Within months, they’ve gone from acoustic sets behind Italian restaurants to playing their most anticipated show of the summer at Bowery Electric, where they shared a stage with the likes of The Revel, RAGS AND RICHES, TELEVISION SKIES, and Honey Drop. And for good reason. If you’ve seen them live, you’ll know that Denmark makes moshpits out of dive bars. They’re notorious for their onstage energy that’ll get even the 70-year-old wine-sippers rattling their bones. But as rowdy as it all is, that doesn’t mean they don’t have the musical chops. The guitar riffs are unpredictable and artfully crafted, the bass-lines come from years of theory and training, and the drums are rapid firing with constantly changing rhythms and time signatures. And if the songs themselves don’t sound that complicated, it’s because their technical skill enables the band to play effortlessly. The three speak their own musical language and finish each other’s sentences— it’s only natural that their music be as harmonic as the three of them are.
Ben Denmark— I work at a collectibles auction house on Long Island.
Frankie Fowlkes— It sounds like a joke, but he's being serious.
BD— Is it funny? I'm going to say a lot more funnier stuff later on. So get the giggles ready.
I'm getting the giggles ready. How'd you meet?
David Reichberg— Well, Ben and I are stepbrothers and we've been playing music together since 2013. And Frankie and I met in highschool. It was our mutual friend’s birthday party and he was like, “Dude, it's gonna be sick. Make sure you come, there are gonna be so many people.” I show up with my friend and it's dead. There's no one there and I go into the other room and it's just him and Frankie doing whippits. Frankie was lying there dead, so I sit down next to him and he shoves them in my face and goes, “Bro, you got to try!” [laughs]
What if your mom reads this article?
FF— My mom knows this story!
So when did you all get together?
DR— Right after D-Day in 2022. Ben and I were in our own band where we actually wrote some of the Denmark songs. We had this other kid who was playing drums, but right before we were supposed to play this show, he flaked, so we had Frankie fill in.
BD— It was kind of funny because, at that point, we were already planning to invite Frankie to join, we just didn’t think he’d play with us that soon. I wasn't as sold on Frankie because he’s way too pretty to be good at guitar. I didn’t know he was going to be sick! And then we jammed together for an hour in David's living room before that show. I was just playing drums on my lap and they were playing acoustics and I was like, “Damn, Frankie's actually good!” And then he talked about Slowdive and Dinosaur Jr. and bands that I like, that are actually really nerdy, even though he literally looks like he’d be the lifeguard in an eighties movie.
DR— Right before that show, I was talking to Ben and was like, “We should have Frankie join” and Ben was like, “Who would you compare him to? In terms of skill?” And I said “Me!” [laughs]
You guys do complement each other very well on stage. I know it’s not your choice, but I wish you’d get some better setups because it’s been David, Frankie, and Ben and the drums off to the side and in the back.
BD— I’d like to be in between them, but any time I can just see their beautiful cheeks is good enough.