Janne Stark

Swedish guitarist, born 1963 in Karlshamn. He recorded his first 7" single with the band Paradize in 1979, then formed the band Overdrive in 1980. In 1995 Stark formed the band Locomotive Breath. In 1996 he released his first book, "The Encyclopedia Of Swedish Hard Rock And Heavy Metal 1970-1996", a 400-page encyclopedia featuring more than one thousand Swedish recording bands, besides playing guitar in his ordinary bands, Stark has also made guest appearances on recordings by many bands, including Narnia, Blinded Colony, Faith, VII Gates, Chris Catena, Audiovision,[4] From Behind (featuring former Samson-singer Nicky Moore),[5] Zello etc. In 2007 Stark released the debut by his new solo project Mountain Of Power on Grooveyard Records, dedicated to his influences from the seventies, such as Derringer, Moxy, Stray Dog, Captain Beyond and Budgie. In 2005 Janne joined forces with former Sir Lord Baltimore drummer/singer John Garner and the two formed John Garner's Sir Lord Baltimore. A toured was planned, but unfortunately various (mostly economical) obstacles made it never happen. The two however recorded a new version of Sir Lord Baltimore's "Woman Tamer". In 2007 Stark joined forces with Björn Lodin and Mikael "Nord" Andersson in a completely new band called incarnation called BALLS. The band's debut album Chameleon was released on October 10, 2008, but the band folded shortly after its release.[8] Janne and Mikael are still composing songs together. Janne also contributed with guest guitars on releases by Thalamus, M.O.B, Alyson Avenue and Tower Of Stone. Stark also started collaborating with Token/Scudiero keyboardist Mikael Rosengren in what was to become the band Constancia, who released their debut in 2009. Late 2011 Janne joined melodic rockers Grand Design. In November 2013 Janne's third encyclopedia, "The Heaviest Encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Ever!" was published. It features information about 3600 Swedish hard rock/metal bands on 912 pages. In 2015 the second Constancia album "Final Curtain" was released. In 2016 Janne released the third Mountain of Power album and also started collaborating with American singer/bassist Neil Merryweather. The debut of Merryweather Stark, "Carved In Rock", was released end of 2017. The follow-up, "Rock Solid" came out in 2020. In 2019 Janne and Neil also recorded an album with drummer John Wackerman as Merryweather Stark Wackerman, set to be released in 2022. In 2021 Neil sadly passed away from a brain tumor. In 2019 Janne recorded a tribute to one of his old favorite bands, Budgie, under the name Bandolier Kings, also featuring Tony Spinner on vocals and additional lead guitar. The album, entitled "Welcome To The Zoom Club", also featured guest spots from former Budgie members Tony Bourge and Steve Williams. The second album, "Time To Remember", was released in 2022 and concentrates on the later Budgie era. It also features Tony Spinner, Tony Bourge and several other guests. Constancia released their third album "Brave New World" in 2021, now featuring new singer Pete Godfrey (Blood Red Saints). Janne is also involved with Greek label Cult Metal Classics and Swedish Regain records, where he does artwork and layout. He also plays guitar in Danish Thin Lizzy tribute band Falling Hazard, who released the original single "I Lie Not" (a tribute to Phil Lynott) in 2019. In 2022 Overdrive did their 42nd anniversary final shows.