the
eggstone
malmö, city of the griffin,
set down on the flat lands of southern sweden. a bit like wolverhampton
only with more attractive football ground. who would guess it could
serve up a dish as rare and exotic as eggstone? intensely melodic, joyfully
melancholic, these songs have been a template for the swepop phenomenon
of the 1990's. truly this is morning music, bright yellow. spring has
sprung. eggstone music sounds like it was created inside a yacht; the
woodwork, the gunwhales, such craftmanship. and if it occasionally
gets a little seasick ('birds in cages', 'marabous'), you know with these
boys you're never far from home. sounds of portholes, cabin fever, blue
eyed pop. love, love, love. i love eggstone.
bob
stanley, april 1999
the
official biography from vibrafon...
in
1986 three old school mates decided, after an inspiring roskilde festival, to make something proper
out of their lives. the mates were maurits carlsson, patrik bartosch and
per sunding all
from the small coastal town lomma outside malmö. they formed the
band eggstone, using the blueprints from bands like the jam and the clash but adding a tea-spoon of the
smiths and prefab sprout. after
four years of massive live-playing in all of sweden and also touring germany and eastern
europe they felt tempted to put their songs onto
vinyl, which was aptly done 1990, recording and producing themselves
in their rehearsal room.
in 1991 they first met
tore johansson and instant understanding lead to the recordings of the 'shooting
time' ep. together with tore they started to explore the music beyond
the original three-piece setting, adding strings, keyboards and a variety
of odd instruments. shortly after they were signed to snap records. very satisfied with the results they decided to make an album, and in
this process they bought an old studio together with tore and anders
nordgren.
This became the tambourine studios. during '92 the 'in san diego' album
was recorded. starting from scratch, knowing very little about recording
and producing, eggstone experiments unrestrained in a true abbey road
style. in october the album was released and widely acclaimed amongst
true pop-fans all over the world.
in late 1993 eggstone started
the recordings of a new album together with producer michael blair. wanting to try a different way of recording they recorded it the regular
way: with a producer and with deadlines. the result of this, the album
'somersault' was released in march '94. after this followed heavy touring
in sweden and abroad.
1995 was mainly a year dedicated to other projects around the tambourine
studios and also collaborating with other bands. in sepember they leave
snap and sign with vibrafon records. the first half of '96 the
band kept on working with tambourine studios and vibrafon records. in
june they finally started to record their third album 'vive la différence!'.
during the summer they also
made their first live performance in about two years at the lollipop
festival in stockholm. in september the musical work with the new
album was finished and the other part took over. artwork to the album,
posters and a songbook that was going to be released two weeks before
the album and a video took the rest of '96.
in november the band made four gigs in england. two of them was as opening
act for the cardigans. 'vive la différence!' was released a week
into '97. during january to march the band has been touring around sweden
with start at "popstad 97" in umeå in the beginning
of january. the 23 of march the band went to japan for the third time
for a three week tour. and the 26 of april the band is heading for a
tour in england.
during 1999 and 2000, the
members have been involved in various side projects, such as producing
other acts and performing live with the tremolo beer gut among others.
in late 1998 the band began a collaboration with french producer bertrand
burgalat and also did concerts in france, spain and switzerland. at the moment, eggstone are rehearsing and recording songs
at tambourine studios in malmö for their forthcoming fourth album.
stay tuned!
©
vibrafon records
and
here's another one from motor...
eggstone is a truly unique
pop combo with a solid trust in their instincts. a trio based in sweden
they combine edgy pop with loud guitars and subtle orchestral touches.
1990 saw the formation of eggstone and over the next couple of years,
they spent time recording, toured scandinavia extensively and completed
two european tours. the boys soon became known for their over-the-top,
hugely enjoyable live shows and sharp songwriting. this, combined with
reverential arrangements and a lyrical dimension of their own, has resulted
in the trademark eggstone sound, emulated by most swedish pop bands.
in
january 1991 they released
their debut single 'bubblebed' and later in the year a 7" ep,
entitled, 'shooting time' on their own supersound project label. the mnw
records group, sweden, heard the songs, met the boys
and consequently signed the band to its soap label in december 1991.
1992 saw the release of their first two ep's for soap 'eggstone at point
loma' and 'eggstone in lemon grove', featuring
tracks from their debut album 'eggstone in san diego' which
was released in november 1992. 'in san diego' was voted sweden's
best pop album of the same year and this together with the follow up
singles 'shooting time' and 'can't come close enough'
became an immediate scandinavian radio favourite gaining extensive airplay
and resulting in chart success.
eggstone released a new
single 'water', feb. 94 followed in march with the release
of their second album 'somersault'. the album was co-produced
with michael blair whose working credits include the likes of r.e.m.,
elvis costello and suzanne vega. the combination of heavy riff action, graceful
melodies, silk-smooth softness and flipped out quirkness guaranteed 'water' and
'somersault' widespread critical acclaim. june 1994: eggstone visited london on a promotional trip for the release
of 'somersault' in the uk, creating a big buzz with both the
public and the media. this was immediately followed with a promotional
tour of japan. due to the success of (the previously released) 'in san
diego', 'water' and 'somersault' in japan,
the boys were very well received by many adoring fans, and the video
for 'water' was played on a giant outdoor screen as part of
the graduation cermony at yokohama university. such is their status,
in japan that they are known as the godfathers of swedish pop.
1995 saw the release of
'somersault' in the usa and canada by critique/bmg. the first
single release 'the dog' garnered major airplay and this along
with the album, again received widespread complimentary reviews and
fans. consequently the video for 'the dog' was nominated
for a swedish grammy award. and in the autumn, eggstone then completed
a second successful tour of japan. after a slightly extended abscence,
and parting company with mnw records, eggstone release their third album
'vive la différence!' in january 1997, in scandinavia, on their
own new label, vibrafon records, preceded in december '96 with
the first single release 'never been a better day'. they will
be making promo visits to london, mid-november and january, with tours
planned for sweden, japan and the us next year. already eggstone's new
material has aroused immense enthusiasm and will most certainly set
a precedent for the next generation of popular music coming out of sweden.
some reviews:
nöjesguiden:
"... 'vive
la différence!' is both keen and hot-headed, yearning for attention from
the first track 'til the last..."
mbi:
"... mature and fresh material
of some quality..."
cmj
magazine describe eggstone as "... delightfully eccentric as their name, scanning late 60's
lexicon of pop, accordion, strings, guitars, urgent vocals, hip-hook
rhythms, collide with potentially strange weather/drugs to forge brittle
psychedelia..."
friday
morning quarterback
hottest new releases: "... 'somersault" is a purely pop-filled
eclectic album that's a lot of fun to dive into and swim around for
a while..."
melody
maker: 'water' - single of the week
© 1998 motor
