Despite being relatively unknown to the general public, Roine Stolt has without doubt sold the highest number of albums of all Uppsala musicians, ever.
During his almost 40-year long career, he has sold close to 1 million records and appeared on over 200 albums. The music has taken him around the world and made him a legend within Progressive rock. But who is Roine Stolt really? I went to meet him as he rehearsed with his band The Flower Kings.
The Flower Kings outside the rehearsal studio in Uppsala. (Photo: Calle Lind)
In a grey, unassuming building, just outside of Uppsala, I find The Flower Kings’ rehearsal studio. Stepping out of the car, there’s no doubt I’ve found the right place. The windows rattle as music loudly rumbles out of the house. After a few attempts of knocking, I get the band's attention and Roine opens the door.
- Hi, welcome! Hope you haven ́t been knocking for too long, he says, laughing.
Inside the cramped room a hive of activity unfolds. The volume is loud to say the least. I sit down, and come to realize, how skilled these musicians actually are. After a while it ́s time for lunch and we head into town to eat.
The very first time Roine picked up a guitar, he was 12 years old.- Dad had a guitar at home but he didn’t use it all that much. So I started fiddling around with it. When I was 13 years old, I decided to learn to play the guitar for real. Just 4 years later, he began his career as a professional musician in the cult band Kaipa. The year was 1974 and Roine was a young hungry, 17 year old musician.
Roine Stolt has sold close to a million albums. (Photo: Calle Lind)
He soon showed his skills as a songwriter and guitarist. After his time in Kaipa, he became something of a musical jack of all trades. Playing with various bands in Uppsala. In the early '80s he bought an 8-channel tape recorder, in order to realize his own music. Going into a studio was too expensive, so why not record it all myself instead, he figured.
-You could say that I was a bit of a pioneer in that area, come to think of it. This was before the portastudios and all that.
After a while he became quite proficient at the technical stuff and got more and more jobs as a sound engineer. This included gigs with Totte Wallin, The Boppers but especially with Janne Schaffer and Björn J.son Lindh. While working as a sound engineer Roine also played not only in various cover bands, but also in bands who played their own material. During a period Roine worked at the legendary Studio 55, in Uppsala.
- That’s where I met Hasse (Hasse Fröberg, guitarist and lead singer in TFK) for the first time. Thus that’s where we’re back to square one. Today.
-Yeah that's right, Hasse says with his mouth full of spring rolls - It must have been around 1990 I think, he continues.
After some old anecdotes and studio memories, Roine tells me about the time he asked himself what he really wanted to do. He got more and more offers to work as sound engineer and producer, but it didn’t feel right.
- I wanted to write and record my own music. Not pop songs, I had tried that in the 80s.
And that’s how The Flower Kings were born.
Initially, it was meant more as a project where Roine himself played the guitar, bass and keyboard. A platform for him to entirely unrestricted write and record just the music he wanted. The reason he played most of the instruments himself was simply to save money.
- I sang as much as I could too. But Hasse sang on two songs, I think.
-Yes that's right, says Hasse.
-I had finished a song and realized that I wouldn’t be able to manage the vocals. Then I thought of that guy in the studio. The guy with the high pitch. So I called Hasse and asked him if he wanted to sing it.
The Flower Kings rehearsing for the upcoming tour. (Photo: Calle Lind)
Interest for The Flower Kings was increasing and on August 20, 1994, they played live for the first time. The gig was at a festival in Gränby Folkets park here in Uppsala. A funny detail is that Kent Wennman played with the band on stage for the first gig. In the following time, interest was steadily increasing. Everything was handled by Roine and his wife. Albums were released at least once a year and were selling in larger and larger editions.
-When my wife and I had packed and sent 12,000 copies of an album I realized that it is impossible to continue without a record label. I had received offers before which I had turned down. But in 1999 I signed on for Insideout. They also released my previous albums.
With a record label to back them up, The Flower Kings toured around the world, establishing themselves as one of the the very best progressive rock bands in the world. Today, he plays not only with TFK, but also in the supergroup Transatlantic. Transatlantic also includes Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy (ex-member and founder of Dream Theater).
If you want to see The Flower Kings live (which I would recommend) they do one of few shows in Sweden, Stockholm on Wednesday December 18. The gig takes place at Bryggarsalen and is followed by a show in Gothenburg on Thursday. After that it’s time for a cruise, and I do not mean 24 hours to Åland. In February they board a ship in Miami to play onboard, during a cruise set in the Caribbean, amongst other destinations.
The guys have finished their meal and we head back to the rehearsal studio to take some pictures. When we're done, I thank the band for their time and say goodbye. Roine cranks up the amp, count the others in and several additional hours of rehearsal begins. Carl von Linné have to excuse. There ́s a new "Flower King" in town, and his name is Roine Stolt.
