Swedish guitar star Dregen will have his first solo album released via Spinefarm Records in the UK on October 7th.
Titled simply ‘Dregen’, this forthcoming release is a modern take on an era when rock music came ready-dipped in decadence and glamour; when the commercial and the credible could sit comfortably side by side; when albums were a great 35 minutes over 2 sides of vinyl rather than fleshed out with filler; when backing vocals were big & brash & (feather) boa’d; when heels & musicians were generally high; when emotion & entertainment were the driving forces, and when lifestyle was king…
Produced by Dregen & Pär Wiksten (The Wannadies), this 10-track outing – Dregen’s first solo venture in a 25-year career that has seen him at the core of such internationally acclaimed acts as Backyard Babies & The Hellacopters – features all new material, and is a contemporary & inventive distillation of the Stockholm-based guitarist’s far-reaching record collection.
As well as being a key and original member of both Backyard Babies & The Hellacopters, Dregen has also lent his skills to projects as diverse as Infinite Mass(’70s-inspired, ‘Scarface’-lovin’ sleaze-funk), Supershit666 (spontaneous rock‘n’roll distortion with various Wildhearts & Hellacopters keepin’ the needle maxed ) and Michael Monroe’s touring & recording band (the sleeve concept for MM’s forthcoming ‘Horns And Halos’ album is his, too), so it’s no great surprise that the aforementioned collection is both lovingly-compiled and built on punk as much as rock, jazz as much as blues…
“Y’know, that was the hardest part,” recalls Dregen. “I was staring at my records for over a year, thinking, ‘How the f**k can I get the vibe from KISS, Slayer, theBeastie Boys and Miles Davis into one single record?’ But I did it, and it sounds very much like me. It’s a high energy rock ‘n’ roll album with the greatest songs I have written and recorded.”
As for the musicians involved, Nicke Andersson (former Entombed mainman/drummer, co-founder of The Hellacopters and now the driving force behind Imperial State Electric) plays drums, bass & rhythm guitar on three tracks, where he also gets a co-write credit. Other featured musicians include drummer Karl Rockfist(Michael Monroe / Danzig), and bassists Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls, Joan Jett, Michael Monroe) & John Calabrese (Danko Jones), withDregen taking care of all guitar and vocal parts, and Danko Jones and Swedish female singer, Titiyo, adding occasional support at the mic…
However, it’s the reunion with Nicke that will doubtless mean most to rock ‘n’ roll fans the world over… “It’s true,” reflects Dregen, “Something magic always happens when we play and write together. I don’t know what it is, but there is definitely something special there. Nicke is one of my all-time favourite drummers, and we haven’t really worked this closely since the early Hellacopters days…”
Recorded for the most part in Pär Wiksten’s ‘Hospital1’ studio in Stockholm, with mixing handled by Michael Ilbert at the legendary Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, these 10 tracks come in a variety of hues & colours, moods & textures, veering from hard-hitting blues (‘Flat Tyre On a Muddy Road’), through sinewy, snake-hipped funk (‘6-10’) and onto kool, Kiss-inspired strut ‘n’ roll (‘Mojo’s Gone’).
Like Dregen The Man, ‘Dregen’ The Album is hard to sum up in an easy phrase; what we have here is a multi-tiered collection of from-the-heart songs – songs packed with retro-chic, glam-rock glitter, and shapes ‘n’ sounds that are modern without chasing trend.
The track-listing is as follows:-
Division Of Me
Just Like That
Flat Tyre On A Muddy Road
Gig Pig
Pink Hearse
Bad Situation
One Man Army
6-10
Refuse
Mojo’s Gone
You can pre-order the album here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00ENZUUPI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1379441193&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/dregen/id695077916
