At the risk of repetition and for favouring nations, once again, here I am reviewing another exceptional high quality melodic rock/AOR release hailing from yep you guessed it…Sweden! Hot on the trail of fellow Swedes such as H.E.A.T, Work Of Art, Eclipse, Treat and Houston, Miss Behaviour will undoubtedly be the latest band to set the melodic rock/AOR scene alight.
Having previously released their debut album Heart Of Midwinter back in 2006, lineup changes have resulted in vocalist Sebastian Roos and drummer Anders Berlin joining founding members guitarist Erik Heinke and Henrik Sproge on keyboards to create this magical sound. Allowing themselves plenty of time to perfect their sound, the songs and the production on this album, Last Woman Standing features 11 songs of keyboard drenched melodic rock composed of such a quality that it will no doubt catapult Miss Behaviour to the forefront of the new generation of bands reigniting this genre worldwide.
For those people who may be familiar with you from your debut release Heart Of Midwinter, here’s your chance to tell us what has changed between now and then?
We’ve gained some weight and a few more beers have passed through the system since the last time! On a more serious note, almost everything has changed actually, everything but the passion for melodic rock and AOR! Me (Erik) and Henrik founded the band and we’re still in it. We reinforced the band with the talented singer Sebastian Roos and great drummer Anders Berlin, this is the first time in our career that we feel 100% sure on the potential of Miss Behaviour. All guys are motivated and want to make it big and we have great back up from Gregor at our record label, Avenue of Allies.
Can you introduce each member of your band and give an interesting rock n roll “fact” about each!
I’m Erik, guitarist and co-founder of the band. Rock n roll fact…hmm I don’t miss behave that much at all actually, but I am pretty good at crashing Alfa Romeos…unfortunately. 3 so far haha.
Henrik, keyboards, co-founder and main songwriter can drink almost everyone under the table, he just doesn’t brag about it!
Sebastian Roos is our singer. He’s an experienced musician and has toured a lot during the years so there are a lot of stories… He always sleeps with his boots on.
Anders, our drummer once was on tour with a christian band in Japan, but he could not avoid ending up in the bar. He’s not touring with them anymore…
Last Woman Standing features 11 songs of awesome melodic rock/AOR with a monster sound courtesy of obviously a great production team!. Did you go into the studio with a clear vision of exactly the sound you were after or did it evolve as the recording progressed?
Thanks a lot! We definitely had a clear vision from the beginning. We wanted to make a top class album to build a career upon and that needed good musicians and a great production. We have spent a load of money on this album but now I think it’s worth every penny, definitely. You have to stand out somehow and nowadays, to be honest, a lot of productions sound like crap. It’s absolutely crucial in this genre, to make a great production.
Your music features big hooks and choruses and has an upbeat vibe. What are the key things that absolutely must feature in a Miss Behaviour song…or did I already steal your answer haha?
You stole it! Actually you’re kind of spot on there. We’re trying to create music with a joyful feeling added to it. I f you wanna sit in a dark room, thinking about life and death and heavy subjects..well maybe you should buy a Depeche Mode album. If you wanna have a good time, a beer and a moment of joy, buy our album! 
When it comes to songwriting, does the whole band get involved or is it primarily a couple of you who share the main songwriting duties?
Henrik is our main songwriter, but me and Seb are also very involved. We know what sound we want and we are all focused on writing songs that will fit that picture. When people buy our albums they shall know what they’ll get. I hate bands that change their sound totally on every album. We’re not made of stone of course we wanna develop in some way, but we kind of stick to our guns if you know what I mean.
You have released a video for the single for Till We Meet Again. What was the concept behind the video and song? Any plans yet for the next single, Emergency perhaps haha?
If there’s any Miss Behaviour song you shall listen to alone in a dark room, it’s Till We Meet Again. It’s written in the loving memory of a dear friend of me and Henrik, who tragically ended his life a time ago. The lyrics are fragments of our memories of the time we spent together. A lot of people seem to love Emergency, that was not our favourite from the beginning but it’s a grower!
What or who inspires/influences your music the most?
I’d like to say the passion for this music inspire us. The good spirit of 80s positivism and of course great rock bands such as Journey, Toto, Foreigner, Europe, Magnum, Def Leppard and so on. I hate the fact that many bands nowadays are so angry and make everything they can to been looked at as tough guys. I mean, music is fun, why don’t just share some happiness and some feel good-spirit?! You don’t have to tune down the guitar 3 steps and scream “kill, fuck, die”!! Come on..seriously. There are also a lot of new bands that I love. Houston, Eclipse, H.E.A.T, Degreed, Hell In The Club to mention a few.
What kind of movie do you think your music would be best suited to and why?
A remake of Back To The Future maybe? That would be cool!
The epic Perfect War features some guest guitar playing from Masterplan and ex-Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow, what led you to getting Roland to appear on specifically this song?
This song is the heaviest track on the album and it somehow fits Roland’s way of playing the guitar. He is an awesome musician, it’s an honour to have him on the album! I mean, in his genre, he’s a legend. Been a fan of Helloween and Masterplan for a long time. Roland is a great guy.
This comment might be getting old for our readers…but sitting here in Australia, for a country of its size, there just seems to be a never-ending supply of killer bands coming out of Sweden. Does the competition inspire you all to greatness…or was it your musical upbringing?
Thanks a lot, that’s flattering! In Sweden we have a great tradition of melodic rock with a musical heritage from bands like Europe, Treat and later H.E.A.T, Houston, W.E.T etc. The competition definitely drives, but the scene is not big in Sweden so we’re really grateful of the response we get from abroad! In Sweden they never play AOR on radio stations, only heavier rock and metal, but we’re working on changing that! 🙂
With your album now released, what are your touring plans during 2011?
We’re actually working on that, so I can’t tell you so much now, but it looks good. We definitely want to hit the road with Last Woman Standing! Our music is made for live shows and we love to perform live.
If you could choose two bands to support Miss Behaviour on your own headline world tour, who would you choose?
Houston and Foreigner! But it’s maybe more likely that we end up as support act for them haha.
Now here’s your chance to gaze into the future, by the end of 2011, Miss Behaviour will have…..
1. A world tour in the making
2. A lot of fans, a great selling album and a new record in the making.
3. Lost the extra weight we gained since Heart of Midwinter *laughs*
Essential Information
From: Sweden
Sounds Like: Melodic Rock /AOR
Band Members: Sebastian Roos – Vocals, Erik Heikne – Guitar, Henrik Sproge – Keyboards, Anders Berlin – Drums
Website: www.missbehaviour.se
Latest Release: Last Woman Standing (Avenue Of Allies)
