Movits!

Jeff Kehl

Movits!, the Swedish band once featured on the Colbert Report, ended their first U.S. tour, First We Take Manhattan, with an unexpected show at Carnegie Mellon's own late night eatery, The Underground. Movits! is an example of the purported "Colbert Bump," a popular culture theory that suggests that anything featured on the Colbert Report will have its popularity increased exponentially. The music, in Swedish, is a combination of Funk, Rap, Jazz, and Swing, and the surprising combination of these genres leads to danceable, fun, almost-Hip-Hop.

After absolutely rocking The Underground, Movits! was kind enough to sit down with me for a little while to talk about Sweden, the Colbert Report, and their enigmatic appeal.

The group, made up of Johan Rensfeldt (vocals), Anders Rensfeldt (drums, mix master, back-up vocals), and Jocke Nilsson (sax, vocals), was excited to head back to Sweden until their summer tour starts in a few months, but sad to see their first run in the States come to an end. "We never thought we’d actually make it to the U.S. to tour," Johan admitted. The trio expected to spend their career moving up the charts in Sweden, never imagining they'd ever set foot on U.S. soil. "One day we opened up an email from the Colbert Nation inviting us to come to the States and appear on the Colbert Report," they explained, "That’s what started the whole U.S. tour for us, so, I guess, thank you Stephen [Colbert]!"

Movits! was started by the Rensfeldt brothers in Northern Sweden. Originally, the group was called Planet Anudo and focused on more of an acoustic Funk sound. When asked what caused them to change their sound, Anders replied jokingly, "We wanted to be the life of the party, not kill it." During a festival in Canada, the brothers met up with Nilsson and have been together ever since. It was at the same festival where Movits! was born that the group decided on their new sound. "We had all heard the old Benny Goodman song 'Sing Sing [Sing]!' and thought, why hasn't anyone ever explored this more?" Johan explained as Nilsson added, "I think we’ve taken the style farther than anyone else."

Currently, even though Movits! is now safely back in Sweden, they are planning a summer tour, And Then We Take Berlin, as well as working on their next full album.

If you caught Movits! at The Underground and want to hear more, or are just hearing of this amazing group or the first time, you can find them on YouTube, MySpace, and thanks to the Colbert Report, iTunes.