Well...
At 12 years of age Thomas Larsson got his first guitar, a gift from his parents. The reason was not though to make him a world-class guitarist
-I guess it was more of an attempt keeping me away from doing bad things. I had my first electric a year later and than Clas Yngström (Sky High) taught my brother and me some blues-riffs and licks. I realized at once guitar was my thing cause I learned so easily.
Thomas played that axe until nothing was left and there were no question about the right choice of interest. Quite soon he started his first band, or at least tried to...
-A friend and me started a band when I was 14 years old and none of us could read music. We had to play something so we made up some chords and melodies and just played. We didn't think much about songwriting, it came naturally. We didn't even have a bass-player. Somehow we managed to amuse ourselves, which was the reason we played.
Those attempts ended up in a serious band named Six Feet Under. 1982, at age 17, Thomas recorded his first album and in mid eighties Six Feet Under was one of the leading rock bands in Sweden. After two albums and over 200 gigs, Six Feet Under disappeared and Thomas spent some years freelancing.
-Those years gave a lot, both good and bad. We had great fun and learned everything from songwriting, being on tour, recording and "trying not to kill each other".
Next platform was Yeah Bop Station , a highly renowned melodic rock band with the Kempff -sisters playing bass and drums.
-It was the first time I played with girls in a rock band. I remember how serious they were about the business-part. They worked hard to get gigs, catching record labels and having publishers interested etc. My earlier experience from being in a band was more an undivided focus on playing the music, and nothing else. Yeah Bob Station was fun but unfortunately we peaked at the wrong time when the grunge-metal era took over. I still think many of the tracks from the album "Up front" are very good and both sisters made a huge job.
Thomas went on with King Siguurd. This setup included Göran Edman (Yngwie Malmsteen), Anders Bojfeldt (United), John Levén (Europe) and Hempo Hildén (John Norum). Only a couple of demos where made when Glenn Hughes called and was in need of a new backup band, which became parts of King Siguurd. Together with Glenn Hughes Thomas got involved in the two albums "From now on" and "Live in Japan". Thomas didn't only play the guitar but also wrote songs for those two albums, by many Hughes fans regarded as his best solo works.
-Glenn Hughes is a phenomenal singer and I really enjoyed working with him.
When being on tour in Asia with Hughes Thomas got offered a solo-album deal with Japanese label Zero Corporation. The result was "Freeride", which was released -96 in Japan. Unfortunately the album didn't get a worldwide distribution until 2000 when Freeride got re-released again after some small adjustments. After four years with Glenn Hughes Thomas took a brake from the scene, became father of his daughter Cornelia and moved back to Dalecarlia.
-Freeride was my first solo-project. After getting tons of good feedback and reviews from fans and media I've now decided to continue doing things my way. My next album will have some songs similar to the Freeride-album but also a bunch of more "artistic" pieces. It will still be guitarbased music but in a softer package.
Baltimoore is another band Thomas has been involved in for several years. Baltimoore is mainly powered by singer Björn Lodin and three albums have so far been recorded with Thomas on guitar. A cover album with Baltimoore will soon also be released which contains their favourites songs mainly from the seventies.
At last Thomas has his local set-up "Boccabandet" that is one of the most wanted cover-bands around playing everything from Sweet to Dixie-Dregs and Uli Roth. Boccabandet only does a few gigs every year including the one on famous "Rockbåten" -a ferry full of rock, going from Stockholm to Helsinki in Finland.
Nowadays, after having a break from the big spotlights, Thomas is on the way back playing fulltime again. But compared from the past he will only work with songs from his own library. Harmonic Passion is the latest release through american label Grooveyard
-Even though I haven't been involved in big projects last couple of years I haven't been away from the music. It has been a period of "active recovering" where I have created new sounds and songs. I'm full of confidence and I'm really looking forward coming back on stage again, doing my own thing.
At the moment you'll find Thomas Larsson in his own studio, hammering the hills on his mountainbike or beating the bush on skies.
Ya sure ya betcha
