Lukas Forchhammer

Writing is very cathartic for me.

The furthest I can see is me being 60.

I don't mind Ed Sheeran, but I wouldn't want to be compared to a guy that builds his song around a guitar, since we do not have a guitar in our band.

The songs were there before the band was there, and it's my songs. And it's like, we're not in the 1950s. We can't call ourselves, like, 'The Revolvers' - it just doesn't work that way. And 'The Lukas Graham Band' just sounded wrong.

Graham was my father's second name, so I took Graham because Lukas Graham sounded cool.

That's why I can't listen to a whole record of Adele's. She has the most amazing voice, but people must have convinced her they just want to hear love songs.

The last thing I want is for people to say that the music is nice. It's not nice. It sounds good, but it's got grit, and it's got edge. It never veers into sweet.

We have a big fan base in Australia, but none of us have been before.

'7 Years' is, you could say, a song that eats its own children. That we need to get past the song and get to the person and get to the record and get to the music so we can keep releasing.

Here in America, the big-brand collaborations kind of signify how far you've gotten. So in that sense, it's a giant kudos to us that we, within the first year, get to be the first ones to be the launchers of this Pepsi Sound Drop.

In the early '90s, my cousin gave me a Snoop Dogg cassette tape, and the rawness of the lyrics were something new to me.

I grew up with nothing, and I know that I don't need anything to be happy. We were wearing second-hand clothing and eating leftovers, and I was so happy. Five-star hotels and private pick-ups hasn't changed that.

Christiania has a lot of strong, nuclear families. It gave us a sense of empowerment and belonging and richness. We had so much love; we were never in doubt that we were wanted in this world.

'7 Years' seems to have attracted a lot of age groups - people seem to see their own lives in the song, and it's great to see so many people reacting in that way to it.

It's very satisfying when you see your song at the top of the charts.

We're surprised, ecstatic, vibrant and exultant about the success of '7 Years.'

I don't play any instruments. I don't produce. I don't know which keys or chords I am using, so, in essence, I need the band and the production team - otherwise, I am just some guy with a hat and a song.

I never want to lose sight of my roots... A lot of artists want the riches and the fame. I want to tell stories you can put into the context of your life.

What hit me in the gut about hip-hop was that someone else grew up tough enough to be angry at the entire system.

When my dad died, my world crumbled.