Emanuel Tägil is a Swedish artist who released on 13^th June his second three-song EP “Success story part 2”. His music style is characterized by a blend of synth and guitar driven pop that explores theme of introspection and explores spiritual reality. His tracks are peculiar and effective, thanks to his hypnotizing voice. I had the possibility to talk with him about his music path e future releases. Keep reading!

Your music features hypnotic beats and an electronic approach. How would you describe your creative process?

I write lyrics a little bit all the time, mostly in the notes on my phone. Then I take a screenshot ‘cos sometimes my notes disappear. A reoccurring situation in which I write lyrics are at night/early in the morning, in those little interruptions in sleep, just after momentarily waking up and just before going back to sleep. Sometimes I sit myself down by my computer to expand upon those sleep interruption scribbles. The lyrics are, I’d say, mystical.

Music, I write in my computer. I play guitar and piano, but these days I almost exclusively use software synthesisers and drum machines. Then when I’ve made a batch of demos that I like, I send them to Magnus (head of Messy Weekend Records). Then, after a brief discussion, we go together to his studio that he’s built in Dalarna, Sweden. It’s in the woods, by the foot of a mountain and the mouth of a lake. There we use everything we want in our arsenal to bring the songs to life, analogy synths, guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion and digital stuff.

Then Magnus does the mix, and sometimes we’ve taken in another great guy called Henrik Gennert (a strongman guru of the mountain) on electric guitar and production. On several occasions we’ve also hired my wife, Martina Lundkvist, to contribute with backup vocals.

Your style is often experimental. Which artists have influenced your musical journey?

Gothenburg band Silverbullit – my favourite band as a kid. My dad knew one or two of the guys in the band, so we had a CD of premixed versions of their album ‘Arclight’ that we used to listen to in the car. Sort of synth rock/indie with some video game music influences.

Other stuff that I like:

Black metal – bands like Watain, Arckanum and Dissection.

Softer/older heavy metal – bands like Dio, Rainbow and Black Sabbath.

Lo/fi and/or alternative country, artists like – Bill Callahan/Smog and PJ Harvey.

00’s R’n’B – Timbaland, Flo Rida, all that stuff.

“Yacht rock” – like Fleetwood Mac, Phil Collins and Michael McDonald.

Post Punk – Joy Division, The Cure.

Madonna.

Have you envisioned an ideal listener or target audience for your music?

No. To me, that would be an attempt at controlling something I can’t control, which is no good for me. The serenity prayer comes to mind;

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Is there a particular artist or album that has profoundly impacted your life?

Lawless Darkness by Watain (black metal) and The Thousandfold Epicentre by The Devils Blood (occult 70’s infused heavy metal with some progressive/psychedelic stuff going on). I listened very much to those two albums in my late teens and early twenties, and to me, those are vividly BRIGHT albums. I envision a sunset/sunrise in the summer, the ocean, and deep red flames when I hear them. It’s the music that fuelled me up with might and magic for years to come!

In your opinion, how crucial is it for an artist to have the support of the right team?

I think it’s very important. The power of one is very low!

Who is your favourite contemporary Italian artist?

Don’t really know how contemporary, and I don’t really know how Italian, but I’ll go with Frank Sinatra. Italian American (at least) and contemporary in a music historiographic context, I guess. My favourite album with him is Cycles.

Magnus has got many microphones in his collection, and our favourite one to use for recording my vocals is apparently one of Sinatra’s signature microphones. According to Magnus. We call it the Sinatra-mic, and we’ve been using it to record my vocals for several years now.

What are your upcoming projects or ideas for the future?

Part 3 is currently in production (my latest release is called SUCCESS STORIES PART 2, and part 1 was released in October last year). Together they will make up a full-length album, that will drop digitally and on vinyl sometime in the future. Or so help me God!

Thanks!