Sweden Archives - Page 40 of 60 - Sofia Talvik - Americana / Folk with Swedish Roots

May 4, 2011June 1, 2011

What friends are for

I was talking to a friend the other day about how hard people in Sweden have to support their friends and be happy for their success. We even have a epithet for it “The Jante Law”. Wikipedia lists it as “a pattern of group behavior towards individuals within Scandinavian communities, which negatively portrays and criticizes individual success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate.” Or as Morrissey so eloquently put it: “We hate it when our friends become successful”.

It’s a quite unpleasant thing and you will see it everywhere, even how people are portrayed in media sometimes. Well I’ve had my share, being an artist and performer. It’s sad when there’s a competition between artists and other actors in the music industry, when we all could benefit from helping and supporting each other. Especially in such a small country as Sweden.

But I think the worst thing is when people who are your friends don’t support you or can be happy for you. Every day I’m stunned by how wonderful my fans and friends abroad are. Helping me out in so many ways. Some whom I haven’t even met. Like with my pledge for my EPs. Or now that I’ve applied for an artist visa. How generous and helpful people really are.

However It makes me just as sad when real life friends brushes off my pledgemusic project with the notion that supporting by pledging would be the same as them giving me a salary. Like I would use the money to party on the town or something (and the funny thing is that they’d gladly buy me a beer any time). And then, they all enjoy my music for free on Spotify. Don’t get me wrong. I want people to enjoy my music for free, but I’m sad to experience that Swedes sometimes are not as generous and loving as other nationalities.

My new goal is therefor to be a better person and support friends and colleagues more. And today I’m starting with my friend Scott. Scott is the writer, designer and publisher of the magazine K Composite. He’s been doing it for years and now he’s working on a new issue. If you like independent magazines, you’ll like K Composite. It’s basically a really beatutiful magazine containing interviews with regular people. Scott has a pledge at Kickstarter to fund the new issue and I think you should all check it out now.

What was that? … Well of course I pledged!!!

April 27, 2011June 29, 2011

H.A.T.E is all around us

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”.

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.

Listen to a preview here: Bittersweet Bliss version by Ball of Mayhem

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.

You can listen to Ball of Mayhem here: www.myspace.com/ballofmayhem

March 21, 2011August 4, 2017

New single for Acoustic for Autism

Circle of Friends by Sofia Talvik now available on iTunes Store

I’m happy to announce that my new single “Circle of Friends” has just been released in benefit for Acoustic for Autism. So what is Acoustic for Autism?

– Acoustic for Autism features compelling, independent music specifically chosen to convey themes of love, compassion, hope and healing. The goal of Acoustic for Autism is to increase awareness, acceptance, understanding for those with autism and to help raise funds for US non-profit autism organizations focused on making a direct and immediate impact for children with autism and their families.

Autism has become the most rapidly growing developmental disability – more common than Down’s syndrome, childhood diabetes, and juvenile cancer combined.

Read more here about how you are helping by buying this new single.

Visit the US iTunes Store here to listen and download.

Visit the European iTunes Store here to listen and download.

February 21, 2011

Pledging – from the fan’s view

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.

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 🙂

Henrik wearing his Sofia Talvik "L"-tshirt

February 21, 2011June 1, 2011

Blue Moon on YouTube

I hope you guys have all listened to my new EP “L – part one of L.O.V.E”. “L” is my 5th album, not counting remixes and acoustic albums. I started out playing live when I was 23 years old just playing at every little bar I could find. I built me a backing band and an audience and at 25 I was finally ready to release my first studio album “Blue Moon”. “Blue Moon” was recorded to reflect the way I sounded live back then, and is actually recorded live, all musicians together.

So although I’m looking forward and release new stuff, I think it’s important not to forget about your past accomplishes so I decided to re-release “Blue Moon” in a whole new way. So what I did was to make a YouTube album with all the songs from the album, including cover art and lyrics.

You can now listen to the whole album on YouTube: