We had the pleasure to record a session with ViVii during Eurosonic. This trio of Swedish artists stole our hearts with their dreamy sound. So, we decided to give them a call and check out their plans for the festival season. Emil Jonsson answered the phone.
Hi Emil! How is it going?
Great, man!
Are you guys preparing for the festival season?
Yes, we are. We just got back from a gig in Stockholm and we’re now looking forward to our next performance. Zwolle if I’m not mistaken.
So it has been more than a year since ViVii released the debut EP Savant. What has changed, if anything, since that moment?
We’ve been making music for a long time, so the release of our work was a long time coming. But once it’s out there it’s real; we exist, you know. Before the record you tell your friends and family you’re working with music and they just nod. Sound is not tangible, I can’t just show you what I make.
You have to hear it. Otherwise it’s like working with air. Since Savant came out we are air no more. We exist and we have a foundation to build on. These are exciting times for us, because we are making a lot of new stuff, creating. Working on that inner vision we have in our minds.
Your music has often been classified as dream pop. Do you agree with that label?
Well, I didn’t even know that dream pop existed until people started to classify us in that genre. But yeah, I understand it. Our sound is dreamy in a way I guess. Personally, I see it as pop music. We focus a lot on melodies and creating an ambience which can be very cinematic when you listen to it. But then again, it’s fiction from our freaking minds and you can call it whatever you want.
Now, with the festival season coming up, can you tell us what a day in the life of ViVii looks like when you are touring?
When we are on tour we turn into teenagers again. We are so happy that we can do this, to travel around and play our music. Sometimes I think we are doing this pop thing the other way around. My wife and I had our kids when we were very young, now the children are big and we can tour around. When we meet up with Anders, the three of us become kids ourselves. So we enjoy the whole thing on the road to the max.
Do you take your children along on tours?
Sometimes they come along for a show, but they have to go to school. So we can’t take them on longer trips like to the U.S.A. But I hope our son will join our band when he’s old enough.
What do you find most challenging about the music business?
There are so many things that are challenging. We create music, that is what we do. Once that is done we have to give our product to someone else who is going to market it, sell it, do a lot of stuff with it. I find it challenging that we are so dependent on others in this business.
It’s not a bad thing, it’s just the way it is. In the end we are happy that we have the freedom to create music and release new tracks and records. I hope that our sound finds the right soil to grow in. It’s just that I find the politics side of the music business most challenging.
When you are writing music, do you have any favorite keys or chords you tend to fall back on?
Ha! Well to be very honest, I don’t. We just start out with a melody and build on that, see where it takes us. We don’t think in chords and keys. But if you really want me to name one … well I present to you the magical D.
Do you have any advice for beginning musicians?
That’s a tough one. My advice is not to hurry anything. There are so many ways you can accomplish your goals. Just take your time to find your comfort zone. And by that, I mean the way you want to make music, not the way other people tell you to make music. It is important to be free in the way you create. There are no rules. Just have fun.