Swedish west coast rock…
Sayit was born in Poland 1975. Three months later the family moved to Sweden. He has lived in Gothenburg since, except for a short time in Stockholm. By now, most people knows that Sayit is the given name of an inspired guitarist, not a project name as some people initially thought.
In the words of Tommy Denander (Jan 2002):
“With only 10 years since he took up playing guitar Sayit has come a very long way…mind you 10 years is not a long time to get really good at any instrument. He is already a busy full time musician fighting to divide his time between playing live several days a week and doing various recording sessions.
I’m 100% sure that he has one of the brightest futures of all guitarist out there, ’cause after having played myself for 30 years, the last 20 as a full time pro, there’s not many players that scare me anymore.
I respect and love a lot of guitarists, but Sayit is turning into a real killer player that you can’t afford to miss out on. Do yourself a favor and follow him and his work from now on, so you don’t have to go back later and find out what everybody else is talking about!!!”
Sayit gives us the background:
“One day about 10 years ago I was home watching TV and the door bell rang. My mom opened and was greeted by a strange looking dude with military boots, torn jeans and a totally weird hair cut that I think should be analyzed by NASA experts.
He was a punk rocker and not the kind of guy I would hang out with normally, but I knew him a little ’cause we both had mopeds, which among kids meant that we automatically said hi from time to time. He told me that he and a couple of friends wanted to start a band, but had no guitarist. He asked me if I would play with them. I explained that I didn’t even know how to play a guitar, but he just said “It’s not hard”, so we started the band Bollocks.
We played mostly punk and rehearsed in a car repair shop that was owned by a friend of our singer. A cool thing is that we taped our first ever rehearsal. I still have that tape.. If you dare to listen CLICK HERE
The band survived for two years and I bought my first electric guitar from my moped riding punk buddy, a Cort that I, well, my mom paid 150 dollars for. It was a decent beginner’s guitar, but since i really didn’t know how to play, I would have been satisfied with a Ukulele:-)
It was back then I got to know Nicklas Sjoberg, who was in my class at school. Like me, he was playing music, so we clicked right away and became friends over night, the kind of friendship that lasts a lifetime. I looked up to him like a God because he could play solos.
We started a glam rock band called Say It Wide and Nicklas switched to drums. We lasted a couple of years and played at a few talent shows plus recorded a couple of horrible demos. CLICK HERE to hear what we sounded like. We walked around thinking that any day we would become mega stars.. and we’re still waiting:-)
After that I joined the band Paradize and I don’t think I’ve played in a wackier band. It was like the movie The Commitments, only a hell of a lot weirder. We recorded a demo and had the honor of having Mats Leven (Treat, Yngwie Malmsteen) on vocals. CLICK HERE to hear a little of it.
Up to this point I had only played on crappy gear but when I joined my next band, called Farligt Gods (trans: Hazardous Cargo), I started getting better equipment. We played pop songs in swedish, CLICK HERE to listen, and around that time my ears were opened to bands such as Toto, to that level of studio musicianship and to the great sounds they got from very expensive gear.
One day I was in a music store and started talking to a friend who worked there. I asked him if he knew where I could get hold of some live videos with Toto. Without hesitation he said that I should call Tommy Denander in Stockholm ’cause not only did he have a lot of videos to trade, he had actually played with Toto! I called Tommy who was sure that someone was pulling a joke on him ’cause he thought no one could be named Sayit:-) It took a couple of days and a few more calls before he trusted that I was a real person with that name.
This was early 1996 and once he realized that I was for real we quickly became close friends. I consider him one of my best friends in life, a person who has meant a lot for me and my future. It’s thanks to Tommy that I have developed so much and become a full time musician.
A few days after the friend at the music store gave me the phone number to Tommy, I went back to tell him about how well it had turned out. To my big surprise he just looked at me with no clue as to what I was talking about! He said he didn’t even know who Tommy was, and he was sure that he hadn’t given me any phone number. I spent at least 15 minutes trying to remind him, but it was fruitless. It is my guess is that this happened for a bigger reason, me and Tommy were meant to meet!
During my time in Farligt Gods I tried all kinds of equipment. I bought a Rivera Knucklehead amp and speaker cab directly from Paul Rivera, who modified it after my demands, but at the time I never came to grips with it. I traded it for a Soldano X99 preamp which was really great. After that I’ve owned pretty much everything you can buy. Lately I’ve developed an increasing taste for vintage gear and sounds. I listen a lot to the amazing guitarist Michael Landau and also to Swedish session guitarist Staffan Astner. Now I use an old Fender Stratocaster and an old amp which fits me perfectly.
After Farligt Gods I started the band Playstation which mostly played westcoast rock and funk. It was my first band where the musicians had reached a high level. CLICK HERE to listen to us.
During that time I was getting more and more frustrated that nothing bigger happened for me. I went to a music school but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in music. I had been talking to Tommy for a while about maybe moving to Stockholm to see if I could find better gigs, so I finally packed my things and did just that. Due to things I couldn’t have known, this would unfortunately prove to be the worst two years in my life, with the exception of a few highlights, like Tommy introducing me to singer Geir Rönning, an absolutely wonderful person who would become another very important friend in my life.
I moved back to Gothenburg and got back up on my feet again. Now I’m on top. I love my life and have the best friends and family in the world, plus lots of good work.
I wasn’t always on the right side of the law, and I have done a lot of things that would sound right out of a bad Hollywood movie, but I can’t say I have any regrets, since everything I’ve been through has shaped me into who I am today. Many of my old friends are either in jail or dead, and if it wasn’t for that punk rocker ringing on my door 10 years ago, who knows where i would be today..”
Words and picture from the official website.
Discography
Sayit
NL Distribution 2007
Tracks: A Second Start, House Of Glass, Standing On The Outside, One Unguarded Moment, Could You Love Me Again, Garden Of Eden, You're My Inspiration, She's The One, Hear Me Heaven, You, Once You Love Somebody & Talk To Me (Unreleased Bonus Track).
Musicians on the Say It album: Tommy Denander, Ricky B. Delin, Bruce Gaitsch, Geir Rönning, Pierre Wensberg, Andy Eklund, Annika Burman,Thomas Vikström, Mikael Erlandsson, Mikael Eriksson & Kristoffer Lagerström.
Louder
MTM Music 2007
Tracks: Stand Up, The Queen, That Ain´t Me, A Love I Can´t Handle, Come Please Me Completely, I Am King, Longing For Someone To Hold, John Doe, Love Without Reason, My Lonely Heart, I May Be Hurt But I´m Free & Waiting For My Love.
Musicians on the Louder album: Sayit, Tommy Denander, Geir Rönning, Chris Demming, Ulf Sandin, Tony Franklin & Erik Somphan.
Again
AOR Heaven 2001
Tracks: A Second Start, House Of Glass, Standing On The Outside, One Unguarded Moment, Could You Love Me Again, Garden Of Eden, You're My Inspiration, She's The One, Hear Me Heaven, You, Once You Love Somebody.
Musicians on the Again album: Sayit, Tommy Denander, Geir Rönning, Michael Thompson, David Hungate, Bruce Gaitsch, Mats Olausson, Kee Marcello, Jim Jidhed, Pierre Wensberg and others.
Sayit
Noble House Records 1999
Tracks: A Second Start, House Of Glass, Standing On The Outside, One Unguarded Moment, Could You Love Me Again, Garden Of Eden, You're My Inspiration, She's The One, Hear Me Heaven, You & Once You Love Somebody.
Musicians on the Sayit album: Sayit, Tommy Denander, Ricky B. Delin, Bruce Gaitsch, Geir Rönning, Pierre Wensberg, Andy Eklund, Annika Burman,Thomas Vikström, Mikael Erlandsson, Mikael Eriksson & Kristoffer Lagerström.