What’s your stage name and where are you from?
My stage name is my birth name – Erik Sköld. I’m from a small town in the north of Sweden called Överkalix, right up by the arctic circle.
What’s the story behind your stage name?
This time around, as a songwriter, I’m not recording with a band. Also I felt that the project was close to my heart and that I wanted to put my name on it. To stand for it. Hence, I didn’t come up with a stage name.
Describe your musical journey in three sentences.
When I felt that music was something I really wanted to do, I decided to go back in time and pick up guitar lessons from the blues greats – Blind Willie McTell, Reverend Gary Davis and Mississippi Fred McDowell where some. But I liked the electric guitar and came to draw a lot of influence from psychedelic rock and doing some touring and recording with different projects in that vibe. Bob Dylan and Tom Waits have been big influences as well, Hip Hop too, and right now I feel like I’m tying all of those together in one project.
Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.
This track has had a bit of a journey. It existed in a previous project, but with a totally different vibe and lyrics. Me and my partner built a studio in our house and this is the first finished song to come out of that studio. A friend came by and out some keys on, which sound great. Right after we had recorded his part he had gotten a message from his father, who’d been given little time to live from the doctors, that he now was completely cancer free. That was a special moment that I’ll keep with me when listening to this song.
What message do you want to convey through your music?
I think that creative work is closely tied to the mystical aspects of the world. And that when one does participate in creative work, one is engaged with the mystical. This is the reason I think art is so important, because artists can move outside of the cultural boundaries that are placed on how we experience the world and bring back something which transforms it. In greater or smaller ways. Now myself, I’m not as much trying to transform anything in particular. But what I try to do is to relate aspects of the journey that is creative work and what obstacles one may encounter there. And thus hopefully be of some use to those who venture out into those waters.
Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.
This one actually went quite smooth. I had a bit of a different idea of how I wanted it to sound when I started, but it fell into place quite nicely. I think thr biggest challanges were technical ones, as I produced and mixed this myself. Transforming the piano into a synth during the second verse in a seamless way took some work for example.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
That’s a tough question. At a more local level, there’s this northern Swedish rapper called Zacke who I think does some great stuff. Some great instrumentalist would be fun to work with, like Avishai Cohen or the Swedish band Tonbruket.
Also some of the great conceptual artists of hip hop, like Kendrick or Ye. Loved the vibe of 070 Shake’s latest album, would like to get into that a bit. Electronic artists like Tipper..
I like collaborations in general and reacting to something someone else does, exploring an idea and/or vibe together.
Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?
I plan on getting a live set together. So out to some stages here in Sweden. Hopefully abroad too, but I’m gonna start out polishing a solo live set which is going to be a bit new for me.
What’s the next big step for you as an artist?
To get a full length album out, produced and mixed by myself. As well as some singles along the way. But this album has been a long time coming and it’ll mean a lot to me personally to get it finished, not just as an artist. Hopefully it’ll get some traction, I will work for that, but that feels secondary to actually getting it out.
Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?
On spotify and other streaming services from the 28th of February when my first single is released.
