Where are you based?
Trosa in Sweden on an island called Edanö.
Where do you work? What do you do?
I work with different projects. My main company is Musichelp which is an umbrella company that owns festivals, distribution, publishing, management and works with the export of music. Right now I work with Future Echoes, which is a new Swedish International showcase festival. On top of that, I write a column in Cashbox Magazine Canada and in Record World International and I have my own radio show on Cashbox Radio.
What are you listening to?
Right now I’m part of the booking team going through over 4000 artists that applied to the festival. Also going through other several showcase festivals that I will go to, and look for what is interesting. I will always go back to Ramones, that is my favourite band and I have my own little Ramones museum at home.
How do you discover new music?
I get presented with so much music on all channels all the time that I really don’t need to look for music. Usually, though, most discoveries come through people talking about an artist. Then on the radio station, there are a lot of international hits that I’m going through.
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services? Why?
Only digital. Mainly because it’s easy to access. In the car, I listen a lot to the radio.
Where do you do most of your music listening?
At work, in my job, it’s music from the start of the day until I go home. I listen in a pair of really crappy headphones. The reason for that is that to judge a recording you can be really fooled with nice gear. So many times in the studio the song sounded great, then in the car on the way home it was not that good. The ultimate test is my crappy headphones. If it sounds good there, it will do fine everywhere.
How do you find and listen to pre-release music?
I get people to send me music all the time so a lot is pre-listening, especially for the radio station. I get the occasional drive-by shooters of music (artists that yes send to you in cold emails). The problem is usually they make it hard for themselves by putting things behind walls and stuff so I can’t access them. Just send an unlisted link. Also, 95% of these are mainly not up to the standard. Every time I find something that is really good I become really happy.
“The problem is usually they [artists] make it hard for themselves by putting things behind walls and stuff so I can’t access it. Just send an unlisted link.”
What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?
There are too many and no gatekeepers. Here you find the guy that should not even play the guitar next to a masterpiece like Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Also, a lot is not represented on the streaming services. I like Youtube because it holds the most even the obscure. But a problem is to find things, the digital algorithms always lure you back to listen to the tracks you always are listening to. Here, I like the radio with the gatekeeper much more.
How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?
I don’t. If I like it I add it to my radio show or a playlist on Youtube. But 98% just get one spin, and in too many cases just 30 sec then a jump and then a turn-off.
Do you tip other people off to new music? How?
People ask me. Many want to get me to listen to their favourite music. In the end, I just pick up new stuff that I found and amaze them with how much great music is out there undiscovered. Then on my radio show I play an “unknown” song every six tracks.
Anything you want to “promote”?
The Magnettes I work with and they are very acclaimed to make hits. Right now it’s their next single “Monster” that comes out in January that goes on my speakers. Artists that I have listened to today just because I like them have been Francis Tuan – “Borders”, Cheap Tobacco – “Thunder”, Aziz – “Sen Trope”, P.I.F – “Prikazka”,Flux – “1960”, 23 Till – “The Letter”, Like Swimming – “Go Buffalo” Stakka Bo – “Here we go”, Kwan – “Late”, Skank – “Garota Nacional” and “Sutilmente”, Electric Six – “Danger! High Voltage”, Big & Rich – “Six Foot Town”, Jack In Water – “My Favourite Story”, Major Lazer – “Lean On” Strebers – “Bergatrollens visa”.
