Robert Eriksson or simply Robban as he is often called, is best known as the drummer of Swedish rock band

The Hellacopters The Hellacopters are a Swedish garage rock band that was formed in 1994 by Nicke Andersson (vocals and guitar), Andreas Tyrone "Dregen" Svensson (guitar), Kenny Håkansson (bass) and Robert Eriksson (drums). Andersson (sometimes known as Nick ...

, who were active between 1994 and 2008. Eriksson is currently playing With his new band called Tramp and recently reunited Swedish punk band Strindbergs.

Biography

Early life and career

Eriksson was born in

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna h ...

and moved a few years later to

Edsbyn Edsbyn () is a locality and the seat of Ovanåker Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 3,985 inhabitants in 2010. It is located in the historical province of Hälsingland. Edsbyn is most famous for its former ski and nowadays office furn ...

. He got his first drumkit at the age of 13 but didn't get a hi-hat or a cymbal until the next year when he had saved up enough money. Eriksson soon started discovering bands and artists such as

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

Hep Stars The Hep Stars are a Swedish rock band formed in Stockholm in 1963. During 1965–1966 the band was the most successful of contemporary 1960s Swedish pop groups performing in the English language. Outside the Nordic countries the band is best ...

and

The Spotnicks The Spotnicks were an instrumental rock group from Sweden that formed in 1961. They were known for wearing "space suit" costumes on stage and for their innovative electronic guitar sound. They released 43 albums and sold more than 18 million recor ...

. Later he discovered bands such as

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

and Saxon through a relative who worked at a Swedish booking agency. Soon Eriksson started playing drums in various punk, rock and metal bands and got to know

Nicke Andersson Nicke Andersson (born 1 August 1972), also known as Nick Royale, is a Swedish musician best known for his work as the singer and guitarist for the rock band The Hellacopters and drummer for the death metal band Entombed. He was also briefly th ...

the drummer of heavy metal band Entombed.

The Hellacopters

In 1994 Andersson approached him and offered him to play drums in his new band that he was forming with

Dregen Dregen (born Andreas Tyrone Svensson; 12 June 1973) is a Swedish musician best known as the guitarist of The Hellacopters, as well as Backyard Babies. As of March 2014, Dregen has also served as the newest member of Michael Monroe's solo band, ...

and childhood friend

Kenny Håkansson Kenny Håkansson is a Swedish musician, best known as the bassist for the Hellacopters. The Hellacopters were founded by Håkansson's childhood friend Nicke Andersson as a side project to his role as a drummer in the heavy metal band Entombed. ...

went on to become one of the more important rock bands in the Nordic region and has released six albums with their own material, a cover album, two non album work compilations and a greatest hits album. The band has also toured all over the world and opened up for bands such as Kiss,

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

and

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...

. In late 2007 the band announced their retirement after the release of Head Off a collection of their favorite songs recorded by the band. The band finished their with four shows in two days that were filmed and broadcast on the band's MySpace page, a double live album and a DVD is currently in the works.

Tramp

Eriksson is also working with his currently unsigned rock band Tramp, which features members from the Turpentines, Henry Fiat's Open Sore and Captain Murphy. The band is currently unsigned and have two songs released on their official MySpace, Eriksson describes the band's sound as more dramatic similar to early

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

records.

Other work

2003 Eriksson joined an all star lineup of Swedish rock musicians to pay tribute to The Nomads, the members of the band liked it so much that the Wild Kings as they called themselves, decided to start the monthly Wild Kingdom club. In 2004 Eriksson participated in a one-day project along with

, (

Backyard Babies Backyard Babies are a Swedish rock band originally from Nässjö and currently based in Stockholm. The band was formed in 1989 and over the years they have released seven studio albums and won two Swedish Grammy Awards. They are largely at ...

), Måns P. Månsson (The Maggots) and Urkke T (Mary Slim). The band which named themselves Urkke T & the Midlife Crisis released ''Ask Not What You Can Do For Your Country...'' in 2004. Currently Eriksson is also working at a youth center that focuses on keeping young people away from drugs and crime and more involved with music. In 2009, a video was posted of him playing a drum solo on a drum set made of ice at the

Icehotel An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up of snow and sculpted blocks of ice. Ice hotels, dependent on sub-freezing temperatures, are constructed from ice and snow and typically have to be rebuilt every year. Ice hotels exist in several countri ...

Jukkasjärvi Jukkasjärvi (; Sami: ''Čohkkiras'') is a locality situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 548 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated at 321 meters elevation. The name is of Northern Sami origin, where ''Čohkkirasjávri'' ...

. This video has accumulated over 13.6 million views as of 2022. Later that year Eriksson performed with the reunited Swedish punk band Strindbergs.

Kit setup

Eriksson owns and uses a number of different

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

s, however his main kit consists of Ludwig with Sabian cymbals. ;Drums *22" Bass drum *18" Floor tom *16" Floor tom *13” Rack tom *14" Snare drum ;Cymbals *14" Hi-hat *18" Crash *18" Crash *22" Jazz Ride

Selected discography

*1996 The Hellacopters - ''

Supershitty to the Max! ''Supershitty to the Max!'' is the debut album by the Swedish rock band The Hellacopters. It was recorded in just 26 hours during February 1996 at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm and released in June that year. The album was initially released ...

'' (Drums, vocals) *1997 The Hellacopters - ''

Payin' the Dues ''Payin' the Dues'' is the second album released by the Swedish rock band The Hellacopters and their last studio album to feature original guitarist Dregen before his departure from the band to focus full-time on his other band Backyard Babies. ...

'' (Drums, backing vocals) *1999 The Hellacopters - '' Grande Rock'' (Drums, backing vocals) *2000 The Hellacopters - '' High Visibility'' (Drums, backing vocals) *2002 The Hellacopters - ''

By the Grace of God By the Grace of God ( la, Dei Gratia, abbreviated D.G.) is a formulaic phrase used especially in Christian monarchies as an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch. For example in England and later the United Kingdom, the phrase was fo ...

'' (Drums) *2003 Wayne Kramer - ''Adult World'' (Drums) *2004 Urrke T & Midlife Crisis - ''Ask Not What You Can Do For Your Country...'' (Drums) *2004 Stefan Sundström - ''Hjärtats Melodi'' (Drums) *2005 The Hellacopters - '' Rock & Roll Is Dead'' (Drums, backing vocals) *2008 The Hellacopters - '' Head Off'' (Drums, backing vocals) *2010 Tramp - ''Indigo'' (Drums) *TBA The Hellacopters - ''Upcoming live album'' (Drums, backing vocals)

References

External links

Official Hellacopters WebsiteOfficial Hellacopters MySpaceOfficial Tramp MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksson, Matz Robert 1972 births Swedish drummers Male drummers Living people 21st-century drummers 21st-century Swedish male musicians The Hellacopters members