In 1986, Ulf, Tommy and Martin were working in the same section at Ericsson Telecom but they had never played music together.  When that section was sold off to become FFV Test Systems, Ulf and Martin teamed up to produce a rock video for the kick-off.  At the new company they were allowed to use a room for rehearsals so they started jamming with Ulf on piano, Martin on guitar, Tommy on drums, and Ralf Jansson on bass.  They called themselves Margin Bells and the next year they played at "Kick-off 88" (1988-04-22) when the company expanded.  They changed name to Escape Characters but in the years that followed practices became more irregular - usually becoming a last-minute panic prior to playing the office Christmas party each year.  To fit the nature of the band Martin had worked out mainly simple pop songs from the 50s and 60s which were easy to remember, and suitable for dancing to.  This gave them a distinct profile but it also led to a rift: Ralf and Ulf wanted to branch out and play music from the 70s; Martin and Tommy wanted to refine and improve the 50s and 60s repertoire.

In 1991, Gordon Beith - a colleague of Martin's from Australia - came to Sweden on contract and organised gigs at Ericsson with him playing bass instead of Ralf; this line-up was called Gordon and the Crossbars.  When Ulf and Martin left FFV Test Systems at the end of 1992 there was no longer the convenience of working and practising together so the Escape Characters called it a day.  Ralf, Ulf, and Gordon all lived south of Stockholm so they got together with the Francis Brothers (Mark & Vernon) to indulge themselves in some 70s music, and played a few gigs under various names.

Tommy and Martin had not lost sight of playing 60s music together, and Ulf was still interested.  Gordon continued getting gigs for the Crossbars so in this way they kept musical contact. One such gig on the17th of June, 1994, proved auspicious: to expand the repertoire Gordon played guitar and Ulf brought in a colleague from work (Mikael Reimersson) to play bass.   Mikael fitted in well (Gordon was on his way back to Australia) so Martin, Ulf, Tommy and Mikael practised for a rock contest on the boat "Patricia" on 11th November, 1994 under the name Consultants of Swing.  They didn't win the contest, but they had found the elusive line-up.

The band doubled its repertoire and played seven gigs during 1995 but, unfortunately, several times there was one band member missing and Kenneth Larsson (keyboards) or Mats Hansson (drums) substituted.  This was not only bad though; Martin had long wanted to play "Great Balls of Fire!" but Ulf had pianist envy.  It was played first on 11th February when Kenneth substituted and quickly became a favourite.  At this time, Ulf was asked to think of a good name for the band.  Mikael stressed that it shouldn't have rude connotations like all previous suggestions.  It didn't take Ulf long to hatch the new, and final name.

It wasn't until the 19th August, 1995 that the band played their first gig together under the new name, but that was only for ½ hour at a wedding at Hågelby Gård.  The first complete gig was even later: on the 16th November, at the Ericsson Guest Centre.  It took all of 1995 for Ulf, Martin, Tommy and Mikael to mould their aspirations into a team.  By 1996 they were a band. 

Ulf was born in Kramfors in 1958.  He is the only "ball" who never played in a band in his youth.  He started with a few lessons on guitar and piano at school but reading notes and playing scales and nursery rhymes quickly lost its appeal.  That could have been the end of his musical career if it were not for a visit from cousin Håkan with his electric guitar - an event which turned Ulf's life upside down. This was also an exciting time for his parents who heard him play "Paranoid" for six months on a slightly-distorted, and out-of-tune Hagstöm guitar.  He continued to teach himself guitar and plink on the family piano, playing along with Genesis and The Band on the tape recorder.

By a mean twist of fate, Ulf grew up in Skog - a small country town in Northland - and the nearest musician was miles away. It seemed he was destined to become a bathroom musician.  He started to write songs instead, and dreamed of becoming Mikael Gammelåker, Sweden's answer to Mike Oldfield.

In 1979, he had become too big for his bathroom and moved to Stockholm to work at L M Ericsson.  He bought a porta-studio in 1992 and started recording which led to producing a rock video in 1986 as a tribute to the outstanding secretary when she left.  Martin had just arrived in Sweden so when the section they worked in was sold to another company they teamed up to produce another video for that occasion.  This was the beginning of a partnership.

Most vivid childhood memory: "Get off the cat's tail!!" - Gunnar Bergqvist (proud father) 

Martin was born in Manchester in 1957 and grew up in Melbourne, Australia.  He was already killing them when he started; after his first practice the neighbour died (true).  His parents were diplomatic about his musical interest and encouraged him to play where they couldn't hear him. He played in various garage bands with his mate Richard Musumeci - the most serious attempt being the new-wave group The Cogs in the late seventies.  They played the pubs in Melbourne for three years with Martin on rhythm guitar, backing vocals, and writing songs with Paul Pickering.  In those early bands, singing and harmonies had always been an important ingredient.  From the early experimental days of punk, Martin's songs developed their own melodic, ballad style which drifted away from The Cogs.  The group splat amicably in 1982 when Martin left to form another group, but first recorded "Ceri Ceri".

Those plans were interrupted by constant moves between Australia and Sweden with his work for Ericsson.  He emigrated to Sweden in 1986 and in 1988 started jamming at work with colleagues and playing the annual office parties.   At this stage it was more important to play recognized dance songs so Martin's songwriting was shelved.  He could instead concentrate on the new challenge of singing lead and improving on guitar.  Amongst the members of that band were Ulf and Tommy  who (seven years later) would become two other founding members of Eight Balls of Fire!.

Martin is the only "ball" with zero training in music; he prefers to call himself a songwriter than a musician. Favourite quote: "Would you like a beer, Martin?" - Elvis Costello 

Tommy was born in the metropolis of Vallentuna in 1949.  He started his musical career at the ripe old age of nine, taking drum lessons at school under the strict guidance of a former military musician.  He was a member of the school orchestra which played marches, slow march and fox-trot. This must have been too restrictive for Tommy who was sometimes told by the band leader to stop making the music swing.

He has a long and varied track record in bands.  As a teenager he played in a garage band (Shadows, Violents etc.) as well as Snickarbackens Jazzverkstad and also for a short while with the Ericsson Big Band.  Keeping up the long tradition of drummers, Tommy had to be told by the band leader at one rehearsal to watch him - and not that girl sitting in the audience.

At the age of 18 he was playing with the famous Swedish accordionist, Gösta Westerlund, as well as a big band and a jazz group headed by Ulf Adåker.  Two years later he was playing in a jam-session duo (Hansson & Karlsson style) with organ and drums.  He joined a seven-piece function band called Christett which played music by Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

By 1972, that girl in the audience became too much of a distraction; they were engaged and he stopped playing drums.  Nearly twenty years later he met friends at work who wanted to play music. 

Mikael was born in Sala in 1950 and grew up there on a farm (he swears that the sheep were only good friends).  He started playing guitar at school when he was nine.  Each week the teacher brought hits like "Kära Mor", "Alpens Ros" and "Gamla Pottan" for Mikael and his friends to sing and play.  Eventually he was introduced to songs by the Beatles and Rolling Stones and realized that those lovely tunes used the same chords ...

At the age of 20 he started playing the flute, and built an electric bass as a hobby whilst studying hard for his engineering degree.  Two years later he joined his first rock band - Krökta rummet (the bent room) - which consisted of four guys who played ingrown fusion music, and suddenly his studies didn't seem so interesting.  It was during this period he started playing the bass seriously.

His next band was Sega Gubbar (tough old men).  It was a musical collective which mixed the home-grown jazz-fusion stuff with anything from rock'n'roll to "mini-operas", depending on the line-up.  They played in clubs and festivals in and around Linköping, Göteborg, and Stockholm.

During the years that followed he played in two bands - Da Capo and Exit - touring clubs and festivals with fusion and rock.  After a few quiet years he formed the band Still Fresh and Young with three old friends and played covers from the 60s at parties and clubs.  He stayed with them for five years then left and picked up the guitar to work with jazz, which he played for fun with friends.  One day, Ulf came to work with him at Ellemtel ...