Klara Li

I made an interview with Robex Lundgren which is up on his blog. https://ghgumman.blogg.se It´s a music blog where he makes interviews with bands. I felt a little awkward about doing this interview since I´ve been so unproductive for a long time now. But it was some interesting questions and I got to think a lot while answering them.

Have you had other previous members? At the moment I´m playing as a solo artist. As mentioned I use to play in different constellations and I´m still very open to play with other musicians. 

Where are you from? I´m from Ånge in Sweden originally but I´ve also lived in Sundsvall. At the moment I´m living in Berlin.

What year did the band form? I started performing when I was 14 in 2013. 

What's your style of genre? I would consider myself to be in the pop-spectrum.

What inspires you? I get inspired by people´s emotions and how I in different ways can relate to them. I´m also really admire creative people with ambition. I´m trying to be like that myself but I´ve also gained insight about that it´s impossible to be creative and productive all the time. My friends also inspires me, a lot of them also do music and art which is great because there´s always someone there to share ideas and doubts with. 

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? I´m absolutely open for it. A lot of times it´s totally possible to arrange gigs by yourself but it´s also very practical to get help from someone with more contacts. 

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? 

At the moment I´m working on new music with a new sound and some development for me as an artist. To be honest I think that all this might take some time and I´d prefer to have a clearer vision on what I want my music to be like before I start dealing with record labels. In the future I would love to get signed but i´ts really important for me to be the boss and have the right to my music. It would be great to have someone to provide me with musicians, social media and recording studios but I always want to have the last words. I don´t have the vision to be a super famous popstar in America. But I would love to be able to live from my music and go on tour in Europe. 

I can find commercial music good and qualitative but I don´t want my music to be a product with the intentions of selling. I like to see it as an artform and that´s what I think music is supposed to be.  

What are your songs about? I´m fascinated with people who can write about things that doesn´t involve themselves. Most of my writing comes from my own feelings and experiences. I´ve written a lot about love and personal development. My new songs is about destructiveness, youth and mental health. It´s something I´ve experienced myself and that´s also really present in my surrounding. These songs are still work in progress, I have a vision about what I want the sound to be like but I don´t have the technical skills yet to create it. 

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? I do all the writing and composing myself.

Do you compose in a certain environment? A lot of times it´s in my room just because that´s where my instruments are but lyrics I can write wherever. 

Have you done any covers live? I don´t think so. I´m really bad at covers but I can find it fun to play by myself sometimes. I´m unfortunately way to impatient to learn a lot of times and just want to do my thing. The thing I´´ve realized lately though is that it´s necessary to learn and to practise to be able to create. I wish everything was already here with me but it isn´t and that´s why I have to learn to be able to play the way I want to. 

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? I think the least amount of people to attend has been like two-three people who definetly where my friends. And most it must have been that time a long time ago when I performed for the King and Queen of Sweden in Ånge and it was like a thousand people there. 

What ages are most of your concert attendants? I think it totally depends on the location. So I would say that it´s everything between babies and old people. 

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? I use to vary depending on which songs I find suitable and also include new ones. 

Do you have a regular place you play live often? When I lived in Sundsvall I used to play a lot at Pipeline and Domsaga. But here in Berlin I haven´t done any live performances yet. 

What was your first gig like? My first performance was at my mother´s birthday party. I played two songs on electric guitar and was crazy nervous before. I was 14 and wanted to be a rockstar and wrote rock songs without a band. 

What was your latest gig? It was actually last year when I played with my old band Badhuset at Pipeline. Since then I´ve had a low time with the music but now I´m really excited to get back to it and start writing and performing again.

What do you think of my work? I think it´s great. I´m super supportive and happy that someone takes their time to write about smaller bands and artists. 

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? It´s always good to make an interview and also because I´ve been so inactive lately. It was also a great time for self-reflection. I like to read interviews with other bands and artit and maybe someone will think it´s fun to read about me. 

Do you have any role models or idols?

Yes I have! They´ve changed a lot throughout the years but two of my all time favourites are Taylor Swift and Taylor Momsen. They´re doing the opposite of genres but I really admire their songwriting. Taylor Momsen is the lead singer of a rock band called The Pretty Reckless and I listened and got a lot of inspiration from them when I began songwriting. A big favourite and inspiration of mine nowadays is Tove Lo. Her songwriting is amazing both because of her lyrics and her music. She´s real and can really have the ability to express pain and the pain that comes after happiness. I don´t think true art is all about sadness and bad feelings, but a lot of times it can be an important theme because it´s present in everyone´s life and is important to take seriously. 

Something I think is important to be conscious about is to not romanticize depression and anxiety. These are diseases that should be cured and not something artists should be strivig for in hope to be more creative. Depression makes you low and unproductive and is not good for creating. Some of the best creating comes from when you´ve gone through hard times and got out on the other side wiser and stronger. But depression itself is not good for you and especially not as an creative person. 

Why do you think that they exist? I think role models and idols exist because we created them. We need them to be inspired and have something to look up to. The biggest reason to why I started writing music seriously was because I saw YOHIO on Swedish TV and wanted to be like him. I was really taken by his message about being yourself and be kind to people. I was 14 years old and insecure and just trying to find myself and then I found the music which has become a big part of who I am. 

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands or bands that are more active today? I think it´s kind of similar. The nice thing about active bands is that they are coming out with new material and that it´s not a definite end when you´ve listened to all their albums. But besides from that I don´t find any bigger differences. 

What have been your biggest obstacles? I think it has been depression and when life gotten in the way. Since I moved to Berlin a year ago I´ve been so busy with finding jobs, places to live and new context and friends that I almost haven´t created anything. I came to Berlin to be inspired and yes I am inspired but I haven´t been productive which bothers me a little. But I guess that somethings can´t be rushed and that I had to live a little to have something to write about. 

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Don´t forget why you´re doing it. Music should be fun and fulfilling. Of course there will be times when you hate everything and want to sell your guitar online but don´t let it take over you. If you´re feeling lost or just like the whole thing has become about selling, making money and getting famous, return to your first thought about why this is important to you. And if you can´t find it, take a break and do something else for a while to get new energy and motivation. 

Do you have any new material? Not at the moment but I´m working on new stuff. 

What are your web sites? I have a facebook page and Youtube named “Klara Li” an instagram where it´s “Klaarali”.