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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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Thanks to The Wernickis for a little glimpse into Thanks to The Wernickis for a little glimpse into their new New Mexico listening space 🌵 #nightjar #schoolkidsrecords
Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵 📷 @oliviaelek Redeyed lad of the lowlands 🎵

📷 @oliviaelektra 

#danelectro #danelectrobass #redeyerecords #pleasantrylane #pleasantrylanestudio
You usually don’t spend the day in the studio an You usually don’t spend the day in the studio and the night at a gig but if you put the studio next to the gig then there’s a greater chance. So @salimnourallah did just that, he put the gig and the studio next to each other and made it possible for me to spend the day recording and the evening playing live 🎵

📷 @drewliophoto 

#galacticheadquarters #happinessarecordlabel #pleasantrylanestudio #salimnourallah #oliviawillsonpiper
TO WHERE I AM NOW A visit in the studio today fro TO WHERE I AM NOW

A visit in the studio today from old mate Mark Burgess from The Chameleons who has been hanging in Texas recently. I was thinking about the two of us growing up in the northwest of England and all these years later finding ourselves in such an unlikely spot together. We fixed a few issues in the universe and I carried on recording some guitars until Mark had to leave. Mark had played at the Galactic Headquarters next to the studio this year as Olivia and I had four years ago and this reminded me to remind myself to remind everyone to remind their friends that we will be playing there with Salim on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, for the ultimate in intimate performance. You can get tickets here (follow link below).

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1045

KEEP IN TOUCH: https://linktr.ee/mwillsonpiper

📷 @salimnourallah 

#markburgess #thechameleons #chameleonsvox #pleasantrylanestudio #happinessarecordlabel #martywillsonpiper #oliviawillsonpiper #moatband
📷 @argirgirl 📷 @argirgirl
TO WHERE I AM NOW Sadness manifested in a buildin TO WHERE I AM NOW

Sadness manifested in a building, today we went to visit Paisley Park. Prince built Paisley Park in Chanhassen, about twenty minutes southwest of Minneapolis. It opened in 1987 and he recorded his later albums there. Apart from Prince, REM also recorded and mixed Out Of Time there, recording Kate Pearson’s vocal on Shiny Happy People vocal. Madonna had Prince play guitar on three songs from Like A Prayer and the two co-wrote Love Song, finishing it remotely due to Madonna not being able to stand the cold weather and the rather desolate location of the studio. Of course, there are things around but it’s not in the city and it’s not in the countryside, it’s in a suburb, no distractions, just what Prince wanted.

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1032

KEEP IN TOUCH: https://linktr.ee/mwillsonpiper

📷 @argirgirl 

#paisleypark #prince
Marty & Pablo! 📷 Rod MacQuarrie Marty & Pablo!

📷 Rod MacQuarrie
At last, a proper door stop. 📷 @judgeschamber At last, a proper door stop.

📷 @judgeschamber 

#grammysitting 👵
🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵 31 December - DALL 🌵 Texas Acoustic Dates 🌵

31 December - DALLAS
7 January - CELINA
12 January - HOUSTON
14 January - AUSTIN
15 January - SAN ANTONIO

With @salimnourallah and @joereyesmusic

More info here: https://mailchi.mp/e47ede06acd6/texas-acoustic-dates
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Songwriting & Guitar Guidance with Marty Willson-Piper
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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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MARTY WILLSON-PIPER © 2023 - Front Page Images by Hajo Müller