Songwriter leaves Sweden to travel cross country
by thinkrevelry
Not many people would quit their jobs and move to another country. However, Swedish musician Sofia Talvik and her husband Jonas Westin decided last year to move from Stockholm, Sweden to Florida to pursue a career in music.
They are now touring across the United States, from their new home in an RV.
“I was getting kind of tired of Sweden,” said Talvik. “It’s such a small country. Everything is kind of the same all the time. For a few years, I was thinking of getting a job abroad.”
Talvik studied art and graphic design at Bergh University in Sweden. Until this tour, she had worked as an art director and freelance graphic designer. The singer/songwriter does all her own art work for her website and albums.
Talvik has released four albums since her 2005 debut, “Blue Moon.” On January 31, her album “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” will be available on iTunes.
After seeing Tavlik perform live at The Sentient Bean, and listening to “The Owls Are Not What They Seem” I can see why she was the first Swedish artist to ever perform at Lollapalooza. Although Tavlik has an amazing voice, for many listeners like myself, talent is not enough.
“The Owls Are Not What They Seem” offers creative, interesting and enjoyable music. Although Tavlik has been compared to Aimee Mann, I would argue that she sings more in the style of Alison Kraus with the sensibilities of Feist. While listening to the album, I imagined seeing her again at a bluegrass festival or the Savannah Stopover festival.
In addition to being an artist, singer and songwriter, Talvik and Westin also own their own record label Makaki Music in Sweden. Before making the move, Westin also left a job working at TV4, one of the biggest TV stations in Sweden. According to Tavlik, they both could not be happier with the decision they made.
“I am excited that we did this everyday,” said Tavlik. “Ever day is an adventure. We meet new people everyday. For the tour, everyone’s been so nice and invited us to their homes. We have such a good time all that time.”
She also noted the interesting take United States citizens seem to have on geography. “A lot of Americans do mix up Sweden and Switzerland,” said Talvik with a laugh.
Still, of the Americans Talvik has met on tour so far, she said everyone has been supportive of her music. She attributes this to the face that she went “back to basics” for this album.
“When I recorded my first album, it was a live album,” said Talvik. “We recorded all the instruments at the same time. So we did the basic tracks first and then you add and you add. I just felt for this album, so I wanted to do something that felt had a live feel.
“The guitar and vocals are recorded at the same time. “
For anyone looking to further his or her music career, Talvik had some advice.
“You should try to listen to yourself. See what you can do for yourself and don’t hang around and wait for someone to discover you. There’s so many people you can contact if you want advice.
“The only way to do this is to do it on your own. “
Sofia Talvik and her husband, Jonas Westin.
