Interview with G.A.I.N

'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'
'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'
'A - Part Two of H.A.T.E'

I met up with G.A.I.N who have recorded the second part of the H.A.T.E saga, ‘A – Part Two of H.A.T.E’. Here’s their thoughts about the project.

Hi G.A.I.N! You guys are doing “A – part two of H.A.T.E” how is the EP coming along?

It’s coming along very well. It’s all done and waiting to be released. Niklas Stålvind of Wolf produced and mixed. Mike Wead of King Diamond and bibelblack mastered. From the final result we can definitely say that it sounds kick-ass! We’re very proud of what we’ve done and we can’t wait until we can share the result with the world!



Great! Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?

We’re just a couple of metalheads doing what we love. We all come from different places but our love for Metal brought us together. We all live in Stockholm and we like to go out and have a good old dirty time. It happens a little too often but that’s Metal for you!  We live by the motto, Sex, Booze and Tattoos! 



What did you think of the original songs when you first heard them and did you think it was hard to interpret them into your own style or did you get ideas straight away?

When we first heard the songs we wondered what the hell we’d gotten or self’s in to. It was a little hard to “connect” with the songs at first but after a few listening’s they grew on us and now we like them. 
We decided early not to listen to the originals that much too ensure that our versions came more from us, so that they would sound like G.A.I.N. 
Some songs we had ideas for right after the first listen but some came harder. The song that came easiest was probably “King of the Willow Tree” and one that we had to work a bit on was “Glow”.  



Which of the songs are you most pleased with and why?

Our favorites are probably King of the Willow Tree and The War. We really like the raw drive of the riffs in both songs. They are really in our own style and don’t sound like covers at all. Your way of writing really fitted well into our kind of music. They came out just like our own songs.



What’s your favorite gig memory?

Three of us remember on gig in particular. Mr Bandiit was a little too excited and played a bit fast. This resulted in that Gus had to prioritize ether singing or breathing in the last song. He chose to sing… 
He gave his last bit of energy in that song and as a result of that he ended up taking an ambulance ride to the hospital. 



Can you tell us a little bit about the recording sessions and what was most fun with being a part of this project?

We recorded everything in Viper Studios. From this experience we learned that we will never record four songs in two days again. It’s borderline impossible and we don’t recommend it. We finished all the rhythm guitars and the drums in one day and thought we were doing very well. Only lead guitar, bass and vocals left right? The lead guitar and the bass were done at about 8 o’clock the next night. The vocals took another 7-8 hours and would have taken longer if it weren’t for the excellent vocal coaching Niklas Stålvind of Wolf provided. We’re forever grateful for that.
 But on the whole it has been a lot of fun to be part of this project. We’ve learned a lot and would like to thank you for this opurtunity.



What’s next on the agenda for G.A.I.N this fall?

Get out and play. The big damn show! This fall we will focus on getting out and bring our music to the masses. We haven’t played all summer so we’re really excited about getting out there again! We’ll just have to make sure that Gus gets to breath. Do you know where we can get a portable oxygen tank?



Thanks for hanging out! We look forward to hearing the songs.

Listen and pre-order ‘A – Part Two of H.A.T.E’ here!

V – Update #2

Sofia Talvik in the studio recording part three of L.O.V.E
Sofia Talvik in the studio recording part three of L.O.V.E
recording part three of L.O.V.E

Guys! I just spent the entire afternoon editing this video from when we were in the studio recording the other day. It’s got some previews of how the new 3P is going to sound. In the end of the video the a part of one of the new songs are inserted so this is like a pre-listen as well! My producer Janne Manninen has been taking it in an electronic version which I hope you all will enjoy. That’s the fun thing with these EPs, not only do you get to know the guys in my band a little bit better but we can also experiment with the sound of the songs. You don’t have to worry that I’ll totally change my style though, each 3P will sound different, that’s just part of the experience! If you haven’t pledged already, go ahead and pre-order this awesome EP here!

Video from the studio

Sofia Talvik in the studio recording part three of L.O.V.E
Hello from the studio!

 

Living your dream

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.

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!

Christmas concert December 1st

Sofia Talvik Christmas Concert
Sofia Talvik Christmas Concert
Welcome to Sofia Talvik's Julmys

I would like to welcome you to my annual Christmas concert “Sofia Talvik’s Julmys” at Clarion Sign in Stockholm, Sweden, December 1st!

We’re going to treat you to a super cosy evening, starting with Christmas songs from the Swedish Lucia candidates to set the mood and then some lovely Christmassy songs from me and my band. I’m also very happy to announce that renowned jazz singer Anna Christoffersson will be joining me for a couple of songs. The evening starts at 6pm (kl 18) and me and my band will be on stage at 8pm (kl 20).

There is no cover charge so bring all your friends!

The evening will also be a little release party for my new Christmas single “Santa” which will be released the same day. This year I’m releasing it in collaboration with The Body Shop’s and ECPAT’s campaign “Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People“.

You will all be able to support the campaign by downloading it for free here on sofiatalvik.com