Wednesday 5 March 2014

Messinger Q&A

Your name: 
Messinger.

Where are you from? 
I was actually born in Helsinki, Finland, but we moved to Sweden when I was little. Have also lived in Spain and the US for periods.

Name of act: 
Well, that would be... Messinger – which is in fact a stage name. Think of things as message, singer – and why not messing with your head – and with ”the man”, haha. I'm definitely set for challenging the power in this world, which nowadays is money rather than politics, unfortunately.

Who else is in your act? 
So far I've done pretty much everything myself, but will definitely try to find people who can add guitars or more production skills to my projects in the future. Oh, I have worked quite a lot with other, female singers and will continue to do so. To be honest with you, I'm a little tired of people who call themselves multi-instrumentalists, and then their stuff sounds so much worse than if they had actual musicians playing together.

How would you describe yourself? 
I'm someone who's always in search of the truth, and never chooses the easy path. I question all established ”truths”, and as an artist I want to unite un-unitable elements and make it seem natural; in music and other fields. I'm definitely multi-creative, although my greatest passion is for music and the truth-seeking...

Who are your main influences musically? 
Oh, wow. So many! I've listened to everything from Chopin to Stevie Wonder. To me a good song should be magic! It shouldn't feel like something you've heard before – but at the same time speak to you right away and seem like it's always been there. Are you following me? It should feel natural rather than constructed.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 
I have this naive dream of being able to make music that's pretty much impossible not to get affected by – although I do realize that some people are into, say, much more monotonous stuff. Lyricwise I have some messages or new perspectives that will emerge eventually for those who have open ears.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 
Well, as for being my own artist, I've just come out of the closet, though I've been making music for a crazy long time. Partly cause I didn't want to play the... game of the business, but stay "clean” and uncompromising. But also... to me the IDEA is somehow the most interesting part of the process, and once that's done I haven't bothered to maybe take the project to the next level. I'm trying to change that now, haha. I do love to perform live and am extremely confident in front of an audience, small or large. I've done some nice stuff, like had my own show in Stockholm with the humble name "Nobody Does It Better”... where I presented and performed music and stories from and around the James Bond movies. Also done a national tour as a keyboard player, been in a couple of musicals, etc. Done lots of improv theater as well – playing and teaching – and performed at New York Comedy Club with that.

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 
Hm, there have been innumerous disappointments, I sure won't deny that, but the love for music itself has always driven me to hang in there. Like many years ago, I was gonna record some lead vocals for a band I was in, and whilst I'm warming up in the booth, the sound engineer says: "Listen, with that voice you're not even fit to do backing vocals.” And from that point my voice went south for a long period of time, and I had to start building it up not from scratch but from waaay below scratch. And that took... years.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? 
Well, I pretty much love all my songs equally, they're all my children... but of those I've posted on ReverbNation you might wanna start with ”Just One Look”. People really seem to like that song, and there's a bit of a Queen or Bowie vibe to it.

Where can we listen to it? 


Where can we find out more about your music?
Do stop by, and a like or spreading of links would be much appreciated! Yup, I am playing the game now and will even follow you back, haha.


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