News

First of all, I want to thank everyone who offered to listen to my demos and rank them! It’s been very helpful when choosing what songs to make music videos for, track listing, how to improve the songs, and so on!

Out of the 50 ranked lists I’ve collected, every single song has been both in some people’s top 3’s, and other people’s bottom 3’s. I don’t know if this is a good or a bad thing, but it certainly makes it harder to cut any of them from the album!
So in the end, I have decided that this album will have 17 songs! Something for everyone.

Number of times featured in people’s top 3:
16 – Who I Am (6 girls, 10 guys)
15 – Rebirth (10 girls, 5 guys)
13 – A Second Chance (8 girls, 5 guys)
12 – Unraveled Lies (4 girls, 8 guys)
10 – Utopia (9 girls, 1 guy)
10 – Have a Bite (4 girls, 6 guys)
9 – Guide Me (7 girls, 2 guys)
9 – When We Dance (3 girls, 6 guys)
8 – Two Hearts (7 girls, 1 guy)
8 – How it Was (6 girls, 2 guys)
8 – Feeling Low (4 girls, 4 guys)
6 – Chemistry (4 girls, 2 guys)
6 – Rainbow Machine (2 girls, 4 guys)
5 – Livet på Havet (2 girls, 3 guys)
5 – The Keepers of the Sky (0 girls, 5 guys)
5 – In Disguise (5 girls, 0 guys)
4 – Reversed (2 girls, 2 guys)
1 – Away We Go (1 girl, 0 guys)

I had planned to make music videos for A Second Chance, Unraveled Lies, Utopia and Have a Bite, so I’m very glad that these are all proven to be among the favorites. :) There is already an animated video being worked on for The Keepers of the Sky, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy that one much more when it’s connected to an awesome video that shows the story!

Out of the 18 songs (well originally I made 30 songs, but I filtered them down to 18 before making this survey), I’m only cutting one of the songs, and it’s the Swedish one, Livet på Havet. For those who love it, I’m sorry! But it was also at the bottom of almost half the lists, so if I had to cut ONE song, this was the one. (I want to add that even if Away We Go was only featured once in a top 3, it’s in 10 people’s top 5, which means 20% of all lists! Can’t cut that.)

If all goes well, I’ll start posting videos in late november, and continue with one video per week, leading up to the release.

Now it’s time to start working on a Disney Medley…

Stay tuned! :)

It’s taken longer than planned, but now I have 18 near-finished songs, ready to be mixed! My original plan was to make “accessible and laid-back acoustic songs” for this album, but as usual, it got its own life and became something else.

I’m happy with how it turned out! :) It’s hard to describe them, but there’s still a large focus on acoustic guitars, piano and vocals. But we’ve got some pop, some rock, some prog, some disney-ish stuff, some videogame-ish stuff. I think it’s a good mix!

I need YOUR help now though! I’d like as many people as possible to listen to the songs, and rank them all from best to worst, in your opinion! Then I will put together statistics based on your lists, to figure out which songs should get music videos, AND, which 1-3 songs I should trash, because 18 is a bit much for an album…

So, send me a message and we can get started! :)

The first thing I had to do once I found my apartment here in the Philippines, was to build a small recording booth! I had never done anything like it before, but it was fun, and I like the results! (Except that it gets hot quickly, hehe, so I have to use the aircon inbetween the takes.)

Now I can shout whenever I want, and the recordings get nice and dry.
Time to start making that album!

Alright, so after almost two years of radio silence, I guess it’s time to try updating this regularly again. Hello!

First I want to get the last two years out of the way: I’ve been traveling. I wanted to get away from everything, and try new things. This will be a long update with lots of pictures, and after this, I will tell you about the future. (You can hover your mouse above the pictures to see little comments, and click for full view.)

So, first I spent a few months in Israel, Italy, Malta and Morocco:

After that, a couple of months in Argentina and Uruguay:

Then a few months in Brazil:

Followed by a month or two in Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia and Peru:

Then I continued my Latin America trip through Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Costa Rica. Too many stories to tell, really. If you’ve got any questions, you’re free to send me a comment/message! :)

Then I went back to Europe, and had a shorter trip through Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia. Then I stayed a month in Spain, and ended with Denmark before I returned for a short visit back in Sweden.

Now I have rented an apartment in the Philippines, and I’ve started planning/working on some new videos and a new (more pop oriented) album, which I hope people will enjoy!

That’s it! Don’t believe the rumors; I’m still alive, and still planning to do more youtube stuff, one day!

See you.

So, it’s been almost two months since the release of my second album, Brighter Skies. With no real marketing or collaborators, the start has been slow, except for the support from my lovely “fans”/friends who are seemingly always there for me. :) So thank you, again!

The reception seems to be positive though, especially from prog rock fans (it is a prog rock album after all), so I figured I’ll share reviews and comments here, both good and bad! Maybe it can help people decide if they should give the album a try or not!

And here are reviews:
9/10 review in DPRP by Nathan Waitman.
5/5 video review by Allen Thompson.
5/5 by Mxyzptlk at amazon.com.
4.5/5 by UnsaltedCatfish at sputnikmusic.com.
3.5/5 (still a positive one!) by Matt Di Giordano at progulator.com.

Also, plenty of nice reviews and ratings at progarchives.com!

Have opinions to share? Send a comment with a link or your review, and any help with spreading the word would also be appreciated! :)

Fredrik Larsson is on Mixlr

Hello people!

I have updated the CD shop, where you can BUY my new CD right now!
If you only want a digital download, you can find that here or at bandcamp.

It’s a progressive rock album called Brighter Skies, and I’d describe it as quite experimental but still melodic and pleasant-sounding, and I’m very happy with how it has turned out!
Here’s a new interview if you want to know more about myself and the album.

I’ve decided to offer both a standard jewel case edition, as well as a signed digipak edition:

The jewel case is cheaper to press, and will be shipped from either USA or the Netherlands, depending on what region you want it delivered to. Not signed. This is the cheaper option.

The digipak will be pressed in a more limited number, and I will ship them out myself after having signed them. I will also include a signed photo, and to the 50 first pre-orderers, a personal drawing! (Tell me what you’d like me to draw along with the order.)

Those who have pre-ordered will also get the digital download for free on the release date, July 14, 2014.

Oh, and I’ve put together a little sample MP3 that you can have a listen to, although it’s difficult/impossible to pick out bits that summarize the entire album:
Brighter Skies Sample

I’m trying to decide whether I should go with jewel case or digipak for my new album. I personally prefer digipaks, because they seem nicer and more personal. But I also see why many prefer the sturdier and standardized jewel case!

So, which do YOU prefer? See poll on the right!

Jewel case:

Digipak:

Just a short update: Louis Abramson from JOLLY (check out his facebook page for regular updates) has now finished recording the drums for my new album, so it’s almost done now! What’s left is for him to mix the tracks, and for me to finalize the lyrics for the final track and record them.

I think it’s turning out really well, and I hope you all will like it too!