His entrance at Vimus (HFMC and TFK rehearsal studio), was quite spectacular actually. The first time we met was a wednesday afternoon, we auditioned this man and he had a monsterous hangover! Who is this guy? Jesus, with a hangover like that on a wednesday, that means he must have party'd like an animal on a tuesday! If you show up like that, in front of 4 guys you never seen before, either you have a mighty good self esteem, you're an idiot, or you have a problem? Back then Jaime did'nt drink at all, Tomas was a sober alcoholic, Roine was very modest when it comes to alcohol. I did'nt mind to have a drink or two but I chose my occasions. Anyway, the impact this man had on me and I guess the rest of the lads was HUGE! Even though the shape he was in, he nailed all the songs we did during that audition. Not only that, he did it with both "style" and "precision". The songs we did were: Retropolis, In the eyes of the world, The sounds of violence and There is more to this world. Do I need to say, that he got the job and he's sticked with us ever since.
Ok. I guess most of you already know by now? I'm talking about the TFK, Karmakanic and God knows what else these days: Bass player Jonas Reingold! Jonas has over the years become a very good friend of mine and let me tell you he's a funny fellow! Jonas is a fighter and everything he does, is a competition. Playing cards, a walk in the park, eating (drinking back then) playing bass, I mean everything is a competition. What comes along with this attitude, is a great motivation in everything he does and he's just as ambitious as well. With these assets, I bet all of you thinks he's a pain in the ass? but he's not! He's actually quite laid back, kind and very funny. It did'nt take long before Jaime (originally from Chile) started to call Jonas, El' Jontassen (with a Spanish sounding S that is). I don't know but he had nicknames on all of us. In this case, I guess he must have been inspired by his native language? 3 weeks later, or I would say a tour later, El' Jontassen became "L" plain and simple, just like that. Nowadays "L" is a sober alcoholic just as Tomas but when he joined the band, he drank like it was a (you know what) a competition. Wallets dissappeared, sometimes he lost them, sometimes he got robbed. Passports dissappeared as well and that's even worse, if you're a travelling band. At one time he talked about the sound of a ride cymbal (Bollenbach), like if he was manic, from I guess 1 o clock until 5 o clock in the morning. Jonas is also very frank about his opinions. If he thinks you've done a lousy gig, he'll let you know for sure. To be honest, in the beginning I got quite angry on him. Especially if I was satisfied myself with my contribution. Just to make the picture clear. It did'nt matter how hard he was on us, he was always 10 times harder on himself. Before I'll leave you with a pretty little story from "L's" heydays. Today he has a wife, 2 beautiful kids, a career in music that is nothing but a success. He's had nr.1 hit singles with Swedish glam/hard rock act "The Poodles" (as a songwriter). He has also both recorded and produced some pretty successful albums within the Progrock scene and last but not least. Nowadays he's also the head and the executive producer for the new record label "Reingold Records", check it out! www.reingoldrecords.com
After an outdoor gig in Mantova (Italy) and a great 3 meal course afterwards, we started the drive towards Barcelona. Roine told us the drive was 800 km:s, which is bad enough, in reality I think it was around 1200 km:s. However, we drived non stop for the whole night, the whole day and arrived in Barcelona in the late afternoon. At the hotel, I passed out on the bed for a couple of hours, since I did most of the driving. After a shower and a breakfast? I headed off to the venue for the soundcheck. In the dressingroom "L" and Robert Engstrand (keys. at the time) were in "good" spirits. They'd already tried some of the catering (some of the stuff you drink that is) and "L" had also tried out some of the citys "Rock`n´Roll" cigarettes (as we say in Sweden)! Despite the travelling, the gig as I remembered it, was great and afterwards I had me a Whisky that went straight into my head. After that I decided to take it easy. I can't say that about the other 2 gents, they did a proper invention of the catering and ended the Whisky bottle and opened the Vodka as well. It was at this point I needed Jonas help, but he could'nt do it, as he did'nt remember a thing from the evening. I can tell you this. The venue had by now, turned into a "nightclub" and "L" and Robert were there, having the time of their lives. The rest of us were in the backstage area, eating, chatting and relaxing with the promotor, the crew of the place and some "hangarounds". When I got out of the venue, I could see Jonas asleep on a little hill of grass just outside the entrance, with an empty glass in his hand, for all to see, night club guests and fans. In the end, "L" the fighter was defeated.
Ok. I guess most of you already know by now? I'm talking about the TFK, Karmakanic and God knows what else these days: Bass player Jonas Reingold! Jonas has over the years become a very good friend of mine and let me tell you he's a funny fellow! Jonas is a fighter and everything he does, is a competition. Playing cards, a walk in the park, eating (drinking back then) playing bass, I mean everything is a competition. What comes along with this attitude, is a great motivation in everything he does and he's just as ambitious as well. With these assets, I bet all of you thinks he's a pain in the ass? but he's not! He's actually quite laid back, kind and very funny. It did'nt take long before Jaime (originally from Chile) started to call Jonas, El' Jontassen (with a Spanish sounding S that is). I don't know but he had nicknames on all of us. In this case, I guess he must have been inspired by his native language? 3 weeks later, or I would say a tour later, El' Jontassen became "L" plain and simple, just like that. Nowadays "L" is a sober alcoholic just as Tomas but when he joined the band, he drank like it was a (you know what) a competition. Wallets dissappeared, sometimes he lost them, sometimes he got robbed. Passports dissappeared as well and that's even worse, if you're a travelling band. At one time he talked about the sound of a ride cymbal (Bollenbach), like if he was manic, from I guess 1 o clock until 5 o clock in the morning. Jonas is also very frank about his opinions. If he thinks you've done a lousy gig, he'll let you know for sure. To be honest, in the beginning I got quite angry on him. Especially if I was satisfied myself with my contribution. Just to make the picture clear. It did'nt matter how hard he was on us, he was always 10 times harder on himself. Before I'll leave you with a pretty little story from "L's" heydays. Today he has a wife, 2 beautiful kids, a career in music that is nothing but a success. He's had nr.1 hit singles with Swedish glam/hard rock act "The Poodles" (as a songwriter). He has also both recorded and produced some pretty successful albums within the Progrock scene and last but not least. Nowadays he's also the head and the executive producer for the new record label "Reingold Records", check it out! www.reingoldrecords.com
After an outdoor gig in Mantova (Italy) and a great 3 meal course afterwards, we started the drive towards Barcelona. Roine told us the drive was 800 km:s, which is bad enough, in reality I think it was around 1200 km:s. However, we drived non stop for the whole night, the whole day and arrived in Barcelona in the late afternoon. At the hotel, I passed out on the bed for a couple of hours, since I did most of the driving. After a shower and a breakfast? I headed off to the venue for the soundcheck. In the dressingroom "L" and Robert Engstrand (keys. at the time) were in "good" spirits. They'd already tried some of the catering (some of the stuff you drink that is) and "L" had also tried out some of the citys "Rock`n´Roll" cigarettes (as we say in Sweden)! Despite the travelling, the gig as I remembered it, was great and afterwards I had me a Whisky that went straight into my head. After that I decided to take it easy. I can't say that about the other 2 gents, they did a proper invention of the catering and ended the Whisky bottle and opened the Vodka as well. It was at this point I needed Jonas help, but he could'nt do it, as he did'nt remember a thing from the evening. I can tell you this. The venue had by now, turned into a "nightclub" and "L" and Robert were there, having the time of their lives. The rest of us were in the backstage area, eating, chatting and relaxing with the promotor, the crew of the place and some "hangarounds". When I got out of the venue, I could see Jonas asleep on a little hill of grass just outside the entrance, with an empty glass in his hand, for all to see, night club guests and fans. In the end, "L" the fighter was defeated.