Snowy Shaw

Snowy Shaw
Background information
Birth name	Snowy Tommie Mike Christer Shaw
Born	(1968-07-25) 25 July 1968
Origin	Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres	Heavy metal, black metal, symphonic metal, gothic metal, power metal, punk rock, shock rock
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals
Years active	1989–present
Website	www.snowyshaw.net

Snowy Shaw, born on 25 July 1968, is a Swedish heavy metal musician (primarily a drummer), based in the port city of Gothenburg in the west coast of Sweden. He has played with many heavy metal bands, like King Diamond, Dream Evil, Mercyful Fate, IllWill, Notre Dame and Memento Mori.

Snowy is adept at playing guitar as well as drums and laterally featured as a primary songwriter in Dream Evil.

In October 2006 Snowy joined the symphonic metal band Therion, singing on the Gothic Kabbalah album and participating in the 2007 tour together with already established singer Mats Levén. On 24 August 2010, he was announced as the new bassist and clean vocalist of symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, although he was only officially a member for one day then quit and rejoined Therion.

Snowy also works as a photographer and designer for bands and artists, and has arranged promotional shoots for bands such as Falconer, Easy Action, Engel, Loud N´Nasty, Passenger, Therion, The Crown, Hellfueled, Nightrage, Wolf, Dream Evil, Amon Amarth, Aggressive Chill, Medusa, K2, XXX, Hardcore Superstar. In 2012 and 2013 Snowy Shaw is on tour with Sabaton, replacing the current drummer Robban Bäck due to parental leave.

Timeline

• 1989 – Snowy Shaw joined King Diamond, touring North America.
• 1990 – Snowy Shaw tours Europe with King Diamond and worked on solo project called Shamens a.k.a. Wakan Tanka.
• 1992 – Formed the band Memento Mori with Mike Wead and Messiah Marcolin.
• 1993 – Joined Mercyful Fate.
• 1994 – On the side of his mainband IllWill. Snowy are involved, plays shows and records with Whipped Cream, Colossus, Whore.
• 1996 – Snowy Shaw does his first contributions as multi-instrumentalist solo artist on a tribute album for KISS.
• 1997 – Records albums with various project such as Supergroupies and psychedelic popband Bad Karma. Puts all the other projects aside to form his own band Notre Dame, that first appear this year on a Mercyful Fate tribute album.
• 1998 – Snowy now spends all his time working, writing and recording for Notre Dame. The debut CD is released on Halloween.
• 2000 – Was asked by producer and guitarist Fredrik Nordström to join new power/melodic metal band Dream Evil. Declined, but agreed to do some session drumming for the band's first album Dragonslayer.
• 2001 – Snowy is hired as session drummer for the solo album of former Europe and Easy Action guitarist Kee Marcello namely K2.
• 2002 – Decided to join Dream Evil as a full member, and toured Europe and Japan with the band. Worked with Them Sluts!, as well as keeping up with his own band Notre Dame.
• 2004 – Notre Dame was disbanded after one last show on Halloween in hometown Gothenburg. A planned solo career follows as "Snowy Shaw and the star-spangled banned" for which he records a full-length album and the video XXX – Le Masochiste,but then later decides he needs a well-deserved break and consequently the album is never released.
• 2005 – Quit Kee Marcello's K2 after their appearance on Eurovision song contest. Notre Dame's live album 'CREEPSHOW FREAKSHOW PEEPSHOWis released by Shaw's own indie label, White Trash Records. Snowy works for Revolver Film Company as prop/decor designer and assistant.
• 2006 – Write and record new material with Dream Evil but due to internal problems within the camp Snowy decides to leave the band. Produced and generally helping out his friends in the Swedish glam/sleaze band Loud N´Nasty. Snowy was hired as singer in Therion. Apart from his singing duties Snowy is hired to design and manufacture everything visual for the stage act and photo. Kamelot's live show One Cold Winter's Night in Oslo, Norway, features Snowy's guest appearance as Mephisto, Shagrath's character on the band's concept album The Black Halo.
• 2007 – Therion release Gothic Kabbalah and tour worldwide on their 20th anniversary. Getting more deeply involved working with the doom metal version of a rock opera with Opera Diabolicus.
• 2008 – Release the debut album of his band XXX in Japan, North America and Mexico. Founds his own record company aptly named Snowy Shaw Productions. Snowy records session drums for American band Eyes of Noctum, fronted by Weston Cage,son of Nicolas Cage.
• 2009 – Write and records music for Therion's upcoming album Sitra Ahra. Tours Scandinavia as bassist/singer with heavy rock covers band Nyfiken Gul. Collaborate with French industrial metal band The CNK, and begin recording an album under the moniker The CNK and Snowy Shaw.
• 2010 – Dimmu Borgir confirmed on 24 August that Snowy Shaw joined them on Bass/Clean Vocals replacing ICS Vortex and recorded Abrahadabra. He quit the day after the official announcement, although he did appear with the band in the music video for their single "Gateways". Snowy recorded session drums for the first solo effort of German singer Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex Gammaray). He rejoined Therion again about a month after his departure was made official.
• 2011 – The Snowy Shaw all Star Band performed a showcase concert at Brew House in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 27 May where he performed songs from his earlier bands like Mercyful Fate, Dream Evil, Notre Dame, King Diamond, Therion and Dimmu Borgir. It featured guests like Hal Patino, Andy LaRocque, Mike Wead, Thomas Vikström, Mats Levén and Kristian Niemann. He also performed covers of Cheap Trick's I Want You to Want Me and The Who's My Generation. The concert was recorded for an upcoming live DVD which is currently being mixed by Snowy himself. It was revealed that it will be released as a digital live album titled "Snowy Shaw is Alive!" and will be released before Christmas 2011. The cover was made by graphic artist "All Things Rotten".
• 2012 - 2013 – Played with Sabaton
• 2013 – Worked with the Swedish Dark Power Metal Band Mad Architect, doing the vocals on their new album "Journey To Madness"

Discography

With King Diamond

1. The Eye (1990) – Contrary to belief a drum machine was NOT used on the eye, snowy used drum pads (info taken from a King diamond skype conversation)

With Mercyful Fate

1. In the Shadows and The Bellwitch (1993) (credited)
2. Time (1994)

With Memento Mori

1. Rhymes of Lunacy (1993)
2. Life, Death, and Other Morbid Tales (1994)

With Notre Dame

1. Coming Soon to a Théatre Near you!!! (1998)
2. Le Théâtre du Vampire (1999)
3. Nightmare Before Christmas (1999)
4. Abattoir, Abattoir du Noir (2000)
5. Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You, The 2nd (2002)
6. Demi Monde Bizarros (2004)
7. Creepshow Freakshow Peepshow (2005)

With Dream Evil

1. Dragonslayer (2002)
2. Evilized (2003)
3. Children of the Night (EP, 2003)
4. The First Chapter (EP, 2004)
5. The Book of Heavy Metal (2004)

With Loud 'N' Nasty

1. No One Rocks Like You (2007)

Produced by Snowy Shaw

With Therion

1. Gothic Kabbalah (2007)
2. Live Gothic (2008)
3. Sitra Ahra (2010)
4. Les Fleurs du Mal (2012)

With Dimmu Borgir

• Abrahadabra (2010)

With XXX (pronounced Triple X)

Currently Snowy Shaw works with the band XXX making glitter rock. Their debut album, 'Heaven, Hell or Hollywood' has been recorded, mixed and mastered by Andy LaRocque in the Sonic Train Studios. They have been signed by King Records/Japan-elsewhere not signed. For more info, go to XXX's Myspace

With Theatres des Vampires

• Moonlight Waltz (2011)

With Snowy Shaw

• Snowy Shaw is Alive! (2011)
• The Liveshow: 25 Years Of Madness In The Name Of Metal (2014)
• Live in hell! (2015)

With Opera Diabolicus

• †1614' (2012)

With Mad Architect

• Journey To Madness (2013)
• Hang High (2015)

References

Media related to Snowy Shaw at Wikimedia Commons