A week ago we had heavy snowfall in these parts (Jämtland County), and now we have high Summer. Beautiful blue sky, pleasant weather. Bushes and trees are in full bloom. A little more rain and I have to mown the lawn again. Have started up a few projects. I will set the potatoes (King Edward, “the Deep Purple of potatoes”, as a friend adviced me!) today. I will do some outdoors plumbing, redirecting water further down the hillside (and away from the house and cottage) for when it rains. Loads of things to do in the next few weeks, but little by little things move forward.
I discovered this morning that this blog has had over 500,000 hits, so that is a pretty good fact to mention here today. It will hit 1,000,000 way faster than what it took to reach this place, so that is something to look forward to. Many thanks for visiting Trinkelbonker.
(My shot of Babymetal, left shot of me plus Ronnie James Dio – note my Lucy In The Sky fanzine on the table in front of him – by Michael Johansson, Glenn Hughes by Christer Bolin, part of old fanzine note by Jörgen Holmstedt in the upper right corner – the inserted flag is the flag that represents Jämtland County here in Sweden, so I am being patriotic here!)
I published the Retrofuture magazines between 2010 and 2015, eight of them, plus two Western novel Specials (Montana Blue & Tornado Blaze) and then the soon to be all gone Storsjöodjuret/Great Lake Monster Special. The Retrofuture issues was the thickest ever (60 pages) and they were jam packed with great stuff. Loads of rock stuff (the Purple Family thing was always present), tv & film, books, several pages with Storsie/The Great Leke Monster (local legend here in Jämtland County) history in each and every issue, etc etc. I just had a ball making them. As I put them up for sale now on the Fanzine Newsstand, it is the first time ever that I do so outside of Jämtland County. Looking back, I am very happy with what I did here. Legendary Swedish publisher Hans Hatwig (that I interviewed for the final issue) had this to say, “If more magazine creators like you had existed, things would have looked less dire for the Swedish magazine business”. Not bad feedback for a hobby enthusiast. This was also the years when I photographed nice wowen in Western outfits, and published novels. I dare say that there has never been a publication quite like this in Sweden. You can read up on the details on the Fanzine History tag on this blog. Then you can get your copies at the Fanzine Newsstand tag.
(My shot of said fanzines – For sale in Sweden only, might trade for Babymetal if you live elsewhere)
Opened up the Summer cottage in the backyard today. Always a good feeling. I have had snow on my lawn in the early morning for a couple of days but it is gone within a few hours. Summer should have arrived within a few weeks for real (late May is usually good) and knowing that makes life a lot easier. I have some projects lined up that I am looking forward to. Always a good thing.
Today I have presented an interview with Mats Karlsson of 220 Volt that was made back in 2002. Seen here is the original Limited Edition 1982 single “Prisoner Of War”/”Sauron” (highly collectable) and the 2002 and onwards reunion albums that came out with the old band before the band moved on again. “Volume 1” was a self financed album that saw release in 2002 (1,000 copies). Five rerecorded tracks from the early days and an additional five (plus a medley) recorded live at the Sweden Rock Festival that year. Then you have the 2005 live album “Made In Jämtland”, recorded 2002-2004 in Jämtland County. This has some 220 Volt classics from the Joakim Lundholm era on it as well. Not sure exactly when the old band folded but they were back with another lineup and an album called “Walking In Starlight” in 2014.
Originally formed in 1979, Swedish rockers 220 Volt first emerged on the scene in 1982 with the limited edition debut single “Prisoner Of War”/”Sauron” and in 1983 they were signed to CBS and a string of highly regarded albums followed over a five year period in which they were heralded as one of the top bands coming out of Scandinavia. Guitarist Mats Karlsson was, it should be pointed out, always the motor behind the band. I saw him grow from a young Ritchie Blackmore fan into a great guitarist with fantastic ideas and a wonderful sound that was, and is, his own. The band broke up in the early 1990s but in 2002 the pre-album lineup of 1982 reunited to have another crack at it. This interview was made at my place in Östersund (Jämtland County) at that time, with me writing out questions on my computer and Mats writing out his answers right there in the same room. In that sense, it is a postcard from 2002 (and not long after this interview was made they performed at the Sweden Rock Festival). As such it has some historical interest and at this point in time (2024) this went down half way through their long and illustrious career. So here is the 2002 interview, enjoy!
…
When 220 Volt broke up in 1992, did you ever think in your wildest dreams that the band would be back in action again, and not even in that lineup but the actual original band that recorded the first single in 1982?
– ”No!! I was fed up with the business in general at that point. That is why I started to mainly work for others. Let them deal with the bullshit, I just played my guitar, got my money and left”.
When did you start to think about it?
– ”I was transferring a lot of old demos from cassette to CD. That is when I stumbled onto some stuff with 220 Volt that still excited me. I thought it was a shame that a lot of people (most people actually) never got to hear it. I talked to the other guys if we could do something about it. That is when we discovered that we also had an anniversary to celebrate. 20 years since our very first single”.
When you first started to talk about it, did the first discussions include thoughts about recording an album as well, or was the reunion originally more about lowkey concerts around your old hometown of Östersund, just to mark the 20th anniversary and to have some fun?
– ”Originally we thought about just doing a show in our hometown to celebrate it. We recorded some demos and thought, what the hell… if anyone is interested in releasing this, lets go for it. So an album is the goal, but we are not sure it is gonna happen though. But we are working on it and we are looking for a suitable label, it is on our terms this time”.
The band had a lot of material back then that was never actually recorded, what songs did you first start to think about again and was it strange to look at them again after all these years?
– ”We have lots of stuff from rehearsals saved from back then, so we have listened through most of it and found some gems. We also did a few demos so there is plenty to choose from if we would like to. “Black Angel” was always a favourite and “White Knight”. These were for several reasons never included on the first albums. It feels great to have another look at these songs and make them playable”.
What song was the first that you started to work on and why did you pick that song before the others?
– ”I think “Electric Power” (also an unreleased track ) was the first one. It sort of sums up the energy and the spirit of the band from that period in time. It is also a classic 220 Volt riff. It is a song that myself and Thomas Drevin always wanted to do before but it was too complicated and was never performed live before. This was our chance for revenge, he, he…”.
How many songs have you considered to bring back from the old days at the moment?
– ”If you mean songs you have not heard? At the moment I think we are working on four songs for inclusion in the current liveset. If there will be an album there will be more digging done in the archives”.
How much have you worked on the songs, will they remain fairly the same or does it differ from song to song?
– ”One song called “Don´t Come My Way” is based on a guitar riff from 1982, we also kept the title and the first vocal-line. The rest is completely new. That song came out great I think and on a few other songs we have changed bits and pieces but we have tried to keep the old spirit. Again, we have tried to make them playable. We wanted a lot when we were younger but we could not quite make it musically. These songs that we are working on now were written when we were 16-18 years old”.
During the rehearsal I saw the other day, you played a nine minute song that was very heavy. I noticed that you called it “Grisen” (roughly translated “The Pig”), but that was just your nickname for it. So what is the actual title of that song and is that song new or is it one of the old ones?
– ”It is called “White Knight” and it is a pig to play. In a way it is connected to the b-side of our first single “Sauron” and can be seen as sort of an extension to that song. We have a loose idea of putting together one more track to those two, to complete the trilogy. We do not mind that they are filming “The Lord Of The Rings” at the moment, but our songs were written 20 years ago so they are stealing our idea, but we are open-minded and friendly people… we will not sue first…”.
Do you have a favourite song yourself at this particular point and what attracts you to that song?
– ”From a pure guitarists point of view, I would say “White Knight”, “Electric Power” and “Firefall” at the moment. They are a challenge to play and there are lots of fun guitar parts. If you ask me next week I might have changed my mind”.
In what way do you think that the reunion album will differ from the other albums released earlier by the other versions of 220 Volt? It sounds to me like it can end up being the hardest ever, would you agree?
– ”Yes! We had more fast and furious tracks with this lineup. It is classic hard rock/HM”.
How does it feel to work with the original band again?
– ”It is great!! Big smiles all around !”.
No worries that it has been a while since you worked together?
– ”Not really. But we have worked together on other projects after we were in 220 Volt so I think we knew where we had each other. Pretty much anyway”.
How closely do you work with Thomas Drevin on the new songs? Is it fair to say that the two of you do most of the work as far as the writing is concerned?
– ”We have had a few weekends when we have worked on the old songs that Thomas and I wrote back then. Peter Hermansson on the drums usually writes some stuff as well. But we have all been a part of making new versions of the material. And we have made even more changes in rehearsals. So I think that Thomas and I have been the engine and the other guys are the sparkplugs…”.
What is his best strength as a guitarist in your opinion?
– ”He is very unpredictable. He rarely does the same thing twice. He also has an odd sense of timing which makes some of his parts very personal”.
In the old days the two of you used to play harmonies together and this was a trademark that pretty much ended when he was replaced after the recording of the “Power Games” album. Are you working in much the same way again or has anything changed since back then when you work on the songs together?
– ”Nothing has changed, but we give each other some more room to shine individually as well. So there you have it, nothing has changed”.
Have you written any new songs that will mix with the old on the reunion album?
– ”We have ideas that we have not had time to work so much on which sound promising. I think it will sound more modern but with the same twist to it. There is a certain chemistry between these five guys and it tends to end up a certain way. Later on in our career I think we listened to a lot of other people about how it should sound or look. With this line-up we could not care less, we always did things our way. And it is the same today”.
Do you have a title for the album?
– ””Electric Power” probably. We also have a great cover if that will be the title. We have to reach an agreement with the artist, but it is the perfect cover I think”.
I know that you have all said that you are doing this for the fun of it and the plans may not stretch very far into the future, but if all goes well and you still feel that you are up for more next year could we possibly look at more to come from 220 Volt?
– ”I am pretty sure of that yes…”.
The band never released a live album, is that an option this time around?
– ”If we get the chance to record a new album first, it is not impossible. I know we would like to. We have spent some time together rehearsing now and things are falling into place. So I would say that anything is possible if the circumstances are right”.
How will you deal with the classics from the back catalouge? Will Christer sing things like “Heavy Christmas” and “Power Games” and is it not just natural that the band gives the fans a little bit of everything although they will get to see the original band and not the lineups that featured Joakim Lundholm on vocals?
– ”In the beginnig, the live set will be based on older material and new material mostly. We hope that people will like the new stuff just as much, or perhaps even more??? We would like to present material that this lineup was involved in first and foremost, but there are certain things we can not leave out”.
Fans outside of Scandinavia may want to know if the band is willing to travel to other places if the offer came in, but how much have you talked about this? After all, even though you are doing this just for fun you will release an album as well so that will in itself make the reunion well documented and debated by fans all over the world.
– ”Have band, will travel!! If the circumstances are right, anything is possible!!”.
If an offer to support somebody in, say, Germany popped up, would you consider it?
-” Yes! In fact we have already been asked to support an American band, but we passed due to other commitments”.
Could 220 Volt carry on just for fun, making an album every now and then and a few concerts here and there kind of on the side, with you guys living your ordinary lives and releasing other projects, like in your case you have your own music to think about as well, but could it work for years to come and would you be open for that?
– ”I think that is a possibility. At the moment we live far apart which makes the Internet and broadband access a necessity, since we can send music back and forth. If there is an interest in the band I think that we will consider it”.
How close are you to releasing anything in your own name?
– ”Extremely! No just kidding. I have not made a serious attempt yet. It would be great though. I hope to find some more time to work on stuff soon. 220 Volt has been very time consumig for a while, but there are ideas waiting to be recorded”.
How many songs have you written for your own career and how would you describe the music that you are writing these days?
– ”I have 20-25 songs on demos. And 500 ideas. The music is “rockpopheaviersoftersingersongwriterreaggeacousticpunk”. I am trying to write anything I could not fit into any band I have played with and do not care too much about what style it is, as long as I like it. I also plan to handle the vocals myself. Labels out there, beware I might hunt you down”.
Do you have a band in mind for your own future?
– ”If my own stuff becomes an album or two in the end, I hope to get Björn Höglund (from folk rockers Hoven Droven) on drums. At least for the recordings. My older brother is a keyboard player and he is very good, so I hope he will help out. I also have a good friend called Lollopop who is an amazing bass player, so there is a few guys I would like to work more with. When it comes to live work, I would probably need someone who can help out with backing vocals and percussion. I would really like to do this, so that will be my next priority”.
I know that you revisited the old Voltergeist tapes from 1993 recently and worked on them for possible future release, can you tell us how this is progressing? Will we get to hear Voltergeist finally?
– ”I have put lots of work into it and I think it would make a decent album, even though it consists mainly of demos and live stuff. There are, however, some differences of opinion about the release. I would like to release it, it is an interesting piece of history, but I would like us all to agree on it”.
How many guitars do you own these days and when do you use them? Like, do you have a favourite guitar for live work etc?
– ”I have five electric guitars, four Stratocasters and a Flying V. I have some different combinations of pick-ups and necks. I tend to use a 70´s strat a lot. I have had it since 1979 and just had it re-fretted and renovated in general. Apart from that one I tend to use more and more of my maple neck one´s. They have a “sweeter” and cleaner tone. I still use my old 50 watt Marshalls as well. I have a couple that sound good”.
You have played rather loud music for many years, has this in any way affected your hearing?
– ”I have some problems with my left ear. I use earplugs though so I protect myself. I do not think my hearing is affected yet, but I do have an annoying tinnitus in my left ear. Be careful!”.
What favourite artists do you have these days?
– ”I listen to a lot of stuff, but one favourite is a guy called Kevin Gilbert. Unfortunately the guy died a few years ago at the mere age of 29. It is rock, it is drama, it is progressive, extremely good lyrics and the guy played everything. I think I have most of what is out on albums plus a little. It is excellent. I also listen to Sheryl Crow, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Jellyfish (especially “Spilt Milk”) and lots of 220 Volt lately, but that was forced upon me…”.
Will you use the Internet more in the future? Have you considered launching your own site and do you see the Internet as a good or bad influence on things in general these days?
– ”Yes, I consider launching my own small site. It will probably be found through the new official 220 Volt site which will be up and running shortly. I think that the Internet is great for many things. I almost respect that people download lots of music on the web, but I dislike evil persons that steal other peoples music and pretend to be a record company and sell it to make money. That is disgusting. We deal with that in our new song “Don´t Come My Way”. Lots of artists are dealing with this problem and so are we, unfortunately. But we will find you!!!”.
Do you have any favourite sites that you like to visit regularly?
– ”The Highway Star (Deep Purple Family), CARAMBA (Ian Gillan), Lots of music sites in general. I also look for old music on CD (220 Volt bootleg albums and stuff). I use the Internet a lot, but I just surf around, you know”.
Good luck with everything.
– ”Thanks, the guys in the band says hello to you all!”.
(End of interview)
By Mike Eriksson (if quoted let me know about it) – Atlantis Online 2002 / Trinkelbonker (2024)
(Historic colour shots by Michael Johansson, 2002 black & white shots by Staffan Eriksson)
…
CLASSIC ROCK INTERVIEWS ON TRINKELBONKER: THEY WATCH US FROM THE MOON 2024 (March 29 2024), BERNIE MARSDEN 1981 (September 3 2023), BRIDEAR 2023 (June 13 2023), STEVE LUKATHER 1989, Part 2 (May 29 2023), LADIES OF ROCK 2008 (April 25 2023), GLENN HUGHES 1993 (February 23 2023), JON LORD 1983 (June 26 2022), BLIND GOLEM 2022 (April 29 2022), PUBLISHER HANS HATWIG 2015 (Part 2, December 24 2021), MURASAKI 2021 (December 3 2021), PUBLISHER HANS HATWIG 2015 (Part 1, November 22 2021), CARINA LIROLA 2008 (November 9 2021), TOTO 1987 (September 17 2021), HEAVEN & EARTH 2001 (July 25 2021), STUART SMITH 1998 (July 4 2021), RAINBOW 1997 (June 28 2021), MARINA AMMOURI 2021 (February 12 2021), VISIONS OF ATLANTIS 2007 (November 10 2020), RITCHIE BLACKMORE & CANDICE NIGHT 2001 (October 27 2020), JOHN NORUM 1988 (October 18 2020), ACCEPT 1986 (July 17 2020), DEEP PURPLE 1996 (June 27 2020), EUROPE 1986 (June 16 2020), DEEP PURPLE PODCAST 2020 (April 6 2020), KIMBERLY GOSS/SINERGY 2002 (March 31 2020), RAINBOW 1997 (March 9 2020), RAINBOW 1996 (March 6 2020), MICHAEL BRADFORD 2003/MAKING OF DEEP PURPLE´S “BANANAS” (March 2 2020), URIAH HEEP 1988 (February 18 2020), ANNE-LIE RYDÉ 1984 (January 21 2020), CRYSTAL VIPER 2020 (January 16 2020), JOHN NORUM 1988 (January 12 2020), ARTOMUS FRIENDSHIP 2019 (November 10 2019), NAZARETH 1989 (August 26 2019), VELVET INSANE 2018 (September 11 2018), JON LORD 1981 (December 15 2015), DAVID COVERDALE 1981 (November 13 2015), GLENN HUGHES 1996 (May 12 2015), TOTO 1988 (March 31 2015), YNGWIE MALMSTEEN 1990 (March 1 2015), MARTINA EDOFF 2009 (December 4 2014), MICHAEL MOJO NILSSON 2014 (January 21 2014), THE HUGHES TURNER PROJECT 2001 (December 29 2013), JOE LYNN TURNER 1996-1998 (October 9 2013), GLENN HUGHES & JOHN NORUM 1988 (September 21 2013), JOE LYNN TURNER 1994-1995 (September 9 2013), JOE LYNN TURNER 1993 (September 7 2013), STEVE LUKATHER 1989 (September 4 2013), BLACK SABBATH 1983 (August 22 2013), RAINBOW 1995 (July 19 2013), MICK UNDERWOOD/GILLAN 1982 (June 11 2013), DEEP PURPLE 2002 (May 2 2013), DEEP PURPLE 1998 ( February 25 2013), BLACK SABBATH 1986 (February 12 2013), BLACK SABBATH 1987-1989 (December 31 2012), JOHNNIE BOLIN 2012 (December 24 2012), MARTIN POPOFF & RICH GALBRAITH 2009 (November 12 2012), DAVID COVERDALE 2000 (October 14 2012), JON LORD 1984 (September 7 2012), JOE LYNN TURNER 1992 (August 31 2012), JUDAS PRIEST 1986 (August 22 2012), RONNIE JAMES DIO 2001 (August 20 2012), NIGHTWISH 2002 (August 14 2012).
Today is a good day for my friend Jonas Öhlund. Not only is it his birthday, but it is also the release date of a project that has been lovingly restored and finally released. The name that has been chosen is the rather humorous Severe Overbite, but the material goes back to his youth in the 1980s when he was part of local bands (in Östersund, Jämtland County) like Rebellion, Bird Of Prey and Grime Crime along with singer Håkan Mårtensson. Demos were cut but nothing was ever released back in the day (for Jonas, that would come later with bands like Pride and Linehouse). In the early days though, the inspiration came from NWOBHM and acts like Black Sabbath and Heavy Load. They loved their Metal. It is the same old story, the urge to relive some of those happy days, and to get it on tape finally drew Jonas in. He started to rerecord some of the Rebellion material and eventually Håkan came onboard and the project started to take off. In the end, they used ideas from all three bands that they had been in and listening to it now it is rather obvious why they took on this project. These songs needed to be released and now they are out there (in digital form). It would be nice to see this as physical product some day as well, who knows what destiny has in mind this time around.
(Cover is from official platforms, cover art is by Frank Öhlund)
Yesterday was a good day since a copy of the magnificent Polish book about the classic television show Stawka (Kapten Kloss here in Sweden) popped up in the mail. It was sent to me by Maciek Szatko, whom wrote an article about the show for my publication Retrofuture (6, printed in 2013), and it can be seen within the pages of this book. I have posted about this before, but it is pretty awesome to have the actual book.
(My shot of said book, also seen here is the cover of Retrofuture 6 and the Stawka article plus some comic books from back in the day – many thanks for the package Maciek!)
The weather has been surprisingly good in these parts for the last two weeks, which is very strange. Never seen anything like this in February before. Good for the electric bill. We shall see. With Spring in sight (fingers crossed!), the thoughts are moving to plans for the summer. Less indoors activities, more outdoors. I guess these magazines paints a picture of where this is going. Happy days.
(My shot of Tamiya Model Magazine 340 and a newly published calendar for gardening)
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