How would you classify your music?

90's progressive rock with a 70's symphonic touch.

A mixed bag really . A little bit of everything I guess.

Do you all have day jobs and if so what do you do?

We work full time as musicians except for Hasse Frberg who is working at Flight command station.

How did the band get together?

We knew each other since before, playing in bands together occasionally.

Tomas and I worked together since 1985.

Jaime and I met in a female artist heavy rock constellation.

I asked him to record a couple of drum tracks for my upcoming Progrock CD and it turned out well .....

What are your musical backgrounds?

I played in Symphonic rockband "KAIPA" in the 70's with 3 records on the DECCA label and extensive touring, then I worked as a session guitarist and producer.

As Studio guitarist I've been on more than 100 records !!!

Tomas played the keyboards in my previous band "STOLT", then he's been working with theatre and film music.

Michael played as a session Bassplayer in different bands and as lead Singer in "Desperados" with a number one hit in Sweden - 1!!!

Hasse Fr berg sang lead & played guitar with Heavy Rockers "Spellbound, ( together with first guitarist Jocke Marsh now in Glen Hughes Band ) ", recorded 3 albums.

Jaime Salazar worked with his own band "Bad Habit ", the melodic Heavy Rock outfit released a couple of records ( he's still a member of that band ) and with Bass virituoso Jonas Hellborg (Mahavishnu Orchestra ) recorded a couple of CD's with Jonas.

And plays on a bundle of CD'S as session drummer.

Now we've recruited new bassplayer Jonas Reingold, who has his own band "Midnight Sun", as well as new solo outlet "Reingold" featuring Hempo Hilden, and vocalist Gran Edman ( Yngvie Malmsteen Band )

What kind of music do you like to listen to when your not playing?

We like all sort of music within the band.

Beatles, King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Sting ,Yes, Led Zeppelin,
The Doors, Hendrix, Puccini, Debussy, Mozart,
Burt Bacharach, Andrew Lloyd Webber, ABBA, Aerosmith, Gentle Giant ,
Kings X, Stevie Wonder , Prince , Fleetwood Mac, Eagles.....

What do you do to relax?

Listen to music......just kiddin' NO, maybe spend som time with the family in a sunny place or do some painting.

What is the most satisfying thing about being in a band?

To be onstage, travelling to different and exotic places of the world and to create records, when everything falls at it's right place.

And the tremenous support we get from different parts of the world.

What words would best describe you (as an individual)?

I'm a workaholic................Sorry to say, but it's true.

What things did you do differently on Flower Power compared to Stardust We Are?

The composing was more like the "old days " with a piano and acoustic guitar.

On "Stardust...." we wrote most of it on a Computer Sequencer program.

Maybe I did keep even more of my "demo/ preproduction " guitars on Flower Power.

Couldn't find a reason to redo them, as I really don't like the so called solos , " composed solo parts" often found in melodic heavy rock records and alike, I'd rather go for the spontanous guitar stuff.

But we put in more time on the Keyboards than ever on FLOWERPOWER.

Did Flower Power live up to your expectations?

I don't know ......I like most of it.

Sometimes having a hard time with the drum sound.

But still there are glorious moments...... like Garden Of dreams , time will tell about the rest.

Saleswise it is going very well in Europe and Japan.

We'll release it in USA later this year, it will be exciting to see what happens.

Would you rather stay independant and do things your way, or would you rather have a recording contract with a major record company?

I'd rather have a contract with a major and STILL do it my way !!!!
Because I know we would all benefit from my experiences of the prog field.

There's a young audience out there completely unaware of this kind of music, but they are surely receptive if only they knew.

Kula Shaker, Radiohead, Soundgarden, Yellofish aren't that far from what we do......

How do you get your CD into the marketplace?
How much hassle is it to finance and distribute your own album?

The financing isn't a big problem these days, as we have our own studio and we also sell fairly well enough to cover all costs.

The distributing thing has worked fine uptil now, but it's time to let someone else do the distribution in all territories now, because we cannot handle it anymore, the sales have grown into a monster.

Do you have your own studio?
If so, what equipment is in it?

We have 24 track Digital recording and a 16 track analogue. We're about to go from analoge mixing console to a small Digital 40 channel desk. We have a bunch of tube mic pre-amps and equalizers , we have bunch of DBX and Estec compressors, 4 Lexicon Reverbs AKG , EV, MILAB and Shure Mics.

Fostex and Sony DAT recorders. AKAI 5000,EMU ESI 4000, Roland S-760 Samplers. Hammond Organ ,Wurlizer piano, plus a bundle of analogue and digital Synthesizers. Marshall, & Tech 21 amps.

If you had the chance to jam with any band, who would that be?

Maybe Paul McCartney , Yes or King Crimson .....!!! Or BB King .......

( In fact ,In July I'm going to record in NYC with Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater and Pete Trewavas of Marillion plus Spocks Beard frontman Neal Morse, might be an interesting "Jam " for a future record release )


What's the best thing that has ever happened to you?

The birth of my 2 sons !!!!

What's the worst thing that has ever happened to you?

Hasn't happened yet ....!!???

Who writes the songs?

I do most of the writing, but Tomas Bodin contributes more and more and now even Jaime and Hasse contributed to "FLOWERPOWER"

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Can't tell ,, I'm just glad to be alive and well and having the chance to be creative in any way and to bring so much joy to other people, it's a blessing.

Can you explain how you go about writing a song like "The Garden Of Dreams",. for one thing it is nearly one hour long. Did you write a story first, then try to write songs about the story, or did you plan to write a track that lasted an hour or do you write one song and then develop the direction from there and just carry one until you're happy with it..?

It started out of an embryo of Tomas Bodin of 7 minutes.

I liked that part and we started to develop it from there.

Sitting down with just Piano and acoustic guitar mostly, It gradually grew into the 60 minute epic.

I wrote the lyrics when most of the music was ready.

Who thought of the band's name and how did you choose it?

I wrote down a hundred names and picked this one with ease.

I like it very much , it has "star quality ".

The Flower Symbolizing : Colour, Fertility,Beauty,Something organic that feeds from the earth and the sun , Someting that expand from a tiny seed to a Majestic fullblown flower. Something that's part of the cycle of life .......

I met Jackson Browne at a club in Barcelona ,where we played.

He must had seen our Mega Posters all over Barcelona and was totally convinced we were a "big" new act from the USA, The name was so familiar according to him ...!!??

Which are you personal favorite songs and why?

Stardust we are , Humanizzimo and Garden of Dreams

Because they are well crafted and there is soo much in there.

Compassion ,because of the message..........More relevant than ever these days.

Do you play many gigs and if so where?

We played Japan and a small tour of Europe this year.

We've played the USA twice , 97 and 98 , we played South America.

We've played Europe frequently.

and we'll do lot's of more Europe this year and extensive USA tour beginning of net year.

Check webpage for details .

What is you view of the music scene in Sweden?

Mostly rubbish ..... But a few talented artists in the folk or soul field.

But we have some nice proggers over here

Ritual, Anekdoten, Isildurs Bane, Mats & Morgan, Galleon ,Samla Mammas Manna, Landberk .

What band/s would you say has had the most influence on you?

The Beatles , Procol Harum, Vanilla Fudge, Yes, King Crimson, early Genesis.

What are your plans for the future?

Recording the Portnoy/Morse/Stolt/Trewavas thing in July.

Mixing the FlowerKings live CD/s for release in October.

Writing more songs for the New Flower Kings Studio album release January 2000. !!!!

Any last words or remarks?

Mmmm...........Stay friendly ,Show compassion, Do Good, Stay away from stupidity , racism and Dark age Philosophies.

Best Wishes
Roine Stolt /FlowerKings Website: http://www.users.wineasy.se/flowerkings/