David Myhr - Soundshine

David Myhr interview for J-Pop World

Posted: March 2nd, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on David Myhr interview for J-Pop World

Any plans this weekend? If not, it might be the perfect moment to read the brand new David Myhr interview for J-Pop World!!! Just click on the screen dump below… enjoy!!!


Free download of Soundshine opening track “Never mine” (stripped down version)

Posted: February 22nd, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off on Free download of Soundshine opening track “Never mine” (stripped down version)
With the release of my solo debut album Soundshine only a month away  I have a special surprise gift for you all to enjoy. Together with my U.K./European label Lojinx that will launch Soundshine throughout Europe I am today sharing with you a free download of the album’s bittersweet opening track “Never mine” in an alternate, very “stripped down” version – or “unplugged” version if you prefer:

This version has no drums or electric guitars and a lot less overdubs than what you will hear on the album. Although not fully as “naked” as my earlier acoustic cover versions of ABBA’s “Happy New Year” and Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers”.
The song is one of my personal favorites on the album and I sincerely hope you will like it too!
If you are Japanese fan who already bought the album on it’s pre-release in December  – this is your chance to discover an album track in a new way!
All you have to do is click on the “Get it now”-button above and it will ask for your e-mail address. A second later you’l have an e-mail in your inbox asking to confirm and the download begins! I would be thankful for any help from all you early followers in spreading the word. One way to do this is of course to use the “share”-button on the widget above – or this whole blog post with the buttons below.
In any case – thanks a lot for your help! Now please enjoy and “sing, sing, sing, sing…”!

David “Swamp” live in Finland!

Posted: January 23rd, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on David “Swamp” live in Finland!

I’m happy to announce that after my Christmas show in Madrid, Spain, and my January performances at club Wonder in Osaka, and at the Shimokitazawa three in Tokyo, Japan, it is now time for a couple of shows in my neighbor country Finland!

Starting of in Vaasa on Feb 10 at O’Malley’s acting as a “living Beatles jukebox” which is a side project I sometimes entertain myself (and hopefully the audience as well) with. The concept is I enter the stage where there’s an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and a piano – and I ask the audience: “-What do yo wanna hear?”. Then they can shout whatever Beatles title they want. And off I go – singing and banging out the song on whatever instrument I find suitable. A fun concept with many possible twists and turns in the repertoire. I never know what to expect. It can start with “Sexy Sadie” and end up with “Hey Bulldog”. Or (more likely) start off with “All my loving” and end up with “Hey Jude”. All depending on the “level” and mood of the attending crowd….

The second Finnish show will take place in Turku on March 2 at a the cool pop club Flavour of the Month (named after The Posies great song) hosted by Pikku-Torre. This time I will go back to playing only my own stuff – both from the upcoming album Soundshine but also my old songs from my time with the Merrymakers –  and I look forward to meeting the audience over there and the people behind the club and the Finnish pop site One Chord To Another who seem to have an impeccable taste in music. Click the picture below to come to the event page:

Finland for me is quite exotic although I do have a special bond to the country since my father grew up in a small village called Kukkola close to the Torne river.  Quoting Wikipedia: “The Finnish and Swedish sides of the river were once one cultural entity, as before 1809 they were both parts of Sweden”. As a child my father actually spoke Finnish at home and he was born with the Finnish name Suo as his last name. In the 50’s he and his brothers had their last name “translated” into Swedish and then the family name became Myhr from the Swedish word “myr”. What it means in English…? “Swamp”! How about David Swamp as my new artist name?

The last thing I have to say related to Finland for now is that you have to see the movie Steam of Life if you can get your hands on it. It’s about “Finnish men in sauna, speaking straight from the heart.”. A master piece if you ask me!


David Myhr welcomes Tom Petty to Europe by singing “Wildflowers”!

Posted: January 16th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The first time I took notice of Tom Petty was when I was watching the Live Aid concert on TV in 1985. I remember thinking as a 15-year old; “what an boring old fart with silly glasses…”. Instead I was fascinated by Bowie & Jagger, U2 and Queen etc, and hoping for a rumoured Beatles reunion with Julian Lennon instead of John. (In the end the final turned out to be Paul McCartney singing “Let it be” without a functioning microphone…)

Little did I know that only three years later Tom Petty would team up with ex-Beatle George Harrison who had just made a comeback with the brilliant Cloud Nine album, and that album’s producer ex-E.L.O. genius Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, and Roy Orbison in the supergroup Traveling Wilburys. And soon after came one of my all time favorite albums – Petty’s masterpiece Full Moon Fever. I was blown away and realized he’s the coolest artist on earth, writing nothing but brilliant songs and with a taste for Beatles, Byrds, Dylan, American roots rock, British new wave á la Costello, Rickenbacker guitars, well… I could make the list longer. (No wonder another pop fanatic like Sweden’s Per Gessle of Roxette always was a big fan!) Another few years later came the album “Wildflowers” and I realized Petty is like vintage vine. Just gets better with age. (At least up ’til that point.)

I saw him live in Stockholm in ’93, and I saw him at Hollywood Bowl, L.A. (where I amazingly have played myself two times), in 2006 (with my hero Jeff Lynne as a guest!), and now it’s time again to welcome him to Europe after twenty years!

So while waiting for my solo album Soundshine due for release in Europe on Lojinx this spring I thought this was enough reason to have a go at one of my favorite Petty songs – “Wildflowers”.  Just like I did with ABBA’s “Happy New Year” a couple of weeks ago I decided to keep it simple; one voice – one guitar. As I said then I’m often tempted to add layers of vocals and lots of overdubs. It’s like Jeff Lynne said in this interview “I used to think that more is more, I just loved to overdub.”.

I didn’t intend to make the song “my own” by changing it around too much which is normally recommended when making cover versions but I just think it’s perfect as it is. Sorry for that!

 

Hope you enjoy! Please feel free to share the YouTube clip or download a free mp3 (“arrow pointing down”) or share from the Soundcloud player above.

 


Merrymakin’ in Japan!

Posted: January 3rd, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments »

I am truly excited to be here in Japan again on the Soundshine promo tour of Japan that I wrote about yesterday!

I fell in love with the country when I was there a few times in end of the 90’s with the Merrymakers promoting our two albums. We traveled all over the country to make showcases at record stores, signing records and making interviews. It was in a strange time when the music business was doing well (believe it or not!) and Swedish music was particularly successful there. Such were the times that for example the record company would pay a trip for the three of us to only to take a photo for the front cover of our album “Bubblegun”. They put us, the struggling poor musicians, in one fancy hotel suite each for a whole week and it must have costed a small fortune (not least considering the bills from various sky bars, restaurants etc). Ironically the photo we ended up with features us in the stairs of a subway station – a photo that could just as well have been taken in Stockholm… but in all insanity, for me the experience created some unforgettable memories. Please feel free to enjoy a long lost super-rare promo clip of our Japanese radio smash hit “Monument of Me” which I found the other day on a VHS at home:

After a few years of longing back to Japan Paula and I went there in 2007 and it was great – catching up in person with old friends, business associates, a few loyal fans, and artists that I had been writing for – here for instance together with Puffy (left), Sarasa IFU (center). We also were introduced to the very famous Japanese artist Tamio Okuda (to the right).

We came back in 2009 and this time I also made an acoustic live appearance at Club Wonder in Osaka (which I also will do tomorrow!) even though I still wasn’t officially a solo artist, just a Merrymaker without any new music to present. Only five days later(!) I came back to take part in a songwriting camp writing songs with Japanese artist but that’s for another blog post…

This time there’s no major label involved though. Rumors has it that they are specializing in Korean boy-bands and no matter how I try I don’t seem to fit in that category. Instead, a small cool and tasteful independent label named Thistime Records has licensed the rights for Japan from me. They seem to have a great love for guitar based melodic pop and power pop so I have certainly found a great “home” for my record here in Japan which I am very humbly thankful and happy about.


What I miss the most when traveling in recent years

Posted: December 14th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

When I travel and come to new cities what I enjoy most is to just ”feel the vibe”. The best way to that is often just to walk around a little bit, sit down at some café, grab a bite to eat at some restaurant, and maybe (probably) enjoy a beer or two at some nice bar. With that, my life as a traveller is almost complete. Especially if I’m in good company. I can even do it on my own for quite a while – as long as there’s wifi in the cafés and bars so I still can be in contact with my loved one, my friends and family, my fans, and try to get my career going (for the 20th year in a row!) with e-mails, social medias, and so on… It would take many, many hours to get me bored as long as I have my MacBook Pro, a power plug so I don’t run out of battery, and a high speed internet connection.

As for other activities when coming to a new city I must admit I don’t care much for museums. I often find myself thinking: ”I could look this up on the internet anyway instead of standing in front of a wall and reading a sign…” (is this strange?), my legs get tired, and I start longing for the computer and/or the café/bar/restaurant life that I enjoy so much.

“What about shopping then?” you might ask… Well that’s another area where I easily get stressed, nervous, sweaty, and tired (like every man does, or is that just a prejudice?). Again, I keep longing back to the same things mentioned above. This is even more true in modern times when every city has the same kind of shopping complexes with the same kind of chain stores (H&M, Zara, etc….) selling the same things. Quite frustrating actually!

I do get excited occasionally if there are stores that sell things that are unique and appeal to my interests, like Liam Gallagher’s clothes shop Pretty Green on Carnaby street in London. I mean; who can resist a store that have the good taste in marketing a new ”Lennon jacket” for every season. That’s an example where I don’t mind going shopping. However my wife gets worried and frustrated when I start waving around with my credit card since things there are about ten times more expensive than the kind of clothes she normally buys. So I try to not go there too often…

But the one single thing I miss the most from the last few years of travelling is the record stores that suddenly all just disappeared! Such a tragedy! That was like the ”oasis” in every shopping area where I could sneak in and spend long hours just browsing around, looking at record covers, listen to music, check out rock’n’roll biographies and just enter a room that in itself was a ”world of music”. Today everyone carry their own ”music world” around in their iPhones and that’s of course great (I am one of them) but the expereience is no longer shared the same way and there’s nowhere to spend your shopping hours anymore. The last time I remember doing at home here in Stockholm was at Pet Sounds which can be seen in the video for “Looking for a life”:

I completely agree with what my ”good friend” Paul McCartney said when supporting Record Store Day  a couple of years ago: ”There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store…” ”…what fantastic memories such a collection of music brings back when you see it all in one place.”

Even in the world’s largest cities the record stores are few and far between. When I come to Tokyo the next time I will make sure to visit a few of the remaining ones. I will take my responsibility to try to keep them alive by buying at least ten CD’s this time maybe for instance Tim Christensen’s, or The Jayhawks‘ latest album. It’s true that I put my CD collection in the basement already in 2003 so the CD’s will ultimately end up in a shoebox. But I miss the feeling of the phsycial CD and the record store so much that I will pay the price. The fact that I’m supporting the suffering artists, producers, musicians, sound engineers, graphic designers, and record label people at the same time makes the decision even easier. After all music matters!

And it’s very likely that this particular time I will stop an extra few minutes in the ”M” section where Aimee Mann, Roger Manning Jr, The Mommyheads, The Mockers, The Merrymakers, and Paul McCartney, this year will be joined by a certain David Myhr! Here below is a recent picture from Shibuya Tower Records, I might even want to try listening to ”disc 9” and see if it’s worth the high price… we’ll see!

What about you? Do you feel the same way? Please share your thoughts as a comment to this blogpost or on my Facebook page.


Soundshine due for release in Japan on Dec 7!

Posted: November 24th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

I am very pleased to be able to announce that my “upcoming” album Soundshine ACTUALLY is “coming”, finally!!! The first country that will have the album in stores is Japan and the release date is Dec 7, 2011. The album will be released by the fine label Thistime Records.

…on its output called Power pop academy.

As some of you may know my former band The Merrymakers had some success in Japan in the late 90’s when we sold more than 100,000 copies of our albums and our song “Monument of me” was a huge radio hit. I had the fortune of going there five times with the band during that period until things calmed down. We made promotional tours doing radio interviews, and in-store performances, signed CD’s, played a showcase gig (with ex-Jellyfish Andy Sturmer on drums!), and so on… I developed a long term love affair with the country and Japan has a very special place in my heart. Through the years I have found so many wonderful people there and things don’t get worse by the fact that I have had the luxury of having a few of my songs released by Japanese artists like Puffy, Miku Kakoi, Sarasa IFU, Yuko Yamaguchi, and Tokio.

As everybody know 2011 has been a year of terrible catastrophes for Japan and my thoughts and deepest concerns have since then been with its people and my heart goes out for all of those who have lost their loved ones.

After such an enormous tragedy the event of releasing my album suddenly can feel even smaller and more unimportant than before when looking at things in a big perspective, but nonetheless it’s a long-awaited (at least for me personally) “comeback” on the Japanese scene as an artist. Way too many years have passed since the release of the Merrymakers last album Bubblegun. I’m looking very much forward to trying to spread some “soundshine” and joy in Japan and I will also be going there for a promotional tour to support the album in the very beginning of January 2012.

The Japanese version of the album will have of two bonus tracks. Both are songs that I originally wrote for the phenomenal and famous Japanese artist duo called Puffy (a.k.a. PuffyAmiYumi). The first one is an exclusive “for Japan only” song called “Boom Boom Beat”.

Feel free to check out Puffy’s version as well (that was produced by former co-Merrymaker Anders Hellgren and me) in this live performance:

The second bonus track is called “Record Collection” and it’s a song I’ve written together with the extremely talented and succesful Swedish songwriter Peter Kvint who I had the pleasure to get to know during a songwriting camp in Tokyo a couple of years ago. Puffy released it earlier this year as their 15th anniversary song which was kind of logical since in their version it was called “Happy Birthday”.

So in some funny way my new versions will by “covers” of my own songs. Confusing indeed! I had a lot of fun returning to the songs again, and recording them in my own way and the best thing is that Ami and Yumi from Puffy were kind enough to lend their vocal services adding some background vocals to these versions so the two bonus tracks will be “David Myhr feat. Puffy”.

More about my songwriting for Puffy in an interview from 2009 in a Puffy fan site called PuffyAmiYumiWorld.

For those in the rest of the world who are very eager to hear the album, or are in desperate need for the ultimate Christimas gift – please feel free to investigate the possibilities of international orders either from Thistime Records Onlinestore or here at CD Japan. But rest assured that there will be a European release in the spring of 2012. To stay tuned for updates, just subscribe to this blog and “like” my Facebook page.


Summer single on its way! “Looking for a life” to be released June 1st!

Posted: May 6th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Summer is not too far away now and my contribution to the soundtrack for your summer will be the second single from the upcoming album Soundshine. The song is called “Looking for a life” and will be released on June 1st worldwide on iTunes Store and various other digital platforms.

An accompanying video with sceneries from beautiful Stockholm will have its premiere on the same day on my YouTube Channel.

The melody for this song was written in Nashville a few years ago when I hooked up with the American songwriter Ian Eskelin (All Star United). It was one of my first co-writing experiences outside of my previous band the Merrymakers. As an artist and writer Eskelin has had more than thirty Top 10 singles in the United States, including 12 #1 charting songs. He has additionally had international #1 songs in various countries including Japan, Singapore, and Australia.

The song was lacking a lyric for a while until I had the brilliant idea to ask Andreas Mattsson for help. Part of the reason for this was the fact that Ian Eskelin had expressed a big interest in Swedish indie-pop music from the 90’s including Mattsson’s former band Popsicle and my own former band the Merrymakers. So it kind of made sense.

On this song as well as on the rest of the album I’ve had the pleasure to collaborate with co-producer Andreas Dahlbäck (Lundell, Ternheim, Motorhomes, Eskobar) who also plays the drums. The other musicians featured on this single are Anders Pettersson (The Perishers, Deportees) and Rikard Lidhamn (Oh! Laura).

Please check back here my the official web site or at my Facebook Band Page on June 1st for the world premiere of my summer single “Looking for a life”. And while waiting for the next single please enjoy a very recent interview that I made for the on-line magazine Über Röck.


Exclusive interview for Über Rück about the “lost years”, going solo and making babies in the studio!

Posted: May 2nd, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: post | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Exclusive interview for Über Rück about the “lost years”, going solo and making babies in the studio!

A brand new in depth interview I made for the on-line magazine Über Röck can now be found by clicking here or on the picture below.

David Myhr – once one half of Swedish power popsters The Merrymakers – has gone solo! And, like a heavily pregnant lady, his first album is due anytime soon. He already has a name picked out: ‘Soundshine’. Like any proud father-to-be David was eager to share a few words and a few cigars with us Über Röckers. He tells us how to make babies in the studio (recorded ones of course), what happened in his ‘Lost Years’ and what it was like working with the Godfather of powerpop – Andy Sturmer.