PLP History

At the dawn of the new wave of Swedish progressive rock The Swedish Art Rock Society was founded in 1991 with Pär Lindh as chairman. This movement helped to launch the Swedish progressive rock wonder of the nineties with bands like Änglagård, Galleon, Anekdoten, The Flower Kings, and of course The Pär Lindh Project (PLP).

Gothic Impressions, PLP’s first album--in reality a solo album by Pär--was released in 1994 and exploded in the progressive rock market with surprisingly high sales as well as an avalanche of stellar reviews and awards from around the world. As gig offers started to come in, Pär was in a rush to get a live act together. After having met Lee Jackson at a gig where Pär had performed with Änglagård in Los Angeles in 1993, Lee and Brian Davison (both from the legendary sixties progressive rock act The Nice) came up with the idea to form a trio with Pär on keyboards called “The New Nice.” Unfortunately the lack of proper management stopped the launching of the trio. Pär then formed a band with local Swedish musicians instead.

Mundus Incompertus, PLP’s second album, was released in 1997 at the Rio de Janeiro Art Rock Festival with PLP as headlining act. During the years 1996 – 2000 PLP was the most successful Swedish progressive rock group with an intense period of touring in both North and South America as well as in Europe. Their third studio album Veni Vidi Vici, which included both symphonic orchestra as well as a choir, was released in 2001.
However, due to differences in musical taste and severe health problems of one of the members, PLP gradually dissolved as a band in the early years of the new millennium.

The Return of PLP

In 1999 William Kopecky approached Pär after a PLP concert at the House of Blues in Chicago, and by the NEARfest festival in June of 2000 Mr. Kopecky was playing bass for the band. William and Pär have continued to work together in PLP and in the band KOPECKY with whom Pär was invited to do a tour as guest artist in the USA and Mexico in 2002.
A Lindh/Kopecky duo album has also been recorded, and is due for release in 2008.
After an audition in the summer of 2006, talented drummer Svetlan Råket was invited to join the ranks of PLP. The band is now hard at work recording their fourth studio album for release in 2008.


PLP is Svetlan Pär & Bill in the tower
of Vårfrukyrkan in Enköping April 2007


History in greater detail:

Beginnings 1991 to 1994

In 1991 Pär Lindh and friends started The Swedish Art Rock Society at the dawn of the renaissance for Swedish progressive rock. At the first Festival arranged by the society with Pär as chairman in autumn 1991 Pär gave a speach as well as a performance all the three major progressive bands at the time from Sweden showed up Anekdoten, Änglagård and Landberk. Some of them came to perform others just to attend the event. This Art-rock festival became somewhat of a startingpoint for a new wave of exiting music emerging from this scandinavian country.

But before this event Pär had a long history in music where he´s had several careers, namely as, church organist, as a touring classical pianist, as a solo harpsichordist, as drummer, as Hammond organist, as jazz & ragtime entertainer etc. In 1977 he joined the first heavy-rock band, in his part of Sweden, called Antenna Baroque. Another of his endevaours were to form a symphonic rock trio in 1978 called Vincebus Eruptum who played several gigs in Sweden. In 1979 however it became painfully evident which way pop and rock was going so Pär decided to leave the rockscene and embark on a classical career giving recitals as pianist and harpsichordist.
In 1980 he moved to France where he stayed for almost eight years. First to study the harpsichord and the organ and then as a base for his concert tours mostly in Europe. He also toured with the Royal Swedish Chamber Orchestra for four years. Pär still views the harpsichord repertoire as some of the best music yet in musical history.

1989 he returned to Sweden determined to once again take up the banner of progressive rock." I listened back to some old recordings with ELP,YES,Genesis, King Crimson and other progressive bands from that era and just realised how very good this music was.". So Pär dusted off his old B3 Hammond organ which had been standing unused in the cellar of his parents house and started to look for a band. He found the group Manticore in a nearby town and played with them for a couple of years before moving on to build his own studio-complex for the recording of his musical compositions.
The first record to emerge from the Crimsonic Label is Pär Lindh´s innovative album "Gothic Impressions" which has influences from renaissence music, early baroque, Bach, postromanticism, aventgarde, impressionism and from the symphonic rock bands of the early seventies. The result is a unique new kind of music.
On this CD you will find some of Swedens finest artrock musicians which ensures a very high performing quality.


PLP The Band 1995 to 2000

The Band PLP was formed in the summer 1995 as a result of the cooperation between Jocke Ramsell, Magdalena Hagberg and Pär Lindh during the 1994 sessions to record Gothic Impressions. The band then kept on rehearsing and recording during autumn 1995.
At the end of 1995 the mini CD "Rondo" was released which was PLP´s first effort as a five member group including Nisse Bielfeld on drums and Marcus Jäderholm on bass. The song Rondo was recorded at Crimsonic Label Studios and was captured live in PLP´s second rehersal as a band!
In the meantime Magdalena had been doing a wonderful job in recording the vocals for the concept album BILBO.
In 1996 this CD was released inspired by J.R.R. Tolkiens first book "The Hobbit". Pär Lindh and Björn Johansson wrote and performed the music together.

PLP´s first ever live performance was at the Gothenburg Art-Rock Festival on the 4:th of May 1996. Conserts in Sweden and Norway then followed.
1997 PLP recieved awards from Argentina for their CDs Gothic Impressions which was voted as one of the ten best prog albums of all time and Bilbo was voted as record of the year.
Because of this PLP were invited to come and play two concerts in Argentina and several TV apperances plus other media hype.
After this offers to play concerts all over the world started coming in.
PLP headlined the 1997 Rio Art Rock Festival and played other dates in Brazil and Argentina again.
Late 1997 saw the release of Mundus Incompertus, featuring Lindh's superb keysmanship, Hagberg's
stunning vocals, and impressive contributions from the other band members. The concert
opener "Baroque Impression No. 1" and the epic 27-minute title suite are highlights from this CD.
Pär Lindh Project's first live concerts in the U.S. took place in September 1998, most notably a
headline performance at ProgDay '98 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. PLP again toured the U.S. the following
spring, including performances at Progfest '99 in San Francisco, the House of Blues in
Chicago, and a cathedral concert in St. Louis. Largely recorded at the ProgDay '98 festival, the two-CD set Live in America
was released in summer 1999. This pristinely recorded set captures the instrumental virtuosity
and the tremendous energy of a Pär Lindh Project concert, and is an excellent introduction to the band.
PLP was voted #1 band by the audience at this festival.

PLP 2000 to 2007

After the extended tour in the USA and Europe 1999 . They played NEARfest 2000 festival gig with Bill Kopecky on bass. PLP was voted by audience as a top band of this festival.

After the summer 2000 tour PLP continued as the trio Magdalena, Nisse and Pär to record PLP´s third album Veni Vidi Vici with Flower Kings bass player Jonas Reingold and guitarist John Hermansen. Veni Vidi Vici also included a string orchestra as well as a choir and several other guest musicians. Veni Vidi Vici was voted as ¨Best Progressive Rock Album of the Year¨ by Norways No.1 rock mag Monster Magazine 2001.

In the fall 2001 PLP played concerts in Europe and Iceland November 2001. These gigs were very successful and a live album was released from the Iceland concert called ¨Live in Iceland¨ spring 2002. PLP then toured USA and Mexico once again.

In August 2002 terrible news hit the band of Magdalena Hagbergs severe illness in cancer.
The band was in a state of shock.

2003 however saw an (shortlived) instrumental trio version of PLP going back to Mexico for a couple of wellrecieved gigs including coheadlining with legendary band FOCUS at the BAJA International Festival !

During summer 2004 plans for a new start for PLP with recordings and future concert tours became a reality as Magdalena was starting to recover. February that year also saw the release of Björn Johanssons and Pär Lindhs second duo album the wellrecieved ¨Dreamsongs from Middle Earth¨. In august PLP rehearsals were commenced in Uppsala to continue on regular basis. Also during the spring 2005 Pär had been auditioning for a new drummer as Nisse Bielfeld could no longer find the time for PLP.

November 2004 saw the re-release of Gothic Impressions with new vocals from Los Angeles based singer DIVAD on two tracks as well as added keyboards, improved drums on one song and a lot of new extraordinary choirparts throughout the album.

In September 2005 Magdalena returned to sing for PLP one concert in Uppsala which sadly was to be her last performance with the band.
On bass & guitar played her husband Fredrik Berg.

Pär and PLP continued to wait and hope for her recovery but it was not to be.