About
Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album Hurricane Bar. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, Austria, and Japan although their influence has recently spread to Western Europe, most notably the UK. The roots of Mando Diao date back to 1999 when Björn DixgÃ¥rd and the former Mando Diao member Daniel Haglund played in a band called Butler. With band members changing over the following four years, the current line-up decided to take the project more seriously. Björn DixgÃ¥rd and Gustaf Norén locked themselves up in a summer house and spent 14 months writing songs. They claim the Beatles as their original source of inspiration. Allegedly, Gustaf joined the band after he and Björn had talked all night about this band. The two renamed their band Mando Diao, a name that appeared to Björn DixgÃ¥rd in a dream in which a man came up to him and shouted "Mando Diao!".
The now-renamed band made their first public performances in the clubs of their hometown Borlänge in 1999. A local writer described them in an article as the best unsigned band he had ever seen. This was soon followed by a record deal with EMI…