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.
Thanks to all of you wonderful people who contributed with clever, creative and crazy name suggestions for my tour. With a twenty something suggestions on his list it’s no wonder that Paul Rosenberg rode home the winning name with “Drivin’ & Dreaming”. I love the name because it referrers to the vast distances I will be driving across America to play for all of you, and the fact that I also follow my dream by doing so. It also reminds me of a favorite song that’s called “Falling and Flying” from the movie “Crazy Heart”. Paul, a CD and T-shirt are on their way in the mail to you!
On a close second place was Nikolas Huffman with his “Interstate Hootenanny Tour”. It’s quirky and yet bears a lot of meaning in it. Nikolas, you get a free download of one of my albums.
Thanks to everyone who contributed I had so much fun reading all of your suggestions!
I’ve just started booking my US tour, starting in Florida in December, and first of all I have to say how amazed I am by these quadrillion of music venues. It seems like every café, restaurant, library and music lover hosts concerts. I’m also amazed how many of them are folk venues, or at least host folk music as well as other genres.
My folky me in a backyard in San Francisco. Photo by Shelby Duncan
In Sweden nobody even knows what folk music is, here it’s fiddles and Orsa spelmän (if you all want to know what happened to ABBA after the 80’s). (I guess I’m not being totally fair because people here have heard Fleet Foxes and mostly the folk genre is called singer/songwriter here though I don’t think it’s totally right.)
Once in an interview the reporter asked me how I would define my music, and I answered “americana/folk”. When I read the published interview my answer was American funk. That says something about Sweden and folk music. But in the US, folk music almost seems like a cult. And here I am ordering feather hair extensions tuning my Luna guitar. I will probably fit right in!
My folky guitar
So anyways, coming from a country that may be small but is really big when it comes to music export (again with the ABBA) I must say that Sweden is a puny country when it comes to live music. I was wondering the other day how many people would actually be confident enough to host a house concert here in Sweden. To actually let musicians and other people into their homes.. I mean what would the neighbors say???
So it’s really uplifting to see how many venues there are to chose from in the US. Unfortunately I’m not alone with this knowledge and I’m competing with so many bands. I just have to pray that I stand out in the crowd and that all these people will find it in their hearts to invite me to their homes, their cafés, libraries, galleries and what not.
The multi-talanted Jesper Jonsson has done it again! This time he’s produced and animated a video for my song ‘Glow’ from ‘O – part two of L.O.V.E’. All the beautiful animations in the video are all hand made by Jesper. Jesper who also releases his own music under the name “The Courage” did the remix and remix video for my song ‘You plate your heart with gold’ from my latest full length album ‘Florida’ and I liked it so much that I just had to ask him to do this video. His friend Per Gustin filmed all the sequences that I’m appearing in and it all came together in this beautiful piece of art.
We had the chance to make this with the help from my fans that supported the making of ‘O- part two of L.O.V.E’ via pledgemusic.com.
Thank you to Jesper, Per and all of you that keep supporting me and my music.
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 🙂
I would like to start 2011 by giving away a free song to you all. You’ve already seen the awesome video, and now you’ll be able to download the cool remix of “You Plate Your Heart With Gold” by The Courage as well! And if that wasn’t enough you also get to choose exactly what format you prefer – mp3, FLAC or wave.
And if you somehow managed to miss the cool video which is also edited by The Courage, filmed by Jonas Westin and with animations by Johan Röstwall and Staffan Andersson check it out here:
