by Nikiforos Skoumas
– Columnist —
Osukaru is the brain child of Swedish guitarist Oz Osukaru, his vehicle in the realm of melodic rock. Osukaru have actually been recording and performing for a good five years, already having an impressive number of releases under their belt; not to mention some incredibly memorable slices of adult oriented rock such as “City Lights,” “Tell Me You’ll Stay” and “Change of Heart.” Oz provides a critical retrospect of his career to date while sharing the band’s upcoming ventures.
HRH: To those not familiar with Osukaru could you give us a few words for each of your releases GBG2LA, Never Too Late, Salvation and Triumphant.
Oz Osukaru: Our first release, the EP “GBG2LA” which stands for ‘(From) Gothenburg To Los Angeles’ was released in the fall of 2010. It was originally recorded as a demo because we weren’t a full line-up by that time. Singer Johan Bernspång and guitarist Tobias Karlsson, both members of the heavy metal band Katana, were just hired to fill in the spots that were missing. In the last minute however we decided to give it a go and released it on my own label Dusty Road Records.
In the spring of 2011 Johan and Tobias got replaced by singer CJ (Care of Night) and keyboardist Kristofer von Wachenfeldt (Care of Night, ex Seven Tears, ex Platitude) and the MAXI CD Never Too Late was released. It got a lot of positive feedback and we quickly started to record our first full-length album Salvation.
During the recording of Salvation, CJ and Wachen left and were replaced by singer Chris Tiann (Dirty Dixxx) and our producer on “Never Too Late”, Carl Dahlberg (Destiny) who joined us on keyboards. Here’s where it took a bit of a dark turn because in January 2012, just before the release of Salvation, things got complicated within the band and my two team mates who’ve been with me since the beginning; drummer and co-founder Ryan Coyle and bass player Emma-Lee Gunnari, quit the band. Chris, Carl and myself hired a bunch of session musicians including back-up singer Cecilia Camuii who would join Osukaru as a full member later on, so we could perform on the album release party but the moment I got off stage I decided that Osukaru was no more.
During the fall of 2012 I signed a deal with City of Lights Records and started to record what was to become the album Triumphant as a solo project-thing together with Cecilia, who I during this time played with in the theatrical progressive rock band Panorama, and Fredrik Werner (vocals, guitar) and Jens Björk (saxophone) from the band Mr Artist. When it was time to name the solo project I realized that I wanted to continue using the name Osukaru but in the same time I didn’t want to make it exactly the same type of band as it once was. I actually asked Emma to return but she had already quit the music business to focus on her studies. Ryan came back as a songwriter and performed drums on about half the album. Keyboardist Adrian Lopez and drummer Axel Ryberg, both from the band Panorama and bassist Fredrik Svensson from Mr Artist joined in and in July 2013 we released Triumphant. It was a lot darker album than our previous releases and the production was a little bit rushed, to be honest. Triumphant got a lot of mixed reviews and we quickly decided to jump on the next project and give our fans what they want. Adrian and Axel quit due to other life priorities and drummer Vidar Mårtensson (Siphon Fuel) was hired.
HRH: You are currently about to release a new album Transition. What is the musical orientation of Transition? Is it a male-female vocal duet album?
Oz Osukaru: We are back in the AOR territory with big hooks and a beefy production, yet with an inch of playfulness added to the mix. Fans of Salvation who got a bit confused with Triumphant will be very happy with the result and still find new stuff to enjoy. But as with Triumphant, both Fredrik and Cecilia will handle the vocal duties. There are no actual duets on the CD, not in its classic form anyway. They do share the microphone on two tracks but for the rest of the CD they sing their own songs.
HRH: You have been vocal about the issues a band faces in its early years. Still you were able to put out a new release each year. How do you manage to do that?
Oz Osukaru: I never really gave up. Osukaru is my baby and I have always believed that after your greatest adversity comes your greatest success. Sure, I almost gave up hope after the release of Salvation but I told myself to give it one more try. I’m glad I did. Everyone who’s in the band today give me so much energy and strength and they really do support my vision.
HRH: You often feature re-worked versions of older songs on your latest albums. Why was it important to re-record those songs?
Oz Osukaru: Mostly it is to make the songs justice. With every CD released we get more used to the studio environment and with that, we become better musicians as well. For example, our song “Change of Heart” didn’t really bloom on GBG2LA but when we re-recorded it for Salvation, it quickly became one of our most popular songs.
HRH: In 2009 you were also the guitarist and songwriter of the band Eye who played remarkable nighttime-AOR. Will Eye be putting out a new album or EP anytime soon and what are your memories of that time?
Oz Osukaru: It was a fun but confusing time in my life. I was a former heavy metal guitarist who started from scratch by switching to AOR. I am very proud of our 2 Hearts CD and the buzz it gave us. We got a gig booked at Sweden Rock Festival in 2010 but due to personal issues, I had to quit the band before the concert so they had a replacement during the show. They did about one or two more shows without me but eventually they fell off the radar. We reunited in 2012 to write and release a brand new Eye album but due to time issues and other priorities, we didn’t get that far. So unfortunately, Eye is no more.
HRH: Are there any international dates planned for 2014 fall or early 2015?
Oz Osukaru: I am about to become a father in November so there won’t be any dates this year. But we are planning some touring in 2015 and we’re trying our very best to book some international dates.
HRH: What is the best and worst thing about being an AOR musician?
Oz Osukaru: The best thing is that it’s a very welcoming community. Amazing bands, beautiful fans, big songs and stunning art. There really are no bad things in particular but there is one thing I had to learn the hard way and that is to know what the heck you’re doing. AOR is like the fine wine of rock & roll and without a solid performance, you ain’t getting very far. But as I said, the AOR fans are nothing but amazing and they have given us a lot of ‘second’ chances. I don’t think that’s too common in many other genres.
HRH: Just about every album cover of Osukaru features a blindfolded female figure, what is the symbolism behind that?
Oz Osukaru: As with the music, even the art needs to tell a story and I love to create something that makes people think. The symbolism is different for each album cover but in short; on our first three releases the girl represented the blind humanity while the white dove acted as her spiritual guardian. On Triumphant and our new CD Transition, the blindfold is a symbol for not seeing the world with your eyes but with your heart and mind.
HRH: You have explained that Osukaru is the Japanese pronunciation of your name Oscar. Are the Japanese the biggest fans of melodic rock? Have you ever played in Japan? Is it a good market for Osukaru album-wise?
Oz Osukaru: My stage name Oz Osukaru came long before I formed Osukaru, or played and wrote melodic rock for that matter. I started to use it back in 2004 and the reason was that, If I’d ever get big I didn’t want to be remembered as the guy with the same name as the jazz musician Oscar Peterson, even though my last name is spelled Petersson. A friend of mine pointed out the Japanese pronunciation and as a big fan of Japanese history, culture and what not, I started to use it. As for the Japanese market, I believe that melodic rock is quite big over there and I really hope that someday Osukaru will get the chance to play some shows in Japan.
HRH: We would like to thank you for this interview! Is there anything that we left out that you would want the audience to know?
Oz Osukaru: Thank you! I would also like to thank our fans for their support and patience with Transition. We’re doing our very best to give you the best Osukaru record to date!
Visit Osukaru online: https://www.facebook.com/osukarumusic
