Christian Grahn
Encyclopedia
Christian Grahn is the drummer
of Swedish rock band, The Hives
.
, Sweden
, Grahn also played drums for another local band, Bad Dreams Always, a hate core band. Grahn's father was part of a Finnish cover band called The Sailors, which, according to Howlin' Pelle Almqvist
, The Hives' frontman, was "The biggest guitar rock band in Finland at the time." Grahn's father also sang in a band called The Ventons. Grahn is known for his high speed drumming and accuracy when performing, switching beats easily in songs. This may be because he himself started at the age of nine and would relentlessly play them day and night. In The Hives' third album, Tyrannosaurus Hives
, Grahn achieved an almost inhuman quality in his drumming, with rhythms and beats that are usually made by machines or synthesizers. The best example of this is in the song "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones," where Grahn switches between his snare drum and mounted tom-tom with his left hand, while playing eighth-notes on his hi-hat cymbals. Another example is in the song "A Little More for Little You," in which Grahn plays almost three minutes of solid, unbroken sixteenth notes at a very fast tempo. Amongst other songs on the album, "Love In Plaster" has one of the fastest tempos thus creating a faster drum beat. Grahn's drumming on the song is unbroken, and many fans joke of Chris Dangerous' "Bionic Arm".
Grahn sets up his drums to purposely make his kit look tiny - he lowers his cymbals, tom-toms, and snare drum, flattens the angle of his mounted tom (which is actually on a stand), and deliberately uses a smaller bass drum and floor tom to create the illusion of a very small kit.
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
of Swedish rock band, The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
.
Biography
In the early band years in FagerstaFagersta
Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 10,890 inhabitants in 2005.- Geography :The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta -Örebro, in the heart of the historic Bergslagen region which is rich in...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Grahn also played drums for another local band, Bad Dreams Always, a hate core band. Grahn's father was part of a Finnish cover band called The Sailors, which, according to Howlin' Pelle Almqvist
Pelle Almqvist
Howlin' Pelle Almqvist is the lead singer of Swedish garage rock band The Hives. Like the rest of the band, Almqvist hails from Fagersta, a small town in central Sweden with about 11,000 residents....
, The Hives' frontman, was "The biggest guitar rock band in Finland at the time." Grahn's father also sang in a band called The Ventons. Grahn is known for his high speed drumming and accuracy when performing, switching beats easily in songs. This may be because he himself started at the age of nine and would relentlessly play them day and night. In The Hives' third album, Tyrannosaurus Hives
Tyrannosaurus Hives
Tyrannosaurus Hives is the third full-length album by The Hives, released on 20 July 2004. It is their first album since Veni Vidi Vicious from 2000....
, Grahn achieved an almost inhuman quality in his drumming, with rhythms and beats that are usually made by machines or synthesizers. The best example of this is in the song "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones," where Grahn switches between his snare drum and mounted tom-tom with his left hand, while playing eighth-notes on his hi-hat cymbals. Another example is in the song "A Little More for Little You," in which Grahn plays almost three minutes of solid, unbroken sixteenth notes at a very fast tempo. Amongst other songs on the album, "Love In Plaster" has one of the fastest tempos thus creating a faster drum beat. Grahn's drumming on the song is unbroken, and many fans joke of Chris Dangerous' "Bionic Arm".
Musical equipment
Grahn uses a four piece drum setup- one rack (mounted) tom-tom, one floor tom-tom, a snare drum and a bass drum. All of his drums, hardware, and pedals are DW brand. He has his own special kit by DW drums - it's called the Chris Dangerous Custom Groove Hip Kit. This custom kit, however, is not featured on the DW website. Grahn also uses Zildjian cymbals, Mainly the A series. He uses an A series 21" Sweet Ride, an A 18" Thin Crash, and A Custom 14" Mastersound hi-hats.Grahn sets up his drums to purposely make his kit look tiny - he lowers his cymbals, tom-toms, and snare drum, flattens the angle of his mounted tom (which is actually on a stand), and deliberately uses a smaller bass drum and floor tom to create the illusion of a very small kit.
Discography
- Barely LegalBarely Legal (album)Barely Legal is an album released in September 1997 by a then-unknown Swedish group called The Hives, from Fagersta, Sweden.The album's second track, "A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T", had a video produced, but it was not commercially released until it was included as an extra on some pressings of Your New...
(1997) - Veni Vidi ViciousVeni Vidi ViciousVeni Vidi Vicious is the second album by Swedish garage punk band The Hives, released in April 2000. It was released through Burning Heart Records and distributed through Warner Music Group...
(2000) - Tyrannosaurus HivesTyrannosaurus HivesTyrannosaurus Hives is the third full-length album by The Hives, released on 20 July 2004. It is their first album since Veni Vidi Vicious from 2000....
(2004) - The Black and White AlbumThe Black and White AlbumThe Black and White Album is the fourth full-length album by Swedish rock band The Hives. The album was released on 15 October 2007, in the United Kingdom through Polydor Records and November 13, 2007, in the United States via A&M/Octone Records, No Fun Records, Universal Music Operations and...
(2007)