Le Journal des Mouches: Helena Josefsson, backing singer at Tambourine Studios and Gula Studion (III): Magnus Sveningsson, a righteous boy

Helena has been in the studio again. And this time with Magnus Sveningsson.

What do you get when a 'cardigan' (Magnus Sveningsson) records his first album with a 'ray wonder' (Henrik Andersson), a 'stockfinster' (Sebastian "Batti" Borg), two 'brainpool's (Jens Jansson and their producer Michael Ilbert), some "eggstones" (Patrick Barstosch and Per Sunding), some 'mopeds' (Petter Lindgard and his partner Marco Manieri) and a 'mouche' (Helena Josefsson)? A righteous boy.

Magnus Sveningsson was born April 4, 1972 in Falköping, Sweden. Sveningsson is best known as the bassist in the Swedish rock band The Cardigans.

Magnus has been recording a solo project entitled Righteous Boy with Jens Jansson (Brainpool's drummer) and Helena Josefsson (backing vocals). He writes about it in his myspace:

Hi, Why call myself 'Righteous Boy'? Isn't it a strange name for a 29 year old? Actually, I intended to call myself, 'Elephant Man', but the name was already taken, so I decided to use the name from the first track I wrote for this project: 'Righteous Boy/Righteous Girl'. It's a remarkable feeling to have made my own record and to be, at the same time, both beginner and an experienced rocker.

My background history might be well known, but I think I ought to tell it once more to be certain. In December 1998, I took time out from The Cardigans as the thought of touring for half a year or more made the decision for me. You see, at the time, I couldn't raise the energy for the traveling lifestyle during a difficult period. Of course there were many other reasons that contributed to the decision, but I don't think I should go into them here. Instead, you can read the lyrics on the album and come to your own conclusions.

Instead of touring, I began work at the Tambourine Studios here in Malmö. Without their help and support, I wouldn't be sitting here agonizing over the contents of this press release. On the other hand it can be quite a pleasant agony, which actually helps one to concentrate on being creative.

Magnus Sveningsson continues writing about his new project, Righteous boy.
In spite of The Cardigans' successes over the last few years, I felt myself drained of energy and now after a year in Tambourine's care, I realized why: I hadn't written any music at all, since the 'Last Song' on the "Emmerdale" album in 1994. I began to write and record some rough demos in my little bedroom studio during the winter of 99/00, and I found that it was really interesting to sing solo, as I had never done it before.

During the spring and summer, I started to work on improving the songs I had and got the chance to record in the Tambourine studios in the autumn. My friend, Sebastian, was extremely keen to help me produce the album, and so things really began to get going. During periods when the studio was free from bookings, we fitted in the recordings of 'I Feel Apart', 'Lone Among Friends' and 'Elephant Man'.

The overriding intention was to work on the project from within my circle of friends, which include many of Malmö's pop-artists. My best pal, Jens Jansson from Brainpool, agreed to play the drums, while I played the other instruments myself, except for a bit of guitar here and there that Sebastian took care of.

With fingers crossed, we waited for gaps in Tambourine's bookings calendar, while I managed to write some new tracks in preparation for recording. Sebastian became involved with another project during the autumn, so I moved the recording sessions to take place in our rehearsal room instead, which doesn't have the same pleasant atmosphere as Tambourine does! Together with Henrik Andersson from Ray Wonder, I recorded the backing tracks to, among others, 'Love Among Friends', 'No More Love', 'I Made It Hard For You To Love Me'. Despite the fact that we had to work under quite difficult and limiting conditions, Henrik's equipment is more basic than Tambourine's, I managed to pull the project together. I believe that the album benefited from Henrik's creative input, as his musical background differs significantly from Sebastian's and mine. If you like, it might be fun to try and guess which tracks Henrik has contributed most to. We eventually managed to give the album its necessary shape and form, with thanks due to Nathan Larson, who helped me with the programming on, for example, 'Righteous Boy/Righteous Girl' and 'No More Love'. We then invited in an outside observer in the shape of Michael Ilbert, the master mixer from Gothenburg. We needed someone who would really be able come in and clean up our sound files and generally squeeze the best out of the tracks, as it's easy for one to become blind to certain details when you've been looking at something too long - like an Ice Hockey trainer can be... After the summer and autumn, the record was finalized and mixed-down, which felt really strange, perhaps, because I have dared to finally sever the safety line, and that something important and time consuming had come to fruition at last. Most of all, this feels like my rightful comeback, but to something that I never had before. The fact that The Cardigans have kept my place for me until I'm ready again, is wonderful, but I would hardly be an asset for the band if it wasn't for what I have achieved for myself over the last year. None of the other cardigans played on the album, but that is just the way things turned out. Now it is time for the release and there's no going back. All I can do now is close my eyes and hope that it goes well.