SAHARASAHARA
Scandinavia and Sweden in particular has lately been the most productive European country for both AOR/Melodic Rock and Progressive Rock/Metal. The list of new high quality bands in these genres is endless, with on top bands like KHARMA COSMIC, BLIND ALLEY, ALYSON AVENUE, LAST TRIBE, BROKE'N'BLUE, T'BELL and now SAHARA... This band or should I say project has just released their fantastic debut CD on AOR HEAVEN. The AOR of SAHARA is very impressive and bares similarities to bands like ALIAS, FOREIGNER, SIGNAL etc. Interesting enough for us to do an interview and find out more about the Swedish SAHARA...
Please introduce us
your band, when did you form SAHARA and did any of you played in
bands before SAHARA?
Sahara was formed by myself and Ulrick, our singer as a
songwriting project back We have known each other for years -
Ulrick and I used to play together in Whisper, a local AOR band
here in Gothenburg - this was in the early 90's, around 94 I
guess. Ulrick was actually a drummer back then ! Well after that
band fell apart I joined another band , Rescue, but we kept in
touch.I also kept writing solo material which I left aside for
any possible future projects. Ulrick then started writing and
recording solo material around 95, and asked me if I could help
out with the guitar parts and vocal arrangements. This turned out
to work really well, and around 98 we had a lot of material
assembled. One night Ulrick came over and said that he thought
things were going really well and liked the direction of my
songwriting, and asked if I wanted to cooperate with him in a
real songwriting project and do this for real. I accepted and by
early 99 we had our first demo completed.
After we got signed
late 99, we started looking for musicians. I contacted some of my
musician friends I'd previously worked with. As it turned out
these musicians worked out so well, they became what is now the
band SAHARA. Fredrik Winero I have known for probably 11 or so
years. The first time I saw him he was the guitar player in
Winero Band , a local AOR cover band outside of Gothenburg. I was
really impressed and thought the band sounded great and we kept
in touch. I later worked with him in a RUSH tribute band I had
for a while, and he recorded three tracks in the studio really
fast - all these impossible Neil Peart parts - so I knew he was a
capable drummer. Magnus the Bass player and I used to play
together in Public Connection , the last band I played in before
SAHARA. He's a really steady guy a guy you can always count on.
And Kaspar Dahlqvist who plays all keys on the album is a long
time friend of mine, who also jumped in from time to time on keys
in Rescue during the 90's I was blown away by his Keyboard
playing. Well, we kept in touch after that, and then of course he
became successful in his own right with Progressive bands
Treasure Land first, and now Stormwind and Dionysus. So when we
needed keys for the album, he was our first and only choice !
He's actually a big part of the album's sound, and we still
intend to write together for the next album.
Can you tell us all about your fantastic debut CD?
The CD is a
collection of material by me and Ulrick from the last 7 years or
so. About 70 % was on the original
demo, the rest was written more recently, although the track
"Over and Over" has been with me since 94 !
Everything's written by me and Ulrick - 3 or 4 tracks were
written by him, 3 or 4 tracks were written by me and the rest are
full collaborations. The recording of the album was sligthly
schizophrenic - we used a total of 3 or 4 different studios for
the recordings! The drums were recorded at Studio Fredman which
by now has achieved almost legendary status - not undeserved
either, Fredman is awesome at capturing a good drum sound. The
rest of the instruments were then recorded at various other
places, and I finally had to sit down and fly in all the various
tracks and mix everything on a PC in my studio ! Nerve-wracking,
but it worked, and we're quite pleased with the results !
How did you get in touch with AOR HEAVEN?
Well, it was
actually through Magnus Söderquist at MTM records in stockholm,
who Ulrick had known for quite some time - Ulrick had sent him
our songwriting demos hoping to get picked up over there, and
what happened was Magnus forwarded the demo to Georg over at AOR
heaven/Point music. Well, apparently they liked what they heard
because two weeks later we were signed !
Your music is pure AOR, which bands influenced you?
Well, our
influences vary quite a bit actually, I think that's a good thing
! We all share a love for melodic music and the pop side of
things, while still being serious about our musicianship.
Personally I'm into deeper melodic music like Kip Winger - who
has really influenced my songwriting, Kate Bush, Sting and
classical music. I also love Bruce Hornsby, Glenn Burtnick and
Rush - I'm a huge Rush fan ! Ulrick is really into Kip Winger
also, as well as John Waite, and John Bush and Strangeways.
Fredrik is really into KISS, Depeche Mode, Deep Purple and Frank
Zappa. And Magnus is really big on Toto. So I think that gives us
quite a varied base of inspiration when we write music. I think
that's one thing a lot of newer bands really miss out on - all
their influences are so similiar that their music ends up
sounding very flat and recycled.
The past few years
it seems like Scandinavia and Sweden in particular are the places
to look for new AOR talent, how it that possible, of course the
80s with EUROPE and MALMSTEEN had a big influence and back then a
lot of bands came from Sweden, but in the 90s the scene seemed
dead, but now it is like AOR/Melodic Rock and Progressive Metal
are really 'hot' in Sweden, can you as a Swedish musician explain
how that is possible...
Are there any
touring plans to promote the CD?
Well, no promo tour
has been booked for Europe as yet, right now we're doing the
usual promotion route over here, and mainly concentrating on
Swedish media - press and radio. Although we're always open for
offers to go abroad.
Are you already working on new material (if so, tell us about the songs and it's style, still AOR?
Yes, we're already
working on new material - it's interesting, it's going in several
directions at once - both heavier and deeper but also more
melodic - while still keeping our AOR roots ! We also want to
incorporate some modern production techniques into our sound.
What are the plans for the next coming months?
Right now, we're
busy rehearsing a totally acoustic set ! We want to do a small
acoustic warm-up tour just a couple of dates, before going full
out with the full band sound. It's a great way to get some
response to the songs and the material ! Beyond those, we're
looking for options to get out into Europe and play - maybe some
of the festivals, that would be a lot of fun.
Finally, do you have anything to add to our readers?
Well, In light of
recent tragic events right now, I think the kind of music we
make, and melodic music in general really can be a positive force
for people out there - it can really change people, I know it
sure changed me ! Finally, I just want to thank eveybody out on
Europe, and especially Germany and Holland for supporting us
and we'd love to come over and play for the people there. We're
really working to come out as soon as possible !
I hope people will check the out album and hopefully enjoy some
good melodic music ! I also really appreciate magazines like
STRUTTER who keep supporting good music - thanks !