Magnus Bergman Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: Well, I started to play the piano as a young kid. Already then I was as far as I remember very interested in sounds. I started to do simple recordings on an old tape we had at home. At the age of 10-11 years old my father built me an electric guitar and that really opened a door to a new world. I moved on listening to records, playing along and later on as a teenager I started to write my own songs. I had a period in the early twenties when a tried to make my way as a freelance musician but that was never my thing. I always considered myself more of a songwriter/performer and producer.
Q: You have produced many acts for twenty five years. What was it like producing yourself?
A: The tricky thing about producing yourself is that you have to rise above your limited self-consciousness. In other words, get into a more objective way of looking at things. This time I forced myself to do each part in the process properly. First the songwriting, using an acoustic guitar or piano, then move in to the arranging and producing part and finally into the mixing. It’s like going down, working in the coal-mine. When the song is written it's a lot of work, trying different things and get into a no judging mind set. After that, maybe take some days off and see above the days in the mine, then go back and listen to it with an objective listening mood. This is the hard part to really step out of yourself and try to listen to the songs as if it was the first time you heard them. Here it’s time to kill your darlings so to speak and focus on the things that makes the songs special and know when to stop working and when to consider your mix is finished. That’s always a challenge.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: First of all I check with myself if there is something to be said. In my case I often get a hint or let’s say a feeling that there are actually some songs that want to get out and take shape. It’s almost like a contact with a wild animal, you have to be really sensitive here and not trying to force songs to come through. Instead wait to let them take the first step. To help this process out I often play around on the acoustic guitar or piano to open up. Sometimes the trick is to not play at all and do something completely different as for example go out in nature. Some of my best ideas has hit me when I least expected it. I think this is maybe the most important thing, not to push too hard. After this the process is often like I described in the question before.
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: Well, I started to play the piano as a young kid. Already then I was as far as I remember very interested in sounds. I started to do simple recordings on an old tape we had at home. At the age of 10-11 years old my father built me an electric guitar and that really opened a door to a new world. I moved on listening to records, playing along and later on as a teenager I started to write my own songs. I had a period in the early twenties when a tried to make my way as a freelance musician but that was never my thing. I always considered myself more of a songwriter/performer and producer.
Q: You have produced many acts for twenty five years. What was it like producing yourself?
A: The tricky thing about producing yourself is that you have to rise above your limited self-consciousness. In other words, get into a more objective way of looking at things. This time I forced myself to do each part in the process properly. First the songwriting, using an acoustic guitar or piano, then move in to the arranging and producing part and finally into the mixing. It’s like going down, working in the coal-mine. When the song is written it's a lot of work, trying different things and get into a no judging mind set. After that, maybe take some days off and see above the days in the mine, then go back and listen to it with an objective listening mood. This is the hard part to really step out of yourself and try to listen to the songs as if it was the first time you heard them. Here it’s time to kill your darlings so to speak and focus on the things that makes the songs special and know when to stop working and when to consider your mix is finished. That’s always a challenge.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: First of all I check with myself if there is something to be said. In my case I often get a hint or let’s say a feeling that there are actually some songs that want to get out and take shape. It’s almost like a contact with a wild animal, you have to be really sensitive here and not trying to force songs to come through. Instead wait to let them take the first step. To help this process out I often play around on the acoustic guitar or piano to open up. Sometimes the trick is to not play at all and do something completely different as for example go out in nature. Some of my best ideas has hit me when I least expected it. I think this is maybe the most important thing, not to push too hard. After this the process is often like I described in the question before.
Q: What are some of the themes of your release Do You Know Where to Go?
A: The main theme on the record is to find your spiritual path. In a world that’s seems to be more and more like a madhouse. Where are you in all these mess of polarity and media driven opinions. How can I find my true self despite all this. I started to write some of the songs early in 2019 and some of them where written in early 2020 so when the Corona hysteria broke out I first had a hard time to actually finish the record. I had a really rough time in my life and I had to dig deep to find the power to complete it. Looking back I’m proud that I managed to let go of all that and finally release the album.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: Yes my band and I did some live-streamed concerts with a small audience shortly after the release. As the situation is now it’s really hard to do live gigs. For the moment I’m working on other ways to play music and new forums.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: Music is such a big matter in my life. Not only as an artist or songwriter. I see music as a healing element. All these frequencies affects us differently. I create music because it’s a way of channeling and it makes me feel good. It’s a way of challenge and bringing thoughts about our time here on planet Earth to the surface. Hopefully I reach out to the people that are listening. It has always been like that. Music has always been coming to me in different ways.
A: The main theme on the record is to find your spiritual path. In a world that’s seems to be more and more like a madhouse. Where are you in all these mess of polarity and media driven opinions. How can I find my true self despite all this. I started to write some of the songs early in 2019 and some of them where written in early 2020 so when the Corona hysteria broke out I first had a hard time to actually finish the record. I had a really rough time in my life and I had to dig deep to find the power to complete it. Looking back I’m proud that I managed to let go of all that and finally release the album.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: Yes my band and I did some live-streamed concerts with a small audience shortly after the release. As the situation is now it’s really hard to do live gigs. For the moment I’m working on other ways to play music and new forums.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: Music is such a big matter in my life. Not only as an artist or songwriter. I see music as a healing element. All these frequencies affects us differently. I create music because it’s a way of channeling and it makes me feel good. It’s a way of challenge and bringing thoughts about our time here on planet Earth to the surface. Hopefully I reach out to the people that are listening. It has always been like that. Music has always been coming to me in different ways.