No need to be clever w/ the opening question: Tell us who you are and how Hard & Heavy music came into your life!
I am a person, born in the 60s, who has always gone my own way and whose big passion for music has resulted in me, on a hobby level, publishing magazines, arranging festivals and having my own management. Nowadays, I am happy if I have the possibility to go to gigs, festivals and to buy records.When I was nine years old (1973), I went with my older brother to one of his classmates', who had a lot of cool records. That's where I heard Status Quo, Nazareth, Queen and similar bands for the first time. That was the start of a lifelong love of music, especially hard rock and heavy metal. How and when did you develop a taste for and become aware of the HR/HM Underground? Being a mere "kid" in this context (the Penbangers!-column in Metal Forces in the late '80s) I'm curious how you got your first tapetrader- and international Metal-fandom contacts in the early 80's? I became a teenager around the time punk was breaking through on a broad front and it became a gateway to harder music. That also meant that I started looking more and more for heavy music. At first, I looked at ads from record stores and saw if there were any cool band names or album titles. That's how I found, among other albums, "Welcome To Hell" by Venom, in an ad without pictures. Then I started buying Kerrang! And that's where I got some new tips. They also had ads for pen pals and there I found some trading friends. Then I started buying more foreign magazines and found more trading friends that way. It was through these magazines/fanzines that I discovered many new bands at the same time as I got to hear many bands through tape trading. In addition, Heavy Metal Massacre led to a lot of contacts. I bought the debut albums from most of the important bands when they were released after either reading about the bands or hearing their demos through tape trading. After a while, I also learned which record labels that released records that I liked/could like. I still got an English friend who I trade with. We have been trading tapes or records for 40 years. Which fanzines inspired you to start Heavy Metal Massacre in 1983? I can only think of 2 other Swedish publications that preceded it - Stockholm's Feedback and Umeå's Monsters Of Rock. Where those know to you or did the inspiration come from abroad?I knew of Feedback but I wasn't familiar with Monsters Of Rock. However, it was The Hammer that inspired us to start a magazine. We felt that if they can do it, we can, although not at the same level. There were of course also foreign magazines that inspired. A couple of personal favourites were Metal Forces (England) and Kick-Ass Monthly (USA).
Sweden had a HUGE underground Metal scene in the first part of the 80's bandwise, but compared to many other European countries at the time, a relatively small fanzine-scene. Any thoughts on this discrepancy?
I haven't thought about it, but there were at least more fanzines/magazines in Sweden during the first half of the 80s than there were in the other Nordic countries. The fact that there were more fanzines/magazines in, for example, Germany is not surprising, since there were ten times as many people living there compared to Sweden. The only country that was about the same size as Sweden where there were significantly more fanzines/magazines was probably Belgium. During the second half of the 80s, people started more and more fanzines/magazines in Sweden. The most professional of them were undoubtedly Martin Carlsson's Megalomaniac and Candour.
"I made a post on Facebook when it was 40 years since the first issue of HMM came out and several people commented on it with newly taken photos of all four issues. That was heartwarming!"
What kind of feedback did you get from HMM in Sweden v/s the rest of the world?
This was long before the internet, so I didn't really get much response at the time. It was much later that I realized that the magazine had actually meant a lot to some people, that it was a gateway to discovering new bands. I've met some readers over the years, and they've talked about how much the magazine meant to them. That's great! I made a post on Facebook when it was 40 years since the first issue of HMM came out and several people commented on it with newly taken photos of all four issues. That was heartwarming! Back then there was probably more response from the rest of the world. Some of the bands that were in the magazine got in touch and said they liked it. I also got respect from other people who published magazines, and that's probably why I got the chance to write for some of them. I've noticed that HMM was mostly focused on reviews and articles, but featured very few original interviews. How come?
When we started, it wasn't as common for fanzines to have interviews as it became later. It wasn't until the fourth and final issue that we had any interviews. There would have been more if we had continued. However, you must be aware of two things. First, this was long before there was any internet, and secondly, not many of the bands we wrote about, apart from the Swedish ones, played in Sweden. The interviews we did were done by letter.
HMM folded after only 4 issues, but shortly after that your name started popping up as a contributor on a ridiculously large list of international zines and mags. What's the reason you decided to go freelance instead of continuing to build the "Heavy Metal Massacre-brand"?
It costs money to print a magazine professionally, even if it's "just" a fanzine. When we started, I took out a bank loan to finance the first issue. Although it was great fun to make HMM, enthusiasm and passion alone are not enough. I realized after the fourth issue, which turned out to be the last one, that I couldn't keep on losing a lot of money. That's why I closed the magazine. I'm convinced that the biggest reason why most fanzines/magazines didn't/doesn't last longer than they did/do is because it doesn't work financially. Sad but true!During my time with HMM, and the years as a tape trader, I made a lot of contacts all over the world. This gave me the opportunity to start writing for other fanzines/magazines around the world. It was a fantastic time to discover new music, and it was fun to be a part of it. I think around here is where we need a complete list of all the zines and mags you contributed to in the 80's-to-early-90's! This might be embarrassing because I'm not sure I remember every magazine I wrote something for, but the ones I'm sure of are:
Let's talk about your love and devotion to the Swedish HR/HM scene. How/Why? Any particular bands that blew you away back in the days, or was it more of a natural rooting-for-the-home-team / availability thing? I think that I laid the foundation for my interest in Swedish hard rock/heavy metal (actually Swedish music in general) in the 70s, when I listened to and saw Swedish bands and artists like Magnus Uggla, Kal P. Dal, Magnum Bonum, Noice, Kenta and others. I started going to Folkets Park (a Swedish phenomenon) in Bengtsfors in 1977, when I was 13 years old, and many of the biggest, best and most popular Swedish bands and artists played there (plus Finnish Hurriganes who were always great). A few years into the 80s I also saw Europe, 220 Volt, Heavy Load and Treat play there. I also think that the Swedish punk moment had a very big impact on my interest in Swedish music.
When NWOBHM started to gain traction in 1980, new Swedish heavy metal bands, like E.F. Band, slowly but surely started to emerge. E.F. Band was the first Swedish hard rock band that had released records that I saw live. I saw them as the opening act for Rainbow at Scandinavium in Gothenburg in 1981. After that, I started searching intensely for Swedish hard rock/heavy metal bands and I bought whatever I could find, including the records that had been released in the 70s. That's when I discovered Heavy Load, whose importance for Swedish heavy metal should not be underestimated. Europe's win in the Rock-SM competition in December 1982 and the success that followed with their debut album meant a lot to Swedish hard rock/heavy metal. Thanks to their success, all Swedish record companies suddenly wanted to invest in at least one Swedish hard rock band. At the same time, foreign record companies began to show interest in Swedish bands. If we exclude E.F. Band, Silver Mountain was, if my memory serves me correctly, the first Swedish HM band to release an LP on a foreign label. They are another band that has meant a lot to me. Here comes the controversial and complicated essay-question:
What's your opinion on the Neutron Bomb that hit the Swedish Metal scene in May 26 of 1986, mercilessly melting all our swords of True Steel, and ruining all hopes of us developing a proper Power/Speed/Thrash scene like all the other cool kids in the European Metal school-yard? (Whatever your answer, the 2nd half of 80's Swedish Metal history was WEIRD compared to most other countries, wouldn't you agree?) I understand your thinking, but I don't really see it that way. To refer to the previous question, I think that Europe's early successes meant more to Swedish hard rock/HM than what "The Final Countdown" did damage to the same scene. Anyway, two weeks after that album came out, what is still my absolute favourite album when it comes to Swedish metal was released - "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" with Candlemass - so I think 1986 was a good year! They also continued to release fantastic albums during the rest of the 80s. Maninnya Blade also released their debut album that same year.
"Bands like Agony, Hexenhaus and Ice Age are prime examples!"
Many of the Swedish heavy metal bands that released albums during the first half of the 80s rode the NWOBHM wave which unfortunately more or less died in the mid-80s - without impact from Europe - and many of the bands split up around the same time. There were a lot of good heavier, and thrashier, Swedish bands during the second half/end of the 80s even though they didn't become as successful as they deserved. Bands like Agony, Hexenhaus and Ice Age are prime examples! There is probably no band that has received as much press as Ice Age did without releasing a single album. In addition, they did at least three proper European tours. Impressive! We can't forget Bathory who delivered throughout the 80s, and even a bit into the 90s. In other words, I'm quite satisfied with the Swedish metal scene even during the second half of the 80s. ...but we eventually fought back and made our Deathlike stance in 1989'ish and onward. What's your opinion on the Swedish Death & Black Metal phenomenon? The Swedish death metal wave was a breath of fresh air when it came and, after the US scene, the most important and style-defining scene within death metal. Most of the bands that made a name for themselves had a distinct style, even though many of the bands recorded at Sunlight. It's great that most of the most important bands in that wave are still around today, even though some of them are now doing completely different music. When we started the 2000 Decibel festival, all the important bands played at our festival, except Edge Of Sanity, and that's a bit special. In Sweden, death metal got its big media breakthrough in connection with Entombed's gig at the Hultsfredsfestivalen on August 9, 1991. It was the first time I saw them myself. They left a lasting impression! 
In 1989 you transitioned from freelancer to once again doing your own thing: Backstage - a more professional magazine focusing solely on Swedish Rock, featuring anything from Hard Rock, punk, classic rock to Metal (and undeniably a piece of Swedish 90's rock history!) What inspired this? A friend wanted to start a magazine, and he turned to me because I had previous experience. I said that if we were to have any chance of surviving as a magazine, we needed to specialize. I then suggested that we should only write about Swedish rock, which was very dear to my heart, and cover the entire musical spectrum that can be categorized as rock. That would make us unique, which it did. In addition to the musical breadth, we wrote about everything from demo bands to the biggest Swedish bands/artists. How and when did your Backstage-era end? What happened after? I closed the magazine in 1996, after 30 issues. After that, I stopped writing, I felt done with it. The last interviews I did for Backstage were with The Nomads and Bathory, who I met in Stockholm on the same day. The interview with Quorthon (we talked for five hours) is probably one of the longest that has ever been published about Bathory. I feel like I ended on a high. The only thing I've written after that was when Börje "The Boss" Forsberg asked me to write a text for the "In Memory Of Quorthon" box set with Bathory that was released after Quorthon had passed away (R.I.P.)
After I closed Backstage, I started my own management company, which I had for almost 15 years. It was called Phantom Music/Management. A funny thing is that when Rod Smallwood, Iron Maiden's manager, left Sanctuary, he started a new company, which was called Phantom Music Management (it was almost ten years after I had registered my company). For a number of years, I therefore received inquiries related to Iron Maiden. It could be anything from charity to gigs in South America to wanting to work on Ed Force One. Joe Petagno, who did many of Motörhead's covers, even sent me a suggestion for an album cover – completely in black and white.
Tell us some of the "2000 Decibel" festival.. In 2000 we started the 2000 Decibel festival, which was the only festival that focused entirely on Swedish hard rock and metal. I was the main person responsible for the festival. We ran it for six years and booked most of the best and biggest bands in Swedish metal. However, it wasn't the first festival I was responsible for. We arranged the Backstage Festival in 1991 and it was a festival that musically reflected the breadth of the magazine. Candlemass was one of the bands that played at that festival (they also played twice at 2000 Decibel). What we didn't know at the time was that it was the last gig that Messiah did with the band before he quit the first time. What makes that gig special is that it was probably the only gig he did without his monk's robe. He had forgotten to unpack it after a US tour so it had gotten moldy. He was wearing a tank top and sweatpants.
I am also very happy and proud that I managed to finish the project with the tribute album "Power From The North – Sweden Rocks The World". The album was released in 2000. On that album, some of the biggest/best Swedish hard rock/metal bands from around the turn of the millennium play covers of old Swedish hard rock bands. The aim was to show how many good Swedish bands there were and had been. Here in Sweden, most people didn't get it, but in the US the album had almost 1500 radio plays during that year. It ended up in about 83rd place among the most played hard rock albums. There were only three Swedish bands, and their albums, that had been played more.
"...but Yngwie is not Yngwie for nothing. Instead of "Seven Doors Hotel" he had recorded a cover of ABBA's 'Gimme Gimme Gimme'"
I could have easily written a book about everything that happened and what went wrong along the way when I put the album together. For example, I have my very own Yngwie Malmsteen story, which Anders Tegner (Swedish journalist) completely missed in his book about Yngwie. I contacted Yngwie and asked if he wanted to be on the album. He said yes and would record a cover of Europe's "Seven Doors Hotel". As the deadline approached, I contacted him to ask if he was finished with the recording. He was, but Yngwie is not Yngwie for nothing. Instead of "Seven Doors Hotel" he had recorded a cover of ABBA's "Gimme Gimme Gimme". After careful consideration I decided to include the song and put it as opening track on the album (Yngwie and ABBA are after all among the biggest artists we have/have had).
Yngwie's manager at the time, who later cheated him out of a huge amount of money, promised me to try to sell the album in Asia - for a percentage. He arranged a deal but when I got the deal Yngwie was no longer involved. The manager didn't think the deal made enough money, so they decided to release the song themselves (it ended up as the opening track on the compilation album "The Best of 1990-1999"). There I was with a finished master and a finished booklet that included Yngwie. It was just a matter of biting the bullet and paying to redo everything. Despite that, I think the album turned out really well. There are some really, really good covers on the album. (Ed's note: If only Nifelheim would have gotten to do that "Necrosexual Killer"-cover w/ Silver Mountain I'm sure it would have been an even bigger success/want-list item today ;D) The Corroseum is a Metal collector-focused site and wants to know: Do you still consider yourself a record collector? What kind of stuff do you hardcore collect and/or casually buy today? I don't see myself as a die-hard record collector anymore. I recently sold my vinyl collection as I had to sort out my financial situation after having to change the roof on my house. During the 80's and 90's I collected Swedish hard rock and metal records (I still got my 7-inches collection but who knows for how long). I still buy records but now it is more or less only CD's, and I buy both new and old albums (I still try to complete my collection).
Given your expertise, we're all curious about your old Swedish Metal & Hard Rock faves among:
...7" singles?
This is a tough one. I did not manage to keep it down to a top 10 list so here is my top 15 list (and I still feel that I have left a few good ones off the list)
...demos?
This one is an impossible task as I have loads of Swedish demos recorded but the following tapes are those that directly comes to mind:
I also have to mention bands like High Level, Highlight, Insane, Burn, Shylock, Rust, Killerhawk, Zoltan/Keen Hue, Mogg and Witch who also recorded good demos. In addition, there were many bands that later released records that also made great demos, like Silver Mountain, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Gotham City, Overdrive, Mercy, Sorcerer, Agony, Maninnya Blade, 220 Volt and Crystal Pride.
...albums?
This is also a tough one but here is another top 15 list (and I still feel that I have left a few good ones off the list) – with albums from the 80's:
"In my book, Rising from Vänersborg was the best Swedish 80s band that never released an LP..."
Are there any particular old, underrated Swedish bands that you think could have been huge, or at least have had a better career under different circumstances?
In my book, Rising from Vänersborg was the best Swedish 80s band that never released an LP while they were still active. However, they did release a compilation album, "Inside The Universe", in 2017. If you like Swedish 80s heavy metal, you should check that album out. I saw them live four times back in the days and they were great!
...and finally, DaN Macabre is ever so curious: What's the story behind the 'Phantom' monicker?
Phantom has been with me for over 40 years. When Mikael Jönsson (now Russell) and I decided to start Heavy Metal Massacre in 1983, he was already calling himself Metal Attack. He wanted me to have a pseudonym too. I was skeptical at first, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided that Phantom would work for me. I was reading the magazine The Phantom (Fantomen in Swedish) at the time, and he was tough on the tough (hård mot de hårda in Swedish). Then it also weighed in that Maiden had a song called "Phantom Of The Opera" and Metallica had one called "Phantom Lord".
