Universal Music has signed another great act from Spinnup! We caught up with Alfons to find out all about his journey with Spinnup and his aspirations for the future.
Congrats on being signed to Universal Music/Svenska Inspelningar! Please tell us how it all happened.
Well… I basically uploaded the songs I had made via Spinnup, and eventually I watched my song Ganjaman grow. About 3 months later a couple of major labels had contacted me and one of them was Universal Music!
What is your musical background and when did you begin playing music?
I have played guitar since I was about 11 years old. I started to produce on my own at the age of 15, I think. Besides that I have also been the manager of the band Albatraoz, with whom we toured etc.
Who inspires you?
Hmm… That is a very good question. I would say that Queen are one of my biggest inspirations music-wise. Others that inspire me in general are, believe or not, doctors and medical researchers. One of them is Jonas Salk who invented the vaccine for polio, without patenting it, in order to make it free for everyone – that’s big.
The response to your music has been insane! How do you feel about everything that is happening now?
Yes, it has been very good! Both Eric Saade’s song for the Melodifestival, and also the Alfons project “Ganjaman”, which has gone viral.
I just came home from the supermarket “ICA”, where they played my song. The fact that I heard my own voice singing trough the speakers in the supermarket on an ordinary Monday is absolutely surreal.
What are your expectations for this year?
I want to be world famous and… get more likes than Justin Bieber!!! Haha no.. seriously, I will just continue doing my thing, as I always have – whether I get 5 or 50 million views. But I want to gig on different venues and clubs and make all the dancefloors go bananas!
I’m looking forward to working with Per (Managing Director Swe/SVP Nordic, Universal Music) and Mikael (A&R Manager at Svenska Inspelningar, Universal Music), as I think we could make great things together and inspire others!
What’s happening next – any releases, gigs or tours coming up?
Yes! The Ganjaman Tour began last week when I flew to Val Thorens and had two gigs! The tour will continue in different cities, countries, festivals, clubs etc – you name it! 
Listen to his hit Ganjaman on Spotify today!
LIA is Linnéa Rodén, an artist with her roots in the Stockholm archipelago who over the years has gravitated toward the pulse of the city. Later this year she will officially have earned the title ‘Music and Media Producer’ as she will have finished her studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.
In addition to being busy with the music of LIA, she has created sound installations for spaces like libraries and museums, and recently collaborated with the innovative company Soundtrap in a promotional video that featured LIA’s new single Believers. Growing up, Linnéa was a sports nerd (handball) and a regular nerd (astronomy) with dreams of becoming an astronomer. However, these interests faded quickly when she was accepted to a music programme in upper secondary school and started freelance work as a studio singer.
Even before Linnéa decided to completely devote herself to music, she would sing all the time and just about everywhere: in the bathroom, in the locker room, in the classroom, until someone asked her to stop. At the age of fifteen, she not only got a fancy new telescope for Christmas, but also a synthesizer. She realized that creating music was something she should probably get more involved with.
When she decided to apply for upper secondary school, she had her mind set on a music programme. Luckily, she was accepted and eventually got to work as a studio singer with producer Glen Scott and the musician’s collective, Blacknuss. She then went on to further music studies at RML (Rockmusiklinjen) and it was during her time at RML that she began writing songs for her own project, LIA. The band started out as a pop group playing gigs in and around Stockholm. Linnéa became more interested in sound design and music production, which led her to the Royal College of Music and a Bachelor of Arts programme in Music and Media Production. Linnéa has developed her songwriting over many years, exploring different styles and sounds, and now feels she has found an expression that is honest and true to herself.
I usually find my inspiration in events, mostly historical. I read an article in a history magazine and then suddenly a song appears in my head and I have to run to the piano or pick up my phone to record what I hear. Usually, I put myself into the shoes of the people participating in the events, in order to try to explain what I see or feel, or even how I would have reacted if I had been there. Another way for me to get inspired is to create my own sounds, program my own drum beats, tweak plugins in Logic or use samples that I’ve recorded myself. I have a great fondness for world music and more than happily use instruments/rhythms/harmonies from all over the world. Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush are my biggest influences in terms of writing music. I often hear sounds as colours and my own music is tinged with a shade of ice blue and turquoise.
Surprisingly, it’s usually metalheads who are the most enthusiastic about my compositions. They always ask me when or if I will release something new. Maybe it is because I’ve listened to a lot of progressive rock in the past and have put that into my own music. People seem to think that I have a unique sound and that there’s a common thread to all of my compositions, that you can hear directly when it’s my music. I’m often told that my music expresses itself in images, that it is cinematic and that it would fit well into movies.
LIA’s first single was released this year and the reaction was incredibly positive - people loved it. Linnéa is now focusing on completing LIA’s debut album. After having spent months in the studio, she misses performing live and is looking forward to touring in the future. Linnea is now ready to focus on being LIA and is excited to share her music with the rest of the world!
Listen to her debut single ‘Believers’ on Spotify.
He describes himself as a full time hustler and spends his days DJing, blogging and searching for new artists to shout about. Meet the newest addition to our Spinnup Scout family - Olle Wikman!
‘I was raised on hip-hop and soul but nowadays I’m kind of an all-round music geek. Currently, I’m studying a music and event management program near Stockholm to learn more about the industry and how to manage music, artists and events.
I like adventure and travel – and of course always on the look out for new exciting music! I’m really looking forward to seeing what this Spinnup experience can give me, and I hope to find some truly great talent here. Hopefully what I can find through Spinnup will lead to some rewarding collaborations in the near future.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or anything else you want to run by me!’
One Love / Olle
The dreamy, atmospheric soundscapes combined with crisp yet expressive vocals, certainly make this new indie pop act a must to look out for this year. The music is a blend of electronic and live instruments creating a dark mood and seriousness in contrast to her clear, defined melody as the obvious attraction. KASSANDRA has just released her second single RUN through Spinnup.
After having spent three far from extravagant years in the vibrancy of London playing in all manors of venues, collaborating in smoky living rooms and spending weekends in writing sessions with various producers, she had come to a point where she felt creatively restricted and decided to return home to Stockholm, Sweden. “London is fun, exciting and so diverse. It had everything I needed but couldn’t offer me an acceptable living standard as a young artist working in the creative arts spectrum. All of that time I spent on music felt I was aiming in the wrong direction. I just didn’t find music fun anymore”.
Back in Stockholm she began to seek out the enjoyment from her craft. She decided to trust the vision she had always had and immersed herself in becoming the music producer she had always been searching for. “The aim was never and will never be to become a producer per se but you need to know the language to express the atmosphere you want to create from within and only you yourself can translate that”. The newfound trust in herself led to the most prolific period to date. She began working with friends and people she felt inspired by such as Evigt Mörker, Bella Boo and Julia Spada. She featured on UKG producer Dj Q´s debut album “Ineffable” and has also been working closely with Swedish club dj Dinamarca featuring on his debut EP “No hay break” with more collaborations planned for the near future. KASSANDRA is a skillful vocalist and years of trial and error have made her very stylistically aware and versatile. She has complete control of voice and her music is testament to the respect she has for the body of work her voice represents.
KASSANDRA graduated from Rytmus, Stockholm in 2006, where quite a few of today’s well known artists attended as her peers and band mates. Having always been in the company of experienced and inspirational people in and out of the industry, encouraging and helping her forward in her career it has always been a natural vision of hers to pursue a life through music. Her experience has given her a strong sense of what is right and wrong. “I have learnt that listening is a fundamental part of the creative process. I write solely to match how I am feeling. I listen to myself and my surroundings very closely and if I can capture that inspiration and translate it in a way that resonates with someone else, be it only my closest friends then I have succeeded. It doesn’t make my life easier being the kind of person who wants the world and everyone in it to be genuine in what they do”.
Her music is sincere story telling with nothing glossed over. “RUN” simultaneously hurts your soul yet gives you a sense of release, finding beauty within darkness. KASSANDRA constantly works to portray the balance between contrasts. She is in charge of the visual extensions that bind her attempt to put color and sound to her mood working alongside her producer Martin Eriksson who found her through Spinnup.
Listen to Run on Spotify!
The very young and talented Melina Borglowe tells us more about her relationship with music:
What is your musical background and when did you begin playing music?
At home in VXO there’s always been several guitars hanging on the walls, so I simply started to strum on them as a kid, and later on I came to learn it more and more, and then finally I came to understand which way around the guitar should be. My home town is an important piece to the puzzle. We’re a bunch of musicians and writers and producers who help each other out and believe in each other. And that fact was probably quite important for me in the beginning, just to be able to show my music to others. Ever since I can remember I’ve enjoyed expressing feelings through sound, but it becomes more and more significant to compose music, write lyrics, play the guitar, sing and record.
Who/what inspires you?
People. It’s a very rare occurrence for me to just decide to settle down and compose. It always starts from within,I can’t just make up something out of nothing. It mostly starts with a feeling, a phrase, a melody or just what seems like nonsense coming out from the guitar. I have several influences and prefer old music just as much as new. I think the music I create is a result of a mix of everything I’ve ever listened to.
What has the response to your music been like?
Shocking. My first and only single came out in October last year, and it was quite a calm song, a song that lies close to my heart. And people gave it a great response which made me glad. I love playing live as well and it’s great talking to people after.
What are your expectations for this year?
To not fail any test in school and keep on doing what I do. Music is a constant process which has no goal. That’s what’s great about it, it never ends.
Listen to her debut single Sunflower Meadow!
My heart is a metronome has what it takes to make the Swedish rock scene relevant again, a scene that has stagnated the last couple of years, which is apparent in that nobody talks about it anymore. A lot is currently aligned for the trio from Uppsala to take their place among the established names.
The band took shape three years ago from singer and guitarist’s Mattis Malinens solo project. After recording the EP “Sketches” on his own, the solo project grew into a band when he was joined by Gustaf Simonsson on bass and Felix Carlsten on drums.
Deep in the woods of Södermanland, a province on the south eastern coast of Sweden, they recorded their self-produced EP “The Colouring”. The unique sound immediately made an impact in swedish media. Among other things, the radio show P3 Osignat (Unsigned), about the best unsigned bands, had their single “The Whistler” as number one for several consecutive weeks.
”Already one of Swedens most promising acts” – Anders Jakobsson, UNT.
As a consequence of their success they got scouted by Spinnup Universal, which in turn led to them being signed by a newly started, independent record label, Substitute Music Group.
“We love all phases, from rehearsing to being in the studio and finally on stage, and we hope to do it as much as possible. Substitute Music Group has become part of MHIAMs rock family, in which our creative energy never gets compromised, but rather developed in concert to acheive our common goals”, says Mattis Malinen.
The new single “Turtle”, recorded through Substitute Music in Sountrade Studios, a studio in Solna, Stockholm, is released on December the 9th. On the 20th of the same month there will be a release of a re-recording of the song, “The Whistler”, that was so popular in P3 Osignat (Unsigned). This will premier during a longer interview on the same radio station.
“We feel that our sound has evolved immensely since the Colouring stuff”, says Mattis. “You could say we are more sloppy now, but at the same time more structured and with a better eye for reviewing the parts of the songs in great detail. Turtle is really a quick paced alternative rock song, but which we’ve made a lot poppier with a falsetto melody that really sticks in your head. Out of everthing we’ve done so far, it’s probably the song which is most like a pop song — which almost feels a bit cheeky.”
Just as quick paced, is the state of their musical career. They participated in last year’s Musikhjälpen (2014, in Uppsala), a musical event that aims to gather funds for a worthy cause, where they will take their place among many established artists. And the next step is the release of their longed-for album, which they are working on at the time of writing, and beyond that a tour in Europe.
Listen to My heart is a metronome on Spotify today!
It’s that time of the year!
Between December 26th to January 11th we’re offering 50% off the price of all releases (single, EP, album), for one year. Just use the code Spinnup50 and you’re good to go! Don’t miss this opportunity to release your music to all major digital stores, worldwide, at a discounted price. The code can be used as many times as you want, so why don’t just release your whole catalogue while you’re at it?
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, see you in 2015!
Best,
Team Spinnup
Click here to sign up now
Click here to start releasing your music
*This means that the first year will cost 5 EUR for a single, 10 EUR for an EP and 20 EUR for an album. Prices will be restored in year two.
This week we introduce the winner of the Christmas Song competition: Älven
What is your musical background, and when did you start with Älven?
From the age of 5 it has been apparent that Olivia is a natural born singer. Simon on the other hand was a late bloomer and did not venture into music until the age of 18. Both grew up in families where music, and especially Swedish music, was played a lot.
Before founding Älven we were in bands in our respective places but when we met in 2012 we saw an opportunity to start something together. Thus, Älven was born. We both feel a strong need to express our emotions in music and lyrics.
Who or what inspires you?
Our songwriting is continuous and you never know when inspiration kicks in. We mostly get inspired by Swedish artists who also write Swedish lyrics such as Håkan Hellström and Veronica Maggio. Art can kickstart our creativity, especially modern art, and a walk in the forest can also be a form of inspiration.
What are your expectations for the upcoming year?
We released our debut album “Högst upp på taket” earlier this year and now we are writing new songs for a planned EP next summer. Hopefully we can come out and play some festivals and we are currently scouting for gigs for the Summer of 2015.
What does the rest of the year have to offer? What’s happening next?
Next big thing for us is an upcoming music video for our Christmas song “Pusselbit” and we hope to reach a broader audience with our songs.
Watch the video here!
The A&R’s have finally chosen the winners of the Xmas competition! First prize goes to Älven and second prize goes to Judy K.
Congratulations to both Älven and Judy K for their submissions and great Christmas songs! You will be contacted by the Spinnup team this week, to receive an invitation to pick up the prizes provided by 4Sound at the Universal Music offices!
Listen to the winners here:
Pusselbit by Älven
X-mas Song (Longing for New Years) by Judy K ft. Leo Bolthén
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR LOVELY SONGS!
Each and every one of you have been considered, so please know that the A&R’s at Universal Music now are familiar with your tunes.
Check out all of the submissions here: Spinnup Xmas Hits ‘ 14
Merry Xmas to you all!
Denis Alic, previously known as D-Nice, was born and raised in Malmö (Sweden). He is about to turn 24 and is now aiming for a top spot on the Swedish hiphop scene with support from Let’s Do This MGMT, which he signed to earlier this year.
Being active in music since 2003, he now has hundreds of songs released and hundreds of thousands YouTube-hits to his name. From being a leading force in the growth of the Swedish underground scene for his genre, Denis Alic has in recent years been acclaimed by Swedish hiphop icons such as Advance Patrol and Linda Pira, and is quickly gaining support for his fitness in expressing himself with raw lyricism.
He is the youngest of three brothers who introduced him to, and paved the way for his passion. Seeing them perform their music on stage and control the crowd sparked an immediate interest at a very young age.
“My inspiration comes from all I have seen and things I have faced and struggled with. To explain it in one word, my biggest inspiration is life.”
The song Komma Iväg that is being released by Spinnup, is his official debut single and has already received praise from local music profiles and can be heard regularly on the local radio. A music video for this track is also in the making and is to be release shortly after the track is officially released on the 25th of this month (November 2014).
“Despite the fact that the year is coming to an end, we have a lot going on and the team is working harder than ever to make it all happen”. This single is the first of two, that are to be release before year’s end.
Followers can also expect an EP which is predicted to be released in late January. “In the year to come, I’m aiming to do a lot of shows. Nothing beats standing on stage. It’s as simple as that.”
Listen to Komma Iväg on Spotify.
Check out the article on Kingsize!
Denis Alic was picked out by the Spinnup scouts to be the ‘hip hop artist of the month’, through the collaboration with Kingsize Magazine. Each month an artist is chosen from all of the Kingsize-submissions and is presented on spinnup.com, kingsizemagazine.se as well as in our social media channels. You can submit your song by using the code KINGSPINN next time you wish to release a hip hop/rap/soul song and perhaps you will be the next artist to be presented by both Spinnup and Kingsize!
This week we introduce a group that has been with Spinnup since the beginning: The Fleurs. The Fleurs is a duo consisting of Emely Majrel and Kim Hagen.
What is your musical background, and when did you start with music?
Emely: My mother used to tell me that I started singing before talking or even crawling. My first memory from growing up is sitting on the floor in front of my brothers CD collection, listening to every single one of the albums, for hours and hours. It took me some time to figure out how the record player worked, but then nothing could stop me! When I had figured out how to speak, I started my own music career, performing covers of songs by Marianne Rosenberg (German singer) in front of the mirror. When I turned five I started playing violin, and a year later piano. By the age of twelve I had formed my own band, and the rest is history, as they say.
Kim: I pretty much found an interest for music by myself, since my parents were not into instruments. The curiosity started when I was thirteen, as I laid hands on my grandfathers old Yamaha guitar – which, up to that point, had been used more as decor than an instrument. I have barely put down the guitar since.
Who or what inspires you?
We get inspired by all the good music that’s already out there. Films are another major source of inspiration. With The Fleurs, we reason more like an art project than a band, as we strive to create a feeling with everything we do. As an example, we’ve decided that every music video we make will be a tribute to a film, TV show or director. For our first song “Basic Instinct”, Twin Peaks and David Lynch caught our attention. But it was actually a coincidence that the song was released the same day that Twin Peaks got renewed for a new season, 25 years after the latest episode aired. So I guess you could say, that this is The Fleurs way of saying thanks to everyone involved with creating the new season – we’re sure it”s going be great.
How has your music been received?
The stuff we do is no “middle of the road” music, it’s much too dark and melancholy. It’s hard to pigeonhole in to any particular genre, but our scout at Spinnup has described it as a more pensive Björk. With that said, some seem to really enjoy it. The feedback we get is actually quite overwhelming. And we have Spinnup to thank for that.
What are your expectations for the upcoming year?
Last year have been sort of a musical boot camp for us, basically only rehearsing and writing. But now we feel that we are ready to finally go public with the project. The plan is to gig regularly and keep on recording, a new single is already on the way – and the goal is to release six more under 2015.
What does the rest of the year have to offer? What’s happening next?
As we mentioned earlier, playing live is the next big thing, and something we’re really looking forward to! The Fleurs is a band that belongs on a nightclub scene, so the plan is to start off in the mecca of nightclubs, Berlin. But we do have a few gigs in store for Sweden as well, those will take place in winter and spring next year.
Listen to their single Basic Instinct on Spotify!
The Christmas Competition is coming to an end…
All of the submissions for the Xmas song competition are now in and can be found in the Spotify playlist. Each scout has chosen a favorite song from the playlist and will present it to the A&Rs in an upcoming event. This is when the winners (1st and 2nd) will be chosen! The winners will be informed by the end of next week – so stay tuned.
Here are the 12 songs that are in the running to win some great prizes from 4Sound:
Ali: Michael Waggett – When Xmas Comes Around
Amanda: Woolfish – Xmas Hope
Christoffer: Oskar Lindwall – Winter Song
Ebba: Dancing Lynx – Light in Our Homes
John: Petter Boström – Love Is All That Christmas Is About
Jonatan: Erik Lindqvist – Nothing But Love (What Do You Want For Christmas)
Martin: POP DOT COM – Always Christmas
Matias: Musaik – Tomten rockar fett
Niklas: Goodnight Mr Jinx – Christmas Time
Oscar: Judy K – X-mas Song (Longing for New Year) [feat. Leo Bothén]
Tea: Mike & Fred – Christmas Fire
Tove: Älven – Pusselbit
We wish these 12 contenders good luck!
/Team Spinnup