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Henrik Flyman


Member

NA- Zool - guitars  
1992-1997 Moahni Moahna - guitars  
2002-2004 Wuthering Heights - guitars  
2003- Evil Masquerade - guitars, vocals  

Studio musician

2012- Lacrimosa - guitars  

Live musician

2009- Lacrimosa - guitars  

Personal information


Official website

The beginning:

Henrik was born on the 6th of September in Sundsvall (400 km north of Stockholm) in Sweden. He took an early interest in music and began to play the flute at the age of 9, piano at 10, drums at 13 and guitar and bass at 14. He started writing his own music at 15, and at age 17, he formed his first serious band, Give the Iron (the literal translation of the Swedish expression "ge järnet," semantically meaning "go for it"). Give the Iron (or GTI, as it was abbreviated) was a 4-piece, featuring a guitar, vocals, drums, and a bass. The band's primary goals were to rehearse, play live shows, and have as much fun as possible, all of which were accomplished in full.

GTI was only a 4-piece band for one year, after which the addition of guitarist Tommy Rehn bumped it up to a 5-piece.

As the band grew, so too did their instrumental skills, performances, and songs. The band gained a considerable level of experience as it played several hundred shows at rock clubs, market places, schools, motorcycle clubs, and everything in between.


Moahni Moahna is born:

Eventually, the compositional quality of the songs became more complex, and as such, more demanding; it was no longer possible to perform the songs with GTI to full satisfaction. To address this issue, Henrik and Tommy decided to experiment. They gathered the best local musicians at their disposal to record their three most challenging songs, interested in seeing how they would fare with the proper performances these compositions deserved.

The end product was a pleasing one, and this new conglomeration of musicians decided to finance a mini CD to share with the world. Because the band was no longer truly Give the Iron, this new assembly chose to christen their new creation "Moahni Moahna" (pronounced "Moe-ah-nee Moe-ah-nah"), after a song originally by GTI.

Due to increased levels of ambition, they decided to shoot a video for a choice song on their new CD. The final decision was to shoot the shortest track (of only 5:50), "The Quest For the Unholy Sword." Moahni Moahna (abbreviated MM), as they did with their CD, distributed this video to all who would take it. Though their hopes were high, and they were armed with a nigh-unshakeable confidence, they received a welcomed surprise in the form of a phone call from MTV Headbangers' Ball. This video had been chosen to be aired.


The first album:

With the success of being aired on Headbangers' Ball under their belts, the band decided it was time to record a full album. The 5-piece band grew to a 6-piece with the addition of a keyboard player. This new member was not the only addition, however. On the album strings, horns, a flute, a harmonica, an accordion, marching drums, a choir, and a full chamber orchestra were all added to the mix in an effort to make the songs sound as close to their intended timbres as possible.

Before long, the band was granted a record deal. Because of the frequent changes in the bands' members, the band decided to opt for stability, and choose a solid foundational triumvirate. The chosen three were members Henrik, Martin Häggström (vocals), and Tommy. Some of the most frequent touring members in Moahni Moahna, however, are Magnus Byström (drums), Fredrik Sahlander (bass), Tony Könberg (backing vocals), Johan Bobäck (keyboard), Jaime Salazar (drums), Richard Anderson (keyboard), and Björn Hagberg (drums).

The release party for the debut album "Temple of Life" was held at (and sold out) the Hard Rock Café of Henrik and Tommy's current residence, Stockholm.


Getting to know the music biz and the making of Why:

A series of legal and financial difficulties left MM with two options: let their rising legacy die, or push through the adversity and thrive. Believing that their songs were just too good to hide from the public, MM chose the latter.

Henrik and Tommy started their own label, Santa Claus Production, and signed a contract with a German label. After a high level of caution and planning, MM's new album "Why" was welcomed with overwhelmingly good press and great reviews. Despite the 1990's Grunge and Seattle Wave's negative effect on the hard rock scene, MM was treated well by magazines, radio, and television. They were even invited to open for Deep Purple in Sweden!


Falling apart:

Unfortunately for MM, there were further legal and financial difficulties that made things difficult for Moahni Moahna. There was a decrease in collaboration between Henrik and Tommy, and ultimately, Tommy moved back to Sundsvall for personal reasons.


ZooL - a new beginning:

With one of the foundation triumvirate missing, Henrik and Martin make the decision to start anew, and form the band ZooL. The vision of ZooL was to create an album that deviated little from the atmosphere of their Classic Rock favorites. The primary aim was to produce straightforward songs performed by a traditional 5-piece band. This album was recorded with Daniel Flores on the drums, Andreas Lindahl on the keyboard, Stefan Edström on the bass guitar, and Richard Andersson as a special guest on the keyboard.

Soon after these recordings were finished, Henrik moved to Copenhagen, Denmark.

Within a short time, ZooL is signed by an Italian label and gets praised by the public once again. Before too long, ZooL faces the same kind of legal and financial difficulties experienced by the bands' previous incarnations. As the bands' joy fades, so too does the band itself.


Wuthering Heights:

After ZooL dissipation, Henrik was asked by Erik Ravn to play the lead guitar for Wuthering Heights' second album, "To Travel For Evermore." After an exposure to Heights' pre-production material, Henrik gladly obliged. The CD was released worldwide to a positively receptive audience.


Evil Masquerade says Welcome to the Show:

Despite his success with Wuthering Heights' album, Henrik was determined to press forward with his own music. As a result of his previous disappointments, he locked himself in Copenhagen for a year with the intent to purge his mind of his memories of the music business. During this time, his sole intention was to write music for its own sake, with no plans of starting a new band or releasing another album. However, it was not long before the threads of creativity were pulling at Henrik once again.

After an encounter with singer Henrik Brockman, Henrik Flyman decided to sample Brockman's vocals on some of the material that had been written during the seclusion in Copenhagen. Pleased with the result, Henrik could not help but to contact bassist Kasper Gram and drummer Dennis Buhl to once again form a new band. After listening to these new compositions, Gram and Buhl leapt at the opportunity to become part of this new band, "Evil Masquerade."

Despite having four willing and capable members, Evil Masquerade had no permanent keyboardist. Therefore, Richard Andersson, Andre Anderson, Lars Boutrup, and Mats Olausson were invited to be guest keyboardists on the debut album "Welcome to the Show."

The members of Evil Masquerade were received with open arms, but this time, they faced none of the complications previously encountered by Flyman's previous groups. With high popularity and no limitations, Evil Masquerade enjoyed the support of old fans, along with that of new ones.


More Wuthering Heights:

At this time, Henrik was once again asked by Erik Ravn to play lead guitar for another Wuthering Heights album. In his new studio, Digital Bitch, Henrik complied, as did the new talented singer Nils Patrik Johansson. During this process, Henrik became more and more involved with the band and the recording process, incorporating bagpipes, flutes, violins, and banjos into the concoctions that were recorded.

The third Wuthering Heights album, "Far From the Madding Crowd," was very successful and opened an array of new possibilities for the band.


Theatrical Madness and internal chaos:

Almost immediately after the release of "Welcome to the Show, Henrik locked himself back in the studio to compose songs for the Evil Masquerade's second release. Less than half a year after the debut, the second album's compositions were complete, and recordings began.

The band's key players remained intact from the first album, and once again special keyboard guests were invited to make appearances (in the forms of Richard Andersson, Andre Anderson, and Mikkel Jensen). Due to a lack of preparation, recording sessions were frequently rescheduled.

When the second album, "Theatrical Madness," was finally complete, it was released to a praising audience. Unfortunately, it became increasingly apparent that keeping the original members of the band would not be a possibility. There were simply to many social and professional issues for modifications to be avoided.


Changing cast and Third Act:

In an attempt to salvage the situation, Henrik began working on Evil Masquerade's third album as soon as "Theatrical Madness" was released. Surprisingly, the writing process was unusually easy this time, and the songs for the new album were completed after only a 5-month period.

With the third album composed and ready to be recorded, the final decision about member alterations could be delayed no longer. Because bassist Thor Jeppesen was a frequent stand-in for Kasper, the decision to make him a permanent member was a natural one.

And because Evil Masquerade's singer was experiencing emotional and musical difficulties, it quickly became apparent that he would also need to be replaced. Due to a change in the membership of band "Time Requiem", singer Apollo Papathanasio became available, and as such was immediately contacted by Henrik. In 2005, Henrik Flyman, Apollo Papathanasio, Dennis Buhl, and Thor Jeppesen entered the studio and recorded the guitars, vocals, drums, and bass for "Third Act," respectively.

The recording process was done in as smooth a manner as was the writing. Vocals were recorded in only 3 days (a noteworthy difference from what was previously done). This new lineup (which also featured David Rosenthal as a special keyboard guest) were well-received, and as such, the decision was made to film the band's first video. Because of its striking chorus, the song "Black Ravens Cry" was chosen for this purpose.
It was at this point that Evil Masquerade began to get attention from the US. In an attempt to properly introduce the band to North America, the album was released in a version that included bonus tracks from the two previous releases.


Changes, crashes and Fade to Black:

Though the band had now reached a global recognition, it still had to face the reality of a collapsing market. Henrik's attempts to outdo his previous three albums with a superior fourth were faltered by impending problems. Loss of bandmates Thor and Dennis; sickness, disease, and death in Henrik's private life; housing issues; and diminishing finances were all difficulties that arose to hinder Henrik's focus.

Graced with the support of close friends, he made it through this trying time and a new album was recorded, this time with Daniel Flores on the drums, Johan Niemann on the bass, and special guest Toney Carey on the keyboard. At this point, "Desire and Pain," the album's least commercial track, was filmed into a video.

As a result of these accomplishments, Henrik's song-writing was acknowledged by JPF Music Awards. Henrik's song "Bozo the Clown" was nominate for and won the award for best song-writing in the metal category.


Live and Lacrimosa:

A decline in the well-being of the record industry led Henrik to direct his attention to live performances. Shortly after making this decision, he received a phone call from Yenz Leonhardt, requesting his alliance with Lacrimosa on an upcoming world tour. With such perfect timing, Henrik accepted with no hesitation. Henrik enjoyed this company, and was grateful to be offered the opportunity to be a guitarist for this fine band.


Today:

During this still-present time of instability in the record industry, Henrik continues to focus on live performances under the banners of both Evil Masquerade and Lacrimosa. However, he is also composing a new album with Evil Masquerade to be released when the time is right.


by: Stephen Terry
(source: Official Website)