welcome to MR SUEDE

by michaeL SVIDÈN on MAY 10, 2008

Michael Svidén is Mr Suede! He´s a Sing & Songwriter in Sweden and lives on the Westcoast in Halmstad. He has an ambition to make songs within all nice genres in the world. He´s favorite genres are music from the old Sixties. But now and then he also writes Pop and Rocksongs for new artists.

My EARLY YEARS

by michael Sviden on may 10, 2008

I started playing the guitar at an early age. During the summer holidays I worked in a shop to afford buying my first electric guitar. It was a Duke. Since than I´ve gotten a new guitar for each epoch in my musical career. At this time I purchased my Fender Stratocaster. This was when I was playing Jimi Hendrix and stuff like that. I got my own band in 1977-79, Black & White. I wrote the songs but we also played some covers. In the end of 79 I left the band, sick and tired of being some kind of a daddy to the group and started to play in another band. Love Noise. Once again I wrote the songs but now in a more ”funky” style. We participated in a big contest and it all went quite well, (thanks to friends and relatives). We didn’t win but up till then it was the most exciting and positive thing that happened to me and my music. By the way…Jimi Hendrix had written his autograph in our dressingroom backstage……cool……

After that I played bass (Red Rickenbacker 1979) in a band for a couple of weeks, Crazy Dream. We got one gig at an MC-club and played Deep Purplecovers and stuff like that. My elder brother Peter played the drums. He is a son of a bitch with tomtoms and cymbals. They paid us with beer and kräftor. Don’t know if you’re familiar with kräftor but that’s something we like to eat in Sweden, (Crawfich). That MC-place is now ”burned to the ground”  I do hope it has nothing to do with us playing ”Smoke on the water” that night. Anyway I sold the bass and amp (Marshall 4x 10") and  bought a new guitar and an amp. A Fender Stratocaster 1979, and a Roland Chorus 120.

After that I played in a band mixing Santana, Hendrix, TOTO and so on and then I joined a “funkband”. Funklagret/Minus 0. The bassplayer Stefan Langholtz in the band wrote the songs but after two years I quit. I didn’t like the music we played and I didn’t develop as a guitarplayer. At that time everybody was supposed to play fast and faster and I was a melodic guitarplayer and no Yngwie Malmsten. Got comfort not long ago when Ravi Shankar the famous sitarplayer said that the most important thing is not to play fast but melodic and with variation. Thank you Ravi Shankar.

It’s now 1984 and I’m not playing in any band at all. I buy a Synthesizer Casio & Roland D-50, and some more stuff and start to play and make music with Tom Johansson (from Love Noise). We had a lot of fun in the studio”. I played a lot of guitar but no longer in a band. I missed that.

I MOVED TO HALMSTAD

by michael SVIDÈN on MAY 10, 2008

2002 I moved to Halmstad and after a while I joined a coverband with Pelle Svensson. But that didn’t last long and the band split up.

By coincidence (2002) I saw an add on the Internet saying that Swedish Whistler wanted a guitarplayer. I contacted them, went to audition and become a member. We played only original songs. Nice gigs with this band in UK, and some gigs in sweden. My best memories are: Rockinbeerfest, The Cavern, Iron Door and Karlstad Hamnfestival. I leaved the band in 2005, in october.

Now I´m on my own! I do some gigs in the winter and my ambition is a new record this coming spring/summer.

I´ve recently been on the air with booth my songs on my cd. My song about Syd Barrett, We Know Where Mr Barrett Lives, and the other The Beatles On The Radio. I´m so happy with that right now. I got some new on my new songs, Micke Ajax on drums and Bryan Marston on the bass. Booth bass and drums were recorded in Stockholm. 
On the song The Beatles On The Radio Peter Lindahl are playing Mellotrones, flute and backup vox. He also played at the song Vegetable Man, acustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, mellotrones, cello, and singing, both a small part lead and mostely backupvox. On this song Helena Selander were singing lovely backupvox. The rest was recording in my studio here in Halmstad.

Aquipment

by michael SVIDÈN on may 10, 2008

I´m now playing on my new Fender Telecaster Deluxe. I also use a western Tacamine acustic guitar and I´m the happy owner of a Classic Peavey Amp with 2x12" (Nisse in Wilmer X was the owner before me) and a big case full of Boss pedals. So I got what i need!