Vendors of Denmark’s Hus Forbi have collaborated with Danish pop-soul singer Lukas Frochhammer, front man of the band Lukas Graham, on a special vinyl single release to coincide with the arrival of the street paper’s annual calendar.
Hus Forbi always dedicates care and attention to its calendar, which goes to boosting vendors’ sales and income over the festive period, which can often be a cold and trying time for people living on the streets. The 2019 version is no different. With music as its theme, the calendar’s cover, and each month within, is designed to look like the cover of a vinyl album, and features vendors, of varying musical abilities, talking about the music they play and listen to and more about their experience of homelessness.
Alongside the calendar’s release, Lukas Graham, a musician popular in his native Denmark who has achieved crossover success internationally, even peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 with his track ‘7 Years’, has collaborated with a host of Hus Forbi vendors on a cover version of his song ‘You’re Not the Only One (Redemption Song)’, from his album 3 (The Purple Album).
The song features homeless, and formerly homeless, Hus Forbi vendors singing back-up vocals as a choir, with some of the more talented among them chipping in on violin, trumpet and other instruments.
The release campaign for the single, which has been given a physical release on vinyl, includes a video montage of the song’s recording, and a live concert, which took place this week in Copenhagen.
As excitingly, the single’s B-side will include ‘I’ve Got No (Home)’, a song recorded by young musician Kasper Hedegreen, who was featured on the cover of Hus Forbi‘s November issue. Hedegreen became homeless at the age of 13, and his brother and uncle are both Hus Forbi vendors.
The magazine’s editor, Poul Struve Nielsen, told INSP: “Lukas Graham is one of the most popular Danish musicians, and the Christmas single he’s doing with our vendors is really great. Lukas is a great guy – sweet and helpful. His version of the song has already been out for a while, but this rendition including homeless people is very different.
“Kasper on the other side is really great, and his personal story is amazing – I really want to promote that kid!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=704ZzMVjDrU
Another Hus Forbi vendor is being given centre-stage as the calendar’s cover star. Vendor Richardt has been homeless since a young age, when he played the washboard on the street to make money. Devastatingly, he has now lost both his legs due to diabetes.
Calendar releases are becoming more and more common across the street paper network, providing another source of income, alongside seasonal editions of local street papers, during the long, and often harsh, winter months.
Lukas Graham will be embarking on a world tour, which will take several cities with street paper vendors. Find out more here.
Music has become a theme for the street paper network in December, including our specially curated #VendorPlaylist. Read more about it, and listen to the multi-platform playlist, which includes contributions from Hus Forbi vendors, here.
