Venera
Dana - guitar
Mike - bass guitar & vocals
Anden - guitar & vocals
Fred - percussion
The story so far...
VENEREA started out as Venereal Disease back in 1991, when four guys from school decided to form a band to have something to do in the small westcoastal town of Falkenberg, Sweden. Daniel "Dana" Johansson (bass), Johan "Bengan" Bengtsson (vocals/guitar), Mattias "Talle" Toldbod (drums), & Stefan Stenslund (guitar) set up a rehearsal space on the loft of a friend´s dad´s barn and covered classic eighties punkers such as the Hard-Ons, Gang Green, Bad Religion, and of course the Ramones, as well as some punked-up metal covers. However, Stefan was more into metal than the rest of the band, so he was swiftly replaced by Mikael "Mike" Persson (vocals/bass), who the guys met at Psychotic Youth´s brilliant 100th gig. Since he had a year or so more bass experience than Dana, the latter switched to guitar, and the two immediately started writing songs of their own, then more often than not dealing with the timeless issues of porn & beer.
The first thirty self-penned numbers or so were cut for two legendary demos, "From Beer To Eternity" (´92), & "The Second Cuming of Venereal Disease" (´93), that attracted enough attention to get them their first record deal. Before recording the first of three mini-cd´s for the now defunct Swedish label Brööl, the band shortened their moniker to VENEREA, the name of a rocket that the US were supposed to have sent up in the sixties to penetrate the planet Venus and find out what it is made of. " Hullabaloo" (´94) is one of the worst debuts ever released, and is now out of print forever and ever, amen. The band recorded two more minis for the label, the classic "Shake Your Booty" (´95) & the ill-fated "Swollen" (´96), before leaving and changing the line-up. After two delightful European tours Bengan was kicked out for not learning new songs properly, and went on to join Daily Distortion and later his current group Footstompers.
Meanwhile, VENEREA recorded their first proper full-length album "Both Ends Burning" (Gift Of Life, ´97) as a threesome before recruiting Andreas " Anden" Flygare (guitar, vocals) from Scarecrow. He had no problem learning the tunes, that by now were more technical, faster, and lyrically more mature. More European tours followed before drummer Talle left to pursue his career as an electrician. Mattias "El Bonko" Johansson filled the drum stool on just one tour and the 10" picture disc vinyl release "We Shall Overcome" (recorded in ´98, released by Renate/Community in ´01), which was also the first of three records on which he occupied the producer´s chair.
The band´s newest and longest member is ex-roadie Fredrik "Fred" Andersson, who had never laid hands on a drum kit before joining the band. The first album graced by his presence is "Losing Weight, Gaining Ground" (Renate/Community, ´01), VENEREA´s finest and most popular record to date. It was backed up by the unforgettable South Parksy video for "Back To The Start" and several European tours, including the Vans Off The Wall Club Tour 2001, together with Powerhouse, the Deviates, Ignite, & the mighty SNFU. The band is currently in the studio laying down what friends and fans alike have called their best songs so far, before heading down the ol´ road again in October. Look out for a March release, and the Spring 2003 World Tour!Quelle: http://www.peoplelikeyourecords.de www
