Saari History (Part III)

Mats and PM

In 1998 in the ashes of Risky Riot splitting up Mats Brodd (Risky Riot vocalist) and I decided
to start a new band, a bit more kick-ass and punky, more sleaze and less progressive. Burnitude was born, or Burner as the band was called in the beginning, but after receiving legal threats from a lawyer of another band called Burner I came up with the way more original Burnitude - “The eternal burning flame of ambition and love for what we do and our main ingredient in doing it, attitude!”.

Jan Viberg

We recorded some demos/singles with Jan Viberg on the drums but in 2000 Matte left, he moved out of town, way up north to live another life. I thought that the foundation we had was too good to let go and decided to carry on with it as a three-piece band, handling the vocals myself, which was a first for me. Soon I met and hooked up with, what became my brother from another mother, whom I came to share many bands, projects and the stage with for so many years to follow. A little bit later we were joined by Mats Öström (Moey) who was a perfect fit to handle the bass, perfectly harmonising and balancing up my and Vesa’s virtuous, progressive styles and keep it all down to earth. I wrote loads and loads of Burnitude songs, giving more room for two of my greatest influences, Shotgun Messiah and The Hellacopters, that hadn’t quite got though in my music that much earlier, and we released a handfull of underground releases and did countless of gigs through the following six, seven years or so.

Around the same time, around 1998, I was thinking about maybe start writing in Swedish and wrote a couple of songs with lyrics in Swedish and then I accidentally discovered what came to be one of my greatest influences, Joakim Thåström, and got really, really hooked. I’ve never really listened to music in Swedish before - at least not since I was six or seven when I was totally hooked in Björn Skifs in the end of the 70’s. Inspired by Thåström I got deeper into writing lyrics in Swedish and was surprised how great they turned out and how much easier it was for me to write in my native language.

I’ve always written lots of lyrics, I love lyrics. Many might not know it but like in Lizard Eye for instance, I wrote most of the lyrics, I wrote way more lyrics that I wrote riffs in that band. Anyway, I thought I couldn’t really put songs with Swedish lyrics in my current bands and project so I did what I always did, I started a new band/project and named it “Under” (the, pretty cool, Swedish word that is, meaning: marvel, under, during, beneath, below etc). I recorded some songs with, again Jan Viberg on the drums, and me handling the rest, and I went for Maiden style twin guitars. I liked to describe it as a mix between early Iron Maiden and Thåström. Vesa and I also started working on a second release, a full-length concept album actually, but we never had the time or opportunity to finish it. We never played live, which is pretty unfortunate since it was really great songs and a pretty cool a very well suited style.


These two bands/project were very important parts the process of moulding me into what I became as a musician. Those are the very foundation of what I’m doing today and will do in the future. In 2017 I made the tough decision to put both Burnitude and Under down, none of them having been active for about a decade anyway. It was time to move on and I would be implementing the unrecorded Burnitude and Under material into future solo releases, released under the PM Saari flag.

You’ll find all the recorded material at their various sites at:
Burnitude at Soundcloud | Reverbnation 
Under at Soundcloud | Reverbnation


You'll find the first part of PM Saari History here and the second here.

Moving on - The End of Burnitude and Under

I’ve always been very particular with not mixing different styles in my various bands and projects. I always wanted to keep them apart and rather start a new one than try to implement the material if I didn’t found it fitting style-wise. I love bands like Queen and Kiss, but I couldn't see myself mixing, what I, in my mind, considered different styles under the same banner, not to speak on the same album. Since I write different styles of hard rock/heavy metal/rock this led me to having lots of different bands and projects going on, and which of many actually were pretty much the same. Like a close friend of mine used to say about me and this: “The one with the most bands when he dies wins.” and I can assure you, I would have won, if not...

Burnitude

The other day when I was listening to one of my biggest influences and heroes, David Bowie, it came up to me that not many of his albums sound at all the same, at all. He changed all the time, and I love it. Then Drake (my bass player Andreas Mallander), who knows how much material I have laying around and waiting to be recorded under various bands/projects, said something like: “Why don’t you just record and put everything out as “PM Saari”, it’s you writing all the songs, and they’re all power trios with you on vocals and guitars, it’s all you anyway?” Some of them obviously has to be their own bands since they are their own bands, but this really made me think. It occurred to me that maybe I have been seeing it all from only one perspective, I hadn't seen the whole picture and to be honest, this lack of time and energy I live in is really starting to get to me. I mean, the more brands I have to try to market and sell, the more work it requires and with this lack of time it all ends half-done instead of putting all power and focus on just one (or at least few). So I realized the time has come to shorten the list of my bands and projects and implement them into my solo stuff and came to the tough decision that it's time to put two of my dear babies down, time to officially disband Burnitude and Under. None of them having been active for about a decade anyway. The legacy of them will live on but this is the end of Burnitude and Under as bands. Time to move on.

You’ll find ALL the recorded Burnitude and Under material at:
Burnitude at Soundcloud | Reverbnation
Under at Soundcloud | Reverbnation


There are however lots of great material, both Burnitude and Under, that never got recorded and released just waiting to get out and I will finish, at least some of it and put it out at some point, in some form, but it won't be under the flag of Burnitude and Under, but under the PM Saari flag. Actually one (pre-) Burnitude song has already sneaked into my solo releases and it's definite that one or two songs has made it into the next PM Saari release fitting as great as the tracks that I intensionally wrote to be there.

Burnitude in front of our dressing room at a gig at Klubben in Stockholm.

Watch out for Saari History Part III coming soon.

Cheers. Rock on.
/ PM

Saari Live Report

We’ve finally got the first couple of live shows down with the solo band and everything is really starting to fall into place. It should have been more shows down by now but due to some bad luck with cancelled shows beyond our control (we don’t really deal with “luck” anyway, so...) and various reasons delaying the rehearsals in the beginning of the year, made us sit out some spring dates. But now we’re on the roll and more dates will be booked right after summer. Feels really great to be so close to find what we have been looking for when taking the “The Opening” material into power-trio live-mode. We’ve always wanted it to be improvised jam and kick ass live action when performed live, yet keeping the progressivity of it. Not easy at all, but I really think we’re getting there. And live is what it is all about, isn't it?

Me and the boys delivering the goods in Borlänge.

Järntrean (Fe3)

Very soon we’ll start booking gigs for Järntrean, or Fe3 if you will, which'll be so much fun. You people can’t even imagine what we’re up to, it’ll be such a punch in the face - and sometimes I'm not sure we ourselves really realize what the H we have given ourselves into, but we LOVE it. Up The Irons!

Some Lizard Eye shows are down and some more are coming up. Really looking forward to hooking up with the boys for some kick-ass Lizard Eye live action after a summer break.



Any day now we’ll be starting tracking drums for upcoming solo release (releases?), not sure in what format things will be out or when just yet, but I have finished material to well fill an album, and even more so. But I do believe there will be something out before the end of 2017, probably not a full-length album though, it won't land until 2018 by the earliest. But we'll see. Some other studio work is going on but more on that soon.

Cheers.
/ PM

Status S - Cumin' Atcha Live

We’re just about ready to start booking live dates with the solo band and we're all really excited and looking forward to that. As we speak we're running through a handful of some really exciting and cool covers from which we’ll pick out the coolest ones and have them available to throw into the live set when needed to complement the solo tunes. Loads of fun.

I’ve finished the writing, arranging and the pre production work of all the songs of my next upcoming solo album that will be called "The Awakening". The next thing is to start to assemble and involve all the different drummers, it looks like there might be quite a few, and decide who will play on which song/songs and then start recording the drums.

As for the new live project where we'll do our interpretations of songs from the two first Iron Maiden albums as a 3-piece power trio called Järntrean (Fe3), we’ll start the final round of rehearsals in a month and then it’s all ready to take live on stage. Really exciting.

Lizard Eye has finished the rehearsals of the new songs for the upcoming full length album and are going through different options of how it will be recorded, having talks with different engineers and studios. We're also booking some live gigs as we speak which will be announced shortly. Really looking forward to finally get to play the Lizard Eye stuff live again, and with Mr Ralph Rydén back on the drums. Been way too long.

I also have some other studio works in the plans but due lack of time at the moment I’m not sure when I’ll be able to execute them, but when, and if, they happen, you’ll be the first to know.

I am so thrilled to finally get to play live again, was way too long ago and I really, really miss performing live on stage. Playing live is, aside maybe writing the music, the whole deal for me to be doing this and as much an improviser as I am, live on stage is where I belong, where I really am, doing my thing, there and then.

See ya.
/ PM

Diving backwards and respecting my heroes

I do my best to get time to keep myself updated and check out the new releases of my old heroes, as well as the newer bands and artist, but there hasn’t really been that much coming out the last 10-15 (or even 20?) years that touches, or even interests me. However every now and then there pops up some really positive surprises which is always exciting, like for instance Queensryche’s, Alice In Chains’ and Lynch Mob’s last couple of albums, Ratt’s “Infestation” and Scorpions’ “Sting in the tail”. But those pretty much covers it, simply not that much music for me coming out these days. This however has naturally drawn me backwards in time and made me want to discover everything that I missed back in the day, that came out before I really started getting into music, adding new top favorites like the old 1970’s albums with Aerosmith, David Bowie and the Dio years of Rainbow that has all become really important for me. Also got into the first, the 1970’s, albums with Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Scorpions and even AC/DC, bands that I grew up with but who also did so much awesome stuff prior to when I started to listening to them, stuff that I never really have gotten the chance to dive deep into until now.

Anyway one thing occurred to me a while ago when one of my biggest influences and heroes, Mr Yngwie Malmsteen, released his new album “World On Fire” on which he performs the vocals himself (and the bass and some of the keyboards and also the production). I had the same reaction when I heard about this as so many others, and when I listened to it the reaction remained the same, I was like, what the f*** is he doing?! (Yes, I know I 'm kind of doing the same thing, but we’re talking about Yngwie f***ing Malmsteen here.) He could easily bring in some killer, top musicians into his band, why doesn’t he do that? Why doesn’t he let a producer (or/and an engineer, I don’t know) in so it all would sound better? And why doesn’t he bring in a killer vocalist to do the vocals, as he has always done?! and I saw so many similar reactions out there on social medias at the time. Then some weeks later I felt maybe I should listen to the album a second time, give it a real fair shot, and I did and I thought, well it doesn’t really sound that bad, and he has done everything himself, the work of one highly talented musician, if you ask me. And why shouldn’t he get to do that if he wants to? He’s done it the other way enough of times already and hasn’t he earned the right to do exactly what he wants? I mean he has made a handful of records (the first 5-6 if you ask me) that are up there at the very all-time top, done so much for hard rock/heavy metal music and not to mention the guitar playing, changed the whole thing and influenced everyone in a way or another, whether they admit it or not. He is the only real rockstar coming out of Sweden, so hasn’t he earned to do whatever he wants with his art? I mean if nothing else, this keeps him and what he does pure and real, which obviously is very rare these days.

The same thing with another huge influence of mine, the (al-)mighty Iron Maiden, and their last two records. I mean, haven’t they earned to do whatever they want after all they have achieved? If they want to do more progressive and unpolished stuff, why shouldn’t they?

And no, “The World On Fire” and “The Book Of Souls” isn’t “Marching Out” and “The Number Of The Beast”, the material nor the performance don’t even come close, but bear in mind we’re comparing them with real top masterpieces here. This is now and they’re still doing it and what is wrong if they are happy doing it and even having fun doing it? I mean, if you don’t like it, don’t listen to it. You can go and see them live, because they still entertain the socks out of most newer bands, that goes for both examples above, and if you don’t want to see them live either, don’t. Just remember that what they’ve done doesn’t disappear or change by them doing what they do now. This off course goes for many other bands and artists who’s still enjoying making new music (and maybe aren’t doing it entirely for the money).

Peace.
/ PM