In this interview spotlight, I chat with Jonas Källstrand about his latest project, motivations, challenges 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 grew up in a small town close to the Swedish West Coast and are now based in Gothenburg. Lyrically im all over the place, writing about what has happened, what has not happened, what should have happened and what shouldnt. The base for all my songs is me fingerpicking cheap to mid priced to expensive guitars in different ways that I’ve figured out through the years.
Stylewise its mostly pretty strait forward Singer/Songwriter. Sometimes with more of a band thing going on.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I actually don’t know exactly what drives me. Perhaps i painted myself into a corner when buying so many microphones and guitars + other random junk. Ive always had one foot in producing some sort of electronic music too. I still find those two extremes very complementary to each other. I also think that the pure therapeutic value of writing and playing/singing is a big reason for me to keep on. Nothing really compares in my experience. Swaying from truth to fiction and back again when writing makes it possible to try on many different suits and get into the mindsets of others, even if only for a brief moment.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
With ´Break the ice´ the verses came to me first. Then they found the generic guitar hook that had been lurking for some time. The dramatic bridges came as a counterpart to the rest of the song. I wanted to create a guitar driven song. Its got many other elements but the goal was to make them help the song and not get in the way too much. One difference from many of my other songs is probably its intensity. Its got a bit more bite. Nothing can save it from being a break up song but its got other depths too, including its mood swings between the different parts and the religious undertones.
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)?’
Good question and a difficult one to answer. It is oversaturated indeed and kicks tend to get shorter. Every opportunity to share something, quality or not is so important and a label is many times nothing more than a person or two, often with less skills and contacts than the artists themselves.
I really am in two minds. This digital cloud where everything is supposed to happen is pretty much like the ego in a sense. Its all you have and still you want to get it out of the way more than anything. I guess thats where the actual music comes in and makes all the other nonsense irrelevant.
Dizzy? thats how i feel about this too.
In a more specific sense and to satisfy the nerd in me both digital and analogue play an important role in my music. Latency and malfunctioning tape machines. One devil on each shoulder.
Anything else before we sign off?
Theres a new single in the pipeline and a video as well of which I’m very proud. Filmed by the very talented filmmaker and friend Boris Laible.
