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Salt Lake City probably doesn't seem like an exotic destination for most people, but as a kid, Lukas Forchhammer never dreamed he'd get to visit the Beehive State — or any of the other locations he's visited on his current U.S. tour.

The 27-year-old frontman of the band Lukas Graham grew up in Freetown Christiania, an autonomous art enclave in Copenhagen that has no cars or police and few amenities.

"I started in relatively humble beginnings. I grew up in second-hand clothes eating meatloaf with not a lot of meat," Forchhammer said. "We fought our way here. We weren't given any breaks."

Forchhammer, whose band's moniker is his first and middle names, writes lyrics that have the perspective of someone much older. The band's song "7 Years" from its self-titled album released in June 2015 focuses largely on his father, who passed away 3 ½ years ago, when Forchhammer was writing the album.

"Losing him has taken up a lot of headspace," he said.

He hopes his listeners hear his music and can relate the losses they've had in their lives to him losing his father.

"Some people lost a friend or a cat or a granny or a guinea pig, and that loss was as hard for them as it was for me to lose my father," he said. "You can't put a label on pain. Everyone has their 100 percent, and there's no 110 percent, just a new 100 percent."

But he and his bandmates — Kasper Daugaard (keyboard), Mark "Lovestick" Falgren (drums) and Magnus Larsson (bass) — have an intuitive writing process that is largely formed by the band members' moods and emotions.

"It's more about what's your creative energy when you're in that process," he said, adding that songwriting is a democratic process where he can be outvoted. "I have the boys treat me like a rubber ball. They keep bouncing ideas off me until it works."

And it appears to be working. The song "7 Years" has ranked No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes Song Chart, No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Spotify charts and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. It also has ranked in the top five in Australia, Canada, the U.K. and Ireland.

"It's been pretty awesome to have a top-five song around the world," he said. "We've been working so hard. But success has always been a great liar. Once you achieve a goal, you're immediately aiming for the next one, so sometimes it's hard to take gratification in making a goal."

But he has experienced little "gems of joy" along the way. Appearing on the "Ellen" show. Hearing 1,200 people sing his lyrics back to him at a concert. Performing in Norfolk, where his mom was in the crowd. Traveling the globe.

"It's fun and fantastic to see so much of the world, even if it's at the speed of light," he said. "It's a whirlwind of hotel rooms, planes, buses and venues. I'm trying not to focus on the nightmares, though, because I'm living my dream." —

Lukas Graham

With Daye Jack

When • Thursday, May 19, 8 p.m.; doors open at 7 p.m.

Where • The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake City

Tickets • Sold out. The show was originally scheduled for April 16, and all tickets for that event will be honored.