Eric Malmberg is a musician from
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Previously a member of the duo
Sagor & Swing ("Fairytales & Swing"), in 2005 he released his first solo album, ''
Den gåtfulla människan'' ("The Enigmatic Human").
The album consists only of sounds played on the
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
. The album is centered on a musical exploration of the human psyche and the different tracks have names such as "The Subconscious" and "The Dual-personalities". The different tracks are all linked together and form a seamless journey into the human mind.
Far from being the product of a loose interest in psychology, these themes are deeply personal as Malmberg has been fighting an ongoing struggle with his own autistic spectrum disorder. He has appeared in a documentary entitled ''Creative Illness'' which consists of interviews of skilled Swedish artists who have received a mixed blessing in the form of different mental afflictions. In this documentary, Malmberg speaks of his sometimes manic relationship with music in general and the Hammond-organ in particular.
Malmberg has also worked as a cartoonist. He drew a comic strip entitled ''Hansson & Karlsson i världsrymden'' (''Hansson & Karlsson in outer space''), which appeared in the Swedish newspaper ''
Dagens Nyheter
''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record.
History and profile
''Da ...
'' in 2000. The strip refers to
Bo Hansson
Bo Hansson (10 April 1943 – 23 April 2010) was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental progressive rock studio albums released throughout the 1970s.
Early life and musical career
Hansson spent his early life in a remote vil ...
and
Janne Carlsson
Jan Edvard Carlsson (12 March 1937 – 31 August 2017), known professionally as Janne 'Loffe' Carlsson, was a Swedish actor, musician, composer and artist.
Early life
Carlsson was born on 12 March 1937 in Katarina Parish, Stockholm, the son of E ...
, a Swedish instrumental duo from the late 1960s. Later, Hansson gave Malmberg the organ used on Hansson's ''Lord of the Rings'' album. This together with his participation in Sagor & Swing and the fact that Malmberg and Hansson have performed together on several occasions has led many to view Malmberg as Hansson's spiritual successor, preserving and evolving the style pioneered by Hansson & Karlsson.
In 2007, his second solo album ''
Verklighet & Beat'' ("Reality & Beat" - the antonym of "Fairytales & Swing") was released.
References
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Swedish keyboardists
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