Galantis’ Christian Karlsson didn’t know that the “different wiring” in his brain had a name growing up. It wasn’t until he was an adult that he was diagnosed with ADHD and he finally was able to bring “clarity to the chaos.”
“My brain has the motor of a Ferrari and the brakes of a bicycle,” he tells Rolling Stone. “And the only way I had been able to sustain was by keeping it activated non-stop with music.”
On Thursday, Galantis premieres the single “Bang Bang!” — Karlsson’s “neurodivergent anthem” — and its video with Rolling Stone as he candidly reveals for the first time his struggle with ADHD. The track is an upbeat festival-ready banger that channels his experience with the disorder, and how it’s played a role in the journey to make him the artist he is today.
“You know I hate sometimes my mind can run/Faster than a bullet from a gun,” go the lyrics. “My heart is like a trigger in my chest/There it goes again/Bang bang my head.”
Karlsson explains that Galantis’ first album Pharmacy was named after the “trial and error process” of finding the right medication for him as he sought medical aid for his ADHD. Now, he has “the prescription I’ve been looking for” — in both the music he’s making and in his medicine closet.
“Every day I’m learning more about who I really am and how my brain works, it’s a comfort to be connected with people who are on that same journey,” he says. “Neurodiversity encapsulates all the different variations of the human mind, none of us are alone or less than.”
The video for “Bang Bang! (My Neurodivergent Anthem)” follows a metal-masked creature, Piiper, as they roam through Los Angeles and end up in a studio, face paparazzi, and go through therapy, before ending up at a Hollywood Hills party. “We’re all just broken pieces looking for our other broken pieces,” the masked human says at the end of the visual.
“Bang Bang!” follows the release of “Fool 4 U” with Jvke and Enisa, “Hungry Heart” with Steve Aoki and Hayley Kiyoko, and “I Want You” with duo Icona Pop.
“As humans, we’re all different. We look different, we sound different, and just like that – we think different,” he says. “Music is about bringing people together, and I want to make songs that unite people and promote inclusivity among all types of mental divergence.”
Full statement from Christian Karlsson below:
“I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until I was an adult, but had known for a long time that I was wired differently. The knowledge brought clarity to the chaos, yet it also led to a period of self-doubt and confusion. My brain has the motor of a Ferrari and the brakes of a bicycle, and the only way I had been able to sustain was by keeping it activated non-stop with music. I quietly began a long trial and error process of medicating, trying to find a solution that worked for me – ‘Pharmacy’ wasn’t the name of the first Galantis album by coincidence.
Eventually, I learned more about neurodiversity and found myself to be part of a community that was living through experiences similar to my own. Every day I’m learning more about who I really am and how my brain works, it’s a comfort to be connected with people who are on that same journey. Neurodiversity encapsulates all the different variations of the human mind, none of us are alone or less than.
As humans, we’re all different. We look different, we sound different, and just like that – we think different. Music is about bringing people together, and I want to make songs that unite people and promote inclusivity among all types of mental divergence. I called ‘BANG BANG!’ my neurodivergent anthem because like the chorus echoes, ‘it’s in my head.’ These thoughts, these questions, these stigmas we work to erase. Letting go of what we’ve been conditioned to perceive as ‘normal’ and embracing our own unique identities.
It’s the prescription I’ve been looking for.”
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