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You are here: Home / Bands & Projects / How I Joined Anekdoten

How I Joined Anekdoten

Anekdoten 2017 - Photo: Camilla Storbjörk

Anekdoten 2017 – Photo: Camilla Storbjörk

“In 2013 I found myself in Stockholm. I decided to stay in the city, one of my daughters lives there and I have a long history with the place. At that point I was very much concentrating on the In Deep Music Archive website, writing about music and collecting records for the archive, when I was asked by Pet Sounds Records to get involved with them for a project involving interviewing artists for their website and adding my writings to their music blog. As it happened, the interview side of things struggled to take off but I’d always wanted to have a spell working in a record store, so I asked if I could also work in the shop. Around the same time I was asked to help sort out the storage facility of another Stockholm record store, Micke’s in Hornstull. So suddenly I found myself working in two Stockholm record stores.

Working in the latter of the two stores was Anekdoten’s singer/guitarist/composer Nicklas Barker. It wasn’t long before we struck up a friendship that led to Nicklas asking me in to the studio to play some guitar on a track on their almost completed album Until All The Ghosts Are Gone. I obliged and the session went well. Before I knew it, we were talking about the possibility of expanding Anekdoten’s sound to two guitars and consequently I met the rest of the band: Peter Nordins on drums, Jan Erik Liljeström on bass/vocals/lyrics and cellist and mellotron player Anna Sofi Dahlberg.

Nicklas began to send me songs, songs that we would potentially play in a live set. He said “have a play around with these see what you can pick up”. It wasn’t long before I got back to him and told him that I had no idea what he was doing on the guitars, what the notes were, what the chords were, and what the timing was. To my amazement his response was to sit me down and painstakingly go through every little nuance and teach me all the parts – it took months. As I was still learning these songs the band flew to Canada to play, I wasn’t ready, but on the 30 July 2015 I was and I flew with the band to Germany to play my first show at the legendary Burg Herzberg Festival. We were last on, it was one in the morning, my fingers were cold but I did it and I had played my first show with this legendary Swedish Progressive Rock band. I might add that I left for Stockholm the next day – that day Olivia, my future wife, would arrive at the festival as tour manager for another band. We missed each other by a day, a year before we actually met.

We rehearsed more and I started to fit more in to the band, playing guitar and percussion, usually because the songs were so complex it was hard to learn them quick enough for upcoming gigs. We played in Sweden and Norway (I think) and soon the news came that we were on our way to Japan with another legendary Swedish band, Änglagård, for a sold out show in Tokyo.

Since then we’ve played in Poland, France, Italy, Holland, Sweden and Norway again, as well as Germany’s Night Of The Prog Festival, where I met Olivia, who was hosting the festival – and last but not least Armenia. Progressive Rock certainly appeals to people in places I don’t usually go with a band. It’s so cool to be in a band like this, interesting music, complex, a real challenge, something I haven’t done before. Looking forward to the future.”

Anekdoten 2016-2017

Anekdoten - If it All Comes Down To You
Anekdoten - From Within
Anekdoten - The Great Unknown
Anekdoten - Sad Rain
Anekdoten - Get Out Alive
Anekdoten - Gravity (with Theo Travis)
Anekdoten - Writing On The Wall
Anekdoten - Shooting Star
Anekdoten - Ricochet
Anekdoten - Sad Rain
Ino Rock Festival, Inowroclaw, Poland, 2016
Anekdoten - Sad Rain
Anekdoten - Shooting Star
Anekdoten - From Within
Anekdoten - Gravity
Anekdoten - The Great Unknown
Anekdoten - Writing On The Wall
Anekdoten - Get Out Alive
Anekdoten - Ricochet
Anekdoten - Shooting Star
Anekdoten - Gravity
Anekdoten - Sad Rain
Anekdoten - A Sky About To Rain
Anekdoten - Gravity
Until All The Ghosts Are Gone

Until All The Ghosts Are Gone Album Credits.

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Ambidextrous Comping 🎸 #arktiklake Ambidextrous Comping 🎸 #arktiklake
Star Tracking 🖖 #arktiklake #oceanicstudiobroo Star Tracking 🖖

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Happy 30th, Spirit Level! 🎂 #30thanniversary # Happy 30th, Spirit Level! 🎂

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In autumn 2018 I went to Nashville, Tennessee, to In autumn 2018 I went to Nashville, Tennessee, to work with Salim Nourallah and his band, Richard on keys, Joe on guitars, Jason on bass and drums, and John on drums and bass and in a co-production role with Salim and as a fifth member of his band. After Nashville we retired to Dallas where all but Joe live (he lives in San Antonio) and worked on overdubs, mixing was next…then the pandemic hit. Finally, the album is now mixed and will be released in early 2023 but before that, we have the See You In Marfa EP from those sessions released yesterday on Bandcamp:

www.palosantotx.bandcamp.com/album/see-you-in-marfa-ep

A CD is also available and streaming will be from August 19th. The lead track on the EP is Hold On To The Night, complete with a video featuring an animated yours truly and co-written (a bit) by me: https://youtu.be/GhUk-MDm1VQ

This whimsical video was done by an Australian videographer/musician, Jordan Thompson.

#salimnourallah #martywillsonpiper #holdontothenight #seeyouinmarfa #seeyouinmarfaep #anuclearwinter #jordanthompson #rickenbacker
We are happy to announce that @anekdotenband will We are happy to announce that 
@anekdotenband will be playing a show in Spain on September 24th at the 19th Festival Art Rock Minnuendo in Peralta – Alzkoien in the Navarre region in North-Eastern Spain. It’s 60km from Pamplona where they have the insane running of the bulls. They like heavy prog there and consequently, Anekdoten will be headlining the festival. See you there!

#minnuendofestival #anekdoten #blankmanuskript
Are we at home here or what? #lardocelar #garagea Are we at home here or what?

#lardocelar #garageandstage #jazzbirthday
Many years from now... ✨ #handymen Many years from now... ✨

#handymen
...what we were up to over the weekend 🎸 29/04 ...what we were up to over the weekend 🎸

29/04/22 - babelmalmo, MALMÖ
30/04/22 - @musikenshus, GÖTEBORG
01/05/22 - @bryggarsalen, STOCKHOLM

Support: @soniqcircus 

Video by @oliviaelektra 
Song: "Until All The Ghosts Are Gone" (s/t, 2015)
Vi ses i helgen 🎸 #anekdoten #anekdotenband Vi ses i helgen 🎸

#anekdoten #anekdotenband
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"These are awesome sessions that I highly recommend for guitar players of all levels. Very informative, frank discussions on everything related to guitar and music in general. Definitely a must for anyone pursuing songwriting."
(Stephen G., VA, USA)

"Marty knows how to bypass scales and get to the heart of feel and timing. His musical knowledge spans multiple cultures and genres. Perhaps most importantly, Marty is a cool dude. I highly recommend his guitar guidance." (Jed B., MN, USA)

"Ok, so you’re sitting in your home and Marty is across the world but is actually right here teaching you how to play guitar and write songs. He is a delight to talk to and he is your teacher, meaning he wants to see you get something out of his lessons. You know he’s paying attention and wants to steer you in the right direction. I am so grateful and humbled that he offers his time in this manner. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who admires anything from his enormous body of work. How often do you get to learn from somebody that inspired you in the first place? Amazing." (Ann S., CA, USA)

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there’s any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

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