Sofia Talvik – Americana / Folk with Swedish Roots
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.
Janne is mastering the new EP ‘V – Part Three of L.O.V.E’ and I joined him in the studio. I was also told I’ll never be a drummer, but we’ll see about that mr Joakim …
We’re almost at 100% now so please help me raise the few bucks that are left. Go HERE to pledge!
‘V – Part Three of L.O.V.E’ will be released September 1st!
Ten years ago my mind was set on attending Fabrica Design school in Italy. The application papers were sitting on my desk in my apartment when I met the love of my life here in Sweden and the dream of going to design school in Italy was permanently put on the shelf. But somewhere deep inside a longing of seeing something else, being somewhere else and experience something else kept living in me.Over the years I lived it out in small portions through starting my label, releasing a bunch of records and traveling through Asia and the USA many times. Every time I did something like this I felt more alive, and every time I came home to my apartment in Stockholm I felt like I had left a little part of myself behind.
A year ago I started thinking that I could maybe get a job in New York. In my mind it would be a way of supporting myself and at the same time do shows and be closer to my US fans. It was an excuse to go over and pursue my music career, something which I soon discovered was a total paradox. Having a job in New York wouldn’t mean a lot of free time which I could use writing songs and doing shows. If anything it would be the other way around. Taking a job in the US would mean having less time to pursue my music career than I did now. Not to mention my husband was asking the question; and what would he do for a living? So one night when we were talking about this urge I had of leading a more adventurous life, preferably somewhere else than Sweden, I told him “wouldn’t it be great to go over and just tour, to just work with music and nothing else. And he looked at me and said “Why don’t we? That’s what I want too”.
It was like a veil fell from my eyes. Here’s what I had longed for all these years without ever quite realizing what it was. And after that the preparations began. It was all very slow and unorganized from the start. I started looking into ways to do concerts in a different way from the old pub show thing, checking out how it works with house concerts, having ideas of Library concerts and small intimate shows at art galleries. I got in touch with a company who helps artists apply for artist visas and filed an application. It’s now been 9 months and I still have a long way to go and a lot of stuff to work out before I can even say this has begun. Right now I’m not living in the now at all. I’m living in the future where I see myself living in the moment – every moment.
I’m still not quite sure how we will manage financially but I will just have to “make it work” like Tim Gunn would have said. Because what does money matter when you have the chance to be living your dream.
New Music Xperience har en seminarieserie under Almedalsveckan på Gotland 3-7 juli. Först ut, om vi nu inte räknar invigningsbaren på söndagen är ett seminarie där jag kommer att sitta med i egenskap av artist. Seminariet handlar om hur en låt ger 110 jobb. Om det är sant eller inte får ni se om ni kommer dit!
Seminariet hålls klockan 10 i Tonsättarnas hus i Visby!
Läs mer här!
The lovely as always Bluesbunny has written a nice little piece about my new EP ‘O – part two of L.O.V.E’ and given me four carrots to snack on! Thanks Bluesbunny!
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O – Part Two of L.O.V.E” by Sofia Talvik is, as the title suggests, the second part in a series of fan funded EPs by one of the most affecting Swedish singer songwriters to cross the threshold here at Bluesbunny Towers.
It could easily be said that there are no surprises here but you should not take that as a criticism as I simply mean that this EP maintains the high standards that we have come to expect of Ms Talvik. The songs might well play out like four more rounds in the boxing ring of life and that actually made for an interesting, if not entirely unexpected for connoisseurs of female endeavour in the world of pop music, conclusion.
Sure enough, “Glow” easily charms with clever urban metaphors and hushed background vocals but it is “Awfully Aware” that engages the mind. I happened to be rummaging through the vinyl archives here and I came across an album by Janis Ian called “Aftertones” from 1975 (when Ms Ian would have been of similar age to Ms Talvik) and was struck by the similarities. Both are clearly intelligent songwriters with similar lyrical motivations and it was easy to draw parallels between the aforementioned “Awfully Aware” and Ms Ian’s “”Boy I Really Tied One On”. I think that speaks highly of Ms Talvik’s abilities as a very human songwriter which is further reinforced by the cool realism expressed in “The War”.
Rounding off this EP is “King Of The Willow Tree” previously featured on her album “Florida” but here receiving a minor makeover with added synths and spaghetti western moments but otherwise little altered
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Possessed of both intelligence and charm, Sofia Talvik proves, once again, that music can engage mind, body and soul at the same time.
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The EP is available as a download here.
Sometimes I wish I had a band. Well I do have a band and I love them to bits, but we are not a band. They are my boys and I am their artist. They are my friends but they are not my confidants. Sometimes, when I see things like this lovely pledge by My Bubba and Mi, I wish I had a band, where everyone were equals. Where we planned together and fought together. Where we were annoyed at critics and happy for our music together. Sometimes I feel like it’s just me, and they are just tagging along for the ride.
I’ve tried a couple of times making my band into my band. At first I gave them a name, The Tallboys, so that they would feel like a band and not just musicians backing up a singer/songwriter. It didn’t really work, but it doesn’t matter because now, 6 years down the road, they’re still with me and I don’t think any of them feel like just a back up musician anymore. It’s probably for the best, as I can be quite bossy and stubborn and tend to decide everything but sometimes I feel I’m struggling all alone. Like last year when we were on tour and there were just so many things that were going wrong, and I felt like I couldn’t tell them and had to pretend that everything was alright so we wouldn’t all be depressed and worried.
This year my guys are showing their skills as more than musicians playing behind me. They are each producing an EP for me in my 4 piece L.O.V.E saga. I wonder if they will feel as protective about their EPs as I do when I release an album. I wonder if they know just how much I appreciate and love them. Even if they’ll never be my band.