As composers, Matthias Lindblum and Anders Wallbeck... Read all
Vacuum is the name of a Swedish synthpop band. The team is currently represented by Matthias Lindblum and Anders Wallbeck. They met in 1996, at the same time the group recorded their first album.
The group works in own studio"Home", located in the central part of Stockholm, and often tour around the world.
As composers, Matthias Lindblum and Anders Wallbeck have written hits for many famous bands and artists, for example: Monrose, Tarja Turunen, Rachel Stevens, Garu and others.
The band was founded in 1994 by producers Alexander Bard and Anders Wallback. Still Vacuum activities like musical group started only in 1996. This date is considered the date of birth of the group.
The band's history can be divided into two periods: before the departure of its founder Alexander Bard in 1999 and after, when the band's frontman and soloist Matthias Lindblom became the new leader of Vacuum.
Bard period (1994-1999)
The band's original name, Vacuum Cleaner (literally "vacuum cleaner"), coined by Bard and Wollbeck, was shortened to Vacuum in favor of euphony, " scientific approach”and “progressiveness” - according to the original idea, the group was supposed to play purely instrumental electronic symphonic music. Only later it was decided to add vocals. Singer Vasa Big Money (Swed. Vasa Big Money) was considered as a candidate for the vocalist. In the future, Vasa will take part in the activities of Vacuum under the pseudonym Lars-Yngve Johansson (Swed. Lars-Yngve Johansson) (for example, he owns the authorship of the song "Illuminati").
For the first time, the band's name appears on the cover of the album "Glory Glamour and Gold" by the Swedish pop quartet Army Of Lovers in connection with the production of two songs "Lit De Parade", "Shine Like A Star". Nevertheless, Vacuum until 1996, when Alexander Bard left the Army Of Lovers group, is still just a project.
Vacuum sample 1998
In the autumn of 1996, in a club in Stockholm, Bard, busy looking for musicians for Vacuum, met Mattias Lindblum, lead singer of the band Ceycamore Leaves. Familiar with the work of Ceycamore Leaves, Bard invites Mattias to take part in his musical project. Keyboardist and TV presenter Marina Shipchenko is the last to join the project.
In December 1996, the first single "I Breathe" was released. In 1997, the video filmed for this song was named the best clip of the year.
On February 14, 1997, the band's first album, The Plutonium Cathedral, was released. In it, in addition to the characteristic electronic pop sound, the influence of symphonic music is clearly traced. musical material rich in orchestral arrangements, Lindblom often transitions to operatic vocals.
On May 20, the second single from the album "The Plutonium Cathedral" "Pride In My Religion" was released, which was a huge success with listeners. On the wave of success, Vacuum embark on their first European tour.
In 1998 the band released the single "Tonnes Of Attraction" from their second album "Seance At The Chaebol". The video for this song is broadcast by MTV, and Vacuum receives the SEMA award (Swedish electronic music). In the spring, having released the next single "Let The Mountain Come To Me", the group goes on tour in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine.
The delay in the release of the second album was explained by the musicians by the fact that they wanted their new album perceived differently than the previous one. Finally, after some problems with the record company Stockholm Records, the album "Seance At The Chaebol" was released in its original, unremastered version in Russia and Italy.
The first two albums can be described as classical European pop music, the lyrics of which, under the influence of Alexander Bard, had a pronounced socio-political coloring, touched on the topics of religion and astronomy, which was very unusual for synth-pop music.
The band's stage performances at that moment are a rather static spectacle. To top it all off, at Bard's request, English designer Sally O'Salivan designed the band's clothing, hair, and makeup: minimalist black suits, "designer" hairstyles, black nail polish, and the soloist's androgynous image.
Lindbloom period (since 1999)
In 1999, Vacuum founder Alexander Bard left the group to pursue literary activity and new dance project Alcazar. His place is taken by two session musicians, with whom the group again goes on tour in Russia.
With no new material supplied by Bard, Lindblom teamed up with Anders Wollbeck to write songs for Vacuum. At the same time, the band's conflict with Stockholm Records received a new development. The company breaks the contract with Vacuum, motivating its action by the fact that it does not see further prospects for the development of the group - apart from practically no income-generating fame in Eastern Europe, the duet of Lindblom and Marina is of little interest to anyone in the West.
Thus, a new, "Swedish" version of the album "Seance At The Chaebol", called "Culture Of Night" was released immediately by three companies Epicentre, Cheiron and Sony in 2000. The album looked like a compilation of old, three new ones (one of them, "My Melting Mood" belongs to creative union Wollbeck - Lindblom) and two remastered tracks. However, without proper promotion, the album was not a significant success.
Practical failure of "Culture Of Night", as the finale of previous problems with Bard and Stockholm Rec. prompted Vacuum participants to think about the pointlessness of the further existence of the project. Mattias and Marina published a letter addressed to the fans of the band, common sense which boiled down to the fact that a member of the group temporarily suspend studio activities, focusing on solo activities. Vacuum concerts were also promised, but never took place.
« Dear friends! … rumors about the collapse of Vacuum are becoming more frequent. Well, it is!
We left Stockholm Records. For what? Alas, this is a long and rather boring story, in short, we do not agree with everything that they offer us. Here's your reason! On this moment we are busy in two completely different projects, thus, at the moment, Vacuum takes a backseat, except for the band's concerts. However, we want you to know that we have not broken up and will please you in the future.
I would also like to add that as soon as there is a record company that believes in our ideas, in our music, we will continue. But so far everything is developing in such a way that there will be no continuation. We are delighted with the long-term success of the group in Russia, and Marina and I rejoiced at every moment of this glory. In the future, we hope to play a concert there in the very near future…
…Live with your head held high,
Matthias & Marina + VACUUM crew"
At the end of 1999, having signed a contract with Subspace Communications, Vacuum released the Icaros EP. This single was the last one in which Marina Shipchenko participated.
On the wave of rumors that Matthias is busy with a pop project with a significant romantic bias, Marina, in turn, also decides to leave the group in order to devote more time to her family and art projects (Shipchenko is a co-owner of the gallery contemporary art in Stockholm). Subsequently, she will be invited by the Bard to his new project Bodies Without Organs.
Vacuum goes silent for two years.
Return of the band (2002)
On May 6, 2002, the silence was broken. The single “Starting ( Where the story ended)", thereby declaring that the group switched to new round his creative way: new composition, new music, new ideas and a new look for the group. In support of this statement, in the same year on October 14, the album "Culture Of Night" was re-released in the countries of Scandinavia, remixed and supplemented with two new tracks. On concert performances Marina Shipchenko is replaced by a guitarist.
At the beginning of 2004 comes out new single"Fools Like Me" labeled vector further development Vacuum. In the same. The single “They Do It” that followed only confirmed the apparent shift from geopolitics and religion towards reflection and personal experiences.
On September 20, 2004, a new album called “Your Whole Life Is Leading Up to This” is released, written jointly by the Wollbeck-Lindblom tandem, which crossed the line of synth-pop, up to electronic, trance and techno music, along with lyrics about love and the search for the meaning of life.
This album was followed by the release of the single "The Void" (June 6, 2005), and then "Six Billion Voices" (2006) and "Walk On The Sun" (2007). The last two singles precede the release of the new album, the release date of which is not yet known (however, the German reissue of "Your Whole Life Is Leading Up to This" includes both songs as bonus tracks).
Wallbeck and Lindbloom also lead an active musical activity outside the group. As composers they collaborate with many artists around the world. Only in 2007 they managed to work with such stars as Tarja Turunen (the songs I Walk Alone, Die Alive, etc. were written for her), Monrose (single What You Don't Know), Cinema Bizarre (songs Heavensent , Get Off), Edita Gornyak and many others.
In 2007 Vacuum signed a contract with Russian company Icon Management to create and publish new albums. In the same year, Lindblom writes the song "Now or Never" for Russian artist Alexei Vorobyov, which was included in the soundtrack of the film " Zero kilometer» (2007).
Since April 2008 the group has been collaborating with the German pianist Michael Zlanabitnig. The result of this union has not yet been released on sound media, but is available on the Internet. In the summer of the same year, Vacuum released a song recorded as a duet with Marcella Detroit (Eng. Marcella Detroit) "My Friend Misery".
Discography
Albums
The Plutonium Cathedral (1997)
Seance at the Chaebol (1998)
Culture of Night (2000, three new songs + two updated songs, Russian-only release)
Culture of Night (2002, two more new songs)
Your Whole Life Is Leading Up to This (2004)
Your Whole Life Is Leading Up to This (2007, five new bonus tracks + video, Germany-only release)
Singles
I Breathe (1996)
Science of the Sacred (1997)
Pride in My Religion (1997)
Tonnes of Attraction (1998)
Let the Mountain Come to Me (1998)
Icaros (2000)
Starting (Where the Story Ended) (2002)
Fools Like Me (2004)
They Do It (2004)
The Void (2005)
Six Billion Voices (2006)
Walk On The Sun (2007)
Know By Now/My Friend Misery (2008)
Video clips
The vast majority of clips were released only for television and were not published officially.
I Breathe (1997)
Science of the Sacred (1997)
Pride In My Religion (1998)
Tonnes Of Attraction (1998)
Let The Mountain Come To Me (1998)
Icaros (1999)
Starting (Where The Story Ended) (2002)
Fools Like Me (2004)
They Do It (2004)
Members
Matthias Lindblum - vocals
Anders Wallback - synthesizer, guitar, programming
Former members
Marina Shipchenko - synthesizers
Alexander Bard - basses, computers (1996-1999)
Johan Malmgren - guitar (1999)
Bjorn Landstrom
Interesting Facts
The song "Tin Soldiers" released on the album "The Plutoniun Cathedral" was originally included in the repertoire of Matthias Lindblom's band Ceycamore Leaves.
The role of the Red Cardinal in the video for the song "Pride in my religion" is played by Anders Wallback.
While touring the Baltic countries, Russia and Ukraine, Vacuum were surprised by the wild popularity that the group had in these countries, where the total sales of discs did not exceed 100 copies. It soon became clear that Vacuum owed its fame to audio pirates, who had sold about 8 million illegal discs of the group.
After Alexander Bard left Vacuum in 1999, Lindblom and Shipchenko continued to claim that he was still involved in the group's activities. Although it wasn't true. The bard moved away from writing songs for Vacuum and began producing Alcazar.
The albums "Seance at the Chaebol" and "Culture of Night" were not released in Sweden due to a conflict between the band and the record company.
The song "Starting (Where The Story Ended)" was written by Wallbeck and Lindbloom in the car on their way to a Slipknot concert.
The Swedish group Vacuum ("Vacuum") is, of course, an incredibly popular project of the 90s of the last century, which conquered not only Europe, but all post-Soviet countries. An attractive androgenic soloist, unusual music and unhackneyed lyrics - all this favorably distinguished the group from many other bands, and its songs and videos invariably ended up at the top of the charts. Despite the fact that the 90s are long gone, the Vacuum group has changed its composition, style and sound, it still creates and delights fans with new singles.
History of creation
Back in 1994, Alexander Bard, a member of the Army of lovers group, as well as composer and producer Anders Wollbeck, conceived a new project, the main feature of which would be an instrumental electronic symphonic music. It was planned to call it Vacuum Cleaner, which would literally translate as "vacuum cleaner". But on reflection, the creators decided to leave only the first word for the overall euphony and progressiveness.
During the planning stages of the project, Bard and Wollbeck decided to add vocals and set about squeaking a suitable soloist. The initial contender for this place was Vasa Big Money. And although this candidacy was ultimately abandoned, the performer later collaborated with the group as a songwriter. In 1996, Bard left the Army of lovers and came to grips with the implementation of a new project. Then he met Matthias Lindblum at one of the club concerts of the little-known band Ceycamore Leaves, in which he was the vocalist. Impressed by Matthias's voice, Bard invited him to his project, and a little later he invited a Swedish keyboardist to join the team Ukrainian origin Maria Shipchenko. This is how the Vacuum group appeared (the photo of the group is presented below), which soon conquered the musical Olympus.
Rapid start
Within a few months after the formation of the team, namely in December 1996, the world heard their first creation. The single I breath instantly soared to the top of the European charts, and the video for this song became the best in the next year, which was very fruitful for the musicians.
Already in February 1997, the first album of the Vacuum group appeared on the shelves of music stores, which was worn by title The Plutonium Cathedral. Against the backdrop of electronic pop sound, elements of an abundance of orchestral arrangements, as well as operatic vocals of the soloist in some compositions, clearly stood out. All this favorably distinguished the new record, so it is not at all surprising that it had resounding success. After the release of the second single Pride In My Religion, the Vacuum group went on their first European tour.
Confession
Not resting on their laurels, the team continued to work hard and prepare material for the release of the second album. Already at the beginning of 1998, absolutely new song and a video for it, which immediately became one of the leaders on MTV. Tonnes Of Attraction is another masterpiece created by "Vacuum". Musical group even won the SEMA Swedish Electronic Music Award for it. The next track Let The Mountain Come To Me was also very warmly received, followed by the second tour, which included European countries, Russia and Ukraine.
The Swedish group "Vacuum" was extremely surprised by the fact of their incredible popularity in the territory of the former Soviet Union, because very few albums and singles were officially sold in Russia. Nevertheless, the band's performances were accompanied by an unprecedented full house. As it turned out, more than 90% of all Vacuum records sold in the post-Soviet countries, and these are millions of copies, were pirated products. In terms of commercial gain, this situation was not in favor of the group, but thanks to the mass cheap musical production in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, if not everyone, then very many knew about the Swedish team, and the popularity of Vacuum was much higher here than even in Europe .
recognizable
In the second album, the musicians wanted to change the sound a little, so that the main idea was perceived in a new way. As a result, the release of the album was delayed several times. But the album was still released in 1998 in its original version in Russia and Italy under the name Seance At The Chaebol. The first two studio versions were designed in the classic spirit of "Vacuum": European pop music and, at the same time, the socio-political and religious themes of the songs. And although synth-pop is considered the main genre of the group, such a set was somewhat unusual for this musical direction.
The appearance also stood out - thanks to the efforts of the English designer, the Vacuum group was dressed in black minimalist leather suits, the musicians' nails were covered with black varnish, and the hairstyles were incredibly stylish. All this made the team recognizable, it was their "trick". The group's concerts also could not be called spectacular, they were rather static.
Black line
The ideological inspirer of the group soon lost interest in his offspring and left the team in 1999, motivating his act with a desire to engage in literary activities and a new dance project, Alcazar. Together with two invited session musicians, the Vacuum group played a tour of Russia, but something had to be done further. Left without Bard, and, accordingly, without new songs, Mattias teamed up with Wollbeck to write new material. In the same period, the record company Stockholm Records, with which there had already been a conflict since the release of the second album, terminated the contract with the group due to the lack of prospects for the team without Bard.
The popularity of "Vacuum" in Eastern Europe was no longer profitable. In 1999, the band signed with a new company and released the mini-album Icaros. And in 2000, the second album, re-released and supplemented with new compositions, was released in Sweden from three different companies at once under the name Culture Of Night. But without good advertising, it turned out to be a failure, and the Vacuum group announced the temporary cessation of its existence. Marina Shipchenko left the project, citing the need to focus on her family and the art gallery, and a little later joined Bard in his new group- BWO.
Like a phoenix from the ashes
For two years there was absolutely no news. In Europe, but not in Russia, everyone has already begun to forget about the once successful team. However, in May 2002, a new single from an already seemingly forgotten project under the symbolic name Starting (Where the story ended) unexpectedly appeared in music stores. The Vacuum group, whose membership has been reduced to two people, Matthias Landblum and Andres Wollbeck, has indicated that it will now follow a completely new path. The music was updated, the image of the group changed, everything went to the fact that the audience would hear something new and unusual.
True, having returned to the roots, the musicians translated and supplemented the Culture Of Night album, releasing it in Scandinavian countries. parties former member Maria Shipchenko at concerts was now performed by a guitarist. The band also decided to change the theme of the songs, moving away from sociopolitics towards personal experiences, which was perfectly demonstrated by two new singles in 2004 - Fools Like Me and They Do It. And already in September of the same year, the renewed team presented the album Your Whole Life Is Leading Up to This with electronic, trance and techno sound to the audience. Then, every year, the Vacuum group consistently delighted fans with a new track until the release of the supplemented album in Germany. IN Lately there are rumors about a new record, but so far no confirmation from the musicians has been received.
fruitful union
The creative tandem Wollbeck/Landblom works not only for the benefit of their own group. Musicians write songs for many artists and bands, including European artists such as Marcella Detroit, Cinema Bizarre and Monrose, and even Russian singer Alexey Vorobyov. Talented composers and pianist Michael Zlanabitnig also worked very fruitfully together, however, the result of their labors is available only on the Internet. IN last years musicians often appear with concerts in Ukraine and participate in local talent shows.
Before starting an article about the current activities of the Vacuum group, it will be important to recall the initial chords of this group, its members and the stages of development of the Vacuum group as a whole.
Vacuum is an aesthetic Swedish product. Started in 1994 with light hand producer Alexander Bard. Released in December 1996 debut single"I breathe". The song immediately hit the charts. In 1997, the first album "The plutonium cathedral" was released. Soon the second one was "Sciense at the Chaebol", which simultaneously began to be sold in Sweden, Germany, England and France. The group's popularity grew, press releases multiplied, and the group's soloists saved up money for expensive clips. They have really expensive clips, maybe because they look expensive themselves. In a 1999 interview, the soloists of Vacuum said: “Our songs are about politics, science and religion, about what we consider exciting and important, and the level of our education allows us to determine this accurately. We want to work not for fashion, but for eternity.”
So, about the members of the group:
ALEXANDER BARD. Born in 1961. Soloist of the group "Army of lovers". "Good" Swedes perceived him only as an army man - a lover and never seriously treated him as a musician. It is the Vacuum group that is Alexander Bard's attempt to prove to everyone that he has excellent musical brains.
Alexander is also a writer, TV show host, adviser to the Swedish government, participant in the SpeakersNet project - a virtual analogue of the speakers' corner in Hyde Park; lecturer at the Stockholm School of Economics. Also commonly known as music producer, composer and artist, author of more than 80 songs, once included in the Top 40 (Scandinavian Billboard). Founder of the largest Swedish record company Stockholm Records. As one of the pioneers of the Internet, he oversees nine international networks, including Philosophy (the world's largest forum for philosophers and futurists) and Z ( global network fighters against the dictatorial regime in Iran).
MATTHIAS LINDBLOM. Born in 1971 in Falsterbow. After 7 years, he repeatedly changed his place of residence. Went to college where he studied music. I said goodbye to college - the music sucked even more. The meeting with Alexander Bard at one of the parties organized by the recording group turned out to be fatal.
With the advent of Matthias in the group, all attention switched to him. A beautiful Swede, but how he sings! Opera vocals. Alessandro Bard's riveted attention to Mattas is only on hand, because he never liked to be a central figure.
MARINA SHIPCHENKO very interesting figure. Firstly, the surname, secondly, the style of behavior, and thirdly, the personality. She was born in 1965 to Swedish Brigita and Russian Leonid. The father's influence was enormous. Marina was brought up very strictly according to all aristocratic traditions. It was allowed to come to dinner only in beautiful clothes, be sure to consume vegetables, wear long skirts walk around the city with your head held high. When Leonid walked with his daughter through the streets, passers-by turned around, both dad and daughter looked so unusual in Sweden.
Marina's father, Leonid, was born into a very aristocratic family. He is used to a large number nannies and rooms. At the age of 9 he entered cadet school, where he studied in the same class with the son of Nicholas II - Alexei. One can only imagine what kind of upbringing he received future parent future keyboardist of the Vacuum group. In connection with political events, Leonid was forced to leave Russia and learn to be an aviator in Germany. Historical move events did not allow him to return to his homeland, to see his parents and sister. The Soviet borders were closed to him, and Leonid Shipchenko moved to live in Sweden. Marina was born in a third marriage, when he was no longer young.
