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SWEDISH YOUTUBE CELEBRITIES

YOUTUBE

FreddeGredde’s killer version of ‘Killer Queen’

In The Local’s first installment of “Swedish YouTube Celebrities”, we chat with FreddeGredde – the musician who’s drawn in tens of millions of viewers (and some unusual fan mail) from around the world with his quirky and inventive talents.

Published: 28 June 2012 13:18 CEST
FreddeGredde's killer version of 'Killer Queen'

FreddeGredde, a 26-year-old from Gävle, eastern Sweden, puts a lot of himself into his music videos – sometimes quite literally.

The one featured below, for example, has eight spliced images of FreddeGredde himself playing six different instruments.

The Local finds out more about the Swedish YouTube phenom.

The Local: How did you get started on YouTube and what made you continue?

FreddeGredde: I was searching on YouTube for a guitar version of “Für Elise” and I wanted to hear the full song – not just that famous part. When I couldn’t find one, I decided to make one myself! That was my first video, although it didn’t really get successful until much later.

As I continued making videos, they became more and more popular, and I realized that I might be able to make a living on music. This is why I’ve continued!

TL: The “Für Elise” video you mentioned has over 2.5 million hits. Why do you think people enjoy your videos so much?

FG: I hope it’s because I’m trying to make new and creative things. Most of my videos are unique in some way.

I’ve made video game related music, both acoustic and rock, I’ve made guitar covers of popular songs, and I have some original tracks on there as well.

However, people are often impressed when I play multiple instruments, and as I record popular songs or cartoon themes that many listeners haven’t heard since they were kids, they often feel nostalgia – even when it’s new and fresh.

And you should see some of the things people send me in the mail. My favorites are probably soap bubbles, shoes with my logo on, and a fancy top hat!

TL: How do people react to the fact that you’re a Swede?

FG: Most people don’t notice as I mostly sing in English, but Swedes often tell me they’re pleasantly surprised if I switch to Swedish in a medley.

But I don’t just sing in English and Swedish. I’ve sung in Finnish, French, Spanish, Romanian and Japanese in my videos – and I’d like to do even more when I find a good opportunity!

TL: In the Killer Queen video, you play six instruments. Why stop at six?

FG: Haha, well I never want to do things to impress anyone, so if I’m to add an instrument or harmony or solo, it’s because I think it adds to the music.

In this video, I think everything was already covered by those six instruments and all those vocal harmonies. I used more instruments in “Wind Waker Unplugged” though, I think!

TL: Your YouTube videos have more than 29 million views in total. What’s the next step?

FG: My next step is to come up with a new direction or concept that will give a single video at least 10 million views. But preferably a hundred million views or even more!

My record so far is seven million, so I definitely have to change something to hit that extra level of success. I’m not sure what, but maybe it’ll happen when I least expect it!

I never expected this level of success in the first place after all.

Oliver Gee

Follow Oliver on Twitter here

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CULTURE

New songs mark sixth anniversary of French star Johnny Hallyday’s death

Fans of the late Johnny Hallyday, "the French Elvis Presley", will be able to commemorate the sixth anniversary of his death with two songs never released before.

Published: 17 November 2023 09:05 CET
New songs mark sixth anniversary of French star Johnny Hallyday's death

Hallyday, blessed with a powerful husky voice and seemingly boundless energy, died in December 2017, aged 74, of lung cancer after a long music and acting career.

After an estimated 110 million records sold during his lifetime – making him one of the world’s best-selling singers -Hallyday’s success has continued unabated beyond his death.

Almost half of his current listeners on Spotify are under the age of 35, according to the streaming service, and a posthumous greatest hits collection of “France’s favourite rock’n’roller”, whose real name was Jean-Philippe Leo
Smet, sold more than half a million copies.

The two new songs, Un cri (A cry) and Grave-moi le coeur (Engrave my heart), are featured on two albums published by different labels which also contain already-known hits in remastered or symphonic versions.

Un cri was written in 2017 by guitarist and producer Maxim Nucci – better known as Yodelice – who worked with Hallyday during the singer’s final years.

At the time Hallyday had just learned that his cancer had returned, and he “felt the need to make music outside the framework of an album,” Yodelice told reporters this week.

Hallyday recorded a demo version of the song, accompanied only by an acoustic blues guitar, but never brought it to full production.

Sensing the fans’ unbroken love for Hallyday, Yodelice decided to finish the job.

He separated the voice track from the guitar which he felt was too tame, and arranged a rockier, full-band accompaniment.

“It felt like I was playing with my buddy,” he said.

The second song, Grave-moi le coeur, is to be published in December under the artistic responsibility of another of the singer’s close collaborators, the arranger Yvan Cassar.

Hallyday recorded the song – a French version of Elvis’s Love Me Tender – with a view to performing it at a 1996 show in Las Vegas.

But in the end he did not play it live, opting instead for the original English-language version, and did not include it in any album.

“This may sound crazy, but the song was on a rehearsal tape that had never been digitalised,” Cassar told AFP.

The new songs are unlikely to be the last of new Hallyday tunes to delight fans, a source with knowledge of his work said. “There’s still a huge mass of recordings out there spanning his whole career,” the source said.

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