Nicke Andersson Explained

Nicke Andersson
Birth Name:Anders Niklas Andersson
Alias:Nick Royale, Nicke Hellacopter, David Lee Hellacopter, Punk Andersson
Birth Date:1972 8, df=yes
Birth Place:Sweden
Genre:Rock, garage rock, hard rock, punk rock, soul, heavy metal, extreme metal
Occupation:Musician, record producer, songwriter
Years Active:1981–present
Instrument:Vocals, guitar, drums
Associated Acts:Lucifer, The Hellacopters, Entombed, The Solution, Death Breath, Imperial State Electric, The Hydromatics, Supershit 666, Nihilist, MC5, Stefan Sundström, Dismember, Neil Leyton, Cold Ethyl

Anders Niklas Andersson (born 1 August 1972), also known as Nicke Andersson, is a Swedish musician best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band The Hellacopters and drummer for the death metal band Entombed. Besides his work with the Hellacopters and Entombed, Andersson currently plays and writes songs for the soul band The Solution, the death metal band Death Breath, the hard rock band Lucifer, and rock band Imperial State Electric.[1]

Andersson has been involved in over a hundred official releases with different bands, done work as a producer, contributed instrumental and vocal parts, and created artwork for most of the bands he has been involved with.

Career

Andersson's interest began early in life with KISS as his favorite band. He soon discovered his childhood friend and future bandmate Kenny Håkanssons's father's record collection and bands such as The Ramones and Sex Pistols. His interest soon turned towards heavier music, trading cassettes and vinyl and writing for fanzines.[2] It wasn't long before Andersson started playing music and was soon playing drums and guitars in rock and metal bands such as Brain Dead Bodies, The Breaking, Belsen Barnen, Parodi, Maximal Skandal, Sons of Satan, Blasphemy, Nihilist and a number of other bands.

Entombed

See main article: Entombed (band). Andersson formed Nihilist after answering an ad in Heavy Sound, a record store in Stockholm.[2] When Nihilist broke up in 1989,[3] the same musicians formed Entombed with a different bass player. Andersson was predominantly the drummer in the band but also contributed with bass, guitars and vocals. Entombed took influences from many different genres but mostly from death metal in the band's first two albums Left Hand Path and Clandestine. With their third album the group started incorporating more traditional influences from hard rock and heavy metal and the album Wolverine Blues is widely considered to be the origin of death 'n' roll.[4]

The Hellacopters

See main article: The Hellacopters. In late 1994, Andersson formed The Hellacopters as a side project with Dregen, Kenny Håkansson and Robert Eriksson, all of whom earlier had been roadies during Andersson's time in Entombed. In January 1995 they released their first single Killing Allan on their own label Psychout Records.[5] Their first full-length album Supershitty to the Max! was released in 1996 and was recorded in 25 hours and later awarded with a Grammies. The group recruited Anders Lindström and supported KISS on their Scandinavian shows in 1997. The album was followed up the next year with Payin' the Dues. Due to the band's success, Andersson left Entombed to focus full-time on his new band. However, the next year guitarist Dregen left The Hellacopters to focus full-time on his other band Backyard Babies.[6] With their third record The Hellacopters changed the direction of their music to a cleaner sound than the early garage/punk rock style. The band continued to tour with temporary replacements before Robert 'Strings' Dahlqvist joined the band as their full-time guitarist.[7] The band continued to release albums and tour extensively in Scandinavia, Europe and other parts of the world as well as opening for The Rolling Stones on two shows in 2002. In 2006 The Hellacopters joined forces with The Hives, Backyard Babies, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Millencolin and embarked on a successful tour throughout Sweden. The band broke up after the release of their seventh full-length album, Head off, a collection of cover songs, which was followed in 2008 by a last tour through Europe and Scandinavia.

Scott Morgan collaborations

See main article: The Hydromatics and The Solution (band). While on tour in USA with The Hellacopters, the band played several shows in the same venue as the former Sonic's Rendezvous Band singer Scott Morgan. This led to the formation of The Hydromatics which went on to release their first record Parts Unknown in 1999. Andersson and Morgan teamed up once again in 2004 this time under the name The Solution to release Communicate, which was followed by Will Not Be Televised in 2007.[8]

Death Breath

See main article: Death Breath. In 2005 Death Breath was formed by Andersson and Robert Pehrsson. Soon Scott Carlson and Erik Wallin joined, making the band's lineup complete. The band plays metal music inspired by some of Andersson's favorite early extreme metal bands such as Venom, Autopsy and Celtic Frost. The band released Stinking Up the Night in 2006 and Let It Stink in 2007.[9]

Cold Ethyl

After the breakup of The Hellacopters, Andersson formed Cold Ethyl along with Thomas Eriksson, Tobias Egge and Dolf De Borst from The Datsuns, who opened together with "Demons" for The Hellacopters during the later part of The Tour Before the Fall. The band states that they have no interest in recording or releasing any material at this time and that the only way to experience the band is through their live shows. The band played their first show at Debaser Slussen in Stockholm early 2009 and held a short tenure at the club Fanclub.[10]

Imperial State Electric

At first a Nicke Andersson solo recording project Imperial State Electric soon evolved into a touring band with the same members as Cold Ethyl. They toured Scandinavia and Europe during 2010–2011 on the back of the first self-titled record (released Jan. 2010). I.S.E played mostly headline shows and festivals but there were also support act slots to KISS and Guns N' Roses. For the recording of the second album "Pop War" (released 9 March 2012) Imperial State Electric was declared a band proper. The "Pop War" tour was unofficially started with two gigs supporting The Hives, one "by invitation only" secret gig on 28 March 2012 and one official The Hives gig three days later. The Imperial State Electric Pop War tour officially started on 4 April at Katalin in Uppsala, Sweden.

Lucifer

See main article: Lucifer (multinational band). In March 2017, it was announced that Andersson had joined the band Lucifer as drummer.[11] He had started writing songs with his now-wife and Lucifer vocalist Johanna Sadonis in 2016, when two of its members had left.[12] [13] As he is a multi-insturmentalist, Lucifer recorded their second album in Andersson's home studio without a complete band, only the addition of guitarist Robin Tidebrink.[13] The band's third and fourth albums, Lucifer III (2021) and Lucifer IV (2022), were each nominated for Best Hard Rock/Metal at the Grammis awards.[14] [15]

Other work

In 1998 Andersson, with former bandmate Dregen, Ginger (from The Wildhearts) and Thomas Skogsberg, formed Supershit 666. The band's music was very reminiscent of the early Hellacopters sound.[16] The band released a self-titled EP in 1999 but never played live. However, Dregen and Ginger have both expressed interest in playing together again, possibly as Supershit 666.[17] After releasing By the Grace of God, Andersson was invited to join Wayne Kramer and the remaining members of the MC5 for their reunion tour in 2003 and 2004.[18] In 2004 Andersson joined up with Swedish punk veteran Johan Johansson from KSMB and Strindbergs. They released the single "(Komma ut ur matchen) NU!", a Swedish version of "(Gotta get som action) NOW!" They were joined by musicians such as Anders "Boba" Lindström and Dregen from Hellacopters and Sulo from Diamond Dogs. The single also contained the song "8 pm", an English version of the KSMB song "Klockan 8". Along with fellow Hellacopter member Robert Dahlqvist, Andersson recorded drums and guitars for Swedish singer/songwriter Stefan Sundströms 2004 album Hjärtats melodi. Apart from being a producer/co-producer with his own bands, Andersson produced Swedish rock band Dollhouse's second album, The Royal Rendezevous, in Acetone Studio, Stockholm in late 2005. Also at Acetone Studio he played on Neil Leyton's The Betrayal of the Self album along with Backyard Babies's guitarist Dregen. The next year he produced the Backyard Babies's fifth studio album, People Like People Like People Like Us.[19] In 2009, it was announced that Andersson and Neil Leyton have a side project called The Point, with a 7" single titled "Give it a try" due to be released in the spring of 2010.

Musical equipment

Guitars

High gloss black with Bent maple bindings (appearing to be cream plastic to the naked eye) on body, head and neck. Made by then-apprentice luthier Thomas Berg, as a qualifying piece of work.Mr Berg has also built The Imperial model guitar (based on the early hard radius edge body Epiphone Coronet with custom features including a Crestwood headstock) for Tobias Egge and Nicke.

Based on the symmetrical shaped, hard radius edge body Epiphone Coronet (later Coronet models had more rounded edges on body)Custom features include a Crestwood deluxe style bound, inline headstock, J200 type inlay, single Dimarzio DP100 and a wraparound bridge.

Amplification

Band timeline

Selected discography

See also: The Hellacopters discography.

YearBandsTitleNotes
1988MezzrowFrozen Soul (Demo)Bass
1989MezzrowThe Cross of Tormention (Demo)Bass
1990EntombedLeft Hand PathDrums, bass, artwork
1991DismemberLike an Ever Flowing StreamLead guitar
1991EntombedClandestineDrums, lead vocals, artwork
1993EntombedHollowmanDrums, arrangements
1993EntombedWolverine BluesDrums, guitar, artwork
1996The HellacoptersSupershitty to the Max!Vocals, guitar, maracas
1996DaemonSeven Deadly SinsGuitars, drums
1997EntombedDrums, percussion
1997EntombedEntombedDrums, guitar
1997The HellacoptersPayin' the DuesVocals, guitar, piano, percussion
1997EntombedWreckageDrums
1997The Hellacopters/GlueciferRespect the RockVocals, guitar
1998The Backyard BabiesTotal13Songwriting
1998Electric Frankenstein/HellacoptersElectric Frankenstein Vs. The HellacoptersVocals guitar
1999The HellacoptersGrande RockVocals, guitar
1999Supershit 666Supershit 666Drums
1999The HydromaticsPart UnknownDrums, percussion backing vocals
1999The HydromaticsFluid DriveDrums, percussion
2000The HellacoptersHigh VisibilityVocals, guitar, clavinet, percussion
2000The HellacoptersCream of the Crap Vol. 1Vocals, guitar
2001The Hellacopters/The Flaming SideburnsWhite Trash SoulVocals, guitar
2002ScarveLuminiferousSongwriting
2002The HellacoptersBy the Grace of GodVocals, guitar, percussion, piano
2002EntombedSons of Satan Praise the LordDrums
2002The HellacoptersCream of the Crap Vol. 2Vocals, guitar
2003MensenOslo CityMixing, percussion
2004Kurt-Sunes med Helveteshundarna(Komma Ut Ur Matchen) NU!Guitar, vocals
2004The SolutionCommunicate!Production, drums, percussion, guitar, backing vocals
2004MC5Purity AccuracyGuitar, vocals
2004Stefan SundströmHjärtats MelodiDrums, backing vocals
2005The HellacoptersRock & Roll Is DeadVocals, guitar, percussion, piano
2005NihilistNihlist (1987–1989)Drums, guitar, artwork
2005DollhouseThe Royal RendezevouzProduction
2006Death BreathStinking Up the NightDrums, guitar
2006Neil LeytonThe Betrayal of the SelfGuitar
2006Jeff Walker Und Die FlüffersWelcome To Carcass CuntryVocals
2006The HellacoptersAir Raid SerenadesVocals, guitar, percussion
2006Backyard BabiesPeople Like People Like People Like UsProduction
2007Death BreathLet It StinkDrums, guitar, bass
2007The SolutionWill Not Be TelevisedProduction, drums, percussion, guitar, backing vocals, mixing, artwork
2008The HellacoptersHead OffVocals, guitar, percussion
2008BulletBite the BulletMixing
2009The Bitter TwinsGlobal Panic!Lead guitar, vocals
2010Imperial State ElectricImperial State ElectricVocals, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, keyboard
2010Stefan Sundström5 Dagar i AugustiPiano, backing vocals, percussion
2010NecronautNecronautLead guitar
2011Imperial State ElectricIn Concert! EPVocals, guitar
2011Stefan SundströmJonny Dunders Elektriska Circus Live!Piano
2011Morbus ChronSleepers in the RiftProducer, Recording, Engineering, Mixing
2012'77High DecibelsProduction, mixing, additional vocals
2012Imperial State ElectricPop WarVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2013Imperial State ElectricReptile Brain MusicVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2013Imperial State ElectricRadio ElectricVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2014Imperial State ElectricEyes EPVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2015Imperial State ElectricHonk MachineVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2015Honeymoon DiseaseThe TranscendenceCo-Producer
2016Imperial State ElectricAll Through the NightVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2018Imperial State ElectricAnywhere Loud (Live)Vocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2018LuciferLucifer IIDrums, guitar, bass
2022The HellacoptersEyes Of OblivionVocals, guitar, bass, percussion, production, engineering

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hellacopters efter Hellacopters – Kultur – Östergötlands största nyhetssajt . Corren.se . 2011-10-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081019211724/http://www.corren.se/archive/2008/10/17/jxohxetbj5biesi.xml . 19 October 2008 . dmy-all .
  2. Web site: Nick Royale Special – Swedish Documentary Part 1 . YouTube . 2011-10-01.
  3. Web site: Entombed band biography . metallian.com . 10 April 2024 . 10 April 2024.
  4. Wolverine Blues . Wolverine Blues . . 1999 . Dan . Tobin . 8 . CD booklet . . Nottingham, United Kingdom.
  5. Web site: Psychout Records . Grunnenrocks.nl . 2011-10-01.
  6. Web site: Urotsukidoji's Pad . Webcitation.org . 2014-07-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091020232950/http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Underground/6514/dregenint.html . 20 October 2009 . dmy-all .
  7. Web site: Robert Dahlqvist spelar med i Hellacopters . Hem.bredband.net . 2011-10-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090604165140/http://hem.bredband.net/sanna96/hellacopterssve.htm . 4 June 2009 . dmy-all .
  8. Web site: The Barman . The Solution . Scottmorganmusic.com . 2011-10-01.
  9. Web site: Death Breath | Interview | Lords of Metal metal E-zine – Issue 65: December 2006 . Lordsofmetal.nl . 2011-10-01.
  10. Web site: Cold Ethyl | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's . Myspace.com . 2011-10-01.
  11. Web site: LUCIFER Joined By ENTOMBED's NICKE ANDERSSON . . 8 March 2018 . 11 October 2018.
  12. Web site: JOHANNA SADONIS Says New LUCIFER Album 'Digs Even Deeper Into The Record Crates Of The '70s' . . 20 May 2018 . 11 October 2018.
  13. Web site: An interview with Johanna Sadonis and Nick Andersson of Lucifer . Lots of Muzic . 3 June 2018 . 11 October 2018.
  14. Web site: DARK TRANQUILLITY Wins Swedish GRAMMIS Award For 'Moment' . . 7 June 2021 . 18 August 2021.
  15. Web site: AT THE GATES, TRIBULATION & LUCIFER Up For Swedish Grammis Awards . Metal Injection . 14 March 2022 . 21 July 2022.
  16. Web site: Supershit 666 . Grunnenrocks.nl . 2011-10-01.
  17. Web site: Ask Ginger February 2000 . The Wildhearts . 21 February 2000 . 2011-10-01.
  18. Web site: DKT/MC5 – Tour – dates – TheDynaminds Forum . Mysnip.de . 2011-10-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070707134523/http://www.mysnip.de/forum-archiv/thema/10043/749054/DKT_MC5+-+Tour+-+dates.html . 7 July 2007 . dead .
  19. Web site: Backyard Babies – People Like People Like People Like Us CD Album . Cduniverse.com . 2 May 2006 . 2011-10-01.
  20. http://www.tymguitars.com.au/guitars_royale.html
  21. Web site: The Hellacopters . 24 July 2006 . 2011-10-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060724050934/http://www.hellacopters.com/site/nicke.asp?show=mygear . 24 July 2006 . dmy-all .
  22. http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/aug2007/nickeandersson.aspx
  23. http://www.sengenbjerg.com/swe/artister/nicke.htm
  24. Web site: DiPinto Artist Gallery : Nick Royale . Dipintocustomshop.com . 2011-10-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111005122601/http://www.dipintocustomshop.com/dpgal/slides/Nick%20Royale.html . 5 October 2011 . dmy-all .