PIANO WITH FRANKENSTEIN
When I was around 13 years old I used to pass by a music store every now and then. At that time I had played the piano for 5-6 years and I really did'nt like it at all. My Piano teacher was in his 60:s and was an old-school type of teacher. There was no discussion of any other type of music than the classical to squeeze into my head and fingers. I guess I could have put up with that, but this old fellow was angry as a bee most of the time. He smoked strong, smelly cigarettes and slapped my fingers and screamed in danish, which I could'nt understand too much of, as soon as he wasn't satisfied with my playing or how I read the notes. I slowly lost my interest for music, but there was this music store and I had seen a dark green electric guitar which really got my imagination going. Every time I passed by the store I had to look at this marvelous green guitar. I really would like to have it and I dreamed of being able to play it.

DISCOVERING THE BASS
I can't really remember how I got to know that this beautiful instrument in fact was a bass guitar but when I found out, I knew I had to play bass. No doubt about it. I didn't know what the bass sounded like or what the real role for the bassist was, but I immidiately started to try to find out by listening carefully to my friends records. Very soon I had a bass hero - Gary Thain of Uriah Heep. As I tried to follow what he did, on my sunburst "Duke" Fender Jazz Bass copy, I was stunned by his steady, straight bass line in the beginning of "Stealin". This guy was brilliant! How did he manage to do that? The rest of the playing later on in the song, or on the rest of the album was just too complicated to even think of. But I did try. I was hooked. I was a bass player.

EARLY PRACTICING
No need to say that my interest for music reached a new level when I quit the piano school and started to find my own ways. I made my own schedule of playing eight hours a day. No matter what. If I absolutely had to pass one day, I forced myself to double it to sixteen hours the next day. I played to my records as good as I could. I thought it was terrific even though I from the very early beginning understood that I did'nt play the same notes. But it did'nt matter. I was getting the grip of the rythm and I began hitting the strings I wanted to hit, with the fingers on my right hand.

GOODBYE TO FRIENDS
School and friends came second. I lost a lot of nice social time during these years but it was my choice and I was'nt worried. My friends did this and that, and sometimes they still asked me to join. Most of the time I did'nt - I played the bass and I was happy with. The summer of 1980 I said no thanks to follow my friends on a "Inter rail" trip (a student discount travel, common at that time) around Europe, because I could'nt do my eight hours bass practice. Following year I made it possible to go along by bringing a "special designed" fretless bass with me. I bought this cheap bass and cutted it down to a minimum to fit on my backpack and most important, in the luggage boxes at the train stations. I cut the head and body down to a minimum and replaced the machine heads on both sides of the head to make it work. The body was trimmed down to a minimum with just the wing left, to rest the bass on my leg. Here we go! I played and practiced on the trains around Europe and had my other fun as well.

GARAGE YEARS
Soon I considered myself the best bass player in my area. Still without a band to play in. I began look around for people to play with and did'nt have to look too far. Ulf Jenevall was playing guitar as a young Ritchie Blackmore and was as dedicated to music as I was. We knew each other a bit and started a band immidiately after he was on his own, after playing in a band that split when the bassist quit to start playing with swedish rock band Jerusalem. None of us sang back then and we never found a singer. On the other hand, I did'nt miss it too much as I was at that time much into progressive rock with long instrumental parts such as Yes and Rush, with their phenomenal bass players.

We played instrumental hard rock as a three piece band for maybe two years, then the two of us finally merged with another three piece garage band in the area. After a while Ulf moved to Stockholm and I found myself in one corner and the other three guys in another. We split and I was fed up with the thought of a band for the time being. I put it on hold and practiced by myself as I used to.

LEVITICUS - Once and for all
From the start me and Terry took a decision not to talk about Leviticus. And we never did. There was two reasons for for this. One; We did not want the connection to this band for musical reasons and over all differences. Two; we had nothing good to tell, so better keep the mouth shut. That might be a valid decision even now, but on the other hand. Nowadays, no one does a musical connection anyhow and I might have some good memories after all. And some bads. This is my biography and it would not be complete without this chapter, so.

Just as I was without a band again, around april 1986, Björn Stigsson from Leviticus called me up and asked me if I wanted to come down and do a audition for them as they were looking for a new bass player replacing Håkan Andersson. I said "no thanks. I've just started an advertising company and I feel like this is in the plan for me right now. I can't see how I will find the time to do both things in a proper way". (Yes, I did manage to leave school with a nice graduation and at that time I had worked five years (since 1981) as an art director for an advertising agency. Now in 1986 I had an opportunity to start my own business which have kept me alive since then - Not music as you will see).

Björn asked me to think about it for a while and asked if he could call again later. "We don't have to close the door finally, do we?" Ok, I said, "you can call, but expect the same answer".

Björn called a second time and questions and answers was exactly the same.

Even the third time Björn called, I said that I was busy with my advertising agency and could'nt find the time to be on tour or do recordings. Thank you.

Then something happened. I was attending a concert and I felt very strongly that it might be the right time anyhow, to play in a band. The thought of playing in Leviticus seemed as the right way to proceed. In some way I figured, I would find the time for my business as well. Strange new thought.

I called Björn up and told him I had thought it over and wanted to go ahead. Björn was pleased.

TERRY THE CROCK
Terry Haw was asked to join Leviticus before I was, he had made one audition and was in. I knew Terry briefly and I was not so happy to hear that we have to co-operate. Seems strange now, as Terry is one of my closest friends, but at that time, for me he was a crock. Maybe, I learned from this not to judge too quick.

Terrys band and mine was rehearsing in an old, closed guitar factory "Levins Fabriker" in Gothenburg, Sweden. Our doors was opposite across the hallway and of course we new each other a bit. When my band split up we sold the equipment to Terrys band, but for a long time they never managed to take over the loans as we had agreed and there seemed to be little interest to do so. The equipment was in pieces and myself and my bandmate was responsible to the bank. Finally, after much struggle and quarrels the situation was solved but I can't say I appretiated the guys very much at that stage. Now when I know Terry and even some of the other guys I know that they did what they could in the story of the PA deal. Things were not just happening for them in that sense.

LEVITICUS - The begining
Now, me and Terry was about to be in the same band. And I had to pick him up and drive, just the two of us, some two hours to the audition. It felt awkward but we made it, both of us on our own side of the car. I guess we spoke 20 minutes of that two hours ride. Funny thing, Terry didn't know of my scepsis for him, because he had no insight in the PA deal. The audition went along fine, I was in and were told there was a tour in Norway in two weeks. We would practice with the band once or twice before touring. I got the bands records to reherse to at home and off we go.

After the audition we took off to Björns house. After some socializing the two of us took a walk with the dog - or maybe there was no dog - but we walked around his neighbourhood. My head was elsewhere. I knew this band had a "leader" and I had never been in a band with a leader. I wanted to co-operate in a band as a free person and I was used to make my own decisions.

There was not going to be no mistakes on the circumstances on which I joined.

I told Björn my point of view. I said:" Leviticus is your your band, your vision and I respect that. You see, I also have a vision in my life and I can't go in under you. But as long as this band and what I'm doing in it, is in line with my own vision I'll stick with it". Björn replied it was very honest of me to bring it up and he appreciated it. It was soon to be forgotten though.

The rehersals with Leviticus didn't give me and Terry the time to get to know each other, or to even break the ice. Not until after a gig or two in Norway we finally found out that we, first of all, shared the same sence of humour and that we better stick together to have the most fun. Terry Haw is a really funny guy when he's feeling comfortable. Early on, we had lots of laughs and we could speak or minds as well. This was the embryo of Jet Circus.

LEVITICUS - Setting Fire To Earth
After some touring it was time to make a record. Björn decided it was going to be named "Setting Fire to the Earth". Terry and I went the two hours ride to the rest of the band in another city, every one or two weeks. Björn had told me and Terry that we were allowed to contribute with one song each. I wrote "Get Up" in what I felt was a quite typical Leviticus manner. Terry who had an early reputation for beeing a superior guitar player, wrote a song and showed it to Björn. Turned out that Björn could'nt play the riff and there was no chance that Terry was allowed to play guitar on the album. Björn finally decided that the song was no good and it was not going to be on the album. The riff was the same as the leading riff in "Break this jail" witch we later on recycled for Jet Circus "Step On It" album. This song went "No 1 Heavy Metal Song of the Year" 1991 on CCM. But they have another taste.

The preparation for the recording started with Björn coming with "a new song" The material was never presented as a complete song. It consisted of some guitar chords and a lyric. Several of the ideas had no set tempo so this was not set until the rehersal with the rest of the band. There was no bridges or parts for the solos. The melody for the songs were weak and uncertain if there was any at all. Björn who most of the time talked very quietly, sang even more quitely in a whispering, almost not hearable way. Even though I stood a few steps from him I could'nt understand the melody he showed and it's another story taking it to sing out loud. Terry had to work out the melodies to Björns lyrics and verse chords (or re-worked in case there was an idea). In other cases he was just improvising the melody in the rehearsal studio. The melodies is Terrys work and contribution to the songwriting on "Setting Fire.." and of course he should have had his well earned credit for that.

The completition of the songs were made the same way. Improvising around Björns incomplete sketch. All the backing themes for the solos except "Love is Love" and "The Suffering Servant" - where the solos is put over the verse chords or just classical guitar picking - was composed by me as improvisations in the rehersal studio or in some cases in the recording studio as I just kept on going where there was no composition, just an empty space to fill.

Some of the songs ended up with the guitar taking the the bass lines as rythm and melody tracks to rebuild the guitar around, as an almost new song. I thought this was taking the edge of the bass as I played it to the original guitar idea and that the songs lost in depth and dimension.

Me and Terry were entusiastic and outspoken and soon I notised that we took more space than we were meant to take.

LEVITICUS - The money issue and good bye
Until this day niether of us never saw a penny from Leviticus, not for the recording of an international good selling album and not a penny from the songs we wrote or co-wrote for the same album. Certainly not from all the non-credit contributions to the album and not for any of the shows and all the touring and merchandise.

There is one exception where we got payed. On a tour in England. Björn Stigsson opened his wallet and before you know it - 100 pounds! (approx 150 dollars at that time). On the other hand I was robbed on my wallet with the same amount in it the day after. It's even. In total 100 pounds for the complete Leviticus contributions. Time to move on? I was happy anyhow as I made my living on the advertising business I managed to run even when I was away myself. Björn seemed to like the concept, he often spoke to me about it.

One week Björn would tell me he felt it was right, him and me was going to be the front men and do the talking, the next week he would say the same thing to Terry. We would find out as we spoke alone on the train or in the car on our way to the rehersals. This specific time I was choosen to go with Björn to New York to do some promo tour as I spoke english better than anybody else in the band. There was also a difficulty with the record company and I later on understood Björn was happy to let me deal with.

We arrived in New York and stayed at the Edison on Times Square. Within an hour we had a representative from Refuge Records coming up to our room. His name was Gavin Morkel and he was proud to show all the fancy stuff they had made on us in the states. There was posters, photos, new record sleeves and you name it. I was told they have never payed the band a penny for all the stuff they have sold over there, and there was an already known summ of money we should collect from them on the trip. Bringing this up, Gavin was quick to leave but he promised the boss, Ray would come to the convention in Nashville we were going to the next day.

I was up early the next morning and took a walk around the blocks and bought some fresh bagels. By the time I got back Björn was still sleeping. Suddenly the phone rang, Björn woke up and wanted me to take it - could'nt be anybode else than Refuge Records. As we had spoke the night before about the situation, Gavin told me on the phone this morning, too bad neither he or his boss Ray would be able to meet us due to some "problems". I eventually told him "you better be there and bring the money, then we don't want to see you again. Do you understand?" Gavin did not understand, he did not show up and did not bring any money. We were going to meet again in a brand new situation for Jet Circus.

The rest of the trip was fine. We did some radio interviews with Twisted Sisters, Dee Snyders brother who ran a popular show in New York, some magazines and some TV-commercials in a few different states. Well back home again we did some touring in Europe. We opened up for old favorites of mine such as Nazareth and Uriah Heep. And even Twisted Sister in Finland by the time of the Chernobyl disaster.

The bad feeling in the band was increasing. I heard from the roadies that Björn thought I was going to take over the band. After all, this came as a surprise. I had no thoughts of doing so. Leviticus was Björns creation but I did not make a secret from the beginning I thought this band could need some energy. Leviticus could never be what I wanted anyhow. But I wanted to be a part of something good and I was willing to contribute - I had my own vision as well, remember. Björn wanted me to contribute when he saw I was able in quite a few areas but it was not ment to show. From what I understood from the roadies he obviously felt he was loosing the grip.

Soon, Björn took a seroius talk to me about the drummer Kjell Andersson who he thought was adopting my "thoughts and style" far too much. He didn't like that. I said it was not my meaning and I could do nothing about it, if that was the case. I thought he'd better talk to Kjell if there was such a problem. At the end of a tour, just before a show, me and Björn had a talk. Björn said that he felt me and Terry did not respect him as a composer. I said "I guess that's true" and we never spoke much after that.

Well back home the phone rang and Björn told me "I have to inform you that I have dissolved this version of the band". I said "It's OK with me, I was going to tell you I was leaving the next time I saw you face to face, but this is fine as well". And that was it. We didn't sort things out.

Björn soon spoke to Terry about to continue in the band but he'd had it. The point was to get me out.

All this said I will add that I like Björn in many ways. This was the true story from my point of view but that's not all there is to it. This is why the band split, but there is plenty of good sides of the man. Bless him and his work.

JET CIRCUS
As me and Terry by this time was very close, both as friends and musicians we almost immidiately started to work on what would be a new band. I called Terry up and said "let's make an album, I got the plan for this". We met in his home and wrote the songs for "Step On It" in about two months using a Roland M-50 drum machine as the only machinery outside bass and guitar. Terry was happy picking up the guitar again and I was happy using my energy, driving the project without someone felt left behind. I was alos happy writing songs, witch I knew was going to sound better than ever. This was the real thing - success or not.

First one out was "Ghosttown" with main idea written by Terry and "Jet Blue" witch I wrote in my head on vacation on a mountain top in the northern part of Sweden, eating smoked rheindeer heart and my legs hanging loose some 500 meters above ground. That's the way to make hard rock, folks.

All the other songs came after close. There was just so much creativity in us waiting to be delivered. We wanted a complete band but we thougt it might ruin the working balance to bring a drummer in. From the start we had a very good non-leader working relation. We go along very easily musically and share the same influences.

A new song can start with Terry having 80 percent of the music, and we put it together the two of us, or vice versa. Other times it's just 50/50 as we jam along.

I always wrote the lyrics.

We programmed the first rough version of the drums when we wrote the songs using bass and guitar. Soon after this I booked a small studio that was built in a bomb shed, used as a bicycle garage in the basement of a house of apartments.

Band member or not, we needed a drummer and the choice fell on Little George. A drummer I had worked with before in the five piece garage band. George was recruited and he re-worked the drum programming in the studio. The studio was too small to allow live drum sessions, so we had to use the machine. We had a good time and was experimenting a lot.
Nothing was forbidden and everything was funny to try in our exploration of heavy music and producing it ourselves. No limits and have fun was the key words.

The "party" in the opening of "Victory Dance" was created by the three of us slamming on everyting that was left over in that old bicycle basement. We made a lot of noice and had a laugh. The whole thing was recorded on a 16-track analogue machine and we used every single spot on the the tape for effects, instrumentation, vocals and sounds for the songs. We built up a real hard situation for the mixing.

We called in a very nice guy, Blues-Göran Norin who had a rough life behind but now was doing better. We wanted his harmonica for "Rockin Horse". Göran had never been in a studio before and he was excited about his very own mike, a "Green Bullet" witch I can imagine works fine, live in a bar. We never made it work in the studio though. Poor Göran twisted the cables and was wery tense to hear the result of this operation. Sorry, I had to ask him to try another mike and, oops, he sounded great for the very first time.

Then we had a sweet girl named Lotta Gustavsson on backing vocals for "Victory Dance". We had never met before and we have never met her after. I can't recall how we found her. First time for Lotta in a studio as well. She was very upset when she had to sing a second time due to a bad take on the first. There was a third time as well and so on. She had a hard time facing the facts in the recording situation.

Anyhow, we did our strangest move when we tried to record the bass in a Volkswagen Transit bus wreck parked outside. We felt, as the studio was located in a house where people actually lived, we didn't want to disturb them more than we had to. I always mike the bass to get the cabinette working on full steam, no lining. This, we felt could be a disturbing thing for the neighbours. Our solution was to bring the cabinette into the volkswagen wreck left by somebody outside at the parking lot. Every loose pice of soft rubbish in the studio was used to lower the noice. Pillows, blankets and what else we could find was stuffed in the old Volkswagen after we had loaded it with the cabinette and miked it up.

First take. And he whole bus sounded as it was going to explode. One million loose screws and junk was jumping it's way out from the bus and within one second a man was leaning out the window above the basement, telling us we were disturbing his peace. No good idea recording this way.
We had to do it in the basement and we made it work at last.

The mixing of the album was mainly done by listening to tapes of the mixes in my car. I was familiar with the sound of the car stereo and I trusted those speakers more than the studio monitors, which was poor quality and was no use as a reference. We did this process of taping and listening in the car, parked outside, over and over again.

Finally we had something we believed in. The levels and the effects we used was OK, but the material would need some good mastering.

JET CIRCUS - Showtime
During the early time of the songwriting for Step On It, we both knew that we were forming a band in some way and we needed a name for it. I figured we needed a name that had some raw energy and had a positive, maybe even humorous twist. On top of this, the name should be easy to understand on a international market. Not nessecarily only for the anglo saxian countries.

On my way downhill, home from a songwriting session with Terry, It hit me. And I liked it. JET CIRCUS. So be it.

I created a logo and brought in well respected fashion photographer and good friend Lennart Sjöberg to do some shooting. First photo session on me and Terry with Harleys was in an old outdated ship hangar, nowadays "Hotell 11" in Gothenburg. We felt this was us. Nothing fancy, just energy and black leather. Then as soon as we had a drummer in the band, a second and a third photo session was made in a short time. The last of those was becoming the album cover for Step On It.

Immidiately after the recording of the album, we did some shows in Sweden. Everything felt fine in the band. By a chance we got a first record deal with a label called Eurozont. This label was a sub-label under Swedens biggest dance music company, Marianne. They had never been doing heavy rock and we did'nt count too much on anything to happen, but we thought it was a good start.

We put out two singles ”Victory Dance/Rockin Horse” and Be-Bop-A-Lula/Ghosttown and got some radio airplay and later on as it happened, TV with the Victory Dance video.

THE STRATEGY
From the start we went for the States and central Europe, were we figured the audience for our music was. We almost never did an interview in the swedish press because we wanted to wait to have something to stand on. We did'nt want to be another of those bands telling what we were going to do in the future. Better do something solid first.

Now we needed a deal with an american or central european record company. I had started to dig in my mind for people that I could send some samples of Step On It to. I guess there was around ten different record companies in the first - and as it turned out, only round of shopping.

RECORD DEAL
We got positive response from three, or four of those. Pila Records in Germany seemed to be the best choice. I flew down to Düsseldorf to meet with company owner, Günter Rittinghaus, and after a bit of negotiation we came to an agreement.

Now we had our record deal and we also had some gigs in Germany together with Ken Tamplin. After the first show, their road manager was real smooth talking when he asked if we could fit in some of their stuff in our van. We would have a nice trip and spend some time together at some stops. OK, of course, load the goods, no problem. After they loaded, they took of like a hurricane and we didn't see them until we unloaded in the next city. We thought this was a bit out of tune.

Ken seemed to be a good guy anyhow. Later on we heard he was waking up Mark Joseph (the man who got us a japanese record deal) in the middle of the night as he was all excited over Step On It. A thank you to Ken this time maybe. Your stuff can ride with us anytime.

THE GERMAN ISSUE OF "Step On It"
On the first of those shows, Günter Rittinghaus showed up and he was carrying a big box of brand new Step On It LPs. He had a great smile on his face and was real proud when he handed over the box. I had mixed emotions and I told him immidiately why.

The thing was that according to the contract, we had the right to give our approval to the mastering and here he was with a shipload of albums, without our final approval. I knew the material needed proper mastering but now I could only wish us all the best of luck and then we did the shows. The album was selling at the merchant stands at the entrances at the theatres and we had not have the possibility to listen to it yet.

Back home again I was very curious when I first put the album on the record player. Well, major dissapointment. Real crappy mastering. Even the raw studio tapes was richer in sound and energy. The dynamic sound we had worked so hard to keep was all gone. The sound was as thin as an empty paperbag.

I called Günter up and told him, according to the contract he had to withdraw the whole stock. He could'nt understand why and I couldn't get a straight answer back on what he was going to do. Now, I know you can still still find those German albums on sale in music stores on the internet, without the rights to sell it. No check ever, so far.

From my point of view the PILA deal was off. They broke it. Just cut the crap. Those people did'nt care for the artists work. They just wanted to collect the money. Fast and at any price. We had to find another deal for the record anyhow. American this time.

Immidiatley after this episode we got a letter from Wonderland Records in the US, they wanted us to sign for them, but did we have more material than the few songs they had got in some mysterious way. Well, I sent them tapes of the whole album and they went nuts. Here I have to give special creds to Doug Van Pelt, who I got to eventually understand, was the man to interest Wonderland Records for Jet Circus. Doug started Jet Circus in the US and that's worth a big special thanks.

JET CIRCUS - In the USA
We signed with Wonderland records who managed to get us on Sony EPIC and WORD distribution and the album took off at the blink of an eye. We got good selling reports and chart bullets from the start. This was justice at last. Wonderland wanted us to come over to tour in the US and we were ready. In the meantime I had to sack the drummer who did'nt fit he band any longer and we had to find a replacement. This actually happened before the US album was released so, he was simply removed from the pictures for the US album. The drum job for the tour was handed over to another, at that time friend of mine, Mr Fist. Another drummer mistake as it turned out.

We were booked for some 30 shows in the states and first one out was in Chicago where the record company had their head quarters. The team was the band and road crew chief PG Petterson - A life long good friend of mine since the garage days and an all-round superior person. When I'm on the road PG should be there - period.

Then I know the practical things works.

Sound engineer was at that time Anders Eliasson, who since then has been highly successful with his own band "Lambretta". Paul was tour manager. A very nice greek guy, the record company got for the job. Paul was very stiff in the beginning, No good idea in this orchestra, but he soon loosened up and found his place. Of course we had to teach him some swedish bad languish which he unsuspectedly delivered in a mighty voice now and then. Way to go, Paul. From stiff neck to a clown like the rest of us.

The staff at Wonderland showed us the great new building they had recently bought in the city. The building was initially built by The Knight Templars and looked something like the Phartenon temple on the Acropolis. They sure was very proud to show us the Egyptian room, the mirror dance studio and other big halls with mystical interior.

We were quite sure we were their only good selling act and we raised one eyebrow or two when we saw the big complex, going on tour with no pay and a budget close to zero. In fact we would'nt even dream of use that kind of junk in our rehearsal studio, that they were offering us as backline for the tour. One of the first thing I had to do was to tell them we were not going to use this crap. Get something else or no shows. And don't look in the garbage can this time. The product they sold was ours and had costed them nothing to produce. You have to wonder somtimes..

The day after the show we were invited to Wonderland Records owner, Caesar Kalinowski for a barbecue party. At the party, I was introduced to a main man in the Wonderland business - Gavin Morkel. I smelled something could go very wrong here. None of us mentioned the earlier encounter. Put another sausage on the grid and let's hope for the best.
Second show was Cornerstone Festival which was great fun. We walked around the area and found new friends everywhere. Jet Circus was the big buzz at Cornerstone in -91 as we managed to reach No 1 at the CCM chart with "Break This Jail" the same week - later "Metal Song of the year" same chart. Jet Circus were on radio airplay every twenty minutes for some four months period with three or four different songs in the US at the time. At Cornerstone I was also introduced to Mark Joseph who was responsible to get Jet Circus a record deal with Pony Canyon in Japan. A real warm and honest guy whos been highly successful since then. One rare specie in this business if you ask me.

We enjoyed all the good times, lot's of new friends and a really nice welcome wherever we went. We finished the rest of the tour, mostly with good memories. One of those is about Harley-Davidsson. I had worked out a Harley Davidsson endorsement for Jet Circus and Harley clothes in Sweden and because of this business agreement, I went with Caesar Kalinowski to Harley-Davidson head quarters in Milwaukee. We had an appointment with Joel T Weiss, manager for Motor Clothes Marketing. Joel thougt it was a bit cocky to be a Swedish band and to come here and ask for stuff. He liked that. He told us that Harley-Davidson did not endorse anybody, they sold everything they could produce anyhow. "Arnold Schwarzenegger was here a few weeks ago asking for vests and boots for the movie Terminator 2, and he had to pay for the stuff. But you know, what I can do for you guys is to give you the same deal as Aerosmith - You can get motorcycles everywhere you need it for video shootings and stuff like that". It was fun, but in fact we never used the offer - Joel made my day anyhow.

At the end of the tour we had to deal with the business side of things with the record company. Of course no pay. Caesar and Gavin even wanted to keep a check, wrongly sent to them from the publisher. Caesar showed us the check he had in his office drawer and told us he had to cover tour expences with this money. I finally had to say, just give us that check or the deal is off. Finally we got it, but the deal was off from my side anyhow. We understood what we could expect in the future.

Back home again I had to sack the drummer, who made himself major impossible to co-operate with. No drummer for the third time. Me and Terry begun writing and recording new songs for the album "No Mercy". The songwriting and recordings were made in 1993/94 but at this stage I could not find the urge to deal with this monkey business no more and the recordings had been locked up until 2002.

Wonderland did actually receive early tapes from the "No Mercy" album. We tried to be positive and give them a new chance. The result was that Gavin Morkel tried some other hooks. Worst was he wanted a staff member to be a part of the songwriting process and re-write the lyrics. Totally out of control suggestion and a really transparent try. Of course, just to collect money on the creds as well. No way.

Who came to who with a finished product? Who needs who? We knew the answer.

We did not accept any of the changes they suggested or stepped into some new traps. Lock the door. End of the deal.

As a recording musician you need support and honesty as well to get it all working. Even a cow needs some grass and water every now and then to do the work. From those guys we got nothing to keep us going and of course, what you need least of all is another bloodsucker to get the best of you for their own good.

I still would like to believe there is honest record companies out there somewhere to support new bands. Not eat them up and spit them out. We did score bad luck all the time. This, together with new priorities, like raising a wonderful family, and starting a couple of new companies - Hypersonic Studios and an e-communication company - has in my case meant that the recording and touring was second place and things slowed down really fast.

But let's not be too sad. Life is ups and downs for us all and my belief is that forgivness is neccesary to go ahead and bitterness is killing you slowly. I don't want that. I don't want to take prisoners. I want to be a positive, forgiving and happy person. And I am. Glory to God.

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CONCLUSION
The reason we have not been working with the band is – you get really tired of getting screwed all the time and another more important factor has to do with family health in the band.

This year I decided to get going with the music again. And the result is three planned album releases in december, on my own label Hypersonic Records. Right now we are looking for good distribution and when this is solved you will be announced on the sites of Hypersonic Studios, Jet Circus and Ez Gomér.

JET CIRCUS - No Mercy For The Living Dead
This album is written from another angle as "Step On It". If "Step On It" was a totally happy album, this is quite the opposite, due to personal experiences in life - not just the above. The recordings was, as I mentioned before, made in 1993/94 but never got finished then. There is definitely cool songs on this album and in 2002/2003 we were able to finish it. There will be a chapter on this recording later on.

EZ GOMÉR - Look At Death Now
This is definitely today. The solo album is a no compromise project. I did not want any partners for songwriting or production this time. On the other hand I wanted to bring as many as possible of the musicians I would like to play with. A big thank you to all the wonderful, talented musicians that has contributed to this album with their skills and personas. Thanks, peace and blessings!

There will be a chapter on this recording as well, later on.

Special thanks to my studio engineer Ulf Celion, who has spent a lot of time together with me in the studio, always doing his best and laughing at the right spots - and even some wrong ones. Thanks Ulf.

Ez