With the release of Finally! in 2016, I felt I was entering a whole new chapter of my musical life. It was long overdue, hence the title. But the way it materialized, I’m not sure it could have been done any earlier or faster. Sometimes the process has to run its course, take its time and mature. At least that’s what I like to tell myself.
Since the album featured 3 different guitar players, I had 3 potential trios to work with. Though, it was clear that when it comes to my own music, I wanted to have Samuel Hällkvist on guitar and Daniel Olsson on drums. That’s the trio that best can capture the diversity of the repertoire. And since we have known each other and played together occasionally for about 20 years, it felt a little like ”getting the band back together”.
One of the first tours we did was a week in Iceland in the summer following the release. That tour in many ways brought us together again as a group and forged this trio. Now, three years later, some traces of that are still present. The song Trìtlar was named after my favorite Icelandic candy, of which we consumed a whole lot. In many ways that song also represents this group. The initial idea – the bass line, emerged during my early years of organ practice, which makes it as old our friendships. The song itself contains a variety of grooves, moods and dynamics, showing a spectrum of the sound of the group. And lastly, it is also the only song where everyone in the trio is featured in a solo.
The photo covering the backside of the album was taken in the middle of the tour in a living room of a house in Stykkisholmur. I like the image of us three sitting comfortably together gazing out over the landscape, amazed by its vastness and beauty. Like the music we’re about to discover and create.
During these three years, apart from the trio taking shape, a lot of things happen on the individual level as well. New ideas emerge, old ideas are rediscovered and some darlings are killed along the way. I’m happy to present a few brand new songs that represents the music currently flowing from within. Some of the songs has been around for a while but have not been previously recorded. Two of the songs were also on Finally!, but without guitar, so wanted to record them again with Samuel. Though they all differ quite a lot stylisticly, I feel each one of them represent some side of me and my musicality. Together they form a palette of the various ways of how I like to utilize the Hammond B3 and the organ trio format. I’m also excited to make my first release on my own label. I hope to make it my creative outlet for realizing and recording ideas I have and projects I’m involved in.
And as the music evolves, life itself continuously unfolds. In a way they are parallel universes, but they do intertwine and affect each other. The making of this album has coincided with a personal journey of my own, but the essence is the same for both – to trust and embrace what comes from within and to bring it out to the world, whether it’s in the form of music, appearance or a general outlook on things.
Step by step, things fall into place. There is a direction from what has come before, although the end goal might not be that obvious or even known. But with each step the inner vision materializes a little more.
And so, the title Becoming was chosen to reflect these processes.
I feel blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, and I’m utterly thankful for all the love and support that’s constantly there. That’s what keeps me going. I can’t mention all by name but I hope you know who you are.
A few special thanks to some of the key persons that made this production what it is – Palli Kristmundsson for photos and overall practical and moral support, Janne Jutila for capturing the recording magic, Nicke Widén for commitment and patience in the mixing, Eric James for swift and skillful mastering, Daniel Lantz and Ingemar Bergman for support and feedback, Katalin for the photo shoot location and of course my fellow musicians, Samuel Hällkvist and Daniel Olsson.