Houston	Relaunch	Houston II
Release Year: 2010	Release Year: 2011	Release Year: 2013

 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Houstonsweden

 

STEVE XANTHIS: Hello Guys! Welcome aboard on BeRock Radio, the most melodic place!
Tell me which were the common dreams that joined to create Houston and which is the promise
that you gave to yourselves when you lined up the band that you had to keep?

FREDDIE: Thanks for having us! The dream was to make the ultimate AOR album and to fit in somewhere in
the early 80’s with all the other great albums made. We promised not to compromise with our love for this
music, and we never have to this day.

RICKY: When the guys approached me to produce the 1st album , we decided to make it as pure as can be.
There's plenty of good melodic rock bands out there and we felt that revisiting the classic sounds of Journey,
Foreigner and Survivor etc was how we wanted it. As production started I chose to go with veterans like
Tommy Denander and Mats Olausson to get the flavour I wanted. If the album didn't sound like it had been made
in the summer of '82 I would have considered that a failure.

STEVE XANTHIS: The band is going to release a new album, on September 2nd in Europe/USA through Livewire/Cargo Records.
How did the preparations of the new album go?Did anything amusing/surprising/horrifying happened?
Which were the difficulties and who were the people that helped you with them?

RICKY: No, it was smooth sailing all the way through. Me and Freddie always have such great flow in writing the
material so that worked out beautifully again. We added some new players and singers for this one which also
turned out very nice. The deadline was pretty narrow but aren't they always? We also got a great boost about
half-way through when we learned that a track from the previous cd was gonna recieve lots of attention before
too long, through a movie on the internet.

STEVE XANTHIS: HOUSTON “II” is the follow-up to the highly acclaimed 2010 debut. The band has been working on the
new songs since the last tour of the UK in 2011. What really changed from your debut album until your last one?

FREDDIE: A lot has changed. We have learned more about each other, the press, the audience, the biz.
We are more confident than ever, yet we know more of the dangers with being overconfident.

HANK: I couldnt agree more. None of us could imagine that the first album would become such a success.
We just wanted our album to sound like this, like our favorite albums do.

STEVE XANTHIS: Producer/keyboard player Ricky Delin has for this album become a full member of the band, together
with Hank Erix (vocals) and Freddie Allen (drums). The trio has once again used Sweden’s finest melodic rock musicians,
such as the great Tommy Denander for most guitar parts and long-time band associate Soufian Ma’Aoui for the bass parts.
What about the new members of the band? Did they blend in nicely?

FREDDIE: Ricky is the only new member to the band, and he is really a core member. He was there from the start,
writing songs, in the studio, rehearsing, playing gigs. He really was in the band so it was logical for him to take
the next step in as a member. The other guys have done great work as always, and they are our trusted dear friends
and collaborators. I also have to mention Calle Hammar, a brilliant young guitar player who contributed his playing
to three tracks, and co-wrote one together with Ricky called “On the Radio”.

HANK: So basicly nothing much had changed in the line-up since ”Relaunch” when Soufian stepped in and played the
bass parts, except for the entering of the brilliant Calle Hammar who wrote to us as a fan from the start, and he
turned out to be a fantastic guitar player!

RICKY: I'm not really doing anything now that I didn't do on the previous two albums as far as the studiowork.
But as an official member I will join the guys on stage as a keyboardplayer which will be fun. This time I also
chose to play all the keys on the new album.
Soufian, who's been with Houston live for a good period of time now did all the bassparts on the new album instead
of the previous sessionguys and he landed that gig for albums to come as well. He plays brilliantly. And Tommy of
course has been with me for 30 years and will always have a spot.

STEVE XANTHIS: Composing music is not something easy, you either have it or you don’t, and you have it guys.
Are there any secrets that you want to share with our listeners andreaders about the way you do this?

RICKY: With this lot it is easy!

FREDDIE: Wow, thanks. I think personally that as long as you are prepared to work hard at it, and if you have a
great interest in learning, you could be a great songwriter. For my part, I just come up with stuff on a keyboard,
harmony parts and melodies, and Ricky often comes to the aid making it a full song.

HANK: Sometimes the whole song just comes to you from nowhere but most of the times its hard work and you have
to work with it, sometimes for days. You must try to visualize the finished product from just fragments!

STEVE XANTHIS: What are your plans of promoting "Houston II"? Should we expect a string of live appearances?

FREDDIE: We love to play live and want to very much, yes. There are some plans right now,
but none are written in stone. We will keep you posted.

STEVE XANTHIS: Have you ever thought visiting Greece to play your music?

FREDDIE: I love Greece and have many times visited on holiday. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places on
Earth that I have seen, and true inspiration for great music. We have never played in Greece though,
but would love to come and play for you guys – make us an offer!

HANK: Sweden Loves Greece! I Actually made a guest appearence at Colorado music club in Rhodes last summer
on my vacation! Would be great to come over again!

RICKY: Apparently we all love Greece. My mom is even an honorary citizen of Rhodes haha.
Sure, it would be awesome to perform for you guys!

STEVE XANTHIS: Are there any thoughts for a video clip and which
track of the new album would that be for video shooting?

FREDDIE: Actually, “I’m Coming Home” is released on Aug 5 as a digital single, and there is already
a video clip out there, shot by my good friend Stefan Almers, and edited by me. I make a living doing film work,
so it was natural for me to cut a video for us sooner or later.

STEVE XANTHIS: Sweden has a big history in Melodic Hard Rock genre.
Do you think that this is a great responsibility for Houston?

FREDDIE: Absolutely a great responsibility to our heroes. I was six years old when I heard Europe’s “The Final Countdown”
- the album – and I will never forget the impact it had on me. You can’t just kid around making music, it pretty much has
to come from your heart and soul to be any good.

RICKY: Never thought about it like that. I feel a greater responsibility
to the creators of the genre and they're all out west.

STEVE XANTHIS: Also, Sweden has some new melodic Hard Rock bands like Diamond Dawn, Nubian Rose and the not so
well-known Degreed. Can you tell us Sweden's secret to giving birth to such good musicians and bands?

FREDDIE: Actually Degreed will release their new album on my label AOR Records in Europe, so I can only second that
it is great band! Diamond Dawn and Nubian Rose have made really impressive stuff as well, and we are proud of our
country men and women for this. Sweden has always had a tradition with community schools for music, where you can
learn an instrument as a child and grow up to play really well if you are serious about it, so I think that’s a
main reason. Let’s just hope the conservative party in the government right now doesn’t tear it all down.

STEVE XANTHIS: Do you think that Houston succeeded each goal until now?

FREDDIE: I definitely think we have something more to prove, both live and on record.
So I wouldn’t want to think that we have succeeded – only that we have tried hard and will continue our best.

RICKY: We certaintly have a sweet story so far, and it has definately fueled the ambition to keep doing what
we do and find ways to further improve.

STEVE XANTHIS: Thank you very much guys! Good luck to everything you do! The last words are yours,
say whatever you like to BeRock Radio listeners and readers

FREDDIE: Thank you Steve, a pleasure! I just want to say to all of you listening and reading;
A thousand thanks for listening to us and supporting us!

RICKY: Kalimera, kalispera and we hope to see you down the line.