When I started with the first album, everything was very new and it was a whole new world for me. I wanted to do it ever since I was 3-4 years old. Everything was new, you could see everything behind the record companies, publishers, recording studios, producers, and how to record and so on. It was very exciting.
Was it like that you had imagined, ever since you were little?
- It was actually more fun than I thought. I knew there would be a lot of work. But of course, I was prepared for it, because I wanted this from the beginning. I took care of things pretty fast and I remember that I fell, extra for two songs on the album. The first one was called "What is love" and the second "Money for nothing". The first single was Money For Nothing, and just then it felt good, it was the right sound and it was fresh. It was a mixture of pop, rnb and a bit of reggae feeling.
But was it what you wanted to do?
- It was exactly what I wanted to do. I got to decide a lot myself, if you think about it: I was very new and young artist. It was very nice. I had good people around me. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I think that's why it worked so well from the beginning. That both the song and the album worked well from the beginning, it felt good. And it felt like it was something that I wanted to do, and that I could stand for it.
THE SECOND ALBUM
- That's when I started working with RedOne. We wrote almost the whole album together. We had saved "Step Up" because it was supposed to be on the first album. But then I had another song called "The Anthem", which is the title of the first album. It was a little bit the same style, a bit more rnb and club feel - dance tune. I felt like "we save this and see what happens". But it wasn't planned to be the first single. Then we wrote it clear and recorded it, to the other album. Then everything just flowed on, we just had a bunch of awesome new songs. Then I felt that "this must be released". Because this sound feels really good, and very timely. And I knew that the record company thought this "you can't release two albums in one year". It had only been six months since the first album was released.
What did you say to them, then?
- I wanted it, and good music is good music. We released "Step Up", and the album sold twice as much as the first.
THE THIRD ALBUM
- When I released my third album I felt like it was too much - three albums in two years. Because the first two albums were released close to each other. It was quite a long time between the second and third album. The third album was a bit rock style, and I remember that the first single was "Perfect". I released "Everything but the girl." It was a little more live and huge.
Did you feel that you experimented something new at that time?
- Yes, I knew that I wanted to do something new and I usually do it for each album. Although it's in pop music. Pop is very wide but that album was a bit rockier. The album before was a bit urban and rnb, a bit more club style.
THE TIME IN BERLIN - THE DOME
I lived in Berlin for a while. It was awesome to test a completely different territory in music. And also to start building from scratch. In Sweden, I became famous in a TV show, and there I got to test it from the beginning.
How was the German musical atmosphere?
- Their TV shows are a little different, it's not quite like Sweden's, hehe. There were things that I thought was a bit strange at the same time, there were things that I thought were cool. A little more "larger than life" such as "The Dome", which was very huge, but not as much as right now. It was 2007, I was there a lot much. It was the largest program that you could do. It was very cool, I just did it to the fullest with ten dancers and a big show with butterflies in my stomach. The first single that I released there was "Insanity".
How did they welcome you in Germany?
- It was good, the song became a hit.
Can you say that time in Europe was worthwhile?
- Yes, of course! I think I needed it too, because when I moved there, I hadn't had as much time to party and go out and so on. It was still very new when I lived there. In other words, it was a perfect opportunity. It's a club city, I was out a lot and tried to go out to the clubs, and just have fun and enjoy life.
THE FOURTH ALBUM
- I cooperated with Bilal who wrote a lots of lyrics, such as "On the floor" to J-Lo, Sean Kingston, Usher... And the first single that we wrote was "Breathing Your Love" and then it became a duet with Kat DeLuna. Just right when she had her breakthrough.
Who decided it, that is was her who would sing with you? - It was very funny, they asked me if I wanted to sing with her or Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga was not so famous at the time. She had just released her first single. And at that time, Kat DeLuna was so much more famous than her. So I chose her, of course, hehe.
MELODIFESTIVALEN
- I had said no to it for years, but finally they managed to persuade me in 2010 to the competition. That's when I got the song "You're Out Of My Life", then I decided to sing and they said this "if you'll be in the contest then you'll get the song"'. Then I felt that, I do it and do it to the fullest. I didn't win but I am still very satisfied with my performance and I felt that I couldn't do better than to do my best. It felt so much bigger than you thought it would when you're in the competition. Because it's a very big deal, and it was very nerve-racking. It was both fun and tough.
Did you learn anything during the contest adventure? - Haha, yeah you...
SÅ MYCKET BÄTTRE
- I said YES indeed directly. The first reason was because I felt it would be very nice to show what I could do musically and to make those interpretations can be very fun, and also hear other artists interpret my songs. That was the funniest. But then I was a bit worried about how I would come along with the other artists. Because I had met Magnus before, I had toured with him, but the others I didn't know them. I was hoping that we would get along, and luckily we did. I had a blast and I feel that I got to show what I can do musically, and show who I am today. There were many who had an image of me, from the time in Idol. It was very long time ago. It was very nice to show "here I am". At the same time, I felt that I would be in the program and that I just would be myself. And hope people liked it.
Songs in Swedish?
- It's not impossible, because it felt quite natural to sing in Swedish. It wasn't nothing that I thought of, directly. For me it's more about a feeling in the songs... and also of course to do a song, that the artist will be satisfied with. It's not like a ordinary concert, to "just" sing. You sing in front of the artist. You're becoming even more nervous and you want the artists to be satisfied and happy.
EXIT - THE SIXTH ALBUM
- First of all, it's an album that is more personal. Because I have deepened me down in the lyrics. It felt most natural when I and Jim Beanz wrote about things that I have experienced myself. It's a little disclosure, but it feels natural and that is why I did it. Then, the music is also a bit different than what I've done before. We actually wrote half album, six songs in five days. It felt like we directly found the right sound, which was a mixture of different styles, but it was my style at the same time - r'n'b/pop. You can recognize it even though it's something I haven't done before.
How could you write six songs in five days? Ain't that unusual?
- It's unusual to get so many great songs in such a short time. But it's enough that we had fun in the studio and we clicked as hell.
How can you know that it will be good?
- You feel it. Especially when you've been doing it for a while. At the same time, I remember when we wrote "Same Old Song", which is one of my favorites on the album. The first melody that I had in my head was the chorus .. I sang a little bit and I felt that I could do better than that. Then Jim said to me "this is a really awesome melody - save it!". We tried to record it and I was little unsure and I said, "I can do better than this". But then when we recorded it, I heard that it was actually a really good melody. It might be also good to work together, it can give good results.
Do you usually start with the melody and then add the text?
- Before when I wrote my other songs, I usually begun with tracks, chords, drums and so on. And then I wrote the melody and lyrics. But now we do both. Some songs, we started first with the song (melody and text) - which is unusual. Then we found the chords to the melody, drums and so on.
How was it to do that?
- It was a little bit strange, I thought at first. Because I haven't written in that way before. But it was very good, to bring the music to the song rather than doing the opposite. You feel more free when writing the melody. I would like to write in this way in the future.
Translated by darinnewz.se
Was it like that you had imagined, ever since you were little?
- It was actually more fun than I thought. I knew there would be a lot of work. But of course, I was prepared for it, because I wanted this from the beginning. I took care of things pretty fast and I remember that I fell, extra for two songs on the album. The first one was called "What is love" and the second "Money for nothing". The first single was Money For Nothing, and just then it felt good, it was the right sound and it was fresh. It was a mixture of pop, rnb and a bit of reggae feeling.
But was it what you wanted to do?
- It was exactly what I wanted to do. I got to decide a lot myself, if you think about it: I was very new and young artist. It was very nice. I had good people around me. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I think that's why it worked so well from the beginning. That both the song and the album worked well from the beginning, it felt good. And it felt like it was something that I wanted to do, and that I could stand for it.
THE SECOND ALBUM
- That's when I started working with RedOne. We wrote almost the whole album together. We had saved "Step Up" because it was supposed to be on the first album. But then I had another song called "The Anthem", which is the title of the first album. It was a little bit the same style, a bit more rnb and club feel - dance tune. I felt like "we save this and see what happens". But it wasn't planned to be the first single. Then we wrote it clear and recorded it, to the other album. Then everything just flowed on, we just had a bunch of awesome new songs. Then I felt that "this must be released". Because this sound feels really good, and very timely. And I knew that the record company thought this "you can't release two albums in one year". It had only been six months since the first album was released.
What did you say to them, then?
- I wanted it, and good music is good music. We released "Step Up", and the album sold twice as much as the first.
THE THIRD ALBUM
- When I released my third album I felt like it was too much - three albums in two years. Because the first two albums were released close to each other. It was quite a long time between the second and third album. The third album was a bit rock style, and I remember that the first single was "Perfect". I released "Everything but the girl." It was a little more live and huge.
Did you feel that you experimented something new at that time?
- Yes, I knew that I wanted to do something new and I usually do it for each album. Although it's in pop music. Pop is very wide but that album was a bit rockier. The album before was a bit urban and rnb, a bit more club style.
THE TIME IN BERLIN - THE DOME
I lived in Berlin for a while. It was awesome to test a completely different territory in music. And also to start building from scratch. In Sweden, I became famous in a TV show, and there I got to test it from the beginning.
How was the German musical atmosphere?
- Their TV shows are a little different, it's not quite like Sweden's, hehe. There were things that I thought was a bit strange at the same time, there were things that I thought were cool. A little more "larger than life" such as "The Dome", which was very huge, but not as much as right now. It was 2007, I was there a lot much. It was the largest program that you could do. It was very cool, I just did it to the fullest with ten dancers and a big show with butterflies in my stomach. The first single that I released there was "Insanity".
How did they welcome you in Germany?
- It was good, the song became a hit.
Can you say that time in Europe was worthwhile?
- Yes, of course! I think I needed it too, because when I moved there, I hadn't had as much time to party and go out and so on. It was still very new when I lived there. In other words, it was a perfect opportunity. It's a club city, I was out a lot and tried to go out to the clubs, and just have fun and enjoy life.
THE FOURTH ALBUM
- I cooperated with Bilal who wrote a lots of lyrics, such as "On the floor" to J-Lo, Sean Kingston, Usher... And the first single that we wrote was "Breathing Your Love" and then it became a duet with Kat DeLuna. Just right when she had her breakthrough.
Who decided it, that is was her who would sing with you? - It was very funny, they asked me if I wanted to sing with her or Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga was not so famous at the time. She had just released her first single. And at that time, Kat DeLuna was so much more famous than her. So I chose her, of course, hehe.
MELODIFESTIVALEN
- I had said no to it for years, but finally they managed to persuade me in 2010 to the competition. That's when I got the song "You're Out Of My Life", then I decided to sing and they said this "if you'll be in the contest then you'll get the song"'. Then I felt that, I do it and do it to the fullest. I didn't win but I am still very satisfied with my performance and I felt that I couldn't do better than to do my best. It felt so much bigger than you thought it would when you're in the competition. Because it's a very big deal, and it was very nerve-racking. It was both fun and tough.
Did you learn anything during the contest adventure? - Haha, yeah you...
SÅ MYCKET BÄTTRE
- I said YES indeed directly. The first reason was because I felt it would be very nice to show what I could do musically and to make those interpretations can be very fun, and also hear other artists interpret my songs. That was the funniest. But then I was a bit worried about how I would come along with the other artists. Because I had met Magnus before, I had toured with him, but the others I didn't know them. I was hoping that we would get along, and luckily we did. I had a blast and I feel that I got to show what I can do musically, and show who I am today. There were many who had an image of me, from the time in Idol. It was very long time ago. It was very nice to show "here I am". At the same time, I felt that I would be in the program and that I just would be myself. And hope people liked it.
Songs in Swedish?
- It's not impossible, because it felt quite natural to sing in Swedish. It wasn't nothing that I thought of, directly. For me it's more about a feeling in the songs... and also of course to do a song, that the artist will be satisfied with. It's not like a ordinary concert, to "just" sing. You sing in front of the artist. You're becoming even more nervous and you want the artists to be satisfied and happy.
EXIT - THE SIXTH ALBUM
- First of all, it's an album that is more personal. Because I have deepened me down in the lyrics. It felt most natural when I and Jim Beanz wrote about things that I have experienced myself. It's a little disclosure, but it feels natural and that is why I did it. Then, the music is also a bit different than what I've done before. We actually wrote half album, six songs in five days. It felt like we directly found the right sound, which was a mixture of different styles, but it was my style at the same time - r'n'b/pop. You can recognize it even though it's something I haven't done before.
How could you write six songs in five days? Ain't that unusual?
- It's unusual to get so many great songs in such a short time. But it's enough that we had fun in the studio and we clicked as hell.
How can you know that it will be good?
- You feel it. Especially when you've been doing it for a while. At the same time, I remember when we wrote "Same Old Song", which is one of my favorites on the album. The first melody that I had in my head was the chorus .. I sang a little bit and I felt that I could do better than that. Then Jim said to me "this is a really awesome melody - save it!". We tried to record it and I was little unsure and I said, "I can do better than this". But then when we recorded it, I heard that it was actually a really good melody. It might be also good to work together, it can give good results.
Do you usually start with the melody and then add the text?
- Before when I wrote my other songs, I usually begun with tracks, chords, drums and so on. And then I wrote the melody and lyrics. But now we do both. Some songs, we started first with the song (melody and text) - which is unusual. Then we found the chords to the melody, drums and so on.
How was it to do that?
- It was a little bit strange, I thought at first. Because I haven't written in that way before. But it was very good, to bring the music to the song rather than doing the opposite. You feel more free when writing the melody. I would like to write in this way in the future.
Translated by darinnewz.se