Venerea
| Venerea | |
|---|---|
 Venerea at the Mach1 Festival 2007 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Falkenberg , Sweden |
| Genre (s) | Skatepunk , Melodic Hardcore |
| founding | 1991 |
| Founding members | |
| Daniel "Dana" Johansson | |
Vocals , guitar |
Johan "Bengan" Bengtsson (until 1996) |
| Stefan Stenslund (until 1991) | |
| Mattias "Talle" Toldbod (until 1997) | |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Andreas "Anden" Flygare (since 1997) |
| Daniel "Dana" Johansson | |
Bass, vocals |
Mikael "Mike" Persson (since 1991) |
Drums |
Martin Svensson |
| former members | |
Drums |
Frederik "Fred" Andersson |
Drums |
Rodrigo Alfaro |
Venerea is a Swedish skate punk and melodic hardcore band.
history
Venerea was founded in 1991 in Falkenberg as a cover band. The founding members were Daniel “Dana” Johansson (bass), Johan “Bengan” Bengtsson (vocals, guitar), Mattias “Talle” Toldbod (drums) and Stefan Stenslund (guitar). Her first tracks include a number of 1980s punk cover versions, e.g. B. Bad Religion and Ramones , but also some metal cover versions, which even survived until their later albums (eg "Black Wind, Fire and Steel", to be found on Shake Your Swollen Booty). In 1991 Stefan left the band to devote himself to metal and Mikael "Mike" Persson joined the band as a new singer and bassist; Dana switched to the guitar.
In 1992 and 1993 they recorded their first demos, then under the name Venereal Disease ; already here Dana and Mike wrote the lyrics, which shouldn't change either. The demos From Beer to Eternity and The Second Cuming of Venereal Disease brought them a contract with Brööl Records, where they released their 8-track debut album Hullabaloo under the name Venerea (not as a short form of the disease, but derived from the name of a probe , which was sent by NASA to Venus to analyze the inner rock layers). Still mixed with a car stereo, they themselves describe their album as “one of the worst debut albums ever”, but in 1995 and 1996 the albums Shake Your Booty and the B-side Swollen followed . In Shake Your Booty also their first video, a home-made video for the same song was Shake Your Booty . The album was successful enough to get Venerea a record deal with the German label Gift of Life Records ; the video was even shown on TV .
Arrived at the new label and without a second guitarist ("Bengan" was kicked out after a tour, "for not learning new songs properly") they arranged a re-release of their successful album Shake Your Booty together with the B-side Swollen , which was called Shake Your Swollen Booty and a sales figure of 15,000 pieces should go down in the annals of band history.
Venerea calls the album Both Ends Burning , released in 1997, her real debut, and it is also her first full-length album with 15 songs. After the recordings and the release followed a few tours across Europe, until Gift of Life Records got into financial difficulties and dissolved. They used this break to look for a new guitarist and background singer, and they found what they were looking for in Andreas "Anden" Flygare, previously active with the Scarecrows.
After another tour, the previous drummer "Talle" left the band to continue his profession as an electrician, Mattias "El Bonko" Johansson stepped in as drummer for a tour and the vinyl album We Shall Overcome .
This was followed by another album on a transitional label, Renate / Community Records, which, however, should also be their most successful: Losing Weight, Gaining Ground . The special thing about the album was the drummer: ex-roadie Frederik "Fred" Andersson was accepted into the band, although he hadn't even come near a drum kit before. There was another video on the album, this time for the song Back to the Start , it was strongly South Park- style. Some tours, u. a. the Vans Off The Wall tour followed in the years that followed until the release of the somewhat darker album Out in the Red , which is a slight development "back to the roots of the 80s".
In 2005, after a few years of tours, the album One Louder was released . Thanks to the new Bad Taste Records label , the album has so far been an even bigger success than Losing Weight, Gaining Ground . In the meantime, the band's first professional video has been shot for the opener Calling Card .
Ex-roadie and drummer Fred can even be found on the current album on the backing vocals and has a place in the credits alongside Mike, Dana and Anden as "Angry Choir".
According to Andreas Flygare on the Facebook page of Skatepunkers.net, Martin Svensson has been back behind the drums for some time.
Discography
Albums
- 1994: Hullabaloo (CD / EP, Brööl Records)
- 1995: Swollen (CD / EP, Brööl Records)
- 1995: Shake Your Booty (CD / EP, Brööl Records)
- 1996: Shake Your Swollen Booty (CD / LP, Gift of Life Records)
- 1997: Both Ends Burning (CD, Gift of Life Records)
- 1998: We Shall Overcome (10 "-LP, Renate / Community Records)
- 2000: Losing Weight, Gaining Ground (CD / Gatefold -LP, Renate / Community Records)
- 2001: Shake Your Swollen Booty Re-Release (CD, Renate / Community Records)
- 2001: Both Ends Burning Re-Release (CD, Renate / Community Records)
- 2003: Out in the Red (CD / LP, People Like You Records )
- 2005: One Louder (CD, Bad Taste Records )
- 2008: Black Beach Recordings (EP)
- 2010: Lean Back in Anger (CD)
- 2014: Smash the Statues (EP, Bad Taste Records)
- 2016: Last Call for Adderall (CD / LP, Dirty Six Records)
Compilations
- 1994: Really Fast (LP) - Sex Is Really Fun , Phone Me Up
- 1994: Spinnin 'the Chamber (CD) - Be Nice
- 1995: Epitone (CD) - Orig. Version by Little Billie John
- 1995: Tjöpjusta 2 (CD) - Do you want to fuck? , Peder the Plumber
- 1997: First Trip to Punkland (CD) - Happy Thoughts
- 1998: Kabuki Knights (CD) - Happy Thoughts
- 2001: Punk Chartbusters 4 (CD) - On the Road Again