ROCK REPORT (Belgium) 2001
By Ed Kruijskamp

PETER LIDSTRÖM (Sahara)

So far, 2001 has been a splendid year full of really good, superb to outrageous releases and the debut album of the excellent new Swedish band Sahara is just one of them. It's an album full of great mid-soft AOR with lots of westcoast influences, which has impressed me a lot. More than enough reasons, I should say, to look up one of the founder members: Mr. Peter Lidstrom.

The biography tells us that the band has been together for about 3 years now. How did you find each other and what have you been doing before Sahara?

Well, Sahara started out as a songwriting team effort about 3 years ago, between myself and Ulrick. We've known each other for about 7 years now and met in a previous band called Whisper. After that band we decided to keep in touch and over the years we've played and collaborated on different projects and I helped Ulrick out on some solo material that he was working on. Some of these songs came out really well and 3 years ago, we both decided it was time to start co-writing full-time. This is the project that became Sahara.

The debut has been picking up lots of great reviews around the world! Great AOR with lots of westcoast influences, catchy hooklines, superb melodies, strong vocals and a crystal clear production! You must be feeling great about this or don't you?

Thanks! It feels absolutely great - the response so far has really been way beyond what any of us expected and I think we're all still a bit overwhelmed by it. Right now we really try to remain as humble as possible about the whole thing, since we still have so many new ideas and there's still so much to do musically. But we're perfectionists and it therefore feels really good to know that people can pick up on the musical merit and appreciate all our hard work. It definitely makes it all worthwhile.

The inlay of the album tells us that Sahara is a two piece outfit, although the biography says that there are four band members, Please, help me out?

I know this seems to have confused some people! When we wrote and recorded the album, Sahara was still a project by me & Ulrick and we just enlisted the best musicians we knew for the recording. So the CD, the packaging and the credits reflect this. However, after the recordings Ulrick and I both felt that the people playing had worked out great and we decided that Magnus & Fredrik were just too good not to have in the band full-time. So we just naturally became a full band - and since we all knew each other and had played with each other before, it all really worked out great - no auditions, no hassle! The only major musician on the album who couldn't join the band full-time was my long-time friend keyboardist Kaspar Dahlqvist, who unfortunately had prior commitments to both Stormwind and Dionysos. We still consider him the secret fifth member of the band though and hopefully he'll be able to join us live from time to time. We'll also continue to write with him in the future.

You have been signed by Point Music/AOR Heaven for your debut, but does the deal also contain a possibility for a follow-up?

Yes, it's a deal for three albums and before making the first one we already had more than enough material for mabye 2 to 3 other albums. We're now already working on new material and looking to start recording in the spring, if everything works out as planned.

There are a lot of Swedish AOR newcomers such as Alyson Avenue, Street Talk, T'Bell, Broke[N]Blue and now recently Sahara. Are you familiar with these bands?

We know Fredrik from Street Talk, since he's on the same label. He's a great guy, although I'm afraid I haven't heard too much of their music. As for the rest of the bands, I haven't heard any of them. I have to confess I hardly listen to AOR music, I just think that most of the new AOR is not very interesting. When I listen, it's usually to older stuff, such as Glen Burtnick, Richard Page, Michael Sembello and Jesse Colin Young.

Mikael Erlandsson has done some background vocals on your album. How did you come in touch with him?

Mikael is an incredible singer and a great guy. Ulrick got to know him a few years back after a gig here in Gothenburg I believe and we all kept in touch. He helped us out with backing vocals on our first Sahara demo in '99 and of course he was an obvious choice for the album - he has that nice airy quality to his voice that really helps bring out the vocals in a mix. He's also a very funny guy and a blast to work with!

In your thankslist names like Tommy Denander and Magnus Söderkvist are mentioned. In which way have they contributed to the Sahara album?

Well, Magnus is the guy who very graciously helped us getting the deal with Point. We had originally sent the demo to him, hoping for some MTM interest. Magnus then sent the demo on to Georg at AOR Heaven and it seems they liked what they heard, since they phoned us up 2 weeks later to sign us. Tommy Denander is a good friend of the band and is also the mutual friend of another of our old Gothenburg pals, guitarist Sayit, whom we've all played with in loads of bands during the 90's. Tommy didn't actually make it to playing on the album, but has just basically been really supportive to us as a friend.

Which songs on the album do you prefer most and why?

On a basic, gut level I would say "Time Is A Healer" still holds up for me. It really works effectively song and hook-wise. It's also one of the first true 50/50 collaborations between me and Ulrick. On a personal, creative level, the more satisfying songs for me would be "The Fire" and "What Is Love". "The Fire" is a very personal song for me, it deals with certain ideas and a specific message that I worked hard to convey in the lyrics. It probably took me about a year to get it the way I wanted it. Songs that take that long usually are exceptions though. "What is Love" was more like 2 days, although we completely changed the chorus and title at the very last moment in the studio!

I have the idea that the choice of the opening song has been changed at the last moment. Am I correct?

Yes, you are! You're the first one to have mentioned that, although I guess the printing error must have tipped you off slightly. I guess I'm still not really sure if we made the right choice! I guess I just suffer from option-anxiety.

What can we expect from Sahara in the near future?

Well, right now we're planning a very special acoustic set, with hopefully some surprises. I can't say too much about it at the moment, but it's planned for the release party in Gothenburg next month. After that, we'll start rehearsing the full show. The plan is to get out on the road sometime after the new year. We'll probably start in Sweden and - fingers crossed - get over to the rest of Europe. We're all really looking forward to get out and play!

Name your 5 favourite acts of this moment?

Hmm, that's a hard one:
1. Paul Gilbert
2. K's Choice
3. Symphony X
4. Amanda Marshall
5. Fourplay

And what about your 5 favourite acts of all-time?

That's much easier!
1. Rush
2. The Police
3. The Eagles
4. Kiss
5. Winger

Peter, you have produced the album yourself and in a very good way, if I may say so. Did you already have some experience in producing?

Thank you! Yes, I've been producing and engineering for some years now in a studio here in Gothenburg. I'm pretty much self-taught.

The final result must please you a lot, but I know that there are always (small) things of criticism! If you could do it again, is there something you would like to change?

Oh, tell me about it! There are always things you'd like to go back and change, sometimes overlooked minor details can annoy you as a producer. I would definitely also change some of the arrangements a bit, in hindsight. But you live and learn and hopefully do better on the next one - we have loads of ideas for the sound and production on the next album which we can't wait to start working on - you ain't seen nothing yet!

Anything you'd like to add?

First of all I'd like to thank all the people out there all over Europe who bought the album and supported Sahara so far: the press, all the mail and the great reviews. It really means a lot to us that people appreciate our music - and we'll do everything we can to make sure we get out there and play to people as much as possible. There's nothing like the real thing and I hope you'll come and see the show when we get out to play! I also want to mention our website: www.saharaweb.org - where you'll find soundclips of the album, interviews and tour updates. Any guitar players out there can also check out my website www.peterlidstrom.com - where they can find solo guitar clips from my upcoming classical CD among other things. Finally, I also want to thank Georg and Harry at Point/AOR Heaven for believing in the band and for giving us such great support. Thanks!                

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