jazz-2017 as well as receiving airplay by Gilles_Peterson on BBC Radio 6 Music.https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08l5kyx. 
Their third album "Mandala" (2019) was also well received by the criticshttps://www.information.dk/kultur/anmeldelse/2019/05/kalaha-skaber-festlig-mosaik-bedste-verdnerhttps://gaffa.dk/anmeldelse/138639/anmeldelse-medrivende-nyt-fra-de-danske-globalisterhttps://phonopolet.dk/2019/04/20/kalaha-mandala/https://politiken.dk/kultur/musik/art7192485/Tre-n%C3%A6venyttige-unge-gennemskuede-hvordan-man-vinder-hver-gang-i-Kalaha.-Bandet-Kalaha-er-sv%C3%A6rere-at-regne-ud and highlighted as album of the year in the Danish Newspaper Informationhttps://www.information.dk/kultur/2019/12/dansk-musik-2019-spil-andet-andre-anderledes. The album featured the band's first Turkish song "Çok Küstüm", which became the beginning of a long time collaboration with the Turkish singer Hilal Kaya and also secured the band some attention in Turkey.https://www.dergy.com/kalaha-roportaj-dinleyicilerimiz-turkce-anlayamiyor-ama-muzige-bayiliyo
In 2020 their single "Eymen" brought Kalaha a Danish Music Awards (Roots) nomination for Danish Roots Track of The Yearhttps://gaffa.dk/nyhed/144856/de-nominerede-til-dma-roots-er-offentliggjort and their single "Dans Det Op feat. Uffe Lorenzen was nominated as "Song of the Year 2020" for the Danish Critics Award Steppeulven.https://soundvenue.com/musik/2020/12/se-alle-de-nominerede-til-prisuddelingen-steppeulven-joyce-og-ganger-foerer-an-434572
Since their 2014 debut, Kalaha has been using Danish artist Zven Balslev as their art director.https://rose-armadillo-rl5p.squarespace.com/work/record-covers. Zven Balslev has also directed three of the bands music videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIk5tHS0z9Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrhchsVlOXchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sVhB2ERhcE
=== Albumshttps://www.discogs.com/artist/5312925-Kalaha ===
Title 	Label 	Format 	Year
Hahaha 	Rump Recordings	Digital Album 	2014
Masala 	Rump Recordings	Vinyl & Digital Album 	2016
Masala - Extra Spicy	Rump Recordings	Vinyl & Digital Album 	2018
Mandala 	DME 	Vinyl & Digital Album 	2019
Mystafa 	April Records 	Vinyl, CD & Digital Album	2021
=== Singles & EPs===
Title 	Label 	Format 	Year
Quarquaba 	Rump Recordings	Digital EP 	2016
Wahwahwah 	Rump Recordings	Digital EP 	2016
Dragon Jenny (Extended Version) 	Rump Recordings	Digital Single	2018
Mama Ngoma 	Rump Recordings	Digital EP 	2018
Çok Küstüm feat. Hilal Kaya 	DME 	Digital Single	2019
Eymen feat. Hilal Kaya 	DME 	Digital Single	2019
Eymen feat. Hilal Kaya (Junglelyd & Merlyn Silva remix feat. Huaynot)	Sofa Beats 	Digital Single	2019
Dans Det Op feat. Uffe Lorenzen / Eymen feat. Hilal Kaya 	April Records 	7" Vinyl 	2020
Vivo 	April Records 	Digital Single	2020
Özgürüm Ben feat. Hilal Kaya 	DME 	Digital Single	2020
Hurt You Once Again feat. Hjalte Ross 	April Records 	Digital Single	2021
Won
*2017, Danish Music Awards – Jazz. Category: Special Release of the Year for the album "Masala"https://jazzdanmark.dk/artikler/her-er-arets-vindere-dma-jazz-2017
*2019, Carl Prisen. Category: Roots Composer of the Year for the EP "Mama Ngoma"https://musikforlaeggerne.dk/carl-prisen-2019-vinderne/
==== Nominated ====
*2017, Danish Music Awards – World. Category: Danish World composer of the year; Niclas Knudsen, Emil De Waal, Spejderrobot og Rumpistol (Kalaha) – ‘’Quarquaba EP’https://www.koda.dk/om-koda/nyheder/dma-world-2016-her-er-de-nominerede
*2020, Danish Music Awards – Roots. Category: Danish Roots Track of the Year for "Eymen"https://gaffa.dk/nyhed/144856/de-nominerede-til-dma-roots-er-offentliggjort
*2021, Steppeulven. Category: Track of the year for "Dans det op" featuring Uffe Lorentzen.https://soundvenue.com/musik/2020/12/se-alle-de-nominerede-til-prisuddelingen-steppeulven-joyce-og-ganger-foerer-an-434572
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Category:Danish musical groups
Category:2014 debut albums