by K. Ross Hoffman\ Hess Is More is essentially the project of Denmark s Mikkel Hess, a composer and multi-instrumentalist who combines elements of jazz, electronica, Scandinavian folk, soundtrack music, and classic pop with a playfully melodic and decidedly humorous sensibility. The product of a musical family from Copenhagen -- Mikkel s brother Nikolaj Hess, a well-established jazz pianist, is a regular member of his live band, while another brother, saxophonist Emil, several cousins, and even his parents have also been frequent collaborators -- Hess got his first drum kit at the age of seven. He went on to attend Copenhagen s Rhythmic Music Conservatory, studying with jazz legend Ed Thigpen, among others, and graduating in 2002. While maintaining an active career as a jazz drummer, Hess also began working as a composer for several major Danish film, theater, and television outlets. The first Hess Is More album was actually a score he composed for a production of The Wind in the Willows, first released in 2003 by the interdisciplinary art collective BoinkBox (of which Hess is a founding member), and later reworked, with a few additional tracks, as Tip Top Dynamo, Hess 2005 debut on the Music for Dreams label. 2006 s lighthearted Captain Europe introduced his vocals for the first time, most notably on the attention-getting Yes Boss, a duet with Vietnamese-Norwegian singer Bang Chau which was also issued as a remix 12 . His next releases included a score for Rosenkrantz & Gyldenstjerne Er Døde and a limited live album recorded at Wood Wood record store, which contained the genesis of the 2007 single Would Would You Like to Disco. The next year brought the three-part conceptual album Denial, which spawned a successful Danish radio single in Ssshhhh ; a career-spanning compilation of Hits followed in 2009, issued in the U.S. by Nublu Records.