The hard work of being an artist!

Sometimes everyones tired and grumpy...
Sometimes everyone's tired and grumpy...

Lots of people think it’s just glamour, travels and good times to be an artist. Even friends of mine tell me how great it must be for me to “get to” tour and travel so much. Even they don’t realize I pay for the tour myself most of the time and bringing a band is never cheap, you guys out there who have families know a couple of plane tickets tend to eat up your budget pretty fast.

I also get a lot of questions from up-and-coming artists wondering how to go about the business of starting a record label or how to promote their music. I always try to answer the best I can, but the short answer to all of this is “you have to work your ass off!”. Nothing comes for free in this business and no one will care about your music as much as you do, no matter what that manager/label/pr company is trying to tell you.

.. but most of the time it's great!
.. but most of the time it's great!

So I was very happy to stumble upon this great website where all of the stuff about being an artist and building your brand is collected in a fun and comprehensible way. This post today is mainly for all you artists and musicians out there, but you other guys can check out http://www.eventric.com/ as well (scroll down to featured articles), it’s a lot of fun reading and gives you an insight on all the things you need to know when you want to get out there with your music.Martin Atkins who is the guy sharing all these great tips really knows what he’s talking about!

One of the things that made me laugh was the post about why you need to learn screen printing as an artist. Why? So you can make your own merchandise of course. Just like I started doing a while back. All my tees are hand printed by me, check them out here: shop.sofiatalvik.com. So it’s just a lot of great advice there for all artists, no matter where you are in your career.

Here’s some fast links to my fave posts:

11 (of 27) Things Touring Bands Can Do NOW To Make a Difference

11 MORE (of 29) Tips Touring Bands Can Do Now To Make a Difference

10 Ideas For Making Your Show an Event

Just remember that it's a lot of hard work!
Just remember that it's a lot of hard work!

Sofia Talvik’s Xmas Calendar: #5

Have you bought all your Christmas gifts yet?

I sure haven’t, so I thought I’d challenge “the Christmas present of the year”, the Shakti Mat, and give you a somewhat less painful alternative! I’ve put together a Christmas Package in my shop where you can buy all the albums signed for a special price.

I’ve also made a limited edition Christmas T-shirt with a drawing by me. It’s so limited I only have 6 for sale, and they’re dirt cheap too so hurry if you want one!

Get a personalized greeting from Sofia!

poplab
Visit the shop now to take part of this limited offer!

I happen to have 28 handmade postcards from The Poplab (artists Sakurai & O’Regan). Each postcard is silkscreen printed, with cool individual prints. You can now order a personalized greeting from me for only €5! You’ll get a unique Poplab postcard, with a unique handwritten greeting from me on the back – and I guarantee that no two will be the same. The postcard will be sent as regular mail, so if you order other stuff from my shop, don’t be alarmed if the postcard is not included in the package. If you really, really want it sent in an envelope or included with other stuff you buy from the shop, please note so in your order.

Visit the shop now to take part of this limited offer!

Supercheap tees!

I’m selling out my stock of Sofia Talvik tees – almost for free. Get your own for just 3€! Really cool print of a record with Sofia Talvik printed on it and a pickup coming out from the left shoulder. Available in white with black print or black with white print. Both men’s and women’s tees. Available only until sold out this is your only chance to get one with this print. Get them here: www.sofiatalvik.com/shop or click the pictures to go directly to the merchandice.

men's tee
Men's tee
women's tee
Women's tee

My friends at Lollapalooza

Just wanted to post a few links to all the bands that are playing the Lollapalooza.
I will be playing on friday, August, 1:st.


Radiohead

Kanye West

Love and Rockets
The Black Keys
Mark Ronson
The National
Explosions in the Sky
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Amadou & Mariam
Girl Talk
Jamie Lidell
Spank Rock
Duffy
The Go! Team
Yeasayer
The Weakerthans
Black Kids
Dr. Dog
Kid Sister
What Made Milwaukee Famous
Manchester Orchestra
The Octopus Project
De Novo Dahl
K’naan
Your Vegas
Bang Camaro
White Lies
Innerpartysystem
DJ Bald Eagle
Witchcraft


Rage Against the Machine

Wilco

Gnarls Barkley
Broken Social Scene
Cat Power
G. Love & Special Sauce
Brand New
Dierks Bentley
Blues Traveler
CSS
Butch Walker
Brazilian Girls
The Kills
Mason Jennings
Grizzly Bear
Booka Shade
Black Lips
Nicole Atkins & the Sea
Office
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Foals
Cadence Weapon
Noah and the Whale
Serena Ryder
Eli “Paperboy” Reed & the True Loves
The Blakes
Magic Wands
The Postelles
Krista
We Go to 11


Nine Inch Nails

The Raconteurs

Bloc Party
Flogging Molly
Lupe Fiasco
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Gogol Bordello
Okkervil River
The John Butler Trio
Battles
Mates of State
Chromeo
Rogue Wave
The Gutter Twins
MGMT
Santogold
Louis XIV
The Ting Tings
The Cool Kids
The Whigs
Uffie
Ferras
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Newton Faulkner
Steel Train
Tally Hall
Electric Touch
The Parlor Mob
Ha Ha Tonka
Sofia Talvik

Check out http://www.lollapalooza.com/ for tickets and more information.