Band:

Johnny Lökke

BiografieJohnny Lökke wants to be clear on one thing. "When I say I play classic heavy metal, I mean it. I don´t rap, I don´t growl, I don´t do ´unplugged shows´ and I don´t plan on redoing my songs with an orchestra. I take two guitars, add in some pounding bass, throw down a vocal line that has melody and power, have actual guitar solos, and finally turn Scot (Goacher) loose to throw down a barrage of drums that will blow you away!"



Lökke began playing guitar at the age of 10, and was led to the alter of metal at age 14. "I remember it like it was yesterday...my first concert. It was KISS with all the original members. I was so excited! The concert starts and the lights go down, and a band I had never heard of takes the stage. The guitars are so loud I can´t believe it. The bass is crushing my chest, and the drums sound like they are in my head! But then...what do I hear...my god, is that a human scream? It was JUDAS PRIEST onstage, ripping me limb from limb, taking no prisoners. I was hooked. I loved KISS, but I knew that musically, Priest was where it was at for me."



He would play in cover band after cover band, always trying to talk the others into writing and recording originals. "Who wants to hear originals? We´ve got to play hits to get gigs," the bands would say. Lökke didn´t buy it. "In my mind, they (the audience) just wanted good songs," Lokke says. "They didn´t care who it was by, as long as it moved them. So I bought a recorder and decided to start writing and recording."



One person Lökke had played in several cover bands with was tired of the cover scene too...Scot Goacher. "Scot and I had been in several bands together, and had become good friends. So when I decided to start recording, I called him, and we did a lot of learning together."



Years passed and Lökke took time off to get married and raise a family. "The music life is a real circus, so I decided that I would lead a normal life for a while and enjoy my marraige and my son growing up. You can´t do that if you´re on the road trying to be a rock star all the time." Eventually the music bug bit again, though. "Music is something that is inside you," says Lökke. "You can´t just turn it off or put it away. It works it´s way out eventually."



Lökke first built a music studio in his basement, so he could still remain close to his family, even when working. He then decided to call Goacher and offer him the chance to join in on the recording process. "I wasn´t planning on doing a cd, but I did have some material I wanted to record just to see if I still had what it takes," Lökke laughs. "I couldn´t imagine anyone else that could make recording as easy as Scot can, so he accepted and I was thrilled. We recorded several songs that turned out so good, we decided to put together a full cd, and ´Early Warning´ was born!"



Lökke sent out a few press kits to see what the response would be, but expected the worst. "Real metal was dead. It was all nu-metal and rap-rock. Lo and behold, though, reviews started coming in and the people loved it. Then word started spreading in a real grass-roots way, and next thing you know I´m sending cd´s all over the world. It´s like it was meant to be!"



Eager to follow up on the heels of his debut success, Lökke and Goacher quickly re-entered the studio and started on cd number two. "´Wrecking Ball´ has been so gratifying for me," states Lökke. "´Early Warning´ was more like a demo...just an experiment really. ´Wrecking Ball´ was planned from start to finish, and we took a great deal of time recording, re-recording and mixing and I think it shows. The real test, though, was if the fans stayed with us to prove that all the success we had with ´Warning´ wasn´t a fluke. Well, they´ve expanded 10 fold, and things just keep getting better and better. I try and e-mail or meet every single fan, too. Everyone is so cool, every day I pinch myself to make sure it isn´t all a dream!"

Quelle: http://www.johnnylokke.com/wreckingball/lokke.htmDiscografieEarly Warning (2002)

Wrecking Ball (2004)

D.O.A. (2004)
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Reviews

Wrecking Ball - Cover
Ich bezweifele, dass hierzulande schon viele Leute von Johnny Lökke gehört haben.