Sophie Rimheden
How did you get involved in making music?
My parents introduced music to me when I was a child. My dad plays the guitar and other instruments, and he was teaching and inspiring me to play the guitar. When I was about 11 years old I started to learn to play the guitar at school. My older brother, Andreas, showed me how to play with a computer and a synthesizer, and I bought my first computer when I was about 13 years old and my first cheep synthesizer a couple of years later. I think it is very important to have parents that encourage you to play music, and for a girl it is very nice to have someone close (like a brother) that show you how to make electronic music. I hope that I influence other girls to make electronic music just by releasing my music and by performing live.
How do you write songs? Any special techniques?
When I sat with my guitar (I seldom do now…) I just played some chords and sang. Now I think beats are very important, so I begin with making nice and groovy beats and then sit and jam with my synthesizer to the beats. When I have nice chords and more of the back track, I start coming up with how to sing. I have always found the vocal melodies easy to find, it is more important for me to have nice beat and chords.I work mainly with the program Cubase (and have done so from the beginning), and sometimes with SoundForge.
What are your lyrics about?
When I make an album, or an EP or just one track, I always think of in which style it should be in. When I made the “Hi-Fi” album, I thought that it should be trashy 80´s sound, so the lyrics are typical 80´s pop, about love. When I made my second album “Miss”, I wanted it to be more melodic and sad, so the lyrics are mostly in that style (one track is about my dead cat). My latest album, “Sophie Rimheden”, is jazzy pop, and the lyrics are more mixed but quit happy. I will put all the lyrics from that album on my web site soon – sophierimheden.com.
Tell us a bit about your new record?
About the CD: this is the first album that I have released on my own label, SRP (Sophie Rimheden Productions). Unfortunately I do not have any distribution in other countries but Sweden; this is something that I will work on!
- About the music: The album contains a few old songs that I wrote 1995-1998, now I have re-produced them in a new sound that suits this release. The album also contains guest vocals from Marit Bergman, Kajsa Grytt, Annika Holmberg and Johan Sigerud. They are all more or less famous singers in Sweden. This just to show everyone that I am not “only” a singer, but a musician and a producer.
The concept and theme of this album is jazzy pop, with drums made by sounds recorded in a steel factory, and with a choir with only my vocals. All the 13 tracks are about 3-4 minutes long. When I wanted someone else to sing the lead vocals, I first produced a simple instrumental song and then send it as mp3 to the singer, and she/he wrote leading vocals and gave me over the Internet, or recorded in my studio. Then I mixed it all together in the way I wanted it to sound. My own vocals are more or less in every track, as choir or duets. To listen to samples from all the tracks visit my web shop:
http://www.klicktrack.com/shop/release.jsp?cp=66
The next free mp3 single will be released on my web page www.sophierimheden.com, and on my web shop (see link above). Only free for a couple of weeks! Queen Of The Night is the song with cello by Mikaela Robsahm, and the single will contain one radio edit, one danceable Le Sport remix, and one acoustic remix by Richard Reagh. A music video is being produced right now by Jacob Stålhammar, and will also be found on my web page in the future. The song is about how you need confidence just to walk outside your own door and meet the world. To receive power you should think “I am the queen of the whole wide world”, could also be “king” of course, but I think girls need to think so more than boys…
Do you perform live?
Yes! I have 2-3 musicians with me on stage, one cello player (Mikaela), 2 synthesizer players (Magdalena Krantz and Andreas Hörlén), and/or one steel garbage drummer (Kristina Aspeqvist). The tracks are different live than on the albums (I play synthesizer and sing live), and it is quite danceable for the audience. Ellen Utterström makes my stage outfit.
How would you explain your sound to someone who has not yet to heard you?
All my releases are different, but the main thing with my music is that I make it on synthesizers and computer. I try to find sounds that not normally participate in pop music, and mix it with other more normal sounds. It is electronic pop, but I think that it does not sound like other producers and musicians… Often hard to describe (even for me).
Who are you listening to right now?
A lot…but right now I am digging for old school acid house music… maybe you can hear that sound in future SR releases….
What are some of the artists that have inspired you?
Björk is a huge inspiration with everything she does (clothes, music and all), and then every artist that makes music with a new touch. I like a lot of different styles, but as long as they contribute with a new sound I like them.
What would be your greatest fear?
Right now the only thing I do is making music (sometimes I write movie reviews when I have the time), so a big fear is that one day I do not make any money.. and have to work with something that I do not like… and not have time to make a lot of music..
What can we expect to find you doing in 2006?
Right now I am making new versions of songs from my album “Underneath the floor” under the name Hayce from 1999. Not all the tracks, but maybe 7 or so. The style is now a mixture of pop, dub, electro and acid. I like the songs, and I think it is sad that nothing happened with the album.. so now I will give it a second chance. I will not release it on my own label, so I will look for another label to release it…
More singles from my latest album will also be released with remixes, and I am producing and remixing other artists. Maybe my label SRP will release a compilation or a CDEP later on this year… not sure yet.
By John Siwicki
