User:Knuseren/sandbox

Naked Koala (stylized as NAKED KOALA) is a Norwegian music production, songwriting and DJ-duo consisting of members Kyrre Waag (born 18 March 1993) and Even Askildsen (born 15 June 1993). Sharing a common love for pop music, they started working together in early 2016, releasing their first single, Eyes of Gold, later that same year. The duo has since then collaborated with a variety of different artists, such as Alejandro Fuentes, Philly Billy, Glenn Travis and AWR, but are best known for their songs Reasons and Right With Me, created with singer/songwriter Olaf Blackwood.





Kyrre Waag
Kyrre Waag was born on 18 March 1993, in Bergen. He is the son of Vidar Waag and Anita Moltumyr, who are both teachers of the Norwegian language. He also has a younger brother, Vetle Waag (born 10 January 1995).

He graduated from Kristiansand Cathedral School in the spring of 2012, and went on to pursue a 5 year college education in economics and leadership at BI Norwegian Business School, where he dropped out before entering his 4th year. He then started self educating on music production through YouTube, and began working in FL Studio and Logic Pro from his dorm room in Oslo, while attending several part time jobs. In August of 2018 he enrolled at the University of Agder to study music production on a professional level.

Even Askildsen
Even Askildsen was born on 15 June 1993, in Kristiansand. He is the son of Kristin Hollekim, a teacher, and Jon Askildsen, a musician. He has one half-brother, Morten, and one half sister, Merete.

He graduated from Kristiansand Cathedral School in 2012, and worked multiple part time jobs before entering a music education in Trondheim. Before graduating in 2016, he started to collaborate on music production and songwriting with Kyrre Waag. He enrolled at the University of Agder in 2018.

2009-14: Early friendship
The duo met while attending Kristiansand Cathedral School, sometime between 2009 and 2010. They hung out with the same group of friends, went to the same parties, and listened to the same kinds of music. They even made a unique Spotify playlist, which they listened to at every get-together with their high school crew. After graduating in 2012, Kyrre moved to Oslo to study economics, and Even moved to Verdal to attend a Folk high school.

2015-16: Collaboration and DreamFunkVanilla
While working part time jobs in Oslo, and studying music out of his dorm room, Kyrre gravitated towards creating a team that could produce, write and distribute music independently. In early 2015 he approached his brother, Vetle, with this ambitious idea, but nothing happened. He then reached out to his old high school buddy, Even, because of his love for music and easy going attitude. He immediately bought the idea and the two-man-band DreamFunkVanilla was created. While still living in Oslo, Kyrre travelled to Trondheim multiple times every month to create music with Even. During the fall of 2015 and early winter of 2016, their first songs were created. With minimal knowledge and maximum willpower, the songs Eyes of Gold and Wide Open were released independently in the summer of 2016.

The duo also relocated to Kristiansand, and pursued a dj-career while working on their music production skills. The first gig they ever played was in a friends basement, and lasted only two songs. The dj-gear was faulty, so they had to use Spotify and an old aux cable. The gig earned them a pack of cigarettes, two small beers from the local brewery, and 500NOK in cash.

2017: The birth of KOΛLA
During the early winter of 2017, the duo had invested in proper dj equipment and started taking bookings at the local bars and dance clubs. They also invested more time and effort in music, and changed their image. Before releasing their 4th single, Dramatic, they decided to take the name KOΛLA. The name was easier to remember then before, but their creative choices of spelling led to new challenges. Despite this, songs released in 2017 stacked up a few hundred thousand streams, which increased exposure and dj gigs. The local success gave new energy and the duo seized every new opportunity they could get.

In the fall of 2017 they relocated to Oslo, and moved in with a friend of Even's, from his time at a Folk high school in Verdal. Within their first few weeks of living together in Oslo, the crew decided to go to Morocco to film a music video. With them they brought their photographer and friend Arne Vidar Stoltenberg, and Instagram models Helene Helland (misscolacherry) and Helene Nygård (Hellylife). The one thing they didn't bring however, was a finished song. This led to a lot of frustration later on, but also gave the duo some much needed time to think about the future. In the final months of 2017, they came up with the name and concept, "NAKED KOALA", that represented a new chapter their lives. This was ment to co-exist, and gradually phase out the old KOΛLA image. They released their first song under the new name in December 2017.

2018-present: The rise of NAKED KOALA
Even though the start of 2018 was slow, with fewer gigs and cold Oslo weather, the work hours and efficiency in the studio picked up at a steady pace. During the spring of 2018, the music video from Morocco, as well as a brand new song, was finished. Right With Me (with Olaf Blackwood) was released on 5th of August that summer, and a solid release party was arranged in Oslo. This marked the true beginning of "NAKED KOALA" and also the end of the Oslo chapter. The duo moved back to Kristiansand and enrolled at University of Agder to study music more thoroughly. The same fall they also released the single Reasons (with Olaf Blackwood), which paved way for new adventures.

Over the course of 2019, new collaborations have come along. Remixes of Reasons by Eddy Gronfier and Kadrian have reached new audiences, and songs like Takk for nå and Deep Water with artists such as Alejandro Fuentes, Philly Billy and AWR have established presence and diversity. The boys also reached a new milestones by having Right With Me place at #1 on the official Apple Music chart in Papua New Guinea, and having Reasons reach 7,2 million plays on Spotify (as of 7th of December 2019). With regular listings on Norwegian radio channel NRK P3, the duo also received recommendations on NRK P1 locally as "an artist to look out for in 2020".