Dorian Gray (Sweden), who were required to append the name of their native country parenthetically in North America due to a conflict with a U.S. group called Dorian Gray, were put together by singer Torben Freytag in the village of Hälleforsnäs, about 100 kilometers south of Stockholm. John Freytag and Lars Carlsson joined as guitarists, with Vesa Saarelainen on bass and drummer Tero Larson. Torben Freytag was influenced by the 1970s punk/new wave sound, among other Anglo-American rock styles. The band played the Poptopia Festival in Southern California in 1998, which led to their signing to the independent Zip Records label in the U.S. After a couple EPs, their debut album, The Sounds of Dorian Gray, was released May 15, 2000, in Sweden and June 30, 2000, in the U.S. ~ William Ruhlmann