Biography of John Huldt I was born in southern Sweden in 1981. No one in my family were musicians but we did have a piano that (according to my mom) I've been playing since I've been tall enough to reach up to the keys. I started to take piano lessons at the age of ten. I didnt really want to but my dear mother told me I'd thank her later. Which I of course did. It proved pretty quickly that music was my thing because for some reason, music just made alot of sense to me. I found piano to be a pretty easy instrument and progressed quickly. I was pretty busy being a kid though so I didnt really put much time into practice. When I was 14 I got my first electric guitar. We've had an acoustic at the house for a while and this was about the same time as the grunge wave hit Sweden. I discovered Nirvana (about the same time as Kurt Cobain died) and got instantly hooked. So I picked up the guitar and started to play. I formed a band with a friend (who also taught me how to play the drums) and we did Nirvana covers (and sucked horribly). I also discovered the band Slayer around this time. Soon after this, death metal emerged as a subcultural music style and I just loved it. I listened to everything that was fast and brutal and I played solely death metal for a couple of years. I went to music high school where my horizons (somewhat reluctantly) were broadened alot. Here I got in contact with people who liked jazz, funk and RnB. This was the first time I was in a genuinly musical environment. I also heard Yngwie Malmsteen for the first time which made a big impact. Classical music hade been my first love and I've always been a sucker for virtuosity. So I think it was about then I decided that I wanted to become good at playing guitar. So I started practicing alot more and developing my songwriting skills. Since Im too lazy to learn other peoples songs, I prefer to just figure out what they're doing and write something myself like it. In high school I also heard Steve Vai for the first time and I was absolutely floored. Van Halen, Satriani, Bettencourt all came into my frame of reference here as well. I played in several bands in Sweden ranging from black and thrash metal to singer/songwriter but being distraught by the lack of success (and finding musicians with same level of commitment) I decided to move to Los Angeles in september 2006. I came to LA as a student at the LA Music Academy and I soon found that this was the place for me to be. My somewhat schizophrenic taste in music, I believe is heavily represented on my first born CD "Rules Do Not Apply". I've always liked music that surprised me and took unexpected turns and I think that shows with extreme prejudice in some of my tunes. My musical journey is very much alive and kicking and I'm constantly searching new territories to explore. // John Huldt