Since the founding of the band back in 2003, Hojfen Balagan has played aprox. 220 gigs, mostly in Sweden and Norway, but also in Germany, Denmark, Poland and Serbia. They released their first demo in 2004 and a 3 track single named “Bosh Bosh” in 2006, avaliable for download at www.hojfenbalagan.com.
During the spring of 2007 the band began collaborating with Dj Prinsen Paulista, The founder of Balkan Beat Party, the biggest club in Oslo, Norway. Hojfen has become frequent guests at the club, and together with DJ Prinzen and the BBP-concept they have played all over Norway.
The band traveled the Balkans in the summer of 2007 and attended the Amala summer school in southern Serbia, learning romani music by ear from some of Serbias finest musicians. They bought a minibus to use for the roadtrip, but it broke down before they went and, while they where gone without it, it accumulated about 2000 sek (184 €) in parking fees. The summer of 2007 was also the starting year for their own club “Diskoteka Yugostyle”, held in different places, mostly backyards, in their native town Lund.
2008 was a good year for the band with lots of sweet gigs all over Sweden and Norway, a new place to rehearse and put their stuff plus their second apperance in swedish national televison. 2008 was also the bands fifth year anniversary, and although the band has improved a lot since the beginning, the members felt that it was time to evolve, with the adding of a vocalist as the major difference.
The 25:th of march 2009 Hojfen had their premiere gig with their new vocalist Linnéa in front of a enthusiastic crowd at Parkteatret in Oslo. During a couple of productive months a lot of new vocal based material was produced, but unfortunately the band and their newly found vocalist had to go separate ways when she, out of a hundred applicants, was accepted at a jazz school in Linköping. The band is once again back as a 10 piece boyband, and the new material is curently beeing reworked.
A live album was recorded in the 30:th of november 2008, and due to unforseen circumstances it wasnt ready until november 2009, but it will be avaliable i stores, iTunes and Spotify.
November 2009 was as well the month when the band re-premiered their club Discoteka Yugostyle, witch will return monthly.
A small tour of Europe during early summer 2010 in in the planning stage, and a promo EP is currently beeing recorded, and will be sent to various clubs to fill up the dates that hasn’t been set yet.
