Interviews: Interview with TREAT's Nalle Påhlsson (also w/THERION & LAST AUTUMN'S DREAM)
Posted on Sunday, May 23 @ 10:26:24 EDT
Topic: Interviews
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Nalle Påhlsson
Reunion of Treat
by Tommy “Hashman” Hash
Having scored a number of albums in Europe and keeping the flag waving high for melodic rock, Sweden's Treat have had a lasting impact on the Scandi hard rock scene. Through multiple albums and singles since their inception in the mid-eighties, this band built their foundation on heavy guitars, big melodies and huge choruses, inking a deal with Vertigo/Mercury records along the way. They somewhat disbanded after the release of their final self-titled studio album in the mid nineties but reunited after over a decade of hiatus to unleash Weapons of Choice in 2006 and recently, Coupe de Grace, another fine example of melodic hard rock mastery brought up to epic proportions with arena minded anthems for hard edged tunage from straight ahead rockers "No Way Without You," "The War is Over," & "Tangled Up," keeping the vibe dark on "Skies of Mongolia," while heightening up the pop antae on "All for Love" & "We Own the Night" for this is a record that will bring them to further stature, as these guys have unfortunately never really broken the mold in the states - but now is the time.
Having joined the band in 2006 for the Weapons... album, bassist Nalle Påhlsson witnessed things at hand with the band as a longtime friend as well having jammed with the band for some time. This new album from his viewpoint is a continuation of the Treat mantra, of course showing growth.
I think the record fits in very well, we've been sticking to our guns - on this album the production is better, plus we're older," begins Påhlsson, "The main songwriter has always been guitarist Anders (Wikström), so this time we suggested he also be the producer of the album; and keyboardist Patrick (Appelgren) was co-producer - they both have done a very good job. "Skies of Mongolia" was also co-written by Rudolf Scheneker (Scorpions), I don't realty care who is writing the songs, as long as they are good, making the whole album great as a whole."
Having been a fan of this band for years and also knowing them as well, joining this band after the hiatus was the type of opportunity that reminds us of the ending scene in Dumb and Dumber, of course he took to it immediately, "I have known the guys for the band since 1985 when they released their first album," says Påhlsson, "In the beginning of the 90's I rehearsed with them until the last album they did Matts Levin; they were thinking about bringing me in at the time because of some problems they had with their bass player at the time, and they asked Ken Seversen who played who played on the first three albums, but he wasn't interested. They ended up asking me after they decided to reunite and it was like Christmas Eve for me."
Their back catalog is currently available via import in the States, you can find their albums at all of the popular internet shops, however, iTunes only has the new album available (in the U.S.) even with the Universal Music connection on their past releases - hopefully that will change soon, but most of the albums aren't as pricey like many hard to find from this genre.
Seeing this band from the outside in the earlier years, Påhlsson witnessed how the many lineup changes have changed Treat over the years - one notable adjustment was the departure of Robert Ernlund in 1991 (who returned in 2006 and remains the band's vocalist) and the entry of Mats Levén, making it again obvious that a vocalist switchover does have some effect on the band's sound as the bassist elaborates, "As a fan of the band, when they released Organized Crime, I think they had a slight more aggressive sound and it was heavier. To me they haven't changed very much, but you notice when Matts Levin came in, the lead vocals and styles of the songs were different, but all the albums with Robert on vocals they sound quite the same."
Even with their vast catalog and history as a band, there are no plans to produce a DVD at this time, there has been talk about doing a video, but it all depends on money issues and so on. In the meantime, the band will be hitting the road with a few festivals in Europe as well as several additional gigs in Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
Prior to Treat, Påhlsson grew up listening to the forefathers of 70's hard rock, as well as a lot of musical troubadours of the time, but surprisingly later on, he didn't get involved into the hair metal scene, instead opting for more pop oriented artists, "I grew up with the classic British bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Stones," says Påhlsson, "Later on in the 70's I started listening to Kiss, Sweet, David Bowie, Lou Reed and a lot of glam bands, progressive rock such as Genesis, UK. I like soul music like Steve Wonder, but the main thing has always been hard rock for me. Many people, such as the treat fans will be surprised that during the whole 80's hair metal bands, I don't know anything about the hard rock bands from that era. I played in a cover band where we played songs from the eighties and I had never heard bands such as Cinderella, the only exceptions were Def Leppard, The Cult, & Billy Idol - I really never listened to them. John Farnham & Cock Robin were some of my favorites from that era, so all the while I was sticking to my old favorites."
And as far as choosing his bass as his musical weapon of choose, it's all about the personality of the instrument, "The main reason for me to play bass, I always liked the sound, I think it's connected to me personally as well. I'm not a guitar player or singer, I'm sort of like a background guy. The biggest reason was Glenn Hughes & Roger Glover from Deep Purple and Steve Priest from the Sweet; I thought they looked so cool when they played bass, I see myself as half bass player and half vocalist."
Not only is Treat's Weapon of Choice the place to hear Påhlsson's low end growl, but also on the new album from Last Autumn's Dream, A Touch of Heaven, an album rooted more in the AOR/pop scheme of melodic rock - and on the other end of the spectrum, he also will be appearing on the upcoming Therion album, even on a deep level in the songwriting department as well. Aside from that he does speak of some additional music on the horizon as well, as he concludes, "I'm working on a secret project, me and everybody else don't know what is going to happen with it at this time. I have been in the studio with Iam Houghlan from Europe. Everybody in Treat is working on other projects. I have participated on Therion's new album, and they will go on tour at the end of September, I guess I am going to go with them on tour. I also wrote a song on their new album, but it just happened. So far I have just done one gig with that band and of course, playing on the album. The leader Christofer Johnsson asked me if I had any new ideas for a song so it's going to be on the album."
Copyright and Publishing: 2010 Tommy Hash for Ytsejam.com
CLICK HERE to read a review of Last Autumn's Dream's A Touch of Heaven
Please Visit:
Treat Website
Treat at MySpace
Nalle Påhlsson Website
Frontiers Records
Frontiers Records at MySpace
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