HARD LINE(Spain) 1997

TOMMY DENANDER INTERVIEW 1997 - 01 - 22

The first thing that takes my attention about you is how many albums you can record in a year.
Most artists take at least one year to make it, how can you do it?

- Good point...
First of all i’ve always worked very fast, both as a writer and as a session player, and i know i’m above normal productiveness, compared to most people i know.
My head is always spinning with new ideas and thoughts about how to make this and that better.
I have a lot of things i want to have done in my life, and the only way to get them done is to work very very hard.

You have colaborated with the Toto guys (or they’ve colaborated with you?) in some of the albums you did last year, and also in some you will do this year.

- Yes, it’s hard to find the right words to express how nice it is to be able to work with your favorite people in the world, both as humans and as musicians, but to work with the guys in Toto is beyond dreams.

How long have you been friends?

- In the end of this year it’s been 10 years...i can’t believe how fast the time has gone, but it’s been a wonderful time...

How did this relationship start?

- I met Steve Lukather at a music fair (the NAMM show) in Los Angeles shortly after i had moved to USA in 1987.
We became friends right away, and he even invited me to his house in the Hollywood hills.
Through him i pretty soon got to know the other guys in the band, and i tell you, nicer people than the guys in Toto you can’t find...and they’re pretty good musicians too!!!!
We also had several mutual friends in the music business, like Paul Rivera who now make amps for both Steve and me.

What about Tommy Lee?

- I actually lived in the same house as Motley Crue singer Vince Neil in L.A, and i met Tommy there a couple of times, but i really didn’t get to know him until i got his e mail address.
I contacted him to see if he would be interested to play on one of my new solo album, called ”Boneyard”, and he was very interested, plus he’d heard of my first two solo albums and liked them.
He’s a great drummer, and definently a very wild man!

As you work with American artists, do you release your albums the States?

- Sort of...i have no ”official” contract with an American label, but i’ve had great help from several big import companies over there.
America is a very strange place for music right now, because of all this Grunge and crap.
Even groups like Toto can’t sell records over there...it’s sad.

You’re recording an album with Christian Fridh and Jörgen Sevebring, can you tell me something about them?, i think people don’t know them, atleast they’re not known in Spain!

- They’re both good friends of mine, and great guitar players.
We were sort of jamming over the phone one night last year and i got very impressed with their playing, so i asked if they were interested in recording a guitar album together with me...and you bet they were!
So, we have each written 3 songs, were i play all the guitars on my songs and they play guitars on their own songs.
We’re using two great players from Sweden on drums and bass, Rasmus Khilberg and Kalle Magnusson, and we have guests like Bruce Gaitsch on guitar and Dave Boruff on sax aswell.
It will definently be a cool album.
The reason why they’re not know yet is simply because they’ve mostly played localy in Sweden, but you can be sure that’s about to change!!!

Is this album just a studio project?

- For now it is, but we have talked about doing one more album togehter later on, and who knows we might even play live with it some day...

It seems that you spend a lot of time in the studio, do you have time to play live?, if so, do you include in your live band some of the people who play on your albums?

- I honestly live in the studio...and work for 12-15 hours every day!
And for about 3 1/2 years now i’ve been quite ill, due to a huge collaps i had, i worked too much for too long and all my ”batteries” in my body ran out...
I’m slowly getting better but that’s also one of the reasons i do so many albums these days, i’m not well enough to play live, but luckily i have no problem doing albums.
When i do start to play live again i hope i can several of the people i’ve recorded with.
I’ve actually been offered to tour Europe and Japan with Fee Waybill, Richard Marx and Bruce Gaitsch, but it’s not sure that there will even be a tour, or that i’m well enough.

Do you write all the songs for your solo albums?

- For my solo albums yes, for other albums i don’t mind writing with other people, like my dear friend Ricky Delin who i have a production company called ”Bingo Bingo Productions” with, that guy is a total monster when it comes to writing lyrics, he’s also a very good producer.
I love to work with talented people of any kind, i have also started a very cool company called ” D & W - Graphic Design & Sound Productions”, with another dear friend called Fredrik Widman, he’s a ”Computer Graphics” specialist, and he does all my album covers plus animated videos and so, his stuff will knock your socks off, we’re gonna do so serious shit togehter!!!

You normally play lots of musical styles, why?, do you like to explore new sounds?, what’s your favorite style?

- I love to be able to play anything from hard rock to blues to jazz, to hip hop and so on...
That way I never get stuck and tired of doing just one thing, it’s really great.
I can’t say that i have ”one” favorite style, but groups and artists like Toto, Journey, Giant, David Foster, Dire Straits, Santana, Steely Dan, Van Halen, Kiss, Michael Mcdonald and so on makes me high and very inspired.
That’s why i’m doing a series of TEN solo albums in a couple of years, each with it’s completely own unique style.
The first two ”Less Is More (part one)” and ”Skeleton (part two)” has been out for a little more then a year now, and they’ve sold really good all over the world.
”Less Is More” feature the Guys from Toto on a really great 10 minute blues, that i wrote with Jeff and Mike Porcaro.
The two new one’s (i’m releasing them two and two) called ”YEAH (part III)” and ”Boneyard (part 4)” will be released in march or april.
They feature such musicians as Jeff Porcaro, Mike Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, David Paich, Simon Phillips, Tommy Lee, Bruce Gaitsch, Janey Clewer, Andy Eklund, Neil Stubenhaus, Greg Phillinganes and so on...pretty cool people!!!

Can you tell me about some of the albums that you’re involved with this year?

- Sure, this will absolutely be a record breaking year for me, last year i played on about 15-20 albums, including Fee Waybill’s great new solo album with Richard Marx, Steve Lukather, Bruce Gaitsch, Jonathan Moffet and Randy Jackson, but this year i’m already involved with 30-40 albums...and it’s only january!!!
I’ve already recorded about 11-12 of them now in january, and it’s going on like this until april or may, after that i’m gonna spend most of the summer to get my health going good again.
I can’t wait to get out and play around the world again, i truly miss doing live shows, and the feedback from the audience.