2008 has been a prolific year for you, with the new M.ILL.ION album 'Thrill Of The Chase' and also your own band ELEVENER's debut album, 'When Kaleidoscopes Collide'. I guess there were times recently when you've been so busy that you've almost collided with yourself! Tell us about the last few months.
The last few months have been the most demanding months ever in my life! To be honest I am still recovering from that period. The workload I had was just insane. I recorded all of the new M.ill.ion album as well as all of the Elevener album. During the same time I moved to a new apartment, and also helped my girlfriend to move here from Norway. On top of that there were some special circumstances at work which forced me to work overtime for three months... You're right about me almost colliding with myself. I had way too much going on and you could tell it by the look at my face, at least that was what I was told... haha!

Was it always the plan to bring the albums out so close together? Were the two bands in competition with each other to get the first release date?
It was never intended for both albums to be released within just two months. M.ill.ion had a deadline that we managed to make, but at the same time I had to move out from my studio and I tried desperately to finish the Elevener album before the move, but ended up setting all my gear up again temporarily to get the final tracks completed for "When Kaleidoscopes Collide". Unfortunately I still haven't found a new place for my studio! Since M.ill.ion and Elevener play such different music there really ain't nothing to compete about at all. Our label (Metal Heaven) wanted to release M.ill.ion's "Thrill Of The Chase" in May and that date was decided before I signed the deal for Elevener. So there were never any politics involved - far from it. I must add that both albums are being released in Japan by Marquee and that's something I'm very happy about!

And what have you got lined up over the next few months?
I'm trying to get as much free time as possible - I really need that now. There are of course rehearsals with M.ill.ion since we have some shows coming up. Hopefully I will have the time and energy to write some new songs. It's been a while since I completed any new material and I really long to write some new stuff. I am not that involved with the promotion of the M.ill.ion album but since there are only two of us in Elevener I have a lot going on with the Elevener release. So to put it in short; the next months will be about rocking with M.ill.ion and promoting "When Kaleidoscopes Collide".

M.ILL.ION have played Sweden Rock Festival, Firefest, and done UK tours with the Michael Schenker Group and Oliver Dawson's Saxon. Which gigs have been the best for you personally - and why?
I actually didn't play at SRF a few years ago. I joined the band just a few months after that show, so unfortunately I missed that one! One gig that I am very pleased with is the one we played in Bradford on the MSG tour. We had a great set-up at the stage, great sound (at least on stage!) and there was a great reception. I remember playing a solo on the organ that made me laugh since it was really good but I didn't really know what had just happened. I was somehow possesed by the rocking spirit of Bradford! We all did a great show and I have very fond memories of that night. We recently played a gig here in out hometown to celebrate the release of "Thrill Of The Chase". It had been a while since our last gig and we were all a bit nervous before the show. But then we got on stage and fired away as if we'd been playing the day before! It was great to feel the confidence boost in all of the band and the crowd lapped it up. A very good show and one that we look forward to repeat in Germany and England in the coming months.

Any Spinal Tap moments?
Just recently, the guitar player from Sister Sin helped us out on a few gigs that Jonas was unable to do. When we got back to the hotel after the show, me and him felt like sitting beside the fire place and have one last drink. It was all very nice and quiet. But we couldn't set fire to the firewood no matter how we tried and no matter how many brochures we brought from the lobby... At last we gave up and went to bed. The day after we set off to wipe away any traces of our pyromania, only to discover that the "firewood" was made of ceramics and there were wires and stuff attached to it! It was one of those "electrical fires". Ceramics... no wonder we couldn't make it burn, haha!

Speaking of which... that reminds me of the total mayhem that went on at the hotel the day before our gig at the very first Firefest. It all ended with me trying to hide in a hotel corridor, and for a second I honestly thought I had got away with it, when I stood there pressing my body againt one of the closed doors... Jonas and I then had to leave the hotel, escorted by the Bradford Police. The Spinal Tap thing in that is that the police got the wrong room number and first came rushing into a sleeping BJ's room, shouting that he had to leave the hotel immediately, haha!
I also remember the time when we were to play at JB's in Dudley and I went for a walk in the town. I returned to JB's just as our soundcheck started only to find that I had been locked out. No cell-phone, no one in sight, no one heard me trying to kick in the the backdoor since the soundcheck had already started... It took a while to get in, especially since the keyboardplayer is always the last to be missed in a hardrock band, haha!

As keyboard player of M.ILL.ION, how much input did you have into the writing of Thrill Of The Chase?
I am actually heavily involved in the song-writing in M.ill.ion. Maybe someone with a good ear could hear a similar musical language being used when I write Elevener songs, who knows? Even if the bands have different styles, there is a lot of melody in both of them and I confess to being guilty of a lot of that. I don't have much input on the M.ill.ion lyrics, though I wrote one of the songs myself  - called "The One Above". If you're a guitarist you could probably tell that much of the late M.ill.ion stuff isn't written by a guitar player. I usually come up with ideas on the organ and seldom care about if it's in a tricky key or otherwise difficult to play on a guitar! Jonas often gives me a hard time about that, haha. A song like "Beware Of The Wolf" was written solely on the keyboard - although most people probably wouldn't guess that when they hear it!

How and when did Elevener get together, and where did the band name come from?
Andreas and I have known each other since we where kids and kept in contact even after we had moved to different parts of Sweden. I had this thought about us doing an album together, and we have been recording the odd demo-song now and then during the years.

Then in 2005 we got ourselves a name and made a serious attempt with a three-track demo. We didn't secure any deal then but I came to the conclusion that we could and should move ahead and record an album, all by ourselves. I took a loan, bought some studio gear and tried to learn how to handle it. When we had recorded and mixed a few songs we got offers from two labels, and we ended up on AOR/Metal Heaven.

Regarding the name Elevener: To be an Elevener is to be a "light-worker". The number eleven has been known as the number of enlightenment. This may very well sound a prentious, but anyway... I actually felt a bit enlighted a few years ago as I realised that there is not an endless supply of time in each of our lives. Dreams can get too old, so to speak. I had this dream of making an AOR-album with my childhood friend and one day I understood that if I didn't simply start to do it then ten years would go by in the blink of an eye and one day we would be too old to cut it. We all know that we are going to die one day, but the problem is that far too often we act as if we have aeons of time on our hands. I had a bit of a wake-up call and I have to some extent changed my view on life.

There is also a new-age phenomenon where some people claim to be bombarded by the continuous appearance of 11:11, and they call themselves "Eleveners". I am not one of those, but I do like the number 11. I actually don't know for sure how I came up with the name. I don't mean to give this any mystical meaning but it was more like the name found us. Pretentious or what!?!?

Tell us about the songs on When Kaleidoscopes Collide.
The album starts with a song called "This Heart Of Mine" and I think that song represents Elevener very well. There are a few key-changes in it, loads of harmonies, a few hooks, a great little guitar solo and lyrics that deal with love lost.... and that's what Elevener is about! Then there are some rockier songs like "Shooting Star" and "Say If You Want" - rockier by Elevener-standards that is, haha! Andreas is a great guitarist and delivers many fine solos on this record. This is of course less heavy music than M.ill.ion, but I think we manage to get a nice rocking groove in songs like the above mentioned as well as well as in tracks like "A Thousand Girls" and "Could It Be You?". There are two power-ballads on the album and they are both bittersweet to the core so you will have to have a stomach made of steel to deal with those! Mine and Andreas' favourite track is at the very end of the album, it's a song called "There She Goes". It features a great guitar-riff, layers of keys, vocal harmonies all over, and all is transported by a quite convincing groove, even if I say so myself.
The title of the album is bloody good, but unfortunately I can't take any credit for that. It was suggested by a dear friend of mine - a lady who (she won't mind me telling you!) is completely 'batttttty'!

watch. Even worse are when singers use those keyboards that you hang around your neck, like a guitar. Whharrrggh... that stuff scares me!! There are loads of great musicans around here in Gothenburg and I am confident that a band could be put together that would do justice to the songs.

Who are your top five musical influences, and for each one... why?
I must start by saying that this is a very difficult question to ask, but nevertheless I'll give it a try....
     Jethro Tull - I think Ian Anderson is nothing short of a musical genius. They have covered so many styles and the songs and performances are always ranging from good to unbelievably good.
     Saxon - They were my heroes when I was young, and they still are. Just like with UFO, I never get tired of listening to Saxon. I remember a quote by Biff saying "We're just fans playing to other fans". I like that attitude, and that is an attitude which you will also find in M.ill.ion and Elevener.
     Magnum - There is something about this band that makes me feel soooo good! So many great songs and they are a fantastic live band. Bob Catley is wickedly good at what he does. On top of all I have had the opportunity to meet them a few times and to say they're likeable would be a huge understatement.
     Marillion - The Fish-era that is. Those four albums they made with Fish have meant a lot to me. Not just musically. I like the dramatic touch, the heart on the sleeve lyrics and the music that underpins it.
     Everon - a progressive rock band with their very own style. There is so much melody in their music and their lyrics are really, really good. (Much of it is quite bittersweet as you might have guessed, haha!) Hardly any other music moves me the way their music does. I think they're brilliant.

Outside of music, who are your top five heroes, and again, for each one, why?
I can't say that I have any real heroes. I love my parents, and my sisters and in a way they're heroes to me. A hero for me is someone with a great deal of integrity, and one who has the ability to see things from other people's perspectives. There are quite a few such people if you start to look around. But it's no use to look for them on TV or in the magazines, since they are very rarely seen there. From a musical point of view I would say that Ian Anderson and also Oliver Philipps from Everon could be considered as being some kind of heroes for me. They both seem to have tons of integrity and they write very thoughtful lyrics.

What would you like to be doing in five years time?
Releasing the third Elevener-album and rocking around the world with M.ill.ion sounds fine to me! I feel very fortunate to have the life I have right now, and wouldn't want that much to change really. I hope I will still be able to write songs and that my loved one is still around.

Now head over to
 
and
 
to hear some songs from both bands on MySpace
and go HERE for the M.ILL.ION website

© Get Ready To Roll - 23rd July 2008