Hardcore Superstar Biography 2021
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Biography: HARDCO RE SUPERSTAR The History Many bands play it safe – HARDCORE SUPERSTAR doesn’t. The Swedish four piece had the balls to marry two styles that grew up hating each other. We’re talking about Thrash Metal and Sleaze Rock. The former hard, aggressive and ugly, the latter catchy, melodic and decadent. So what should they name this bastard child ? --We play ‘Street Metal’ offers drummer Magnus ”Adde” Andreasson. Thrash and sleaze both come from the gutter. They wear big sneakers, they are a bit stupid and they both read pulp fiction. I can’t believe that nobody brought them together before. Early days HARDCORE SUPERSTAR did just that with the band’s fourth and eponymous album, released in 2005. But the quartet didn’t arrive overnight, rather paying its dues during a rocky but rewarding ride. The roots can be traced back to the late eighties, when Adde was talked into playing the drums by older friend and neighbour Jocke Berg. --I played the guitar and we tried our best with songs such as ‘Paranoid’ and King Diamond’s ‘Shrine’, Jocke remembers. The young teenagers, hailing from a small town just outside of Gothenburg, ended up in different bands, who in turn chose different routes from their Iron Maiden inspired beginnings. Adde opted for heavier stuff in Dorian Gray whereas the Jocke fronted Glamoury Foxx went in a glammier direction. Incidentally, Jocke took up singing thanks to one Thomas Silver, fellow guitar slinger in Glamoury Foxx. Eventually Jocke and Adde ended up together again, this time in ‘Link’, a classic rock oriented outfit with grunge leanings. They were joined by guitar player Fredrik ”Fidde” Johansson and bass player Martin Sandvik, the latter having originally tried to lure Jocke away to his own band, ‘Wanted’. Link did the occasional gig and recorded a couple of demos before Adde headed west to pursue his dream. – I kind of grew tired of Link, he confesses. I moved to Los Angeles to study at the Musicians Institute. Link recruited drummer Mika Vainio and kept going until parting ways with Fredrik Johansson in the fall of 1997. The guitar player wanted to take the band in a psychedelic and arty direction whereas the other three just wanted to rock. – I remember showing Fidde the riff to ‘Hello/Goodbye’, Martin says. He turned his back on me and started to play scales on the guitar. He obviously thought the riff sucked. The three remaining members were keen to forge ahead and adopted the name HARDCORE SUPERSTAR. However, there was one little problem. Jocke already was quite a frontman, but being the sole guitar player? As luck would have it, Thomas Silver had just left local rockers ‘Green Jesus Saviours’. HARDCORE SUPERSTAR had a club gig lined up in Gothenburg, so Jocke asked his old bandmate to help out. Things clicked immediately and Thomas signed up as a permanent member. His connection with Gain Productions helped HARDCORE SUPERSTAR get ‘Hello/Goodbye’ and ‘Someone Special’ onto a compilation album. The response was phenomenal and Gain duly offered the band a contract resulting in the boys setting out to record their debut album in early 1998. – We were influenced by the LA metal scene of the eighties, says Martin. You know, LA Guns and Faster Pussycat and the likes. But we also dug Oasis, as can be heard in ‘Someone Special’. The result ‘It’s Only Rock N’ Roll’, was released in October 1998. First Album 1998 – Putting out an album was awesome, Jocke enthuses. I felt like a Rock Star and then we got to support Mot örhead in Scandinavia. It was like ”Wow, we’ve made it!”. The initial 1000 copies of the album sold like hot cakes, and the second pressing sold out as well. Legendary UK label Music For Nations took notice, but Mika Vainio’s interest was waning. The drummer jumped ship in late 1998. The band was bummed out but quickly decided that this might’ve been a blessing in disguise. There was this guy in LA with a bit of skill behind the drums, remember. Thomas called Adde, suggesting he’d get his ass back to Sweden to play some proper Rock N’ Roll. – I said yes on the spot, Adde remembers. I felt done with LA, especially after being in a pub brawl that sent me to the hospital. I was back in Sweden less than a month after Thomas’ call. Everything gelled as soon as the prodigal son returned. HARDCORE SUPERSTAR signed to Music For Nations but instead of having ‘It’s Only Rock N’ Roll’ re-released, as the label was pushing for, the band insisted on re--recording its best tracks plus a few new songs. – We wanted Adde to be on the album, Martin says. Plus we’d written ‘Liberation’ and ‘Have you been around’ as well as some other great stuff. The choice proved to be a wise one as soon as ‘Bad Sneakers and a Piña Colada’ was unleashed onto a wider audience in the spring of 2000. The old songs benefitted from better playing and better production and ‘Liberation’ and ‘Have You Been Around’ both became successful singles. Together with lead--off single ‘Someone special’, they climbed the domestic charts and made HARDCORE SUPERSTAR the first Swedish rock band to make it big in the new millennium. Pretty much the rest of the year was spent on the road. HARDCORE SUPERSTAR played 169 gigs, including a European Tour and visits to both Japan and Canada. – Those were our first proper tours, Martin says. Being in a tour bus for six weeks straight and getting to experience Japan was incredible. Thank You 2001 Still on an adrenaline high, the band didn’t waste any time making a new album. This time the objective was to explore the possibilities of the recording studio to the max. If ‘Bad sneakers...’ was a case of ”Wham bam, thank you, Ma’am”, the follow up ‘Thank You (For Letting Us Be Ourselves)’ released in September 2001, was a meticulous piece of work. HARDCORE SUPERSTAR’s American seventies’ classic rock record, if you will. – That was our Aerosmith phase, Adde offers. ‘Thank you...’ might not have been what people were expecting or wanting, but we wanted to stick our necks out. We really enjoyed taking our time and using all those expensive, vintage instruments. We even had a string quartet on there. The album was recorded with producer Roberto Laghi at the helm. Halfway through the project, HARDCORE SUPERSTAR got the chance to open for AC/DC at a sold out show (more than 50 000 people) at Gothenburg’s Ullevi Stadium. The band shared the stage with friends and fellow local heavy hitters Lok, with whom they’d recorded the single ”Staden G öteborg” earlier in the year. The reworked punk rock song, written by the Troublemakers, was the theme song for the music event Popstad G öteborg and had received lots of air play. Supporting Angus Young & Co remains a career high point. – AC/DC is the ultimate party band, Adde gushes. The music is about pure energy. That’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve with HARDCORE SUPERSTAR. As a huge bonus and double honour, the guys were invited to open for AC/DC in Turin, Italy, again a few days later. ‘Thank You (For Letting Us Be Ourselves)’ spawned the singles ‘Shame’ and ‘Mother’s Love/Significant Other’ (a double A--side). The album and the singles all went top 20 in Sweden and HARDCORE SUPERSTAR once again toured Europe and Japan. No Regrets 2003 A familiar pattern ensued. The band went straight to work and the record turned out to be a very different beast to its predecessor. Released in the summer of 2003, ‘No Regrets’ was a sonically raw and decidedly more British sounding affair. The Misfits had always been a big influence, but spurred on by Roberto Laghi the quartet discovered, or rather rediscovered, bands like The Buzzcocks, The Ruts and The Stranglers. The album was preceded by the single ‘Honey Tongue’ then followed by ‘Still I’m Glad’. Both made an impact on the domestic charts, but the latter’s title was not a good description of the mood in the HARDCORE SUPERSTAR camp. Quite the opposite. The End, a New Start! The heavy touring and heavy partying had taken its toll and spirits were low. After yet another European Tour, things became ugly when the band went to the US for some selected shows. HARDCORE SUPERSTAR attended a party thrown at the Swedish Consulate in New York City, and Thomas Silver got into a fist fight with a journalist from the Swedish tabloid ‘Aftonbladet’. The short tour was completed but the members knew they needed time apart. – We were so tired of each other, Adde sighs. Tired of everything that had to do with HARDCORE SUPERSTAR. It could’ve been two of us getting into a fight. Back in Sweden, HARDCORE SUPERSTAR went on a hiatus. The decision was made easier due to the demise of Music For Nations. The future was looking very uncertain, but there would be a twist of fate. Adde inherited an old house and spent the summer of 2004 refurbishing it with help from Martin. When at work, the guys blasted classic albums such as ‘Appetite for Destruction’, ‘Dr Feelgood’ and ‘Among The Living’ and found themselves smiling again. – It was like a revelation, Adde remembers fondly. – We just went ”This is what HARDCORE SUPERSTAR should be about!”. We had drifted away from our roots, in a way.