HASSE FRÖBERG

(Vocals)

“For most people it’s obvious the planet is in a desperate state right now and it has in fact been for quite a while. Therefore I didn’t need to think twice before I said yes to join ‘United Progressive Fraternity and the album Planetary Overload – Part 1: Loss’. We stand in front of a global challenge of huge proportions to make the planet sustainable. Still it’s something we need to do. If not for us we have to do it for our children and the coming generations. I for sure don’t want  to be one of the guys that ruined it for a foreseeable future. Even if my contribution on this album is rather small, it’s at least something and I’m very happy and proud to be part of it. I really hope the Planetary Overload project helps
putting more focus to this matter. ”

If you are familiar with the name Hasse Fröberg, I guess that’s because I have been a proud member of The Flower Kings since 1997. Before that I had been quite busy with different bands and projects. I formed my first group at the age of 10. It was a trio in true ELP style, at least when it comes to the line-up. HPP3: Patric Pettersson – drums, Patric Cohen – keyboards, Hasse Fröberg – vocals and guitar. With songs like “Do you know the monster” we really made an impact on schoolmates and neighbours. (By the way, what do you think of the hook “Do you know the monster from the black sea, he doesn’t want to eat you. He just wants to drink tea”?)

When I turned 15, we had a new band going. Rampljud: Janne Olander – Bass, Thomsson – rhythm guitar, Janne Isaksson – drums, Hasse Fröberg – vocals and lead guitar. In fact we had lots of gigs at schools, youth clubs and festivals within 150 km. Because of our age, my father and Isak’s father used to drive us to the gigs. We were really ashamed to have two old men with us when we were trying to impress the girls. In fact they were about the age I am now, “huh”.

As I grew older and developed as a musician, the sound started to lean a bit more into hard rock, and in 1982 Thomsson (who just switched to bass) and I decided to form a band that eventually became Spellbound. As I remember it, the first time we rehearsed was October 1982. Spellbound: Al Strandberg – guitar, Ola Strandberg – drums, Thomsson – bass, Hasse Fröberg – vocals. Later in 1983 J.J Marsh joined our forces on guitar. There are thousands of stories from this period that I can’t tell you, but I am going to give you one. In 1985 when we arrived at Heathrow to record “Rockin’ Reckless” with long hair and guitars, all the taxi drivers threw themselves at us in the arrival hall. Anyway, when we sat down in one of the cars and said the name of the hotel, the driver looked a bit disappointed “Oh I thought you were going to Wembley” he said. It was LIVE AID that day! I still to this day remember that gentleman’s name, Tom. He drove us between the hotel and the studio everyday for 3 weeks and he had cookies in a box under his seat, which he offered us regularly.

After Spellbound, I started Solid Blue, with me back on guitar again. We played some kind of straight forward (pub) rock I guess it could be called. We had lots of gigs and a unique friendship, everything was so smooth. Solid blue: Janne Olander – bass, Palle Isaksson (Janne Isakssons older brother) -drums, Sören Cederberg – leadguitar, Rikard Zander – keyboards, Hasse Fröberg – vocals, rhythm guitar. There’s lots of stuff to tell about Solid Blue as well, but the highlight was when we won the Swedish championship of rock n’ roll among 2000 other bands and did national television a couple of times. After a 10-date English pub-tour that actually went down really well, the band sort of lost the will to fight and after a while Solid Blue was history.

In 1997 I got a phone call from Roine, who asked me if I wanted to join The Flower Kings. At first I almost said no, because I didn’t think I had the skills, but Roine convinced me otherwise. After 12 years with a band that has been around the world, how many times I don’t know, there are of course many things that have happened. The one thing that stands out the most, is in fact the first ever gig I did with the band. After 3 days of rehearsals and trying to get to know each other, we flew to Canada to play in Quebec City. The scene can only be described as a Flower Kings “Beatlemania!” When we arrived at the venue the people were screaming and cheering, I thought there was another famous and mega-successful band behind us, but I was wrong. During the set when we did the old Kaipa tune “Nothing New Under the Sun”, I had my little break. I stood beside the stage and watched the audience for a while. There were several grown men who were crying. It was at that point that I knew we were on to something.

That brings me up to date. In October 2008, I decided it was time to form a band again. There are several main reasons for this: T.F.K will have a year off 2009, except for some one off gigs, my career as a soccer coach has ended (1 gold medal 06/07) and of course there are songs that I have written through the years that don’t fit the T.F.K formula. Old fashioned as I am, I don’t want it to be like a project, I want a band with a certain sound. The key to that I believe, is to find enthusiastic musicians who love to play my music and are willing to rehearse and to create a unit that really works well together. That said, in November we rehearsed for the first time. Even though we don’t play as much as we would like, we rehearse on a regular basis and it feels fantastic. I am very proud to present my friends (old and new) in the band: Hasse Fröberg and the Musical Companion: Kjell Haraldsson – keyboards, Ola Strandberg – drums, Anton Lindsjö – leadguitar, Thomsson – bass, Hasse Fröberg – vocals, rhythm guitar.