Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Ingmar Kroonenberg
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Just like most people I started singing in kindergarten. But it became a bit more serious when I started singing in a children’s choir and started taking guitar lessons when I was about eight years old.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
When I was about thirteen years old I started writing songs in English. Although the lyrics that I wrote at that time were pretty bad, some of the melodies were actually quite good and I might reuse these melodies in future songs. When I was about sixteen years old I started playing in rock bands that never lasted long. Some years later I had my first serious band “Din Granne” that recorded two EPs and performed some cool live shows.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
During some time it was difficult for me to combine my private life with playing in a band. Therfore I stopped playing in bands and continued my career as a comedian and a singer songwriter. In that way I had more flexibility. However, during 2024 I had new inspiration and I was overwhelmed with ideas of rocksongs in English. I wrote a great number of songs and then selected 8 of them for my rock album in English, which is titled “Orange” and published in 2025. This is a solo project, where I wrote and sing all songs. But for the recording of the album and for part of the instrumental arrangements I have had help from my producer Albert Palomar.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
It is pop rock with folk influences.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
One should not be afraid to write many songs and then throw some songs away or change them completely. It is easy to stick with a melody, text, or chord progression, just because you once chose it, and you never changed it. That doesn’t mean that it is good. Be critical to yourself. Record yourself and listen to yourself. If it is not good, throw it away or change it.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
I always compose while playing the acoustic guitar. And write my lyrics using on-line dictionaries to find synonyms.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
I am a great fan of The National and their singer Matt Berninger. I like his new album “Get sunk”
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
I do not write autobiographic songs. In stead, most of my songs describe people around me. They are stories of friends of relatives. On the other hand, the music that I make (apart from the lyrics) is heavily influenced by all the people around me, especially my friends who are musicians. By listening to their music and speaking with them, I have found my way of creating songs and creating a sound.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I hope that people recognize things of their own life in my songs. And that this will make them smile, or feel melancholic, or that it will make them think.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
If you don’t like what you’re doing, it is not worth it.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Primavera Sound in Barcelona. Madcool in Madrid.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
I would love it if The National could produce my future album.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music?
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/album/5TvNrfvj52yHS6MVQgqKx6?si=z6pIRnJaTjiwD5W8sZcNFg
Instagram: @ingmarkroonenberg
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I am actually starting a band to tour during 2026. So I hope to see many people at our concerts in 2026.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I just hope that they discover that there is always more in the lyrics than you think the first time you listen to it. And the same counts for the music: there are more layers to it than you would initially think.
