http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:50:00 GMT http://bandzoogle.com http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947356 With a one week perspective, it's almost like you have to ask yourself...what happened? The first two months of 2012 has without a doubt been the most intense in my life. Of course it's not an ideal situation to record under a tight deadline, nevertheless it's something you have to handle. Guess we'll have the answer to that specific question in about a month from now, regardless if we want it or not. Once again this is a very honest recording, where you can really hear, sense, feel, I mean almost smell the musician behind each and every instrument. I'd say this is the naked truth of what HFMC is about 2012. Before last night I hadn't listened to the album for some time and the first thing that strucked me when I put "Powerplay" in the CD player, is that it's more "wild and crazy" than "Futurepast". The arrangements are more "brave" and maybe "delicate"? There's lots more parts and sections in the songs, especially the longer ones. Since I still can't give you my 100% safe Jameson test (review of "Powerplay") and the fact that I still refuse to shovel my thoughts into your head, my recommendation for now is: "As soon as you get it, give it some spins and let "Powerplay" slowly invade your mind, soul and body!!! Tonight Thomsson and me (in other words the "demon directors") will start to work on "The making of Powerplay", as well as some other video related stuff. The only thing I can promise you, is that they'll be just as "bad" as the previous ones. Ladies and Gent's...prepare for POWERPLAY!!! HFMC will release their upcoming album Powerplay on Reingold Records. Release date: April 23 (preorders (April 13)
Before last night I hadn't listened to the album for some time and the first thing that strucked me when I put "Powerplay" in the CD player, is that it's more "wild and crazy" than "Futurepast". The arrangements are more "brave" and maybe "delicate"? There's lots more parts and sections in the songs, especially the longer ones. Since I still can't give you my 100% safe Jameson test (review of "Powerplay") and the fact that I still refuse to shovel my thoughts into your head, my recommendation for now is: "As soon as you get it, give it some spins and let "Powerplay" slowly invade your mind, soul and body!!!

Tonight Thomsson and me (in other words the "demon directors") will start to work on "The making of Powerplay", as well as some other video related stuff. The only thing I can promise you, is that they'll be just as "bad" as the previous ones. Ladies and Gent's...prepare for POWERPLAY!!!

HFMC will release their upcoming album Powerplay on Reingold Records. Release date: April 23 (preorders (April 13)
]]> Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:50:00 GMT 21D119B720480C2BE79FB7732EF214D4 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947357 As I'm sitting here writing down the info on titles and the length of the songs of our upcoming album Powerplay, I'm actually listening to it. After a couple of sleepless nights , due to late night mastering (thank you Jouni), I'm finally here listening to the album for real. Of course I promised Reingold Records we'll be ready about a week ago (because of promotion etc and even that would be late). Nevertheless, right now the stuff is on it's way to Dicentia to become the final product - Powerplay: Power 1. "My river to cross" - 10.13 2. "The world keeps turning" - 04.10 3. "The final hour" - 12.28 4. "Waves" - 05.17 Play 5. "Venice CA" - 04.59 6. "Is it ever gonna happen" - 07.57 7. "White butterfly" - 02.30 8. "The chosen ones" - 07.37 9. "Godsong" - 05.34 On top of everything else, I've been busy with the American working visas, booking of gigs and preparations for the upcoming HFMC shows. Gotta tell you, I'm actually to put it nicely fed up with all the practical stuff at the moment. Lucky for me, I met the lads in the Musical Companion last sunday. We had a meeting about the near future and we even played a couple of bars. I have to say, that felt like a gift from heaven to me, since it reminded me of why I'm doing all this - the love of MUSIC! Powerplay releasedate:120423 (preorders 120413)
Power

1. "My river to cross" - 10.13
2. "The world keeps turning" - 04.10
3. "The final hour" - 12.28
4. "Waves" - 05.17

Play

5. "Venice CA" - 04.59
6. "Is it ever gonna happen" - 07.57
7. "White butterfly" - 02.30
8. "The chosen ones" - 07.37
9. "Godsong" - 05.34

On top of everything else, I've been busy with the American working visas, booking of gigs and preparations for the upcoming HFMC shows. Gotta tell you, I'm actually to put it nicely fed up with all the practical stuff at the moment. Lucky for me, I met the lads in the Musical Companion last sunday. We had a meeting about the near future and we even played a couple of bars. I have to say, that felt like a gift from heaven to me, since it reminded me of why I'm doing all this - the love of MUSIC!

Powerplay releasedate:120423 (preorders 120413)
]]> Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:50:00 GMT 7A42E7C52EAB23F806DDC2B72D7C9F5F http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947355 To say the schedule's been tight lately, would be a vast understatement. On top of that, corrupt files and missing solos that eventually ended up in 13 hours of troubleshooting yesterday. When things like this occur during your first day of mixing, you really need to remind yourself that music is fun. Nevertheless, here we are Tomas Bodin (sound engineer) and me mixing the new HFMC opus "POWERPLAY" and let me tell you, we really grabbed the bull by the horn. We started with the "epic" of the album, "The final hour" and today it feels a lot better. we've almost managed to make a "full mix" of the song, or maybe I should say songs because of all the different parts. In fact I'm going back to the studio when I've written this to complete it. Since I'm a man of traditions, I won't give away what I think about the songs and the album, until I've done the 100% proof "Jameson test". After that I might (just might) give you a little hint. By now, I've learnt that we missed out on one thing before our previous release "FuturePast". That's to give you the running order of the songs, titles, length, in fact all the data you need on "POWERPLAY". Since I'm a service minded lad, I guess I'll be able to give you just that by next week. At the same time as Tomas and me are mixing the new HFMC album, Roine is mixing the upcoming TFK record. Isn't that hillarious? I mean how is it even possible... Anyway, both Tomas and me has completed our contributions to the "standard edition" of the CD (TFK). As soon as we're done mixing the HFMC album, we'll start to record the extra songs for the "limited edition" (TFK), which by the way is supposed to be something EXTRA (but you won't hear anything from me). Well...right now I've got my hands full and before the summer's here, you'll have your hands full of new new music from both Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion and The Flower Kings. Stay tuned for information on upcoming gigs. I'm off for now, gotta song to mix!
At the same time as Tomas and me are mixing the new HFMC album, Roine is mixing the upcoming TFK record. Isn't that hillarious? I mean how is it even possible... Anyway, both Tomas and me has completed our contributions to the "standard edition" of the CD (TFK). As soon as we're done mixing the HFMC album, we'll start to record the extra songs for the "limited edition" (TFK), which by the way is supposed to be something EXTRA (but you won't hear anything from me). Well...right now I've got my hands full and before the summer's here, you'll have your hands full of new new music from both Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion and The Flower Kings. Stay tuned for information on upcoming gigs. I'm off for now, gotta song to mix!]]> Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:50:00 GMT 852F67E4F1DD49C4B3BD21A1E2C68789 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947346 It actually hit us like a bomb, when we (Tomas Bodin and me, both very occupied with the upcoming HFMC record as well as the opus "Crime Of The Century") realized the plan, The Flower Kings recordlabel Inside Out/Century Media, has for The Kings in the nearest future. The deadline for the master is 120303. Considering the fact that we started the recording at 120123, that's the world record right there, when it comes to producing a Flower Kings album. I spent all of yesterday at the "Cosmic Lodge" (nice to be back by the way) doing guitar overdubbs. As I listened to the backing tracks that were recorded at "Varispeed" (the studio) it strucked me. I mean in less than a month ago, we didn't even have a drummer. It was just about over 2 months, since we met for the first time in approximately 4 years. Nevertheless, the music I heard from the Genelec speakers of Roines studio sounded in my ears classic TFK, with all the significant elements that needs to be there. Aside from that, I like to think that there's a new attitude in the playing, probably very much thanks to the new guy Felix Lehrmann, who really proved to be a "smoking" drummer. I don't know? maybe it's not as "fine or polite" as previous albums by The Kings but hey...that suits me fine. In fact that's my cup of tea. If I knew what I know now, at the beginning of November last year, I'd probably have postponed the recording of the new Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion album. With gigs lined up on both sides of the Atlantic plus the fact that we were in the middle of the recording, to postpone this new adventure with HFMC was not even an option. Talking about gigs, as soon as we have our working visas for our trip to The States, we'll go official with what we've got at the moment. Next to RoSfest it looks like The Musical Companion will play another major festival within the prog scene, amongst other gigs this summer. As I just said, details later. "See the opportunities"! I know it's a cliché but that's what I'm trying to say to myself when I can't sleep at night. Maybe it's too much going on after all??? To me it doesn't feel that way. I actually feel like I'm at least almost on top of it all, especially now that mr. Tomas Bodin and me were able to do a session (between the TFK ones), now on sunday. We will lift in Kjelles keys, Antons guitars, some replaced bass notes from Thomsson as well as Olas percussion. In other words, the moment of truth is here in the HFMC camp. Quite frankly, we couldn't wait any longer in case we need to adjust or rerecord something before the mix. In the middle of all this Tomas and me are still trying to deliver music to "Crime Of The Century" and we've managed to almost accidentally come up with a new song for it, more of that later. Ladies and Gentlemen, next on the agenda: Go official about the title of Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion's upcoming album and the release date. Until then my friends!!!
If I knew what I know now, at the beginning of November last year, I'd probably have postponed the recording of the new Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion album. With gigs lined up on both sides of the Atlantic plus the fact that we were in the middle of the recording, to postpone this new adventure with HFMC was not even an option. Talking about gigs, as soon as we have our working visas for our trip to The States, we'll go official with what we've got at the moment. Next to RoSfest it looks like The Musical Companion will play another major festival within the prog scene, amongst other gigs this summer. As I just said, details later.

"See the opportunities"! I know it's a cliché but that's what I'm trying to say to myself when I can't sleep at night. Maybe it's too much going on after all??? To me it doesn't feel that way. I actually feel like I'm at least almost on top of it all, especially now that mr. Tomas Bodin and me were able to do a session (between the TFK ones), now on sunday. We will lift in Kjelles keys, Antons guitars, some replaced bass notes from Thomsson as well as Olas percussion. In other words, the moment of truth is here in the HFMC camp. Quite frankly, we couldn't wait any longer in case we need to adjust or rerecord something before the mix. In the middle of all this Tomas and me are still trying to deliver music to "Crime Of The Century" and we've managed to almost accidentally come up with a new song for it, more of that later. Ladies and Gentlemen, next on the agenda: Go official about the title of Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion's upcoming album and the release date. Until then my friends!!!
]]> Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:50:00 GMT F77366E2542D0FA924A02FCE8232DFB6 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947339 On "FuturePast" I was very keen on using my voice in as many different ways as possible, trying to avoid sounding the same all the time. Everything to try to please you listeners of course! On this recording the word of the day has been "GO FOR IT!" By that I mean, when the song requires I've been giving it all I've got...meaning less control but on the other hand, more attitude. Frankly I'm happy with most of it, while I'm still trying to get used to some of my vocal contributions. What I do know though, is that it sounds "fresh and vital" (probably more than ever before) and the recording of my voice (the sound) has never been better. Personally I got approximately 3 more hours of work to do, before it's time to mix the album. I've given the lads the deadline 120120. By then I shall have the percussion from Ola, some new and improved bass notes here and there from Thomsson. All the keys from poor Kjelle and some solos etc. from Anton. After that I'll be away for a while, but when I get back we're gonna mix the album as soon as we possibly can. As I mentioned earlier, the keyword for this recording has been: "GO FOR IT!" With that said, I can state that this album rocks a lot more than our debut. Even though we have a ballad and even an acoustic song this time, the overall feeling I get when I listen through the material, is that there's a lot more going on. There's more guts in the playing and in my humble opinion, there's more "action" in the songs. Talking about my music, I like to think of it as my own "special brew". Last time I was very worried how it would come across because of all my different influences. This time I've decided for myself, that it's an advantage to be able to mix progressive/symphonic rock, classic rock, metal, soul and blues and hopefully make it a sound of your own. If you like it, it's fantastic! If you don't, there's not much I can do. Considering the reviews on "FuturePast", I guess there's only one way to go (down) and that scares me. Nevertheless, I know that the guys and me has done our utmost to make this a good record. At the point we are at the moment of the recording, I can truly tell you I'm proud. If we'll manage to get an awesome mix and an equally as good mastering of the record, with a little bit of luck...who knows?
Personally I got approximately 3 more hours of work to do, before it's time to mix the album. I've given the lads the deadline 120120. By then I shall have the percussion from Ola, some new and improved bass notes here and there from Thomsson. All the keys from poor Kjelle and some solos etc. from Anton. After that I'll be away for a while, but when I get back we're gonna mix the album as soon as we possibly can.

As I mentioned earlier, the keyword for this recording has been: "GO FOR IT!" With that said, I can state that this album rocks a lot more than our debut. Even though we have a ballad and even an acoustic song this time, the overall feeling I get when I listen through the material, is that there's a lot more going on. There's more guts in the playing and in my humble opinion, there's more "action" in the songs. Talking about my music, I like to think of it as my own "special brew". Last time I was very worried how it would come across because of all my different influences. This time I've decided for myself, that it's an advantage to be able to mix progressive/symphonic rock, classic rock, metal, soul and blues and hopefully make it a sound of your own. If you like it, it's fantastic! If you don't, there's not much I can do. Considering the reviews on "FuturePast", I guess there's only one way to go (down) and that scares me. Nevertheless, I know that the guys and me has done our utmost to make this a good record. At the point we are at the moment of the recording, I can truly tell you I'm proud. If we'll manage to get an awesome mix and an equally as good mastering of the record, with a little bit of luck...who knows?
]]> Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:45:00 GMT B5B8BAEC463048ACEA8FBF9809232FB1 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947338 As I've been doing lots of vocals lately, I've come to realize myself that the lyrics to some of the songs are more personal than I thought in the first place. Except for songs like "Venice CA", "Waves" (which are very personal and positive) and "The world keeps turning", I guess the lyrics are a bit darker this time, dealing with war, religion and other "serious" topics. As I've had a pretty turbulent year, maybe I chose to write about those things because it somehow reflected what I've been going through lately. I guess I'm not sure what I'm talking about myself but hey!....it's really up to you to decide what you read into the lyrics. I haven't only been singing, I've played lots of guitar as well. On the latest session I recorded some electric guitar. I played slide, harmony (twin lead "my part") and I also changed some of the "clean" guitar sounds. I prefer to do those with my Fender guitars, since there's a lot more "twang" in them compared to my Les Paul. It was a blast to play my Stratocaster directly plugged into my Fender Concert amp. In my book, it sounded just the way it should. Of course I also did some "heavy riffing" at loud volume and let me tell you, you'll never get too old for such a thing. I promise you, it's probably the funniest thing you can do during the recording! I've also had a great time with my recently bought 12-string acoustic guitar (Furch, strange name but a great sound!), which will be very prominent on this album. By now I know that the other lads in The Musical Companion are occupied with work for the upcoming album as well. I guess I'm gonna pay sir Kjellvete a visit, at his fabulous Kjells Angels Studios next week. Can't wait to hear what the guys have been up to!
I haven't only been singing, I've played lots of guitar as well. On the latest session I recorded some electric guitar. I played slide, harmony (twin lead "my part") and I also changed some of the "clean" guitar sounds. I prefer to do those with my Fender guitars, since there's a lot more "twang" in them compared to my Les Paul. It was a blast to play my Stratocaster directly plugged into my Fender Concert amp. In my book, it sounded just the way it should. Of course I also did some "heavy riffing" at loud volume and let me tell you, you'll never get too old for such a thing. I promise you, it's probably the funniest thing you can do during the recording! I've also had a great time with my recently bought 12-string acoustic guitar (Furch, strange name but a great sound!), which will be very prominent on this album.

By now I know that the other lads in The Musical Companion are occupied with work for the upcoming album as well. I guess I'm gonna pay sir Kjellvete a visit, at his fabulous Kjells Angels Studios next week. Can't wait to hear what the guys have been up to!]]> Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:45:00 GMT 2FE41ADB85CDE65B9F2985FC19A07AB6 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947337 Music is such a powerful thing! When I was younger, I thought by now I would have lost my passion for music. During this weekend I've learnt that my passion for music is even stronger than before. There were moments during this session that moved me in a way I've never experienced before. Just as I said, music is a powerful thing! In the middle of the "storm" we managed to get a whole lotta work done. Tomas is very fast and effective in the studio and since I like to be very well prepared myself, we moved faster than the speed of light. I did acoustic 6 and 12 string-guitars for "Venice CA", "Godsong", "Waves" and a totally new and fresh little tune called "White butterfly". In fact it's so new, the lads in HFMC hasn't heard it yet (it's just my voice and my 12-string guitar so far). I'm not 100% sure it'll end up on the album but I think it would really sound good between two "big ones". I've even recorded all the vocals for "Venice CA", "Godsong" and "White butterfly". That's quite an achievement since there's more harmony vocals on "Godsong", than any other song I've recorded. We're gonna continue next week and I guess that goes for Anton, Kjell and Thomsson as well. By that time, I bet there's gonna be some "steaming hot" nights in their studios. MUSIC IS A POWERFUL THING!!!
In the middle of the "storm" we managed to get a whole lotta work done. Tomas is very fast and effective in the studio and since I like to be very well prepared myself, we moved faster than the speed of light. I did acoustic 6 and 12 string-guitars for "Venice CA", "Godsong", "Waves" and a totally new and fresh little tune called "White butterfly". In fact it's so new, the lads in HFMC hasn't heard it yet (it's just my voice and my 12-string guitar so far). I'm not 100% sure it'll end up on the album but I think it would really sound good between two "big ones". I've even recorded all the vocals for "Venice CA", "Godsong" and "White butterfly". That's quite an achievement since there's more harmony vocals on "Godsong", than any other song I've recorded. We're gonna continue next week and I guess that goes for Anton, Kjell and Thomsson as well. By that time, I bet there's gonna be some "steaming hot" nights in their studios. MUSIC IS A POWERFUL THING!!!
]]> Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:45:00 GMT 2F66AC8B9E69F281CE0CDFD12205E586 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947336 I must have been "dizzy" last night. I really don't know if I should laugh or cry? In studio report nr. II yesterday, I mentioned I could go on for "ages" in the studio 20 years ago, of course I meant 30 years ago. It's hillarious for Christ's sake! However just as I stated yesterday, that's certainly not the case nowadays. Anyway, we've now completed recording the backing tracks. During these 3 days we've been working on 8 songs and I have to say we've been a lot more careful this time compared to the recording of "FuturePast". In fact we've got 18 versions of "The final hour, part 3" to choose from. That's the "world record" for this session. When it comes to the other songs, I would say we've played or at least kept 5-7 takes of each and everyone that we recorded. I bet it'll take some time to sort all this out but the overall feeling I have, is that the last recorded version is the best. This session was different from all the recordings I've done so far in my whole life and that goes for the other guys in the band as well. This was the first one we recorded without any headphones. Everyone except for poor Ola used the fantastic loudspeakers in the studio. Ola on the other hand was trapped on the second floor in the drum room with an awesome DW kit in front of him, so I honestly don't think he suffered that much. The atmosphere of recording without headphones, with an amazing sound to play on, standing next to the guys was incredible. It felt more like if you were rehearsing than recording and for this band it was an ideal situation. It actually felt like you were in your own livingroom, playing along to a cd you like with the exception of the remarkable clarity and separation in the sound. Wow!...now we're actually doing it! We've started it all, now I just got some singing to do, some acoustic guitars, slide and harmony playing left. Anton got some leadguitar to take care of and of course some other playing as well. Congrats Kjelle! It's now or never.... or maybe I should say that it's now his work more or less starts. Ola got some percussion to do and of course Thomsson has some overdubbs to do on the bass, then I guess we have a new HFMC album ready. I guess that's it for now. Look out for studio report nr.4, sometime in the near future. Hail Rock n Roll !!!
This session was different from all the recordings I've done so far in my whole life and that goes for the other guys in the band as well. This was the first one we recorded without any headphones. Everyone except for poor Ola used the fantastic loudspeakers in the studio. Ola on the other hand was trapped on the second floor in the drum room with an awesome DW kit in front of him, so I honestly don't think he suffered that much. The atmosphere of recording without headphones, with an amazing sound to play on, standing next to the guys was incredible. It felt more like if you were rehearsing than recording and for this band it was an ideal situation. It actually felt like you were in your own livingroom, playing along to a cd you like with the exception of the remarkable clarity and separation in the sound.

Wow!...now we're actually doing it! We've started it all, now I just got some singing to do, some acoustic guitars, slide and harmony playing left. Anton got some leadguitar to take care of and of course some other playing as well. Congrats Kjelle! It's now or never.... or maybe I should say that it's now his work more or less starts. Ola got some percussion to do and of course Thomsson has some overdubbs to do on the bass, then I guess we have a new HFMC album ready. I guess that's it for now. Look out for studio report nr.4, sometime in the near future. Hail Rock n Roll !!!]]> Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:45:00 GMT 376A0956D1982FB75810F72E122208E5 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947335 It's very common that you're in a more relaxed mood as soon as you've done your first day in the studio. That's what it was like today but it's a good feeling though. It's just that you have to remind the lads and even yourself sometimes, to play with the kind of "energy" the song requires (the older you get, the ears gets more and more tired). I have to confess, even your head gets tired faster nowadays. 20 years ago you could record for 15 hours in a row before someone reminded you that maybe it's time for lunch or whatever. That's certainly not the case nowadays! During the recording and before the release of "FuturePast", I refused to give you my thoughts or my reflections on the songs, since it's up to you to decide what you think and I won't do it this time either. Even though, I just feel I have to tell you the spontaneous reaction from our sound engineer mr. Jouni Niemi, after we tracked down one of our tunes. I actually think it was THE "key" moment for this recording when he stated after one of the songs: "Jesus...what a bloody good song you've got there!". After such a reaction you kind of get the feeling that nothing can go wrong. Of course I understand that plenty of things can go wrong, still it boosts up the confidence to hear such a thing, especially since you hardly know the guy who said it. Talking about Jouni, his knowledge, his talent when it comes to sound and all the technichal stuff that comes with it, is unbelievable. He's also a nice guy to hang around with and that's almost equally important if you want a good result. Tomas Bodin also paid us a visit today to get a hint of what's going on, to hear what the new material sounds like. As far as I could see he left the studio with a smile and promised to be back tomorrow and so will we. Who knows, maybe it's time to calm down with a little taste of the Swedish Whisky Mackmyra, before I go to bed. Tomorrow it's time for "Studio report nr.III". Talk to you soon!
During the recording and before the release of "FuturePast", I refused to give you my thoughts or my reflections on the songs, since it's up to you to decide what you think and I won't do it this time either. Even though, I just feel I have to tell you the spontaneous reaction from our sound engineer mr. Jouni Niemi, after we tracked down one of our tunes. I actually think it was THE "key" moment for this recording when he stated after one of the songs: "Jesus...what a bloody good song you've got there!". After such a reaction you kind of get the feeling that nothing can go wrong. Of course I understand that plenty of things can go wrong, still it boosts up the confidence to hear such a thing, especially since you hardly know the guy who said it.

Talking about Jouni, his knowledge, his talent when it comes to sound and all the technichal stuff that comes with it, is unbelievable. He's also a nice guy to hang around with and that's almost equally important if you want a good result. Tomas Bodin also paid us a visit today to get a hint of what's going on, to hear what the new material sounds like. As far as I could see he left the studio with a smile and promised to be back tomorrow and so will we. Who knows, maybe it's time to calm down with a little taste of the Swedish Whisky Mackmyra, before I go to bed. Tomorrow it's time for "Studio report nr.III". Talk to you soon!]]> Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:45:00 GMT 1350E45AE61065E7FFAC396919A8C8B0 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=1947331 It's in fact walking distance from where I live to Big Jambo Studios. It's almost surreal to live that close to a nice studio like this. At 10 o clock sharp all the members of HFMC, sound engineer Jouni Niemi and Tomas Bodin entered the doors and within 5 minutes the "vibe" was there. To you who've met the band, I guess you know what I'm talking about. It's actually hard to describe but it's a kind of "lose and funky feeling", with a giant laugh just around the corner most of the time. After the compulsory drum (boom...boom...boom...) soundcheck, where the second floor tom sounded as big as a f....ng earthquake and Anton and me trying out about 5 amps each, we started to record about 2 o clock in the afternoon. It's kind of funny, I tried out a Mesa Rectifier, a Blackstar amongst others but I ended up with my Fender (Concert) amp. However, in this part of the recording the drums have the highest priority so I let Ola choose the running order of the songs. So far we've recorded "Godsong", "Venice CA" and "Is it ever gonna happen" in that very order. I guess we must have about 6 or 7 versions of every song, so that we'll have plenty to choose from. I actually just came home, so I'm gonna settle down and relax for a while and have me a dinner. Tomorrow it's time again at 10 o clock. Look out for the next studio report tomorrow evening. Until then...
It's kind of funny, I tried out a Mesa Rectifier, a Blackstar amongst others but I ended up with my Fender (Concert) amp. However, in this part of the recording the drums have the highest priority so I let Ola choose the running order of the songs. So far we've recorded "Godsong", "Venice CA" and "Is it ever gonna happen" in that very order. I guess we must have about 6 or 7 versions of every song, so that we'll have plenty to choose from. I actually just came home, so I'm gonna settle down and relax for a while and have me a dinner. Tomorrow it's time again at 10 o clock. Look out for the next studio report tomorrow evening. Until then...]]> Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:45:00 GMT 3500D28F30ECFB34559CA030655F7BE4 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=695582  Happy New Year everybody! I've come to the point in my life where I'm looking for an amp with a loud but clean sound. For years I've been playing with a "sweet and thick" distorsion and the clean sound has always suffered. This time I thought it was time for a change. I've just bought myself a Paul Rivera built Fender concert (60 w) from 82. It's an all tube amp, loud as hell but still 100% clean, not even a little bit of "crunch". 10 minutes ago I switched it off and now I'm trying to digest the experience. I used the Strat, the Tele and of course my Goldtop. This amp really shows the personalities and character of these three guitars in a genuinely nice and honest way. I have to say it sounds bloody great! That's not all, the value of this little "creature" will increase (maybe a lot) if you take good care of it. I don't for one second think you're interested in this "nonsense", over to the next subject. Some of you might already have seen that we got a new date for the Oslo gig. The "combo show" with Magic Pie and HFMC will now take place on sunday 110410. The reason for this, is that one of our Norwegian friends got injured so bad that we had to cancel the gig at 110127. I hope you all can make it to the new date. I just mentioned live music, didn't I? The tour is less than 2 months away and tonight Thomsson and me are gonna start to work on a promotion video for the FuturePast tour 2010/2011. Since we don't have this BIG machine behind us (booking agency or major record label), we really need your help to to promote the gigs. We would really appreciate if you could post topics about the FuturePast tour on different webforums, talk about it in the office, at the cafè, in the pub or why not on other concerts you're visiting. You can also tell your friends about it on facebook or MySpace or whatever. We just have to try to create a buzz and hopefully an interrest about the upcoming gigs. Most important, see to it that you come to the shows yourself and of course bring Grandma! Now I'm gonna make us dinner, then I'm off to Thomsson to start to create a video that will become a milestone (hahaha...maybe not). A fabulous 2011 to y'all!!!!!
Some of you might already have seen that we got a new date for the Oslo gig. The "combo show" with Magic Pie and HFMC will now take place on sunday 110410. The reason for this, is that one of our Norwegian friends got injured so bad that we had to cancel the gig at 110127. I hope you all can make it to the new date.

I just mentioned live music, didn't I? The tour is less than 2 months away and tonight Thomsson and me are gonna start to work on a promotion video for the FuturePast tour 2010/2011. Since we don't have this BIG machine behind us (booking agency or major record label), we really need your help to to promote the gigs. We would really appreciate if you could post topics about the FuturePast tour on different webforums, talk about it in the office, at the cafè, in the pub or why not on other concerts you're visiting. You can also tell your friends about it on facebook or MySpace or whatever. We just have to try to create a buzz and hopefully an interrest about the upcoming gigs. Most important, see to it that you come to the shows yourself and of course bring Grandma! Now I'm gonna make us dinner, then I'm off to Thomsson to start to create a video that will become a milestone (hahaha...maybe not). A fabulous 2011 to y'all!!!!!]]> Thu, 13 Jan 2011 06:23:41 GMT EC996E741752F4EEDDFE186CA6066FE9 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=695581  The mighty year of 2010 has come to an end and what could be a better way to end it, than to rehearse with HFMC! I've already told you about my feelings since we released FuturePast. I also mentioned some of the plans for 2011. I actually spoke to Mark "Truey" Trueack of Unitopia just before Christmas about "The Hope" project among other things. He informed me it's still on and it's progressing nice and easy but a little slow (sounds familiar!). Do you remember? Some blogs ago I mentioned a meeting that could turn into something "spectacular" and next week it's time for yet another one (the 5th meeting so far). I refuse to give you more than this, but I can inform you that we're just about to start to work on this so far "not official" project. 2011: HFMC gigs. Writing, rehearsing and hopefully recording a new HFMC album. 2011: The still not official project. 2011: The Hope project? I have to say, it looks like the year of the rabbit will be a busy one! I certainly hope all of you've had a good 2010 and that you're looking into an interresting and great 2011! Stay strong, try to live healthy (whatever that is?) and take it easy with the fireworks. Hope to see you all on the road. On behalf of all the lads in The Musical Companion: Happy New Year!!!
2011: HFMC gigs. Writing, rehearsing and hopefully recording a new HFMC album.
2011: The still not official project.
2011: The Hope project?

I have to say, it looks like the year of the rabbit will be a busy one!

I certainly hope all of you've had a good 2010 and that you're looking into an interresting and great 2011! Stay strong, try to live healthy (whatever that is?) and take it easy with the fireworks. Hope to see you all on the road. On behalf of all the lads in The Musical Companion: Happy New Year!!!]]> Thu, 13 Jan 2011 06:23:04 GMT 3E75957032052E019651986CCB31ED77 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=655734  I'm actually not gonna quote the Irish schlager singer Johnny Logan and state that this has been "just another year". That's certainly not the case, quite the contrary I would say. 2010 has for the lads and me been rather extraordinary! After the fact that we mastered FuturePast for the third time and I realized that we wouldn't be able to release it before the summer, it was like bloody torture to sit on your ...ss and wait for over 3 months to get it out in the open. Since then it's been like a ride to paradise with "extra everything" the whole autumn and winter. I mean, who could foresee these types of reviews, all the way from big major magazines to small independent websites and fanzines? The reviews of FuturePast, has as far as I know without even one single exception, been nothing less than fantastic. As I see it, all publicity is good publicity, especially if it's "good". If it's one thing that we apppreciate even more, it's all the comments and messages we've received from all of you out there. It's so satisfying to know that the album means a whole lot, to a lot of people out there. Even so much that a lotta people consider it to be among the top 3 this year or as for some of you, who even holds it as their favourite of the year, nr.1! Thank you and thank you again, that really makes it worth all the work we've put in! Then it's the gigs, Including the secret one, we've done 3 shows so far and even if they not by any means have been perfect, I can really hear, see and feel the potential of the band. I guess all there is to do, is to work even harder. Hopefully you'll be able to hear the fruit of our labour, during our upcoming tour next year "FuturePast tour 2010/2011". More of that later. As this will be the last blog this year, I can now officially say that we've started to rehearse new material. So far the guys have been their ususal themselves, inspired, big eared and extremely willling to do as good as they can and I'm so grateful for that. Thinking of all the times FuturePast got delayed, I think it would be wise not to give you a hint on where or when our follow up album will be released. Frankly, it's too early to say anything at all. All you need to know at this point, is that we've started working on our next album. With this little "sum up" of this year and these news , I guess all that's left to do is to leave you with yet another great review. This time it's from Holland "Background Magazine" and here's the link: http://www.backgroundmagazine.nl/ From all the lads and me: We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I mean, who could foresee these types of reviews, all the way from big major magazines to small independent websites and fanzines? The reviews of FuturePast, has as far as I know without even one single exception, been nothing less than fantastic. As I see it, all publicity is good publicity, especially if it's "good". If it's one thing that we apppreciate even more, it's all the comments and messages we've received from all of you out there. It's so satisfying to know that the album means a whole lot, to a lot of people out there. Even so much that a lotta people consider it to be among the top 3 this year or as for some of you, who even holds it as their favourite of the year, nr.1! Thank you and thank you again, that really makes it worth all the work we've put in! Then it's the gigs, Including the secret one, we've done 3 shows so far and even if they not by any means have been perfect, I can really hear, see and feel the potential of the band. I guess all there is to do, is to work even harder. Hopefully you'll be able to hear the fruit of our labour, during our upcoming tour next year "FuturePast tour 2010/2011". More of that later.

As this will be the last blog this year, I can now officially say that we've started to rehearse new material. So far the guys have been their ususal themselves, inspired, big eared and extremely willling to do as good as they can and I'm so grateful for that. Thinking of all the times FuturePast got delayed, I think it would be wise not to give you a hint on where or when our follow up album will be released. Frankly, it's too early to say anything at all. All you need to know at this point, is that we've started working on our next album. With this little "sum up" of this year and these news , I guess all that's left to do is to leave you with yet another great review. This time it's from Holland "Background Magazine" and here's the link: http://www.backgroundmagazine.nl/
From all the lads and me: We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:50:30 GMT BD22B22968E53C9F5C07B4B4CCEB6187 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=655729  Finally! At last I can give you the dates of our next little trip of the FuturePast tour 2010/2011. Since we decided to not do England this time, I was forced to cancel one show and "reschedule" two of the other gigs. After lots of e-mails and phone calls, this is what it looks like: 110127: John Dee - Oslo (Norway). Together with Norwegian band Magic Pie. 110226: Musikens Hus - Gothenburgh (Sweden). Festival with Wasa Express and Lone Star Retractor. 110227: Into Music - Lund (Sweden). 110301: Bergkeller - Reichenbach (Germany). 110302: Spirit of 66 - Verviers (Belgium). 110304: de Boerderij - Zoetermeer (Netherlands). Dutch supportband to be announced. As you can see I haven't booked saturday 110305 yet. Hopefully that can be solved by the beginning of next year. If you have some contacts or ideas about it, don't hesitate. Just send me a message here on MySpace or facebook and maybe we can work something out. The best option would be to do the gig somewhere in Germany. In case that doesn't happen, this is what the tour will look like. Do I need to say that we really need your support this time. As I said earlier, bring your friends, your family, even grandma cause this is it. This is the first time HFMC will play those regions and remember. There's nothing quite like the first time! After all the big holidays we're gonna try to promote the gigs as good as we possibly can and I guess we even need you to help. I'll get back to you about this early next year. Before that I hope I have more news about the tour and more news about everything really. I also hope I have a promotion strategy ready by then. So long boys and girls!
110127: John Dee - Oslo (Norway). Together with Norwegian band Magic Pie.

110226: Musikens Hus - Gothenburgh (Sweden). Festival with Wasa Express and Lone Star Retractor.

110227: Into Music - Lund (Sweden).

110301: Bergkeller - Reichenbach (Germany).

110302: Spirit of 66 - Verviers (Belgium).

110304: de Boerderij - Zoetermeer (Netherlands). Dutch supportband to be announced.

As you can see I haven't booked saturday 110305 yet. Hopefully that can be solved by the beginning of next year. If you have some contacts or ideas about it, don't hesitate. Just send me a message here on MySpace or facebook and maybe we can work something out. The best option would be to do the gig somewhere in Germany. In case that doesn't happen, this is what the tour will look like. Do I need to say that we really need your support this time. As I said earlier, bring your friends, your family, even grandma cause this is it. This is the first time HFMC will play those regions and remember. There's nothing quite like the first time! After all the big holidays we're gonna try to promote the gigs as good as we possibly can and I guess we even need you to help. I'll get back to you about this early next year. Before that I hope I have more news about the tour and more news about everything really. I also hope I have a promotion strategy ready by then. So long boys and girls!]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:49:46 GMT 8F25953D151081E08E8F30EF9475E698 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=655728  First of all, tonight or today "and" tomorrow (depending on where you live) you can listen to Rick Dashiell of Delicious Agony and the investigating questions he had for me. I don't know what this little dialogue will end up like? But I remember we talked about the obvious, HFMC, FuturePast and also a little about TFK. As I remember it, we did it randomly in a relaxed and cozy way. For more information, this is the way to go: http://www.deliciousagony.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4078&highlight I guess it was yesterday I put up the latest review of FuturePast on facebook. I just feel the urge to introduce the guy responsible for it, mr. Janne Stark. He's the man who's written the books "The encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal". Let me tell you, there's not an album, a song or a note by a Swedish band that he hasn't heard! If you keep that in mind while reading and at the same time try to understand my feelings, while reading it, you'll soon see that I've been walking above the clouds these recent days! I know it's just one man's point of view, it's just that this guy has been around since day one in my musical career and beside the fact that he's a journalist, he's a musician himself. He's always been dedicated to Hard Rock/Metal/Prog Rock and he knows all there is to know about it. The link I'm gonna give you, leads the way to his own blog but the review will be published on the website "Metal covenant" anyday now. All I can say is, it feels like my Christmas holiday started early this year: http://starkmusicreviews.blogspot.com/ Outside the sun is shining, it's -8 degrees celsius and it truly looks like a remarkably beautiful Christmas card out there. Take it easy and buy your Christmas presents in time and why not let FuturePast be one of them: http://shop.textalk.se/en/shop.php?id=8412 Take care out there.
I guess it was yesterday I put up the latest review of FuturePast on facebook. I just feel the urge to introduce the guy responsible for it, mr. Janne Stark. He's the man who's written the books "The encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal". Let me tell you, there's not an album, a song or a note by a Swedish band that he hasn't heard! If you keep that in mind while reading and at the same time try to understand my feelings, while reading it, you'll soon see that I've been walking above the clouds these recent days! I know it's just one man's point of view, it's just that this guy has been around since day one in my musical career and beside the fact that he's a journalist, he's a musician himself. He's always been dedicated to Hard Rock/Metal/Prog Rock and he knows all there is to know about it. The link I'm gonna give you, leads the way to his own blog but the review will be published on the website "Metal covenant" anyday now. All I can say is, it feels like my Christmas holiday started early this year: http://starkmusicreviews.blogspot.com/

Outside the sun is shining, it's -8 degrees celsius and it truly looks like a remarkably beautiful Christmas card out there. Take it easy and buy your Christmas presents in time and why not let FuturePast be one of them: http://shop.textalk.se/en/shop.php?id=8412

Take care out there.]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:49:13 GMT 30A62BE915BE262957E1A5FFAC809433 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=655727  I had me some breakfast a little while ago and it strucked me, it's been a while since I informed you about what's going on in the HFMC camp. We're just about to start to rehearse some new material, we're gonna do that now on saturday. That means it's once again time for a "moment of truth" situation. I have to confess, I absolutely don't know what to expect of what the guys will think of the new songs? I'm mighty excited and frankly a little nervous about it. At the same time we have to continue to prepare for the upcoming gigs but that's just as inspiring. By now I feel I have to give you at least a little something about the gigs. The first one next year will take place in Oslo on 110127. HFMC has actually been invited to perform with Norwegian band Magic Pie at their "Release party" at the great rock club John Dee. We will start the evening with one hour of music and then Magic Pie will end the night. The next gig that's confirmed is Musikens Hus in Gothenburgh on 110226. It's the now legendary society GARF, who's booked like a nice indoor festival at the end of the winter. The classic Swedish rock (prog) band Wasa Express with none other than Dr. Åke Eriksson on drums will open the show. We will go on after that and then the Gothenburgh based Genesis cover band Lone Star Retractor (which are supposed to be very good) will end the night. In my ears those nights in Oslo and Gothenburgh sounds like real "killer nights", so I advice you all to be there! About the gigs, I'm sad to say we had to skip England this time because of what could be described as the lousiest timing ever. It was Miles who tried to help me out with the British dates, who was honest and had the courage to tell me what the situation was like, in and around week 10. This means I might have to "reschedule" some of the other gigs (if possible?). After this I won't probably have any grey hair, as I probably won't have any hair at all. Seriously, I'm fine it's just that it feels like I've done 12 rounds of Heavy weight boxing with my 72 kilos. Yesterday morning we had 22 below zero celsius, which means that you'll hardly gonna meet any mosquitos out there. That's about the only positive thing I can find when it's as cold as that, except for the beautiful landsape and the white and frosty trees. It's now December and it's soon Christmas time and FuturePast is still the perfect Christmas gift to your loved ones. You can order it from Reingold Records (Europe), ProgRock Records (US), Amazon, CDon.com, Ginza or why not Itunes or your local recordstore. Take care out there and remember to try to find the "real" Christmas spirit!
By now I feel I have to give you at least a little something about the gigs. The first one next year will take place in Oslo on 110127. HFMC has actually been invited to perform with Norwegian band Magic Pie at their "Release party" at the great rock club John Dee. We will start the evening with one hour of music and then Magic Pie will end the night. The next gig that's confirmed is Musikens Hus in Gothenburgh on 110226. It's the now legendary society GARF, who's booked like a nice indoor festival at the end of the winter. The classic Swedish rock (prog) band Wasa Express with none other than Dr. Åke Eriksson on drums will open the show. We will go on after that and then the Gothenburgh based Genesis cover band Lone Star Retractor (which are supposed to be very good) will end the night. In my ears those nights in Oslo and Gothenburgh sounds like real "killer nights", so I advice you all to be there!

About the gigs, I'm sad to say we had to skip England this time because of what could be described as the lousiest timing ever. It was Miles who tried to help me out with the British dates, who was honest and had the courage to tell me what the situation was like, in and around week 10. This means I might have to "reschedule" some of the other gigs (if possible?). After this I won't probably have any grey hair, as I probably won't have any hair at all. Seriously, I'm fine it's just that it feels like I've done 12 rounds of Heavy weight boxing with my 72 kilos.

Yesterday morning we had 22 below zero celsius, which means that you'll hardly gonna meet any mosquitos out there. That's about the only positive thing I can find when it's as cold as that, except for the beautiful landsape and the white and frosty trees. It's now December and it's soon Christmas time and FuturePast is still the perfect Christmas gift to your loved ones. You can order it from Reingold Records (Europe), ProgRock Records (US), Amazon, CDon.com, Ginza or why not Itunes or your local recordstore. Take care out there and remember to try to find the "real" Christmas spirit!]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:48:44 GMT FD78F6778A6557A7F0164C9EC9D50CB3 http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=655726  Life can be a mystery? A while back I got a message on facebook and yesterday we had our second meeting about it. I have to say that in the end this might turn out into something quite extraordinary? Yesterday, I talked to an old friend of mine who said that things were moving in a certain direction??I know it couldn't get anymore cryptic than this but sometime in the future I hope I'll be able to say, remember where you heard it first with this blog in mind. Yesterday?I also got a phonecall from the "Swedish Bureau of Taxes" (could that be the name of Skattemyndigheten, I haven't got a clue?), who said they had some questions for me. WHOO???! Could it get anymore scary than that? Yesterday evening I also received the video to our song "Fallen Empire" and it makes me so sad to say, that I feel it doesn't suit the HFMC concept or the image of the band. The only one to blame here is me, who didn't give Kenneth and Gerri any directions whatsoever. I'm sorry I wasted their time, but I know they're great at what they're doing and I wish them the best of luck in the future! By now I guess all of you blog readers out there knows I'm trying to book a tour. It's not excactly a picnic and I guess I've gained LOTS of grey hair while doing it. If there'll be a next time, I'm definitely gonna hire another guy to do it. The plan was to do the tour together with the Swedish band Moon Safari, like a "double bill" (combo) tour. Unfortunately they'll not be able to do it because of other obligations, which means we're on our own from now on. I'm not saying I'm the most experienced musician there is when it comes to touring, but?I know one thing. I know it takes a lot to pull a crowd, be interresting enough to make the auidence show up at the gigs. It's not excactly like we're the only band out there who's looking for your attention. As soon as I got all the dates confirmed, I'm gonna ask you to help me out on this one. Help me out with creating a "buzz" about the tour. It might be things like talking about it on different webforums, asking your local radio station to play our music, promote the tour on your personal facebook and MySpace sites or other web related stuff. Last but not least, don't forget to bring ALL your friends and relatives including Grandma?to the concerts! I'll get back to you later on the subject, when?I have all the details.?Take care out there!????
By now I guess all of you blog readers out there knows I'm trying to book a tour. It's not excactly a picnic and I guess I've gained LOTS of grey hair while doing it. If there'll be a next time, I'm definitely gonna hire another guy to do it. The plan was to do the tour together with the Swedish band Moon Safari, like a "double bill" (combo) tour. Unfortunately they'll not be able to do it because of other obligations, which means we're on our own from now on. I'm not saying I'm the most experienced musician there is when it comes to touring, but?I know one thing. I know it takes a lot to pull a crowd, be interresting enough to make the auidence show up at the gigs. It's not excactly like we're the only band out there who's looking for your attention. As soon as I got all the dates confirmed, I'm gonna ask you to help me out on this one. Help me out with creating a "buzz" about the tour. It might be things like talking about it on different webforums, asking your local radio station to play our music, promote the tour on your personal facebook and MySpace sites or other web related stuff. Last but not least, don't forget to bring ALL your friends and relatives including Grandma?to the concerts! I'll get back to you later on the subject, when?I have all the details.?Take care out there!????]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:47:55 GMT 385EDAB6FE9B43119AB9FE2222773CAD http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=655725  Last week I got a sign from Ken and Gerri of the Canadian based "Longshot Productions". They informed me that they're putting the final touches on our upcoming video to the song "Fallen Empire". Let me tell you, I'm just as curious as you are! I haven't got a clue to what they've been up to? Normally I would've been more involved but the way this "thing" happened, made me leave the control to these Canadian friends. I've seen some other videos that they've done. That + the fact that they really love the band, makes me quite optimistic with this whole scenario. I promise you one thing dear friends. As soon as it's ready, you'll be the first to see it! Right now we have about 2 decimeters of snow outside and I've been sitting with my guitar, trying to write some new material. I honestly like to believe I have some good music among these tunes I've written. It's just the usual Fröberg problem, I need to come up with some words to them, before the ideas will fade out into nothing. I'm not that worried though, all of a sudden they might write themselves, like before FuturePast. In desperation I took a break yesterday and watched the latest Rush DVD "Beyond the lighted stage". That's truly an amazing video, with rare footage both on and off stage from VERY early in their career. There's one scene where guitarist Alex Lifeson is arguing with his parents at the kitchen table. How did that come about? Where did they find it? After I've seen this DVD for the third time now, I can just state that no guys deserves their success more than Rush! I don't wanna be the guy to make you feel stressed but remember Christmas is getting closer. What could be a better Christmas gift than a copy of FuturePast? All you need to do is to click on the album cover on the main page and order the CD. If you live in the US, you can order the album from ProgRock records, nice and easy just like that! This blog turned out to be about videos and DVD's. I hope we'll have our video to "Fallen Empire" up and running by the end of next week! Take care.
Right now we have about 2 decimeters of snow outside and I've been sitting with my guitar, trying to write some new material. I honestly like to believe I have some good music among these tunes I've written. It's just the usual Fröberg problem, I need to come up with some words to them, before the ideas will fade out into nothing. I'm not that worried though, all of a sudden they might write themselves, like before FuturePast. In desperation I took a break yesterday and watched the latest Rush DVD "Beyond the lighted stage". That's truly an amazing video, with rare footage both on and off stage from VERY early in their career. There's one scene where guitarist Alex Lifeson is arguing with his parents at the kitchen table. How did that come about? Where did they find it? After I've seen this DVD for the third time now, I can just state that no guys deserves their success more than Rush!

I don't wanna be the guy to make you feel stressed but remember Christmas is getting closer. What could be a better Christmas gift than a copy of FuturePast? All you need to do is to click on the album cover on the main page and order the CD. If you live in the US, you can order the album from ProgRock records, nice and easy just like that! This blog turned out to be about videos and DVD's. I hope we'll have our video to "Fallen Empire" up and running by the end of next week! Take care.]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:45:00 GMT DDE3E18BD285486ACBFE23BAA45896AE http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=655697 Hey, guess what! Playing in a band must be the greatest thing there is. First of all it's the sheer joy of playing music together, when you've become one with the song and the guys playing it (if you get what I mean?). Then it's of course the social bit. I mean you share both good and bad times but what really separates the boys from the men, is touring. Being together 24/7 for a couple of weeks or maybe a month, requires lots of qualities of all members. It's under conditions like these, you really can see what the chemistry in the band is like. During my years of playing, I've been on the road with 6 different bands. No band can be compared to the other. Some like to party, some like to soundcheck all the way up to the gig. Personally I prefer a combination of those two. The most easy going band up until now must have been Solid Blue. The attitude of both the music and the guys in the band was a little bit of a laugh. During our 5 year career, I can't remember that we argued even once and we played a lot. The gigs were mostly in pubs and rock clubs. We didn't even raise our voices once during our 10 nights in a row tour in England, despite the lack of sleep, the amount of booze and all the miles we drove. That tour might as well have been one of the most funny things I've done in my whole life. Highway Stars was like a machine. During the perod I was in the band, we did 3 or 4 gigs every week. It was a whole lotta partying, mostly becauze we always played at parties where everybody was drunk. It could be a 40 minute set in front of a packed and "Scandinavian drunk" audience at a nightclub, a ski resort, or why not one of those "Swedish summerparty cities" like Visby, Halmstad or Marstrand. We also did festivals, private (jet set) parties and the best thing of all, playing for companies and their employees. It was great money, spectacular shows and a hell of a party! The early days of Spellbound was as I recalll it, controlled chaos. We were hardly 20 years old and we had the feeling that nothing, no one could stop us. I was wrong, I mean just as we released our first album "Breaking the spell" it was my time to join the Swedish army, which was compulsory back then. When I look back at it now, It was actually there and then we lost the game. If we would have had the right recordlabel behind us and if I wasn't doing the military service for 10 months, who knows what would have happened? Anyway, I'm very glad for those years. The massive amount of hours practising during those years, has really more than anything else made me the musician I am today. In 97 I joined The Flower Kings, at the same time as they were getting a lot more active. I have to say TFK is quite an extraordinary band. In all my years of playing, most of the time there's one guy (sometimes that guy has been me) or maybe a team of 2 lads, who's taking care of business so to speak. That could be anything, writing songs, deciding what covers to play, owning the bus and the P-a, booking and arranging stuff or just as I said, taking care of business. I mean everyone knows that TFK is Roines baby. Still TFK consists of 3 men with BIG egos, playing their instrument like a true virituoso and they're all very good producers as well. All that + a drummer and me. Quite a line-up don't you think? With this in mind, yes we discuss a lot, we disagree in a lot of things but at the same time, we've had lots of fun over the years and in fact I think all of our differences, is part of the reason of our success. As you all probably know by now, for the moment I'm deeply involved in HFMC and I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. It's too early to tell but so far this has been like a dream. After a couple of years in the "back seat" I'm now back in the "drivers seat" again and up until now I've been loving every minute of it. If you find 4 musicians that'll do anything they can to help you realize your musical vision, these guys can't be anything but VERY good friends in my book. By now we've also done our first live shows and the answer those gigs gave me, is the fact that our chemistry works! In 2011 we'll be "moving in for the kill, the ultimate thrill". Hope to see you then dear friends!!! As it is now, I don't have any blogs planned. Who knows, I might wake up someday with a lot of subjects that I wanna write about. The reason it took a while for me to finish this one, was that I wanted to do those gigs with HFMC first. Let me just make one thing clear before I leave you this time. I will keep you updated on a regular basis as usual, regarding, gigs, videos, news and other HFMC related things. Love to you all!!!   Hey, guess what! Playing in a band must be the greatest thing there is. First of all it's the sheer joy of playing music together, when you've become one with the song and the guys playing it (if you get what I mean?). Then it's of course the social bit. I mean you share both good and bad times but what really separates the boys from the men, is touring. Being together 24/7 for a couple of weeks or maybe a month, requires lots of qualities of all members. It's under conditions like these, you really can see what the chemistry in the band is like.

During my years of playing, I've been on the road with 6 different bands. No band can be compared to the other. Some like to party, some like to soundcheck all the way up to the gig. Personally I prefer a combination of those two. The most easy going band up until now must have been Solid Blue. The attitude of both the music and the guys in the band was a little bit of a laugh. During our 5 year career, I can't remember that we argued even once and we played a lot. The gigs were mostly in pubs and rock clubs. We didn't even raise our voices once during our 10 nights in a row tour in England, despite the lack of sleep, the amount of booze and all the miles we drove. That tour might as well have been one of the most funny things I've done in my whole life. Highway Stars was like a machine. During the perod I was in the band, we did 3 or 4 gigs every week. It was a whole lotta partying, mostly becauze we always played at parties where everybody was drunk. It could be a 40 minute set in front of a packed and "Scandinavian drunk" audience at a nightclub, a ski resort, or why not one of those "Swedish summerparty cities" like Visby, Halmstad or Marstrand. We also did festivals, private (jet set) parties and the best thing of all, playing for companies and their employees. It was great money, spectacular shows and a hell of a party!

The early days of Spellbound was as I recalll it, controlled chaos. We were hardly 20 years old and we had the feeling that nothing, no one could stop us. I was wrong, I mean just as we released our first album "Breaking the spell" it was my time to join the Swedish army, which was compulsory back then. When I look back at it now, It was actually there and then we lost the game. If we would have had the right recordlabel behind us and if I wasn't doing the military service for 10 months, who knows what would have happened? Anyway, I'm very glad for those years. The massive amount of hours practising during those years, has really more than anything else made me the musician I am today. In 97 I joined The Flower Kings, at the same time as they were getting a lot more active. I have to say TFK is quite an extraordinary band. In all my years of playing, most of the time there's one guy (sometimes that guy has been me) or maybe a team of 2 lads, who's taking care of business so to speak. That could be anything, writing songs, deciding what covers to play, owning the bus and the P-a, booking and arranging stuff or just as I said, taking care of business. I mean everyone knows that TFK is Roines baby. Still TFK consists of 3 men with BIG egos, playing their instrument like a true virituoso and they're all very good producers as well. All that + a drummer and me. Quite a line-up don't you think? With this in mind, yes we discuss a lot, we disagree in a lot of things but at the same time, we've had lots of fun over the years and in fact I think all of our differences, is part of the reason of our success.

As you all probably know by now, for the moment I'm deeply involved in HFMC and I wouldn't change that for anything in the world. It's too early to tell but so far this has been like a dream. After a couple of years in the "back seat" I'm now back in the "drivers seat" again and up until now I've been loving every minute of it. If you find 4 musicians that'll do anything they can to help you realize your musical vision, these guys can't be anything but VERY good friends in my book. By now we've also done our first live shows and the answer those gigs gave me, is the fact that our chemistry works! In 2011 we'll be "moving in for the kill, the ultimate thrill". Hope to see you then dear friends!!!

As it is now, I don't have any blogs planned. Who knows, I might wake up someday with a lot of subjects that I wanna write about. The reason it took a while for me to finish this one, was that I wanted to do those gigs with HFMC first. Let me just make one thing clear before I leave you this time. I will keep you updated on a regular basis as usual, regarding, gigs, videos, news and other HFMC related things. Love to you all!!!  ]]> Thu, 23 Dec 2010 11:40:00 GMT A1749775E57EE8B68D6AA43336444E5A http://hassefroberg.com/hassesblog.cfm?feature=1014817&postid=374917 With the wind in your back and the sun right above your head, try not to feel good while you're riding your bike between Venice and Santa Monica. Riding on the beach pretty close to the shoreline amongst yoggers, people on rollerblades, skateboards or other "vehicles", must be the perfect medicine for your soul. Hippies, hip-hoppers, tourists, teenagers, surfers, skaters, cops and God knows what, together with the smell of Mariujana, makes it a very "interresting" impression. Coming from Sweden, I guess California or at least L.A must have the perfect climate. It's not too hot. For most of the time it's like the perfect Swedish summerday over there. The ones we might have for maybe three weeks a year, It's just that these guys have that kind of wheather for 335 days a year. I have to say, this year together with 1994 seems to be like an exception from the rule though. Back in 1988 Thomsson and me spent 5 weeks in L.A trying to promote Spellbound. We did some interviews and met some "important" people but to be honest, our main interrest was to hang out in the clubs and see as many gigs as possible. When we left Sweden, we hadn't heard of Guns and Roses. Let me tell you, it was this year the Guns and Roses fever exploded and it was cool to be where it all started. It was Guns and Roses everywhere! You heard the "Appetite for destruction" material, in the clubs, shops, bars, the radio, shopping malls, on the beach, in restaurants, just as I said: EVERYWHERE! Since then I've visited L.A at least 5 times for shows with The Flower Kings and I like it a lot. It's always sunny, the people are friendly and I have to say, the city or at least the parts of the city I've visited, have a nice and calm atmosphere of their own. Back then in Sweden if you hung out partying in Stockholm, you met the guys in Treat, 220/Volt and maybe the guys in Glorious Bankrobbers to name a few. When we did the clubs on Sunset Strip, you could see a happy David Lee Roth at a table with some female friends at Rainbow Bar and Grill. (I've now heard that he's gay. If that's the case, I guess he did everything to live up to his image)? We also saw a totally wasted Vince Neil with his head (almost) leaning against the bar desk. One thing that took a while to figure out, was that even BEFORE Thomsson and me opened our mouths, people asked us: "Where are you guys from? Are you guys in a band? For how long are you guys gonna stay here? Those questions were also asked in that specific order, NO exception from the rule in that case. Later on a guy told me, they could see in a second that we didn't live in L.A because we didn't wear make-up. During our 5 week stay, we attended concerts with Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, David Lee Roth, White Lion, Krokus and Great White and more bands that I can't remember right now. We also saw numerous of clubgigs with struggling bands as ourselves, yes Thomsson and me was partying like there was no tomorrow. Everytime you had to take a leak, was a story of it's own. In the mens room you were offered both this and that but mostly cocaine. I guess the whole L.A rockscene tried to give me a line or two. I have to say, I felt like Björn Borg partying at Studio 54 back in the seventies.
Coming from Sweden, I guess California or at least L.A must have the perfect climate. It's not too hot. For most of the time it's like the perfect Swedish summerday over there. The ones we might have for maybe three weeks a year, It's just that these guys have that kind of wheather for 335 days a year. I have to say, this year together with 1994 seems to be like an exception from the rule though. Back in 1988 Thomsson and me spent 5 weeks in L.A trying to promote Spellbound. We did some interviews and met some "important" people but to be honest, our main interrest was to hang out in the clubs and see as many gigs as possible. When we left Sweden, we hadn't heard of Guns and Roses. Let me tell you, it was this year the Guns and Roses fever exploded and it was cool to be where it all started. It was Guns and Roses everywhere! You heard the "Appetite for destruction" material, in the clubs, shops, bars, the radio, shopping malls, on the beach, in restaurants, just as I said: EVERYWHERE! Since then I've visited L.A at least 5 times for shows with The Flower Kings and I like it a lot. It's always sunny, the people are friendly and I have to say, the city or at least the parts of the city I've visited, have a nice and calm atmosphere of their own.

Back then in Sweden if you hung out partying in Stockholm, you met the guys in Treat, 220/Volt and maybe the guys in Glorious Bankrobbers to name a few. When we did the clubs on Sunset Strip, you could see a happy David Lee Roth at a table with some female friends at Rainbow Bar and Grill. (I've now heard that he's gay. If that's the case, I guess he did everything to live up to his image)? We also saw a totally wasted Vince Neil with his head (almost) leaning against the bar desk. One thing that took a while to figure out, was that even BEFORE Thomsson and me opened our mouths, people asked us: "Where are you guys from? Are you guys in a band? For how long are you guys gonna stay here? Those questions were also asked in that specific order, NO exception from the rule in that case. Later on a guy told me, they could see in a second that we didn't live in L.A because we didn't wear make-up. During our 5 week stay, we attended concerts with Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, David Lee Roth, White Lion, Krokus and Great White and more bands that I can't remember right now. We also saw numerous of clubgigs with struggling bands as ourselves, yes Thomsson and me was partying like there was no tomorrow. Everytime you had to take a leak, was a story of it's own. In the mens room you were offered both this and that but mostly cocaine. I guess the whole L.A rockscene tried to give me a line or two. I have to say, I felt like Björn Borg partying at Studio 54 back in the seventies.

]]> Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:52:29 GMT B4A8C792AF1075BD4E922B0EFBFCAD55