Meet Anton Thiemke: Copenhagen’s newest cool kid on the block

Anton Thiemke came up with his stage name over summer beers. “I brought all these papers and just wrote a bunch of shitty names down. And at some point there was Space Idol and it just felt right,” he tells me over FaceTime from his apartment in Copenhagen. “So I went out the day after and got it tattooed on my hand.” He holds his hand up to the camera, the words are scrawled primitively along the side. Space Idol was instantly permanent.

While Thiemke, who was born and raised in Copenhagen’s Vesterbro, has a devil-may-care aura – the haphazard tattoos, the dishevelled bleached blonde hair, the up-to-no-good grin – Space Idol has materialised rather thoughtfully. “I always wanted to perform,” he says. He would watch videos of Arctic Monkeys, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam on YouTube and think, “Oh my god, I want to do that shit one day”. Still, getting up on stage himself remained but a “faraway dream”. Instead, he fell into a successful modelling career; a few years ago, a friend’s mum brought him to Scoop Models in Copenhagen and he’s been working steadily ever since.

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When it came to music, there was one significant barrier to entry. “I always had a problem with my voice,” Thiemke says, taking a drag of a hand-rolled cigarette. “I never even made stories and Instagram reels where I talk. I always hid my voice on social media.” So, with the help of his manager, he sought out a vocal coach and got to work. “I’ve been practising my vocals for over a year,” he says. He spent time with some producers in Paris, then Los Angeles before settling into a studio setup of his own in Copenhagen. “I didn’t want to go into this industry and not be prepared,” he says. “I need to be f***ing good at what I do before I release anything.”

The culmination of all of this preparation is Space Idol’s debut single, ‘She Said’. It’s a bit punky, a bit poppy and entirely addictive – reminiscent of the early 2000s indie rock era: The Strokes, The Libertines, the aforementioned Arctic Monkeys. The vocal coach paid off. Thiemke assures me that this is as commercial as it’s going to get. He hints towards more esoteric or hardcore releases in the future, but wanted to get people on board first (he has a built-in following thanks to modelling and an enviable fun-forward lifestyle). “If I would have come out with the songs I love most, people would think, ‘F***, he’s weird’,” he says.

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The music may get stranger, less instantly digestible (in fact, it already has; Space Idol’s latest single, “The Way I Like It” is notably more alternative) but Theimke has superstar dreams. “I want to be bigger than Gorillaz and Oasis,” he says, matter-of-factly. “I want to put Space Idol on the map, worldwide.” And who’s to say he won’t? He already looks like a rock star.

While the broad strokes of Space Idol came to fruition thoughtfully, the details were filled in organically. Take, for example, a forthcoming collaboration with Måneskin bassist Victoria De Angelis (who’s half-Danish, by the by). Thiemke posted a story of his girlfriend, Danish model Nina Marker, dancing to a Måneskin tune shortly after the Italian band won last year’s Eurovision Song Contest. “Vic replied to it,” Thiemke says.

The band came to Copenhagen two weeks later and “we just became friends”. Shortly thereafter, they linked up at Coachella, where they could be found exploring the festival grounds on golf carts, downing beers and causing a general ruckus. “They’re such nice people,” Thiemke says. “We have the same intentions with music and we like the same stuff.”

When he needs something to wear, be it for promo pictures or an onstage performance, Thiemke turns to his inner circle of Danish creatives – Simon Wick of buzzy brand (di)vision and Kasper Miz, who fronts the jewellery brand Hanrej. Marker often gives her input, sitting in on photoshoots and studio sessions, their dog, Mushu, nestled on a nearby sofa.

Even this story came about by friendly happenstance; Thiemke and I were introduced by a mutual acquaintance at a Jade Cropper afterparty during Copenhagen Fashion Week. Photographer Ellen von Unwerth shot him for a campaign a few weeks later and offered to take these photos for us on a whim. “He looks like Jude Law or Sting,” von Unwerth told me over email after meeting Thiemke.

Thiemke’s entire friend group is having a moment. (di)vision, which Wick co-founded with his sister Anna, has seen their signature split bombers worn by top models and Kardashians. Both Thiemke and Wick’s girlfriends, Marker and Sarah Dahl, have successful modelling careers, walking for the likes of Oscar de la Renta and Chanel. Then there’s their other pal, Mona Tougaard, one of the most sought after supermodels in the world.

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It didn’t happen for these Danish cool kids overnight. “We had to sacrifice everything to get our shit to work,” Thiemke recalls. “Now there’s a safety net. It’s not all or nothing every time we do something.” For Thiemke, that safety net comes via modelling, a vocation he dubs “just money”. Along the way, these genetically blessed creatives help one another out where they can – walking in each other ’s fashion shows, appearing in campaigns, simply showing up. As a group, they exude a refreshing authenticity, unafraid to be a bit messy, a bit goofy or – heaven forbid – genuinely happy, both in person and on social media.

Recently, Space Idol performed live, for the very first time, at Copenhagen hotspot Apollo Bar. The flyer, which began circulating on Instagram a few days ahead of the show read, simply: “It’s going to be f***ing legendary”. Still, before his big moment, the artist experienced some first-time jitters. “I had so much anxiety before the show,” Thiemke admits. “It’s always going to be super scary the first time you do it.” Luckily he had all of his friends there, and their friends, and their friend’s friends, to offer their rapturous support.

As Thiemke stood backstage, hearing the crowd chant “Space Idol”, he felt like a boxer preparing for his first big fight. And then... “I just immediately turned into Space Idol as I walked up – it was crazy,” he says. Mid-show he removed his shirt to reveal his tattoos, dancing on tables to a packed room of young hip things. The crowd, even the people Thiemke didn’t know, shouted his lyrics back at him. “When I woke up the day after, I was like, now I’m a musician,” Thiemke says. “Now this is real.”