Q&A: Eddie Gomez – On a constant quest for knowledge and inspiration!

…And then there was fall!
This summer has gone too fast, but we have been happy to fill our ears with both new and old music. One of this years most played artists is a cool dude from Los Angeles. His name is Eddie Gomez. Eddie streams his songs through Soundcloud, and the song “Nothing Like This Love”, released by may 2014. Short time later it was followed by the Eddie Gomez EP “Retro-Fitted”

Check out “Nothing Like This Love” on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/eddie-gomez/nothing-like-this-love

If one should try to give Eddie Gomez a musical label, it would be singer-songwriter, with a dash of soul, a hint of Motown, mixed with hip hop. It was not to easy to give the artist just one label, so we decided to do a Q&A interview to get to know Eddie Gomez a little better.

When hearing your music, we hear younger soulful singer-songwriters like James Morrison, Jamie Cullum, Bernhoft, James Arthur, Allen Stone in your music. Who is your biggest musical influences?

– Wow…first of all, thank you for the compliment! Those are some really talented musicians. My Influences go back a little further and are all across the board. Bill Withers, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Boys ll Men, Lauren Hill,and John Legend. But that is only one aspect of my music. I truly believe that you can take something positive from all genres of music and use it to create something new and original.

When writing lyrics, are the lyrics inspired by your own experiences or is it just fiction?

– I think a good songwriter can take his/her emotions and turn it into a song, but the great ones can take the stories or emotions of others and create a timeless work of art, and I strive to be one of the greats.

What are your process when writing and recording a song?

– Before I write a song I sit in my studio and listen to old record and artists from previous generations. I’m always on a constant quest for knowledge and inspiration.  From there it really varies on the song, and like they say, ” there’s no right way to eat a Reeses”

When was the first time your really felt like, “Yes this – music – is what I´m going to do for a living!”

– Music never came easy to me.  It was always something I had to work hard at. If it wasn’t for my family’s encouragement I don’t think I would have looked to music as a creative outlet nor career.  It wasn’t until I wrote my first song when I knew that music was going to be a big part of my life.

Are there plans for a full album in the near future? When can we expect it?

– You can expect my next single very soon, along with my next body of work.

Have a listen to “Retro-Fitted EP here https://soundcloud.com/eddie-gomez/sets/eddie-gomez-ep-1

The song «Someday” has a cool ambience that sounds like it was recorded in a café or if someone is speaking while you record the track – what is this sound?

– The whole vibe I wanted to portray in that song and the picture I wanted to paint was a bunch of friends on a front porch jamming out, talking about life, and having a good time. The sound that you hear in the background of that track is me trying to create that with layering my voice in different ways.

Do you do everything by yourself, instruments, productions…everything? What instruments are you playing

– I write and produce my own songs. But I will always ask for help when I need it. I also play a few instruments but my main one is guitar.

Could you (artists) reach their audience without social media today?

– Social media does not make you an artist. You are an artist with or without it. But I do believe that social media allows you to reach further than you ever could in the past.

What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages of using social media to reach out to your fans; discuss!

– I think the advantages of social media are again, reaching a bigger audience sooner and faster than ever amongst other great advantages, but one of the disadvantages I think, is that it makes artists and celebrities more accessible. I miss the days where celebrities had a sense of mystery, which made them feel like some sort of super hero.

Where do your see yourself in lets say, 5 years time?

– I honestly haven’t thought that far ahead, but I wish to still be creating and writing, but on a much bigger scale.

What is the biggest, as in coolest, thing you have experienced as a musician or with one (or more) of your songs

– Every opportunity that has come my way has been a blessing and equally as important to me and my career.

In all Read+Hear Q&As I do, the last questions always is; what albums /artists are your all time favorites?

– This is a hard question and will always change depending on my mood. But these are the albums I will always go back to.

* Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrel’s “Greatest Hits”
* Laruryn Hill “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”
* Amy Winehouse “Back To Black”
* Adele “21”

Tempted to check out even more music by Eddie Gomez? Make sure you check out his Soundcloud profile; https://soundcloud.com/eddie-gomez

H A P P Y    L I S T E N I N G !

Q&A: Bob Frank, interview with a cult hero

He was young, he was once called “the new Bob Dylan”, he released one self titled album.
The album has since then become a much sought after collectors item.
He has became a cult hero – and is probably one of the best singer-songwriters you have never heard*.

The year was 1972.

His name is Bob Frank…

But he didn´t dissapear, he was always there, writing songs, playing music. And he started recording again almost 30 years after his cult album “Bob Frank” was released and has since then recorded 7 albums all in all.

This Q&A interview with Bob Frank is mostly about his debut “Bob Frank”, a bit about how his life has been, and how remarkably little the record industry has changed since 1972

Click on the album cover to listen to Bob Franks debut!

-Back in 1972, you´d released you self titled debut album. How was the process to record this album?
The album was put together by Cletus Haegert and Gary Walker. They picked the songs and they produced it. I just sat in the studio and drank wine and smoked weed and sang the songs, over and over again, until they were happy with it. Then they got some great musicians to add the finishing touches, Charlie McCoy on harmonica, Buddy Spicher on fiddle, Eric Weissberg on guitar, and Russell George on bass. So the overall sound of the album was achieved by Clete and Gary.

-It seem like you have a narrative going trough the album, would you call it a concept album? If´s so could you tell more about the concept?
Well, at the time, it was not any specific concept, other than a bunch of story songs, little vignettes. Like I say, Gary and Clete picked the songs. If there was any concept there, it was theirs.

-You were called “the new dylan” back in the days – was this something that caused a lot of pressure for you and your career?
Not really. I was never anything like Dylan actually, other than, we both wrote songs and played the guitar and sang. I don’t think we were very similar in the way we did this.

Please, send me link if you know where this picture is borrowed from, thanks!

-It seemed like your career took a quick stop after your debut, and your album has been a much sought after collectors item. What happened?
One thing that happened was, at the release party at Max’s Kansas City in New York, I refused to play any of the songs on the album. I did this because Maynard Solomon at Vanguard had promised me that he would not release the album unless I was totally satisfied with it, but in fact, there were a couple of things I wanted him to do that he never did, so I figured “two can play at this game.” So to “get even” with him, I figured I wouldn’t play the songs from the album at that gig. It was a dumb thing to do. As Jim Dickinson said, “Not a good career move.” Basically, it ended my “career” before it ever got started. Vanguard didn’t ship any more of the albums, other than the ones they’d already shipped. So it was only in a few places that people heard it. Mostly in North Carolina and KFAT, a radio station in Gilroy, California. Also, some places down south, in Arkansas and Texas.

-I read somewhere that you were dubbed something like «the greats singer-songwriter you´ve never heard of» (was it Rolling Stone magazine?) how is it to get a title like this? Jim Dickinson gave me that title. It was one of his unique sayings. He had a lot of ’em. I thought it was perfect, fit me like a glove, so I put it on my website. My “music career” is mostly a joke anyway, so it is very appropriate to have a joke for a motto.

-Close to 30 years after your debut, you did a comeback in 2001 with «A Little Gest of Robin Hood» what made you come back, and start recording again? I was retiring from my regular job doing irrigation work for the City of Oakland, and my intention was to get that “music career” going again…. I always considered myself a professional songwriter, even though I never made any money at it.
-You have recorded and released 7 albums, , since your comeback, do you feel your fans buy your records after they discovered you in 00´s or is there old fans, who followed you from the start, who still follows you and your career?
Both. Although, not very many of either.

-There was 30 years between your debut and your second album – and much has happened in the music industry since then. Do you feel its easier to write and record music in the 00´s or was it easier back in the 70s
It’s easier now. Now, everybody makes an album, a CD. You can do it at home, in the living room. You can put it on CDBaby and Youtube, promote it yourself through the internet, and make some sort of living at it, seems like. Before, you had to have a big record label pick you up and produce you and promote you. There wasn’t much room for you then. They only took a few artists to do that with. The rest of them had to get a day job.

-What were you doing in the years between ’72-01? Were you still writing music, thinking about writing music?
I’ve always been writing songs. It’s a habit I started early in life and have never been able to shake. Not that I ever wanted to…. Anyway, yes, I’ve always been doing that. I write songs in my sleep. “Judas Iscariot” was written in my sleep. In a dream.

-It’s often said that musicians have music in their blood, meaning they have to share their stories. Are your feeling it the same way?
I’m not really a “musician.” I write songs and play the guitar. I never could play it the way most songwriters and folk singers do it, with that Cotton picking, or Travis picking. Never could do that. So I developed my own way to do it. Sounds more like I’m playing a harp than a guitar. But I’m very happy with it now. Mainly, I leave out a lot of notes and just play the ones that convey an emotion. I write songs with people in mind. One individual person per song, usually. I write ’em like I’m singing it to one person, make it something I know they would like to hear. But of course, I want everybody else to hear them too, and like them. That’s all a part of it. But I never do anything to actually get anybody else to hear them. Somebody else has to line up gigs for me. I was never any good at doing that. I go to a few folk festivals, in Arizona mostly, where the people like to hear my songs, and other than that, “I just stay home, laying in a chair, that’s about as far as they’ll get, right there.”

-Do you feel it´s easier to reach out to the music lovers out there these days than it was back in the 70s? Has your fans changed?
I think it’s pretty easy to reach music lovers these days, what with the internet and all. People you never heard of contact you via email (like you did) and boom! there’s a connection. Never had that back in the old days. My “fans” (all 6 of them) are probly the same sort of people I attracted back in the 70’s. People who see the sacred in the profane. Mystical misfits. Rednecks and dope fiends. Soldiers and anarchists. Your normal human beings. “The usual suspects.”

-What do you think is the future of music, will we go back to the physical formats like we see these days, where we see vinyl is the hotted medium these days. Will the CD die?
I have no idea. I was never interested in subjects like that. I just like to write songs.

Bob Frank, picture borrowed from his homepage

-If you listen to music digitally – like streams, what are your favorite source to finding new music/inspiration?
I never listen to music, unless a friend sends me a recording of a new song he or she wrote. Actually, I don’t care anything about music. I’d rather listen to a sports talk show.

-And the last question, is as always in these Q&A interviews; What are your musical inspiration? And what are your all-time favorite albums?
My musical inspiration came from rock songs in the ’50s. Groups like the Drifters, or Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, etc. And also from old cowboy songs. Like all kids who grew up in the 50’s, I listened to Gene Autry. Dickinson said, “If it weren’t for Gene Autry, there never would have been Elvis.” So I also listened to Elvis, too, but mainly his ballads. The songs I liked best were the pretty songs, not the fast ones, not the blues, but songs like “Teen Angel” or the Everly Brothers. Another big influence on me was Jimmie Driftwood. Look him up. His “career” was a lot like mine. Had an album out when he was young, then nothing for thirty years. Then, “The Battle of New Orleans.” Also, Jimmie Rodgers, the “yodeling brakeman” from Mississippi. Also, the Irish singers, the Clancy Brothers. For awhile there, in the early ’60’s, they were my favorite group. After that, it was just old folk songs, cowboy songs, and so on. One of my strongest influences was Jim Dickinson. I don’t have any all time favorite albums. I like a lot of them, but like I say, I don’t listen to any of them any more.

Maybe I just got my heart broken by music, so I don’t trust it any more. It’s not a true source of happiness. When you die, it won’t help you at all.

*Quote by Jim Dickinson taken from Bob Franks homepage. All photos borrowed from http://bobfranksongs.com Bob Franks self titled cult debut can be heard on Spotify – Bought on iTunes or BUY THE PHYSICAL COPY FOR THE REAL EXPERIENCE on vinyl and CD from any good retailer!

Q&A: Mirel Wagner, tells it as it is!

Mirel Wagner is a well-kept secret, and her self titled debut album was one favorite album of this page back in 2012!

A great and folk, singer-songwriter album, with Mirels guitar plucking and dry and closely mixed vocals as main ingredient, released on a small record label. Feel free to revisit dark yet beautiful world of Mirel Wagner here!

 

Then all of a sudden a few weeks back I read that Mirel Wagner has signed to SubPop, and had to check out if she would like to do a Q&A interview, and she did answer me back.

Photo taken from SubPop

Welcome to the Read & Hear Q&A and enter the dark secret world of Mirel Wagner

Q: What are your thoughts about the advantages of being signed to a major label like SubPop vs being a recording artist on a smaller indie label?

*A: I try not to think about things like that.

Q: Your self titled debut was a dark but still very beautiful recording. I tried to describe the sound of Mirel Wagner to my readers and ended up with fictional genres like; doom-soul, dark-folk, goth-blues, minimalist-folk. How would describe your own sound?

*A: I try not to describe my sound.

Q: The lyrics on your debut-album is quite dark and there is much death, suicide, even and a necrophilia love song. If we sum it up is it correct to say it’s a concept album about death? Why this obsession about death?

*A: I don’t know if I’m “obsessed” about darkness or death. I just find these aspects of life interesting.

Q: Your songs are recorded very intimate. When you sing we can hear every little sigh, the click of your tongue and every time your upper lip is separated from your lower lip before you sing. How do you record your vocal parts?

*A: I just sing into a microphone.

Q: I read somewhere that some artists record in the dark while laying in flat on the floor to get a true intimate authentic laid back sound. What is your trick?

*A: I don’t have one.

Q: Have you started working on your follow-up album? Or have you been waiting until you have larger company, like SubPop, to back you?

*A: The follow-up album has been recorded.

Q: What can we expect from a forthcoming album? Is there going to be a new sound? Or is it still as intimate and beautiful as before, just you and your acoustic guitar?

*A: I don’t like to describe my music. I find it pointless and possibly harmful. You’ll have to wait and listen it for yourself.

Q: I do compare your music to Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Nick Cave – and female artist like Hope Sandoval, PJ Harvey and Liz Phair. Feel free to arrest me if I´m all wrong here. Is there any artists you are influenced by?

*A: Not really, not anymore.

Q: What made you wanna pick up the guitar, and start recording your own songs? Made you think I can do this, I can sing, and I can write songs?

*A: I have always felt that I need, want and can write songs. As long as I remember I have done it and enjoyed it.

Q: As always in my Q&A / Interviews I love to take a sneak into the artists record collection. What are your favorite albums? Feel free to mention as many as you lik

*A: I can’t think of anything

 

Thanks for your answers Mirel Wagner, great speaking with you, and look forward to hearing from you again when your second album is out!

Q&A: Introducing Indie Soul by AHI

Ever heard about the musical genre indie soul. It´s a musical genre put together of the word independent and soul. Soul music released on a small record company – or released independently without any major recording company backing.

Indie Soul is also the title of the second EP by acoustic soul artist AHI. If any artist should own the title it´s the raspy voiced Afro-American singer and acoustic guitarist, who hides is full name behind the initials AHI, which has become his artist name.

AHIs characteristic, and recognisable raspy and soulful voice and his lyrics and melodies brings to mind thoughts like: What if Bobby Womack was a folk singer and Bob Dylan crossed paths with Led Zeppelin who lets Gil Scott Heron write the texts and letting John Martyn do the singing.

AHI has recorded two great EPs, his selftitled Ahi – EP back in october 2012 and now in february 2014 a brand new EP, the Indie Soul – EP! Both EPs contains 5 songs each, and that’s closely about 40 minutes of, what I would call raw indie soul from an exciting artist more people should get to know.

It´s time to get to know AHI a little better, so read on for the Read & Hear Q/A interview;

If you ask me, never has a genre fitted better than your self-proclaimed Indie Soul genre. I’m tempted to even push it a bit further and call it Raw Indie Soul, because you have a raspy soulful raw voice and a sound that really IS that genre.
What’s the story behind your sound? Describe the genre to some one who has never heard your music before?

As a musician in a sea of music it’s important to find something genuine about yourself that stands out and to identify that to your listener, and I would say that for me it’s probably my raspy, passionate voice.
When I was in London, UK, last summer it just hit me: “Indie Soul”. That’s what I should call my music because I’m influenced by the Indie song structure, melody and writing style, and I’m also heavily influenced by the feel and emotion of soul music. Also, I consider myself an independent soul, a man of my own heart. Indie Soul is just one of those things that people who appreciate my music will understand right away.

I think I hear bits of classing political singer-songwriters and wish to draw a line between your sound and Bob Dylan, Gil Scott Heron, Richie Havens and John Martyn even a dash of Led Zeppelin. You may have other references than me, so here’s your chance to share it with the readers.
Where do you find your musical inspiration; Which artists or bands made you wanna pick up a guitar and choose music as your life journey?

My top three of all time, in no particular order, are Bob Marley, Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson. All three of these musicians have touched on socio-political topics. Then you’ve got Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come”; Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On”; Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddamn”; Curtis Mayfield, “People Get Ready”; Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit”; and the list goes on. It’s embedded in black musical tradition. I started looking at Richie Havens and Bob Dylan a bit later, when people started comparing me to them. All this stuff comes from the blues, though, and that was the first music I really fell in love with. B.B. King is probably the most subconscious influence in my music career; “The Thrill Is Gone” – who writes like that anymore?

As for picking up the guitar, that just happened. I never wanted to play it, but I was in band that disbanded and the acoustic guitar seemed like the easiest tool to help me continue writing music. But I would have to give credit to local artists like K-os and Murray A. Lightburn (The Dears) for making black males with guitars seem commonplace. Where I’m from it wasn’t commonplace, but I was none the wiser because of them.

I’m getting curious about your name, AHI – it´s always written in capital letters
Is this your real name, or is it short for something. What’s the story?

A-H-I is the initials of my name, but it’s also a Hebrew word when read, which means “brother” or “kindred”. I’d like to believe that my music is brotherly, so for me the name fits.

Everyone seems to be able to make and release music in their own living room these days, and everyone can, or has to give away or share all music for “free” or a small amount of money through streaming services like Spotify and Last.fm to name a few services
How is it to try to break through in the music business today and live out of making music?

It’s chaos and destruction, total anarchy! Ha ha.

Nah, I think it’s cool. For better or for worse, musicians are able to make the most uncompromising music ever. As a result, there are a handful of courageous musicians doing some phenomenal things today. If you can capture your friends, then you’re good go. Otherwise it’s only getting tougher.

Being a lover of all sorts of music myself, from singer-songwriter to metal, to soul to club and jazz – from nu-stuff to old analogue music. There’s always great music to listen to.
What sort of music do you love to groove to? And what is your preferred format to listen to?

I don’t look at the genre so much because I really can listen to anything; however, not a lot of music inspires me. A good melody, a good message and a unique delivery are what catch my attention.
I love watching live sessions, on YouTube or otherwise; they are so raw and stripped down, and you can really see who has something beyond the studio magic and tricks.

I read on the blog on your homepage, that a top UK House producer would love to work with you. Is this secret?
If not, could you give us a teaser about who would love to collaborate with you?

I wouldn’t call it a secret, but we are still in the writing stages of the project and he hasn’t begun talking about himself so it’s probably better not to say. He sent me some tracks and it was a challenge to really position myself in the House music environment, but I’m pretty excited about what we’re doing and I’m looking forward to the outcome.

Hear previews and download the AHIs EPs here: “AHI – EP” (left) and “Indie Soul – EP” (right)

In the liner notes of your latest EP I read that you write, perform, and produce most of your music yourself.
Is it easy for you to make music? What is your secret trick?

I write and perform all the songs, but I do have to give a lot of credit to Orin Isaacs who produced my last two EPs. On the Indie Soul EP, I created demos and brought them to the studio and we built the songs together from those demos.

Making music is easy; it’s making good music, remarkable music, that’s the challenge. So it’s more of a discipline than a secret trick. You really gotta start with a good song in its simplest form and try to get it as close to your idea of perfection as possible while still allowing it to retain its simplicity. From there you build it piece by piece with caution. You never want to take away from the essence of a great song, which can easily be done.

The EPs is a teaser for a forthcoming album I would guess, is there a plan about releasing this in a short time?
Are you seeing how the EPs are selling before you choose to release a full album or if you have a release plan, when will it be available for your audience and fans?

Ideally the Indie Soul EP is a platform for a full-length album of the same title presenting Indie Soul to the world. I would like to do an LP, but it has to make sense not only economically but just all around.

And as for the final question – here it’s up to you to empty your heart.
Tell your fans at least 3 words about why 2014 is going to be a fantastic year?

The Indie Soul EP drops on Feb 11th, which is fantastic, and that’s just a teaser. I’m writing some powerful songs that I’m really proud of, songs that I as a music consumer would be thirsty for. And that has always been my aim, since I first started out.

2014 is the year AHI introduces Indie Soul to the people, and I think the people have been waiting to hear this kind of music.

You can read more about AHI on his homepage
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The Read & Hear Q&A; Lonnie D Hillyer of Maggie’s Dream – solving the mystery!

One of my favourite bands from the early 90’s are Maggie’s Dream. They released one album, the self titled “Maggie’s Dream” back in 1990. The album was, and still is, a great hybrid of groovy retro rock, funk and soul. The band disbanded after a few years. They did just this one album – and it’s without doubt a great lost and largely overseen classic rock album!

The self titled Maggie´s Dream album can be downloaded on iTunes here!

The members of Maggie’s Dream were;
Robi Draco Rosa – Lead vocals
Tony James – Drums
Lonnie Hillyer – Vocals, bass
Raf – Vocals, guitar
Danny Palomo – Vocals

The bands retro-rock songs reminded me of Lenny Kravitz – and was released just a year after Kravitz released his classic debut “Let Love Rule” back in 1989. Being a dude who reads every word in an album cover – I became amazingly curious when I discovered the Maggie’s Dreams guys thanked my hero Lenny Kravitz in their liner notes. This has been a mystery for me ever since the albums release, back in 1990 until now. That’s 24 years ago! And now it seems like the answers finally here!

I’ve been searching to solve the link between the band and the retrorock/-soul star, and I found out a while back that Mr Kravitz had actually been working with the band according to a Wikipedia post about Maggie’s Dream.

I then happened to stumble upon Maggie’s Dream on YouTube and to my surprise I found several tracks from an unreleased album, rare video clips, interviews and music videos. On closer inspection, it seemed like this was posted by the band member Lonnie D. Hillyer.

A few mails back and forth proved I was right, it WAS Lonnie from Maggie’s Dream, and we agreed to do this Q&A / Interview

From left to right; Lonnie D Hillyer, Lenny Kravitz and Andrea Alvarez. November 2011

The Read and Hear Q&A about Maggie’s Dream, Lenny Kravitz, the band members now and then and Lonnie D. Hillyers favourite records! 

I’ve been loving the Maggie’s Dream album ever since the release in 1990, and remember I was so surprised to read that you (the band) thanked Lenny Kravitz in the liner notes and has since 1990 been wondering what was the link between Maggie’s Dream and Lenny Kravitz? A few months back I read that he was once part of Maggie’s Dream.

Q: So here it goes; Would you like to share with me and the blog readers the true story about the Maggie’s/Kravitz link?

A: Danny Palomo and Raf Hernandez were friends Lenny years before Maggie’s Dream, then he sang on the demos of “Love and Tears”, “It’s A Sin” and one other track that did not make the album after we signed with Capitol Records. He sang on those demos before the band was signed and was already working on his debut album”.

Q: If Lenny was part of Maggie’s, was he somehow involved on Maggie’s self titled debut – probably uncredited? I could swear i hear his recognizable voice on at least a couple of the songs (backing vocals), especially on “Human”

A: Lenny Kravitz did not sing on the Maggie’s Dream album.”

Q: Do you still have contact with any of the Maggie’s Dream members? If you have contact with them, what are they doing these days?

A: The drummer (Tony James) and I speak occasionally and I saw Rob a few months ago in Buenos Aires Argentina (played a few t.v. promos with him). Haven’t spoken with Danny Palomo or Raf Hernandez in years”

Q: Have you and the guys ever considered to assemble the band back together again?

A: As far as putting the band back together, haven’t heard anything about that and I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.

Q: What was the musical inspiration behind the classic Maggie’s Dream debut album? I sense a little retro-rock – and some Kravitz inspiration or is this only coincidental?

A: Lenny and we grew up on much of the same music and we’re all about the same age, so, many of the collective musical influences are similar with the exception of jazz; that is a heavy influence because of my father who played trumpet with Charles Mingus and he was a great jazz musician who played with some other heavy cats. There was a very talented singer Lenny worked named Tony Lemans with whose demo triggered that vibe but for many of us, it was a natural direction, musically.Tony was signed to Prince’s label Paisley Park Records. He subsequently was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Q: Robi Draco Rosa, former lead vocals in Maggie’s Dream has made several albums – and had major success as a writer and producer for i.e Ricky Martins “Living La Vida Loca” and solo. Tony James has worked with names like Cyndi Lauper, Charles&Eddie (what became of them?) Hugh Harris (great debut album) and Jeffrey Gaines. Then it comes to Raf I haven’t found any history besides his Maggies Dream years. What is your story after Maggies Dream disbanded?

A: Raf and Danny were in a band with Dan Reed named “Adrenaline Sky”; Raf also played briefly with Peter Lord Moreland (who was in the Family Stand) for a little while and after that he was writing and playing with this singer who was in the broadway show “Rent”, I think his name was Adam Pascal. Danny dropped out of the music scene all together and became a chef”

Q: Who have you worked with during the years? What has been the highlight of your career so far and who is the most inspiring to work with?

A: I’ve recorded with Billy Joel (River Of Dreams), Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes, toured Love Spit Love (feat. Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs) and a few other artists. Also, auditioned for the Stones in ’93-94; also, played on a few Jeff Gaines albums as well as Charles & Eddie; I toured parts of Latin America a few times with Rob Rosa as a solo artist; there are some videos of various performances with Rob on YouTube, most notably an MTV International live performance which was probably Rob’s coolest band and the drummer in that video (Frank Ferrer) has been playing with Guns & Roses for the past 6 years or so. You can hear some of the artists with who I have played on my YouTube channel. As far as the most inspiring artist I’ve ever played with, well, that’s a tough question, I just like to play music… it’s all inspiring.”

Q: I love to get a sneak peek into the record collection of the ones when I do my Q&As – so now it’s your turn: What recordings are you’re all time favourite albums? Mention as many albums as you like!

A: Here are few of my favorite albums, not in any particular order:

1. Sly & The Family Stone Greatest Hits
2. “Fresh” by Sly and The Family Stone
3. “Gratitude” by Earth Wind & Fire
4. “Grace” by Jeff Buckley
5. “Thrust” and “Chameleon” by Herbie Hancock
6. Any Parliament Funkadelic album before 1990
7. “Songs In The Key Of Life” and “Innervisions” by Stevie Wonder
8. Any Jimi Hendrix album before his died.
9. “Solo Monk” by Thelonious Monk
10. “Superunknown” by Soundgarden
11. “Sea Of Cowards” and “Horehound” by Dead Weather
12. “Discipline” by King Crimson
13. Any James Brown before 1975
14. “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
15. Any Charlie Parker recording
16. Any John Coltrane recording
17. Graham Central Station
18.Betty Davis
19. “Heavy Weather” by Weather Report
20. Any African-American blues before 1960
21. Most bebop and hard bop
22. Bootsy Collins in the late 1970s

Q: What does the FUTURE for Lonnie D. Hillyer look like? Any cool protects going on?

A: I’ve been in Buenos Aires, Argentina working with the drummer / singer Andrea Alvarez for her new album. You can go to www.andreaalvarez.com for her info.”

Q: If there´s something you could say to my blog readers what would it be? Here´s your chance to say whatever you like!

A: All I can say is stay true to yourself and the music and keep on playing.

If you wanna get to know Lonnie D. Hillyer even closer, watch this great 30 minute interview with Lonnie D. Hillyer from september 2013 by Fernando Martín Alvarez

…And while you’re at it; Feel free to check out this short documentary of Maggie’s Dream, by Mark Pellington

And last but not least, check out The Maggie´s Dream playlist on YouTube here!

It’s so great to feel the mystery has finally been solved, and the unanswered questions have been answered. Make sure you check out the music of Maggie’s Dream I swear you won’t be dissapointed! 

The Q&A: The etheral folk pop blues of Dana Williams

Sometimes a discribtion of ones genre fits like a hand in a glove. When I asked Dana Williams to describe her music to some one the first time the answered with just four words “etheral folk pop blues” hence the title on this interview & Question & Answer session with Dana Williams.

 

Dana is the daughter of the late David Williams (November 21, 50 – March 6, 2009), a popular sessions guitarist on albums and tours with famous artists like Michael Jackson (and The Jacksons), Madonna, The Temptations, Rod Stewart, Agretha Franklin, Paul McCartney, The Crusaders, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Michael McDonals to name a few, feel free to read the full list on Davids Williams wikipedia post. Even if her father played with some of the worlds biggest bands, and artists – and her music isn´t very directly influences, she sites her father as a great inspirastion for her career: “What made me want to make music was probably my dad. He was a rhythm guitar player, songwriter and producer and so growing up I was always around music. Watching him perform and watching his creative process really inspired me. He worked really hard at what he did and so that inspired me to work really hard at what I do”

Dana Williams has also a sister, Davida Williams, and she is a singer and a actress known for series “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” the famous sitcom with actor/rapper Will Smith, and been part of the teen sitcom Lizzie McGuire with Hillary Duff and more series and movies.

When you hear “Keep Me Waiting”, the debut single from Dana Williams, you hear a folk inspired voice classic soul inspired – voice, with hints of Duffy (remember her?), a thick layer of strings, piano, acustic guitars and trip hop inspired drums. All sounding like live instruments. Her vocal inspiration comes from Ella Fitzgerald, since falling inn love with her sound when she was young; “I really admire her skill and sound and so that really encouraged me to work on my vocal capabilities”

I even think I hear a little Corrine Bailey Rae in her voice and a bit Lion Babe´s vocalist Jillian Hervey & musician Lucas Goodman inspiration in her voice and sound, and when asking if she had heard and if there was any link between her and the duo she said “I have known Jillian of Lion Babe for a little while, she is a lovely person. I love their music but I wouldn’t say our vibes are similar. I guess you could say our vibes are similar, in that, they are new.” If you haven´t heard Lion Babe check out the blogpost about them here. Highly recommended if you like Dana Williams!

The sound of “Keep Me Waiting” is down earthy folk soul, and if this – or her future release will be released on vinyl I know I have to get it. Dana Williams is a young artists – and this shines through when I asked her about her prefered listening format; “The way we listen to music has changed so much as of recently and now that the internet has made everything so much more accessible, while I love listening to Vinyl on my record player, it is too easy to stream stuff online 😦 It’s all about immediate gratification”

On the other hand she´s a big fan of the really old legends of soul – because when I asked her who musician she would prefer working with – any living or dead – her answer was quite surprising “I think it would be cool to play with Sam Cooke. I think singing a duet with him would be awesome and satisfying, I love singing harmonies and his style is amazing”.

Check out Dana Williams on Facebook (all pictures in this blogpost are borrowed from her FB-page) – and on twitter – and her nice homepage and inspiring blog here

…And if i should conclude this Q&A session I guess the answer to Dana Williams classic folk-pop-soul sound, is the combination of her inspirations – the way and music format she prefers to listen to her influences, and then making up her own mix of music that sounds both old and new at the same time.

There will be more music from Dana Williams, she has a plan for her future “I plan on releasing an EP within the next couple of months. It will sound similar to the single I released “Keep Me Waiting”. “It was written by me and produced by Maxwell Drummey (Lauryn Hill) of Chester French and Dan Stringer so the sound is pretty consistent”.

“I am inspired by all sorts of musical genres and styles”.

The Q&A; Little Brother Eli “A spectrum of influences!”

One of the new faces of modern blues and rock is called Little Brother Eli. A new duo with Alex Grew on lead vocals and guitarist Joshua Rigal. The band is inspired by modern rock, as well as blues, soul and hip hop – with rock as their main ingredient. The band has played together for a little over 6 months only and have their a self titled debut 3 track EP out now.

The three tracks is quite and eclectic sounding and the EP kicks off with the rock track “Animal Fair”; A raw live-in-the-studio sounding rock song with dirty guitars and a vocal intro – not to far from Elvis “Trouble” – before drums and disco´ish high-hats kick in. The guitars make me think about the dirty sound of Jimi Hendrix´ played with his six string when playing live. The sound is raw and if you draw a line from Jimi to Jack White – you´re not too far from the sound of Little Brother Elis first track.

When questioning the bands guitar player Josh Rigal about what artist they are inspired by
And by asking what are their favorite records are – you´ll get an exiting sneak peek into their eclectic rock sound.

-Both Alex and I draw a great deal of inspiration from the likes of Jack White, Led Zep and The Black Keys, but we each have our own personal musical influences which we bring to the project. For example, I know Alex learnt a great deal about melody by listening to his dad’s Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) records. Equally I’d say Stevie Wonder and Beastie Boys are two influences for me which I hold close to Little Brother Eli.

-Our favourite records? Alex: Consolers Of The Lonely – by The Raconteurs.
Josh: Blood Sugar Sex Magik – Red Hot Chili Peppers

As you can see from Josh answers, Little Brother Elis eclectic style even draws inspiration from hip hop and soul, and on the second track “Awkward Position” you can clearly hear hip hop inspired drum playing. There´s no studio flickering here, just a great slice of their soulful-blues-inspired rock. Real music, real musicians!

Do you both write the songs together? Who comes up with the ideas? And does the songs or melodies come first?

-Our writing process started off fairly unconventionally, separated by 167 miles between London and Sheffield, we we´re emailing bits and pieces of melodies, riffs and beats back and forth. When we properly got together and wrote the material however, it tends to be a similar case. Alex might turn up with a melody, single line of lyrics or occasionally a whole song that just needs piecing together. Or I’ll sit down at the piano and feel something out and we’ll build the song section by section until the day is out or the song is finished. There’s no set formula, it just kind of comes together when we set ourselves to it.

I had to ask the band about if there will be a full album, and when is it planned to be released?
Can we expect to hear more of the same?

-As I alluded to earlier, we do have material. For us though, we’re just starting off. Our fan base is slowly growing, we’re playing more and more live shows and we’re working really hard to build a project which has some legs. So we don’t have the audience or financial capabilities to put together an album quite yet. It’ll get there though. We’d like to hope within a year? maybe? possibly?

-With regards to what can be expected…A carefully arranged selection of songs, put together to create some interesting dynamics. You’ll hear a more full spectrum of our musical preferences. Swing, funk, soul, rock, blues, hip hop – however it comes.

The last track on the EP is my favorite track and the song where the band let their musical influences really shine through. A real show off track, in a positive way; It´s called “When she sings” and is an eclectic song that mixes bluesy soul, with a bit of Jeff Buckley inspired vocals, that suddenly glides into a short raw guitar solo in front of the mix. After the short solo, the song slips into reggae then a bit of do-wop which segues into a sing-a-long la-la bridge before it ends like it starts; as a soul track, with a falsetto vocal. All this is done within 3 minutes. 6 musical genres into one short three-minute song, almost like mini-miniature rock opera. Fantastic and amazing!

I can’t believe you only have played together for a half-year, how did you meet? Have any of you played in bands or had solo earlier? When did you first start to play music ?

-Alex and I have been friends for a long time. We used to play in a band together as teenagers, as you do. We learnt a lot, built on our craft and had great fun for 5 years or so. That group disbanded, but a few years later Josh and I were hanging out and decided to jam out a song together and lay it down on the laptop. We’d always had great results writing together, but It was at this point we decided we should write a whole album’s worth of material, and the project kind of built up from there.

-My first instrument was the trumpet at age 10, but that took a back seat at about 16 yrs, when I discovered my love for bass guitar. Alex tells me that he’s been making noises and dancing about ever since he could stand. Although he’s had no musical training, he’s been performing and singing from a young age, but has really found his voice in the last few years.

Josh Rigal, thanks a lot and it was great chatting with you and I look forward to hearing more from you – and look forward to follow your career.

Do you wanna read or hear more about and from the band? 

• You can buy and download the Little Brother Eli EP here, through their Bandcamp site or  through iTunes here
• Have a preview listen here on Spotify or on SoundCloud.
• If you would like to follow the band Little Brother Eli  check their homepage here
• On social media services on facebook here and twitter
• Little Brother Eli also has a fantastic eclectic playlist of theif favourite tracks on Spotify, check it here!

If I should choose a tagline at the end, why you should love Little Brother Eli, I´d love to quote vocalist Josh Rigals own worlds:

You’ll hear a more full spectrum of Little Brother Elis musical preferences;Swing, funk, soul, rock, blues, hip hop – however it comes!

The Q&A: Kendra Morris´ second coming!

Kendra Morris´ cover of the Chris Isaak classic “Wicked Game” resembles Pink Floyds classic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and made me fell instantly in love with her soulful sound. I later learned that she also covered the Pink Floyd classic in her Tuesday Cover Project.

To explain the project: Kendra Morris released a brand new cover version every tuesday prior to the release of her debut album “Banshee”, which was released back in August 2012. http://open.spotify.com/album/3LGCVa8VfjZoFFzFBjtvlu

Kendra is a fantastic interprenter of songs, and her covers versions of artists like the aforementioned plus her ballad edit of Metallicas “Ride The Lightning” and more was a positive show-off of Kendra Morris musical taste.

Photo by Taylor Ballantyne
As featured on Kendra Morris facebookpage

I did a blog post – before the release of her debut album – where I shouted out “I have heard the future” and her name is Kendra Morris – if you haven’t read it – you can check the blog post here.

Since her “Banshee” release Kendras cover of Pink Floyds “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” was included in the trailer of the movie “Dead Man Down” – featuring Colin Farrel and Noomi Rapace. Sadly the song is not included in the final soundtrack – but the song made people even more curious about who the singer performing the song in the preview was.

A few weeks back I later read that Kendra Morris has “rewinded” her career – and is going to release a full covers album called “Mockingbird”. I got instant goosebumps all over and it trigged my curioscity so I decided I had to find out more about her brand new project, a little Facebook chatting and a email later I agreed with Kendra Morris to do a little Q&A about the last half year, her future and the forthcoming album:

The cover of the forthcoming Kendra Morris album “Mockingbird”, due out July ´13
Photo by Marc McAndrews

But first I had to hear how her life has been since the release of “Banshee”;

Now that your album has been out for half a year aprox has you life changed somehow?

-There has been a great overall response to “Banshee” and I think one thing that has changed is my confidence as a singer and a songwriter has grown.
-When I wrote “Banshee” I was going through some major growth spurts and was feeling really vulnerable putting all those buried feelings to paper and melody – as an artist – there is a certain amount of ego involved and what a scary thing to tell a bunch of people your inner most feelings and have them staring at your insides. Its like being at a doctors office when you’re nervous that the doctor isn’t going to like what he finds. But then you realize that it’s you!!! And there is nothing at all wrong with doing you. How can you go wrong if you’re being honest?

Your fab cover of the Pink Floyd classic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” on the trailer to “Dead Man Down” movie, a movie starring Colin Farrel and Noomi Rapace to name a few – has this been like a door opener for you?

-Having “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” as the song on the trailer for “Dead Man Down” opened a lot of doors. The biggest one being a door to so many new fans. I’ve had countless people send me messages and post on youtube about how they heard the song and then looked up “Banshee” and dug into all of the Kendra Morris catalogue.

I loved the Tuesday Cover Project (see above); And your debut album and you now has a spanking new cover album forthcoming; What songs can we expect this time? Could you tell me more about the album, or do you wish to keep it secret until the final release?

-I want to keep the songs on the album a bit of a mystery but I can tell you that they go all over the place.. a couple old soul classics, a few from some classic rock and roll icons, some 90’s favorites.. thats all i’m gonna tell you 🙂 You can expect another duet with my buddy Godforbid from the band That Handsome Devil as well. We did the J Lo /JaRule cover of I’m Real together during last augusts cover series.
-“Mockingbird” is going to have some nice surprises. I can tell you that much.

From the choice of covers versions you seem to have a eclectic and amazing musical taste, who would you name your major musical influence?

-My influences really do go all over the place. I think one of the major things that have always drawn me into the music I listen to is the backbone of a great song. A great song has no genre at the end of the day – it can be spun into anything. A great song can be sung acapella and have the same effect on a listener as it would have with an entire orchestra behind it.

Excerpts off Kendra Morris coverart and more.
See more of her art on her blog here and in her shop here

You seem to be a multitalent and your homemade album collages and albums coverart is amazing and fits like a hand in a glove to your music, do you always make the album art yourself?

-Thank you! I actually didn’t do the sleeve for “Banshee”. Freddy Anzures did that one but it was so great how he went after my all of my influences and used examples from the collages that I have done to create the poster.
-All of the collages on my website and on most of my show posters though are done by me. I’ve been doing them for a few years now. I feel like it really does go hand in hand with my music because when I create a song or a collage it’s layer upon layer of things that inspire me whether it be melodies, images.Things to create a world and a story whether for the listener or a viiewer. I think art doesn´t have any boundaries. It’s all levels of yourself and self expression that you tap into. When I do a collage I feel like it somehow inspires the next song and when I write a song I feel like it nods to the next collage. I am always my most content when creating.

If you could work with any artist – dead or alive – who would you love to collaborate with?

-Hmmm… I don´t know!!!!! I have so many heroes!!!!
-I’d love to go visit Phil Spector in prison and bring some recording equiptment for him and write a song together… -We’d call it; ‘The Trouble With Guns.’

And my cliché question: What´s your all time favorite album(s)?

-Eeekkkk… I honestly couldn’t tell you my all time favorite album. It changes day to day with my mood. I just bought a new record player the other day and can’t stop buying vinyl and blaring my new finds with the windows open. Today I’m listening to Buddy Holly “Greatest Hits” and Barrington Levy “Bounty Hunter”. But tomorrow might be a Thin Lizzy kind of afternoon.

And with that – I wish to thank Kendra Morris for her great answers and must admit I´m still curious about what cover songs Kendra are gonna surprise us with on “Mockingbird”.

I should guess; With Kendras musical taste – there will be a lot of great surprises!

The Helena Jesele Q&A: It´s the real deal!

As promised on this blogs Facebook– and Twitter account I was doing an interview or Q&A, as I choose to call it here on my blog, as a follow-up to the Helena Jesele blog post!

Now it´s ready – and here it is.  To quote Helen Jesele “It´s the real deal!”

I read somewhere that you said your album “Sweet Sticky Fix” is a concept album – made to listen to in one piece. For new listeners; What´s the concept?

I suppose you could say that it’s a concept album in the sense that it tracks the story of a single relationship from beginning to end.

It’s funny actually as some reviewers have written that it’s an album where each song is about a different relationship! Obviously that’s not the case at all, the songs on this album tell of the developments of a particular relationship that I went through over 2 years which effected me deeply, both emotionally and spiritually. It resulted in heartbreak as you can hear on songs such as Lovesick Avenue and Girl in London. But I learnt a lot about myself as a result, so the final song the album – Sun Is Rising – is about finding the light at the end of the soul-searching tunnel. I like how the album ends on a high!

With this album, I wanted to create something where the listener could sit down and listen to it from start to finish and be taken on a journey of sorts. These days most albums jump all over the place and there is no cohesive pattern. I think that’s a shame, so hopefully I’ve succeeded in creating something that people will be able to listen to again and again.

This is your debut album, and you´ve worked with Paul o´Duffy, who also worked with the late-great Amy Winehouse. How was it to work with a man who worked with an artist that had so much respect – and has now become a legend after her much too soon death?

Well of course it was pretty intimidating to work with Paul!

In truth, I’m a little uncomfortable about the Amy comparisons I’ve been getting in the press, but I understand them too. My music is not a millions miles away from hers…however we are very different artists with very different voices! She was amazing though, and was a legend even before her death I think.

I would be extremely lucky if I could gain even half the respect she commanded with her incredible music. Working with Paul was such a wonderful experience, he taught me a great deal about how to structure my songwriting, but he also encouraged me to write from the heart and be unafraid to bear my soul in my songs. I owe him a lot for that.

Who is your biggest musical inspiration? And what are your all time favourite record(s) – mention several if you like

Ella Fitzgerald was my first musical love! I heard her voice for the first time when I was very young, maybe about 5, and in that instant my life was enriched and jazz became my ‘thing’… I still listen to Ella on a regular basis even now. There’s a special quality to her voice that transports to a happy place!

I have so many favorite records, but off the top of my head, Portishead’s Glory box is definitely a personal favorite.

Julie London’s version of Cry Me A River is certainly in my top 10.

And let’s not forget Ella’s recording of Ray Noble’s The Very Thought Of You, what a beautiful tune. That’s one I will never get bored of hearing.

This is your debut album – but have you released anything before? As a member of a band – or something like that ?

I did some amateur recordings a while back, but this album is my first fully professional effort. It’s the real deal!

I mentioned in my blog post, that I loved the simplicity of your album sleeve. Do you feel like your found inspiration on what people make on services like Instagram and such services?

Actually, no!

The album artwork was inspired by the classic photography and design of the 60’s and 70’s. When people used real cameras and captured moments in time in a unique way. These days we can all capture moments on our phones and make them look old school… but perhaps that waters the mystery down somewhat.

For the album, we wanted imagery that reflected the realness of the music.

Everything was recorded the old-fashioned way, in analogue, and all the musicianship is live and true, not computerized.

So far I have found your record only available on iTunes. Are you supposed to release it on streaming services like Spotify and – my prefered physical media – CD and vinyl?

Actually we cut the first single – Let The Game Begin – as a limited edition vinyl and will hopefully at some point be cutting the whole album to vinyl and CD too. For the time being it is a digital release on iTunes and Amazon.

It’s sad that is the way the music business is going… But we all have to play the game in one way or another I suppose!

The Helena Jesele “Sweet Sticky Fix” album can be bought here on iTunes and Amazon

Helena Jesele is – thank god – no cocky diva, as you can see in this Q&A.

She seems to be well reflected about the (lacking?) future of the music industry – and how hard it is to sell physical albums, but still she choose to record albums the old way – analogue – with real music by real people. For music listeners who enjoys a good album, with a classic love story, that can be played from start to end without getting boring!

To be frank;
Helena Jesele is making real music for real people!

The amazing rise of Rebekka Karijord!

Rebekka Karijords single “Use My Body While It´s Still Young” knocked me off my feet the first time I heard it. The song was her first single from her then forthcoming album “We Become Ourselves” – a two-part concept album about nature, and the relationship between men and women.

The single is huge with it´s mix of massive bass line, hand claps, choir, church organ, and the  almost big beat / drum´n´bass beats. All instruments are performed by live instruments. Rebekka Karijords biggest instrument is without doubt, her strong and amazing voice. Think a mix between Björk, Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. “Use My Body While It´s Still Young” sounds like her answer to – and an updated version of – Björks “Play Dead” – but still, it´s not a rip-off, because Rebekka Karijord has her very own style and voice!

She has had a music career since 2003, but 2012 seems to be her real big breakthrough. Rebekka Karijord moved from Norway to Sweden almost 10 years ago, and has made Stockholm her home, and her career has been more successful in Sweden then in Norway. The A-listed the “Use My Body…” almost immediately after its release. She has toured the album a lot, which has made her a popular act, slowly but surely – she has taken bigger slices of the world during the late summer of 2012. Before her musical career took off she was starring in movies and TV-series, writing her own stage show for theaters, written an opera, made big success with her own circus show i Sweden, writing soundtracks and the list goes on.

Rebekka Karijord is now concentrating 100% on music which really seems so pay off these days.
She is a woman who follows her dreams and paths to reach her goal!

The album “We Became Ourselves” is a fantastic record, which let Rebekka show what an amazing artist she is. She plays lots of the instruments, keep it organic, her voice is out of this world – and the production is fabulous. You can, as earlier mentioned, hear Joni Michell in the slower songs, Bjørk in the more experimental and the adventurous productions of artists like Kate Bush and Tori Amos. The album is a adwenture out of this world.

The song “Multicoloured Hummingbird” even flirts with melody of Bruce Springsteens “I´m On Fire” – I dare to think it´s unintended

You can listen to the “We Become Ourselves” album on Spotify HERE!

Check her wonderful Homepage and make sure you follow her on Facebook and Twitter, if you´d like to read, hear and follow the rise of Rebekka Karijord.

At the end of 2012, Rebekka Karijords “We Become Ourselves” became “World Album Of The Week” in the influential english magazine MOJO, album of the month (World) back in November, and is on MOJO TOP 10 ALBUMS FOR 2012 (World). I have to admit i would never sort Rebekkas music under the world music genre, because she´s more like an experimental epic singer songwriter.

This year it has been really amazing to follow the rise of Norwegian siren Rebecca Karijord and see and how she´s slowly becoming one of the most exiting artists on the musical map

Back in October, I happened to have my little Q&A session with Rebekka Karijord. And this was before she was being noted on “Best of 2012” lists. It’s really great to see how much her career has grown these last three months, and how influential she has become during 2012!

Q (me): I think I hear traces of both Björk and Kate Bush in you music, what are your biggest inspirations – who influences you most?

A (Rebekka): Björk has always inspired me, but I’m not a big Kate Bush fan I must admit. But in general, strong storytellers have always inspired me. I grew up with Patti Smith, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Neil Young- strong lyrics and loads of musical personality. These days I have a broad music taste, everything from instrumental music, jazz and even a lot of world music inspires me. Some inspiring artist are: Moondog, Robert Wyatt, Feist, Pj Harvey, Elliott Smith, Brian Eno, Radiohead, The National, Mari Boine, Kari Bremnes… I could go on forever. I’m also really influenced by books, poetry, films and articles in the news when I write songs.

Q: You´ve emigrated from Oslo to Stockholm – why did you choose to make Sweden your new home?

A: I studied here, and kind of ended up staying. I have fantastic friends and colleagues here, and my label, publisher etc are all here. Plus it’s a short trip to Norway, which is great!

Q: With your career now being noticed in several countries around the world, how does this feel?

A: Fantastic. I’m super grateful. But you know, when you’re on the inside of something it doesn’t seem as magical as on the outside. I don’t see myself as very successful, I’m still a very small fish in the big pond out there, trying to build something lasting and genuine.

Q: You´ve almost done it all, where to begin; put up your own opera, done theater, starred in movies and tv-series – and now putting all your cards in music – whats your next goal? or to push it even further whats your ultimate goal?

A: I don’t really have goals, or I don’t think of my life and work in those terms. I take one project at the time and try to have fun and keep curious and learn more. I guess that could be a goal; To stay hungry and curious, not get stuck in something I’m not happy in.

Q: Whats your top three favourite records of all time? Which one made you wanna start with music?

A: Ohhh, tricky one. There are so many amazing albums. But I guess I could say these three: Talk Talk’s “East of Eden” , Cat Powers “Moonpix” and Glenn Gould’s recording of the Goldberg Variations by Bach. I think all three of them together expresses a quite good combination of my influences. It’s all about the stories, the sound and the human body and heart, with all its flaws and bruises.

Thank you for this little talk Rebekka and for enriching me with a little insight in your life and influences – and for releasing one of the years greatest albums!

Rebekka Karijord is definitely one of the most exciting artists to follow. She has without doubt made one of the best albums of the year 2012.

“We Become Ourselves” is a classic album that will be discovered in years to come and it will still sound as fresh as it did back in 2012!