Info about Alice In Videoland
With cocky female vocals, slamming drums, stomping electronic basslines and a strap-on keyboard, Alice in Videoland has gained a reputation for a live show that rocks your socks off! Their unique blend of EBM, Punk, Synth and 80's Rock generated quite a fuss on Swedish clubs and festivals throughout 2003...
Our imaginary Alice fell into the rabbit hole on a chilly day in May 2002. Toril Lindqvist had been a guitar player in various rock bands for years, but was beginning to feel tormented by musical inspiration that didn't quite fit into any Rock & Roll context. She wanted to be a singer. In something more "electronic" than a rock band. Finally one day she took a long shot and phoned Carl Lundgren (formerly of a 90's bodypop outlet), whom she had met at a party some five years earlier.
Sceptical in the extreme, Carl agreed to hook up for a brain storming session. The two met a couple of times and became inspired by the fact that they really had nothing in common musically ! This would actually become the fuel of their creative process. Early on, the duo would make attempts at "Body Music meets Punk Rock meets Commodore 64", inspired by an imaginary and unholy alliance of DAF, The Clash and Rob Hubbard.
A couple of simple demos were released during the late summer of 2002, and surprisingly generated lots of acclaim! With fuelled enthusiasm, the duo christened their project "Alice in Videoland" from a 1984 Commodore 64 computer game. Anders Lundgren (keyboards) and Anders Alexander (drums) were recruited in February 2003. Johan Dahlbom (bass) joined in November the same year. At this point, Alice in Videoland had begun receiving massive praise for their energetic and charismatic live show.
In the midst of this early experimentation process, off the hype of a five track demo and less than ten gigs, Alice in Videoland suddenly found themselves battered with offers. Eight different labels expressed their interest in signing the band, who were eventually attracted to the relative freedom offered by Swedish label National. AiV began recording their album in June 2003, partly assisted by Micke Lohse (Atomic Swing). Curious of cross-genre experimentation, the band elaborated on their sound, drawing inspiration from a spectrum of genres ranging from EBM, synthpop and electro through to disco, rock and punk.
And sure enough - in the following months their sound evolved from being arguably concept driven into something truly musically interesting. The debut album, Maiden Voyage contains a peculiar mixture of electronic pop, punk and hard EBM beats. Substance? You betcha. Alice won't be climbing out of the rabbit hole anytime soon ...
Biography by Sanna Lindgren
