Sannex: ”A totally awesome song came up and everyone just felt that this is it!”
This Saturday we get to find out a couple more qualifiers of Swedish national selection for Eurovision, when the fourth heat of Melodifestivalen 2021 takes place. One of the contestants of Saturday’s show is a danceband Sannex with their song All Inclusive. The band has a long history, which started already in the 1970’s, and the band’s had many assemblies during the years. Nowadays Sannex has four members: Andreas Olsson (vocals, guitar), Patrich Rundström (piano, vocals), Peter Brodin (bass, vocals) and Micke Norsten (drums, vocals). Even though the band is very busy getting ready for Melodifestivalen, Sannex’s vocalist and guitarist Andreas Olsson luckily had time to answer a few questions we asked him. This is what he told us:
Hello Sannex and thank you for giving me this interview! At first I’d like to know what is your relationship to Eurovision? Do you usually watch the contest and do you have some favorite Eurovision songs?
“Hello Nina and thank YOU for the opportunity to get to know the fans outside of Sweden. Well as most people now the Swedish interest in Melodifestivalen and ECS is huge and as kids we always watched both the Swedish and the ESC finals but since we’ve been touring for the last 20 years we often have missed it but always watch the re-runs after and just love the whole positive bubble that it’s creating.”
You have a long career behind you. What made you apply to Melodifestivalen this year and what do you think are your strengths compering to the other artists?
“Yeah, that’s actually true. We’ve been playing for a long time but for me (Andreas) as the leader of the band Melodifestivalen has always been the top of my goals! I have had this aim for many years but not until we changed record label to Warner all pieces fell into place. A totally awesome song came up and everyone just felt that this is it! Now it’s time for Sannex!
Our strength is definitely our great song. We are ready and old enough to have a great deal of experience with thousands of gigs behind us, but young enough to have a lot of energy.”
What do you think is your biggest achievement in the field of music so far?
“Well I have to say when we won a Grammy in 2016, when we went to Nashville and recorded our album “Crossroads” that also became nominated for a Grammy in 2018 and followed up that year by appearing in the second biggest TV-show in Sweden “Allsång på Skansen”, which also was a life goal for me.”
How would you describe your song ”All Inclusive” and the message of it?
“Many of our hits is about summer & camping with a lot of energy. This song keeps that flow going, but this time we’re heading overseas to a warm place that we all miss in these days. It’s a true happy song about the good times and you just wanna grab a drink and enjoy the sun. We’re all going on an All Inclusive vacay.”
Could you tell us something about your stage show in Melodifestivalen?
“Well for the first time Sannex is going to have “moves” and a little bit of choreography and that alone is worth watching. Again, it’s a lot of energy and some easy moves that everyone can learn.”
What do you do when you don’t do music?
“Well right now in Corona times things are a bit crazy. For the first time in many years some of us have taken “normal” jobs. Peter the bass player works in a music store, Micke the drummer works in a warehouse and Patrich the piano player drives a truck. For me (Andreas) it’s still all about the music cause that’s the air that I breath but corona has been really rough on us all.”
Sweden is one of the most succesful Eurovision countries with 6 victories and numerous Top 10 placings. Why do you think that is and does it bring some pressures to Sweden’s Eurovision representatives in your opinion?
“I guess there’s a couple of answers to that. But at first Sweden loves their Melodifestival, we’re also a big country in the music industry generally and to have a song in Melodifestivalen generates both money and fame so many great songwriters wants to participate. With that said it’s just a huge deal in Sweden and half the country is watching.”
Could you tell us a little bit something about yourselves and how was your band born?
“The band Sannex has a long history in Sweden as a successful danceband, founded in 1977. Since 2013 when I became the owner and band leader, I had the goal to make Sannex even more successful to the bigger crowd. Like I told you before we have had a great deal of success, but nothing compares to this, and now we want Europe to get to know us, even if the song is in Swedish.”
What would it mean to you to win Melodifestivalen and represent Sweden in Rotterdam?
“I don’t even know if we can dream that big. It would be the most awesome thing ever, and we would love to come to Rotterdam and get to know all of you guys a little better.”
What would you like to say to our readers and your fans from all over the world?
“That Sannex really appreciate you guys taking the time to get to know us better. We are 4 guys from Sweden who would like to get to know you all, so please follow us on Instagram (sannex_official) and facebook (sannexdans) and we’d love to meet you when the pandemic is over.”
Thank you so much for the interview Andreas and the best of luck to Sannex for Saturday’s show!
You can listen to the snippet if the song ”All Inclusive” by Sannex here:
