SELF DECEPTION (SE)
BIOGRAPHY
THE
BEGINING
Singer
Andreas Clark sent a message to the wrong person in 2004. The person who
received the message was drummer Erik Eklund, and it turned out that they both loved
the same type of music and both were currently looking for new band members. In
early 2005, Andreas and Erik started the project that they decided to call Self
Deception. The name came from discussing that they both previously played music
in various projects that did not truly
represent them, and the words Self Deception came up. Through
common friends, Erik found guitarist Gabriel Rauhofer and bassist Nicklas
Wester. The band recorded their first demo and began to spread their music through various
online music forums.
FIRST LABEL
Self
Deception signed their first record deal in
2007 with the label Rooster and recorded the
album "Restitution". The first single from the album was
"Relationship Redrum," and the video
was recorded at the old abandoned Beckomberga mental hospital in Stockholm.
After extensive touring and writing of much new material, bassist Nicklas Wester left the
band because of personal issues. After searching for
a musician that could grow with the band, bassist Patrik Hallgren chosen to become a new member of Self Deception.
Self
Deception signed a new contract with Ayam Music Group and started working with
manager Linnea Sundquvist. The band was now ready to record new music and
decided to work with the Swedish pop producer Joy Deb, who is now more known as
songwriter for the Eurovision Song Contest winner, "Måns Zelmerlöw -
Heroes".
OVER THE
THRESHOLD
Summer
2011, the band recorded their second album entitled "Over the
Threshold" at the famous Studio 301 in Stockholm. The album included
"Can't Have it All," a duet with Linnea Deb, who is also a well-known
songwriter from the Eurovision Song Contest. The single "Over the
Treshold" became the radio debut for the band. The album also included one
of the band's most played songs, "The Shift." Self Deception toured
around Scandinavia and played with bands like Takida, Young Guns and Lower than
Atlantis.
THESE WALLS
In 2012,
Gabriel Rauhofer announced that he wanted to leave the band and guitarist Ronny
Westphal became a new permanent bandmember of Self Deception.
In 2013,
Self Deception went separate ways with the Ayam Music Group and decided to lock
themselves into the studio to work on new material. They started working with
Erik Eklund's brother, J-Pop producer Nicklas Eklund, who became a major part
of the band’s writing process. Self Deception would also work with producer
Dino Medanhodzic (Smash in Pieces, Normandie, Hardcore Superstars, Adept, Guy
the King). The EP "These Walls" was recorded in early 2014 at Studio
Radionika with Dino Medanhodzic producing.
Shortly
after "These Walls" was recorded, Self Deception signed a contract
with the record label Ninetone. "Killed Our Love" was released as the
first single from “These Walls” and reached
many milestones, including first place on iTunes "Rock Top List," and
entered the Swedish Digilist (P3).
In January
2015, the band made a cover of Alesso & Tove Lo's song “Heroes,” and the
song saw great success through various streaming services.
SELF
DECEPTION ALBUM
In 2016, Self
Deception recorded their third full-length album together with the Swedish
producer Patrik Frisk (Takida, Coroded, Plan Three, Yohio). The first single
was called "Runaway Train" and released on September 30, 2016.
Several of the follow-up singles from the album were added to popular playlists
around the world.
In 2018,
the band decided that it would end their collaboration with their current
record label and agreed to move forward on
their own. After writing and recording new material with Nicklas Eklund in the
fall, the band decided to "crowdfund" their upcoming album. It only
took 4 days for the entire album to be funded,
showing that their popularity is still extremely high and growing.
ENDORSE THE
ART
Choosing to
go toward a harder sound in their music, new songs were recorded as the band
returned to collaborate with producer Dino Medanhodzic. Self Deception will
release a number of singles in the spring of 2019 which will then followed-up by an EP
entitled "Endorse the Art". The EP’s name comes from the fact that it
was funded by fans.
VIRUS
In March of 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic
stunned the world, Self Deception released SHAPES. A full length album that is
an extension of Endorse The Art. The album title came from the work names of
the tracks, named after different shapes. Probably influenced of the guitarist
Ronny’s studies at the Royal Institute of Technology – KTH.
After the release the band locked themselves in the studio focusing on writing due to all live shows being cancelled. As a result of this RESHAPED saw the light of day. A remix album of SHAPES, including an alternative version of Smoke You Out featuring Kee Marcello (Europe) and Gabriel Keyes (Crashdiet) that was highly appreciated showing that the mix of modern rock and 80’s glam was a great fit! Self Deception has always strived to try new things and always evolving in their music. In early 2021 they released their first song in their native languish Swedish, covering Victor Leksell’ Svag. The song hit right in the hearts of the Scandinavian fans and was played on Swedish radio P4 among other places.
Bookings: sebastian@screamandshout.se
Other useful links:
Webpage Selfdeception.se