IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

Easy October - Baby blue (feat. Elin Ruth Sigvardsson)

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 11:53:14 -0700

Baby Blue by Easy October w/ Elin Ruth Sigvardsson

Easy October = Kristoffer Hedberg, Kristofer Åström, Nikke Ström (Nationalteatern, etc.) and Johan Håkansson (A Camp, Freddie Wadling, etc.). Look for an album this fall?

Kristofer Hedberg - Hälsning från 737

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:47:18 -0800

"Hälsning från 737" is the first taste of Kristofer's latest solo album "Mina jag och du" which was produced by Lasse Lindh and Peter LeMarc. Kristofer is also a member of the new Americana trio Easy October alongside Kristofer Åström and Nikke Ström (Nationalteatern, etc.) who will be releasing an album this summer.

Nationalteatern boxset details

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:37:04 -0700

"Lägg av! / Historien om Nationalteatern", the Nationalteatern 40th anniversary boxset, as discussed here, is officially confirmed for release in November via MNW and will include 9 CDs and a 132-page book. More: http://www.mnwmusic.com/artists/nationalteatern/nationalteatern.html

Nationalteatern to get 40th anniversary boxset

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:39:47 -0700

MNW is working on an 8CD Nationalteatern boxset to be released for the classic Swedish progg band's 40th anniversary this fall. Besides all of the band's studio recordings, the set will also include a new live disc and 30 never-released bonus tracks along with commentary text from 15 members of the group, both new and old, talking about the group's history and much, much more: http://www.mnwmusic.com/artists/nationalteatern/nationalteatern.html

Embee confirms new solo album, single

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:34:32 -0800

Swedish rapper Embee (Looptroop Rockers) has announced that his second solo album "The mellow turning moment" will be released on February 3, 2010 via Bad Taste Records and Looptroop's own label DVSG. The first single "A day at a time" (feat. Daniel Lemma) will be out later this month and other guests on the album include Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide/Säkert!), Maia Hirasawa, Nikola Sarcevic (Millencolin), Nina Ramsby, Mariam Wallentin (Wildbirds & Peacedrums), Håkan Svensson (Nationalteatern) and Fabian Kallerdahl (Music Music Music).

MNW turns 40

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:33:25 -0700

In addition to the 40th anniversary concert mentioned earlier, MNW is also releasing a book and 4CD collection for their birthday called "Ljud från Waxholm" featuring interviews, rare pictures, 250 album covers and 68 tracks from the label's history. As they say themselves, "från Björn Afzelius till Ebba Forsberg." The release date is October 14. And that's not all- they will also apparently be doing a few special anniversary reissues from their 70s back-catalogue and have also put together a tribute comp entitled "Retur Waxholm" featuring current artists covering classic MNW songs. That one comes out October 7 and here's the tracklist:

01. Kajsa Grytt - Gunga bergets topp (Babylon Blues)
02. Kjell Höglund - Men bara om min älskade väntar (Nationalteatern/Bob Dylan)
03. Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide/Säkert!) - Jag vill inte suddas ut (Sånger om kvinnor)
04. Johan Johansson - Vårdsjuk blågul fanblues (Smutsiga Hundarna)
05. Stefan Sundström & Fjodor - Tvivelaktig kurtis (Gunder Hägg)
06. Pernilla Andersson - Huvudet högt (Eldkvarn)
07. Plura - I hajars djupa vatten (Blå Tåget)
08. Sanna Carlstedt - Vem kan man lita på? (Hoola Bandola Band)
09. Jonas Kullhammar - Badidoom (Archimedes Badkar)
10. Asha Ali - Kärlek (Röda Bönor)
11. De Lyckliga Kompisarna - Törnrosa (Marie Selander)
12. Toni Holgersson - Kort vals till min älskade (Peter LeMarc)
13. Love Antell - Samma vindar samma dofter (Contact)

Interview: Nikke Ström

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:45:43 -0800

Nikke Ström's resumé is ridiculous. He's been a part of the Göteborg music scene since the 60s and shows no sign of slowing down. From playing with early progg acts such as Nynningen and NationalTeatern back in the day to backing artists such as Nisse Hellberg, Kristofer Åström and Freddie Wadling (to name but a few) in more recent years, he just keeps going and going. He might not be a marquee name to folks who don't pour over liner notes, but there's no doubt that he's an important figure in the history of Swedish music. When I was considering the list of artists I wanted to interview for my Gbg Spotlight Series, Nikke's name was an early consideration, it just took me awhile to get around to it. And then it took awhile for him to get back to me. But all's well now and here at last is our interview.

You've been a part of the Gbg music scene for a long time now -- what brought you there in the first place?

Coming here in the early 70's made me feel like coming home & it still feels that way!

What has kept you hanging around all these years?

The musical atmosphere here is open & generous & I've been lucky finding my family + the right people to work with.

How does the city influences you?

Göteborg is a big small-town & that kind of suits me fine instead of the other way around, - Stockholm is a small big-town.

Do you think it takes a certain personality type to persevere there?

No, it's not stereo-typed at all. You need to be a survivor all over the place, but I think you're more free to do it your own way here. Wherever you go, there you are!

Do you think there's any sort of distinctive Gbg sound?

Maybe no, not really...

Or any other sort of unifying element that ties the music together?

I guess there's groups where you can trace a mutual influence, but they all have a personal touch...

What is it about the city that makes it special anyway?

The horizon is wide!

I'm not sure how much you keep up with current music trends, but I've read a number of things that compare today's modern scene with the heyday of the early 80s Radium art scene. Do you think that's an apt comparison?

I try to be updated & online with what's happening & to me it's sort of the same creative spirit as ever, - cooking is good!

Is there any particular era of Gbg music that you look on most favorably?

Now's the time, - time is now!

How has the Gbg music world evolved over the years? Are there any major differences with the way things are now when compared to 10, 20 or even 30 years ago? How is better? Worse?

Big one! I don't look back much though, - I'm here, now, part of the future & it looks like we're moving in the right direction!

How did you hook up with Kristofer Åström and the Rainaways?

We met at SXSW in Austin when I played with the rest of the Rainaway-people in a band called Flamman, after the show Kristofer asked if we would like to join him for the recordings of what later turned out as "RainawayTown".

Is Gbg really such a small town that everyone knows each other?

Maybe not each & everyone, but we're close enough for cigars!

Who else are you playing with nowadays? Got any new projects that you're excited about?

We just recorded a new Rainaways-album to be released in April. I'm also involved with the new Freddie Wadling-record out in February. Plus my favourite at the moment AlabamicA, - not yet signed to any label, but the MTV-shows Fantasy Factor & Nytro Circus will use our material!

Here's a list of more or less active bands I'm in at the moment:

MP3: AlabamicA - You can't save the world

MP3: Mattias Hellberg & The White Moose - Why is it so?

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

After a couple failed interview attempts with artists who shall go unnamed, our Göteborg Spotlight Series is back with this week's guest Mattias Hellberg. For those of you with your heads in the ground, Mattias has been around for many years performing with acts such as Nymphet Noodlers, The Hellacopters, Hederos & Hellberg, The Solution, Nationalteatern besides working under his own name and is now back with a new group, The White Moose. That group's debut album "Out of the frying pan, into the woods" came out earlier this month and so I tracked down Mattias for a few questions...

You're still based in Gbg, right? What's kept you there all these years? Ever considering picking up and relocating somewhere else?

Yes I'm still here. Well one reason is I'm quite happy to have an apartment... some kind of safety thing I guess. I'd love to have a little shack in the Caribbean to go to in the wintertime though.

What makes the Gbg music scene special, if it's even special at all? The people, the geography, the weather... what are the primary characteristics that define the city and its artists?

I dunno if there is a special scene here. Think there's quite a good diversity of scenes/bands/clubs. People tend to say that the music from here is more working-class with a more "rough" touch. Maybe it used to be that way, but I don't think it's a general "tag" to put on the Gothenburg "sound" anymore. Maybe I'm wrong...

So you've started to do shows with Martin Hederos (The Soundtrack of Our Lives) again as Hederos & Hellberg -- why resurrect that project now? Why'd you even stop playing together in the first place?

Well, we were asked to close the Way Out West festival this summer in a big beautiful church. An offer we couldn't refuse. It was a bit scary but great fun at the same time and it was an amazing vibe in a packed church way after midnight. And of course nice to play together again. Then we did a weekend in our old hometown Karlstad and Oslo in November. But now we both got new albums to tour and promote (TSOOL & mine), so now there wont be much time for anymore reunions for a while...

Why we stopped playing together was because the project started to grow out of proportion, we had to say no to some quite good offers (tours) because it would interfere with TSOOL. So it was better to call it off and quit.

And now the new band The White Moose - how did this group come together? Do you see it as an extension of your solo career or it is more of a full band project?

I wrote the songs early this year and had already talked to Ludwig (Dahlberg, The (International) Noise Conspiracy) about him playing drums with me. Then I just asked Olle and Henke (Hagberg, Whyte Seeds and Lindén, Fox Machine respectively) to join in and the band was goin'.

I don't think I've had much of a "solo" career. This is something new. It can't really be a full-band project as I have to consider the other guys got other bands. We'll find a way to make it work though.

Obviously you keep yourself very busy with all sorts of musical adventures - got any more surprises we should look forward to? Anyone in particular you'd really like to worth with?

I'd love to learn how to play the Oud. I also have a dream about going to some foreign country and making music with local musicians.

Lastly, got a song you'd like to share? Tell me about it.

Ok I choose "Why is it so?" from the new album "Out of the frying pan, into the woods". It's actually the first song I wrote after Nymphet Noodlers split up back in '96.

I think I had some plans for a solo album back then already, but I was not much of a songwriter, so it got put on hold for sometime... The original version was an acoustic Stooges kinda "ballad" with different lyrics, same refrain though. This new version is something else... Maximum White Moose Jazz.

MP3: Nationalteatern - Bängen trålar

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:25:31 -0800

I apologize that I haven't kept up the weekly Göteborg Spotlight in recent weeks, but it will be back. Questionnaires have been sent, new interviews are being set up as we speak. In the meantime, here's the opening track from the "Lägg av! Ni fattar ingenting! - Göteborgsprogg 1970-80" compilation - one of Nationalteatern's best known numbers.

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:52:39 -0700

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Peter Morén - This is what I came for
02. TALK 1
03. Entombed - Hollowman
04. King Of All The Animals - Concrete skyline
05. Jettie - The lay up
06. TALK 2
07. Happy Trash Culture - Frisky pet
08. Josse - You had a plan
09. Ondo - Sleep
10. TALK 3
11. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - This room seems empty without you
12. Håkan Hellström - För sent för edelweiss
13. Marvins Revolt - Deliberate deeds
14. Marybell Katastrophy - Hey Frank
15. TALK 4
16. The Bear Quartet - Mvh contempt
17. Lögnhalsmottagningen - Snacka gär ju
18. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
19. TALK 5
20. September Malevolence - I shut doors and windows
21. The End Will Be Kicks - Ass of a friend
22. Anna Leong - Battered, bruised and cold
23. TALK 6
24. Bright Oak - On the list
25. Tape - Moth wings
26. Axewitch - Hot lady
27. TALK 7
28. Nationalteatern - Jack the Ripper
29. Tsukimono - Heart beater
30. Zeigeist - Bunny
31. TALK 8
32. First Floor Power - The jacket (Karin Dreijer remix)
33. No Hope for the Kids - Angels of destruction
34. Docenterna - Popmusik
35. Vapnet - Skorpan
36. TALK 9
37. Björn Kleinhenz - Olis
38. Fireside - Ambulance
39. Looptroop Rockers - Living on a prayer
40. TALK 10

Kristofer Åström Live @ Skylten, Linköping, 04/26/07

Wed, 02 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700

During a brief period in my life one could say I was in it way over my head. In the centre of things was, of course, this girl. Well, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, so, there I was, heartstruck and miserable. That's when I found salvation. In the form of Kristofer Åström. The front man from legendary swedish emo/rock band Fireside has had a very special place in my heart ever since. Perhaps that's why I'm so disappointed tonight. Expectations are dangerous things. "RainawayTown" is the name of the new Kristofer Åström album, the gig in Linköping being the second stop on the Rainaway-tour. One major change in the live lineup of 2007 is that The Hidden Truck now is but a memory, with The Rainaways (including members from Nationalteatern, among others) filling up the void. The result is... below my expecations. Even though "RainawayTown" might be the best album since "Northern blues", or perhaps even better, the songs have problems transfering from record into live format. Sadly, I'd say it's mostly because of Kristofer himself, he seems quite out of shape this evening. He forgets lines, rearranges the setlist to everyones confusion, and seems generally unfocused. Then again, this is only the second gig ever with The Rainaways - I'm sure everything will run much smoother a couple of more gigs into the tour.

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Nationalteatern and Mattias Hellberg are touring Sweden:

07/08 - Borlänge
07/09 - Arvika
07/15 - Eskilstuna
07/16 - Hasslö
07/20 - Lysekil
07/21 - Strömstad
07/22 - Spekeröd
07/29 - Säffle
07/30 - Vänersborg
08/11 - Orust
08/12 - Björkö
08/13 - Sandhem
08/27 - Göteborg