Interview with Jon Magnusson
Interview with Jon Magnusson
I’m an independent songwriter, musician, and artist from Stockholm, Sweden. I’ve been playing music since I was a kid but it’s only the last two years that I decided to start making an effort to become a professional musician.
I started out doing mostly indie rock and folk music, but the last year I’ve also been indulging in some jazz and psychedelic/progressive rock stuff. And I have also been collaborating with other artists making some electronic and hip-hop collaborations as well. As you see eclecticism is my strongest ideal and I will never cease to explore new musical grounds.
Tell us about your background. Who you are? Where you are from?
I’m originally from a small village in the middle of Sweden. I started playing the keyboard at the age of 9 thanks to the free musical education in Sweden and immediately fell in love with music. At the age of 14, I changed my instrument to guitar since it was both a lot easier to bring with me and a bit better for getting attention from girls than the keyboard.
I started writing my own songs when I was 16 and since then been taking small steps, but been quite lazy so it wasn’t until two years ago, at the age of 30 I realized I had to make an effort to actually develop and have a chance of making music my full-time occupation.
For 10 years I’m living in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and nowadays I’m also spending a lot of time with my daughter who will turn 1 year on New Years Day. So music and parenting are my main priorities, and it feels very very good.
What themes does your music explore and what do you hope the listener will take away from the experience? Is there a particular feeling or experience that you hope to evoke in the listener?
I like my music and songs to be bittersweet, just as life is itself. Most often my lyrics are a bit sad but always with a silver lining. I also like to write songs like stories from the perspective of an outsider, like my song Always a Rebel that’s written from the perspective of a man who keeps being a rebel, even though it gets tougher and tougher with age.
With my music, I wanna evoke hope and maybe also some recognition that goes deeper than the usual crap you hear on the radio.
What prompted you to be a musician and did you have a specific inspiration in mind? Were you influenced by a certain person, artist, or genre?
The reason I decided I wanted to become a musician full time was a quite traumatic occurrence that both made me think about what I actually enjoyed doing but also music became my way of coping with the situation.
When it comes to inspiration I have a few bands and artist that really inspires me, among them Leonard Cohen, Simon & Garfunkle, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, The Jam, Vampire Weekend, Billy Bragg, Silvio Rodriguez, and also some Swedish acts like Håkan Hellström, Thåström, Broder Daniel… well the list could be made longer, but that’s some of my inspiration. And last year I’ve been listening and been very inspired by jazz musicians like Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Jan Johansson, etc.
If you could compare your music to any other existing works, which ones would it be and why?
It depends what songs, but I’d say my acoustic folk music is a bit similar to Bright Eyes and maybe Nick Drake whilst it’s harder to compare my indie rock and jazzy/progressive stuff to other artists.
Tell us about your latest music and what inspired you
I have released two EP’s during 2018. “Always a Rebel” that’s recorded and co-produced in a professional studio and has a whole band setting and leans more towards indie rock/psychedelic and even some surf rock.
Whilst my EP “Acoustic Dreams” was recorded by myself in my home studio and then mixed and mastered by a good friend of mine and great producer and that one is classic fingerpicked acoustic folk with some orchestral arrangements.
My next project is an instrumental EP with 4-5 songs spanning from classic jazz to progressive rock and even a solo piano composition. I will record and do all instrumentation my self and it will then be mixed and mastered by the same producer who made “Always a Rebel”.
Find Jon on:
Facebook – Twitter – Website
To stream or download my music:
CHOON @ https://choon.co/artists/jonmagnusson/
SPOTIFY @ https://open.spotify.com/artist/5K8khjFCd5ImBxNFzYusLc?si=oYMTcHK7T_6Lp2QzkzpxWg
ITUNES @ https://itunes.apple.com/se/artist/jon-magnusson/452686686
BANDCAMP @ https://jonmagnusson.bandcamp.com/
AMAZON @ https://music.amazon.com/artists/B005EGFMOE?tab=CATALOG
DEEZER @ https://www.deezer.com/sv/artist/1392061
GOOGLE PLAY @ https://play.google.com/store/music/artist/Jon_Magnusson?id=Abmpln6o67rdutedjbgyrgmz6am
