A weekend with Friska Viljor

This weekend was a total blast. Two gigs on the big stage of both St. Gallen Open Air and Rheinkultur with Friska Viljor, with whom I haven’t had the opportunity to play with for a couple of years. Since I last played with them, they’ve put out two new records and grown very popular down in continental Europe. On Friday we flew down to Munich and got picked up by the designated driver, and drove down to Switzerland for the first show. It’s supposedly the most important festival to play in the country, and we had a great spot at 7.15 pm on the main stage. It was quite cool to step up on the same stage that Queens of the Stone Age were going to play the day after us. It was absolutely huge, and the crowd was around 15 000 when we played. I hadn’t played for a crowd that big since HappyPill opened up for KISS in 2008. Since I’d only had a couple of days to learn the 15 song set I was quite focused and not entirely able to enjoy the moment. But it didn’t matter much since the next gig was going to be even bigger!

Having only slept for two hours the night before (we had to leave for the airport at 4 am to catch the early morning flight to Munich) we called it a night quite early and went over to the Radisson to catch up on lost sleep. We also had a 600 km drive the next morning so we had to get up at 7 in order to make the 2 pm get-in time in Bonn. After a typical hotel breakfast buffet we hit the road an hour late and still managed to make it to Rheinkultur only 10 minutes late. With only about 1½ hours to showtime we quickly got the gear offloaded and up behind the stage. We got set up for the change-over in no time, so I had some time to enjoy the show of Greg Dulli with his Twilight Singers who had the spot before us. He’s a real legend in my book, and I’m a big fan of Afghan Whigs, so I was very happy to be able to see him live for the first time – from the side of the stage no less. I never got the chance to speak with him though, since we only had 15 minutes change-over time. When we got out on stage, we were greeted by 35-40 000 people (at least, that’s what the stage manager estimated the number to be). We had some difficulties getting all the instruments sounding on stage, so we had to cut a few songs off the set, unfortunately. However, when we got started it was all just extremely fun – the sound was a lot better than the night before, and with a gig the night before under my belt, I personally could enjoy the gig a lot more. It was the biggest gig ever for Friska Viljor, and for myself as well – beating the previous record of 20-25 000 at Stockholms Stadion at the KISS gig. It’s just the coolest thing you can experience as a musician – especially since a huge part of the audience was actually there for Friska Viljor and sang along in all the songs. It’s something that can’t really be compared with anything else, I assure you!

After the show we all got really drunk and I had the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I hope I get a chance to play with the band soon again.

Here’s a video clip from Rheinkultur:

And here are some photos I took during the trip:

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Busy month!

Time flies! It’s good that I’ve got so much to do that it doesn’t feel like it’s been over two weeks since my last post. 🙂

Well, since last time I wrote I’ve been busy with a lot of different projects. I’ve spent some time in the studio working on new songs with Karl Martindahl. We’ve started demoing a couple of them and they’re turning out really well. Hopefully we’ll be able to have a handful of songs finished within a month or so.

Also, work continues on the next Genuine Fakes album. Last month we spent a weekend laying down the drum tracks, and yesterday we continued work on the song “Even With You”, which is one of the strongest ones of the bunch. It will most probably end up as being the first single from the new album.

Hong Faux is also making progress with the debut album. We just finished the last of the drum tracks, and I’m pretty much finished with the bass overdubs. There are just two more to do, and they’re re-recordings of two tracks from our EP that was released in November last year, so I basically just have to go in there and do it. After that we’ve got about three, four songs that still need guitar overdubs and vocals. We’re hoping to get everything finished before the end of August, with a record release sometime before the end of the year. We’re going to play some gigs in the fall as well – the tour is being planned at the moment. Hopefully we’ll be able to do some more shows here in Sweden since we’ve basically only played in the UK so far.

I’ve also been busy on the live front. The Compleatles have done a couple of shows, and we’ve got two more coming up in July. Summer’s a great time for Beatles music it seems! The most recent gig was at Villa Talliden in Rönninge outside of Stockholm, and we blew the roof off the joint. It was one of the more intimate shows we’ve done, since we had to move indoors due to pouring rain. But we made the most of it and it was the most fun show we’ve had in long time. Looks like we’re going to do one more show there before the summer’s over.

Midsummer was spent in Tavelsjö outside of Umeå. I went up there to play at a wedding with Dexter Jones’ Circus Orchestra. It was pretty cool that the bride and groom went for a band that only plays their own songs and not just the regular cover material. But we threw in a couple of Thin Lizzy and Sabbath songs for good measure. Also, the groom and his brother joined us on stage to play “Staten och kapitalet” by Ebba Grön. Needless to say, he completely stole the show. 🙂 It was good times. It was pretty awesome being that far north this time of year. The sun never sets! I’ve experienced bright summer nights before, but up there it’s broad daylight at 2 in the morning. I’ve posted some photos on Flickr in case you’re interested. (Check out the feed in the right hand column).

Now I gotta quit typing and start working. This weekend I’m joining Friska Viljor for the first time in two years to play two of the biggest European festivals – St. Gallen Open Air in Switzerland and Rheinkultur in Bonn. I’ve got 15 songs to learn in two days so I best get crackin’! Over and out.

Another Month to an End

Fall has come to the land. I’m doing my best not to plunge into autumn depression by submersing myself in work. This month we did a festival gig with The Genuine Fakes, and last week we started rehearsing new songs for the next album. We gotta stay on top of the game in order to be able to release a follow up to the debut within a year of its release. I’m staying in the creative phase, continually writing new songs so hopefully we’ll have a bunch of good ones to choose from. Besides, we had about fifteen unused tracks for the first album so there’s no shortage of material to begin with. However, many of those song are ones that were written when the band was still in the cradle and we didn’t know exactly which direction to take yet, so not all of them feel relevant at this point. The good thing is that we’ve got loads of potential bonus tracks instead! 🙂

In other news, Hong Faux are going into the studio on Monday to record some new material. We’re adding four new ones to the four we’ve already recorded (three of which you can listen to in the player in the right hand column), and we’ve got a lot of song embryos so the album’s coming along nicely. This project has really taken shape now, and we’ve got a litte UK tour planned at the end of November. Check http://hongfaux.com for more information.

Other than that, I’m preparing for the European tour with Dexter Jones’ Circus Orchestra. I can’t wait to hit the road for a whole month. I haven’t done a trip like that since I was off with Friska Viljor two years ago. And I haven’t had the role of “guitar hero” since I played in Happypill!

Today Peder Claesson is coming over to my home studio. His solo album is almost finished and it’s sounding fantastic. I’ve done some lyrical consulting for him and played a few instruments here and there. I hope the album will get a proper release and the attention it deserves.

Time for the morning coffee, kids! Over and out.

Mansion gig and solo show

We had a blast this weekend. My cold did actually disappear in time for the show on Friday. We arrived at the mansion in Växjö in the early afternoon. We immediately got served with pizza and beer and then we started loading in our gear. We turned on the amps and did what turned out as the shortest soundcheck we’ve ever done. The sound engineer really knew what he was doing and for the first time ever I didn’t ask for any changes in my monitor mix after the first song we tried out. So, we went back down to the boat house where we were to sleep after the party. And when I say boat house I actually mean house, cause it’s just as big as a regular house and holds a sauna and a jacuzzi overlooking the lake. We spent the rest of the afternoon in that sauna and jacuzzi, drinking beer and talking about everything and nothing and getting in the mood for rock n’ roll. The gig was actually one of the best we’ve done. The guests were in their best party mood, and the host, being as he is, a big Beatles fan, had a big grin on his face everytime I saw him on the dance floor. For the second half of our second set we were joined on stage by a guy called Ted Hector who played a Hammond B3, complete with a Lesley cabinet, and brought our show to a whole new level. That instrument never ceases to amaze me everytime I hear it!

We went home on Sunday morning, happy, hung over and with a wallet loaded with cash. Not too shabby! It’s nice to get a posh gig like this every once in a while when most others are nowhere near as smooth to realize. Too bad they are so few and far between…

When I got home and opened my inbox I was met by the tragic news that Will Owsley had passed away on Friday at age 44 in an apparent suicide. He has been a true inspiration for me since the release of his first solo album was released back in 1999. It seems so pointless. I rank that album (entitled Owsley) as one of the top ten albums in my collection, and definitely one of the very best powerpop albums to ever come out. He only released one more album in 2004 (The Hard Way), which, even though it isn’t as good as the first in my opinion, still was a solid and balanced record worthy of attention. I sure hope there’s a lot of unreleased material out there that will see the light of day eventually.

Today I did an acting job actually. My very first time. I was an extra in a scene they were shooting for a movie about the life of Cornelis Vreeswijk, starring Hank von Helvete of Turbonegro fame. The movie is directed by Amir Chamdin from Infinite Mass and I’m really looking forward to seeing it when it hits the theatres around the country. It was a fun time and I think I might do more of that if the opportunity arises. On the set I bumped into Mattias Areskog, (bassist of Friska Viljor), whom I hadn’t seen for a while. Small world, eh?

The day was rounded off with a Genuine Fakes rehearsal. The big gig on May 22 is approaching fast! I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be a blast on so many levels.

On Wednesday I’m doing my first solo gig in almost exactly two years. I had one planned at the end of last summer, but it got cancelled at the last minute ’cause it was to be an outdoor gig and it was starting to get really cold in the evenings so the place decided to cut the season short and close up shop early. It was a shame ’cause it was bound to be a really good show. In any case, now I’m going to play at Southside Cavern here in Stockholm (where we played with The Genuine Fakes a couple of weeks ago), just me, a piano and an acoustic guitar. I’ll do five or six songs and there will be a couple of other acts playing acoustic sets also so I’m betting it’s going to be a pretty soft and cozy night. So, if you’re in the neighborhood – drop by for a beer wontcha!

Good Friday

Today I’m enjoying some quiet time at home in front of the TV. It’s a beautiful day so after lunch I’m going out for a walk in the park. Spring is finally in the air!

Yesterday was great. Started off watching a couple of episodes of Caprica – the Battlestar Galactica spinoff series. After having some leftover meatballs from the day before I headed down to Kungsholmstorg where we’re working on the next Nutmeg album. We got a lot done, finishing up the keyboard parts and I did all of the vocal overdubs. The album’s really starting to take shape now. At the end of April we’re getting together to finish writing the last few songs that we need to complete it.

The day was topped off with seeing my buddies in Friska Viljor play at Hornstulls Strand. My good friend (and producer/bassist) Per Björling joined up to share a couple of beers. I hadn’t seen the guys for a while so it was great fun. They were in their usual party mood, spreading joy all over the place. Hopefully I’ll be able to join them on some festival gigs in Europe this summer. It’s always a blast to play with FV!