Might as well scribble down some highlights from the 2010s as we now say goodbye to this decade. So here we go.
1. DEEP PURPLE/TOMMY BOLIN PARTY
November 23 2013. I throw a Deep Purple/Tommy Bolin Party at Jane Doe in Östersund (Jämtland County). Five DJs, all of them well known in these parts, Lars Ericsson, Micke Mojo Nilsson, Jonas Öhlund, Staffan Eriksson and Björn Höglund. 70 CDs, 40 books, 30 DVDs and plenty of magazines were handed out for free during the night. Several record companies helped out, Johnnie Bolin included, and author Martin Popoff had pre-signed his books. Story about this night came out later in my RETROFUTURE 7 magazine. The time had come to wind things down, but it would not reach the end until RETROFUTURE 8 in 2015.
2. DISCOVERING BABYMETAL
March 9 2017. I finally discover Babymetal after having had my system shocked by “Gimme Chocolate!!” and straight after seeing that video, the 2016 Alternative Press collaboration with Rob Halford. I blogged about them for the first time that day and then I went deep into the Foxhole (as they say). I never looked back, as you all well know…
3. PUBLISHING A STORSIE SPECIAL
May 2012. I went out on a limb with the RETROFUTURE project as I highlighted the Storsie mystery, and in 2012 I finally published a 60 page special titled “Storsjöodjuret”. This all led to TV appearances (as far away as Canada), loads of media attention (like a thumbs up in Dagens Nyheter, a major newspaper) and it eventually landed in an Award from Föreningen Storsjöodjuret (that hangs in my guest toilet, not big on such things). I handed out nearly all of them (1,000 copies) for free.
4. MOVING TO STUGUN
June 16 2018. I finally find my dream house (after a 10 year hunt) in Stugun (Jämtland County) and in less than a week I own it. Then I spend months moving stuff and taking care of business and on April 1 2019 I finally moved in full time (having sold the old apartment in Östersund). Since then I have created a wonderful place and I am very happy to live here now. Many friends helped out, but I have to give Kalle a shoutout. Thanks man.
5. ROCKWEEKEND 2010
July 2010. I catch Over The Rainbow, Tarja Turunen and Cougars (featuring Martina Edoff), Twisted Sister etc in good company (Hi Seth!) at the Rockweekend Festival in Gävleborg County before heading home. I dissed Deep Purple on that festival and I do not regret it (people were disappointed). For me it was one of the last great moments of my musical journey to witness Over The Rainbow at their peak and Blackmore Jr was very good, making this the Rainbow reunion that never was (in my opinion). Too bad that they never issued a live DVD, they deserved a legacy. I saw other bands later on but Over The Rainbow was the best of the decade (of course I never had a chance to see Babymetal, that is still to come).
6. FINAL ISSUE OF RETROFUTURE
February 22 2015. The final issue of my publication RETROFUTURE (#8) arrives. Low key release party at Jane Doe in Östersund on March 4 with Thomas Drevin (220 Volt) and Björn Höglund (Hoven Droven) as DJs. The lovely Nina on the cover as Montana Blue. I think I ended this journey with a bang, a very strong issue. Once this was published and handed out, I had given away 15,000 copies of RETROFUTURE magazines and 5,000 flyers in Jämtland County since 2010. It was my Last Hurrah and I enjoyed it. It was a well publicized period and nobody will ever repeat what I did. I can just say that.
7. THE TRINKELBONKER BLOG
I have to include this blog on this list. I started it in August 2012 and quickly added some Classic Rock interviews from my past and there are quite a lot of them now (and more coming). The traffic has varied, but there has been some amazing spikes. On June 6 2017 I posted the Enter The Twighlight Zone – Babymetal Tokyo Dome (2016) DVD Review and it just exploded. Within days that text had been published in Japanese and Spanish elsewhere, which is very humbling. I know that hardcore fans of Babymetal has been here ever since. But I have had feedback that has generated traffic from Ian Gillan, Deep Purple, Steve Lukather and many others over the years. I do enjoy this little corner of mine, and I will carry on as long as I can.
8. MY WESTERN GALS
I have to give my Western Novel projects a nod here and the models I had the pleasure of working with – Lina (Dakota Jane), Nina (Montana Blue) and Ellinor (Tornado Blaze). This wild idea turned into some of the best stuff that I ever produced in RETROFUTURE and I think it will be remembered by a lot of people. I mean, this stood out a mile in this day and age and I got very nice feedback for it (including from James Reasoner, the famous author). This stuff has its own tag on this blog, My Western Gals, so you have interviews and all sorts of stuff to check out should you want to.
9. THE LEGACY
I think I do have a legacy. Quotes from interviews (that are up on this blog) appears all the time in books – literally every year – and every now and then good things comes out of it. I have helped out with scans from my Deep Purple archive that has ended up on several albums, and in 2013 I helped VH1 out for a Deep Purple documentary that was later aired. Even now, as we move into 2020, the old archive is about to be revisited again (but more on that later). It has been a long journey but even now, five years after the final issue of RETROFUTURE, I feel that what I have done is still appreciated. And I guess Trinkelbonker kind of keeps it all rolling, in a small way. And who knows, maybe I will print just one more issue of RETROFUTURE some day? I thought I was done but then Babymetal came around and I am not so sure anymore.
10. SURVIVING 2019
I was so ill that I was jackpot lucky to get out of it alive this summer, but I made it. I look at life a little bit differently now. And then we are suddenly moving into the 2020s, how about that?
(My images)
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trinkelbonker 