Kenny
Håkansson interview May 2004
by Claes Hassel
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| General
Questions:
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| How did you get into the
music business?
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'I started with music then I just
slipped on'
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| Who has been your main
influences?
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' The first one to influence me was
Hank B Marvin/the Shadows.' |
| List five(or more) albums
of the bands/artists that you like the most and why!
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'From time to time I have had a lot of
“like most” albums.
-Frank Sinatra/”songs for lovers”
-Shadows (their best were on singles)
-American Folk & Blues, 64/65
-Lightnin’ Hopkins 65,
-John Lee Hooker “BoomBoom”65,
-The Beatles “the Beatles”-65
-Hendrix “Ae You Experienced”,
-Mothers of Invention “Freak out”,
and then the next Hendrix, Mothers, Beatles,
Stones “Beggars banquet”, the Who, and so on,
and in modern time I had a period of different metal, like i.e. Motorhead
“Orgasmatron”, Queens Riche “don’t remember the name”, and a
few more.
I also was much into the jazz-rock scene for a while, with i.e. John
McLaughlin, Miles Davies, and so on.
There are, as I sad, a lot of favourite albums in my way. And I haven’t
mentioned them all, the list would be too long. '
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| What time was/is the most
interesting for the rock music, in your opinion and why - 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s or
00s?
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' Hard to say, as you can understand
from reading the answer to Q 3. All the decades has its moments of super music.
I almost forgot to mention Prince, who also is one of the
great once. '
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| Your
dream band(living or dead ;), who would they be, vocal/bass/drums/keyboard/lead
guitar/rythm guitar/producer?
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'Impossible for me to put together, I
have too many favourites, and they are so different in styles.'
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| What kind of equipment/gear
are you using on the road and in the studio?
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'Nowadays mostly MusicMan
120, with four 10” Jensen 25W speakers, Fender Strat
78, or Guild Starfire 6?, Lexicon 1 rev.,
VooDoo dist, Morley Wha/Vol, and with a few
addings or subbings.'
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| You have composed many
songs, which of them are your favourites?
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'I don’t have any favourite of my own
songs. It’s a little like having a favourite amongst your children. Every song
has its shiny little spot that made me put it together. ' |
| What
are you doing in your spare time outside of music?
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'Spending a lot of time with my wife.
Doing a lot of work on my house, and every now and then a little golfing. My
life is mostly music. '
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| If you have'nt been in the music business what have you been doing then?
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'Probably been stuck as a technician
in the telephone company, where I worked before I made the choice of devoting
my life to music. '
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| What are you currently up
to?
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'Working on
music, to put on a CD which I plan to sell through internet.
My site is www.kennyhakansson.se and there I have some albums
for sale, as a little information for anyone interested. '
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| Artist/album
related questions:
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The Beginning
Your first band, name and when did it begun??
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'My absolutely first band, was a band
with my brother, Tommy, on bass, and a friend from our
brassband, Janne, on drums. The name was “The Agents”.' |
| Sort
of music? ...Influences?
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'Only instrumental, in the style of
The Shadows, and also a lot of songs from them. We played at
scenes in “youth gardens” around Stockholm, and this was in –63/64. ' |
| Baby
Grandmothers:
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| The
Beginning of Baby Grandmothers, how did you get together??
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'We met at club Filips, Stockholm –67.'
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| Favourite Songs(and
why)?
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”Being is more than life”, it is a beautiful and simple melody.'
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| Any anecdotes/speciell
memories with Baby Grandmothers?
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'All our equipment were stolen at the end of –67, and some of it were returned
to us by the police a few weeks later.'
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| Mecki
Mark Men:
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| The
Beginning of Mecki Mark Men, how did you get together??
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'We spent a lot of time at Filips,
and Mecki lost his bandmembers, and we decided to get
together. '
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| The Recordings:
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1969 Running in the Summer Night
- In general what do you think about the album?
'I like it mucho, good songs and very free spirited minds.
- Favourite Songs(and why)?
'The title song is something else. The first part is in 7/8, and the second
part in 4/4, which makes the song fun and interesting to me. '
- Any anecdotes/speciell memories from the recording sessions?
'It was recorded in EuropaFilm studios in Sundbyberg, and engineer was Gert
Palmcrantz. Every song was first take, and it was live as live can be.'
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| The Concerts, Mecki
Mark Men:
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- First Concert, where/when?
'Finland –68, don’t remember the exact spot. '
- Which songs do/did you like performing live most and why?
'Sweet Swede girl was a nice one. I remember liking the chords.'
- Any anecdotes/speciell memories from your Concerts with Mecki Mark Men?
'Playing in Finland 1968 looking the way we did. We thought they were
shouting to encourage us. Later we learned they were shouting, “pull the
monkeys off stage”'
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| Dag
Vag:
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| How
did you get together??
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'Zilverzurfer called me and asked if I
wanted to join them'
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| The Recordings:
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1979 Scenbuddism
- In general what do you think about the album?
'It is a good one, and as live it isn’t perfect. But that is OK.'
- Favourite Songs(and why)?
'"Fattiga o rika ", it is still valid.'
- Any anecdotes/speciell memories from the recording sessions?
'No, I can’t remember where it was'
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| Psychedelic
Dream Band:
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| How
did you get together??
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'By accident. Our singer from Bills
Boogie Band couldn’t come to an important gig, and therefore I had
to take care of the mike. That event happened to be the birth of PsD.
It was a wedding, and we couldn’t back out.'
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| The Music:
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- Favourite Songs(and why)?
'No one particular. I like them all. '
- Any anecdotes/speciell memories from the recording sessions?
'All nites at Lilla Maria were special.'
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| Many Thanks to Kenny
Håkanssonfor spending time on this interview AND sharing it
with us!
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