Bjorn has worked with bands and artists such as Robin McAuley, Quiet Riot, Ricki Hendrix, Bleed, Soul Sign, Heaven & Earth, White Diamond, and Tamplin - as well as members of Foreigner, David Lee Roth, Dio, Ozzy, Elton John, Night Ranger, Heart, Macy Gray, Jeff Scott Soto, Leather Wolf, Rough Cutt, John Norum, Sweet, Beautiful Creatures, Sheena Easton, The Beach Boys, Blue Murder, Steve Vai, Vixen, Berlin, Buddy Guy, Chaka Kahn, Tony McAlpine, Paul Rodgers, Saga, Yngwie Malmsteen and many, more....

After moving to California from Sweden (the land of .shredding.) about 12 years ago, Bjorn quickly began to find work. Aside from touring all over North America and playing on many albums, Bjorn has been featured in movies, TV Shows and music videos as well as teaching bass at M.I. in Hollywood.

Although sports, and mainly soccer, were what kept Bjorn occupied most of his free time as a kid, Bjorn started listening to music early. Kiss were his favorites... and at 6 years of age he and his buddies would dress up (with the make up and everything) just like the band with Bjorn most of the time acting as Gene Simmons (and sometimes Paul Stanley) - not just spitting red food coloring all over his friend's parents newspaper covered living room floor - but also pretending to play the bass.

In 5th and 6th grade friends of his turned him on to bands like Judas Priest, AC/DC, Motley Crue, Yngwie Malmsteen etc. They all played guitar or drums, but Bjorn still thought bass was .the coolest. instrument. Around this time he and a buddy started recording demo tapes in their bedrooms under the name of $1.25 for A Yoghurt. With a home made 1-string guitar, and playing the drums on a pillow, they were recording tune after tune, and after sending it to several Punk magazines for reviews, to their complete amazement, people started ordering their demo tapes. They then got a real drummer and Bjorn started playing the bass in the band. "I remember the 1st bass I ever played. I was in 7th grade, and the school I went to had a music room with a talented guy guiding the kids. He showed me the blues in "A"... just playing the roots, and I was stoked !", Bjorn laughs.

Bjorn grew quickly like most kids, and so did his hair, as well as his Mom's frustration about his unwillingness of keeping it short. Bjorn was only 15, but after watching his favorite bass players like Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and Bob Daisley from Ozzy, his vision was clear, he was going to become a rock-n-roll star ! He kept jammin' with lots of different people and bands, a few of them even required 1 hour bus trips to rehearsals. During the last year of high school Bjorn spent 5 weeks in Duluth, Minnesota, where he got to speak quite a bit of English and also play with the Big Band. Right after graduating from High School he was called into the army to become an officer. He hated it, but despite all the people telling him how he'd never get out, 4 months later on his 19th birthday he was celebrating with one beer in each hand all night. He then formed the hard rock group Spirit. The group performed all over southern Sweden. But! in 1992, after landing tracks on a couple of different compilation albums, the band split up due to many internal conflicts.

During this time Bjorn took a longer vacation to the U.S. He went all over the place, but fell in love with Los Angeles. Bjorn had around that time already realized that it was time to move to a bigger city in order to reach his goals. L.A. became the target and his decision to attend the Bass Institute of Technology (B.I.T.) at the Musician.s Institute (M.I.) in Hollywood was firm.

Bjorn only knew one person in Los Angeles at the time, but still made the move and took his studies at B.I.T. seriously. Bjorn studied hard with favorite teachers like Tim Bogert, Putter Smith, Steve Bailey and Alexis Skljarevski. After only a couple of months at the school the group Ashen (made up of all M.I. instructors) were looking for a bassist. Bjorn joined the band and many live performances at the major clubs in town followed - but as the song writing started leaning more and more towards mellow pop, and R&B, Bjorn decided to leave the band, but before his departure agreed to lay down bass tracks to the album Purple..

The 1 year of studies at M.I. was already almost over and Bjorn decided he was going to visit Sweden quickly and then come back. Back in the U.S. he was now writing songs and looking to form his own group. But one night while working as the night guard at a local gym he was reading the local music paper (BAM) and saw that Quiet Riot was looking for a bass player. He immediately sent them a promo package, and soon there after got a phone call from lead singer Kevin DuBrow saying that he was very impressed and wanted to get him in for an audition.

Bjorn started rehearsing and taking pictures with the group in October of '94, and got hired to play bass on the 1995 U.S. Tour in support of the album - Down To The Bone.. Bjorn played 22 shows before leaving the job.

Bjorn then started writing with guitarist Magnus Andersson, with whom he formed the band Soul Sign. Bjorn also trained to become a recording engineer and went on to produce the band.s EP .Control., which was released in 1996. The group has since then played numerous shows around California. That year Bjorn also started doing lots of sessions as a bass player, and went on to record with artists like Secret Beauty Cream, Joshua Souder, Crash Poetry, Steven T. Band, Passion, Akasha, etc. The list goes on. At the end of the year he toured the U.S. with R&B/Rock Group Wrestless Natives.

In 1997 Bjorn started teaching Live Playing Workshops at the Musicians Institute, while doing an extensive amount of club work and recording sessions in Los Angeles and all over Southern California. In 1999 Bjorn joined the group Heaven & Earth, featuring members of Hurricane, Sweet and M.S.G. This band then soon went on to record bonus tracks for the already existing debut album, which was at the time about to be released world wide. Heaven & Earth went on to tour the U.S. and Canada with a.o. Def Leppard and Sammy Hagar. Bjorn left Heaven & Earth in 2000.

Since then Bjorn has done numerous recordings and shows with his group Soul Sign, session work, live shows (with a.o. Ricki Hendrix, Tamplin, Hair Guitar and 777), private teaching as well as acting as one of the main characters in the documentary film about the Hard Rock Group White Diamond, with whom he also recorded tracks with for a double CD sound track due out soon.

Bjorn currently performs throughout the U.S. with Robin McAuley (of MSG) and in Southern California with Pages Of The Book. Bjorn also is part of Bleed (feat. Robin McAuley on vocals) who has received overwhelming response world wide on their newly released EP.

Bjorn and Neal met through a mutual friend a few years ago, became good friends and when Neal asked Bjorn to start working with Takara Bjorn said he'd be more than happy to give it a shot. Bjorn adds: "It's been a very pleasant journey so far, and I can't wait for us to record the new album.

To find out more about Bjorn and where he is performing, visit his official web site at www.bjornenglen.com E-MAIL BJORN (bjorn@bjornenglen.com)

BEGINNINGS
Work, dedication, willpower and talent have marked Gus Monsanto’s history. From his first bands to the professional projects that allow him now to take his music to the four corners of the planet. He fell in love with music the moment he saw rock band Kiss on TV for the first time, in 1983. The image of four long-haired masked men playing hard rock music on top of a war tank was fascinating and different from everything he had seen that far. His destiny was sealed there and then and he held hands with music. Soon after that, he was given his first guitar, and then he started his first bands bands with childhood friends, throughout teenage years and realized that music was the goal he had set for his life.
ANGEL HEART
When he was 16 years old, Gus lived in the United States, where he nurtured the idea of forming his own band and taking it seriously, because, at that point, he had already started writing his own songs with a clear musical identity and direction to follow. Gus put Angel Heart together the moment he got back to Brazil. He led the hard rock band for a few years and in that band, Gus swicthed from the guitar to the microphone, which is his musical tool to this day. During the 90’s, the band recorded two albums, had a video on MTV Brazil and good repercusssion on the specialized media in Brazil and some other countries, having good reviews in magazines and radio play in countries, such as Italy and Japan.
OVERDOSE By the end of the 90’s, Gus was invited to join Overdose, one of Brazil’s most traditional heavy metal bands. Gus had grown up listening to them and his first show with the band was opening for Whitesnake, Queensryche and Megadeth. Gus describes this show as an unique experience, where he got in touch with some of the top bands in the world of heavy metal. Overdose also featured Sepultura’s ex-guitar player Jairo Guedz in the band and had 7 albums released, in addition to worldwide tours. After Overdose broke up, Gus had a brief stint with a heavy metal band from São Paulo called Portrait. He has performed various shows with them, including the first Brazil Metal Union festival, which is nowadays a traditional event in the genre.
TURN OF THE MILLENIUM
Back then, Gus was developing the idea of returning to the United States and putting a band together overseas. So it was next step to take. In 2001, Gus got together with guitar player/singer Marc Ferreira, one of his best friends and with the trio Monkey Bite. Several shows were performed throughout the United States, getting to open for bands such as Ratt, traditional hard rock band from that country. Monkey Bite, which is an ongoing project which Gus now and then takes part on – has played Brazil in 2003, having ex-Firehouse bass player Dario Seixas in its line-up In 2002, Gus got proposals from other Brazilian bands, such as AOR band Silent, and from Frontline Records, a record company from São Paulo, which was looking for musicians to put together a band called Astra. The project took two years in the making, generated a CD and a lot of turmoil and disillusion, which were bad enough to make Gus consider quitting the dream of making music altogether.
ADAGIO
When everything seemed to be lost, Gus sees the ad of French band Adagio, which was fronted by one of his favorite singers, David Readman (also of Pink Cream 69 fame). David had just left the band, which needed an imediate replacement for its imminent commitments. Without many expectations, due to geographical and logistical issues, Gus sent his material by e-mail. Soon after, Gus got a message from Adagio management, wanting to know more about him and asking him to learn a couple of Adagio songs to assess whether his voice would fit the band’s vibe. 48 hours later, the mission was accomplished and he sent his singing recorded material to France. The result could not have been better: an invitation to go to France and get together with the band. Only twenty days after the initial invitation, Gus arrives to Paris, where a new and key stage of his career would be about to begin. Immediately he joined the band, which was about to wrap up the “Underworld” tour, throughout the United States, Switzerland, Spain, Holland and France. Adagio played with a lot of success, taking part in a lot of festivals, such as the American and the European versions of Prog Power, one of heavy metal’s top events in the world, sharing the stage with big names such as Edguy, Savatage and Devin Townsend. 2005 was a year devoted to the stage and studios. Gus played 40 shows in the French summer and after intense pré-production, records “Dominate”, his first CD with Adagio, which is being released in December, 2005. Besides this, Gus once again worked with Monkey Bite in 2005, playing many shows in New York and New Jersey The year of 2006 was spent promoting the release of "Dominate", which has been released worldiwde, via Locomotive Records (Europe/North America), Hellion Records (Brazil), Double Vision (France) and Avalon/Marquee (Asia). The first show of the tour had the band going to Africa for the first time, opening for Robert Plant, of Led Zeppelin fame, In Tunisia. The band has shared the stage with legendary guitar player Uli Jon Roth, of Scorpions/Electric Sun fame, Edguy, Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Leaves Eyes, Epica and other great bands in Europe.
GUEST APEARANCES/PRODUCTION:
Gus has guested in legendary hard rock band Dr.Sin’s new CD,”Bravo” and in drummer Steph Cavanez’s CD “Collectif Tribute”. French hard rock band Lightseekers will also be releasing it’s debut album on June 8th, 2008, where Gus sang the whole album plus helped co-write and co-produce. This involvement with producing led Gus to produce Skyrion’s “Beyond Creation”. Skyrion is a female-fronted Brazilian metal band coming in 2008 too.
GUS AND ADAGIO PART WAYS + NEW BAND...
Gus and Adagio split after a successful tour with Kamelot in Europe and almost 4 years together. He continues working on his new baby, “ZYON VEGA”, on mixing stages now; The album has been over one year in the making and the band features Aquaria members Bruno Agra (drums), Alberto Kury (keyboards) and Fernando Giovanetti (bass), along with Atlantida guitar player Alex Macedo, who has been Michael Wagener’s assistant and has been working with Gus in producing.
TAKARA 2008
Gus does a killer album with Takara, to be released 2008. He replaces Jeff Scott Soto in this hard rock band, which is led by guitarrist Neal Grusky and also has Bjorn Englen and Patrick Johansson, from Yngwie Malmsteen's band. THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN: Gus has the privilege and honor of joining Timo Tolkki in his post-Stratovarius revolution. Revolution Renaissance is the nameof the band, whose debut album, "New Era", is cming out June 6th, on Frontiers Records. The band also features Gus' Zyon Vega drummer Bruno Agra plus keyboard wunderkid Michael Khalilov. The band has new bass player Justin Bggs and it is ready to hit the road and record a new album soon.

1 9 7 6 - I was born in Falun Sweden
1 9 8 1 - I picked up the drum stix after seeing KISS on the television and I got my first drum kit for X-mas which I played every day and night.
1 9 8 5 - Started to take drum lessons from Hans Erik Grandin "Hepen" at the local music school in Sweden.
1 9 8 6 - Played my first paid show I made $10 and a Coca-Cola shirt,
then started playing with Falu Samba Orchestra
1 9 8 7 - Traveled and performed with the local music school orchestra, we mostly performed in other schools and I'm still playing with the Samba Orchestra
1 9 8 9 - My neighbor and I Jon Nilsson put together a rock band with Tobbe Ols!
We perform anywhere we can and record our first professional demo with Jens Blylod as producer.
1 9 9 2 - After performing as a 3 piece, we decide to invite Micke Ljungren on vocals and name the bass
1 9 9 3 - I joined SHADES, a pure heavy metal band with great songs.Guitar player Emme Johansson and bass and Vocalist Stefan Carrington and myself form this Metal trio and getting ready to take over the world!! (at least that's what we thought) A lot of shows are done and a lot of good music is being recorded.
1 9 9 4 - Stefan leaves SHADES and Emme take over the vocals and we add Tobbe Karlson on keyboard and Bjorn Tauman on bass, more and more shows are being performed and more music being recorded but still no interest from any label.
1 9 9 5 - I join up with Tobbe Ols (ex Dinner at 8), Niklas Lind,on guitars, vocalist Jonas Granvik and bass player Ola Berg the first line up of Death Metal band WITHOUT GRIEF was born. A demo is recorded and just a few months later we're in the studio cutting our first album for Danish label Serious Entertainment.
The producer is no other than legendary Jacob Hansen!!
1 9 9 7 - Jon, Bjorn and I performed and traveled with party band SPANDEX . At the same time me and Bjorn were doing an all original Pop Metal band TRADE with singer Robert Wahlberg and Mats Gesar and Anders Lindstom on guitar, we did some recordings produced by Tobbe Ols and Niklas Lind and played a few memorable shows.
1 9 9 8 - It's time for the second WITHOUT GRIEF album, Ola has been replaced by Bjorn Tauman(ex Shades) and Nicklas was replaced by Daniel Tiden. This album ABSORBING THE ASHES is probably one of my all time favorites, killer sound and killer songs. At the same time I started working with Stockholm based STORMWIND guitar player Thomas Wolf vocalist Thomas Vikstrom(Candelmass,Talk of the Town,Brazen Abbot)and Kaspar Dahlqist(Tresure Land,Dionysus) on keyboards for the live shows Andreas Olsson (Narnia,Rob Rock Eclipse)is added on bass.
1 9 9 9 - WITHOUT GRIEF's second album ABSORBING THE ASHES is released and we played our last show in Copenhagen,Denmark
I did my debut release with STORMWIND "Heaven Can Wait"
2 0 0 0 - Stormwind released "Resurrection", the best Stormwind album in my opinion the release was followed up with touring and I did the drums for the next album "Reflections"
2 0 0 1 - I joined YNGWIE MALMSTEEN's band and relocated to the US the first show in Mexico with the new Yngwie line up,Doogie White(Rainbow,Conerstone),Derek Sherinian(Alice Cooper,Kiss,Dreamtheatre,Planet X,Billy Idol) and Mick Cervino(Blackmores Night,Violent Storm).
2 0 0 2 - The first time in the studio for me with Yngwie and Tom Fletcher, ATTACK!!! was recorded and followed up with touring. Derek left the Rising Force to go and work with Billy Idol and Joakim Svalberg comes in for the Japan tour.
2 0 0 3 - Still on tour with Yngwie in Europe and I recorded the album "Punch" with Swedish band TOKEN. When I came back to the states it was time for the G3 tour with Yngiwe, Vai and Satriani! After a successfull G3 tour I started working on the next Yngwie album "Unleash the Fury"
2 0 0 4 - In the studio with Yngwie untill it was time to go on the road again to support the Attack album in the US.
Mick Cervino was working on his Violent Storm Album, so Rudi Sarzo(Ozzy, Whitesnake and Quiet Riot) filled his spot on the US tour. After the tour I countinued to work with Yngwie in the studio.I went back home to Falun, Sweden to visit my family and I recorded a debut album "The Hunter" with local Falun based band PREY. (Prey was 2 local rockers Thomas and Baecke they had a band "Dream Doc" back in the day. They were the local Def Leppard and there's still stories about them and their adventures to this day. The album turned out great, but I think they should have kept the name Dream Doc. When I came back home to Florida, I worked with Dan Spitz(Anthrax) in the studio. Some cool demos were recorded but nothing was released, this was just for fun.
2 0 0 5 - I recorded some demos for DEAD END WORLD a death metal band with Simon Johansson(Memory Garden Abstrakt algebra Fire God) and Jonas Granvik(Without Grief). Also KINLIN was formed, a Florida based rock band. We started recording material for an up coming album. I went to New Jersey to work with Jack Frost(Metalium,Savatage,Seven Withces) to do a few songs for his upcoming solo album "Out in the cold" and one song for the upcoming Seven Witches album "Amped" Yngwie's Unleash the fury tour kickedf of in Scotland on May 28th and continued through Europe including all the festivals,Gras Pop, Sweden Rock,Gods of Metal, Metal Camp...we shared the stage with all the other great metal bands Accept,Iron Maiden,Motley Crue,Slayer,HammerFall,Candellmass,DIO,Anthrax ......list goes on and on I had the time of my life playing the drums and watching all the bands that I love!!!
Mick Cervino was back on the bass and we played a lot of cool songs like Don't let it end, As Above so Below and Demon Driver. After the summer tour in Europe it was time to tour USA again. Joakim Svalberg has decided to stay in Sweden and leave the band so Nick Marinowitch(K C and the Sunshine )band came in on Keyboards. We toured the states and continued to Japan without a break. The highlight of this tour was absolutely playing the New York show with Twisted Sister,Sebastian Bach and George Lynch, great show and a great memory!
2 0 0 6 - My phone rang on a Tuesday, it was Mike Duda from W.A.S.P. Hi bro what's up? Can you come out here tomorrow we need a drummer for the up coming tour! 48 hours later I was in L A playing Wild Child and Love Machine..... A few days later I went back to Florida and played the Hard Rock Casino with Blackie Lawless, Mike Duda and Darrell Robberts. The US tour including one stop in Spain went great, I had so much fun and everybody was super nice.I came home from the W.A.S.P. tour and started to get ready for the Yngwie Fury tour part 2. Derek Sherinian was back! It was now the same line up from when I joined the band 5 years earlier!! Another successfull tour was completed and now I'm chilling on the beach till next mission!!!