Exclusive Interview with CARL LIUNGMAN

Carl Liungman is a Swedish Neoclassical Pianist, Songwriter, and Composer. His melodies and piano performance are meticulous combination of current Minimalism, Classical piano skill, and beautiful pop music and new age atmospheres. He draws inspiration from aritsts and composers like Arvo Part, John Legend, Max Richter, Coldplay, Hans Zimmer, and Keith Jarrett.

His second piano album SHINE was released on all major digital music platforms in November 2022.

SHINE contains thirteen original piano compositions and is much more intimate and personal than the preceding album BORN, which was published in 2020. Carl Liungman aspires for his music to convey existential themes and provide the listener with insights into the essence of life. Check out the album and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

CARL LIUNGMAN: I was born in Sweden’s third biggest city Malmo where grew up in the 70s and 80s. I remember a lot of mixed styles of music often played on the stereo in my home, and also that I visited folk rock music festivals in the 70s with my mother and my little brother. In the age of 8-10 I recognized I easy remembered tv serial music themes and I played them by ear on the piano. In the same age I started to listen to The Beatles and Mozart from my mother’s LPs and music tapes in the living room. Then I started taking piano lessons every week for several years and started producing my own music in a home studio. In my late teens I played the piano at school concerts and won some national talent shows in Sweden.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

CARL LIUNGMAN: I have a mix of formal training. In Sweden we have state sponsored music school and I took piano lessons in the age of 10 to 15. Then I went to Malmo Jazz Institute for jazz piano lessons. Later on I studied music history at the university and courses in classical composition as well as music production. I started working as a bar pianist in my 20s. This job gave me both improvisational and formal note training and experience I now value very much.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘CARL LIUNGMAN’?

CARL LIUNGMAN: I mentioned The Beatles and Mozart before, but a stronger influence did I get from Swedish Jazz pianists Jan Johansson and Esbjörn Svensson that blended folklore melodies and Jazz a lot. I was also very amazed by the American Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett and his improvised Köln Piano Concert in a Neoclassical style, and of course I have been inspired by legends as Bill Evans. You see, all of those that inspired me in my early years was Jazz pianists. I have also been very much inspired by Glenn Gould’s Bach piano playing and more complex Classical piano sonatas for example by the Russian composer Scriabin.

As artist name I have chosen to call me by my real name Carl Liungman.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

CARL LIUNGMAN: Story telling and creating great emotions. I am very much a melody maker I think, making themes the listeners remember and harmonies as if the piano was an orchestra. I work a lot with creating contrasts in flow and energy. Some of my music is minimalistic, rhythmic and repetitive like waves or breathing. Other works can be more “cantabile”, as if the piano melody sings in a river or ocean of harmonies.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as CLASSICAL?

CARL LIUNGMAN:

I started my piano career learning the Classical piano music and also the Jazz piano genre. Then I studied Classical composition and music history and listened to a lot of modern classical music with complex harmonies. I was also into film music and studied the genre. I mixed genres and styles creating music with much dynamics and contrasts. In my piano playing I could mimic and combine both the Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, the composers Erik Satie and Igor Stravinsky.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

CARL LIUNGMAN:

I see music as a spiritual and social language, and of course music carry different cultural connotations. I also see music as a natural expression of my technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

CARL LIUNGMAN:

I don’t know. Let’s see. I believe in the future of my music.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

CARL LIUNGMAN:

I usually improvise on the piano finding new combinations of old patterns or themes. I suddenly recognize and get stuck to a melody and chord progressions that I repeate and explore together with a certain rhythm that I feel suits. Often it can be very simple structures I repeat on the piano keys. At first they can seem meaningless but after a while I notice interesting patterns to save.

Even if I make instrumental music I often build my songs on common verse refrain interaction. But some works are more freely made and I let the songs finish when it feels right inside of me. It is as some songs have to grow and I have to let them rest for a day or longer and I get back to them later on finishing them in a sudden moment of inspiration.

In my music I seek and want to create a kind of magical moment that mesmerize myself, then I am certain I have something to deliver to the listener like the instrumental song in itself would be a story, a small movie making pictures and scenes for the listener.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

CARL LIUNGMAN: I don’t know what to point out here in this matter. But I can recall unsettling music situations as when I in my 20s made a really bad audition for an American Jazz school. Due to my anxious state of mind in that harsh moment I played worse than ever and naturally was not approved. It was quite sad at that time.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

CARL LIUNGMAN: I am very proud of all by myself making my two solo piano albums so far. If I look back I am proud of only 17-18 years old performing solo in national talent shows in Sweden.

11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?

CARL LIUNGMAN: I try to ignore both criticism and bad comments. My music is what it is and what negative people think is nothing that bothers me. I feel so much positive vibes from my fans and listeners on the net.

12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?

CARL LIUNGMAN: Interaction with a live audience is something special. I am improvising a lot when I play and it is interesting to adapt to the atmosphere in the room. But I am also fond of sitting alone playing my piano and creating. Hard to compare those two and select one.

13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?CARL LIUNGMAN: Of course, everyone is free to interpret my songs as they wish. But I think your question is relevant to ask. My songs have got titles that tell the listener something about my feelings or intentions. And on each of my piano albums BORN and SHINE, the album and song titles and how the songs are put in order following each other create narratives and give messages.