Unmistakably Nordic in flavor, Sofia Talvik somehow still conforms to American interpretations of her own original music, a North Sea siren blending sparkle and melancholy, creating a special niche of folk music.
I had a great time playing at the Cock’n Bull last night. It felt like a mini festival as we were 4 bands playing, had a bonfire going and the stage was outside in a little party tent. I met some really cool people and the other bands were great too.
As if it’s not enough with this blog, Facebook and everything I’ve decided to start yet another blog to keep up during this tour. It’s called “My morning view” and I’m posting a picture from where I wake up every day. As we’re traveling in the RV, every day we will have a new morning view and I thought it’d be fun to capture that. You can check it out here! Make sure to bookmark it as it’s not part of my regular website.
Here’s some pics from last night! Thanks to everyone for coming and to the other bands!
Playing at the Cock'n BullNice outdoor settingMe and the singer in "Little high Little low"
Marcus playing the guitar on "E - Part Four of L.O.V.E"
“E – Part Four of L.O.V.E” is coming along nicely! Here’s some pics and videos from our first recording session. Marcus was a bit annoyed with me for making him have wine before recording but we had a good time and as you can hear it sounds great too 🙂
“L.O.V.E” consists of four separate EP’s with four tracks each, that will be released every 3 months during 2011.
I had a great response raising the money to release the first 3 EPs, not only were the fans influencing and enabling the releases, they also got access to the making through exclusive videos, demo releases, blogs and my musical journey.
2. Enjoy Updates
I’ll be posting exclusive videos, mp3’s, photos, and blogs throughout our journey. You’ll be able to comment, so if you have any interesting ideas, let me know.
3. Receive the download first
Once completed, you’ll be the very first to receive the download of the album. I’ll then be making all of your items, and the Pledge project will then come to a close.
I run my own label, produce everything by myself and I’m very hands on with the music and everything around it. All the bundles are endorsed and personally produced. They represent a personal part of me and I want to share that with you.
Please do keep checking back for updates and you can always hang out with me on http://www.facebook.com/sofiatalvikmusic and I look forward to our journey together.
2. Write your suggestion on the post dedicated to the competition
The name of the tour should not be related to any of my albums and can be totally creative, fun, serious, weird, fantastic or anything you choose it to be. You can write as many suggestions as you like. The chosen name will appear on the website, posters etc. To participate, you have to post your suggestion on the competition post in the VIP group, no other suggestions will be taken into consideration.
(we keep the right to not appoint a winner if we don’t find a suitable name amongst the suggestions)
L – Part One of the L.O.V.E saga was released in February. We’re working on “O” which will be released in the beginning of summer. But you might not have known that the L.O.V.E saga has an evil twin called H.A.T.E …
H.A.T.E will consist of 4 EPs, just like L.O.V.E. They will even contain the same songs. So what’s the difference? Well H.A.T.E is the rock version of L.O.V.E. Four rock bands will make one EP each. First out is British band Ball of Mayhem. I managed to get a little interview with Dave Chrisp from the band, and here’s what he’s got to say about their upcoming EP “H”.
Ball of Mayhem
Hi David! You’re part of the rock band Ball of Mayhem that is about to release the first EP “H” in the H.A.T.E quadrology. We’re so excited for the release! Tell us a little bit about your band! Hi.Well Ball Of Mayhem started about ten years ago then under the name Slugfist by my brother Terry (Lead vocals, rhythem guitar) and Stephen (Bass). Since then it has had a few line up changes. I joined about three years ago and our Drummer Jack and Lead guitarist Zac joined just last year. We are all from and are based in the North East of England. Our name kind of represents the sheer variety in our sound, while all of our songs are what you would call heavy there is a big mix of catchy power metal songs with soaring vocal harmonies to out and out stomping metal with monster riffs! We like to keep our sets so you just dont know what is coming next.
How did you get involved in the project? Well I’d like to say it was something rock and roll like we got talking backstage at Glastonbury or something but it was actually through Facebook. I saw Sofia’s post asking for Metal bands to be involved in a project so I replied to that and here we are!
Sofia’s music is quite different from Ball of Mayhem’s. Have you listened to Sofia’s music before and what was it like to interpret the songs? Yeah I was familiar with Sofia’s music for a long time before this project. I’m a fan of Bernard Butler and first heard of Sofia after they did “It’s just love” together and have always kept up with what Sofia has been doing.
It was a lot of fun working on the songs, we got to work as soon as we received her EP. Me and Tez (Terry)  just sat in his conservatory listening to it over a few beers and straightaway had a good idea as to what form each song would take. Once we started arranging them it was pretty obvious that they were going to work really well as metal/rock songs. Usually it’s the other way around, singer/songwriters that turn rock songs into sweet mellow versions. Do you think it’s harder turning an acoustic song into a rock song or why do you think that is? I dont think it is, in a way I think it gave us more scope for arrangements as metal/rock is so broad and there are so many different styles of it that can be applied. We were able to add to the basic structure of the songs while not making them unrecognizable from the originals. It would of course be easy just to speed everything up, put loads of guiars on and scream all the way through but we wanted to keep them as “Proper songs” so we went for that big metal anthem sound on all of them.  I think if you are going to do a cover you really need to put your own stamp on it otherwise what is the point?
How is this EP different from what you usually play? While we do have catchy songs in our set I would say that these are generally more melodic than what would would normally do. We would perhaps keep a catchy melody/hook for a chorus or a break but these songs have that throughout. The subject matter is not something we would normally sing about either! I dont think any of us would dare turn up to a practice and say “Hey I’ve wrote this really heartfelt song about a love lost that I want us to try…..”
Which is your favorite of the 4 songs and why? Tough question as personally I have favourite bits of them all. Sofia’s versions I’d say Nothing quite so gentle, it just sounds like a single and is a great vocal, great melody, this was probably the easiest to cover.
Our versions I’d have to say Bittersweet bliss, the chorus is a really nice lift after the almost spoken verses, this one really rips along. But the intro to Everyones favourite concubine is a real band favourite, when it kicks in it is just huge with Jacks thumping doubles on the drums with the pounding guitars yet still has that nice little riff that is being picked on the original. We actually had an idea for a song that we never used that started like this and it just fitted perfect when we tried it out. We’re planning on playing this live in a couple of weeks as a set closer and we’ve already had people pop in at practice saying how awesome it sounds.
What’s next for Ball of Mayhem? We’ve just came first in a Battle Of The Bands competition which was great for us, we are starting to get more widespread gigs now which we hope continues as we are starting to get a nice little fanbase now. We’re hitting the studio to record our next EP next month which we plan to release later this year. We have some really big songs that we cant wait to get recorded.
After that who knows, maybe take over Sweden?!, I’ve heard it’s nice there.
I’m always trying out new ways to promote my music and interact with my fans, and as you know I had a pledge at pledgemusic.com for my new EP. So i figured I should ask some of the pledgers how they thought the pledge went and why they decided to participate. Here’s a little interview with Henrik Wannheden from Sweden and Dane Wachs from the USA who both decided to pledge.
Dane Wachs
Henrik Wannheden
Hi guys! You pledged for “L – part one of L.O.V.E”, how did you first hear about the project and what was your first reaction to it?
H – I’m subscribing to Sofia’s Twitter feed so when the proposition came up that I could participate I jumped on it. I think this is the whole point of social media; for me to be more involved in issues close to my heart, and for artists to connect to their fans. This was a golden opportunity. D – I learned about the project through Sofia’s Facebook fan page, and it sounded interesting. My first reaction was check out her Pledge Music page to see how I might be able to get involved.
The idea of the pledge was to make the fans more updated and involved in the actual process of making the EP, did this make a difference to you as opposed to a regular release?
D – I think it made a huge difference. I watched the introduction video Sofia created and thought what she was doing for the pledges was awesome. I can’t think of too many songwriters, musicians, or artists that actually involve their fans into process of the project they are creating. The approach she took was very ambitious, and above and beyond anything I’ve ever seen — without a doubt she’s got some very lucky fans.
How do you feel that this is different from the way Sofia’s released albums before?
H – It’s much more personal, and I like the way I get to show really how much this music is worth for me. I get a continuous contact with Sofia during the process and in the end, I’ve received value far beyond a plastic disc.
Why did you decide to pledge, and did you think it was easy enough? D – Sofias music should be heard, and I want to help.  It was super simple to make a pledge.
Sofia is declaring the era of plastic discs over, and that her fans are now her record label, pr company and financiers. How do you feel about all the new responsibility?
H – I’m up for it! As a technocrat pouncing on every new technology I can get my paws on I feel that the music industry as a whole been at least ten years behind me. I’ve often been forced to piracy as the only way to enjoy the music I love, and it has not been by my design. And it sucks!
Sofia has always been very accessible in that regard, and now she takes another step closer to me and my way of consuming music. And I love it!
It really isn’t the piece of plastic I’m after, it’s the music printed on it I’m enjoying.
Knowing that just a small fraction of the money I spend on a regular music CD actually reaches the pockets of the artist I’m not very keen on spending my money that way anymore when there’s alternative ways for me to getting the music. It’m not being served by a long supply chain, so why pay for it? I’ve been looking for ways that seems better for me and the artist alike and a pure digital digital delivery method seems like the way to go. iTunes, Piratebay and Spotify is my cup of tea.
The problem with the latter two is that I don’t pay nearly as much as I’d like and It’s been very hard for med to make it right.
Sofia’s pledge fit my aching conscience perfectly! At last I get to show my appreciation. And I know that she got the message directly. Awesome!
In May “O – part two of L.O.V.E” is being released, what would you like to see on the next list of pledge items?
H – I’m looking forward to complete the whole series, so t-shirts and a posters are on my list. I’m not the artist so I’m just curious what Sofia may come up with. I’m sure it’ll be awesome whatever it is!
What items did you pledge for and did they meet your expectations?
D –Technically I pledged for the personalized Postcard, although my true intention was a pledge to/for Sofia. I would have pledged for nothing if it was an option. I would definitely do it again.
H – I pledged $70 for a signed EP, a poster and a t-shirt and the items more than lived up to my expectations. I’ve already got several compliments for the t-shirt and it felt very good to tell the story behind it. Now I’m looking forward to framing the poster, but I might wait until I get the O, V and E posters too 🙂
