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DirectLyrics Interviews The Fooo Conspiracy: Talk Coming to the U.S, New Music & Justin Bieber!

A #1 album? Opening for Justin Bieber at three consecutive sold-out shows? Winning an “Innovator of the Year” award? Coming to the USA? So many exciting things have happened to The Fooo Conspiracy over the course of a year. They are Sweden’s latest boy-band export but not your typical, run-of-the-mill boy-band. Oscar “O.G.” Molander, Oscar Enestad, Omar Rudberg and Felix Sandman re-introduce complex choreography with catchy lyrics set to pop and rhythmic beats.

Where to start? In April last year The Fooo Conspiracy (formerly just The Fooo) posted a video on YouTube of them dancing to their debut single “Kangaroos” at Stockholm downtown, the video went viral, and the band's impressive career initiated. Thousands of fans began following their social accounts, their singles topped the Swedish iTunes store' Top 100 with ease, they eventually cracked a few other European countries and now they are bringing their music to the USA – debut EP "Serenade” just hit iTunes USA!!

Update: Did you know the guys have JUST been announced as winners of a MTV Europe Music Award in the "Best Swedish Act" category? They had to fight with the likes of Icona Pop, Avicii or Tove Lo. They should be in Glasgow, Scotland next month (9 November) to accept their award in person.

Directlyrics.com caught up with The Fooo Conspiracy last week to discuss everything; from their origins, their overnight success in Sweden, their sound and dance moves, to opening for Justin Bieber or what songs they are currently loving. Oh! and US The Fooo Conspiracy fans! The guys told us they are working on a new album RIGHT NOW and they hope to release it in America early next year!!

THE INTERVIEW

1. You recently landed in the U.S where you plan to do promotion for a few weeks. What have the first days been like? And what are a few highlights of your schedule?

It’s been so much fun being in LA! We’ve been working with some choreographers like Matt Steffanina and JaQuel Knight, so it’s really cool collaborating and creating new dances with some of LA’s best! We’ve also been recording! Our manager also surprised us with Jessie J tickets the other night! We were so excited! So we’ve been working really hard, but we also get to have some fun, too!

2. How and when did you exactly create the The Fooo Conspiracy?

Our name was originally The Fooo, which has all of our initials (Felix, Oscar, Omar, OG). After we posted our first street performance on YouTube, we started gaining all of these fans and the Swedish media started calling it a “conspiracy” because they’ve never seen anything like it. Our fans are crazy!! Then when we won the Swedish Grammy for “Innovator of the Year”, it was because of our fans. We wanted to make them a part of our band name because they helped us get where we are today, so now we’re The Fooo Conspiracy!

3. Did you always know music was the career you wanted to pursue? What other options did you – or your parents - have in mind before joining The Fooo Conspiracy?

We’ve all loved music our whole lives. Felix, Oscar, and OG went to a musical school, where they studied theater, music, and dance. Then me, Omar, I came from Venezuela to Sweden when I was young and did a lot of singing competitions and I was even on Sweden’s Got Talent! I didn’t start dancing until I got into the band. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else that I’m not doing now. I’m very lucky and I think the other guys can agree!

4. You dance a lot in your music videos. Have you always had those moves in you? And, is it easy coming up with the choreographies?

Three of us studied all types of dance from ballet, ballroom, tap, jazz, and freestyle. Then when Omar joined, he naturally had rhythm and we all worked together to start making our own routines. We can learn them pretty quickly!

5. Your introduction to the music scene was when you posted a video of you dancing to “Kangaroos” in the middle of downtown Stockholm over a year ago on YouTube. How did you come up with this idea for your first music video? Were you scared at all?

We’re very influenced by street culture, so we thought this was the best way to pull everything together! We weren’t nervous, we were doing what we loved! Then it got really big, which was so cool having so many people supporting us!

6. The “viral” “Kangaroos” video was certainly a success in Sweden. In just a few weeks you achieved a substantial number of fans and in a few months other European countries knew about you. Amazing! Do you believe this almost overnight success?

It could look that way, but we worked very hard in such a short time to put that together. So many hours practicing and making sure we had it perfect. We’re so thankful to the fans for their support!

7. Earlier this year you released your debut album “Off the Grid” in Sweden and it went #1. What did you do the day you knew you had scored your first #1 album?

We were doing a street performance on the roof of one of Sweden’s biggest TV stations, and were just about to hit our first album signing ever when our manager told us that we were number one on the official chart. It was so surreal. We couldn’t stop jumping and hugging each other. It was just crazy that our debut album went number one! All the hard work paid off!

8. Why the title “Off the Grid”? And, what producers helped you in the project?

It’s called “Off The Grid”, because everything we do and want to do is always outside of the box. We always want to be “off the grid” and keep doing things in an innovative way. For the album we mainly worked with in-house producers, but also with producers who’ve been working with superstars like The Backstreet Boys and Robyn.

9. We know how we would, but how would YOU describe the sound of The Fooo Conspiracy?

Edgy-pop! We take inspiration from different genres of music to make our own sound.

10. What artists did you grew up listening to?

We grew up listening to all types of music and we enjoy all genres. We love everything from N’Sync, Rihanna, and Jay-Z to Michael Jackson and Ed Sheeran.

11. You opened for Justin Bieber’s Believe Tour’s 3 Swedish dates last year. Do you like Justin? And, did it feel amazing playing at the big arenas?

It was amazing opening for Justin for three sold out nights! That was actually our first gig ever! We think Justin is great - very talented and an awesome performer! We were honored to open for him!

12. You are now bringing your music to America. What are your expectations here?

We’re very excited to bring our music to the US and keep spreading Fooo Family all over the world.

13. There are a few Swedish acts that have attained success in the U.S in recent years. For instance, Avicii, Robyn, Icona Pop or most-recently Tove Lo. What are your thoughts on them and the Swedish invasion?

We love that Swedish acts are coming to America and finding new fans. We love Avicii, Robyn, Icona Pop, and Tove Lo, and are very excited that they’re doing well in the states. Hopefully we can do something similar but with a different sound!

14. Will you be bringing exclusive new music to America soon? Or when can fans (and potential new fans) expect new The Fooo Conspiracy songs?

Our debut EP Serenade is out now! Right now we’re working on a new album to release in the US early 2015, so stay tuned!

15. What are The Fooo Conspiracy’s Top 5 songs of the moment?

1. Don’t Tell ‘Em - Jeremih
   
2. Don’t - Ed Sheeran
   
3. Jealous - Nick Jonas
   
4. Anaconda - Nicki Minaj
   
5. Burnin’ Up - Jessie J
   

16. You’ve played quite a few shows in the last year. What have been one of your most memorable and why?

We have so many great memories together, so it’s hard to just pick one! But, playing our first headlining gig to a sold out crowd was so amazing! We set a record with the venue because we were the first debut act to ever sell out the venue within 3 days!

17. Thank you for your time, The Fooo Conspiracy! Best of luck with everything. Is there any last thing you'd like to share with our readers?

Thank YOU so much for your time! We are so excited to be in the US and looking forward to meeting our American Foooers! We JUST released our debut EP in the states called “Serenade” so be sure to check it out! Also! Be sure to follow us on Twitter at @thefooomusic and @FoooFamilyUSA (for USA updates!).

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