V – Update #5

Delusional by Sofia Talvik, video by Martin Obert

It’s just a few weeks left until we’re releasing ‘V – Part Three of L.O.V.E’ and I just got this awesome video for the single ‘Delusional’. The video is made by Martin Obert and I asked him about his inspiration for the video, and here’s what he said:

[quote]
I imagined the video when I was coming home late in the night. I was waiting for the bus and as I was sitting leaned forward with my hands together a lamp above threw a shadow on the ground. It was shaped a little like a human head and then it stroke me – there is a cool video in there.

I made the video under my table; with two lamps, two hands, a camera and a laptop for live view. I never did any hand shadows so I’ve also had to learn how and experiment a lot. That’s what made it challenging and interesting – I had to come up with a story that is possible to tell with a very limited set of expressive elements.
[/quote]

Check out this awesome little teaser for the video. The full length video will be released soon so hang in there!

If you haven’t pledged yet, please help us fund this project by ordering any of the cool stuff here!

‘Delusional’ by Sofia Talvik, Video by Martin Obert

Pledge for ‘V – Part Three of L.O.V.E’

V - Cover

It’s been amazing that I have received so much help, support and interest from my fans during the production of my two latest EPs. Thanks to YOU I have been able to record and release them, and for that I am eternally grateful!

Now it’s time for me to start making part three of the L.O.V.E saga and I need your help again. This time it will be a little bit different. For one I’m using Bandcamp instead of Pledgemusic and this time I have affixed packages to make it easier for you to choose your level of involvement. Like before, you’re very welcome to send me an email or comment below if you feel that something is missing amongst the items available to pledge for and I’ll be happy to include it. You will still receive updates from the project such as blogs, pics and videos.

The interesting thing about this project is that I have four different producers, the four guys that also happen to be in my backing band. They are all very talanted but they all have very different taste in music and I thought it would be interesting to see how they interpreted my songs if I gave them the chance.  ‘L’ was produced by my cello player Christian Hörgren and ‘O’ by my drummer Joakim Lundgren. We’re now down to ‘V’ and this time it’s my bass player Janne Manninen who produces the EP. His roots are more dance and electronica than the others and this EP will be very different from all my other stuff. But it’s still me doing the vocals and guitar and it’s all my songs, just in a new exciting suit.

So, go and check out the new design on the tees and posters and start choosing your pledge package. Go to the pledge site for more information about the different items and how to pledge. Thanks again for helping me out!

V - Cover
V - Cover

Santa – reviews

Sofia Talvik annual Christmas single "Santa (can you bring me someone else this year)"

My new Xmas single “Santa” has only been out for a day but I’ve already got some lovely reviews:

Women’s Radio has written a fun review:

“Santa” has that 80’s music vibe that will make listeners bob their heads unknowingly.  Imagine Santa Claus bouncing around with a Mohawk, jean jacket and tight leather pants.  It is a cheerful, bubbly and hope-filled piece that will bring positive energy to Talvik’s cause this year.
Read the full review here.

Free Christmas Music Blog says:

“This year’s single, “Santa (can you bring me someone else this year)”, was just released today, and it’s every bit as good as I expected it to be (which is a relief, because I often worry when my expectations get too high for something). Musically, “Santa” is a fun, synthesizer-based pop song that would not sound out of place on a mid-80s Madonna album.  If you’re a fan of songs like “Last Christmas”, this song is a must hear.”
Read full review here

Santas Working Overtime has chosen “Santa” as song of the day! Thanks!

Wears the Trousers magazine did a nice little write up – check it out here! .. as did the lovely blog With Music in My Mind!

Stubby’s House of Christmas wrote in their review:>
“I love this woman.  And every year Sofia Talvik releases a free Christmas song, so what’s not to love?  This year’s effort is a fairly uptempo danceable indie track, even if the lyrics are the “I’ve been alone since we split up” type.  It might be her catchiest yet.”

Read the whole review here

Fab Womens Radio has already put “Santa” in rotation and writes on their website:
“Highlights?  Just about every single track, but why not start with this week’s FEATURED FEMMEP3, a glorious new track from our favorite Swedish singer-songwriter, Sofia Talvik, titled, “Santa”.”

Download your copy of “Santa” here

Sofia Talvik annual Christmas single "Santa (can you bring me someone else this year)"
Sofia Talvik annual Christmas single "Santa (can you bring me someone else this year)"

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!

No country for old men

We’re on the road. Stuck in a too small pick up truck. The only upside is the Jack Daniels for the guys and the scenery for me. Tonight we’re staying at a really lousy motel. Motel 6 would look like the Hilton compared to this ;-). Well at least I have wifi so I can do my blogs, check my emails and all that. We’ve been joking about staying at a motel like the ones in “No country for old men” and now we are. We walked to a Mexican restaurant across the street and while we were in there the guys spotted a man that looked EXACTLY like the guy in “No country for old men”. I tried to take a picture of him with my iPhone, it’s not great but you’ll see.

I’m really looking forward to coming to Austin so we can decide our own pace and our own stuff and have some fun and play some music.

Check out the guy in the back

The real deal

An here’s some “on the road” pictures

Beautiful scenery in California

the back seat crew

on the road

Janne met a giant roadrunner

Welcome to Texas


A giant roadrunner made out of sneakers