The Ark (Swedish band)
| The Ark | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Rottne, Växjö, Sweden |
| Genres |
Glam rock Pop rock Indie rock Art rock |
| Years active | 1991–2011 |
| Labels | Virgin |
| Website | thearkworld.com |
| Members |
Ola Salo Sylvester Schlegel Martin Axén Jepson "Leari" - Lars Ljungberg Jens Andersson |
The Ark was a Swedish glam rock band formed in 1991 by Mikael Jepson (better known as "Jepson") and Lasse ("Leari") Ljungberg, Ola Salo and Leari being only fourteen years old at the time. In 1996 The Ark released an EP featuring four songs, of those "Racing With The Rabbits" being the most known. The EP gained very little success in both critical and commercial sense. Martin Axén officially joined the band in 1997, and Sylvester Schlegel in 1999. In late 2005, Jens Andersson joined The Ark as an official member. He had at that point played live with the band for several years.
Ola salo was the main songwriter of the group and his lyrics have sometimes been seen controversial. For example, the 2002 single "Father of a Son" is about homosexuals’ right to adopt. In October 2006, the band was criticized by members of the U.S. public for some controversial comments referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks that were apparently part of the joking banter between songs as the band performed at the opening festivities for the new Swedish embassy in Washington, D.C.
The Ark also performed in the Melodifestivalen 2007 with the song "The Worrying Kind". The song won the contest after capturing both the popular vote and the jury's vote. The song was Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest 2007 entry, and is also included in The Ark's fourth album Prayer for the Weekend, released in April 2007. Despite being a bookmaker favorite, it finished in 18th place (out of 24)
In 2006 The Ark toured the UK acting as the warm-up band for The Darkness.
"One of Us is Gonna Die Young" was used in the 2007 snowboarding video, "Picture This" from Mack Dawg Productions for Seth Huot and Andreas Wiig's video part, also was it used for the Sam Blenkinsop and Philip Polc Section of the FOX Racing Shox 2007 sequel. "Let Your Body Decide" was used in the 2010 film 'Super' starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. Their all-time hit remains being the 2000s manifesto for one's freedom in life, "It Takes A Fool To Remain Sane". It gained massive radio play especially in Sweden and Italy.
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