Cassette recorders and masterpieces

I have been writing stories, poems, and various texts throughout my life, and some of them are dressed in melodies. My first “real” instrument was the piano, and in my teenage years, I got a guitar in my arms that I have held onto ever since.

I think that writing and creating music stems from a need to express myself about things that feel important and touch me in different ways. The form can be a poem or a story, an image or a song. Perhaps not my earliest, but one of the clearest musical memories I have is the euphoria I felt when, on my first eagerly awaited cassette tape recorder, by pressing down “rec.” and “play,” I could record a self-composed masterpiece. I can still feel the exhilarating feeling of wonder, almost like magic, that I experienced then; how is this possible, it’s absolutely fantastic and wonderful!?! The overwhelming thing today is that every time I am in the studio with Filip and the songs start to take shape and come to life through the speakers, I feel EXACTLY the same feeling. I become warm inside with that memory and that feeling of magic that comes alive there and then, 50 years later.

 

This question is really difficult! But maybe a bit belonging to the singer-songwriter category, definitely pop-inspired, and with an allure to the deeper, grandiose approach in music sometimes, to reach the feeling. My goal is always to create a sound in the song, with Filip’s help, that reflects the lyrics and the feeling and mood I hope to convey without locking in the experience of it. One hope is that the songs also have their own wings and can land with a listener who makes it their own with their own experience and interpretation.

I am inspired by all shades of emotions, events, people around me, and questions that engage me. By life passing by, by what is now, and by what I hope to have the opportunity to experience with greater humility every year that passes.

The most enjoyable part is the unique satisfaction when you go through the entire, not always harmonious, creative process from the first sense of a new song until it feels finished. It’s the same thing in the studio; I come there with a simple demo tape with my voice and my simple guitar chords. Then, after a great collective effort where we navigate through various challenges with trial and error as part of the process, we reach the finish line, and the song finds its home. It’s a feeling that is completely unique and gives a real sense of euphoria!

I have just fulfilled my musical dreams! Recording my songs is an almost lifelong dream I have carried with me, and now I have had the opportunity to experience it in a fantastic way! It can’t get any better or bigger than that!

The power of music is precisely that almost all important memories of events and experiences in life are associated with a song, a melody, an artist, a band, or a musical piece. Music memories are like markers along the journey of life, each with its own strength. A more pure music memory that deeply ingrained in me is when I, as a child, sat in the audience at a classical music concert at the Stockholm Concert Hall for the first time. I still remember how I felt as if the music was flowing through me and I felt like a part of the beautiful orchestra up there. I was completely captivated by the whole experience, which made an indelible impression on me.