Well, actually it was a guy called John (bass player) who used to be in a band with Per, Stefan, Johan and Lasse in the 90’s.
So it was first used for that band which was a cover band. Today’s incarnation of Salva was originally going to be called Panta Rei (which in Latin means "everything floats") but after discovering that there were at least two other bands who shared that name (one Swedish from the 70’s and one Hungarian) the band decided on Salva.
In Spanish Salva means "to save" and in Latin it means salvation or absolution or something to that effect. In Swedish Salva means lotion or crème....:-)
Which bands or musicians influenced Salva's music?
The band is influenced by anything that is good (which is very subjective of course). At times it could be the usual prog suspects like Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull or Pink Floyd, other times it might be classical music from Mozart, Wagner or Grieg or jazz greats like Miles Davis or Coltrane.
Sometime’s it might even be a good pop song on the radio (yes, they do exist, just not very often ;-)).
The important thing for Salva is not to limit themselves to one type of music only but to constantly evolve to areas which seem interesting.
With that said, it is not Salva’s main mission to re-invent the wheel or to be the kind of progressive band (in the truest sense of the word) that strives to make music in a way that no one’s ever heard before just for the sake of it.
"We want to make music we like and would listen to ourselves and also that offers a bit more adventure than contemporary mainstream pop or rock music. We also want to keep trying things that are, not necessarily new to the world, but new to us at least."
For personal influences or favorite bands please check the member-profiles.
Are the Salva-members professional musicians or do they have day-time jobs?
None of the members of Salva are full time musicians. Per, Stefan and Johan (the original trio) are "semi-professional" in the way that they are playing the cover band-circuit throughout southern Sweden during weekends under the Stämdand-moniker (Usually at parties, pubs and clubs).
All five of them also have a side-project called "Ösregn" which gets together now and then to perform cover songs at bigger events, often employed by Stora Teatern (The Grand Theater), also known as "Storan", in Gothenburg.
As for their day-time jobs:
Per works at the office of a shipping company.
Stefan manages his own retail store dealing in telecom equipment.
Johan works as an executive assistant for a company that manages the lottery part of one of Swedish television’s biggest game shows.
Lasse is a sales rep for a clothing company.
Fredrik is sort of a "spider in the web" booking-man for an entertainment company.
Since Lasse and Fredrik have been around and been friends of the "original trio" for a long time, why were they not involved in Salva from the start?
Well, that's a good question. Salva started out as kind of a "solo-project" of Per's and Stefan and Johan were mainly called in to lay down tracks that Per himself felt inadequate to do.
It was, however, Per's initial intention for Salva to be a full band and the reason it hasn't come together until now is mainly due to the pressured time schedule's of day-time jobs, girlfriends, wives, children and what have you...
Are all the the members of Salva "hooked"? (Ah, one for the
ladies, eh? ;-))
Caught at the right moment, the members of Salva are all available of course. ;-)
Seriously though,
Per is single since a little while back.
Stefan is in a long term relationship, has 1 son and 1 daughter.
Johan is in a long term relationship and has a son.
Lasse is married since two years and has a daughter.
Fredrik is single and liking it.
Do the members of Salva have any side-projects?
Well, apart from the already mentioned cover live bands "Stämband" and "Ösregn", Johan is keeping himself busy from time to time in his home studio as well as Stefan in his. These ventures have not resulted in any records yet but it’s probably just a matter of time.
Per has been writing and recording folk/singer-songwriter music in Swedish under his own name since 1999. This has resulted in three albums, "Regnsjäl" 2000, "Självklar" 2001 and "Alltså finns jag" 2005.
Lasse and Fredrik have no additional side projects so far.
Will Salva ever tour?
"Can we consult the crystal ball on that one?"
The band would really love to tour any place and every place that would welcome them but so far it has not been possible due to time schedules, family endeavors and guerilla warfare. Only time will tell as Asia once stated.
Is it true there is some grand concept behind the albums?
Yes, it is all extremely pretentious and pompous. ;-)
Hehehe, well the plan is for the first four albums (there will be at least two more then…) to each represent one of the four elements ("A handful…." being earth, "Left to burn" being fire to be followed by water and air).
The plan is also to touch upon one specific subject on each album, one feeling or part of the human psyche. "A handful of earth" dealt with fear and cowardice and "Left to burn" deals with anger and rage.
Other than that, the only plan is to make good music. ;-)
Why did Salva include a lyric in Swedish on "Left to burn" and what does it mean?
Well, the song was originally written by Per as a folk song in Swedish. Since it was a good song and could easily be re-suited for the Salva-sound it was decided to be used in Salva as well (hence the "ver. 2"). Per’s original intention was to re-write the lyrics in English but after thinking about it he realized it was not necessary. One of the great things with this kind of music is that there are no particular rules so, why not a song in Swedish?
If Änglagård could make a whole album in Swedish and still get international recognition and all the Italian bands of the 70’s could write in their native tongue then why not Salva.
"Ord" is the Swedish word for "word/words". The title of the song in it’s original folk version is "Ord till mig själv" which means "Words for myself", the lyric being sort of a "note to oneself" not to let petty things get blown out of proportion and value the things in life that really matter. So what if you miss the bus, lose out on that big promotion or hit your toe on a threshold? There are far worse things you know.
Another thing, the title for the instrumental song on "Left to burn", "Aska" is also a Swedish word which means "Ashes".
Since it's not specified in the booklet's of the albums and since Per is credited as both a guitarist and keyboard player, who plays the solo's (Guitar and keyboards) on the albums?
Per rarely play any guitar solo’s since Stefan is (in Per’s own words) much better at it. There might be melodic passages of lead guitar played by Per (for instance, Per plays the 7/8-melody solo in the opening track "Never again" on "A handful of earth") but for the more "virtuoso"-stuff, it’s always Stefan. Per does handle most of the rhythm and acoustic guitars in the studio though.
As for the synth-solo’s, Per never plays any. He's usually involved in composing them but Johan is the one scratching the ebony’s and ivory’s on solo's.
Per do play a lot of "rhythm" and layered keyboards though (String-patches, mellotrons, effect-sounds, organ etc.).
