Johan Bergqvist

Johan grew up in the industrial town of Grycksbo, a couple of hours drive north of Stockholm, Sweden. During his teens he played in different bands in a variety of genres. Eventually the family moved overseas and after three years in an American high school and a great number of gigs as a blues guitarist he moved back to native Sweden to pursue a career in the flourishing Swedish music business. Johan went to the rock city of Hultsfred in the southern part of Sweden to study economics and music management. It was during this time that the solo project started to take shape, and he decided to focus on the mellower and more piano based part of his repertoire that had not found a proper place in earlier band constellations.[2]

During the 21st century Johan has continuously toured around Sweden and showed his talents as an artist and a songwriter. He has shared the stage with Kiss,[3] Ron Sexsmith and Jon Auer[4] of The Posies as well as many of the big Swedish acts such as Kristofer Åström, Stefan Sundström, José González and Elin Sigvardsson. In 2003 he performed at the prestigious Hultsfred Festival alongside many international acts.[5]

Recording collaborators include Per Björling, Daniel Gamba, Magnus Karlsson and Magnus Friberg. His debut album "Throwaway Moments" was critically acclaimed, especially in the powerpop community in the United States. "[Johan Bergqvist] is a guy who has an insane knack for writing timeless, classic tunes in the vein of early 70's Elton John. While the big labels trip all over themselves spewing about such musical blight like Sufjan Stevens or the latest Elliott Smith inspired singer/songwriter, Bergqvist offers the real thing and another example of how out of touch the music industry is with finding simply great music built upon *songs*."[6]

Other artists and bands that Johan has played with include Charlie Emm, Micke Herrström, Friska Viljor and I Am the Flood. Johan was previously involved with the band HappyPill (now Roxie 77) with members Ryan Roxie, Anton Körberg and Magnus Wikström. In August 2008 Johan left the band[7] to focus on The Genuine Fakes and his solo project. Since 2006 he is also a permanent member of hardcore/pop/grunge band NUTMEG[8] as lead guitarist.

In February 2010 he contributed guitars and piano to the song "Wake Up World", which was recorded and released to raise funds for the Haiti relief efforts. The song was performed live at Swedish TV4 Nyhetsmorgon.[9]

In 2010 Johan also started a new band, Hong Faux, along with singer Niklas Serén. In this project he plays the bass and in 2011 the band's debut album The Crown that Wears the Head was released exclusively on vinyl.[10]

• johanbergqvist.com
• thegenuinefakes.com
• hongfaux.com
• nutmegmusic.net