We have talked to JORN about his music, his past with DIO and many other interesting things
RnB: Before anything else, we want to thank you for your time, we know that you will have a full agenda and you will have little time.
No problem, music is something I love to do and I consider myself lucky that people are interested
So, I thank you for this interview:)
RnB: Jorn, you are a musician with a large trajectory, and from your beginnings to now, always working with great stars with different styles: Le Treko, Moody, Mardsen, Kotzev, Grapow, Kush, Hensley, Malmsteen, Allen, Sammet… Surely we forget some … We understand that you have learned from each and every one of them: Who taught you the most? What would you highlight?
Well, yes it’s been a lot of collaborations over the years and with variations in both music style
and ways of working. Didn’t really learn that much from one or two individuals in particular, but you could say I picked up bits and pieces over the years from all the bands and projects, and used it practically in my own carrier. When you see someone else doing something that works well it inspires you, and when it’s “not your cup of tea” you know exactly what your not gonna do.
I guess it is the same for all the people Ive worked with, they probably learned something too, even the older generations learn from the younger generations and vice versa.
Some people are interested in their music equiptment and dedicated to improve their sound, spending time money and a lot of effort on their amplifiiers and instruments and so on, other People don’t care as much about this and just use some more standard sound and equpitment “that does the job”. To be a craftsman that comes up with somehing unique you need to spend more time and effort on what you do, but if you decide to “multitask” too much and be both the recording engineer, producer and play in 5 bands, you end up eating up so much time and spending so much energy that you’re forced to take the easy way out or short cuts with various things. Thought to mention this just as an example of something that you do learn a lot from when working with so many different types of People over the years as I have.
A good example on contrast and variation is the Avantasia Project, which might be clever in many ways, both concept and business wise, but for example older bands like Black Sabbath, ACDC represents a more defined unique and spesific sound where every individual member/musician represent a strong present character that’s easily recognizable (they spend a lot of effort on their individual instrument sound and won’t just use a practicle plug in or some “similator” sound in a program, they will take the time to develope their own special signature thing, and in combination with the talent they have, the their expression and sound is a winning formula). If you wish to be THAT craftsman, you can’t just put together any type of skilled techincal player and think you’re gonna achieve something as good and unique as some of those real craftsmen, a faked good sounding album Production or an expensive Music video won’t get you to that level, regardless of how clever you think you are With your plans oand vision. To make a big difference in the scene, and have some impact and make a good living as an artist, things are still like it has always been: Only hard work, time and Focus, loads of talent and then some luck can bring results, at least if you have a plan to stick around in this business for a long time and be somewhat relevant in the scene.
So, the differences when looking back to when I began my carriere are huge and I can’t think of many musicians in the rock/metal scene today where you can identify the spesific sound of each individual band member just from their strong defined sound. When my generation grew up we knew all the band members well, and even if you were more interested in the guitarist you would still be a fan of the drummer or bassplayer because of their unique sound and playing. Everyone interested in music loved to hear Cozy Powel play drums, Randy Roads play guitar, or Phil Lynott sing and play that bass. “Character” combined with genuine heart and soul was the key factor and main criteria in order to get a record deal back then.
One of the hightlights in my carrier was when I was on tour in the US playing before the DIO band, and from that experience I learned a lot. Asking Ronnie James Dio some things I was curious about on that tour, inspired a lot and helped me becoming more confident in my own carrier. Stuff I was insecure about suddenly fell into place after that tour and thanks to Ronnie and his band and crew, things got clearer and it helped me in making decisions on how to proceed with things.
Ronnie was such a great man, he also gave me a lot of compliments on my vocals which meant a lot coming from him.
RnB: Looking at your musical path,, you have gone through all styles of Rock, from progressive to Hard AOR like Allen / Lande, and of course classic Hard Rock. It seems that you don’t have a single influence, do you? What are those influences?
Haha, yes it’s hard to pin point one influence only, but since child Hood Elvis Presley has always been my no 1. in Music history. Sounds almost like a cliche now, but Elvis was so unique in various ways that it’s not hard to understand why he was so popular and why he’s had so much impact on so many. the 70’s was such a great era for quality music and a time when speaking with your instrument like it’s an extention of your heart and soul, and channel something real from within, was natural to do. I feel Lucky to have grown up in that time and I took inspiration from all kinds of artists: The Sweet, Nazareth, Slade,The Eagles, Foreigner, Santana, Mannfred Man, 10cc, Kansas, Boston, Toto, Kate Bush, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Rod Stweart, Cliff Richard, John Farnham, and the list goes on…. The thing with that era is that even pop Music had some kind of a link to rock music, since more or less all bands consisted of drums, bass, guitar and organ or synthezizers, and so the various Music Expressions were always somewhat close to eachother. I mean, even if we favorized harder rock or more experimental music, we still loved Abba and other pop acts. It was a time of exepsionell innovative song writing, musicians with strong personal signature sound, and fantastic singers. So, in addition to have developed my own sound and trademark, I’m also a product of all those various artists/bands I grew up with. That’s why the variations in my singing over the years, if a song or just a section in a song would invite to a Kansas/steve Walsh vibe I would just do it as the idea would just come to my mind naturally, if the next song or part would invite to a more darker vocal in a lower register (like David Bowie) or a operatic approach ala Freddie Mercury, i’d go for that direction/style and so on…The last decade or so I have focused more on singing the style that come most natural to me and trying not to change my way of singing too much. Changing the voice from singing high with a thinner sound to suddenly switch to a Heavy raspier full tone voice in the mid range area, is not good for the live performances and can also kill your voice. As I grew older I realized that my voice was more sustainable when sticking to one type of singing teqnuiqe, and it became easier to sing several shows in a row compared to before. Back in the day when touring with for example my old bands Ark or Masterplan, I had made it so difficult for myself with all the various “vocal landscapes” on an album that after a few songs my voice was shot and the rest of the show would not be optimal.
In addition it jeapordized the next shows if I would loose my voice. Most people who don’t tour or make a proffesional living from music, don’t understand this aspect of being a singer, they just listen to the albums and expect you to stay in the same formula without seeing the whole picture.
I could probably still do most of the stuff I did when I younger, but I chose a different path to be a better live performer and be able to keep a certain quality level. I’m proud of all the things I’ve done, and without that legacy I would never have developed and come to the point I am today.
RnB: What music do you listen to?
I still mostly listen to my old 70′,80’s,90’s records, I don’t listen to much new music but every now and then I’m checking out bands on the internet and sometimes discover some new great stuff. My problem is to find new bands and artists were I can enjoy a complete album in full. Usually I only find a couple of songs that I really like and then I’m not too interested in the rest. Guess we were spoiled with all those old classic albums of the past, and so expectations are quite high when looking for new music to listen to. also, since I’m working a lot on music myself all the time it’s good not to think about music when I have some time off and can do other things in life. The New trends or development in the rock/metal scene is not really my style either, it often sounds very stereo type cold and “lifeless” compared to where I come from musically. Also, the variations are not there as much anymore, bands tend to sound close to the same these days, especially in the symphonic metal scene were a female singers wearing nice dresses and singing in some opera influenced style, with a band that’s technically perfect sounding in some kind of a symphonic power metal formula. Don’t get me wrong, there are some interesting bands and good songs every now and then, but I just miss the heart and soul in it, a perfect Production and sound combined with technical skill is not enough for me. I prefer the imperfection, it makes it human and natural. I really love what bands like “Black country communion” is doing, such a relief to hear real musicians playing from the heart and performing what they love to do. Joe Bonammassa is a significant fresh breath in the music scene the last decade or so, and combined with Glenn Huges and Jason Bonham (John Bonhams son) they have a recepy that really tells you what real honest music shoud be all about. When I hear these guys it’s like “Yeah thank you! you remind of why I wanted to become a musician in the first place”these guys are so present and unique in what they do, they represent the opposite of the development in todays modern music business, not trying to fit into some formula that the record companies created.
RnB: Since your beginnings in MASTERPLAN, your voice means power and control. The years go by and your voice is even better than past years. How do you do?
Thank you for the comliment, well, I’m not sure the voice gets better but aging and experience combined brings more character to it, plus as you get older you learn how to chose the best range for your voice, which also makes it come out stronger. In the past I would sometimes sing higher with a thinner vocal sound, the reason for chosing a more “tenor like” range later in life was simply because the voice is more sustainable and can manage long tours and last through long shows compared to when I was younger. Back then I always ended up having some problems with my voice when mixing too many different vocal teqnuiqes and having to change all the time in the live set. When you realize that your performance quality isn’t consistant, you start changing the way you think, and also when you realize that you’ve either had to cancel shows or the performance isn’t optimal because you strain the voice too much. The voice is a muscle and has certain things it likes to do naturally, it’s a difference between creating and copying a sound with your vocal chords and singing with the natural voice that’s there. Imagine if you lift Heavy weights till your arms start shaking and then right after weiths are removed someone gives you a rifle and tells you to hold it steady and shoot a target far away, you won’t be able to do it unless you have a break first (you’d be holding it unsteady and shooting everywhere else but the target haha..). So, to eventually chose what’s natural for you as a singer , is important if you wish to do this for a long time and avoid too much damage to the voice. When I say “too much damage to the voice” it’s because in the style that I represent vocally, the voice will be partly damaged or worn over the years, but even if it gets rougher or raspier sounding, it can still be powerful and strong in the register where it’s natural, everything depends on how you treat it and yourself.
RnB: What we love about Jorn Lande, besides his vocal technique, is the intepretation. You, and your voice, are actors. You have a great interpretive capacity. For example, in Nostradamus, you become a terrifying person, you seen like a real medieval inquisitor. How do you do it? have you studied interpretation, huh?
No, I haven’t studied anything exept “the School of life”;) The whole key I think is to become the character and to think from your own perspective: how would I think or behave if I was that person? If I sold my soul and became Dracula, lived for hundreds of years and had to feed from blood only, how would I react to that afterwords? Would I get bored after hundreds of years watching everyone else around me pass away but I’m still here? would I be jealous of all the People able to live and love as real humans during the day while I was forced to exist and move around only at night? When I write my lyrics, I usually reflect from within and trying to describe perspectives from my own life and experience, reflecting on the past, present and future. I don’t Write too often about spesific other characters like Dracula or Billy the kid;), but if I do it’s because I can identify myself With the character and “Paint images” based on my own life experience.
Even though the world has changed a lot since I grew up, I still believe in channeling something real, something that touches or Connects with People in a real life context. I uess that’s also the reason why you can hear a JORN song when your 15 and still find it relevant when your 50 or more…
RnB: Beyond this style of interpretation, we think that you have changed. I remember live shows like Live in America in which musically and vocally you are incredible, but perhaps you did not convey the passion and force that you convey today. Have you worked for making this change?
As mentioned earlier, I tried many things over the years and worked in various formulas musically, I was always on the search for something, and tried or experimented if you will,new musical landscapes within the rock/metal genre.
Guess I had the urge to figure out what worked and not, plus also prove to myself that I could manage the different vocal expressions or styles. Ark “Burn The Sun” is a good example on that, but I was very active With this way of thinking for several years and you can hear it on several albums during that time period, from Masterplan to Jorn albums or other collaborations. As I’m getting older I’m more focused on performing songs that People can relate to and not so focused on trying to come up With something complex or to impress artistically anymore. In the end, it’s all about enterntaining and having a great time on stage, not trying to reinvent the wheel.
The passion is in the performance and words you sing or notes you play, regardless of who wrote a song, a simpler straight forward tune can have a more dramatic complex performance than the most complex song composed.
I’m more confident With my singing today than back then when Live In America was recorded, I remember we were all so focused on getting the playing and performance right that we forgot to relax and enjoy the moment as much as we do now. Some might say that things were better back then but I don’t measure the times up against each other This is a New stage in life and where I am right now is a natural Place to be. The music we created or any song we ever played will be there as a testament to the past and if we wish to play some of the stuff again we can do that any time. I think that some people today are often too focused on the set list and considering what songs the bands play before buying concert tickets, when I grew up it was all about seeing your favourite artists live and we didn’t care that much about the set list. Of course, we would be disapointed if we didn’t get any of the songs we hoped to hear, but overall it was the love for the band itself we wanted to experience first of all, the special band sound, and the singing. Many bands back then would even play songs from the upcoming album that no one had even heard before, and we’d think we were priviledged beeing able to hear hose songs and not disapointed because some songs were not on the set list. Later we would buy the record and recognize the songs from the show, it built a stronger relation and made us love the band even more.
RnB: Actually your solo career is very prolific, and in addition, you continue with collaborations: how do you do it? Where do you get the time from?
Haha, I stay a lot at home and in the studio. Partly true, but I try not to fill my life with too much unnecessary stuff that I don’t like to do. Also, if you start going off with for example another type of demanding day job, or you start investing in a business that require a lot of attention and so on, it will steal time and energy and prevent you from creating music as frequent as you’d wish. The more responsibillities you take on the less time you have for music or anything else, it’s actually as simple as that. A lot of people borrow too much money from the banks and create their own pressure, they want the material things and to make things happen before theire too old. It’s nothing ew, but if you have a passion or drive to do something, you sometimes have to scale down and accept to live in a house Project that you have to fix over time, or simply just rent if it’s not for you. This way you can focus more on the details and quality of what you want to create, and in most cases you will gain from the efforts you lay Down over time. Then, when the time is right you might evetually even get some of those material things if that’s wat you dream of. I Guess we are all sometimes too impatient and jumping on wagons too fast, I’ve done that too but only for a Shorter period of time, till I realized what was more important for me. Luckily, I wasn’t stuck in a corner With too much debts and resposibillities and was able to “reset” my life situation. Many People say they didn’t have a Choice, but if they say this and live in the western world they’re full of shit, everyone here in good health has a choice. You only have to want it enough and make it happen.
RnB: Do you collaborate in composition in all your collaborations?
In most albums I wrote or cowrote the songs, but out of between 40-50 releases so far (can’t remember exactly right now), it’s maybe 7-8 or so I didn’t write the basic lyrics and melodies for, like the first couple of Allen/Lande records, Avantasia and a few more but I often adjust or rewrite bits and pieces of the lyrics anyway, to fit my style and in order to be able to stand for what I’m actually singing about:).
I started planning a series of albums with covers done JORN style not long ago called HEAVY ROCK RADIO, and HRR II will be releasedon January 24th, So, when adding the cover albums we’ll be close to 10 soon.
I’m doing more of those records simply because I never had time to perform some of my favourite songs earlier, since I was mostly busy working on original material, but now is a good time to do this and there are so may songs I’d love to do, plus songs that are a bit forgotten in todays scene that deserve to get new life.
I already started writing for a new original JORN album, but like the previous one “Life On Death Road” I/we need another year or so to come up with all the songs.
RnB: Let´s talk about your brand new album, to be launched in 2020. Why Heavy Rock Radio II? Are you in a rock history reflecion era in your life?
Haha, just mentioned that before Your next question;) As said before, there are songs I wish to do that I never played or recorded before, and I’ve had ideas on how to “Jornify” the songs for quite some time.
Many of the songs that are not necessarily Heavy from the beginning, would sound sound Perfect Jorn style With the heavier sound and arrangements. At the same time we honour the song writers and artists who originally did these great tracks. Your probably right, I am in a “music or rock history reflection” period in my life. I miss the good melodies and variations in todays modern music, and it’s releiving to hear those older and great compositions, so I do it for the love of the songs and to honor artists/bands, at the same time some brilliant songs deserve to be brought back to life and presented to new generations.
RnB: In Heavy Rock Radio I, the selection of songs is really original. You unveiled de Heavy Rock Radio II set list, and it seems similar. Where does it come the idea of including in the same album songs from Queen, Eagles or Kate Bush? How do you homogenize the sound of songs from bands as different as Journey and Black Sabbath for example?
No special idea, only songs from the world songbook that I wished to record. Some came out really unique and we managed to make them our own, others came out good but not as “special” as we hoped or thought they would be. The great feeling is when you realize you hit the nail on the head and the JORN style arrangement just worked so perfeclty and natural. For HRRII I feel this happened with for example “Lonely Nights” originally written by Jim Vallance and Bryan adams, or “New York Minute” by Don Henley of The Eagles. The Don Henley song ended up like a doomy almost Sabbath like heavyrock power ballad, “Lonely Nights” was easier as we stayed closer to the original version, but only heavier and more guitar based. “Lonely Nights” will be one of the main singles from the album.
RnB: Regarding your last album with own songs, “Life on the death road” the first thing that we have to do is to congratulate you because it is a fantastic album. How did you feel working with two great rock hard-workers like Sinner and Del Vecchio?
Thank you, yes It’s a very good album and working With Alessandero for the Whole Production process was very enjoyable. We are Close friends and come from a similar music background etc, so It was a good and positive Journey from beginning to end. Mat is a great bassplayer that fit well With the songs, Alex’s guitar work is really fantastic, Francesco is a monster drummer, and so the line up couldn’t be better for this album.
I was also lucky to have contributions from my greek warrior friend Gus G and Craig Goldy, the solo section for the title track”Life On Death Road” is a classic, when it was mixed it made my hairs rise:) Gus and I also cowrote the song “The Optimist” together. Very proud of that record, sounds like it’s more a straight forward rock album without too much production, but it was a lot of work to get things right in every aspect.
The song Man of the 80’s is a clear message for those of us who have lived those fantastic years for Rock. Do you feel that you and your rock are fighting a battle outside your time or do you think that Rock will always live?
Who knows what will happen in the future, but as mentioned before in this interview: The rock and metal scene is a very strong community globally, and this type of music is not based on quick trends passing by.
Rock music has lasted for a long time, when Elvis sang Hound Dog or Jailhouse Rock I wasn’t even born, so I think we will see Waves coming and going but With the rock/metal standing it’s grounds in various forms into the future.
RnB: How was the process of composing the album? Do you have a fixed working Method
(first melodies, lyrics etc …)?
Somtimes the lyrics first other times I have a melody to build a song from.
Or, someone in the band sends me a rough demo With riffs or a more spesific demo With drum machine etc, and if it triggers something and is inspiring I start writing on lyrics/melodies.
For “life on Death Road” I recieved music demos with drum machine and no vocals, some I had to turn down as I didn’t feel it was right or strong enough, but eventually we had what we needed.
I co-wrote with several People for “Life On Death Road”, they would come up With the music and I would Write vocal melodies and lyrics. Of course, some stuff was changed in regards to the melodies as I sometimes had a longer passage/lyric and wanted to extend the verse, bridge or chorus but that’s normal.
RnB: What about Frontiers Records? They do set you totally free?
Not really, record companies will often ask you to do something similar to what you did before if an album sold well.
It’s a guarantee for them that the Product they invest in will “most likely” do great again like last time. If you “Lock” yourself to such agreements you might get better conditions financially, but it removes some artistic freedom.
Most bands with respect to themselves, usually end up With an acceptable compromise where they can partly do what they’d wish, but still deliver something the label accepts. If you wish to do things 100% free from boundries, the best is to do the record without a record contract, and then get a deal for it.
RnB: We imagine that you were bored with nothing to do, so you decided to get into the world of video games. Hehehe How did you went into this adventure in League of Legends? Do you think video games are the new Hollywood? Have you played live in any gamers event? If so How is that audience?
Yes, Ive done a few huge events around the world with Pentakill, last time was in China.
The events are similar to some of the big sports or olympc events, with opening ceremonies and so on.
Crowd loves it and the music section is often a part of the opening ceremony, to kick off the event, or as a separate show after the worlds best gamers have played and the contest is done.
The gaming industry is so big , relevant and popular but I don’t think it’s taking over anything, I mean, most gamers/cos players seem to focus mostly on the game and not as much on the music (they like a song or artist when connected to the game, not sure the majority will follow the artist outside the game). You probably won’t easily sell out an arena or sportshall with a band that had songs in a video game unless it’s as part of the gaming event itself, so I guess Bruce Springsteen, rolling stones or Iron Maiden will still have relevant carriers that sell out big, regardless of how big the gaming industry gets. In the future I’m sure”The boss” still sells out big time, and I don’t think you’ll find too many gamers/cos players there;
RnB: Yngwie generated some controversy with his statements about singers in general, and those who have sung for him in particular. He said something like he does not need singers anymore, that he is very comfortable singing his songs, and that the singers are people who always want to be protagonists and who´s contibution is low. What do you think of his words
Haha, no comment!
How was your relationship in the time you were in your band?
It was good in the beginning, me and Yngwie had no problems, but various circumstances later turned things into a nightmare and I had to get out. I hold no grudge on things today, every lesson learned is one experience richer;)
RnB: Continuing these controversial subjects, when Dio passed away you published an album tribute to him that was not well received by his widow. How did you feel? and what do you think about Ronnie Hologram and the tour of it?Wouldn´t be better to have some good vocalists who admire and respect Dio?
It was a sensitive thing to have that album released so soon after Ronnies passing, I tried to postpone the release but the record Company had already started the release process and decided to go ahead with it.
Not much I could do, since I was under contract with the label, I disagreed on the tiiming for the release and wanted it to be moved, at least a few more months, but then again it would maybe seem worse to come across like we were “running into the studio just after he’d passed away to do the album”, so it was decided it was better to go ahead with the plans to release it. At least, it’s obvious that we couldn’t have done an album like that in just a few weeks. it was recorded long before he passed away, and basics for most of the album were recorded around a year earlier and before Ronnie got sick. It was a sad situation, I was just a big fan and wanted to do an album to honor him while he was still around, which was the plan all along. I remember I got the news that he was doing better from the treatment, and then suddenly he was gone… I was very honored and grateful when they asked me to do the memorial show with “Heaven and Hell/Black Sabbath” at Victoria park in London. I was very nervous because of the circumstances and it was not my best performance but that show was not about me, it was all about Ronnie and the band. They were supposed to have played that show with Ronnie as part of all the planned summer shows, so in that sense it was the final one under the Heaven and Hell moniker.
A good thing in the middle of all the sorrow was that the show raised around 50 tousand dollars for the cancer Research fund.
About the hologram thing you asked: I can understand that With the techonlogy of today, the hologram thing is interesting, they’ve tried it succesesfully with Elvis, and now they’re supposively planning something spectacular with ABBA as well. I don’t have anything agains it, it’s cool to have some songs With the hologram and then some songs With guests singers. If a Elvis show featuring the hologram of Elvis himself came to my town, I would most likely want to check it out and bring my wife:) If you’re a fan and never saw it live in real life, it’s the second best chance you have to experience it. If you don’t like it then don’t go.
RnB: Back to present days…We saw you playing with Avantasia last year. How about getting so many stars together? Isn´t there egos figths?
No fights or problems, everyone is a big happy family:) Sounds like a cliche but it’s true, we’ve all been doing this so long now that all we want to do is to enjoy life on the road and have a good time together.
If we had some minor issues or misunderstandings, we’d just talk about it and sort it out like grown ups should do. When you travel together and live your life on the road, you will of course experience some disagreements or discussions every now and then, we live Close to eachother for weeks or sometimes months so that’s natural. You won’t always agree with Your brothers and sisters either, or you’d sometimes get annoyed with something, but that’s normal.
RnB: How about the Norwegian music scene? The Nordic countries stand out for the great musical education. A few days ago we spoke with Pontus Snibb, of Bonafide, and he told us that in Sweden, children start studing music from a very young age . does this happend in Norway too?
Guess there are many good opportunities in Nordic countries regarding music education, but I’m not sure it’s uinque for Scandinavia only. But the quality level is very high statistically compared to many countries.
A good infra structure allows people to feel less pressure in life, and it enables them to focus more on what they love to do. I mean, not that many in this world can lower their shoulders like some of the richer countries and be creative artists without worrying too much about how to pay the bills, I think because we have the resourses and not being over populated, we get some more opportunities/advantages, and maybe that’s why you find many talented artists here up north. Also, if you grow up in a quiet place with beautiful nature and dramatic sceneray, for example experiencing the northern lights in you ” everyday life”, it colors you an gives you a natural chance to reflect and be creative. When you grow up in a nordic country you basically have more choices or freedom to do what you like compared to many other countries, some say most Scandinavians a spoiled, wich might be true. I do consider myself lucky to have a Norwegian passport,
RnB: We are almost finishing, so now it´s time for our most personal questions. Don´t worry, this is not about relationships, the only lover we’re interested on is rock and roll (hehehe):
What was the first concert you attended to, as an audience?
My father is a singer and bass player so I used to be on the road with my mom and his band in the early seventies, sometimes even sleeping backstage, so I attended many shows. He use to be in the bands called the Zodiacs, Zoom, and the Pack, plus also worked with a piano/keyboard player called Eddy Zoltan from Hungary. My father actually toured in Spain with Jimmy Hendrix for some shows in the late 60’s.
He also told me he once was in Denmark witnessing Rod Stewart auditioning to be the new singer for he Faces. He told me it was a “non announced” happening and the People there were didn’t know when suddenly Rod entered the stage. Of course at the time Rod wasn’t as famous as he is today but he was’nt unknown and had already released records.
My first real big normal concert experience where I bought the tickets and went was ABBA in 1978. It was Abba “the arrival tour”. My uncle and cousin went along and I remember the ground was shaking when the surround speakers played a helicopter start up really loud at the beginning of the concert. It was a bit of a “pink Floyd experience at the time, and surround speaker systems or quadrophoni was a new thing:)
RnB: What was the first record you bought?
It was for sure an Elvis record but I don’t remember exatcly which Elvis album, I probably still have it somewhere in the house, among all my old vinyls. But the first record I wanted that kick started my love for heavier or harder rock music was The Sweet single with “Ballroom blitz.” I had heard the song on the radio and loved it, so my father bought it for me. I was only 5 years old in 1973 when that single was released. so I didn’t go out to look for record stores myself;)
RnB: Did someone close coax you into loving rock and roll?
I was foolig around with instruments and using a Professional michrophone at my fathers bands rehearsal room quite often as a kid, so combined with listening to my favourite records I learned various singing techniques. I remember when trying to sing With a raspy voice like Dan Mcafferty of Nazareth I started coffin and almost puked, but I never gave up and eventually I found a way to sing With some gritty sound, haha I probably damaged my voice With that already in the teens. I once tried to go to a classical coach, and she said my voice would not last till I was 20 if I continued singing like I did, but it still works.
Guess People have different preferances to what is good for the voice and not, it depends on what style you do and what your’s comfortable With. I mean, if you only plan to sing like Bryan Johnson of ACDC till you retire,it doesn’t really matter if you can’t sing “Somewhere over the Rainbow” with a clean voice anymore;)
That´s all. Thank you, very, very, much and good Luck
Same to you, thanks a lot!
