Meet Hawk Björn:  lover of vocal harmonies and catchy melodies

1965:  Growing up in the plateau-heeled shadows of ABBA in the land of birch trees and pickled herring, I listened to a lot of “European pop” like Motors, the Korgis, XTC, Alphaville, Elvis Costello, and many other great artists. I always loved harmony-laden pop music so 10cc and ELO were major favorites. I don’t think I could ever tire of listening to 10cc’s “Feel the Benefit” or Jeff Lynne’s “Twilight”’.  In addition to all that pop, I’ve always loved choral music and still to this day, have a major crush on reggae (Cedric Myton & the Congos, Bobby of course but also Burning Spear, Culture, the Gladiators, The Abyssinians, Jacob Miller – oh Jacob!!) and world music (Manu Chao).   

1980

Formed my first band, Stupid Enough, in Grillby (literally BBQ village) with my classmate Jocke Gunnarsson. We both sang lead vocals and played keyboards.  Jocke had a Korg electric piano and I had, even at that time, an ancient somewhat out of tune Hohner piano.  We wrote the songs together or individually. You could say we were a synth band without actual synths. We soon recruited Tobbe Andersson on bass guitar and Peter “Mattan” Mattsson on drums.   We rehearsed loud and proud at Mattan’s spare storage veranda with his mom providing snacks and compliments in between massive drums solos and long screechy vocal ad libs.  

Fun times with song titles like “How Come No One likes Our Songs” and Jocke’s sarcastic but earnest “Jag vill ha mindre reggae i radion” (“I want less reggae on the radio”). Of course I wanted more reggae on the radio. Jocke didn’t.  And as those ‘creative differences’ grew and festered :), coupled with the fact that we never did find a proper guitarist, our band sadly went separate ways in 1982.  Just in time for new adventures.  

1982: When I was seventeen, my life changed dramatically with the unexpected opportunity to study abroad in the USA.  So, in a blink of an eye, I went from a comfy “cradle-to-grave” egalitarian Swedish society to the unknown wild west, open skies and vast flowing wheat fields.  And boy was that exciting and liberating!

So this is where I began to write songs in earnest.  My host family had a grand piano (man, was I lucky) and I plucked away at it all the time. 

1984:  University.  So, Iver Iversen, god bless that man and his name!  Iver was a visiting Psychology Professor from Denmark who, I swear, owned the world’s first Dr. Rhythm drum machine.  Man, it was crappy and awesome, all at the same time.  We spent Christmas 1985 stuck up in the Blue Mountains near Walla Walla (a town so nice they named it twice)  in a snowed-in cabin, eating unfamiliar Japanese foods with chopsticks (which neither of us had ever used before), writing and recording music – songs with names like “Funky Angel” and “Children of Zion”.  Magical times!

1986.  Met my musical soul brother John Utter at the Fine Arts House at Whitman College because, well, he played electric guitar and had a very cool “echo box” and I impressed him simply because I owned a keyboard (Korg Poly-800).  We formed “4 Tomorrow”, played throughout our university years with TJ on bass (John Land) and Marc Pitre on drums. Lovely, beautiful people.  Most memorable?  Well, it has to be the Prom we played at the Catholic All-Girl High School and one of our very few cover songs:  George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex!”   The nuns chaperoning from the back walls were absolutely stunned and the girls were completely in giddy disbelief  (the song was banned on many radio stations in the US at the time).  What a glorious moment.

1988:  A phone call.  “Hi, I’m Rick Stevenson, a Hollywood movie producer working on a Robert Redford movie with Patrick Dempsey and Jennifer Connoly.  I heard your demo and I’d really like to include a few of your songs on the soundtrack!”   Eeeeeh…… I think we were floating for several weeks before realizing what this meant for our musical future.  “It Just Gets Better” and “Tonight Tonight” made it into the movie and changed the trajectory of our music career.

1990:  The record deal.  So many stories.   I’ll tell the long ones under Reflections.  For now, here’s the succinct version.  John and I created “bounce the ocean”, worked with some very talented producers and musicians, recorded our self-titled debut album, sold a bunch of albums, got a decent amount of radio airplay, landed a single on the Billboard chart, and spent most of the early 1990s worrying about being tanned, wearing record company approved clothing and hair-styles.  It was more than surreal.  But also a blast!  Unbeknownst to us, music lovers around the world fell in love with our songs.  Especially in Argentina where bounce the ocean still today is legendary and “Wasting My Time” is an anthem for millions.  How cool is that?

2011:  After a long break from music, I began writing again.  Life Insurance emerged.  The lyrics to this song happened in one go, in 5 minutes.  A year later, I sat down at the keyboard and the song played itself.  I realized then, that this is what I need to do.  And the full album came together including “All of My Life” which describes the contradiction of living my life away from my birthplace and family.  I wanted somehow to explain that, despite the distance, my dad and I were still growing closer.  “You belong to all of my life”.  

2022:  Oceans Together  is here after another ‘short’ break.  More songs, more heartfelt lyrics.  More popilious groove.  I’m immersed again. Listening.  Smiling.  It’s all good, returning to my songs, pure and simple pop.  Harmonies and catchy melodies, passionate words. Oh, and it includes an ABBA cover as stipulated by law of the Swedish government – ha!

2023:  Treasure arrives – a collection of never-before-released mixes of favorite bounce the ocean songs including “It Just Gets Better” and “Wasting My Time” as well as unheard demos featuring legendary Andrew Gold (“Thank You for Being a Friend”) and a never before heard track, “First I’ll Take You” – a snappy danceable power pop number featuring world-renowned drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Cougar Mellencamp), Neil Stubenhaus on bass, Randy Waldman’s blistering grand piano solo and Jerry Hey and his classic horn section (Michael Jackson), produced by Grammy Award-winning musician and songwriter, Clif Magness  Original, unapologetic, authentic pure power pop.

January 2024:  After a year of intense reflection and taking stock of what truly matters in life –  love, friendship, good health, kindness, music – Illumination is recorded in my garden shed in the backyard.  Songs about finding light in the shadow of cancer.  “There Are Days Like These” takes off on radio in Poland!  

August 2024:  More music from the Shed – heartbreaking lyrics, uplifting melodies, loads of harmony vocals, Alchemy emerges:  a seemingly magical process of transformation and creation, taking grief and pain, turning them into hope and light.  Five new, snappy songs with musical nods to ELO, 10cc, Beatles and other pop melody heroes.

September 2024:  Begins the adventure of travelling around the world, to just live and be in the world.  So much to see. So many places to go. I want to move with the wind, wake up and eat mysterious fruits for breakfast, smile at laughing children amazed by my freakish height, fall asleep in new cities where I don’t speak the language, eat delicious food and have no idea what I’m eating, walk hand in hand with my love on beaches, country roads, mountain hikes, ocean trails, crowded marketplaces, write poetry on napkins in local coffeeshops, be amused at traditional festivals, dances, immerse myself and disappear in culture, just be and enjoy each moment gifted to me.    And write more songs of course.  Stay tuned!!