Back in Stockholm

This weekend in London was a blast. On Friday I met up with the other guys in Hong Faux, who’d gotten there the day before. I had to book a later flight due to a gig on Thursday at a corporate event in Stockholm. We strolled around at Camden Market in the afternoon, checking out the vintage clothes and record stores, before heading over to Cargo. The place was big and it all looked very promising. That is, until the backline showed up. The drums were busted, and the amps were so small that they’re only good for use as practice amps in a dorm room or something. They weren’t even fully functional. Nik’s appointed Line 6 amplifier had a nob missing and randomly switched from clean to tremolo mode, making the gig quite unpredictable and a little bit too exciting for my taste… Luckily, there weren’t too many in the audience. We were a late addition to the bill that evening and started at 7 p.m. so most people were still out in the sunshine by the time we entered the stage. But, we pulled through and it was a good “dress rehearsal” in preparation for the gig at The Dublin Castle the next day. Also, I got to catch up with an old friend whom I hadn’t met for nine years. We used to be in high school together in Kuala Lumpur, and since we graduated I’ve only seen him a couple of times, the last time back in 2002. I was happy to see that he was just the same as he’s always been, and it was like we’d met only last week. Good times!

After a good night’s sleep we went back to Camden Market to have some lunch. I had some amazing dumplings and the best damn sandwitch I’ve ever tasted in my life – Grilled Hog Sandwitch. It was just ciabatta, grilled hog, apple sauce and rocket salad, but the meat was so suckulent it just melted in your mouth. Naturally, I had to take a picture of that hog.

I also found a numbered limited edition 7″ vinyl (number 0038) of Pearl Jam‘s “Just Breathe / Got Some”. Vinyl singles are just about impossible to come by here in Sweden, so I was quite pleased with that purchase.

After a couple of hours rest in the hotel (where they charged £6 for two hours of wifi…) we headed over to The Dublin Castle. A smaller venue than Cargo, but a lot more professional. We got acquainted with the band opening up for us – The Slide from Malmö. Cool kids playing classic rock in the vein of AC/DC, Black Crowes and The Faces. They were a pleasant bunch and we wouldn’t mind playing with them again sometime. In any case, this show was everything that the previous one wasn’t. A good crowd, great sound, a competent sound guy and some business people on the guest list. Dave Ling, a writer for Classic Rock Magazine, was in the audience with a friend and seemed to enjoy it quite a lot, so hopefully he’ll give us a good write-up at some point down the line. We stayed at the venue for a while after the show, having some drinks and making new connections, before heading back to the hotel again – ditching the after party. After all, we’re all in our 30’s now ;).

On Sunday I met up with my old high school friend again for lunch. After a couple of hours of reminiscing and making plans to meet up again soon it was time to fly back home. Just like last time when we played in the UK, half of our gear didn’t get on the flight. So my bass and Björn’s guitar are still on the road. Hopefully they got here on the morning flight today, as BA promised. Some bullshit, right? It wouldn’t have been a very good situation had we been scheduled for a gig in Stockholm yesterday…

In any case, the trip was definitely a success, and now we’ve done the first shows in London. I suspect we will be going back soon again to play a bigger venue. Until then, we’re going to focus on finishing the album.

This week I will focus on creative activities. I plan on doing another studio session with my buddy Per Björling for my solo project pretty soon, so I’m going to go through some old ideas and finish up on lyrics that have been laying around in draft form for the past couple of years. We’re also going to go through the new Genuine Fakes songs one more time and fine tune the arrangements since we’re going to start recording the next album before the end of the month. There’s no time to waste since I’ll be on tour in France all of next week with Nutmeg. I also need to clean up my office… it’s oh so boring, but it’s getting cluttered after four years of just putting papers in different piles and throwing it up on shelves. I’ve been putting it off for way too long already, and my wife is beating me over the head with it… I guess she’s fed up with the sight of it for some reason! So, I’m off to work…

Latest happenings

I realize it’s been a while since the last update. Time sure flies by pretty quickly!

In any case, during the past few weeks I’ve been busy both finishing up on the new Nutmeg album and playing gigs with Beatles band Liverpool as a stand in for their guitarist. It was really fun playing those old songs with different people than I’m used to, and also doing the vocal parts of McCartney for a change. I wouldn’t mind doing more gigs with them if the opportunity presents itself.

The Nutmeg sessions went really well. Last week we did the last overdubs, which were lead and backing vocals on about four songs. The album is really turning out well – far better than I had hoped for when we started out! We haven’t decided when we’re putting out the album, but it will probably be sometime early next year. This fall I need to focus on the release of The Genuine Fakes‘ debut album and try to finish recording the next solo album. I’m also going on tour with Dexter Jones’ Circus Orchestra in October so I’ve got my work cut out for me until Christmas!

Right now I’m working on some new songs. I going to try and make some proper demos between now and next Friday since I’ve got a bit of downtime on the gig front at the moment.

The hat is in the ring

I’ve thrown both my solo and NUTMEG hats in the ring in the “The Next Big Thing” competition. Please show your support by browsing through pics, vids and songs and rating them. My solo page can be found here and NUTMEG here. The Genuine Fakes‘ page can be found here, as you know.

Karlshamn by the sea

Right now I’m sitting in a hotel room in Karlshamn by the sea. It’s pretty damn cold and windy! We’ve got two private gigs here with The Compleatles – one tonight and one tomorrow. It’s nice to have two gigs at the same venue so we don’t have to pack up the gear after the show like we usually do.

On Wednesday I had a gig at Southside Cavern in Stockholm – my first solo gig since May 2008. It was a nice little show and I made a new acquaintance in Niklas Möller who played before me. He’s got a really good voice and should really do something with his material. In any case I played through some old songs – A Silent Cry for Help, Lovelace, Haven, This Could Be Our Time, Intertwined and my cover of Popsicle‘s Hey Princess. It’s strange that I’ve come to the point where my own material brings out nostalgia in me! It was a good run-through and it got me thinking that I really should get to work on the new solo album. It would be nice to have it finished by the end of the year and maybe do a little tour next spring. I’ve missed the small intimate solo gigs – quite different from The Genuine Fakes shows!

Now I’m going to get ready for showtime. 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!

Some live pics

Well, I didn’t get too inspired sitting by the piano, so I decided to delve through old backup folders on an external hard drive that I haven’t used for a while. And to my surprise I found a bunch of photos from the last full band show I did back in February 2007. I hope to do more of those in the near future!

Anyhow, I decided to upload those photos onto my artist page on Facebook. Click here to go directly to the photo album. Thanks to Johanna Wassgren for taking the photos!

Johan Bergqvist and band live on stage at Alcazar, Stockholm, 6 Feb 2007