Son of Stone (SoS) shares the depth of his heart and delivers heart honest Seattle rock version 2.0 as away to get back in life again, fueled but scared by broken relationships, working too much and personal tragedies.

SoS is a “silicon valley tech guy” (worked at/with ex Microsoft, Nokia, Apple, Google, Amazon, etc.) that has been part of making many products and features that billions of people use every day in their phone, computer, headphones etc.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with SoS about the latest music, challenges, technology (of course) and much 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, you know the country with much ice and polar bears waling the streets 😉 I’m writing a mix of rock, grunge, punk, kind of “Seattle rock/Grunge version 2.0. I want to create great basic straight forward vocal and guitar-based music that touches the users both music and lyrics wise.

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?

I’ve been writing and playing music for many years, but only for myself. I’ve been working at big tech companies and when I left Microsoft a few years ago for a new company I wrote and released a song called “Seattle” as a thank you to Microsoft and the Seattle area. This was the first official track I released; however it was under the name “Fardinand”. The song was also released on my first album “Live a life worth dying for” last year.

Writing music is my “yoga”, where I open up and letting the world around go away, it’s just me and my acoustic guitar. Then what motivates me to spend the time to record and release the song is my will to deliver great basic rock music that also makes the user feel something and I hope my listeners agree.

How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?

Son of Stone song has a general dark lyric tone, but with some hope in them and my first two albums delt with issues of break-ups, working too much, depression etc. However I had some songs laying around that were more positive so I thought about putting them on an album that was more lighter lyric wise than previous albums. That’s how the album “From dark to light” came about and the title reflect going from darkness into a lighter day. The music style is the same but lyrics are lighter, example; I write about how I write songs (“how I write songs” & “One hit wonder song”, getting people energized (“When I bring things on”, “Here we go”, “Jackpot”), working out (Give me all you got”),  how it feels to be dumb and young (“Always 25” & “Blond to the bone”), and my love for tech companies (“Silicon Valley”).

My goal for the album was to create an album that you can put on and don’t’ skip a single track and after you listen to it you would feel really energized and in a great mood.

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)?

I think the challenge for most independent artists today is to get your music heard by the masses, having a great song will not help. It’s more a branding/marketing thing today where the artist/group is more relevant than their actual music. The good thing today is that everyone has access the same technology/tools/apps/services and you can basically do everything today from home; record your music, distribute it and engage with the world. It’s a fantastic step forward compared to how it was about 20 years ago. However, you need to put time and effort in and be consistent. My consistency is that I release a brand-new song every week (on Fridays). But I haven’t got the time yet to focus branding and on growing the fan base, my focus is on creating great music.

The benefit of technology today is also that you can reach and talk to anyone today. I also believe you don’t need to be a famous name today to be able to actually make a living of your music, but you need to make money not only on the music itself, but think about everything around. This year “Son of Stone” has had one million streams, but that money covers more or less the expense from putting out music, keep websites up etc. However I’m super glad that I break even, I never expected that a year ago.

What was the last song you listened to?

“Love is blind” which most likely will be the first release of my next album “Darker than black”.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

I love the vinyl and I’m a sucker for Beatles records. It’s something about the big physical format, the craft and thought that went into it. Back when vinyl was big the concept of and album came about (which today is sadly getting erased due to playlists and “hit focus”) and I would say that one of the first album that was though as a “whole unity” was The Beatles “Sgt Peppers Lovely Heart Club band”. It was the first album to have the lyrics on it and you could fold it up and there were even paper cut outs with different related things like fake mustaches, badges etc. I love the thinking behind that album. Also, probably why it’s still considered as one on the best albums of all time.

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

Since I’m Swedish I have to say Spotify and I would still say Spotify even if I wasn’t Swedish :p It’s the best in every way from users to creators. It’s also basically the only service that let the artist/group monitor and easy put up and update new content. If you’re super new and just want to get your music on-line I would recommend YouTube or Soundcloud as a start.

Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?

My webpage is www.son-of-stone.com it has urls to all the different music services, social media etc. Easiest for people to listen to me is on Spotify (however I’m on all streaming platforms) and if you want to see what I’m doing on daily basis or want to contact me then use Instagram @son.of.stone

Anything else before we sign off?

I really love feedback, both good and bad so if you listen to my music let me know what you think and if you like it please share it. My motivation is fueled by people who listen and like my music.