BRANDBEAST MUSIC

About

Steven Kautzky Andersson

Steven Kautzky Andersson had his first international breakthrough in the 90’s, when he was hailed by the leading music magazine Guitar Worlds’s legendary talent scout Mike Varney and later released his Grammy-nominated debut album Gipsy Power.

”Steven reveals a gift of composing original material that is both raw and aggressive. It is hauntingly melodic, with crisp and concise solos”, wrote Mike Varney in Guitar World. .

THE YOUNGSTER

On a school trip when Steven was 15, he went to Copenhagen, Denmark, where a friend took him to a concert with Yngwie J. Malmsteen, who was experiencing his big breakthrough worldwide. The concert was truly a magical moment for Steven, sparking an immediate love for playing guitar and leading to an almost obsessive practice routine.

"Yngwie has not only mesmerized me and millions of others, but he was the one who opened the doors to Japan and a professional career. He has meant an incredible amount to many guitarists and musicians from Sweden as the virtuoso gamechanger that he is. Although I’ve never been able to get through any of his songs or play like him, I have still been inspired by his greatness as a guitarist, just as Jimi Hendrix and, more recently, Philip Sayce. Yngwie has put Sweden on the world map and belongs to the three greats alongside Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen", says Steven Kautzky Andersson.

At a young age, as a curious and dedicated 17 year old guitarist, Steven left his home in the small town of Gävle, 90 minutes north from Stockholm by car, for Los Angeles, to pursue his dream of becoming a full-scale professional guitarist and solo artist. At the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, he studied for recognized masters such as Steve Trovato, Scott Henderson, Allen Hinds, Tommy Tedesco and Paul Gilbert. Steven was extremely ambitious and obsessively practiced his guitarskills between 12-15 hours per day.

Later in his early twenties he played with fellow music students in a power-trio featuring the accomplished drummer Scot Coogan (Ace Frehley, George Lynch, Brides Of Destruction, Robby Krieger, LA Guns a.o.) and bass player Scott Shriner (Weezer, Katy Perry, Vanilla Ice, Black Elvis, The Cars a.o.). He then started writing his own music.

About

CAREER

Never being the typical archetype for a traditional guitar hero, Steven focused on taking his music forward and explore new different ways of musical expressions. He found inspiration in the sounds of the Swedish mysterious and enchanting forest as well as the Nordic light. Then through his journeys in Eastern Europe he did private investigations and studied the virtuoso violin-based gipsy folk music scene in Vienna, Austria.

CONTRACTS WITH MAJOR LABELS

Steven’s Swedish Grammy-nominated debut album Gipsy Power (Psychic Eye / Border Music / Universal Music Publishing and Zero/MVP/EMI-Toshiba) was released at the age of 24. The album was produced by Claes Olson and recorded with the late Mats Lindfors (Roxette, John Norum, Scorpions, Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen a.o.) at Park Studios in Stockholm.

Immediately upon release Steven was hailed as the new guitar hero from Sweden and his skills as a creative musician and composer was internationally praised. But it's something that Steven has neither aspired to nor felt comfortable with. It has always been about forging his own path and doing his own thing, whether it is original or not.

In a short time, he signed contracts with major international companies, such as Warner Music, Universal Music Publishing and Zero/MVP/EMI-Toshiba in Japan, where he achieved substantial success and sold particularly well and was noticed by a great number of fans. His guitarplaying in Japan was praised in both Young Guitar and BURRN.

As a further testament to Steven's creative way of playing the guitar, he signed an exclusive sponsorship deal with Gibson Guitars US. Which he later decided to end on his own initiative when he started playing with Fender more and more. Today he plays for Framus Guitar, the recognized luthier brand from Germany, with great pleasure, which allows him to choose a guitar brand freely according to taste, style and context.


About

INFLUENCES

His major influences remained Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore and Frank Marino together with Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum and Philip Sayce, but with an urge for developing his own characteristics.

Stevens favourite guitarists and solos:
1. Jimi Hendrix (All Along The Watchtower)
2. Ritchie Blackmore (Highway Star)
3. Yngwie J Malmsteen (Black Star)
4. John Norum (Final Countdown)
5. Philip Sayce (Alchemy)
6. Frank Marino (Sister Change)
7. Jeff Beck (Cause We Ended As Lovers)
8. Al Di Medla (Race With The Devil On The Spanish Highway)
9. Prince (While My Guitar Gently Weeps)
10. Eddie Van Halen (Eruption)

About

VERSATILITY

Over the years when Steven worked exclusively as a professional musician, many different exciting assignments were offered thanks to a strong exploratory curiosity.

Steven commenced very early with studies of the Arabic string instrument Tar under the Persian master Ali Shakuori. He also collaborated with the Turkish publisher Pelikan Muzik and spent time in Istanbul, the colourful melting pot and meeting point between eastern and western cultures, participating in cross-border collaborations with Turkish female painters, artists and musicians.

Stevens concerts in the 90’s featured oriental dancers on stage together with a snake charmer, two jesters and three bellydancers. After the release of his second solo album Missa Magica (Psychic Eye Music / Warner Music / Universal Music Publishing and Zero/MVP/EMI-Toshiba) Steven received a request to write music and conduct a theater orchestra during a performance of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare together with, among others, the acclaimed Dramaten actor Erik Ehn.

Steven wrote music for the jester group Vazir and went on tour with some of Sweden's biggest artists at the time such as Kent, Brainpool, Lisa Nilsson and Joy Tempest (Europe) a.o. He also received an offer to tour as a bandleader and guitarist with Håkan "Nordman" Hemlin, Ritchie Blackmore's favorite artist and one of Steven's childhood friends. Håkan is one of Sweden's most successful artists of all time in terms of record sales.

With the inspiration from the Swedish magical nature, he wrote the epic "Missa Magica Part V" (Steven Anderson’s Missa Magica), which was recorded with parts of the Radio Symphony Orchestra and world flutist Tobias Carron. This piece was released on Steven's second solo album, "Missa Magica" (Warner Music, Universal Music Publishing, and Zero/MVP/EMI-Toshiba).

Later he was commissioned to write a piece for electric guitar and Symphony Orchestra, which premiered as the first concert at Gävle Konserthus (Gävle Concert hall). The orchestration was done in collaboration with the renowned and respected Mats Holmquist, who is one of Sweden's leading jazz composers and big band arrangers.

Shortly after, Steven began writing music for heavyweight champion brothers, Klitschko. It was a request for an introduction music when they made their way from the dressing room to the ringside during a match event in Las Vegas.

This led to various commissions for a young, creative, and versatile composer and humble guitarist.

Steven also received several commissions to design audio DNA for various company brands, including the world's first natural perfume brand, Björk & Berries.

About

DAMAGE

In the beginning of the 20’s Steven had an accident that caused damage to his arms, with a following inflammation. At this time he played with Iubar, the high energy psychedelic rockband that made couple of tours to Istanbul. After releasing the four track [3D.EP-CD.SE] (Psychic Eye / Sound Pollution) in 2004, Iubar was signed by the Swedish indie label Smilodon and released their album Invitation To Dig. At this time, Steven mostly played with an E-bow and his thumb, to compensate for the problems he experienced hindered his playing.

After numerous lithotripsies, cortisone injections and different acupuncture techniques Steven was forced to put his guitar on the shelf, where it was left untouched for several years.

COMEBACK

In 2012, after watching a live concert with Yngwie J. Malmsteen in his hometown, who had earlier inspired Steven to start playing guitar for real at the age of 15, he got the courage and strength once again give it a serious try to get back. So, after a long hiatus and slightly older, with development of a rawer style and greater playingjoy, he took a personal giant leap and started to play the guitar again.

”I am grateful I got a second chance to do what I love more than anything else, to play the guitar as when I was 15 years old again, just as happy and just as hungry, but a little more mature and wiser”, says Steven Kautzky Andersson.

Steven developed a rougher way of expressing himself through the guitar. He made plans for his new band Electric Religions and began composing new music together with the expressive vocalist Neili Bjerring.

”Through our lyrics we aimed to express different stories born out of our interest and inspiration from Asian culture, philosophy and history. It all came together and was expressed through a hybrid multi-cultural oriented rock music”, says Steven Kautzky Andersson.

About

ELECTRIC RELIGIONS

Steven had the thought that if he were to start playing again, it would need to be based on a more powerful and creative idea. After making several trips to China, the idea of "Promoting democracy through culture and music!" was born, drawing inspiration from what had touched Steven as a child when he learned about Asia's various cultures and traditions in school.

The band made their first tour to China in 2014 and performed in front of an audience of more than 30 000 people at the Zhuhai International Beach Rock Music Festival and they also played at the prestigious rock club Yu Gong Yi Shan Music Bar in Beijing. During their tour a documentary was produced by a Chinese film- and productionteam. The tour documentary “The Golden Awakening Tour in China” was awarded the gold prize at The 6th Macau International Movie Festival.

The award show in Macau was broadcasted to an estimated audience of 1,8 billion viewers in Asia and the band performed their Bruce Lee-tribute Lee Chao Long in front of the cream of China's movie and television industry. In the crowd the famous actor Jean-Claude Van Damme (Kickboxer, Timecop, Double Impact a.o.) was seen playing air guitar with the band during their performance. He cheered and expressed his great appreciation in memory of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, when Electric Religions performed ”Lee-Chao Long” (Bruce Lee in Chinese). The song also became the band's hit in parts of the cities the band established themselves in China.

”To win that prestigious award proved that the ideas of transnational and cross-border meetings that we shared via our music worked. Our message was that culture promotes democracy, otherwise it would have been difficult to make this journey for us.”, says Steven Kautzky Andersson.

The band featured:
Neili Bjerring - Lead vocals
Mikael Nordmark - Bass
Håkan Åstrand - Drums
Steven Kautzky Andersson - Guitars

Electric Religions’ debut album Duality Of The Universe was released the following year and praised by both Swedish and international critics. Highlights of the album includes the hard-hitting True Shaolin, Lee Chao Long and Yangtze River, one of many tracks featuring outstanding guitar solos.

About

POLAR MUSIC PRIZE

Another highlight in Stevens career was his performance at the VIP pre-party for the 2016 Polar Music Prize laureates Max Martin, the world’s foremost contemporary composer, and Cecilia Bartoli, one of the world’s leading mezzo-soprano opera singers. The event was held at the home of Marie Ledin, daughter of ABBA’s legendary manager Stikkan Anderson, where Steven performed in front of the legendary producer and composer Quincy Jones and other prominent personalities. To the delight of the world-famous opera singer, he first played an instrumental spotlight version of a piece from Handel’s opera Rinaldo, before the band Electric Religions burst into a high-energy rendition of the Max Martin-produced Robyn hit "Show Me Love," which brought a broad smile to the face of the Swedish hitmaker Max Martin.

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

But after three intensive years with Electric Religions Steven, together with his friends in the band, decided to put the band to rest and once more he changed his musical direction. Back in his hometown Gävle he formed an instrumental high energetic power trio under the name Supersleeves, that in a creative way interpreted music by guitarists such as Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Tommy Bolin. Later in Spring 2019 Steven was invited by the acclaimed tribute band Men On The Border to perform music by Syd Barrett and early Pink Floyd at a concert where he performed and played with with the extraordinary, innovated and specially designed “smash-proof” guitar ”The Beast”, made of pure Swedish steel. The worlds first 3D-designed guitar by the world leading steel company Sandvik from Sweden especially designed for Steven’s teen idol Yngwie Malmsteen.

Parallel to this, together with his friend Mikael Nordmark, former bass player for Gipsy Power and Electric Religions, Steven has started to outline his plans for the comeback of his 90’s band Steven Anderson’s Gipsy Power – with new music, new faces and a new album. They have also started a new vocal-oriented heavier and harder rockband that has been named G.O.D. (Grooves Of Destruction), together with two of Sweden's more experienced musicians.

In early 2020, Steven launched his tribute band to Jimi Hendrix, choosing a somewhat unconventional path – interpreting over 20 of Hendrix’s songs entirely instrumentally. Together with a trio, he formed the band Cosmic Command, which received an overwhelmingly positive response thanks to its unique approach. On various occasions, Steven also invites guest musicians – both vocalists and instrumentalists – adding even more color and variation to the performances. Together with visual and film artist Artist On The Border, Steven also created a series of acclaimed performances where the high-energy, progressive music was enhanced by art and visuals in a way that had never been done before.

"Interpreting Jimi Hendrix instrumentally felt like a natural choice – not only because it's both challenging and creatively rewarding, which I approach with great humility and respect, but also because it’s not what people typically expect. I’d rather offer something that can be seen as a worthy and compelling complement to all the talented guitarists who choose to sing", says Steven.

In the fall of 2023, Steven was invited to the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, where artists like Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and U2 have recorded parts of their iconic albums. There, Steven recorded a couple of instrumental tracks with his band Gipsy Power and also participated in a studio session where he contributed guitar parts to various tribute tracks – including some honoring U2.

The recording became a clear sign that it was time to follow up on Electric Threads, the album released with Gipsy Powerin the fall of 2021. That record featured a heavier, more progressive sound, but now it felt natural to incorporate more of the distinctly Eastern European, virtuosic elements.

“I don’t take anything for granted, and what I am passionate about is playing live and to be creative among music lovers. It’s about finding new ways in how music can be my expressed and reach out to an audience that like progressive music”, says Steven Kautzky Andersson.

In 2025, Steven will release his new Gipsy Power album "Boundless Obscurity" while going on a tour as a power trio, focusing on high-energy psychedelia with both original tracks featuring more virtuosic elements and instrumental interpretations of Jimi Hendrix's song catalog.

"It began as a dream of the day when the flame that once kept me awake—marking me as a curious musician and hungry guitarist—would burn brightly again. It took time to get there. I stopped playing for many years due to arm problems and later changed my style, a process that took several years to overcome as I sought to find my way home once more. Today, with Boundless Obscurity and my friends in Gipsy Power, I feel very humble and thankful and hope to touch some hearts through this progressive music, influenced by Eastern European Gipsy music, Jimi Hendrix, and early Al Di Meola—a vibrant, psychedelic kaleidoscope of energy", says Steven Kautzky Andersson

About

PARALLEL CREATIVE CAREER

Today Steven has partnered up with Catherine Engelbrekt, and started what has been described as one of the world's most interesting and innovated start-up beverage companies, featuring a series of exclusive, ultra-premium, alcoholic beverages, vodka and gin, to be enjoyed in moderation to fully appreciate its quality. Internationally awarded and recognized crafts and arts in its perfection. They have successfully performed guest appearances together at concerts with Five Finger Death Punch, Meshuggah, and many other leading international acts, where they have created a series of highly appreciated specially designed drinks. Among them are the acclaimed “Rainbow Rising”, "Race With The Devil" and "Electric Fire," which is a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. But that's another story. If interested, please visit:

https://www.brandstar.se for more information.