Singer, guitarist, and keyboard player, but maybe foremost a songwriter, Stry has touched fame a number of times, but always bounced back into obscurity. This has made most of his recordings extraordinarily hard to get ahold of, even the better-known albums he participated in are often out of print, but it has also given his name a mythical touch. Stry is probably mostly known as a member of punk pioneers Ebba Grön and later alternative rockers Imperiet, but before that he had played in numerous local bands, some of them later acquiring cult status, like Kriminella Gitarrer and Garbochock.

Stry grew up in a rural part of southern Sweden, not far from the unlikely musical breeding ground Klippan, playing an important role in Swedish alternative music during the '70s. Stry's first release was a single with the punk band Kriminella Gitarrer in 1978. The band didn't get much attention at the time, which punk-wise belonged to Ebba Grön, but has in retrospect been seen as forerunners of Swedish punk. Another single was released the same year, but after that Stry quit the band to move to the city of Malmö, where he formed Besökarna. This band proved just as short-lived, and the following year Stry recorded singles and toured together with Blödarna and then Stry & Stripparna, until Garbochock was formed in 1979. In 1980, the band and Stry's first LP, Ritual, was released, still showing punk roots but also heavy influences of the Doors.

After a period of intensive touring with Garbochock, Stry was offered the opportunity to join Ebba Grön. The band had been moving away from pure punk and was looking for a keyboard player. Stry hadn't played keyboards in any of his former bands, but he accepted the offer and moved to Stockholm. The following years were to become the most successful in his career, but Stry never seemed at ease with being a big star. He participated in Ebba Grön, released in 1982, but by that winter the band broke up. Stry was also a member of the side project Rymdimperiet, consisting of most of Ebba Grön's members, and stayed with the group when it developed into Imperiet. Their debut album, Rasera, was released in 1983, and Stry also participated in a number of shorter releases in 1984, before quitting the band and leaving Stockholm. Back in the south of Sweden, he formed Babylon Blues together with Binkie Liljegren, who had also been a member of Garbochock. They released two albums and a number of singles during the '80s, showing more rock & roll and roots rock than punk influences.

In 1991, Stry finally released his first solo album, Plastålekrik. The lyrics still hinted at his punk past but the music was something that has been described as psychedelic pop. While writing numerous songs during the '90s, Stry was not very active in putting them on record, and it took five years until his next solo album, Hale Bopp, was released. The same year, he released an album with the short-lived group Wildsmoke, which got a lukewarm response.

In 2002/2003, Stry had started working on his second solo album in swedish, 15års Själ. 13 tracks, amongst them re-recordings of songs from Kriminella Gitarrer, Stry & Stripparna, Besökarna and Babylon Blues along with never before released material. Although he did get offers to release his new production at record companies, Stry decided to release this album by himself in early 2003 to sell at his homepage.

In early 2004, Stry made his first ever accoustic solo apperance at Pusterviksbaren in Göteborg. Only a month later, he released an accoustic album, See You Vid Poltava.

Lars Lovén
Peter "Tiggis" Jonsson