STREET
TALK
It's been a few
years now, since your debut 'Collobaration', a CD filled with
superb pure AOR, please tell me what happened after the release,
how were the reactions, airplay, sales etc. etc.? And what did
happen to STREET TALK during this three year gap between the two
albums?
After the release of Collaboration
I’ve been writing new songs!!! It’s as simple as
that!!! The new album have taken a long time to complete as
I’ve been writing material for "Transition" during
this two year period to make sure that I had the best material
possible available for this second album… Also, as I have
written, arranged and produced the new album totally on my own
except the lyrics on two tracks which Goran Edman wrote, and I
guess It took a little bit longer than expected to complete the
album as I did it all on my own…I hope it was worth the wait
though….
The album Collaboration sold a couple of thousands in Europé and
I guess it sold a little less than that in Japan so it was not a
big success sales wise…but I guess it’s very hard these
days to sell any larger amount of albums when you stick to
playing a little bit softer and sofisticated Aor which is what
StreetTalk is all about!
But the album was a
great success if you look at reviews and stuff from the rock
press here in Europé and in Japan… The album showed up in
several top ten lists in many rock magazines like Burrn!, Hard
roxx, Heavy oder was, Strutter and Rock report…
What did actually
happen to your former label USG RECORDS?
To be honest with
you I really don’t know what happened! I was very surprised
when I heard that they called it quits at the end of
’99…
Now
you're under contract with GEORG SIEGL from AOR HEAVEN, how did
you got in touch with him?
Well, I simply gave Georg a call and asked him if he would be
interested in hearing some rough demo tapes that I had of some
new songs… He was very interested in hearing the new
material as he is a big fan of the first Street Talk album
"Collaboration" . After recieving the demos, Georg and
Harry Enzian from POINT MUSIC had a meeting and they both liked
the new material a lot and directly wanted to sign Street Talk
for the European territory!
I heard the new CD
and must say I am impressed and this is one of the top releases
in the AOR genre this year, please tell me everything about the
included songs?
Thanks a lot Gabor!
Great to hear that you enjoy the songs! Well, I can give you a
brief track by track description of the songs on
Transition…here we go :
Someday (I’ll Get Over You) – This is the albums
opening track, a real uptempo guitar driven aor rocker with a
catcy chorus and some great guitar playing from the new Street
Talk guitarist Sven Larsson. I wrote this track at the beginning
of ’98…
Need Someone – Midtempo radio rock track with Goran Edman at
his very best! One of my favourite songs on the
album…I’m really into songs like John Waite’s
Missing you and such songs and I guess you can hear where my
influences comes from on this track!
If Anybody Breaks Your Heart – One of the first songs I
wrote for this album, it was originally titled "Anytime,
Anywhere".Very melodic uptempo aor rocker with a big
hookline.
Let Me Be The One – The albums first ballad, a percussion
driven track with some midwest rock influences. Goran Edman is
singing directly from the heart on this one and he’s letting
a lot of his soul influences shine through on this track….
Always Stand By You – Midtempo groovy aor song with a really
big sweeping chorus I’m really pleased with this track!
Ye
Gods And Little Fishes – One of the two tracks on the album
that I composed together with Goran, I wrote the music and he
wrote the lyrics which is about cloning and gene
manipulation… Musically I believe you can hear the
influences of Journey and such bands on this pumping uptempo
rocker!
Everything I Do Is Just For You – I originally wrote this
song back in 1993, I thought it was a strong track, so I rewrote
some parts of it in 1998 so it would fit for this
album…Goran helped me quite lot with the vocal arrangements
on the chorus…
Energizer Bunny - A funny song dedicated to all the crap music on
the radio/tv that is impossible to get away from! Wherever you go
you always hear those songs you don’t wanna hear! Up tempo
rocker and the last song written for the album. Edman wrote the
lyrics I wrote the music.
Don’t Give Up On This Love – Soft pop/rock song, very
melodic and lots of catchy hooklines…
When You Lose The One You Love – The album closer, an
atmospheric and majestic ballad ! I guess you can hear influences
from Jon Anderson and Yes in the vocal arrangements on this one,
a great track to end "Transition".
This new CD is
really pure AOR, which bands/artists influenced you, I guess
JOURNEY...
Yes Gabor you are right, I’m a big fan of Journey! but on
the other hand I listen to a wide spectrum of different styles of
music to get inspiration when I create my own music… I would
say that my main influences comes from the following bands and
artists: PRINCE, JOURNEY, EAGLES, BRUCE HORNSBY, FLEETWOOD MAC,
JOHN WAITE, PHIL LYNOTT, MARC JORDAN, RICK SPRINGFIELD, TOTO, and
many many more…
What do you hope
this new CD will bring you?
I really hope the sales figures will be good for the album so we
can go out and tour in support of this "Transition"
album… At the end of July the album will also be released
through Marquee Inc./Avalon in Japan with one brand new exclusive
bonus track called "I’ll Always Remember"and with
a brand new cover artwork courtesy of Sebastian Kozak who have
created great cover artwork for bands like Crown of thorns, Hugo,
Two Fires, Ten and more in the past…I hope the album will
sell great in Japan!
I hope too,
something else, what was the first and last album you bought?
I guess the first album I bought was one of the first Iron Maiden
albums! And the last album I bought was Don Henley’s Inside
Job…
Back to STREET
TALK, what are the future plans, any touring plans (in the
direction of The Netherlands)?
The future plans for Street Talk and myself is really to continue
the promotion work for the Transition album here in Europe and to
start to work on some brand new song material… And later in
the summer, on July 19 the album will be released through Marquee
Inc./Avalon in Japan. I really hope the sales figures will be
good for the album so we can go out on tour in support for this
album…if we do a tour I would love to play in the
Netherlands!
Thanks for the
interview and good luck in the future.
Thanks yourself Gabor!
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BACK TO HOMEPAGE
After the release of Collaboration
I’ve been writing new songs!!! It’s as simple as
that!!! The new album have taken a long time to complete as
I’ve been writing material for "Transition" during
this two year period to make sure that I had the best material
possible available for this second album… Also, as I have
written, arranged and produced the new album totally on my own
except the lyrics on two tracks which Goran Edman wrote, and I
guess It took a little bit longer than expected to complete the
album as I did it all on my own…I hope it was worth the wait
though….
Now
you're under contract with GEORG SIEGL from AOR HEAVEN, how did
you got in touch with him?
Ye
Gods And Little Fishes – One of the two tracks on the album
that I composed together with Goran, I wrote the music and he
wrote the lyrics which is about cloning and gene
manipulation… Musically I believe you can hear the
influences of Journey and such bands on this pumping uptempo
rocker!