Most pianists we discover play a large selection
of classical music from the likes of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. But not many
play much else, until I discovered Joel Sandberg hailing from Västerås, Sweden who as well as writing beautiful original pieces also
covers and arranges alternative rock songs on his piano. We had a chat with
Joel, and this is what we discovered about the man behind the piano.
For someone who has never heard of you, how would you describe Joel
Sandberg?
I'm a 21-year old
pianist from Sweden. I always try to see the positive things in life and to
inspire others. I'm a friendly, happy and kind person. Also, I love cats!
When and how did you first become interested in playing piano?
It must've been when I was young and a friend of my family introduced me to the piano. He was incredibly talented and I believe seeing him play inspired me to give it a try, I've been stuck since that!
Most pianists choose to play classical pieces from composers such as
Mozart and Chopin. Why did you choose to arrange and perform alternative songs?
I've always been a fan
of alternative music, rock and pop and such. It's fun to play songs like this
in an entire new way, and to show people that playing the piano just doesn't
mean playing classical pieces from Mozart etc. I believe people who hear my
music gets an eye-opener to new kind of music, something they didn't expect!
I could imagine Alternative songs would be difficult to find sheet
music for, do you learn by ear?
I do play by ear, yes.
People often ask me for sheet music of the songs I play, but unfortunately I
have to turn them down as I never use sheets.
I understand that as well as covering songs, you also write your own
original songs which I must say are beautiful. Where do you gain the
inspiration for these songs?
Thank you for enjoying
my originals! This is probably what I enjoy the most about playing the piano,
to compose my own pieces. I don't know really, mostly I just sit down by the
piano and play whatever comes to my mind. This way I sort of capture the
feeling of the moment.
Could we expect a full EP of original songs sometime in the near
future?
Actually I just
recently announced that I will be releasing an album of originals in the near
future. I've been hard at work the last months to compose and produce a final
product. The album will be called Pieces, Volume 1 and I hope to make it
available on iTunes and Spotify within a couple of weeks!
Are there any people who musically inspire you or you aspire to be
like?
As said earlier, when I
was very young, a friend of my family introduced me to the piano. Sadly he
passed away some years ago, and since then I would like to think of my music as
a dedication to him. I think he still inspires me in my playing.
Also as said, I like
playing alternative music from bands like Her Bright Skies etc. I'm inspired by
this kind of music as well!
Now you are from Sweden and we’re from Australia, what do you like most
about your country?
I've never really thought about what I like about Sweden. I guess I like the nature and the climate here, mostly [Laughs]. The climate varies alot during the year, from hot summers to cold and harsh winters!
Do you think coming from Sweden has increased the difficulty of making
your music heard? Also that much of the world speaks English, was it a
challenge to learn the English language to interact with fans and others?
Learning English has
never been a problem as they teach it in school from the early ages. Most
people in Sweden speak english pretty well. I also play video games,
watch movies and such, which are mostly all in English!
I believe however, that
making my music heard is incredibly hard. I don't know about other countries,
but it seems like most YouTube musicians from other countries, especially USA
gets tons of more responses on their videos. Other than that, I don't really
know [Laughs].
What’s something we might not know about you?
I dunno [Laughs], I played
the violin at a very young age. Another thing you might not know is that I'm
currently studying to be a video game composer!
What’s next for Mr. Joel Sandberg?
As said, I'm hoping to
release my album Pieces very soon. I'll keep working on improving my piano
playing and post videos of my progress!
Is there anything you would like to say to your Australian fans?
I'd like to thank all
of you who believe in me and support my music. It really means alot to me,
and I wish you all the best!
If you'd like to find out more about Joel, visit his Facebook & YouTube pages:
Little Miss Obvious (Her Bright Skies Cover)
We Thank Joel for his time and wish him all the best for the future.
Tori Hyland
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