More great news! Record Union A&R Hans Selander has just informed us that Swedish rockers The Neverdies have won the Bandit Unsigned award this year, and have landed themselves a contract with Warner Music. They have also been scheduled to play at the Getaway Rock Festival and are proud owners of a sweet new stage equipment. We would like to congratulate the band, and though it will be sad to see you go, we wish you the best for the future!

Summer has arrived and it soon time to head to a grassy field somewhere, jump around and listen to loud live music. That’s right, the festival season has arrived. This years lineups are looking as good as ever with many many big names are hitting the stage at festivals around the world - but also some rising ones.

One of these is the band Last View, who have recently been receiving serious hype from media in and around Sweden. Recruited to Record Union by A&R Hans Selander last year, they have been named “Almost Famous”in Sweden Rock Magazine, dubbed “Best in Sweden” in issue 113 of Close-Up magazine while also having a demo of the month at P3 Rockster radio.

This year they will be taking their adrenaline filled slap-in-the-face metalcore to Hulstredsfestivalen and are sure to tear the stage apart (hopefully, not literally). If you are going to Hulstfred this year this is a must see. Otherwise keep your eye on this band at other festivals/venues as in this case the hype is deserved. Check em on Spotify here.

Great news! Oholics and Cresendolls have been selected to perform at the Jack Rock´s final in Stockholm in 3 weeks time. Jack Rocks is an unsigned competition where the bands pit themselves against the scrutiny of a panel of heavy duty judges. From the hundreds of bands who entered the competition, the panel select 30 to go through to the next stage, then 8 go to the semifinals and play live in 2 seperate events. The 4 who impress the judges the most are invited to perform at the finals, to be held in Stockholm at Skyddsrummet on the 26th November. Both Oholics and Crescendolls will be taking the stage and Record Union will be there to support them in full force.

The winner of this years competition will get the chance to record a 3 track EP at Aldeheim studios, play 2 major festivals (Sweden Rock festival and another as yet to be announced), recieve a gift voucher at JAM worth 30,000 SEK and be provided with a selection of merchandise as well as 100 proffesionally designed and printed CDs.

Hans Selander a.k.a “Hasse”, the Record Union A&R who is responsible for recruiting both bands, is ecstatic and confident both Oholics (who have a reputation for their raucous live performances) and Crescendolls will give the judges something they will never forget. Its going to be wild.

Listen to:

Cresendolls on Spotify

Oholics on Myspace

Hasse Selander is a self confessed music addict – however, we wouldn’t dream of prescribing him anything for his addiction. Back in the day he played in the infamous Swedish punk band “Rabies” (who simultaneously got banned from all the youth centres in the Gothenburg area for smashing up their instruments in typical “The Who” behaviour). Now he spends his time scouring the internet for fresh sounds. He also promotes artists from his MySpace page and other online channels. His music knowledge is encyclopaedic. Hasse has always listened to a wide spectra of music styles, even when a hardcore punkster he was listening to Kraftwerk, DAF, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Beastie Boys and so on. However, one genre which he claims formed him the most is the is Punk and the DIY attitude. We caught up with Hasse and asked him about some of the artists he has been bringing to Record Union.

Which artists would you like to tips us readers on today? I have managed to sign up quite a few great artists/bands but today I would like to give some extra attention to some of them with albums released on Spotify and to my new favourite indie label Ziekte-NL an Underground label in The Netherlands. The bands are Sterile Hermaphrodite, Stolen Policecar, and The Junkies (not on Ziekte-NL)

Sterile Hermaphrodite (Ziekte-NL) was the first band I signed up and the first thing about them I liked was the cocky humorous attitude they show on their MySpace page and in their music. Their album “Walking Like A Reptile” is a totally amazing debut, loads of energy with an unbelievable honest desperation in the vocals. Their sound can be described as Stoner-influenced raw-Grunge mixed with the energy of the 80’s Punk-Rock. Imagine that blended with some Garage, Surf, Jazz, Pop, 50’s and a tiny twist of Metal. Listen on Spotify.

Stolen Policecar (Ziekte-NL) is a band full of scream and shout, talent and potential, but also loaded with bitter resignation and not giving a shit. This can actually be my new favourite band, the jury is still out. But since their album “Oh No!! It’s A…” was released on Spotify I’ve been coming back for more. So much energy, desperation and attitude! I just love it! Listen on Spotify.

Junkies (Unsigned) Yet another great band with energy, attitude and honest desperation, but what makes The Junkies special is the melodies. The music is a mix of many influences, all the way from soft acoustic tunes to raw distorted noise, always with the melodies in focus and always trying to reach those moments when nothing else matters. These guys are down to earth modest not yet aware of their own greatness. Listen on Spotify.

You can keep up to date with Hasse´s Record Union roster here.