HJ's spreading summer light (IV): Helena's Official Forum

http://www.phpbb88.com/helena/

Nicole's forum will be Helena Josefsson's Official forum.

Congratulations to all we: Nicole, Heike and Nightpearl (Germany), Arlanda (Switzerland), Iza (Poland), Emma (Sweden), Louise (Wales), Sleepyhead and me (Spain), Ricardo (Venezuela), Sarah (Netherlands), ... This is an international forum, isn't it?

Alberto Fuente (aka Lantartida),
from Madrid, ES

Hi to all users!

We are in contact with lovely Helena and are proud to tell you, that we will be THE OFFICIAL HELENA JOSEFSSON FORUM very soon. Helena told us to put a permanent link to our forum on her official website soon. Because of these great news, we want to change our style a bit to look similar to Helena´s official website in the near future. Hopefully it works! So, please don´t be irritated, if this forum doesn´t look like you know it now. I will fool around a bit to find the most perfect style for it. It could change its style every minute when I´m trying out different styles. Don´t worry, it´s nothing wrong then. I hope you like these news!

Greetings,

Nicole Breuer - HJ Official Forum

EHM Turné 0- Halmstad (preview)

10 July Halmstad (preview) Leif's Lounge

Video by Jens Jansson

Thomas Evensson, from the The Daily Roxette, was "at the crime scene" - at Leif's Lounge in Halmstad, for Per's "sneak preview" of "En händig man på turné."

There are several hundred people there, among them Freddie Ljungberg, Martin Dahlin and Börje Salming, or should I say as Per puts it "All the guys with their own underwear label is here!" There are also some 20 South American Roxette fans here. The concert starts at 22:15, a bit fashionably late, it's Per. The whole place rocks with the opening number "Hannas kärlekspil." Per and the band plays 11 songs, and skips one. All of the songs are great, but one stands out; "Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke" which turns into exactly what I had imagined. A show stopper that keeps on going!

Thomas met Per after the concert, where he and the band were presented a triple platinum award for "En händig man." Per were very satisfied with the concert:

It felt great, everyone tells me I should do more club gigs. Actually it seems I will. I wanted to do this thing for SOAP down in Europe, but now 'En händig man' goes so well in Norway that we are planning a club tour there. We may even pop over to Finland and Denmark.

Everything seems set for the big premiere tomorrow. The set list:

1 Hannas kärlekspil
2 Det hjärta som brinner
3 En sten vid en sjö i en skog
4 En händig man
5 På promenad genom stan
6 Juni, juli, augusti
7 Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke
8 Här kommer alla känslorna
9 Födelsedag
10 Gå & fiska!

Extras

11 Fru Nordin*
12 Sommartider

* They skipped Fru Nordin as an extra
at Leif's for reasons unknown.

LJdM

Here I just want to share some photos with you.

A day off from the touring, Martin and I discovering the surroundings of Halmstad! There is a place in the middle of nowhere where they make really great italian ice cream!! I was raised eating a lot of ice cream because my father he is a real snowman who loves it himself :o)

This is what it looked like, before the Per Gessle concert in Halmstad, when Lisa made our hair and makeup. I was enjoying the company of all the kids of the band: Frida, Billy, Hugo, Ella, Agnes and Ingrid wearing her dad´s hat! Lisa would give them some lipgloss and a curl each in their hair. But I think Hugo passed on that one :o)

Martin took a picture of the “By your side” video when it was shown on the big screen as a part of the warm up videos before the show! I have very Biiiiig wrinkles :o)

Love, Helena

Helena Josefsson - H.J.

Pictures by Mimmi Blomberg, from Blekinge, SE (aka svartaglas) -HJ Fanclub Portal

HJ's spreading summer light (III): Pildammsteatern - Malmö

I have been at Peace & Love with all my shirts and bags and stuff, hoping that people want some. I'll try to be on every gig near Malmö - Helsingborg - Göteborg. I'll take every chance I get! There was a lot of people taking photos of her, so I put a small adv to them. And then I should give one to Helena, but she got so happy so she gave it away to someone that bought her album. Ooh, she is sooooo sweet! I wish some day to be some sort of photographer to her. Well, somehow I am already .. I mean official. Dad came with a good suggestion. He said i could be her official paparazzi, what do you tink? hahahahaha

Emma Sonesson (aka BiLLY) - HJ Fanclub Portal

Do you have any idea how we can help Helena with promoting her album? I have done only a small step here in Germany. I wrote an email to EMI Germany and told them about this young Swedish woman with the great voice. They were very thankful for that inspiration, but nothing else happened yet.

I´m wondering, if I should send her "By your side" single, which I have twice, to the biggest radiostation in Germany. But I´m not sure, if it´s worth it or a bit too strange. Have you done something like this before? Or what do you think about that? What can we do? Everyone´s opinion is needed!

Nicole Breuer (Germany) - HJ Official Forum

I've uploaded a video to YouTube ("Never Never" on Bingolotto), and have posted about Helena on several online forums. I also have the videos from Bingo Royale and Nyhetsmorgon, but I'm having trouble editing them so I can upload them to YouTube. My promotional efforts are more casual: Recommending her to friends, making them listen to her music when they visit, or showing her videos around ("By Your Side" is one of the videos I keep on my mobile).

I like the idea of sending singles to radio stations! Capitol Records wanted nothing to do with The Beatles, till American DJs started playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" of their own accord and the public started clamoring for more. And for a more relevant example, think of how Roxette first got huge in the States: An American student went home from a stay in Sweden enamored with the band, requested "The Look" at a local radio station, and the rest is history.

I think the best thing to do is to request her songs at local radio stations. Even better, if you know someone in the radio scene, get them to listen to her material (maybe give them one of her singles or whatnot). Does MTV Europe (and the other local MTV stations such as MTV Portugal) have any TRL-type shows? That might be another avenue to pursue... I think stations have to pay a "tax" to the record company, as broadcasting a song means that a listener could theoretically tape the broadcast, effectively acquiring a copy of the song without paying for it. One would think the record companies would welcome the free publicity (after all, who would choose a poorly taped radio broadcast over a pristine authentic copy of the single on CD?), but not in this mad world we live in I think sending them the single could still work. I mean, the idea is to make them aware of her music. A note like "hey, this is a great song I'd love to hear on your show..." would be great. They'll be aware of what (if any) legal steps they'd need to take to make it possible for them to broadcast it. Or maybe it'd be quicker (and cheaper) to send them links to her videos online. I don't think I'd have much luck with that here in Venezuela, because local stations favor latin music over all other styles (don't get me started...), but in Europe it might succeed.

Ricardo Colmenares (Venezuela)- RC's MySpace

HJ's spreading summer light (II): Peace & Love 2007

Helena Josefsson has been at Peace & Love Festival in Borlänge (Sweden) yesterday - www.peaceandlove.nu

Before the gig, Helena said:

"The 5-piece version of the band will join this festival. It will be lovely, in one of the most beautiful parts of Sweden!"

Johanna Wallin took some great photos for rockfoto.nu and Fanny W. uploaded a video:

Video by Fanny W. (aka feebit) - from Borlänge, SE

My name is Christoffer, 23 years old, from Jönkping, Sweden. I first heard of Helena Josefsson when I saw the video to By Your Side in January, so I´m kind of a new fan I guess! Never heard of her before, probably because I don´t really listen to Per Gessle´s music ( sorry folks, not totally my cup of tea although some of his works are great ). Bought her CD right away and it became the "soundtrack" to my life last spring!

It is the first time I have seen her live, at Peace and Love Festival in Borlänge and it has been one of the most memorable concerts I´ve ever been to!!!

Christoffer Strandell (aka Johnny Pierce; aka Stoffe),
from Jönkping, SE - Zeplord

By your side, the first solo single by Helena Josefsson, has been reviewed in the on-line magazine ALIEN HITS by Nick, from the United States, on 28th June. Read it here: ALIEN HITS (June 2007) - By your side

LJdM

I am somehow convinced that "By your side" is a cover of an older classic, yet I’ve found no proof of this. It just sounds so incredibly hit-worthy, yet it was released at the end of last year and somehow I missed it. Most of you will probably know Helena Josefsson as the female singer in Per Gessle’s duet (Hey Mr. DJ) Won’t You Play Another Love Song, which was a minor hit in Sweden last spring. On her debut album, she’s an incredibly pop-minded singer who dabbles in all sorts of genres. By Your Side is probably her more dancey side, and it’s the one that I prefer. The vocals on this, as well as the soaring chorus, are beautiful. It has that strange quality of being a straightforward pop/dance track, yet still retaining a certain singer/songwriter edge.

Nick from Ellensburg, WA, US
- Hits from Another Planet

Ludde, Hella & Göken

According to Mikael Gökinan Myspace, Mikael Gökinan Trio, that played in Jazz i Malmö ( musikhuset Jericho, Malmö) last February 2006, has got a new name: Ludde, Hella & Göken.

Mikael Gökinan Trio (now Ludde, Hella & Göken) are:

• Mikael Gökinan - acoustic guitar and backing vocals
• Helena Josefsson - vocals
• Ludde Wennström - contrabass and backing vocals.

Mikael Gökinan plays the guitar in many bands from Malmö: The Red, Oomaigoosh Tailfeathers, Markus Murevärn band, Evangelyn, Adrian ....

Ludde Wennström has been playing bass and contrabass with many bands too: HepCat Daddies, Ågrens Orkester, Max Magiska Cirkusvarieté, Stilleben, ...

Helena Josefsson has played with Sandy Mouche and Son of a Plumber.

They play soul and jazz, influenced by Jeff Buckley, Kate Bush and Kent.

We can listen to some of their songs and covers in Mikael Gökinan Myspace.

The producer is Christoffer Lundquist.

P, C & C ... Who's the "Händig Man"? (V): En Händig Man på Turné 2007

We are ready for the new tour of Per Gessle and his band.

http://www.enhandigman.se/datum.php

10 July Halmstad (preview) Leif's Lounge
11 July Halmstad Örjans Vall
13 July Linköping Stångebrofältet
14 July Sandviken Högbo Bruk
15 July Leksand Sammilsdal
17 July Borgholm Idrottsplatsen
19 July Helsingborg Sofiero Slott
20 July Västervik Gränsö Slott
21 July Göteborg Slottsskogsvallen
22 July Strömstad Strömsvallen
24 July Visby Östergravar
27 July Skövde Bolougnersskogen
28 July Christinehof Christinehof Slott
29 July Varberg Sa Fästningshörnan

1 August Jönköping Elmiafältet
3 August Karlstad Mariebergsskogen
4 August Växjö Evedal
5 August Malmö Mölleplatsen
10 August Västerås Lögarängen
11 August Örebro Behrn Arena
12 August Stockholm Sjöhistoriska

According to the new Favorita Myspace:

Popsicle Webshop is the website/record label behind the release of Favorita’s album in North America and it’s owned and operated by Favorita’s fan Luke Jackson who is currently recording an album of his own featuring Favorita’s Magnus on bass, Jens Jansson on drums and producer/multi-instrumentalist Christoffer Lundqvist both of whom play in the band Brainpool whose last record, the sprawling double album rock opera “Junk” was recently staged for the first time in Los Angeles.

Favorita was the band of Magnus Börjeson in the middle 90s. The only album by this band from Lund, Sweden, was released last year by Junk Musik. Magnus has worked with Christoffer Lundquist, Brainpool and Per Gessle. Metro Jets (Magnus' duo with David Birde from Brainpool) has released some singles in Sweden.

LJdM

In Mazarin, Per Gessle added the dates of when each song was written and also wrote who played what on each song and then he got tired of it. So on the last record there has been nothing of that. Americans have lists of names in the songwriting credits. Sometimes I think it’s politics. All those people haven’t written the songs but they have contributed in some other ways so you credit them on a song and give them a little piece of money to even things out. I think it’s rare that so many people write a song. I think it’s often an economical, political thing.

Christoffer Lundquist