Espo Despo is an international band that performs songs with original texts written in Esperanto. The band has its base in Copenhagen, Denmark. The current members are of Bosnian, German, and US origin. Espo Despo (often written as one word, EspoDespo) was founded near the end of 2005. In the beginning, the band mostly played songs by the recently dissolved group Esperanto Desperado, but they quickly found their own voice while creating songs for their first album, Esperante, released in 2008. In 2015, they returned to the studio to record songs for a new album, Bosniumas, which was released in 2016. The current repertoire consists of a mix of both new and updated older songs played in the band’s own original style.

Amir Hadžiahmetović is the main song-writer, guitarist, and singer. Karl Maybach, a multi-instrumentalist primarily playing bass and providing backup vocals, sometimes also contributes on keyboards, the Chapman Stick, the didgeridoo, and the trombone. Karl has the biggest influence on arranging, designing, and producing the band’s music. Birte Jona Røskvar Knutzen, on drums, is able to take exciting and challenging rhythms to the next level by delivering a huge dose of passion, dynamics, and creativity with a jazzy world-music touch.

Over the years, many excellent musicians have played with the band and influenced its sound, including: Glenn Hartmann Thomsen, an extremely talented Danish drummer skilled in all possible rhythms; Thomas Petruso (thomaspetruso.com), a percussionist/drummer/singer from the United States, and a specialist in Brazilian rhythms and percussion; Laurent Fricault (linkedin.com/in/laurent-fricault-4140688), an expert in polyrhythmic and African rhythms; Andrzej Krejniuk (discogs.com/artist/1641615-Andrzej-Krejniuk), a Polish-Danish virtuoso bass player, who greatly influenced the sound of the band’s first album with his extraordinary bass lines; and last but not least, Dino Pehilj, a frequent guest and master of classical and jazz guitar who has been an important influence on the sound of the band. The band’s roster has also featured a wide range of other guest musicians, both when playing live and when recording.