Bonaire's Page

Bonaire started out early in 2000, on the very day I bought my first keyboard. I was so inspired by playing another instrument, besides the guitar, that I wrote a song right away. It felt really good and I decided to call up the record company then and there. I played the song on a tape recorder in the background, while I sang the lead vocals to it... just like that, over the phone... and I got a deal, hehe! The song was titled "Save Me" and was featured on a Z Records compilation album that year. It actually got some heavy airplay in Canada of all places.

I put together a complete line-up (Johan Fahlberg: Lead vocals, Hans Grahn: Lead vocals and keyboards, Jens Dyme: Guitars, Jori Helminen: Bass and vocals, Michael Dahlqvist: Drums and vocals) for a performance at the Z Records festival in Stockholm 2001. Bonaire had a monster vocal performance with two really outstanding lead singers and (as Michael D is a terrific singer as well) it was just awesome! I remember walking up to the guy in the bar after he show. The poor man was literally crying and told me he had just witnessed the two best lead singers ever, and in the same band, hehe..! But in the end it was too much hassle running a "project" type of band back then, so nothing really happened after that.

The plan is to turn Bonaire into something of a more structured/finished/polished/produced/slick/multi-platinum-album type of project later on. But right now, I'm focusing on writing new songs and posting the demos on MySpace.

The genre? The strange thing is, whenever I sit down to write music, the ocean is always there. And it's always to the west! So, I guess you could say it's Westcoast – smooth listening but still emotional, hints of heavy guitars in the mix and a lot of ambient vocals. I'm trying to merge Peter Green's "Albatross" with Mr Mister's "Kyrie" or Kip Winger's "Here" and take the listener to a certain place and mood. It's a bit like trying to set the soundtrack to the colour deep purple. It's a very specific feeling. It's the music in the speakers as you cruise down the Cannes Croissant in an open car... If you have been there and done that, you know what I mean! If not, you should try it out a.s.a.p.