C21– from the locker room to the charts and the limelight Debut album from solid live pop group
What could be more tempting than to pin the ‘yet another polished boyband’ label on C21?
They are good-looking, they sing beautifully composed vocal harmonies as naturally as the rest of us brush our teeth every day, and their lyrics and music belong in the most sensitive end of the pop specter. Nevertheless, the three C21 boys actually wrote on the majority of their songs - and also play the guitars themselves when they go on stage, accompanied by much applause. What’s more, the trio originally came together far from the recording industry’s notorious concept band templates.
So boyband? You could say that. Pop group? Yes Sir, definitely – with an occasional touch of rock. Good pop? The debut single ‘Stuck In My Heart’ should be answer enough – well composed, capturing, and at an international level concerning its production and execution.
When it was released in Denmark last September, ‘Stuck In My Heart’ reached Top 10 on the official singles chart and thus established C21 as Denmark´s first ever successful boyband. By the time the second single was to be released in January of 2003, C21 had so many dedicated fans that the single called ‘You Are The One’ was an instant hit that hammered directly into Top 3 on the official Danish single sales chart. Later that month came the C21 debut album and even more success as this entered the official Danish sales chart at Top 10, and reached a 5 digit sales figure in a short time. And then the remainder of this story lies in the future…
The band attribute their inspiration to like-minded stars abroad – a presence like Robbie Williams definitely shines through on the highly energetic guitarfrenzied ‘She Cries’, while ‘You Are The One’, could pass for an American top production – beautiful and tightly produced.
‘Be With You Again’ is the kind of upbeat pop tune that immediately sticks to your brain. To the great delight to the audience, this bouncing tune has practically become a permanent fixture at the end of C21’s live performances. Formidable guitar work and vocal harmonies that send chills up your spine are stylishly served up in the songs ‘You Just Wait And See’ and ‘Could You Ever’.
One of the tracks the boys have played live since the very beginning is the lively ‘Hanging On A String’, which has already proven itself on the soundtracks for the movies ‘Catch That Girl’ and ‘Tzatziki 2’. The song already had its live acoustic debut in January 2002.
Another song which underlines the wide spectrum of C21´s album is ‘Deep Down’, where C21 reveal themselves in a different light by throwing a couple of handfuls of R&B extract into the production. The album is defined by classic pop songs of very high quality, and put together in C21’s own style. With the boys´ characteristic three-voiced vocals, the album has a solid and recognizable C21 sound.
Søren Bregendal, who is the heavyweight in the trio’s songwriting process, explains: ‘We are influenced by the style of music heard on the radio. We do create pop at the most melodic end of the range – but we prefer to add a rockish edge to our music whenever we can.” Søren also has his own clear definition of which label to apply to C21. Boyband or pop group? He says: “We don’t mind being associated with brilliant musicians such as *NSync or Westlife. We are devoted to good melodies, and have been given the opportunity to develop our own sound in our own way – just as we are involved in the writing and producing of our own music.
David, Søren and Esben are spending their time getting close to their continuously growing number of fans. The have already rounded playing live to a total audience of over 50.000 people in Denmark, and this number is continuously increasing –not least because of the current international activitites of the group. It is quite apparent that the band’s three-voiced chorus lines will not be forgotten right away…
Over 10.000 fanmails have been sent to C21’s homepage, and the line for autographs looks more like the pre-sale line for a grand film premiere than what it really is: The chance to have a quick chat and maybe a hug from one of the three boys, who have already set many a girl’s heart aflame.
“We haven’t yet done any playback vocals at any of our live concerts, and to prove to the audience that we truly can sing, we always pull out our acoustic guitars and perform a couple of tunes unplugged”, says Søren about the band’s good experiences on tour.
C21’s story begins in the locker room of a soccer club; the kind of place where the potent smell of laddishness normally competes with that of sweaty soccer gear and fusty soccer boots; the kind of place where the strongest emotions experienced is when a match have been lost miserably. This is not the kind of place where you would normally hear the sound of silky-smooth pop notes. Nevertheless, 16-year-old Søren trod outside the norm, letting his voice resound throughout the locker room. One of his teammates’ dad, Lars Quang, heard Søren singing one day and immediately invited him to test his vocals in the studio which he owns. There was audibly potential in his efforts, and when Søren brought his mate (Esben) from his high school band with him to studio session, Quang began to visualize what talent he was experiencing. Not long after, Søren and Esben were doing a warm-up gig at a friend’s party where they met yet another talented singer – David. C21 saw the first light of day when David picked up a guitar and played himself straight into Søren and Esben’s musical universe.
What’s more, Søren said goodbye to his dream of playing superleague soccer because he wanted to join the pop superleague instead. So he shelved his soccer shoes, regardless of the fact that he had just been chosen for the Danish national youth team. David made a shift from the world of musicals to the world of music, and Esben has really just stayed on the same track he started out on, playing in his high school band with Søren.
Now, after three years, a good deal of blood, sweat, tears and discarded songs, the boys have no regrets concerning the choices they each made – The three of them are way in there fulfilling their dreams of being successful with their music. In Denmark and a number of other countries it is now clear that C21 has what it takes as it is clear that their fans simply can’t get enough of the guys´ sublime vocals and earbending hits…
C21 are: David Pepke (lead vocals, chorus, guitar, lyrics) Søren Bregendal (lead vocals, chorus, keyboards, lyrics) Esben Duus (lead vocals, chorus, guitar, lyrics)
C21 releases: Stuck In My Heart, single You Are The One, single C21, debut album She Cries, single