Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Dan Bygdas

What is your earliest memory connected to music?
I grew up in church, so I guess church music was my first musical memory. It was a Pentecostal church with lots of gospel and folky music. I still love that genre, and I’d say that most of my music is close to what I grew up with.

How did your passion for creating music begin?
It began early. I’ve been singing and making up melodies in my head for as long as I can remember. Around the age of 10, I learned the guitar and started creating music in a more focused way. I still remember one of the songs—it was a duet with my sister. Music was always present in our house, and it came naturally to me.

What’s the story behind your current music project?
Well, I’ve been creating music ever since I was a child but never published anything. Throughout the years, people have asked me to release my songs, and this spring I finally did it. I’ve made four releases since April—three in English and one in Swedish—and I’m currently recording the fifth release, this one in Swedish. So I guess I finally pulled the plug, and now all these songs I’ve written over the last 20 years are being released.

I keep my recordings as simple as I can, in my living room, in one take. That’s why you hear mistakes and missed notes and so on. I like the live vibe and the presence it brings to the recordings. They’re certainly not perfect, and that’s exactly how I like it.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
I love Dylan’s bootleg recordings—I learned guitar through them. And in the 90s there was a wave of alternative country/folk with that kind of sound: Will Oldham’s various bands, Wilco, Lambchop, Smog, etc. So maybe that’s what I’m aiming for.

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
The biggest change was when I learned to tune my guitar in different ways. In these recordings there aren’t many songs with alternate tunings, except a couple in drop D, but experimenting with different tunings opened up new harmonies and new ways of writing music.

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
The most important thing is of course my guitars. I have an old parlor guitar from the 40s, and right before these recordings I bought the Gibson I had always dreamed of. These guitars are very different in sound and style, and that’s very helpful in the creative process. I tend to write different types of songs on each of them.

Over the years, I’ve collected various instruments and gadgets, and when I record I like using these things. On my latest recording, I’m doing a solo on a viola da gamba, or viol—a kind of cello from the Baroque era—and I can’t really play it, so I use it like a guitar, but it has a nice tone.

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Bill Callahan is spinning right now.

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
As I said, I grew up in church with an apocalyptic view of the world, so religious language and religious themes permeate my writing.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
Even though my songs might seem a bit bleak or gloomy to some, my hope is that they can bring comfort and maybe some consolation in a world that is sometimes bleak and gloomy.

What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
That there is so much in life that is real and tangible and can be experienced, but cannot be understood or explained. Music is a vessel for some of that. It carries things that go deeper and beyond understanding, and that is beautiful and important.

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I don’t really have any such wishes at the moment.

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
My self-confidence when it comes to playing with others is quite low. I wouldn’t dare play with anyone I admire. I enjoy gigging with friends and family.

Where can listeners follow and support your music?

https://music.apple.com/se/artist/dan-bygdas/348550566

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I’ve released four songs since April and two more are on the way. After that, I don’t know—maybe start a band. These recordings are completely homemade and I do everything myself. The covers are made by close friends and family, so everything feels very intimate. Maybe the next step will be to collaborate and open new musical worlds together with others.

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
Hopefully they’ll feel that my music is honest and sincere, and that—in one way or another—they’ll be moved by it.