About

Hi there!

I am, as you might have guessed, Johan Bergqvist and this is my blog. Now that we’ve established that, you might want to know a little bit about me and why the hell you should care about what I write.

Well, I’m a guy who plays, writes, lives and breathes music. It’s what I’ve been doing all my life and since 2010 it’s also my livelihood. I live in Stockholm, Sweden and I’m involved in many projects and constellations in the city – both as a band member and as a freelancer. So, what I write about has everything to do with what I do on a day to day basis – whether it be recording or writing songs, going to concerts, touring or whatever. It’s all about music. Well, sometimes I’ll take the liberty of writing off topic, like about what I’ve been following on TV, a movie I’ve seen or something – but mostly it’s about my work  in the music business.

So, why should you care? Well, if you’re like me and try to make a living as a musician I think you might find a lot of what I write about pretty interesting. What you’ll notice is that I pretty much work all the time, which means I get to go to a lot of interesting places and meet a lot of interesting people. I’ve had the privilege of working with some of my idols, like Jon Auer of The Posies and David Myhr of The Merrymakers. I’ve toured around Europe with Friska Viljor and Dexter Jones’ Circus Orchestra and I’ve had the honor of opening up for KISS at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. I’m also a member of three bands – Hong Faux, Nutmeg and The Genuine Fakes, and I’ve had a solo career as a singer/songwriter (something which I think I will pick up again before too long). Moreover, I play in a Beatles tribute band called The Compleatles (catchy, huh?) with some friends, for fun and money.

So, why is this interesting you’re asking? Over the years I’ve found that many believe that working as a musician is all glamour and decadence – that it’s not a “real” job. That notion couldn’t be more wrong. I aim to give some insight into what this job is all about and hopefully inspire and help other aspiring musicians on their quest for success. I wouldn’t say that I’m successful, on the contrary I feel that I could’ve achieved more, but when I look back on the past ten years of my life I can’t deny the fact that I’ve managed to get a hell of a lot done and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in my career to this point.

If you’re not in the music business, you might be surprised to see how much hard work it actually is. If you’re not in Foo Fighters, Coldplay or The Rolling Stones, and if you’re not an American Idol product, you gotta take whatever job you’re offered. That means I hardly get to take time off and go on vacation, much to my wife’s dismay. But that’s the price you pay. This is why I’m involved in so many projects – I need to keep busy to stay afloat. What I don’t do is compromise on quality. If I think something’s not good enough I’m not gonna get involved. I feel very privileged to be a part of so many different bands and I feel that I’m still progressing musically more and more for each day. I can’t think of any other job where you get to hang with your friends all the time and do what you love the most!

That’s pretty much it. I hope you’ll enjoy my ramblings and that you check in from time to time. If you don’t, that’s fine too. After all, I started blogging as a way to keep track of my own activities – a diary in public form. Feel free to comment on my posts – I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions.

See you ’round the bend!

// J