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biography / portrait

"Sometimes", says Ana, "I wish my brain had an 'off' switch". Apparently there are too many ideas whizzing round in there, far too many plans. "Otherwise, I think I'll go mad!" Surely not: "Cuz I Can", Ana Johnssons debut album as a solo artist, shows just what the young Swede can do thanks to her wealth of ideas. Limitless creativity and primeval rock power which will fire up your brain cells. And with this album loaded, things are the same for the CD players as for the human brain: you can't find the off switch any more. Ana Johnsson has always been a live wire: she did a part-time job in a record store and while in the USA as an exchange student she became a semi-professional snowboard artist on the breakneck pistes of the Rocky Mountains. Back home in Sweden, she worked as a part-time croupier in a casino and had dreams of starting a graphic design study course. But being born in 1977 has its obligations - to shake up the music scene in do-it-yourself fashion. Young, female, blonde - the lovely lass from the country could easily have been moulded into a respectable conveyor-belt pop singer. But Ana never had such ambitions - she had a mind of her own. "Light R&B," says Ana shaking her blond head, "is not my scene!" She likes honest, hand-made music. "No computer in the world can really compete with proper instruments," Ana decided, and recorded "The Way I Am": driving guitars, catchy pop hook lines and self-confidence that has its own agenda. Success was not long in coming: Ana was signed, the song released as a single. Last autumn "The Way I Am" developed into a radio hit in Sweden (and in the meantime in Germany too) - bringing Ana a nomination at the NRJ Awards 2004 in Stockholm. On her longplay disc "Cuz I Can" Ana performs sometimes as a seductive vamp, sometimes in a mature and worldly-wise way. At other times she will sing as if experiencing the power of the music for the very first time. She wrote most of the songs together with songwriters Marcus Bleak and Leif Larsson. The Ghost producer team (comprising Johan Ekhé and Robyn Fame) seemed to her to fit the bill perfectly to realize her vision of energy-laden, top-flight rock-pop. "Anything Goes" is the motto. On the album track of the same name, Ana proves on the acoustic guitar that she is fully familiar with the roots of American songwriting: a Dylan harp, country harmonies and her lungs full of desert wind. With the aroma of camp fires and marshmallows still in your nose, it's off to the big city: "All The Roads Lead To L.A." is the name of the anthem to the Californian metropolis. The guitars wail from afar like prairie wolves, while Ana Johnsson enjoys herself with sun-drenched psychedelic style, till your senses spin and the dimensions start to blur, mixing up the here and now. But not for long - suddenly, your vision becomes quite clear again: "Cuz I Can", an untamed bastard made of rock, crossover and R&B, is a clear rejection of old-fashioned gender roles and a statement of sound female self-confidence. "The lyrics are incredibly important to me," Ana explains. "Some of them tell of the experiences I have already had in the mad world of pop biz, some are pure fiction." Over and over again, the song texts reflect the superficial lifestyle era of today: "The assertion that looks are so important - some girls really believe that they need to look like Barbie dolls with a naked midriff. That's just crazy ...!" Now Ana Jonsson’s new single receives the kind of honour that could indicate a crucial boost to her international career. ”We Are” will be the first single to be lifted from the soundtrack to the forthcoming blockbuster ”Spider Man 2” which basically kick starts the whole campaign for the film (that opens in Germany on the 8th of July). While the line-up for the first OST (released in 2002) included well-known international rock acts like Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, Aerosmith, Sum 41 and The Strokes, this time it’s Ana Johnsson’s turn to present her pretty face to the cameras in between the spectacular CGI sequences. The video clip for ”We Are” will include breathtaking footage from the ”Spider Man”-Sequel. Ana has no truck with imposed images and hackneyed, brain-dead glamour. For her, it's the substance that is important; you realize that really clearly when you listen to her 14 songs. At the end of the album Ana poses the rhetorical question: "What's Wrong With Me?" Nothing - Ana - nothing at all. And please forget the idea of the off switch right away ... (source: www.anajohnson.de)