Bjorn Englen of Soul Sign and Dio Disciples: The NAMM Show 2025 Interviews

Bjorn Englen of Soul Sign and Dio Disciples: The NAMM Show 2025 Interviews

Bjorn Englen is the bassist extraordinaire for bands such as Soul Sign and Dio Disciples.  In addition, Englen has performed with many rock legends throughout his impressive tenure, playing over 2000 live shows and on nearly 60 albums!  Highwire Daze caught up with Bjorn at The NAMM Show to find out the current happenings of his bands as well as a look into an absolute epic career in music…

We’re here with Bjorn Englen. Introduce yourself and tell me about the million bands you’re in right now.
Bjorn Englen. Soul Sign is my main band, my own band, with Mark Boals on vocals, Rob Math on guitar, and Mike Cancino on drums. Amazing musicians and great friends. I’ve been with the Dio Disciples for 12, going on 13 years, with the long-lasting Dio lineup of Craig Goldy, Simon Wright, and Scott Warren. We’ve had Ripper Owens and Oni Logan on vocals mostly. Those are my main bands.

I also play on people’s records and pick up gigs as I go. In the past, my first big gig was with Quiet Riot back in 1995, with a lineup featuring Carlos, Frankie, and Kevin. That was a big thing because I’d never been on a big tour before. I was 23 years old, and they were almost twice my age, so it was a little intimidating.

As time went on, I worked with Robin McAuley from McAuley Schenker Group for a couple, two or three, years. A great guy, great friend, and an amazing singer. We had a band called Bleed, and we also performed as the Robin McAuley Band in California, Chicago, and other places. A lot of fun.

We made an album that never came out with the band Bleed, unfortunately. Dave Bates played guitar on that album, and he later took some of those songs and formed Edge of Paradise. So, that’s what came out of that. In 2007, I started working with Yngwie Malmsteen, and I spent five years touring with him all over the world. Right after that, I got the gig with Dio Disciples. The same year, I started working with Tony MacAlpine, and I was with him for seven years. It’s been a good run.

Very epic career, that’s for sure. Do you have a Dio story that you can share?
I only met Ronnie briefly once, so I didn’t really know him, but I got a lot of stories from other people in the band. I feel like I know him in a way. They said, “We hired you because we know that Ronnie would like you.” They just knew. It’s so great. When I play with them, it’s almost like Ronnie’s there because we pay honest tribute to the music by playing it the way they always played the songs. So, it’s great.

How did you get connected with Mark Boals for Soul Sign?
That’s a good question. When I started working with Yngwie, I met Uli Jon Roth, and he was friends with Yngwie. He saw me play my first gig with Yngwie at The NAMM Show. He was standing on my side of the stage, and afterward, he said, “That was incredible. You didn’t even miss one note, and you didn’t even rehearse either.” So, I did a gig with Yngwie with no rehearsal. That was my audition.

Uli is a great guy, great friend, and I played with him for about three or four years. Whenever he’d come through California, I would do some shows with him. In the first lineup of Uli’s band, he hired Mark Boals as the singer. That’s how I got to know Mark. At our first rehearsal, Mark walked in and said, “Hey, I have a band with Tony MacAlpine. Would you like to come down and jam with Tony MacAlpine and Virgil Donati?” I said, “Sure.”

As I was leaving, the audition coordinator ran after me and said, “Give me your business card.” Tony called me 20 minutes later and said, “Hey, I’m going solo again, doing instrumental music. Do you want to play bass?” I said yes. That’s how that snowballed.

That same year, our singer in Soul Sign at the time, Michael Olivieri, left the band. After rehearsal, we were at Starbucks, and the other two guys asked, “What do we do now?” Out of the blue, Mike, our drummer, said, “Do you know Mark Boals?” I said, “Yes, I do.” He asked, “Do you have his number?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Call him.” So, we called him right there from Starbucks and asked, “Do you want to be in the band?” He said, “Yes.“

It was almost that easy. It’s been a great run ever since. Mark’s a great friend and a tremendous singer. Almost every male singer at age 40 sees their voice start to decline, but he keeps getting better. I don’t know how he does it. He’s just incredible.

What are you looking forward to the most about The NAMM Show this year?
The one thing I look forward to the most is being with my amp company, EBS, which I’ve been with for 22 years. We’re really good friends, and I have a great relationship with them. They host a great dinner every Friday of The NAMM Show, which is one of the highlights. I’m doing a signing with them on Saturday at noon. Just meeting friends and catching up with people is really cool—people I haven’t seen in a long time. So, it’s a really good opportunity to reconnect.

What’s up next for you?
Well, I did a couple of shows in Massachusetts back in March with this blues trio. Now, I’m going to finish up some recordings. We’re signing with a label for the new Soul Sign record, and that will be announced very soon. That’s next. Then, we do the Rock for Ronnie in May with Dio Disciples, and hopefully, some festivals in the summer.

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)

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