Interaction (Swe) - Warriors (2019)

Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / Melodic Hard Rock / Melodic Metal

2CD compilation with collected Interaction recordings released by Greek label Cult Metal Classics, limited to 500 copies. Includes booklet with biography and photos.

A Music video was recorded for the song "It's A Game".

Artwork layout, tape transfer, pre-mastering and digital cleaning by Janne Stark (Stark Music) .
Analogue reel tape transfer by Lasse Björn at Sveriges Ljudmigreringscentrum - SLC.
Fronto cover from the original Interaction MLP.
Re-union photos by Thomas Larsson.
Other photos courtesy of Jim Johnsson (private collection).

CD1: 1-2 Previously released on 'Rockslaget' compilation 3LP.

CD2: 2-3 Unreleased 7" in 1988. Recorded by Ola Olhester at Sonet Studio.

CD2: 4-5 Recorded by Berno Paulsson at Berno Studio in 1989.

CD2: 9-12 Previously released as MLP 'Interaction', in 1990.
Recorded at Santoz Studio by Janne Broman. Produced by Patrik Olsson.

Remaining tracks recorded and mixed by Interaction.

From Booklet
I remember growing up in the area of Karlshamn, Sweden in the late 70s/early 80s. We had a couple of bands that really stood out as high-class hard rock bands. Bands we looked up to. One was Ocean, who were verging on bluesy classic rock at times, and the other was Interaction. Interaction was formed by guitarists Jim Johnsson and Peter Lindskog (who later also picked up playing keyboards) already back in 1974, initially under the name Relief. They were soon completed with drummer Roger Karlsson and instead of going down the cover band route they started writing their own material already early on. The band had now also been completed by bass player Tibor Djember (brother of Zoltan Djember of Overdrive and Ocean). Relief initially mostly played in the home area. Tibor was however a very shy guy, and at one gig he was standing behind the drapes on the side of the stage, too shy to face the audience. He finally quit and was replaced by Åke Hallström.

In 1979 they decided to change their name to Interaction. The band recorded some rehearsal demos, but it took until 1981 for the Interaction's first official songs to be released. These were the two songs "Stuck In Drugs" (a kick ass Scorpions influenced heavy rocker) and "It's Right" (a straight ahead hard rocker) that were featured on the local compilation album "Rockslaget" (SOS Records). The line-up featured Peter Lindskog on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Jim Johnsson on lead guitar, Roger Karlsson on drums and Åke Hallström on bass. Peter, Jim and Roger would form the everlasting backbone of the band, while the position as bass player did change a few times. In 1982, the band was also reinforced by lead singer Håkan Windahl (later in Overheat).

In 1983 the band entered the Rock SM competition (the same year it was won by none other than Europe). They won the local battle and Jim even receive the "best guitar- ist" award of the competition. They went to the final, but the show however ended in something of a disaster. In the middle of the first song, Jim felt his guitar suddenly went out of tune (it had happened before). He started re-tuning in the middle of the song. It however turned out to be Peter's guitar and instead the band ended up with two guitars and a bass in different tunings. The band didn't win. They however did record some outstanding demo tracks such as "Space Jail", "Heavy Night", "Turn Up The Light" and "Feelings". The line-up now featured Peter, Jim and Roger, fronted by singer Håkan Windahl and flanked by bass player Åke Hallberg. In 1984 yet another demo was recorded, featuring "You Make Me So Wild", "Impressions", "I'll Still Be Strong" and "Strange Situation". The style was classic hard rock with influences from both heavy rockers such as Scorpions and UFO, but also picking up some more melodic influences from the now rising Europe. The band entered the Rock SM competition also in 1984 and also this time Jim was recognized for his guitar skills.

In 1985 Åke Hallberg was replaced by bass-player Kenth Ericsson, who had recently been relieved of his duties from the band Overdrive, with whom he recorded two LPs and an MLP. The new line-up recorded a self-titled 6-track demo featuring "Shadows". "You Make Me So Wild", "Girls!", We All Need Love", Impressions" and "Turn Up The Light". All tracks, except "Girls!" and "We All Need Love" were reworked re-recordings of previously demoed tracks. Especially the lyrics had been properly re-written, but the mix was also slightly slicker than the previous demo. After only one year, Kenth (later in Area) was replaced by Johnny Granström (ex-Ocean). In 1987 the band recorded a new demo, featuring the tracks "Lazy", "I Go Crazy", "Silver Lady", "Don't Walk Away", "We Stand Alone", "Take It Easy" and "How Long". Interaction now even added some keyboards to the mix. This year the band entered the Star 1987 competition and they went all the way to the finale. However, the final event at the Johanneshov Stadium in Stockholm became something of a disaster. The main guest act of the event was none other than Europe. The problem, however, was that the competition was sponsored by Malboro cigarettes, and Europe were heavily involved with the Non-Smoking Generation movement. The result? The whole finale was cancelled.

In 1989 (two months before the wall came down) the band went on a five-day tour of Poland, which included playing at a castle and at a military facility. This year they also went to Ola Håkansson's Sonet Studio in Stockholm to recorded three tracks with engineer Ola Olhester: "Silver Lady", "It's A Game" and "Bad Impression". The first two songs were supposed to be released as a 7" single. It was pressed as a test press in five (now highly sought after) copies. The recording was however so expensive that they didn't have any money left to print the single. They also recorded a video for the track "It's A Game". Unfortunately, the single was never released, except the songs "It's A Game", which was featured on the local "Karlshamns Musikforum 15 år" compilation LP in 1989. Now Håkan left the band and joined Overheat, on drums and lead vocals.

Interaction continued as a quartet, featuring Peter, Jim, Roger and bass player Johnny Granström. Disaster struck the band when Jim accidentally cut off the tip of his right-hand index finger. Being left-handed, this was his "fretboard hand". Was he going to be able to play guitar again? Well, Tony Iommi did it, so Jim reinvented his style and was surprisingly soon back on track again. Not long after, disaster struck even worse. He now managed to cut off 2 cm (almost 1 inch) of his right-hand ring finger! KillerHawk guitarist Anders Fernlund helped out on an already booked gig, and there were quite a few doubts if Jim would be able to play again. Well, he immediately went at it again, reinvented his playing style, tuned down half a step, and on he went. The loss of the fingertip was instead used as a prank for band photos where it looked like Jim shoved his finger into Peter's eye (see the centerfold)

In 1989 the band went to Malmö to record a six-track demo with producer Berno Paulsson (Spiritual Beggars, Bai Bang) and in 1990 they recorded six new tracks that were finally released as a self-titled MLP, printed in 1000 copies. The MLP featured the tracks "Warrior", "Go Man Go", "Confessions", "Today", "Pay With Rock" and "Shadows". The style was quite influenced by the melodic hard rock scene and bands like Europe and Treat. Unfortunately, not much happened, despite the high quality of the music and performance. Killed by grunge? Interaction continued as a cover band, playing stuff by AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Van Halen and ZZ Top. Around 1997 the band finally folded.

Jim formed AC/DC tribute band AC/DC Jam (also featuring former Overdrive singer Pelle Thuresson on bass). Roger and Johnny went to country band One 58, while Håkan started a career as solo artist in a more pop-oriented vein. In 2002, Håkan won the Swedish TV show "Sikta Mot Stjärnorna" (Aim At The Stars"), imitating singer Tommy Körberg, singing his song "Anthem".

In 2003, Interaction reunited for a one-off return of the local Rockslaget festival, together with other Karlshamn bands such as Overdrive, KillerHawk and Faith.

Eleven years later the band once again re-united to play at the Rockslaget Festival 40th anniversary. The line-up featured Håkan Windahl, Peter Lindskog, Jim Johnsson, Johnny Granström and Roger Karlsson. They were also reinforced by keyboard player Mikael Loorenz (ex-KillerHawk).

In 2017 Jim formed ZZ Top tribute band ZZ Tap, Roger plays in cover band Why Not, Johnny plays in the reunited Ocean, Håkan is working on his solo career. Johnny and Roger also play in country band One 58, which also features Kjell Jacobsson of Overdrive. Besides all the tracks that we couldn't fit into this compilation (we had to make it a double, which could have easily been a triple), according to Jim he has more than 50 more unfinished Interaction songs. Another release maybe?

- Janne Stark (Author of "The Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal")