Freddie Wadling

Some days are different and faster than others. In late 2003 producer Johan Lindström dropped by the
Roth Händle studio while it was still located at Finnboda varv and was introduced to a whole new set
of sounds. Listening and playing the Optigan, Orchestron and Chamberlin Rhythmate. Johan had heard
about the studio from mutual friends and was intrigued. We talked about doing some kind of trade off
but nothing really came off it.

Fast forward to January 2005. Johan calls me up and says that the he is currently working on the new
Freddie Wadling album and he hears a perfect spot for the Optigan and Orchestron. The only problem
was the timing. I moved the studio the previous weekend and everything was in boxes, cases and crates.
Including the Optigan and Orchestron. Nothing was hooked up and I was still in between meetings with
land lords, acoustical engineers and constructors. So I made a rare exception and decided to take the
studio on the road. So Johan came by the new location and we loaded in the Orchestron and the Optigan
discs and headed for his studio at Hammarby. As you might understand I am not too fond of moving my
precious instruments around.

But when I heard the track it made perfect sense… The song was written by Jocke Berg ( from Kent )
and was based around a simple folkish picking figure and chord sequence with a great melody on top.
So I loaded up the Orchestron with the Optigan disc Classic guitar in 4/4 and within an hour the song
was recorded. The Optigan added a new dimension, putting the song and lyrics in a new place.

As I have written earlier on the subject of the Optigan…The Optigan is very seldom a problem to record
or to make it sound great. The problem is always to add stuff. The voices need to fit in with main character
without straying too much. AK von Malmborg has defintely got the persona to pull it off and something tells
me that The Freddie Wadling Optigan combination can be nothing less han magical.

The Optigan wasn’t the only thing recorded. We also recorded the Orchestron Hammond B3 on the same
track but Johan also recorded some very tasteful B3 on another track giving it a very Tom Waits-like
atmosphere and style.

Johan Lindström playing optigan disks in orchestron