It’s been two months since the Emergenza 2003 International Final rocked Rothenburg, Germany, so the smoke has cleared out, and the initial excitement worn off. Time to make a call to Henrik Johnson, guitarist and singer from this year’s champion - NERVOUS NELLIE from Stockholm, to find out about their experience with Emergenza and where they’re going from here. It all started when their drummer, Ismail, came into the rehearsal room with the enrolment form - “We sat there discussing it, if we wanted to participate in a band contest. Actually, I think it’s pretty hard to compare different styles of music in a contest situation. But we were just burning up to get the chance to play live. So, one gig at least was guaranteed anyway. Also we thought it would be very cool to be on stage at the next level for the venues in Stockholm. And then, there was always the incredible possibility of winning a tour in the US…..” He still remembers the concert in the first round as one of the most fun, because they had no expectations and were thrilled just to have reached the next round at prestigious Kägelbana. From that point, the whole thing took off with it’s own dynamics, due to lots of people in the audience, professional conditions, and climbing step by step. And so they played their hearts out, even when in the Stockholm final strings broke on both guitars and a strap on one, which left Henrik finishing the last song lying on the floor. Their efforts paid off, as the audience and jury honoured them with second place, coming in behind DECHAS the winning band in Sweden, a country with most probably the highest quality of young bands in all of Europe. Just after that, Henrik and his brother (the second guitarist) Magnus spent a few weeks in the USA. They had just returned, when they got a call from the Emergenza Headoffice, asking if they could represent Sweden at the international final, because DECHAS had had a tragic accident on their Baltic tour and wouldn’t be able to make it to the Taubertal Open Air. “I agreed even before asking the other band members, even if we had only three days to get everything together and travel to Germany, I knew it was the chance of a lifetime.” Speaking about the time spent at the Taubertal Open Air, he’s still excited, “It was almost like summer camp when I was a kid. You have fun all day and hang out with musicians from other countries. And the best thing - we were able to play to a big festival audience.” - And win!! As a result of that, they’ll be on the bill for next year’s Warped!-Tour on the East Coast. But their success at the Emergenza Festival 2003 is starting to pay off in Sweden too, “We found that people, especially those in the music scene, react really differently, once you’ve played with a big festival abroad, and are now playing in well-known clubs in Germany, and soon to be touring in the States. This is definitely a different kind of attention than we got before participating in Emergenza.” Something has changed within the band too. The experience and success has really glued them together, both musically and personally, according to Henrik. In fact, they’re now starting their own record label, HONKY JONKS RECORDINGS, with their first EP to be released in January. This is where it all starts for them. We’ll keep you updated on the future successes of this hot band and tell you all about their tour in the States next year, on the Vans Warped Tour.