is pleased to introduce a guitarist and
lead vocal from that band. Live, from Denmark - Ebbe Weile.
Ebbe was born in 1959, in the small town of Ribe,
located in the southern part of the Danish mainland. Because his father
was a banker, the family moved around the Scandinavian country. In 1972,
they finally settled down in Esbjerg, the main harbor town on the
North Sea coast.
That same year, at the age of twelve, Ebbe took an
after school job, and was soon able to buy his pride and joy - an
electric guitar! By the end of the year, he was a proud, 13-year-old
member of a rock band.
Ebbe spent the next four years playing and listening
to music, and going to school (in that order). At the age of 17, he
embarked on his first adventure - joining the Merchant Marines, where he
quickly learned to be a cook working on an old freight ship bound for
Singapore and Hong Kong. As "crew" on three different ships, Ebbe
traveled from Asia to the Middle East, Africa and North America. He had
many experiences during these voyages, among them, the beginning of a
revolution. While people fought in the streets, Ebbe spent several days
hiding out in the airport at Aden, South Yemen and then found himself
stuck in Iran for the next three months.
Ebbe stayed with the Merchant Marines until 1980, when
he returned home to Esbjerg. In December of that year, he met the love of
his life and future wife, Marianne. At the time, Marianne was studying
French, but soon left her studies to pursue a nursing career. Licensed as
a nurse since 1984, she has specialized in bone marrow transplants, wound
care and home nursing.
Ebbe started his first of many bands in 1980, later
known as "Norma Jean". The band began with original material, written by
Ebbe and a friend. Over the next couple of years they succeeded playing
in several clubs and festivals, complete with blue and green hair, and
whatever else went with being a "real" rock band in those days. Ebbe then
started a blues duo with a good friend, and for two years, they toured
Denmark and Germany, going from town to town in Ebbe's old 1968 Volvo
Amazon. They performed in bars, jazz clubs, prisons, etc., and also
played for radio, television and studio recordings off and on until
1995.
Using his own original material, Ebbe
started another band in 1985 called TTC (Take The Cake). Experiencing all
the success, trials and tribulations of a traditional band, they were
soon the "talk-of-the-country". The band stopped playing in 1989, but
reunited in 1994 to record the album "Bits & Pieces". Ebbe came
aboard too, but only to write the music and lyrics, and produce the album
for the band.
In 1981, Ebbe received a song writing contract from
Columbine Records, a company based in Los Angeles, but eventually Ebbe
Weile's talents extended to include more of the responsibilities of the
recording industry. That same year, he helped establish DMK, a booking
and management agency run by musicians and supported by the musicians'
union which, within a year, expanded to include an office in each of the
five largest cities in Denmark. By 1987, Ebbe had moved to Copenhagen,
the capital of Denmark, and went to work part-time for the Danish Rock
Council, an organization for recording and touring artists, financed by
the Danish Ministry of Culture. He also worked as a freelance journalist
for two music magazines, and was a board member of Fajabefa (another
national musicians' union). In 1994, he also founded and managed the
distribution network of the Songwriters' & Composers' Union,
DJBFA.
Ebbe ventured further into the record industry,
starting out part-time for record companies BMG/RCA/Ariola, Motown and
Virgin Records, which were all sharing the same office and distribution
facilities. Whether working for all of them or individually over the next
few years, Ebbe received great personal satisfaction from this part of
his career. He was fortunate to be involved with introducing many great
albums working with such great artists as Hall & Oates, Whitney
Houston, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Hornsby, Bryan Ferry, and many others. Ebbe
also enjoyed the experience of meeting a large number of interesting
people such as Pete Townshend, the members of Simple Minds, Lenny
Kravitz, Johnny Rotten, Iggy Pop and several other wonderful artists. As
the only Scandinavian alternative and hard rock person involved in these
recording companies, he was also selected to be among the people chosen
to give their opinions about demo recordings and the possible release of
many great albums.
Getting more and more involved in the independent
scene of the early 90s, Ebbe started his own record label in 1991 as well
as being a label manager for an independent distribution company. By the
end of 1992, Ebbe was ready to concentrate 100% on his own company,
X-Treme Records. He released a number of recordings, mainly hard-rock,
and worked closely with independent companies in the U.S., England,
Germany, Italy and France. Ebbe's best selling release was "Royal Hunt,"
which sold in excess of 75,000 copies in less than four months.
Aside from everything else, Ebbe managed to write a
children's book and music, which was recorded by a well-known Danish
actor and TV-personality at the time, Peter Fr–din. He also accepted the
position of general manager at an entertainment company with more than
200 employees, and produced four more records.
In 1995, Ebbe sold the final shares in his record
company and moved to Sweden. He spent the next year working as the lead
singer and co-producer on a hard rock album which involved people from
Yngwie Malmsteen Megaforce, Blue Oyster Cult, Michael Schenker Group and
Aces High. The album, "Arch of Decadence" was released in Scandinavia,
Germany, France and the U.K. by Point Records in 1996/1997.
Ebbe next moved to Germany, where he accepted a
job as the Central European Manager for Europe's largest independent CD
and DVD replication company, Tocano. For the next three and a half years,
he traveled back and forth between Germany, Denmark, France, Italy,
Holland and Belgium, working with record companies, studios, software
developers and film producers.
In 2000, after 20 busy years, Ebbe and his wife
decided to take a year off and get away from the stress, the hard work
and the cold weather. After searching the Internet they soon discovered
ambergriscaye.com. That August, the couple visited Ambergris Caye for two
weeks to see if this might be the place to live the peaceful life they
sought.
Ebbe immediately fell in love with the beautiful
island and its friendly people. Soon after, he and Marianne arrived in
San Pedro to stay. He is now a permanent resident of Belize and a member
of local rock band Category 7 (with Barefoot Skinny, Charles Worthington
Jr., James Storey and Dale Wallace Jr.), which entertains two
nights-a-week.
Ebbe is currently in the process of starting a duo
with his fellow band member James. While Category 7 concentrates mainly
on classic rock and some original material, this new project,
"Band-In-Belize," will focus on "unplugged" rock, blues and some Belizean
music.
After a long break from songwriting, Ebbe has begun to
write music again, and hopes to be able to release a new CD with original
songs by the end of this year.
His main interests, aside from music, are downhill
skiing and car racing, but while living in Belize, Ebbe has had to learn
how to adapt to a life without skis and fast cars. In exchange, he has
been blessed with new bands, many good friends, great music, beautiful
water and a more peaceful life - making merry music in "Our
Community".