|
Anders Wikestrom
Credits for the picture goes out to Michael Johansson
1. Rumours has circling for some time now that Treat are back with the original line up. How much truth can we put in those rumours and if the band truly are back in action, why hasn't there been any official statement from the band?
Well it´s true! We´re back in original line up, Me,Robert,Jamie,Patrick and new member/longtime friend Nalle Påhlsson on bass.We made an official statement in the biggest swedish newspaper Aftonbladet about it in Sep-05.
As well as a new photo session and a interview with Sweden Rock magazine in issue-31,-05. So i guess it´s no longer a rumour.
2. Taken for good news that the band are back, how did it all come a long in the first place and what made the band decide that this is/was the right time to get back together?
I´ve had the idea about putting together a "Best of" album containing material from all the 5 albums for some time now. And we´ve been approached by fans as well as people in the buisness for years about a reunion,
The fact that the old albums are very sought after, and fans pay fortunes to get hold of copies on ebay e.t.c, plus the fact that this escalated last year, made me and Jamie convinced that the time was right!
We then took a serious band meeting about it , and it was like time stood still, Jokes were the same and it felt like the magic was still there, so we decided to give it a go!
3. What have the band members been up to including yourself over the last couple of years, as the most of you have been outside the spotlight, only seeing Jamie Borger making his way around with Talisman?
Jaime has been doing tons of albums and tours both with Talisman as well as other projects, He never kinda left the genre and has kept up his chops,and in my opinion He´s even a better drummer now than ever!
Robert is one of Swedens most respected Live sound engineers, He does big Tv events as well as live gigs all over the globe! For example ,He did the F.o.H for Motley Crue in Oslo last summer!
Patrick is a high profile songwriter/Producer working both with domestic and international acts.He is also a very successful music publisher in a major company.
Nalle is truly a bass legend in Sweden, There isn´t a big swedish/Scandinavian Artist worth the name that he has not played with! And look, now he´s in Treat!
And myself, I´ve done absolutely nothing! (only joking) in 1998 I hooked up with a dear friend of mine called Fredrik Thomander. With the intentions of starting a new band,we started to write songs together.
We decided to call ourselves "Epicentre". Fate though, had something else in store for the two of us!
Anyone interested can check it out at www.epicentre.se
So there you go, none of us has left the music buissness, some of us may have changed roles, but we´ve always been around.
4. To go back in time to around the bands last album, just entitled Treat, what made the band split up, was it due to the new winds blowing in over the scene from Seattle introducing the grunge?
I think the last "Treat" album is very strong on it´s own and the following European tour we did went really good. But it took too long to make(almost 2 years) and to many good songs were scrapped in the process.
We tried to make a fresh start with a new great singer (Matt Leven) and update the bands sound a little and thats all good in my opinion, but when the album finally hit the streets,we were not ahead of the curve anymore.
Other bands were starting to ride the waves ,and I mean ,all melodic hardrock bands somehow linked to the 80:s went down. The music biz is cyclical,always been. You just gotta roll with the punches I guess.
Let me just say, there`s about 10 songs left over from those demos that an unnamed person stole from us and put out as the album "Muscle in motion".
Personally, I have nothing against Bootlegs, but this is a crime! We would gladly give these songs to fans for free, but somebody decided he(and we know who) could put this album out without our knowledge or royalty whatsoever, and i urge everyone to avoid buying it!!! Don´t feed Criminals!
5. Has the band as of yet signed any contract with any label here in Europe and what about Japan & The States. And have the band started recording a album yet and if so how far are the band in it's making and would you go so far as to put a release date on it yet and what style will the album be in?
All the old Album masters is still owned by Universal/Sweden and Germany, So for this album were working together with Universal/Sweden and right now talking to several licensing companies for the rest of the world.
The album is gonna be a mix of remastered versions of the best songs from the past, 1 previuosly unreleased song and 2-3 brand new ones!!! So it´s gonna be the full spectrum leading up to right now.
We're talking a one CD including 19 songs! We have started to record the new songs already, and it´s all killers,very Treat,but fresh. I guess the fans have to judge for themselves when they hear ém.
If everything goes as planned the new album will be out in the beginning of april-06
6. Most of the songs for the new Gotthard album, Lipservice, were co-written with yourself and Patrick Applegren also from Treat. How did that come a long in the first place and is that something you would consider doing again, if the opportunity is there?
"Well,Me and my songwriting partner Fredrik Thomander co-wrote 5 of the songs on "Lipservice" together with Steve Lee and Leo Leoni from the band. "All we are","Lift U up","Cupid Arrow""I Wonder"&"The other side of me".
As Gotthard and Treat are linked to the same Management ,(Buzz Communication) in Germany, they got in touch with me about writing a couple of songs together,we said cool,and Steve and Leo flew up to Stockholm
and we jammed in our studio for two days.
It resulted in 5 great songs that all ended up on the album!
We would definitely work with them again, if they pop the question.
They´re great, easygoing guys.
7. You also had a short lived career with Mental Hippie Blood, which was another strong act out of the Swedish rock scene, which had it's moment in time, only to disappear again. What happend back then and could you also see yourself doing another Mental Hippie Blood album in the future?
I joined Mental Hippie Blood After the release of their first album. We did a lot of support tours,played at the Rock am ring,then I co-wrote the second album "Pounds" recorded it, and went on a big Tour
In Europe with Accept. We also did a lot of headlining shows around Europe in 94-95 but the albums never really took off ,so i guess that played a role in calling it a day in the summer of -95.
I don´t think there will be a Mental reunion, at least not with me participating! But good luck to ém.
8. What's your personal point of view on todays music industry, how it's handling it's artists/bands and the music scene in general heard from the mainstream radio stations and seen on MTV?
It´s obviously short sighted in all areas except maybe the more hardcore metal community. As a the Pop songwriter/producer I am, I keep up with whats going on both radio and MTV and I´ve been involved with several TV driven Artist Breakthroughs the last 6-7 years . it´s very "easy come ,easy go" It´s not pretty! all about corporate quarters, But as the music fan i am I try not to bother.
My living is. writing/producing/playing and trying to have creative visions,. and that my friends ,is the best Job one could ever ask for!!!
9. So what does the current future holds for you musically, is there any new projects on it's way with you invovlt and do you have any plans on working on any solo material?
The good thing about my job/work whatever, is that everyday is a new chapter, I dont know what tomorrow holds ,but i sure know it´s gonna be great and fun.
Besides getting this Treat album out this spring, me and my partner Fredrik is involved at least 10 different bands/solo artists right now, so i´m busy enough.
My songwriting are in many ways my solo thing, I can´t think of a better way of getting all the facets of one´s creativity out,besides this, so I´m not planning a solo record for the near future.
10. Any last words to the fans/people out there here in the end?
I really hope our fans are still out there, There is a extensive new website under construction, and we will launch it as soon as we think it´s great! There is so much content we would love to include, both old stuff and new so, bear with us,It`s gonna be Breathtaking. Thanx for standing by us all this time! We will definitely stand by you!
See u all on tour in 2006!
Anders Wiksröm
|
