PICTURES AND STORIES
And there we stood silently watching the lanterns floating away over the quiet landscape forming new constellations of stars. Following them with our eyes was just so incredibly beautiful. And then wondering whether somebody who was out walking his dog or just looking out of the window, noticing the tiny dots of light high up in the sky. “Jeez, come and have a look, Anders! There is an entire armada of UFOs in the sky tonight!! Get the camera, let us take some photos and call the paper!!” I wonder if there was anything in the local rag the following day...?
	This was an unforgettable moment. I had purchased 60 Japanese lanterns to celebrate my – yes, you got it right – 60th birthday. And when darkness fell, we followed the torch-lined path down to a huge circle of light beside lake Snäcksjön. The night was dark, the air clear and cool. Then we lit the lanterns, one after the other, loaded them with our own personal and very private intention, either something we wanted to let go of or else something we wanted to invite into our lives. Then we just waited for the heat of the flames to fill the rice paper balloons and make the lanterns lift and float away.
Life is simple. You only need to choose which way you want to go. You never have to wonder which path is the right one, you never need to wonder what is the best choice just now, for there is help to be found absolutely everywhere. And not only that, all our fellow human beings are so very benevolent, they all provide you with good advice and show you the way. They can even tell you that just that detour or that path or, above all, that road is compleeeeetely wrong. And it will not get you where you want to go. What luck that it is so very simple, for who would otherwise know how things might end. Hahahaha J !
	It was the second day of the Oneness Festival 2004 and I was supposed to sing free for a while and after that the engineer, on a given sign from me, would start the singback to Omine. He wasn't sure about how that sign would look and I moved my arms and hands quite a lot. So he thought.. now it's time! and started the singback. I waved a 'no, not yet'. And then there were another sign (he thought) and started the singback again. And I waved no, not yet!! This happened 3-4 times. When the time came and I gave the sign for the singback, he wasn't ready anymore.. and I had to finally shout to him 'Can you please start the singback?!' Afterwards this was a fun story to tell, but to sing free in front of others was challenging for me at that time and I had difficulties in keeping my focus.
Look what a beautiful HOYA-box Sune Selander created, in wood and clay. Oh how I yearned for having this as a box/cover for HOYA, but it was too expensive, so I had to give it up. Sune made 2 samples of this box and one of them were sent to the Prince Takamoto in Japan. He was the 7th prince in the family and I had the opportunity to meet with him when I accompanied my mother, invited to show her Netsuke-collection on an exhibition at a museum in Japan. The Prince was there for the same reason. So we met several times, having lunches and dinners together, eating endless dishes, with ingredients I had no interest in knowing more about.. no details please! There were no way of leaving or disliking the food, avoiding any dish. That would have been unspeakably rude. Shortly after I sent the HOYA-box to the prince, he died. So I will never know how he liked the music..
	Certain Pictures show your true self. Here is a study, or perhaps I should say a study of style... as to why I am considered an icon of style, always true to style when I express myself... * dressed correctly, for a wonderful ride on Bärby in the cutting wind (pantalets). * tarlatan skirt (warms the thighs in the cold wind) * polka-dotted bodice – the things you do to make and be happy * stylish cover for the helmet (also happiness-spreading, particularly to all other riders) Please note the large hanging red bow. Completely right just now! * Thin white underwear with turtle neck under the bodice (always correct) and especially enticing with the bra (naturally also white) which is, barely, but visible through the underwear * Thin white riding tights under the pantalets (as I mentioned before, white is ALWAYS correct and they provide excellent contact with the horse when you are riding) * White riding shoes, of course. Matching is the be-all and end-all of everything, always. * And – the finishing touch – a camera at the ready, always good to have. You are not correctly dressed without a camera in your hand which can immortalize the unexpected sources of joy in life and create new memories to keep.
The song Echo is part of the ongoing exhibition 'Dig It' at the museum UNIVERSEUM. The music is divided in 16 parts, spread out on The Wall. To be able to hear them, vocals on one, choir on another, guitar here and keyboard there, percussion, bass and so on.. one presses different red buttons to hear each part.
	You have to use both hands and feet and it's good to be a couple of persons.. sometimes kind of strange combinations. This exhibition will run for 3 years. Very interesting, inspiring and exciting. Dig It!
Malou as a stamp. Notice the valour: 11 songs. It had to be 'songs', or what do you say..? ;-) This stamp was used for the release of OMINE. And the picture of me, nowadays called the veil-photo, has turned out to be really useful in so many ways.
	I live in a paradise. The place has everything one could wish for. Except for the long distance to Stockholm (being born there, my heart is still there.. and I like going there every so often) Surrounded by fileds, forests, horses and other animals, birds, having two lakes on the farm: Snäcksjön (see of shells) and Lillsjön (the little lake). Here I am down by Snäcksjön. It is so wonderful to bathe and swim in Snäcksjön during the summertime. And the water is crystal clear. This picture was taken for an interview, to illustrate peace and quiet. And I was surprised to find this picture all over the front page at UNT.
NQB - or New Quidesty Blaise. I played the bass. When I was enrolled in the band, I had never ever even hold a bass. And definitely not played one. I was a rhythm guitarist at that time, with a good timing and swing. But it is quite different from playing one note at a time, riffs and baselines, my god! A whole new world opened in front of my eyes! I had one month to learn the basic of bass-playing and had lessons 3 times a week and rehearsed as a maniac. Very ambitious. And after that we were drilled in rock'n roll choreography by a Swedish rockstar, Lille Gerhard. Very acrobatic movements. My pants broke in a sensitive position.. when I would had preferred them to stay whole. But the audience loved it though. I was the biggest in the group and usually they put me behind the others, but not on this picture. It was a year of many changes and experiences. And challenging for me. After that I began my studies at The Dalcroze-seminar, but that is a completely different story.
	When Greta’s and I parted ways after 11 years, I continued singing on my own. Here I am with my guitar at a music café in the Old City of Stockholm. I sang the songs I had written together with the director and lyricist Bengt Carlsson. I wanted a change after the hectic years with Greta and the expressive and wild underground cabaret we had been involved in. I needed a time of reflection and songs with a deeper thought. Don’t I look very kind and innocent here? Well, the image is deceptive, I can assure you. Joke aside; I was kind and mild at times...
Greta & Malou, the popgroup Nature and the singer Kisa Magnusson on a summer tour in 1978. And here it is – the typical group picture. It was the year after our participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. I don’t remember much from this tour, but I don’t think it was that much fun. You can’t always have the best of worlds, and stand on top artistically. But you will always learn something from your experiences, for instance that next time you will do something that you find fun and inspiring.
	This is quite something. A PAPER DOLL! My record company sent me a paper doll that came from the Allers magazine. “Dear Malou, when you have become a paper doll, then you are really famous!” And I was really happy and proud. They had given me such nice clothes, like for a bohemian that was hip. It was far from what I would put on my own body though. The artist’s drawing was very well done, however, and he probably tried to capture my style. They had tried to make me look thin, but didn’t do such a good job. The double chin was still there, so I thought I looked kind of strange. How can a thin person have such an ENORMOUS double chin? I just wonder...
During my gospel years I closed my eyes and sang, while my hands gestured and seemed to live their own life. To just stand still and sing has never been possible for me. 'Stand still', my singing teacher said when I was swaying and waving my arms. And I really TRIED, I honestly did, but I wasn't very successful. I think my teacher finally gave up in trying making me an opera singer.
	A Gospel concert somewhere in Sweden with the church choir. My memory fails me sometimes. But there was a choir, that's for sure. Working with a choir came natural for me. I kind of slipped into that on a banana peel. At the first concert with the choir I thought I just had to be there and start singing, that everything was ready, that the choir knew their stuff and now we could start the concert. However, it was obvious that the choir leader thought that I should be taking charge. 'She can make it swing.' Yea, right... I should just tell these singers to throw away their note sheets! That was a rude awakening to the real world. After that I realized that the big job was the rehearsals before the concert. I had studied at Adolf Fredrik's music school and sung in a choir many years, but it is one thing to sing in a choir and quite another to lead one. During my gospel years I learned a lot about how to work with a choir.
My mother gave me some photographs for my birthday, among others this one which was taken on June 27, 1953, that is to say I was about two and a half years old. My mother had recently returned from her studies in Switzerland and we have just bought two pairs of fine new shoes for me. I am wearing the red ones and we are on our way the Brostugan café in Stockholm. At that time it was apparently the right thing to wear short dresses with aprons and small hats even at that age. A rather cute picture, I think. Of course I was photographed in the car. My mother was crazy about engines and was first studying to become an engineer before she changed her mind to study economy and commerce. She was already then preparing for a uniquely successful career within the line of office commodities. (However, we were not aware of that at the time).
	Lindén on stage. In 1981, together with other script writers, I was engaged to create cabaret turns for a TV-series with Agneta Lindén. This was extremely inspiring and lots of fun. I myself participated in one of the programmes. If you had seen me from behind, you might have noticed that I was wearing lovely underwear with lots of lace and frills, but the dress was open at the back. There was a twist to the turn which I had written myself, Bare Bottom.
Here is 'Mrs. Holmér' in the Kråsnålen. Doesn’t she look mild and friendly? I have always wanted to look soft and patient like that, instead of being the more strong and emotional person that I am. My temperament is like a rollercoaster ride, I laugh out loud, and I get angry and cry with the same passion and devotion. Mrs. Holmér had her hair arranged in a very beautiful knot, she was so cute. Why the director cast me for this part is still a mystery to me. But it was fun to play that woman. When I sat there in a nice looking armchair and felt a bit uncertain about how I should portray her, I asked an experienced actor that was in the scene for advice. He said: “Just sit there in the chair”. In other words, be present, don’t try to do anything, just BE. Don’t try and say your lines in any particular way just sit there and say them like you would normally talk. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
	Another film role, small but very good, was in the TV-series “Prästkappan” (The Priest’s Robe). I played 'Vita Björn' (White Bear) and was a prostitute at a bordello. My job was to walk sensually up a wooden staircase and try and persuade a man to follow me to my room. To walk sensually while ascending that staircase turned out not to be my strongest side. I had to walk up those damned stairs many times before the director was pleased. And look at my breasts! They spilled over the little hem that was supposed to protect them and had to be tucked back in constantly. It was a strange outfit too, but I was supposed to be dressed that “naked”. It was probably part of my job at the whorehouse.
How about this outfit? Am I not beautiful and magnificent? Okay, perhaps not that beautiful, but I do have “different” clothing on. Here I am in a TV-series called 'Kråsnålen' (“The Tiepin”). In the play I portray a Mrs. Holmér. Here she is at an amateur play, within the play, playing the role of queen Filippa. I say memorable lines in a believable amateurish and awkward way, which was not difficult for me at all, and I am moving in a stiff an unnatural way, so that nobody will think that it is for real..
	This is a historic picture. It was taken in connection with SKAP’s 75-year jubilee. (SKAP is an association, the letters stand for Swedish Composers of Popular Music). If you look at all of those faces you will see most of the composers and lyricists that have helped form Swedish popular music during the past 40-45 years. I felt it was an honour for me to be included in that picture. I am the one with the purple hair. I stood out like a candy bar. I loved that hair colour, it put me in a good mood. Magenta is my favourite colour. But as with everything that’s not natural, you get tired of it eventually and want to get back to what you had to start with.
Pictures can really be deceiving and make us believe that reality is different than what it is. Look at this photo with the lovely, blooming rosebush behind me. You’d think that I am standing in a beautiful garden somewhere. If we would zoom out from the picture, you would see me standing at the rose bush’s edge. You would see a concrete back yard instead of a grassy lawn. It was a quite boring back yard, apart from the rose bushes. The picture came out nicely though, I think. The photographer, Ewa Rudling, lived there, that’s the reason for the setting.
	We had laughed ourselves through an interview at Ada’s café, had talked about the great days of old, about music and been altogether in high spirits. After that Christer was supposed to take a picture of me. We slipped into someone’s backyard and were sneaking around without asking anybody’s permission. The photo-eye was searching for a background... Look, what a nice door, we said. Stand in front of it and then I will take a picture... no, that is not going to be good... Open the door and look out... no, that is no good either. But look there. There are only some tiny nails in that small window, we remove them and then you can poke your head through the teeny weeny opening and then I will take a picture. No sooner said than done, I enter somebody else’s outhouse, Christer removes the nails, I shut the door and am standing inside someone else’s shed, I poke my head through the teeny weeny opening and Christer starts shooting. That is fine, he exclaims. Suddenly I notice a matronly woman approaching with very heavy tread towards the intruders, that is to say us! “AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!!” This was really worth thinking about, but that thought had to wait, because now the thing to do was to very fast get through the teeny weeny window one way or another, out of the shed and away from the yard as quickly as possible while Christer put the window back, most humbly begging the woman’s pardon. As luck would have it, this happened in Östhammar where everyone knows everybody else (more or less). In Stockholm she might not have come out but have called the police instead.
This is the way my aura looks when you take a picture of it with exactly this type of camera. I suppose that there are lots and lots of different cameras and the results turn out accordingly, that is to say very differently. But it was fun to do. I had to hold my hands on a special metal plate and stare into the camera, sitting completely still. And then the picture appeared and you even got an analysis into the bargain. We took the photo at the Jupiter Book Store in Stockholm when Anneli and I had a secret weekend with our daughters. One of our many pranks was to have our auras photographed. This weekend was a complete success and whetted our appetites.