Swedish group Movits! returns to Lotus

Movits! members and their manager sat in the back room of Café Django a few hours before their Saturday performance at Lotus World Music and Arts Festival.

A man tentatively walked toward their table.

“Can I take your photo?” he asked.

Band members Johan Rensfeldt, Anders Rensfeldt, Joakim Nilsson, tour manager Dani Trujillo and David Fraenckel, who accompanied the band on trombone, obliged.

They smiled and gave a thumbs-up for the camera.

Nilsson said performing at Lotus last year was amazing, but few people knew who Movits! was.

“Coming back this year, it feels like everybody knows us,” Nilsson said. “Walking down the street, people are stopping us for pictures.”

The Swedish band released their debut album, “Äppelknyckarjazz,” which features their swing-based hip-hop, in 2008.

Johan said they have performed in the United States, Japan and across Europe despite linguistic differences.

“Our music is in Swedish,” lead singer Johan said. “We never expected to go anywhere outside of Scandinavia.”

In 2009, Movits! received a request to appear on the late-night television show “The Colbert Report.”

“When it comes to America, I guess the ‘Colbert Bump’ really opened up doors for us,” Johan said. “We came here basically just for the show. After the show, we got a whole lot of requests to come out and play. ‘The Colbert Report’ made all the tours we’ve done so far in America possible.”

After appearing on “The Colbert Report,” the band’s sales increased 85,000 percent on Amazon.com.

Aside from television appearances, Nilsson said festivals are the best way to gain new listeners.

“If you play at a club, people are coming to see you,” Nilsson said. “They know what they’re getting. You play a festival, there will be people moving around. They’ll stop by.”

On Friday, rain couldn’t stop the high-energy show from beginning. Nilsson and the other members hadn’t heard the show was supposed to be delayed because of the weather.

“The intro was already on,” Trujillo said. “Joakim just started running on stage, and everyone followed.”

There’s no turning back once the intro starts, Nilsson said.

Movits! performed for the packed IU-Bloomington Tent under clear skies Saturday night.

Anders, Johan’s brother, produced the sounds while Nilsson and Fraenckel played saxophone and trombone, respectively.

The band worked the stage as audience members danced to the heavy percussion and swing melodies.

Movits! records all their own background music and does not use samples, Nilsson said.

By the end of the show, Johan ditched the band’s “uniform” of a white button-up and black bowtie for a black and white IU T-shirt.

Freshman Nathan Krummen said he attended the show because he is interested in international culture. He said he would easily pay to see Movits! again.

“They were very entertaining,” Krummen said. “I’ve heard some Swedish music before, and I like it.”

Johan said the experience of their shows is similar across cultures.

“American trombones sounds pretty much the same as the Swedish one,” Johan said. “Music is a kind of international language.”

The band introduced many of their songs Saturday with English explanations of their meanings.

Johan said that because hip-hop is word-heavy, non-Swedish speakers may miss out on the power of his lyrics.

“There’s always a message to it,” Nilsson said. “It’s often social commentary.”

Johan and his fellow band members said they would play Lotus next year, if possible.

They agreed that Lotus is one of the best festivals they have played in the U.S.

“When you walk down the street, you can feel something special is going on,” Nilsson said.