H?kan Hellstr?m

by Anders Kaasen
Seemingly out of nowhere, Håkan Hellström arrived with the smash hit debut single "Känn Ingen Sorg För Mig Göteborg," in the spring of 2000. Although this was his debut as a solo artist, Hellström had been a musician for years. As a member of indie pop/rock cult heroes Broder Daniel and Honey Is Cool, he had already recorded several albums as a bass player and drummer respectively.
In 1999, Hellström asked some of his musician friends to be the backing band on a demo tape he was about to record. Though never a songwriter with his previous bands, Hellström had quite a few songs that he had written, in Swedish, as opposed to the bands he had been a member of. After completing the demo recording, he sent it to various record companies. He was practically drowned in offers of a record deal, and finally decided to sign with Virgin, his sole demand being that the album was recorded straight away. On the album, and concerts that followed, he was backed by a seven-piece band containing members of Soundtrack of Our Lives, Weeping Willows, and the Broder Daniel founding member, bass player Daniel Gilbert. All acquaintances from the music scene in Göteborg, Sweden. The debut album and subsequent tour were huge successes, selling loads of records, being praised by every music journalist around, and selling out all the concert venues.