Right now the Mountain Of Power "Vol II" album is being mastered by one of my guitar heroes, who also does a guest solo on the album, Ty Tabor (King's X). The test track I received sounded awesome! We're slightly behind schedule but the album should be out before Christmas anyway.
My computer crashed, my entire drive was erased, all my reviews, articles, interviews, lists, book keeping... everything... gone. At least it seemed like it. Currently my computer wiz colleague Johan is restoring the disc, and it's looking good! It's been a couple of nerve wrecking days, I can ssure you!
Listening to right now:
KATATONIA - "Night Is The New Day" - Opeth's got competition!!
CITY BOY - "Dinner At The Riyz" - Great (but cheap) re-issue
CITY BOY - Young Men Gone West - (see above)
måndag 16 november 2009
måndag 9 november 2009
Yes, entering the final stage!!
Tomorrow knob wizzard Pelle Saether will put the finishing touch on the new Mountain of Power CD! After this, it's off for mastering by King's X stringsman Ty Tabor (who also does a guest solo on "Waves"). The mixing stage has been an interesting battle of the minds between myself and label owner/co-producer Joe "The Groovedawg" Romagnola where both our patiences have been put to the test. I think we both passed pretty unharmed though ;-). The end result is what matter and the album sounds awesome!! Well, what is less to expect from such outstanding musicians (besides myself, that is :-)). The release is set to early December and it looks like we will succeed!
On another note. The rumours of me leaving Sweden Rock in all it's forms is true. I have also been banned from the message board, so if you don't see me there, you kow why. I will have nothing to do with the festival nor the magazine.
Some new discs to check out:
The Psychics - s/t - Great bluesy UK retro feel!
Sherlock Brothers - s/t - New contemporary Swedes to check out!
Point Blank - Fight On! - Still rockin'!
On another note. The rumours of me leaving Sweden Rock in all it's forms is true. I have also been banned from the message board, so if you don't see me there, you kow why. I will have nothing to do with the festival nor the magazine.
Some new discs to check out:
The Psychics - s/t - Great bluesy UK retro feel!
Sherlock Brothers - s/t - New contemporary Swedes to check out!
Point Blank - Fight On! - Still rockin'!
måndag 26 oktober 2009
Change of plans...
For various reasons the plans for mix of Mountain of Power has been slightly changed. The album will now be mixed by my old friend and partner in crime Pelle Saether of Studio Undeground (he's also the lead singer of Zello, Grand Design etc). Pelle mixed the previous MoP album and did a tremendous job, so I have the greatest of faith in him (well, he's also mixed all our Locomotive Breath albums). Mixing starts Tuesday, tomorrow, and I'm really excited to hear what he can come up with!
On another note I can also announce I have parted ways with Sweden Rock, both as a writer for the magazine and as a part of the festival and I will have nothing whatsoever to do with them in the future as I see it now. Money does strange things to people...
New recommendable discs:
Plankton - Ocean Tales
House of Heavy - s/t
Freak Kitchen - Land Of Freaks
On another note I can also announce I have parted ways with Sweden Rock, both as a writer for the magazine and as a part of the festival and I will have nothing whatsoever to do with them in the future as I see it now. Money does strange things to people...
New recommendable discs:
Plankton - Ocean Tales
House of Heavy - s/t
Freak Kitchen - Land Of Freaks
måndag 19 oktober 2009
Interesting behaviour...
I'm finally in the last stage of the Mountain Of Power saga - the mix! However in the last minutes we decided to add a couple more solos to "I Stand Alone", my rendition of the old Blackfoot track (a tribute to Jackson Spires). The track ends with a guitar solo armada. It started out with inly myself and Rusty Burns (Point Blank), but we figured we would add two more. One was Craig Erickson, oustanding bluesy player with a bunch of solo albums under his belt. The other guitarist shall remain anonymous, but he's a great guitarist that has released a number of albums with a great band! However when receiving his solos for the track, the sound was really really awful (sounded like a beeswarm in a tin can), but even worse - his playing was totally off!! At first I thought it was just me not synchinh the track, but no matter how I tried when it was in synching in one place he was off in another. He simply didn't seem to put any effort into playing the solo right. When my label contacted him he said we "should be grateful as he did it for free". Duuuh! HE has to live with it! It's him they will listen to, check his name and go - "fuck, he can't play". Now, I don't want a crappy solo on the album no matter who plays it, I don't use guests for their names but for what they produce. People like Rusty Burns, Thomas Larsson, John Norum, Thomas Juneor Andersson, Martin J Andersen etc have busted their asses and delivered solos that blows me away.
The ordeal with the "unnamed" guitarist was fortunately solved by the saving angel Tommy Denander who offered to step in and lay down two awesome solos in the last minute, just before going on tour with Dan Reed. ... and he did it for free for friendship's sake.
Another hero is drummer Ed Collins (ex Pod) who recorded the drums for three of the tracks. I was quite nervous when dropping his drum tracks into the already finished songs... and they all lined up and sounded 100 % tight, plus he plays like a God!!
I can't enough thank the people that have helped make this album what it will be when mixed and ready!
I also must thank label owner Joe Romagnola for arranging, fixing and sending the Univibe pedal made by "The Toad". It arrived in the last minute but made it into my Rory Gallagher homage.
Now I'm just waiting for Johan Blomström at Studio Sound Palace to do his sound magic!
Playlist of the week:
Plankton - "Ocean Tales" - Outstanding instrumental retro magig - again!!
Point Blank - "Fight On!" - They're back and they're bad!
The Psychics - s/t - Killer retro feel hard rock
House Of Heavy - s/t - New Swedish heavy yet melodic duo
Rufus Huff - s/t - Southern rawk the way it's supposed to be played!
The ordeal with the "unnamed" guitarist was fortunately solved by the saving angel Tommy Denander who offered to step in and lay down two awesome solos in the last minute, just before going on tour with Dan Reed. ... and he did it for free for friendship's sake.
Another hero is drummer Ed Collins (ex Pod) who recorded the drums for three of the tracks. I was quite nervous when dropping his drum tracks into the already finished songs... and they all lined up and sounded 100 % tight, plus he plays like a God!!
I can't enough thank the people that have helped make this album what it will be when mixed and ready!
I also must thank label owner Joe Romagnola for arranging, fixing and sending the Univibe pedal made by "The Toad". It arrived in the last minute but made it into my Rory Gallagher homage.
Now I'm just waiting for Johan Blomström at Studio Sound Palace to do his sound magic!
Playlist of the week:
Plankton - "Ocean Tales" - Outstanding instrumental retro magig - again!!
Point Blank - "Fight On!" - They're back and they're bad!
The Psychics - s/t - Killer retro feel hard rock
House Of Heavy - s/t - New Swedish heavy yet melodic duo
Rufus Huff - s/t - Southern rawk the way it's supposed to be played!
måndag 12 oktober 2009
Recording and mixing
FINALLY - the new Mountain of Power album is slowly but safely coming together. Last week I recorded my final guitars and bass. Did it a bit differently this time. The bass was recorded with my old Peavey T40. Looks like shit but sounds awesome!! Recorded it to two channels, one line and one through a Pod. The Pod track sounds great, but the line gives you some more options. The guitars I've recorded basically with two rigs:
1. My Hughes & Kettner Trilogy head, through a THD Hotplate, through a H&K 4x12 (V30). On most occasions I also used a Xotic Effects BB PreAmp.
2. My Orange Tiny Terror head, through the same Hotplate and cab as above. usually no BB PreAmp here.
The guitars have been My Gibson Les Paul True Temperament, my Gibson Explorer 76 Re-issue and my Highway 1 Fender Strat. On the solos I've altered between/sometimes in combination, the BB PreAmp, the Toad Fuzz/Dist, Dunlop Cry Baby, Keeley Compressor and the Boss Noise Supressor NS2.
I miked the cab up with just a Sure SM57, except for a couple of tracks where I also used a big membrane mike placed in the room for ambience.
I've now received most of the guests' vocals, drums, guitars. All of them outstandingly great!! I take care of the rhythm guitars, one more solos in each song and bass.
Mixing will start in the next couple of days and will be done by Johan Blomström at Studio Sound Palace.
Here's a rundown of the guests:
Guitarists:
John Norum (Europe)
Kjell Sjöström (Thalamus)
Joe Romagnola (Character)
Singers:
Paul Shortino (Ruff Cutt)
Christian Rivel (Audiovision, Divinefire)
Maria Rådström (One More Time)
Jarrod England (Rufus Huff)
Cindy Weichman (Nail, Helix)
Mattias Osbäck (Locomotive Breath)
David Fremberg (Andromeda)
Conny Bloom (Electric Boys)
Clas Yngström (Sky High)
Mikael Nord Andersson (Balls, Roxette)
Pontus Snibb (Bonafide)
Drums:
Peter Svensson (Constancia, Faith)
Ed Collins (Pod)
1. My Hughes & Kettner Trilogy head, through a THD Hotplate, through a H&K 4x12 (V30). On most occasions I also used a Xotic Effects BB PreAmp.
2. My Orange Tiny Terror head, through the same Hotplate and cab as above. usually no BB PreAmp here.
The guitars have been My Gibson Les Paul True Temperament, my Gibson Explorer 76 Re-issue and my Highway 1 Fender Strat. On the solos I've altered between/sometimes in combination, the BB PreAmp, the Toad Fuzz/Dist, Dunlop Cry Baby, Keeley Compressor and the Boss Noise Supressor NS2.
I miked the cab up with just a Sure SM57, except for a couple of tracks where I also used a big membrane mike placed in the room for ambience.
I've now received most of the guests' vocals, drums, guitars. All of them outstandingly great!! I take care of the rhythm guitars, one more solos in each song and bass.
Mixing will start in the next couple of days and will be done by Johan Blomström at Studio Sound Palace.
Here's a rundown of the guests:
Guitarists:
John Norum (Europe)
Ty Tabor (King's X)
Rusty Burns (Point Blank)
Sven Cirnski (Truth, Bad Habit)
Jay Jesse Johnson (solo)
Clas Yngström (Sky High)
Greg Martin (Rufus Huff, Kentucky HeadHunters)
Conny Bloom (Electric Boys)
Mikael Nord Andersson (Balls, Roxette)
Martin J Andersen (Blindstone)
Thomas Larsson (Glenn Hughes, Baltimoore)
JJ Marsh (Glenn Hughes)
Thomas Juneor Andersson (Kamchatka)Kjell Sjöström (Thalamus)
Joe Romagnola (Character)
Singers:
Paul Shortino (Ruff Cutt)
Christian Rivel (Audiovision, Divinefire)
Maria Rådström (One More Time)
Jarrod England (Rufus Huff)
Cindy Weichman (Nail, Helix)
Mattias Osbäck (Locomotive Breath)
David Fremberg (Andromeda)
Conny Bloom (Electric Boys)
Clas Yngström (Sky High)
Mikael Nord Andersson (Balls, Roxette)
Pontus Snibb (Bonafide)
Drums:
Peter Svensson (Constancia, Faith)
Ed Collins (Pod)
tisdag 22 september 2009
25 hours a day!
Well... at least that's what I feel I need right now! Everything was just fine up until my dayjob suddenly started taking over! It's been more like a well paid hobby that will allow me to dive into various musical projects, be it writing or playing, without having to put the economical aspect in the forefront. Just when I feel I am at my peak recording the new Mountain of Power, writing for FUZZ, composing for Overdrive, writing songs for "a big German band" and working on my third encyclopedia... disaster strikes.
Project Management
Two days before we're off to New York for a mixed vacation/Constancia promotion trip, my boss tells me - "I've sold a course in Project Management that you will be holding. It starts Thursday in three weeks and it's 12 days of lectures spread out over 6 weeks". Well, ok, ... thanks. It's been a while since I did had PM training, but as I'm still working as one, it would be ok, I guess. "They have a new book they want you to use". Eh... ok. I brought the book on my trip, spent a few hours reading it, to find there were lots of new things like Conflict Handling, Johari Windows, Feeback handling etc that were not really dug into when I had my training.
Ok, the book had several exercises... except that the publisher hadn't printed the Exercise book yet! The three days I spent planning the lectures, figuring out exercises etc was agonising! When I found out I had 46!!! students at the same time the agony grew even bigger! Not because of the amount as such, but because 46 students, it's not a lecure it's a seminar!! Fuck me!
Mountain of Power
The Mountain of Power album is coming on good! When in New York I spent some time with Joe and Sami at Grooveyard Records and we honed out some of the details. I've got quite a list of cool guests on this one, people I've selected with the song in mind, songs that will fit their style! Now I'm just waiting for the files to start rolling in (some already have). He's a quick rundown of the songs and musicians: (I'm playing bass, rhythm and lead guitar on all tracks):
1. Keychain/Bad Penny (Rory Gallagher) - Conny Bloom, Mikael Nord Andersson
2. Bedroom Thang (ZZ Top) - Clas Yngström, Mikael Nord Andersson
3. Waves (Resurrection Band) - Christian Liljegren, Maria Rådsten, Ty Tabor, Ed Collins
4. Monkey (Trapeze) - Jarrod England, Greg Martin, JJ Marsh
5. Talking Bout A Feeling (Mahogany Rush) - John Norum, Martin J Andersen, Tomas Juneor Andersson
6. This Kids/Reasons Love (UFO) - Martin J Andersen, Sven Cirnski
7. I Stand Alone (Blackfoot) - Mattias Osbäck, Rusty Burns
8. Making Magic/Makes No Difference (Pat Travers) - Jay Jesse Johnson, Mikael Nord Andersson, Joe Romagnola
9. Money (Leslie West Band) - Kjell Sjöström
10. Deadly Weapon (Trigger) - Martin J Andersen
11. Indian Dawn/Hellcat (Electric Sun/Scorpions) - Liz Vandall, Thomas Larsson,
12. Struck Down/25 Hours A Day - (Y&T) - Mikael Nord Andersson, Joe Romagnola, Ed Collins
13. Checkin' Out/Sister Madness (Ozz) - Mattias Ia Eklundh
14. Urban Guerilla (Sammy Hagar) - Cindy Weichman, Jay Jesse Johnson
Encyclopedia
Well, what can I say... I'm trying to keep it up to speed, but it's hard. There are soooo many bands to write about, over 2500. I'm currently halfway through the letter B...
Magazines
For reasons I can't go in to at the moment, I have stopped all co-operation with Sweden Rock, both the festival and magazine, and will have NOTHING whatsoever to have with either. I'm still, with great pleasure, writing for FUZZ magazine and also Metal Covenant and Metalcentral.
Other stuff
I did a guest solo for a upcoming released by the band Ruined Soul, great heavy stuff! I also contributed with a solo, the logo and the title of the new CD by Grand Design (Metal Heaven). Check it out!
Project Management
Two days before we're off to New York for a mixed vacation/Constancia promotion trip, my boss tells me - "I've sold a course in Project Management that you will be holding. It starts Thursday in three weeks and it's 12 days of lectures spread out over 6 weeks". Well, ok, ... thanks. It's been a while since I did had PM training, but as I'm still working as one, it would be ok, I guess. "They have a new book they want you to use". Eh... ok. I brought the book on my trip, spent a few hours reading it, to find there were lots of new things like Conflict Handling, Johari Windows, Feeback handling etc that were not really dug into when I had my training.
Ok, the book had several exercises... except that the publisher hadn't printed the Exercise book yet! The three days I spent planning the lectures, figuring out exercises etc was agonising! When I found out I had 46!!! students at the same time the agony grew even bigger! Not because of the amount as such, but because 46 students, it's not a lecure it's a seminar!! Fuck me!
Mountain of Power
The Mountain of Power album is coming on good! When in New York I spent some time with Joe and Sami at Grooveyard Records and we honed out some of the details. I've got quite a list of cool guests on this one, people I've selected with the song in mind, songs that will fit their style! Now I'm just waiting for the files to start rolling in (some already have). He's a quick rundown of the songs and musicians: (I'm playing bass, rhythm and lead guitar on all tracks):
1. Keychain/Bad Penny (Rory Gallagher) - Conny Bloom, Mikael Nord Andersson
2. Bedroom Thang (ZZ Top) - Clas Yngström, Mikael Nord Andersson
3. Waves (Resurrection Band) - Christian Liljegren, Maria Rådsten, Ty Tabor, Ed Collins
4. Monkey (Trapeze) - Jarrod England, Greg Martin, JJ Marsh
5. Talking Bout A Feeling (Mahogany Rush) - John Norum, Martin J Andersen, Tomas Juneor Andersson
6. This Kids/Reasons Love (UFO) - Martin J Andersen, Sven Cirnski
7. I Stand Alone (Blackfoot) - Mattias Osbäck, Rusty Burns
8. Making Magic/Makes No Difference (Pat Travers) - Jay Jesse Johnson, Mikael Nord Andersson, Joe Romagnola
9. Money (Leslie West Band) - Kjell Sjöström
10. Deadly Weapon (Trigger) - Martin J Andersen
11. Indian Dawn/Hellcat (Electric Sun/Scorpions) - Liz Vandall, Thomas Larsson,
12. Struck Down/25 Hours A Day - (Y&T) - Mikael Nord Andersson, Joe Romagnola, Ed Collins
13. Checkin' Out/Sister Madness (Ozz) - Mattias Ia Eklundh
14. Urban Guerilla (Sammy Hagar) - Cindy Weichman, Jay Jesse Johnson
Encyclopedia
Well, what can I say... I'm trying to keep it up to speed, but it's hard. There are soooo many bands to write about, over 2500. I'm currently halfway through the letter B...
Magazines
For reasons I can't go in to at the moment, I have stopped all co-operation with Sweden Rock, both the festival and magazine, and will have NOTHING whatsoever to have with either. I'm still, with great pleasure, writing for FUZZ magazine and also Metal Covenant and Metalcentral.
Other stuff
I did a guest solo for a upcoming released by the band Ruined Soul, great heavy stuff! I also contributed with a solo, the logo and the title of the new CD by Grand Design (Metal Heaven). Check it out!
tisdag 9 juni 2009
Sweden Rocked!
So, now this year's Sweden Rock Festival has come and gone! Some highs and some lows. The definite low was of course the weather. Some shine, but a lot of rain, worst weather since 1992! Well, at least I managed to witness some great performances!
ELECTRIC BOYS - Awesome return! Great heavy funky vibe! They still rock!
ZZ TOP - Despite a brief blues dip in the middle, the trio prooved they are still the world's biggest little band from Texas!
THALAMUS - Outstanding 70s rockers with a way to short set!
GRAND MAGUS - Love their records, LOVED them live!! Awesome!
RIOT - Despite a little too much high speed stuff (I'm a fan of their first 4-5 releases) they still rocked! "Outlaw" and "Warrior" saved my day!
FOREIGNER - Sounded surprisingly good and heavy despite only one original's in the line-up. Kelly Hansen did a great job fronting!
IN FLAMES - The music was tight, heavy and really great, but man, the rambling between the songs was pathetic!
STORMZONE - Harv Harbinson was definitely one of the best singers of this festival. Love the man's vocals!!
UFO - The came, they rocked and they ruled! Classic riffs delivered with freshness and determination. You gotta love 'em! Lovely guys, too!
SEVENDUST - Another bunch of great people! Heavy as hell, but very humble!
Other notes:
HEAVEN & HELL weren't as bad as some said, but the sound guy should be hung, drawn and quartered. Where were the guitars?
THOR - Oh god... the man is a mystery. Was it pathetic or funny? He obviously has no knowledge of Sweden whasoever. "Here's a song about the Swedish tundra". Ehhh... say, what?
Now it's back to the grind. The promotion time for the up-coming CONSTANCIA release has started and I'm continuing my work on the new MOUNTAIN OF POWER. I'll keep you posted!
New goodies!
RUFUS HUFF - "Rufus Huff" - Outstanding southern rawk! KILLER debut!!
THREE MINUTE MADNESS -"Disgraceful". AWESOME debut!!! These Swedes rock!!
BIBLEBLACK - "The Black Swan Epilogue" - Holy crap!!! What just ran over me?? Prog-math-power-death metal of the prime order! Mike Wead is on the loose!
INTO THE PRESENCE - "Into The Precense" Rock? Pop? Ambient? I dunno, reminds me a bit of Danish band DIZZY MIZZ LIZZY at times! Great melodies!!
ELECTRIC BOYS - Awesome return! Great heavy funky vibe! They still rock!
ZZ TOP - Despite a brief blues dip in the middle, the trio prooved they are still the world's biggest little band from Texas!
THALAMUS - Outstanding 70s rockers with a way to short set!
GRAND MAGUS - Love their records, LOVED them live!! Awesome!
RIOT - Despite a little too much high speed stuff (I'm a fan of their first 4-5 releases) they still rocked! "Outlaw" and "Warrior" saved my day!
FOREIGNER - Sounded surprisingly good and heavy despite only one original's in the line-up. Kelly Hansen did a great job fronting!
IN FLAMES - The music was tight, heavy and really great, but man, the rambling between the songs was pathetic!
STORMZONE - Harv Harbinson was definitely one of the best singers of this festival. Love the man's vocals!!
UFO - The came, they rocked and they ruled! Classic riffs delivered with freshness and determination. You gotta love 'em! Lovely guys, too!
SEVENDUST - Another bunch of great people! Heavy as hell, but very humble!
Other notes:
HEAVEN & HELL weren't as bad as some said, but the sound guy should be hung, drawn and quartered. Where were the guitars?
THOR - Oh god... the man is a mystery. Was it pathetic or funny? He obviously has no knowledge of Sweden whasoever. "Here's a song about the Swedish tundra". Ehhh... say, what?
Now it's back to the grind. The promotion time for the up-coming CONSTANCIA release has started and I'm continuing my work on the new MOUNTAIN OF POWER. I'll keep you posted!
New goodies!
RUFUS HUFF - "Rufus Huff" - Outstanding southern rawk! KILLER debut!!
THREE MINUTE MADNESS -"Disgraceful". AWESOME debut!!! These Swedes rock!!
BIBLEBLACK - "The Black Swan Epilogue" - Holy crap!!! What just ran over me?? Prog-math-power-death metal of the prime order! Mike Wead is on the loose!
INTO THE PRESENCE - "Into The Precense" Rock? Pop? Ambient? I dunno, reminds me a bit of Danish band DIZZY MIZZ LIZZY at times! Great melodies!!
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