Welcome to my world of music!

Rest in your arms [2007]	An instrumental piece about falling asleep. The ride cymbal plays the heartbeats of my loved one and the two electric pianos provide the warm, soft bosom where I lay my head. The flimsy, hectic ukulele reminds me of my busy day but the three note theme comes back again and again and rocks me to sleep.	This song was produced over a two year period. Recorded using a miked up Rhodes electric piano, a Fender bass and acoustic and lapsteel guitars, ukulele plus a few virtual instruments. Drums were played by Andy Rhodin and engineered by Robin Rhodin.
A million years [2001]	A song about love and happiness. About being thankful to the person who has given me so much joy and friendship - and on top of that, our kids! I wrote this song while sitting on a bench outside a youth hostel in Lynton, England. I had no instrument within reach, so I had to write the song down in order to remember it until we came home one week later.	When recording this tune, I decided to litter the arrangement with as many guitars as possible. They are (as they appear after the intro): Martin D-35, Fender Stratocaster XII through a Leslie, Fender 400 pedal steel, Squire Stratocaster. The rough, dusty guitar pounding away the rhythm in the second verse is a Takamine NP 35C with very old strings miked with a Shure Beta 58.
Music happens [1999]	How are songs made? I've tried to describe part of the process in this song. How little fragments of tonal or rhythmical content swim around in the oceans of one's mind until they meet and become music. Or not. So what makes music happen? Honestly, I haven't got a clue. Divine inspiration has hit me on rare occasions, but usually you have to spend a lot of time to get results. Hard work! But I'm not complaining.	This is my first attempt at recording me playing the harmonica. It's a lot of fun and not too hard. Almost like playing the ukulele! I had great plans for this song, so I rang Adam Zimny, and old schoolmate, to help me with some recorder overdubs. I'd written the three-voice arrangement and poor Adam had to make the best of it - in Ab! That's not a good key for recorders. But being the professional he is, he did a great job and I love him for that.
My PC [1999]	You're not afraid of computers, are you? Many of us spend quite a few hours in front of them... It's amazing, you know! A complete music studio resides inside my tiny laptop! Less than 15 years ago we paid EUR 25,- for one reel of studio quality master tape that would record 30 minutes. The 8 track tape cost twice as much. Not to mention the effects units and the big mixer, all the synthesiser and sampler modules...	After having programmed a guide drum track and recorded the rhythm guitar, and just prior to laying down some bass, I decided to let this song take a different direction. I'd try to cram in as many vocal parts as possible. I didn't write a proper arrangement like I usually do, but merely added vocal ideas on top of each other. Okay, so I chickened out and added an acoustic piano (heavily filtered), but other than that, this recording is all vocals. And to make the voices sound more interesting, I treated them quite a lot too. Telephone EQ, sweeping filters and echoes are all over the place.
I don't mind [1999]	I thought about my life and realised I was fully content. Pleased. Happy. Satisfied. While that may sound like a boring life, in fact it's not bad at all. When no problem is so huge that it darkens your day, when you're surrounded by people who need you - that's a good situation. I'm turning that feeling into an understatement here: "I don't mind being here with you". :)	The opening verse is played in the original key, but I felt that my voice would sound better several keys higher. Normally you'd prepare for such a change with a few chords that bridge the gap, but not this time; the song goes from E to A in one fell swoop! I like that effect. This was the first song I recorded with the Bechstein piano I'd just been given by my parents.
Jag älskar dej (DEMO) Text: Toni Rhodin [1999]	När jag gjorde musiken till den första uppsättning på Pildammarna, Nils Jönsson och Österns Pärla, så tonsatte jag bland annat en text med titeln Jag älskar dej. Det skulle alltså vara kärleksduetten i föreställningen. Jag spelade upp låten for pjäsens skapare Toni Rhodin i telefon. Han tyckte att låten var bra men att den inte passade alls i föreställningens trettiotalsmiljö. Så jag gjorde en helt annan melodi till texten och använde den musiken istället. Den här första versionen har legat oanvänd i byrålådan sen dess. ----------------------- An demoversion of an unused love song for our first summer show at Pildammarna, Malmö.	Den här demoversionen tog mindre än en halvtimme att spela in. Två spår med komp på min Martin D-35, två spår med mandolin och så sång. Ibland tycker jag nästan att såna här enkla versioner är att föredra, för då fokuserar man på låten, på melodin. Men jag ska erkönna att det kliar i fingrarna att göra låten klar. Min vän Peran Almered har gjort en engelsk text med titeln There for you, så vi får väl se var det slutar.
Come home [1998]	Originally designed as a two-note string bending practise in the eighties, this song has followed me for half my life. It was used it as a backdrop for pantomime number during our variety show days. In 1997 my brother Jörgen died. This instrumental piece got a deeper meaning, when I entitled it Come home and dedicated it to him. I believe he has finally come home. I want him to come home to me. I'll see him again when I finally come home.	The first verse was recorded live at Jörgen's funeral. My brother Dan played the keyboard and I played guitar. I then added the remaining verses in my studio. The Stratocaster recordings were sent to my friend Carl-Michael Engvall who ran them through his rotating speaker cabinet, recorded the result and sent them back. I then incorporated the Leslie effect into the arrangement. Included in this recording is an old zither that has been hanging on the walls of may parents' house for ages.
Slå mej gul och blå [1992]	En arg sång. Jag satt väl och kände mej upprorisk. Retade mej på all mesighet och förknippade det med att vara svensk. Att vi är så tråkiga och laglydiga i det här landet. Så är det ju inte, men ibland känner man så, speciellt om man är 25 år. Jag minns inte exakt när jag skrev den här låten, bara att detta är den andra inspelningen. ----------------------- An angry song about everything Swedish. Why are we so wimpy? Why do we always do as we're told? Or are we, do we?	Jag har inte så mycket data om den här inspelningen. Förmodligen är den gjord 1992 på min Atari-baserade Cubase-rigg med sången pålagd i Hans Annellssons studio. Många ljud kommer i alla fall från min Casio-sampler. Det hörs, för trummorna ligger i mono! Jag gjorde så väldigt mycket musik på mina Atari-datorer! Allt ifrån gamla swing-standards till explosiv varietémusik till reklamjinglar till kör-arr till dansmusik. Det var på den tiden det satt MIDI-interface på datamaskinerna minsann!