When they say “to be born under a lucky star” …
It may happen, from time to time, that life decides to smile; and it’s at that moment that you go from the bedroom to the stages, from the school books to the consolle, from a few plays to millions of monthly listeners on streaming platforms. It has happened to two Norwegian brothers, named Daniel and Markus Slettebakken, who went from the Soundcloud remixes of stars like Dua Lipa, Bazzi, Jess Glynne and Martin Solveig, to reaching 162 thousand followers and nearly 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Quite impressive, isn’t it? Daniel said, though, it wasn’t his main plan: for a finance student, who wanted to use music production as a leisure, the future had to reserve something else. Instead, he ended up teaching his musical knowledge to his brother, while being away from home for college.
And this is how the duo was born. Please welcome KREAM.
By now, the two brothers describe their music as an energetic dance music with dark nuances, not classifiable as a specific genre. But despite that, this dance music manages to work, while keeping a minimum of emotion.
We can say that it’s that classic, perfect combination for everyone.
From their origins to their worldwide success (2015-2021)
Their story was born a few years ago, more precisely in 2015, when the two published an unofficial remix of “Talking Body” by Tove Lo on Soundcloud. They received a few thousand views, including that of the singer herself, who declared it official a few years later (more precisely, in 2020). The result was 50 million total reproductions on all platforms.
From here you can do nothing but go in crescendo. And so it was.
In 2016, they signed with singer Clara Mae – to be clear, the same that has collaborated with other artists such as Headhunterz, R3HAB and Lucas & Steve – a track “Taped Up Heart” on Atlantic Records, which classified 22nd on the Billboard hot/dance electronic songs chart.
In 2017, they set up a Remix Contest for the latter, which saw three winners: Disto with almost 716 thousand streams, Lash with 1,391,400 and Joe Mason, who surpasses the first two and receives more than 6 million streams.
Thus, good relations with Clara Mae will earn the duo another collaboration, called “Drowning”. The original was streamed over 30 million times, while the official remixes of Keeno, Kuur and MVJESTY will get almost one million and 200 thousands, 98 thousand and 270 thousand streams respectively. That year, however, was prolific not only in the studio; in fact, the two Norwegians earned a place in lineup at the Oslo Findings Festival, playing in front of 60 thousand people.
2018 sees other tracks signed KREAM: we mention “Deep End” with Jhart and remixes of artists such as Eden Prince, which totaled 31 million and 400 thousand streams.
The year is about to end but the duo still has shots in store for the fanatics: in September they join Maya Wright (the one of “Body Back” with Gryffin) and composes “Decisions”, which has a huge success: 44 thousand streams about, 39 place on the Billboard Dance Chart and a remix of nearly 1 million 600 thousand streams.
We can say with certainty and conviction, 2018 was the year of sparks for the duo, but it certainly ain’t over yet.
Let’s move on to 2019, which opens with “Ain’t Thinking About You”, which has reached and passed 17,150,000 streams; the remixes will not have had as many – for example that of KC Lights of over 160 thousands – but they’re good too. Going on, we find “Go Somewhere” with almost 32 million streams and the VIP Mix with its million and 720 thousand streams.
KREAM successes earned them an American tour supporting Lost Kings, whose dates have touched San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Houston and many others.
2020 did not affect their work, despite having forced the whole world to say goodbye temporarily to the dance-floors. In fact, the siblings faced the pandemic head-on high, bringing home good results; it starts with a collaboration with Steve Aoki, called “Lies” and streamed almost eleven million times.
To respond to the Covid-19 health emergency, KREAM have started – and are continuing – a streaming project called LIQUID:LAB, where sets are recorded in the most beautiful Norwegian places, both natural and architectural and also, they opened Tiesto’s virtual set at the American Red Rocks.
It’s not over yet: in December, their “About You” enters 1001Tracklists reaching first place, making KREAM the first Norwegian to succeed.
Finally, 2021 started with a remix of “Taped Up Heart” with more than 2 million streams, “Take Control” that totaled 6 million and 600 thousand, “Roads” that exceeds the million and a hundred thousand and finally, the remix of “BED” by Joel Corry on Youtube, which has reached 340,000 views. At the beginning of September, the collaboration with Punctual came out, called “Want You Bad” and today is at 380 thousand streams and then, we have “Take Control” which counts more than 8 million streams and has been inserted in the FIFA 2022‘s soundtracks playlist.
The duo also got a lineup spot for Creamfields in Daresbury (UK) on August 29th; they will also have one at the Echostage, playing on the same night as future house pioneer Don Diablo on October 29th.
In short, a huge string of successes for the two, who had other plans for their lives. The university would have opened new paths for them, perhaps a more radiant future. Instead, they decided to give us their talent and we could not be more grateful.
I am 22 and graduating in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, I speak 4 languages and I am very passionate about music, concerts and festivals. After graduation, I’d like to aim for a profession in the music industry and I am a proud dreamer but down to earth.
