Milky Chance

Milky Chance is a German duo with reggae and electronic music influences made up of Clemens Rehbein as vocalist and musician and Philipp Dausch as DJ. Their single, "Stolen Dance" has already reached #1 on Hype Machine and it has hit #1 in 15 countries including France, Germany, Austria, and more.

About the song, Clemens says, "It's less of a story than a feeling. The feeling in the song refers to a certain moment I wanted to hold on to. It's the sentiment you experience when you miss somebody you really like and just can't spend time with that person. You're sad the other person isn't there, but you're also happy for the beautiful moments you've spent together."

The guys from Kassel, Germany met in an "Advanced Music Course" at the start of eleventh grade, and they creatively gelled right off the bat. They went on to build a tiny studio in the quiet house Clemens grew up in. Over the course of two weeks in 2013, they cut their full-length debut, Sadnecessary, on a minimalist setup, spending hours getting the settings just right. They didn't need anything more than a rudimentary interface, microphone, and computer.

"There was never a plan," Clemens goes on. "We only played two shows before we decided to make the album. We never bought expensive studio equipment or even hired a producer. We did what we wanted to and what felt good at the moment. We just wanted to record our music. We never thought it would go further than that."

After cutting the tracks, Clemens and Philipp uploaded "Stolen Dance" to YouTube. With its bright handclaps, plaintive acoustic guitars, and his own gravelly smooth delivery, the song became a viral sensation, eventually racking up over 40 million-plus to date. YouTube views and made them the "most blogged about act" on HypeM for that month.

Sadnecessary, released on the musicians' own Lichtdicht Records in Europe, became a phenomenon followed by packed shows around the continent. In early 2014, Republic Records inked a deal with Milky Chance to release the record stateside, opening them up to their largest audience yet.

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