After 10 years of touring, Oscar Simonsson, composer and producer behind Swedish jazztronica sensation Koop, walked of stage from what was going to be their last show. Three albums had been released that became landmarks in the electronic scene. ”Sons of Koop”, ”Waltz for Koop” and ”Koop Islands”. Never in the absolute limelight, but carried through by fans and the underground scene, until they reached a point were their music was familiar to millions. 

Swedish bands are not supposed to be more than a flavor of the month, but Koop worked their way back again and again, resisting the law that says a swedish electronica duo could not touch peoples hearts for real. And the reason they could, was because of the ability to combine a unique sound with classic songwriting. Under lush landscapes of samples there were words and melodies that reached out. Many of their achievements came after the last show in 2009. ”Koop Island Blues” made it to number one in the US Billboard electronic chart, and was covered from Jamaica to Warsaw. ”Strange Love”, the bonus track on the compilation album ”Coupe de grace” became one of their most appriciated songs and of course, every summer, radio starts playing ”Summer Sun”, their break trough gem from ”Waltz for Koop”. Although 10 years of silence Koop music refuses to decline. Spotify now counts over 70 million plays and 450.000 monthly listeners in November 2019. 

"Music is most of all a social thing.” After the break-up Oscar Simonsson first felt he was done with music, but songs kept on coming. He had no idea what to do with this music, but after hanging out with Lithuanian singer Jazzu a late night he asked her to try some of the new songs. He discovered how much he missed playing together with others, and decided to gather a band with Jazzu on vocals. This band is Koop Oscar Orchestra. They have now grown to a six people, and they perform songs that Simonsson wrote for Koop together with new material and sometimes a local folk tune. 2020 will be a big year for KOO, marking their first official release. But although the band makes their first steps on streaming services the main goal are the live shows. Simonsson says: ”The core of music is to make sounds together. All those lonely people on stage with a laptop pretending to do stuff....it will make them sick in their hearts.”  

KOO is: 

Jazzu – vocals 

Oscar Simonsson – piano/sampler 

Niklas Barnö – trumpet 

Love Meyerson – vibraphone/accordion 

Niklas Fernqvist – bass 

Ulrik Ording - drums