All began in an old PV
All began in an old PV 444 that you then could tank up for 3 crowns.
My uncle Bengt steered it and next to him sat my highly pregnant mother.
We reached the maternity clinic in Kristianstad, where I was born on
September 7, 1966. My father was not present, but was informed by
telegraph, because at that time he was stationed at the armoured
regiment P6 in Kristianstad.
I spent the first few years safely and calmly with my family in Finja.
My sister and I grew up experiencing much love and care. At the time, my
father earned his money as a driver for a wholesaler in Hässleholm.
Many years, life took a normal cause, with soccer, mates and at the end,
the girls came in as well.
After a training to become a cabinet-maker, I got a job in a storehouse
and became, little by little, a shop assistant in the same company. This
job as a shop assistant was a reason for me to start my own business.
And in the year of 1994, two colleagues and I started into independence
as wholesalers in Hässleholm - GGM Plast. This company has accompanied
me for many years. Now I have left it to fully concentrate myself on my
music.
From a great present to a means of making a living
How did the music come into my life? Well, my mother gave me a guitar
for my 25th birthday. Stubborn as I was, I taught myself a few songs by
means of a guitar instruction booklet I had got. With it, my first
performance took place on a midsummer eve at the camping site in Ivö
near Kristianstad. The audience consisted of about 12 persons.
Then I had tasted blood and got in touch with the bass player Stefan
Dursjö. The following month we both went to Ivö in order to perform
there again. I thought that it sounded great, but Stefan was rather
reserved with his comment.
And because it was so easy, we came back the following month and
entertained the camping site guests and ... they became more and more
numerous. If this was because of us, I cannot say, but in any case, we
were now accompanied by our new member, the drummer Torgny Johanson. So
it all began in 1993 at the camping site of Ivö with a guitar, a bass
and drums.
In the following year, we had some performances within the borders of
Skåne. We played in pubs, on funerals and weddings, private parties, in
companies, at formal openings, in food stores, in the radio, on
festivals and in television. We had great fun.
The year after, we drove from success to success and the number of the
band members grew. It was always my dream to one day have a complete
band, just like the one The King had. But we had not yet reached our
goal.
The big breakthrough came in the Sirusgården in Kristianstad, an inner
courtyard in the very centre of the city. When we got going, the
audience completely freaked out and sang along right from the very first
song. Among this fantastic audience was the barkeeper and owner of
Cardells Salonger that you can find in Kristianstad as well. After the
concert, he came up to us. In the autumn of the same year – autumn of
1997 – the pub show "Blue Christmas" started in Cardells Salonger. And
it became a success! This not being enough, on one of the evenings,
there was a promoter of the Södra Kasern (southern barracks) from
Kristianstad in the audience. He wanted to book us for the following
autumn. We accepted right away.
This too, became a great success. From 1999 until 2003 we played in full
halls and sold-out houses in the presence of about 100,000 people (yes,
I, too, have to pinch myself to believe it).
To make a historic pub show to become earnest
In 2004, when we had another guest performance in Hässleholm hatten, I
got in touch with the event producer of the Slagshuset in Malmö, Claes
Schmidt, and invited him to come to one of our events. He liked what he
saw and he wanted to have us in Malmö on stage in 2005.
We filled the Slagthuset with 15,000 sold tickets. That was a fantastic
feeling. Together with me on stage there now was The New Memphis
Orchestra – a large band of which I had dreamed for years. After the
last performance, Claes Schmidt and I talked about the future. How was
it supposed to go on? We agreed on a prolongation for another year!
In autumn of 2006, there was again a note with the words "sold out" at
the box office and we played in the presence of 15,000 people. In the
whole history of the Slagthuset no show had managed to run two years in
a row! Deep down inside me I felt like a king, a great sub goal was
reached and we ventured to look at two other, larger cities.
The gold masks and the people from Göteborg
While we gave guest performances of our show in Malmö, my fan and former
class mate in Finja and Hörja, the director of music Johan Svensson,
worked on Göteborg. This city was to be our next goal. There, we were
able to establish a good relationship with the Erikshallen that did
everything in their power to have the show started there in 2007.
During this time, Glenn Wish & The New Memphis Orchestra received the
nomination for Swedens best known theatre award "Guldmasken 2006" for
the best show. At the gala event in the Stockholm Circus, the first
price went to Lena + Orup, but the nomination alone was the greatest
success for us.
The contract with Göteborg was signed, now we went on from stage to
stage a the West Coast and on December 6, 2007, the show had its
première. This privilege to work together with this fantastic great and
professional band of handpicked musicians from all over the world is a
real great honour. With these wonderful people, my dreams come true. To
give everything for the people who have bought a ticket at the box
office, and to create a top event for all those in the hall: this alone
is worth to continue with this mission.
The interplay between audience and stage is a mixture of rock show,
awakening event and international soccer match. It is my goal to share
all my joy, energy and the happiness I bear deep inside me and in my
soul, in a musical way with as many people as possible. No-one leaves a
Glenn Wish concert without deep impressions!
"There is only one KING and we love it to play his music in our own way"
P.S. Live is wonderful! DS