Nicke Andersson


Nicke Andersson, is a Swedish singer, guitarist, drummer, songwriter and composer most known for his work as the singer and guitarist of the successful Grammis award-winning rock band The Hellacopters and drummer for Swedish death metal band Entombed. He has also done work as a producer as well as artwork for most the bands he has been involved with. Besides his work with the Hellacopters, Andersson is currently the drummer and songwriter in the soul band The Solution, the death metal band Death Breath, and the hard rock band Lucifer. Andersson has been involved in well over a hundred different official releases with different bands. He is currently touring with his new project, Imperial State Electric. Andersson was also the drummer of Tiamat in 1989, who were under the name of Treblinka, but he was no longer in the group by that year and he did not record any material with them.

Recording career

Andersson's interest began early in life with KISS as his favorite band and soon discovered his childhood friend and future bandmate Kenny Håkanssons father's record collection and bands such as The Ramones and Sex Pistols. His interest soon turned towards heavier music, trading cassettes and vinyl and writing for fanzines. It wasn't long before Andersson started playing music and was soon playing drums and guitars in rock and metal bands such as Brain Dead Bodies, The Breaking, Belsen Barnen, Parodi, Maximal Skandal, Sons of Satan, Blasphemy, Nihilist and a number of other bands.

Entombed

Andersson formed Nihilist after answering an ad in Heavy Sound, a record store in Stockholm When Nihilist broke up in 1989, the same musicians formed Entombed with a different bass player. Andersson was predominantly the drummer in the band but also contributed with bass, guitars and vocals as well. Entombed took influences from many different genres but mostly from death metal in the band's first two albums Left Hand Path and Clandestine. With their third album the group started incorporating more traditional influences from hard rock and heavy metal and the album Wolverine Blues is widely considered to be the origin of Death 'n' roll.

The Hellacopters

In late 1994, Andersson formed The Hellacopters as a side project together with Dregen, Kenny Håkansson and Robert Eriksson, all of whom earlier had been roadies during Andersson's time in Entombed. In January 1995 they released their first single Killing Allan on their own label Psychout Records. Their first full-length album Supershitty to the Max! was released in 1996 and was recorded in 25 hours and later awarded with a Grammies. The group recruited Anders Lindström and supported KISS on their Scandinavian shows in 1997. The album was followed up the next year with Payin' the Dues. Due to the band's success, Andersson left Entombed to focus full-time on his new band. However the next year guitarist Dregen left The Hellacopters to focus full-time on his other band Backyard Babies. With their third record The Hellacopters changed the direction of their music to a more cleaner sound than the early garage/punk rock style. The band continued to tour with temporary replacements before Robert 'Strings' Dahlqvist joined the band as their full-time guitarist. The band continued to release albums and tour extensively in Scandinavia, Europe and other parts of the world as well as opening up for The Rolling Stones on two shows in 2002. In 2006 The Hellacopters joined forces with The Hives, Backyard Babies, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Millencolin and embarked on a successful tour throughout Sweden. In 2007 the band announced that they would be breaking up after the release of their 7th full-length album 'Head off', a collection of cover songs which will be followed by a last tour through Europe and Scandinavia. After the breakup of The Hellacopters Andersson is planning on recording a solo record, exactly what direction the album will take is still not decided.

Scott Morgan collaborations

While on tour in USA with The Hellacopters, the band played several shows in the same venue as the former Sonic's Rendezvous Band singer Scott Morgan. This led to the formation of The Hydromatics which went on to release their first record Parts Unknown in 1999. Andersson and Morgan teamed up once again in 2004 this time under the name The Solution to release Communicate which was followed up with Will Not Be Televised in 2007.

Death Breath

In 2005 Death Breath was formed by Andersson and Robert Pehrsson. Soon Scott Carlson and Erik Wallin joined, making the band's lineup complete. The band plays metal music inspired by some of Andersson's favorite early extreme metal bands such as Venom, Autopsy and Celtic Frost. The band released Stinking Up the Night in 2006 and Let It Stink in 2007.

Cold Ethyl

After the breakup of The Hellacopters, Andersson formed Cold Ethyl along with Thomas Eriksson, Tobias Egge and Dolf De Borst from The Datsuns who opened up together with "Demons" for The Hellacopters during the later part of The Tour Before the Fall. The band states that they have no interest in recording or releasing any material at this time and that the only way to experience the band is through their live shows. the band played their first show at Debaser Slussen in Stockholm early 2009 and held a short tenure at the club "Fanclub".

Imperial State Electric

At first a Nicke Andersson solo recording project Imperial State Electric soon evolved into a touring band with the same members as Cold Ethyl. They toured Scandinavia and Europe during 2010–2011 on the back of the first self-titled record. I.S.E played mostly headline shows and festivals but there were also support act slots to KISS and Guns N' Roses. For the recording of the second album "Pop War" Imperial State Electric was declared a band proper. The "Pop War" tour was unofficially started with two gigs supporting The Hives, one "by invitation only" secret gig on 28 March 2012 and one official The Hives gig three days later. The Imperial State Electric Pop War tour officially started on 4 April at Katalin in Uppsala, Sweden.

Other work

In 1998 Andersson, together with former bandmate Dregen, Ginger and Thomas Skogsberg formed Supershit 666, the band's music was very reminiscent of the early Hellacopters sound. The band released a self-titled EP in 1999 but never played live. However Dregen and Ginger have both expressed interest in playing together again, possibly as Supershit 666. After releasing "By the Grace of God", Andersson was invited to join Wayne Kramer and the remaining members of the MC5 for their reunion tour in 2003 and 2004.
In 2004 Andersson joined up with Swedish punk veteran Johan Johansson from KSMB and Strindbergs. They released the single NU!. A Swedish version of NOW! They were joined by musicians such as Anders "Boba" Lindström and Dregen from Hellacopters and Sulo from Diamond Dogs. The single also contained the song 8 pm, an English version of the KSMB song Klockan 8. Along with fellow Hellacopter member Robert Dahlqvist, Andersson recorded drums and guitars for Swedish singer/songwriter Stefan Sundströms 2004 album Hjärtats melodi. Apart from being a producer/co-producer with his own bands, Andersson produced Swedish rock band Dollhouse's second album The Royal Rendezevous in Acetone Studio, Stockholm in late 2005. Also at Acetone Studio he played on Neil Leyton's The Betrayal of the Self album along with Backyard Babies's guitarist Dregen. The next year he produced the Backyard Babies fifth studio album People Like People Like People Like Us. In 2009, it has been announced that Andersson and Neil Leyton have a side-project called The Point, with a 7" single titled "Give it a try" due to be released in the spring of 2010.

Musical equipment

Guitars

High gloss black with
Bent maple bindings on body, head and neck.
Made by then- apprentice luthier, Thomas Berg, as a qualifying piece of work.
Mr Berg has also built The Imperial model guitar for Tobias Egge and Nicke.
Based on the symmetrical shaped, hard radius edge body Epiphone Coronet
Custom features include a Crestwood deluxe style bound, inline headstock, J200 type inlay, single Dimarzio DP100 and a wraparound bridge.


YearBandsTitleNotes
1988MezzrowFrozen Soul Bass
1989MezzrowThe Cross of Tormention Bass
1990EntombedLeft Hand PathDrums, bass, artwork
1991DismemberLike an Ever Flowing StreamLead guitar
1991EntombedClandestineDrums, lead vocals, artwork
1993EntombedHollowmanDrums, arrangements
1993EntombedWolverine BluesDrums, guitar, artwork
1996The HellacoptersSupershitty to the Max!Vocals, guitar, maracas
1996DaemonSeven Deadly SinsGuitars, drums
1997EntombedDrums, percussion
1997EntombedEntombedDrums, guitar
1997The HellacoptersPayin' the DuesVocals, guitar, piano, percussion
1997EntombedWreckageDrums
1997The Hellacopters/GlueciferRespect the RockVocals, guitar
1998The Backyard BabiesTotal13Songwriting
1998Electric Frankenstein/HellacoptersElectric Frankenstein Vs. The HellacoptersVocals guitar
1999The HellacoptersGrande RockVocals, guitar
1999Supershit 666Supershit 666Drums
1999The HydromaticsPart UnknownDrums, percussion backing vocals
1999The HydromaticsFluid DriveDrums, percussion
2000The HellacoptersHigh VisibilityVocals, guitar, clavinet, percussion
2000The HellacoptersCream of the Crap Vol. 1Vocals, guitar
2001The Hellacopters/The Flaming SideburnsWhite Trash SoulVocals, guitar
2002ScarveLuminiferousSongwriting
2002The HellacoptersBy the Grace of GodVocals, guitar, percussion, piano
2002EntombedSons of Satan Praise the LordDrums
2002The HellacoptersCream of the Crap Vol. 2Vocals, guitar
2003MensenOslo CityMixing, percussion
2004Kurt-Sunes med Helveteshundarna NU!Guitar, vocals
2004The SolutionCommunicate!Production, drums, percussion, guitar, backing vocals
2004MC5Purity AccuracyGuitar, vocals
2004Stefan SundströmHjärtats MelodiDrums, backing vocals
2005The HellacoptersRock & Roll Is DeadVocals, guitar, percussion, piano
2005NihilistNihlist Drums, guitar, artwork
2005DollhouseThe Royal RendezevouzProduction
2006Death BreathStinking Up the NightDrums, guitar
2006Neil LeytonThe Betrayal of the SelfGuitar
2006Jeff Walker Und Die FlüffersWelcome To Carcass CuntryVocals
2006The HellacoptersAir Raid SerenadesVocals, guitar, percussion
2006Backyard BabiesPeople Like People Like People Like UsProduction
2007Death BreathLet It StinkDrums, guitar, bass
2007The SolutionWill Not Be TelevisedProduction, drums, percussion, guitar, backing vocals, mixing, artwork
2008The HellacoptersHead OffVocals, guitar, percussion
2008BulletBite the BulletMixing
2009The Bitter TwinsGlobal Panic!Lead guitar, vocals
2010Imperial State ElectricImperial State ElectricVocals, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, keyboard
2010Stefan Sundström5 Dagar i AugustiPiano, backing vocals, percussion
2010NecronautNecronautLead guitar
2011Imperial State ElectricIn Concert! EPVocals, guitar
2011Stefan SundströmJonny Dunders Elektriska Circus Live!Piano
2011Morbus ChronSleepers in the RiftProducer, Recording, Engineering, Mixing
2012'77High DecibelsProduction, mixing, additional vocals
2012Imperial State ElectricPop WarVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2013Imperial State ElectricReptile Brain MusicVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2013Imperial State ElectricRadio ElectricVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2014Imperial State ElectricEyes EPVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2015Imperial State ElectricHonk MachineVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2015Honeymoon DiseaseThe TranscendenceCo-Producer
2016Imperial State ElectricAll Through the NightVocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2018Imperial State ElectricAnywhere Loud Vocals, guitar, production, engineering, artwork
2018LuciferLucifer IIDrums, guitar, bass