Royal Hunt

Andre Andersen was born on December 16th in Moscow, Russia. He studied piano since he was 5. He is a mix of Danish and Georgian Royal blood and is a musical genius who can virtually play any instrument, compose, write lyrics and produce all at the same time. At the age of 14 Andre discovered a different genre of music aside from classical, by accidentally getting Deep Purple's “In Rock”. From that point on, he started to combine his classical chops with the rock form in every piece of music he writes. Andre speaks of Mozart and Paganini's work as his biggest inspiration aside from people like Rick Wakeman and Jon Lord, who invented the "rock approach" to the keyboards. His musical influences are mainly the classics and the rock/hard rock scene that he studied and grew up with. Lyrics come easy to a guy who can read fifteen books in two weeks. In 1984 he moved to Denmark. After awhile he built his own working place - Mirand Studio (now expanded and removed to a recently established North Point). Having an opportunity to record all of his ideas without watching the clock, he started to create a whole set of compositions and songs where the elements of classical music, progressive and straight hard rock were mixed to create a unique signature sound. Andre reinforced and polished his "invention" by working with countless projects until the day when ROYAL HUNT was formed and the final pieces - the music and musicianship of every individual - would fall into place. All of this makes Andre a powerhouse force that drives the entire ensemble forward like a bulldozer.

Mark Boals was born on December 5th in Youngstown, Ohio, USA. His journey to become a singer started at age 5, when he began recording himself on his father’s tape recorder. He sang solos in the Church where his mother played the piano and his father, the trumpet. With his ear glued to the radio, he discovered his love for all genres of music. Picking up the bass guitar at age 11, he played and sang along with his favorite albums, joining local bands and playing in clubs by age 14. Marks first professional gig was as a bass player on Ted Nugent..s first European tour. Later he moved to Los Angeles - to find more music opportunities - where he joined Yngwie Malmsteen..s Rising Force, which led eventually to 6 albums and numerous successful tours. In March of 2000, Mark won the 1 Best Vocalist Award in the “Burrn! Magazine” reader’s poll in Japan along with other assorted nominations which he received. In recent years Mark recorded 3 solo albums as well as 3 studio albums and one live dvd with his own band, “Ring Of Fire”; beside that he has also recorded and toured with many other renowned artists – the latest project album is entitled “The Codex”, which Mark recorded with Magnus Karlsson. In the summer of 2007 Mark started looking for a serious, permanent band situation and Royal Hunt became a perfect opportunity for a singer to exploit and expand his vocal abilities (beside the obvious benefit of becoming a member of a mighty joyful/heavy partying bunch :-)