Interview with the producer of “O – part two of L.O.V.E”

Joakim Lundgren and Sofia Talvik
Joakim Lundgren and Sofia Talvik
Joakim Lundgren and Sofia Talvik

O -part two of L.O.V.E is being released June 6th and we chained the producer to the wall for a while to get the truth out of him about the new EP…

Hi Joakim Lundgren, producer of “O – part two of L.O.V.E”! You’re the second producer in line to write a chapter in our book of L.O.V.E, how do you feel the progress has been so far?
Good! We’re done with mixing and mastering and I hope that it will spread like wild fire and be much appreciated.

What was your main inspiration for the sound of this EP?
I wanted to make a totally synthetic sound image around Sofias straight melodys and her clear voice, making an EP with almost no live elements but with big syntheseizers and plick plock drums …

… since that didnt happened at all, I wound up with the complete opposite. I still think the melodys are surrounded by big things in a good way, but Its all with guitars and piano instead of synths. The way the songs sounded to me, this was the natural way to record it.

What do you do when you’re not producing Sofia Talvik EPs?
I play the drums, teach youngsters in music programs and drums and I recently found a very nice music studio to be in, since then I’ve been doing some producing and recording.

How do you feel that this EP will be different from Sofia’s previous albums?
It’s Louder.

Which is your favorite of the four songs and why?
”King of the willow tree”.
It’s a simple and beautiful melody with lyrics that reminds me of my sami-childhood on the great plains of Lappland.

If this would be a soundtrack to a movie, which movie would that be?
”For a few dollars more”

What is your favorite part of producing music?
When your listen to a melody of something for the first time, you have so many directions, tempos and ways to begin doing things. I like the part when you just decide the way, based on guts instead of bad influences.

Tell us your favorite songs right now.
”Wichita Lineman”    Tony Joe Whites version
”Gubben i lådan”    Daniel Adams Ray

Thanks for the chat! We really look forward to hearing the result!
Thank you!

“L” is here! Happy Valentine’s!

Sofia Talvik "L - part one of L.O.V.E"

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m so happy to announce that we are releasing “L – Part One of L.O.V.E” – the first of four EPs in the L.O.V.E saga today on Valentine’s Day!

First of all I would like to say thank you to all my fans who have made this EP possible by taking part of the production through pledgemusic.com. It’s been great having you along on the journey and I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

DOWNLOAD “L – Part One of L.O.V.E” HERE!

Here’s some pictures of the unique merch you guys ordered, all of it custom made for the release. I’ve been busy as a bee the last couple of days manufacturing all the goodies that will be sent to you this week. All pledgers also get the digital download today in your inbox!

Custom made EPs by Sofia Talvik
The only physical copies were the preordered ones
Custom made EPs by Sofia Talvik
... and I made all the covers by hand as you can see here!
Pär Henriksson by Sofia Talvik, Acrylic on canvas
Pär pledged for "I will paint your portrait" and this is how it turned out, Acrylic on canvas
... as did Oliver, Acrylic on panneau
Randy by Sofia Talvik, Acrylic on Panneau
..and the last one to pledge for a portrait was Randy
Screen printed "L"-tshirt
I've screen printed each and every one of the tshirts
Screen printed posters by Sofia Talvik
I also screen printed 8 uniqe posters in red, black and gold
Sofia Talvik "L - part one of L.O.V.E"
And here's the cover art

Concert in your home!

Have you ever dreamed of having your favorite independent artist perform a private concert just for you and your guests?

Starting in October 2011 I will do an extensive tour in the US. I’m now looking for people who would like to host a concert in their home.

Simply put, a House Concert is a private party, employing live original music, held in a private home, garden, civic center, church or other space under your exclusive control. There would need to be enough parking nearby and your neighbors should be cool. It would be a huge bummer if someone called the cops because of all the extra cars and people coming to your house. You should probably not do this if you live in a small apartment with a bunch of uptight neighbors, room mates or a cranky landlord.

You should be able to host a minimum of 10-15 people. It’s up to you to invite people and spread the word about the concert. You can choose for yourself if you just want to invite friends or if you want to advertise the concert publicly. You have to guarantee the artist a minimum of 10 paying guests. A $10-20 donation per guest should be paid to the performer and it’s also customary, but not required, to offer the artist a home cooked meal and a room for the night. A stage isn’t required, and the PA system will be provided by the artist.

Your home address will not be published on the web and we will negotiate from concert to concert if you would like to publish any contact information to you about the concert or if you wish assistance with promotion.

Contact us if you would be interested in hosting a concert or would like more information.

Here’s a preliminary tour route so you’ll know when we’ll be in your state.
If your state is not on the list and you want to host a concert please throw us an email anyway and we’ll consider your offer.

2011
December: Florida

2012
January: South Carolina, Georgia,
February: Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee

X-mas concert in Second Life

Even though I actually played World of Warcraft for a while, and have a lvl 60 gnome called Znorfia, I kind of feel like Penny in the Big Bang Theory when it comes to Second Life. But that makes it even funnier that I’m doing a live Christmas concert in Second Life.

I will be playing at “OneLove”, a wintry stage built especially for this event by Aallotar Takaaki. The Concert will take place this Thursday at 10pm Swedish time. The stage is at Iendi Laville (pronounce “jändi”) and Apollon Allen’s new sim Yadkin Valley, and is hosted by OneLove Events. OneLove Events is a new place in Second Life and is meant to be something for everyone.

One Love stage in Second Life, built for Sofia Talvik's X-mas concert
One Love stage in Second Life

I’m always intrigued by trying out new ways to spread my music so it’s exciting to do a show in Second Life.

I’m playing the same songs as I played at my Stockholm Christmas concert last week, so this is a way for all of you who missed that concert to see me (kind of) live no matter where you live. All proceeds from the concert will go directly to ECPAT for their campaign “Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People”.

You will find the event through this link:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Yadkin%20Valley/185/192/1501

You can also read an interview with me about the concert here.

Merry Christmas and I’ll see you all in Second Life on Thursday!

Sofia Talvik as avatar in Second Life
My avatar in Second Life
Sofia Talvik stage in Second Life
Oh look! The party has already started!

Florida Acoustic Tour

My “Florida Acoustic” Tour is over and it’s been great! I did 7 gigs in 7 days all of them outside. Going from one side of Sweden to the other I was so happy to be travelling with a Bose L1 system. Not only was it a dream to travel with as it’s so light and easy to demount but the comfort of knowing how your sound is going to be no matter where you perform is priceless. One of the biggest challenges you meet as a performer is coming to different venues and having to play with different sound systems of different quality so it was really relaxing to know that my music would sound the same no matter where I was. I met a great deal of lovely people and also had a steady audience online that followed my live stream.

A big thanks to all of you that listened live and online, to all the venues and of course Bose for making my tour a great deal easier! Here’s some videos and photos from the tour:

Sofia Talvik Live at Flyt, Stockholm Sweden

Sofia Talvik Live in Visby

Flying home from Visby

Sofia Talvik live at Fettmules Sommarfestival, Gnesta

People hanging out at Fettmules Sommarfestival

With Lena, the lovely founder of Fettmules Sommarfestival

Waiting for the gig

Hector the pug was visiting my gig at Landet

Jonas is setting up the Bose L1 system at Katalin, Uppsala

Ready to play at Flyt in Stockholm

Sofia Talvik live at Flyt, Stockholm
Sofia Talvik live at Flyt, Stockholm

Sofia Talvik live at Flyt, Stockholm
Sofia Talvik live on the roof at Flyt, Stockholm

In a hot car on our way to Båstad

After the gig at Riviera in Båstad

Buy the Acoustic album here
Buy the Acoustic album here (click the pic)