Video blog/Swedish radio/HammerFall

When we played at the Swedish Radio and TV's joint venture last weekend they gave us a mobile phone with a video recorder for us to film backstage and at the party afterwards.

Here is some of it:

http://www.sr.se/sida/gruppsida.aspx?ProgramId=3266&grupp=6476


Oscar (guitar player/HammerFall) was annoyed when they didn't manage to 90 degree-correct the angel of his photage. I know how (un-technical and/or short of time) people are, so I put it in the right possition right away when filming my parts.

My dad

A book was written about my dad, Jan Johansson. Tiden och musiken (The time and the music).
Erik Kjellberg wrote it and it's published by Gidlunds förlag. Erik Kjellberg's daughter is a well known jazz singer, by the way. Viktoria Tolstoy.

P3 guld/drumkit

This is my new/old kit I used for the TV show P3 Guld (pic from backstage right before we went on).
It's of Brand-x. I didn't get a proper endorsement deal yet. Premier, my old company, told me they had economical issues and couldn't give me a new one. They have been more than helpful in the past, though. But the kit I got last from them is so worn it's impossible to get any more milage out of it.
Many other companies wanted me to pay something. A so called 50%-deal. This is what the music shops are paying. So they are trying to exploit us drummers.
All you other musicians out there. If they want you to pay...do it if you want since it's better than paying full price, but it's not a real endorsement deal. Imagine all the exposure they are getting from you playing all over the place.
I get theses drummers telling me quite often: "-Hey, Anders! I play a kit like you do. I bought it just because you have one!"
Gretsch want's to endorse me but so far it's not yet confirmed. I let you know how it goes.
Cymbals are Meinl-brand. These guys are easy to deal with.

P3 Guld tonight

Last night I slept over at Oscar's place.
This is my bed. I got the incredible Hulk-sheets.

Getting ready for P3 Guld. I put on something nice to wear. We will play the new single live and also give the price to the best metal artist.

Time: 20:00 on Swedish radio P3 and 21:00 on Swedish national TV.

Painting cases

Oscar was unhappy with the results. "OSCAR DRONIAH"

He wanted to see me fail...

But for the first time ever I managed to do something that demands finetuned motorskills properly. Didn't mess up once.

Jimmy's gym

Jimmy Sköld has a gym, Colosseum in Trelleborg. It's state of the art and nice.
We do a lot of free weights there. But also some machines.

Our X-mas tree before and after

Nothing is forever...

MSG part two

This is what you shold look for: "Free of MSG"
I got this book "Äkta vara" and now it's hard to buy food any longer. I'm trying to avoid extra additives as much as possible. But it's hard. If more people would avoid these products the manufacturers would have to stop using them...

Feeling short

Me in the middle. Brian and Fredrik Hjelm on the flanks.
Fredrik (right in the pic) was American champ in Muay Thai 2002.
I'm 194 cm and 102 Kg. The others must be like three meters tall.

Serbian hotel and pizza

Four star hotel (notice how one star is red). And Serbian pizza. Looks like a bagle. Was good, though.

Stratovarius-Jens

Hello, and thanks to all the Stratovarius-fans (and the rest of you) that commented on my blog.
This cord was made by Jens back in the early 80-ties. You figure out what we used it for :-)

Borosch-cola

Made by Oscar and Pontus. 50% equal parts of red wine and coke.
Pic from our rehearsal-room's kitchen.

City Gross

William, the American and Taekwon-do master, thinks it's a funny name.
Gross means disgusting in English.

He is right! Got four pounds of ground beef supposely packaged today. Totally rotten inside.

I bought seven avocadoes the other day...same story there.

Rotten inside. City Gross in Trelleborg.

Sleipner-Niklas goes fusion.

Fusion

Harmonies

Taekwon-do

Kaunde doo ap joomuk jirugi

MSG

Here in Sweden they put MSG in a lot of food. I think it's banned in a bunch of other countries?
In the States they brag about not having MSG in their food outside restaurants. "WE don't use MSG!"
MSG is called E621, natrium-glutamat, sodium-glutamat, mono-sodium-glutamat or "smakförstärkare" in Sweden. Everything from Santa Maria seems to have it, for example.
Seems like it can't be good for you since they also brag about not having it on a few ham brands packages here.

Drums

At Sweden rock festival.

Fire. Cymbals are burning too.

Large kit. 10 bassdrums, 13 toms, a bunch of cymbals and one swedish drummer with an inferiority complex-problem? :-)