Hawk and the Wild is a singer/songwriter who’s real name is Jimmy Wiltfalk. He plays most live gigs alone as a one man band but he is sometimes accompanied on stage by his friends. Jimmy writes both music and lyrics while also recording and premixing most of it in his own home studio.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Jimmy about the latest music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I’m from Sweden, a town called Västerås, west of Stockholm. My style of music as Hawk and the Wild is indie pop and acoustic rock.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Chasing sunsets is a distant memory from a time before the corona pandemic. When he and his wife took the car and traveled 200km in the summer visiting 5 countries in a few days road trip. Now we can worship the sunsets from being a tourist closer to home. Exploring the nearby lakes, forests lands hillsides as a tourist at home.
Sometimes it’s best to just lay down low. Put down the guns. Lay down the argument. Remind oneself about the frailty of life. The precious moments swiftly passing by are too rare to go unnoticed, sad, angry and alone. Lay down low and letting go is sometimes the only way to make room to let others in and give back.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
It was recorded in my studio and I did more of the production and sound engineering than before. Learning alot from Rene Jesser who did the final mixes.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Social media is as important as it is very time consuming and many of the platforms require a daily effort. Together with my fans I made a music video for Chasing Sunsets.
What was the last song you listened to?
Girl in red – Hornylovesickmess
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Spotify
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
www.hawkandthewild.com, youtube, instagram and facebook
Anything else before we sign off?
These songs features two other musicians from Västerås who added their share and flare in the production. Mats B Olsson on piano and keys (Skaboogie, Papa Dee, Kärleksbyrån) and Adam Janzi with drums and percussion (Dotter, Vola). In addition my two sisters Marielle and Jeanine Svensson did a vocal session with fantastic performances to give the songs their final touch.
