Private Jets (band)

Private Jets is a Swedish power pop quartet that was founded in 2001 by twin siblings, Erik and Per Westin.

Biography
The band was formed with the aim of pioneering a fresh brand of power pop, drawing inspiration from diverse genres such as pop, rock, and jazz. The quartet was initially part of a songwriting project, but after being encouraged to record some of their songs, the Westins chose to form a band. Janne Hellman was recruited as lead vocalist, along with Mikael Olsson on bass. The former had previously worked with the brothers in the hi-speed pop outfit Revolver Bop Agents.

Private Jets released their debut EP, A Four Leaf Clover, in E-Major on May 27, 2002, on Sparkplug Records. It contained four songs along with a short snippet. The songs were written, arranged, produced, and performed by the brothers. Janne Hellman handled lead vocals across all tracks, while Olsson contributed his bass talents specifically to the song "Millionseller."

After the release of A Four Leaf Clover in E-Major, the brothers started to work on a new album. The band bio states that they wrote 43 new songs to be able to make an album filled with singles only. Of the songs written, the band chose to record twelve, and the result was released on May 26, 2008, as the album Jet Sounds.

In May 2008, Private Jets made their live debut at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, playing the International Pop Overthrow, as evident from an IPO interview from 2015. An extra show was added.

On November 7, 2008, the band played at the International Pop Overthrow in New York City, performing at Kenny's Castaways in Greenwich Village.

In 2012, the band released a new single called Speed of Sound.

A year later, in 2013, another single followed, The Great Persuader, with a record-label Sparkplug Records. As of 2013, the band lineup was as follows:


 * Per Westin: guitar, drums, keyboards, harmony vocals.
 * Erik Westin: guitar, harmony vocals.
 * Janne Hellman: lead vocals.
 * Mikael Olsson: bass.

The sole video (released in 2010) of their song, I Wanna Be a Private Jet, is available on YouTube. There are no other music videos listed under this music band.

Years later, in 2019, the band released their next single, Superpower Girlfriend. And in 2020, another single followed, Human Cannonball.

Influences and ambitions
The band's MySpace site lists Sweet, Jellyfish, The Zombies, Beach Boys, The Move, The Records, and The Rubinoos as influences.

In a radio interview on Swedish Radio, Erik Westin said that the band was writing the music that they wanted to hear and were unable to find anywhere else. He also said that the band's ambition is to continually write the ultimate pop song.

Members

 * Erik Westin – guitar, vocals
 * Per Westin – guitar, vocals, drums, keyboards
 * Janne Hellman – lead vocals
 * Micke Olsson (also spelled as Mikael) – bass

Additional members

 * Magnus Adell played bass on two tracks on Jet Sounds: "Fast forward with you" and "Speak up, speak out".
 * Thomas Hedquist, sound engineer at Quest Studios, did the final mixing on both Jet Sounds and A Four Leaf Clover in E-Major.