SXSW is a place where artists from all over the world share their music with others. This specific artist traveled all the way from Sweden, excited to play his first show in Texas at SXSW. Before his big SXSW show, we got the chance to talk to him about his music.
Augustine grew up in a small village, with around 1,000 people. He grew up in a calm town in the countryside and by the ocean. He notices that living in a peaceful place influences how he writes his music.
“Yeah, I think so I had very much time to write music. And like think by the ocean and everything.”
Music has always been a part of Augustine’s life. Growing up in his small town, he had time to think and learn how to play instruments.
“I’ve always enjoyed writing songs since I was young. I started out playing the drums at 10 years old, or something, and then just learned more instruments as I went on. I started like a music school in 2016 and just went on from there.”
From learning instruments at a young age to making his own music. As he started writing music he listened to other artists that influenced him when writing music.
“Foster The People, had a big influence when writing, and like their productions and everything. I really enjoyed.”
Once he had time to think about creating his own music, he began writing a few songs and continued to release his first EP, “Wishful Thinking.”
“I had like, one of the first songs, the demo in 2017 and then I started to write with my co-producers. We wrote another song called Luzon, which became the first single about like, those two songs, and then we just wrote, based on them. And we started to, find the sound in the process.”
When writing he reflects on his experiences and uses his emotions to write a song. As he tries to use his past memories to write songs sometimes things stirred a different way.
“It's almost like always my own experiences. It starts off with them, then maybe a song takes another like direction. And maybe some fantasy comes into the song. But yeah, most of it is experiences.”
After he released his first EP, Augustine was taking a little break from music but the world suddenly went on lockdown because of COVID. This is when he found music to be an escape for him.
“It was weird like with the COVID thing we actually took a break at the start of 2020 I didn't have like any inspiration. But then yeah, then we had a bunch of time to write.”
He began writing many songs during the lockdown, and with every song comes the process of determining whether a song is ready. For Augustine, he feels that a song is ready once he has thought about every detail. He also finds himself going to friends to see their reactions to the songs.
“It's just, you know in your stomach when it feels ready, I guess like when it has been through every like, critical thought. I go to my co-producer's little brother, Gabriel. He is very, like, critical in a way. But it's very good to show him if the song passes through him. And I know that maybe it's a good song or that I trust his face.”
Augustine recently released a song called, “Mary Cookins,” he went on a little get away to start writing again and found himself producing this new song.
“We went to a cabin in the south of Sweden like last September. Me and Rassmus started out from like the scratch to write a new album. And we had like the first two or three days and we didn't really get anywhere, we just felt stuck. Then we said, okay, I sit in this couch with a couple of headphones and computer and rascals in that couch. We make, like, one idea each. And then I made the demo for “Mary Cookins,” And Rassmus made another demo. That it's like, it's similar in the sound. And that's when we felt like, here's something that we should follow. Then the lyrics, they're like, intro perspectives, as I said, like, different thoughts of, anxiety or worries that I've had. And just, it was hard to get them down in a lyric.”
His newest song, “Mary Cookins,” was a little teaser of what kind of new music you can expect from Augustine.
“They can look forward to like the same warm rhythm and songs that get you going or moving. Like the last one was very much about a relationship. But I think this is more like looking into myself, or like, what's going on in the brain? And those kinds of thoughts.”
Augustine is writing new music and plans to release new songs throughout the year. He is very excited to show the world his new music and is very excited to play at SXSW. He performed twice at SXSW once at The Drafting Room on March 17 and another at Esther’s Follies on March 18. He has music that will make you feel warm and will leave you wanting to hear more.
Thank you to Augustine for taking a moment to talk to us. Thank you to his team for helping set this up. He was very nice and kind, I definitely recommend listening to his music. I hope Augustine had fun in Texas.