1. FIRST OF ALL POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND’S HISTORY.

• Summer of 1994 – then I decided to launch the band.  During the autumn of the same year Glenn Hughes agreed to perform 3 songs on the first album “Live And Learn”. Next year Joe Lynn Turner joined my efforts. Every album release has been an important moment.

• I chose Göran Edman as the first BA singer, because he was the best singer in Sweden. Joe Lynn Turner came next year and I chose him because he is a legendary singer and his voice is right for the type of music I write. Jörn Lande sang in Nostradamus before he joined Malmsteen. On the other hand, Yngwie works now with Doogie White, who also sang on Nostradamus earlier. So, in a way, I have chosen two singers who worked with Yngwie and he has chosen two singers that work with me ;-) 

• I actually think they are very different. Maybe Joe and Jörn sound alike at times, but this is only a tembre similarity. They are VERY different when it comes to emotion, phrasing, lyrics, ranges etc….Don’t forget, that the music they sing was written from the same person – that calls for a certain style and approach. Obviously, I wouldn’t like to have clear differences between the singers on the album, because in that case they wouldn’t fit on the same album at all. 

• I don’t really know, cause my dream hasn’t come true yet…… ;-)  It has been quite tough, a lot of work and sacrifice….Showbizz isn’t for everybody. Sometimes even I think I got the wrong job. Well, I am not giving up, so let’s hope that dream will come true one day  !

• I write music I hear in my head. I have a classical education and obviously combining that with distorted guitars, growling organ, thundering drums and bass sounds in a special way. It is not a secret that many members of the fore mentioned bands are also classically influenced. I grew up with hard rock music and that is my biggest influence. Jazz musicians sound quite similar to each other too – don’t you think ? 

• I must disagree here. The titles of the songs can’t give you the meaning of the lyrics. I wrote this album while I was going thru very tough times in my life. I spoke to singers in detail about this and they all reflected my thoughts and feelings into the lyrics of the album. I wrote myself the lyrics for “I’ll be free” and “Eve” and they both are very, very sad songs. Lyrically, the album is almost the story of my life during writing it….The energy is positive, yes, but I needed that for being able to carry on and recover my soul. 

• The lyrics of the song “Guilty As Sin” give the answer. The suffering figure on the cover is there for conceptual reasons. That is the person, who is guilty as sin, but only in the “small” people’s eyes. As you can see – he is taller and stronger than all of them, but they are too many - trying to pull him down……

• Very close. I believe that a good musician and songwriter must be very close to his/her sensitive side. It takes feelings and sometimes pain to write good songs. We can’t be cold as ice and write good music. Music comes from the heart.  I am proud of the two acoustic ballads, because I wrote their lyrics. Both songs came from true stories. 

• In studio it is important to play really well. Once the music ends up on a CD, it will live forever out there. I wouldn’t like to release anything that is less than perfect. I work seriously on my solos – it is a combination of skill, taste, musicianship, humor, power and feeling. It is fun to put all these in a short burst of magical guitar work.

• I always think with the keyboards, when I write music. My style is quite complex harmonically – it would be impossible to create it without keys. They are a very important ingredient of my arrangements.

• Every songwriter gathers inspiration thru his/her entire life. Our own taste and musical preference signals to us when something is good and worth of remembering. After many years of forming that knowledge and taste we are ready to use it in our songwriting. Different sides of our musical knowledge get triggered by different events, moods, feelings, dreams and desires. When feeling and knowledge fit well – we create beautiful songs.  

• I would be on top of the world because I could.

• I think we were put on Earth by someone for a very good reason. I can’t answer the obvious questions, but I believe one day there will be answers. Talking of God – I think he knows what he’s doing. 

• I would like to meet Jimmy Hendrix. I would just sit quietly in the same room for a while, breathe the same air and feel the greatness of the man who truly gave his life for playing the guitar.

• I wish everybody lots of rock ’n’ roll and hope to see you on tour!!!!