Helena Josefsson
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Helena Josefsson is a Swedish singer, composer and lyrics writer, and lead singer in the band Sandy Mouche. She has been also singing in Per Gessle's last projects: Mazarin, Son of a Plumber and En Händig Man.
[edit] Biography
Helena Marianne Josefsson was born in Kalmar, Sweden on March 23rd, 1978. Her parents divorced when she was seven years old, and she and her sisters moved with their mother and her new partner to a village called Björnstorp (outside of Lund, Skåne County, southern Sweden) when she was ten. She has four sisters. She is left-handed and can play keyboards, tambourine and harmonica. Helena married Martinique Josefsson, her longtime boyfriend, in 2003.
[edit] First groups and Sandy Mouche
Helena began to play in some groups in Lund and Malmö (ewing.1, Plastic Soul, The Good Mornings) before forming in the fall of 2001 the band Sandy Mouche with her husband Martinique Josefsson, the Blomgren brothers (Per and Ola Blomgren) and Danyal Taylan who played the bass until 2005. So far they have released and E.P. (Sandy Mouche, spring 2003) and two albums (White Lucky Dragon, September 2004; and ... and poems for the unborn, January, 2006)
[edit] Backing vocals
Helena has been doing backing vocals for a lot of Swedish and some foreign artists: The Ark, Righteous Boy, Swan Lee, Justin Winokur, Doug Wyatt, Junior Senior, Andreas Johnson, Sebastian Karlsson, Hideki Kaji, The Margarets, Metro Jets, ...
Many of these collaborations and Sandy Mouche's and Helena Solo albums have been recorded in the Aerosol Grey Machine Studio in Vollsjö, a small urban area (788 habitants) in the Sjöbo Municipality. The owner and producer of this studio, Christoffer Lundquist, was a member of the Swedish band Brainpool and has worked with Roxette, The Cardigans, Ed Harcourt, Ulf Lundell, Gyllene Tider, Wilmer X and many others. Chris Lundquist is used to call on Helena (backing vocals) and Brainpool partner Jens Jansson (bass and drums) when needed.
[edit] Per Gessle's band
In 2003 Helena Josefsson took part in recording Per Gessle's Swedish solo album Mazarin as a backup singer. She also participated in Mazarin Sommarturne 2003 with Per Gessle and the band. A year later in 2004, Helena was invited to record Gyllene Tider's anniversary album 'Finn 5 Fel!'.
The Mazarin project became actually a defined band, Son of a Plumber, with Per Gessle - vocals and guitar -, Clarence Öfwerman - keyboards -, Christoffer Lundquist - guitar-, Jens Jansson - drums - and Helena Josefsson - vocals -. Son of a Plumber released their first album in 2005 in Sweden and in 2006 in all Europe. All the team has worked together again in the last Gessle's Swedish solo album, En händig man, and in the En händig man Summer Tour (2007).
[edit] Dynamo: the first solo album (2007)
On February 28th, 2007, her first solo album, Dynamo, was released. The album is backed by the singles "By Your Side", "Never Never (My Dynamo) and "Where Does the Unused Love Go?." Dynamo was two weeks at Swedish Charts (peak 23, 2007.03.08)
Helena Josefsson has been touring with her own band in 2007 in order to promote DYNAMO. Since September 2007, she is working in a new solo album and in a new project by Sandy Mouche.
[edit] Thoughts by Helena Josefsson
- "What do you want to become when you grow up? Either a troll or an artist!, I replied to that question at 7 years of age. When I think about it, trolls and artists do have rather much in common. What I wanted, and still try to achieve, is the sense of liberty, being part of nature, getting room in the city, finding a spot for mushrooming. That it is all right to be the way one is and still being able to receive love. Being an artist and composer is probably one of the few lifestyles where one can be a troll simultaneously!"
- "When you are born, you are complete but then shell after shell is added as protection against dangers around. Or society forces you to take different parts, needs and patterns you don't really need or want. Then one can spend the rest of one's life finding and removing the bad shells, and saving the good ones, one by one. At least that's what I want to do"
[edit] Albums by Sandy Mouche
- Sandy Mouche (spring 2003) - ep
- White Lucky Dragon (September 2004) - just in Sweden and Japan
- ...and poems for the unborn (January 2006) - so far in Sweden only
[edit] Albums by Helena Josefsson
- Dynamo (February 2007)
[edit] Singles by Sandy Mouche
[edit] Singles by Helena Josefsson
[edit] Videography by Sandy Mouche
- Cherry pie (dir. Johan Tholsson)
- C’est pas juste (dir. Per and Ola Blomgren)
- Papillon (dir. Jeffry Rich)
[edit] Videography by Helena Josefsson
- By Your Side
