Dream on

It just goes to show that when you have a dream you have to fully go for it no matter the costs without a thought to what might happen and believe that you can create greatness.

I believe in this dream and it has made me proud!

Love,

Em

Photo: ©Carina Hedlund

Nothing else compares

I have found that there is a sole moment in time where I am completely at peace. You would think that it would be on stage... Close. There is a moment when you get off stage, when you have given in to all those feelings you want to portray and are completely exhausted. That moment when you take that first breath and think; "I nailed it." and look around the room to see all these faces smiling at you, knowing that what you just did there is exactly what you were made to do.

Life in itself causes so many distractions, so many roads and hiccups to chose from or get tossed into and it is so hard to find a way were you feel completely right.
There are so many things you have to do before you get to that moment, if you ever get to that moment.
"But I already know what I want to do. I have known this all along." Well it doesn't work that way, does it?

Music makes me tick, it makes me burn and vibrate and it allows me to feel all these things I have to feel, all these things I want to feel. It provides a safety that is unbeatable. It is my way to speak.
This is why so much of my time is put into the lyrics, they have to fit and make me feel something so that when I record it (live, at home, in a studio) I can feel that emotion I originally put into that song. The lyrics however, doesn't always have to make much sense. I can sit down and play something and the words come flying out and build a beautiful sentence although weird it somehow causes a reaction and people seem to understand where I am heading with it. It's funny that way.
May it be happiness, sadness, anger, love or a sense of respect they all have to make me feel.

I am a perfectionist, not at all in life, everything around me can be messy, but in music I am a perfectionist at heart. It's both good and bad, I can put a song away for several months or years because it doesn't make me tick, it doesn't cause me to feel and later just play it once and find what was wrong, make it better. I can't release or perform something I'm not proud of just because I have to. If I am not sure of the song I'll skip it in a heartbeat.

I may sound pretentious but it's true.

The thing I am trying to say is that no matter what artist or band or song as long as it makes me feel something I can indulge myself in that song for hours.

Love,
Em

Peace

There is a story out about a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In my mind if you are to, in any way, not only strip people (let alone your own people) of their rights to be who they are, but also persecute them you are not in any way working for a world of peace.

I believe that peace equals freedom and acceptance. Freedom to be who you are, love who you want and believe what you want without anyone else telling you that you are less of a being.

As long as what you do is not hurtful to anyone else you deserve to have the fundamental right to support and acceptance of who you are.

Everyone has a past, everyone has done something they are not proud of and yet to pride yourself in being a leader of a country that dictates whether or not you are worthy of the same rights as anyone else depending on who you love...
That is exactly like priding yourself in being a leader of a country that dictates whether or not you have the right to live depending on what color your skin is or what beliefs you have.

It is also a direct violation of the human rights.

A person that can't see beyond their own hatred and loathing to find an understanding and acceptance shall never be my advocate for peace, no matter the actions they may have taken in other situations.

Until there are hard, cold facts that people of a certain sex, a different sexuality, origin, skin color or religion are ALL in their own "category" somehow going to end the world (as some people actually say they will) by existing, or are hurtful to others in a way that is damaging I will continue to believe that whatever heinous acts are committed around the globe are actually committed by individuals.
A person, one person, with a story that chooses to commit such a horrible thing.
NOT a sexuality, a skin color, a religion nor a gender.

And as we look upon it differently...
A person chose to enslave others, several people did, a person chose to persecute jews and a person chose to ban "homosexual propaganda" and decided that being LGBT makes you unfit to parent a child. A person chose to decide that being LGBT makes you so much less of a being that you have to die.

Tell me now, which one of these ideas do you prefer and how much of our time should we spend on blaming everyone else for our own mistakes, hatred, nonacceptance and mistrust?

I do not want to believe in hatred, I do not want to practice it, I want it erased. It can't be done, I know that, and I sometimes feel myself so consumed by this mistrust that I am angry with myself for letting people get to me. I can't stay quiet and that is my burden, my flaw.

It does not matter how old you are in your decision making, it matters how smart you are, how openminded and accepting you are. In order to build a functioning society and world that doesn't feel the need to claim others in their own misguided hatred.
I could never want a person dead simply for being who they are when who they are has done nothing wrong, nothing to deserve other people's hatred and cruelty.

And with that in mind I have found that the people we really should learn from are children. They just don't care.

Believe that you are strong enough to be who you are and I will be right there beside you, fighting for what is rightfully yours.

Studio

So I am now finished with phase 1 of my recording along with Mats Lindfors. 

The songs sound better than I could have imagined and the flow throughout it all is perfect!

We tried a little different way of recording this time, which was greatly appreciated!

I'm excited to hear the first recordings and also to head back into the studio in three weeks to finish.

I am also planning to put up a video of some of the clips from this weekend on my youtube channel EmmaLarsenOfficial, you are welcome to check it out and I will be letting you know as soon as it's up!

Fabian on the photo below at the end of day three!

Love,

Em

A good day

"Today was a good day".

This is how I think, how I act, what I am.

What if every day was a good day? What if I every day got to wake up and find myself knowing that today.... Today I'll be doing what I love. What I, in my outmost worst days, do best.

There is a sense. A sense when the music is flowing through you and all you can feel is powerful, endless, immortal.

That's the thing about music. It picks you up when you're weak, it takes you down when you've gone too far. It doesn't judge or despise. Music just is and will forever be.

It is there to be molded by your hands, explored and fulfilled.

This is what I love about music.

Music, too me, is all about emotion. Whatever emotion it is still all about emotion. From lyrics to melodies to a beat it has to make you feel something. That is why I can honestly say that I do love all kinds of music as long as it makes me feel... Something.

Here is a photo from before my gig at Underbara Bar yesterday on September 25th, courtesy of one Fonzi Bolin, enjoy!

Love,
Em

Almost there

I believe it was Harriet Martineau (I have it scribbled down in one of my books) who said that "we do not believe in immortality because we can prove it, but we try to prove it because we cannot help believing it."

To the last breath I will believe it, I think. That is just who I am no matter how much I try to change it.

It's almost gametime and I'm on a bus and on my way home to get ready.

These moments of silence and focus are probably the worst and the best moments every time. It's like I can hear my heart beat and my headphones are in but there's no music.

The distant chatter in the background makes for a perfect setting for me and my thoughts.

I am all I am and what I choose to do with that makes all the difference.

Some people damn their nerves in moments like these, I welcome them. Should I ever become overconfident in what I do then I shall resign because I have failed my purpose, my heart and my passion. It will no longer be worth it.

It's almost October and summer ended abruptly somehow, or maybe I wasn't really aware it was coming to an end. I should have, it's September.

The heart beats faster and faster and my mind starts spinning. The last few nights I've barely slept as I imagine the night play by play.

What will I say?

How do I act?

How will we do?

And I know that as soon I get there the excitement will overcome any kind of fear as I know and feel that in a few short hours I will stand there, once again, and be able to do what I utterly, tirelessly, undyingly love. And I am complete.

This is how I cope, this is how I live and breathe, this is how I love.

//Em

Philosophy

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it still make a sound?

Blue is blue to me but is it the same color that you see?

No, seriously.

People ask me why I do everything in English. Blog, songs, website, my books...

Other than the fact that doing everything in English means that more people can read and understand it I do try to find the words in Swedish but every time I think about something that I want to write or imagine it's in English.

My thoughts are mostly in English.

I don't know when or how it happened but my conclusion is that it just sounds better. It's easier to get things across and to dwell on things (as we all do).

I sometimes remember conversations I've had in English even though they weren't.

Anyhow, I must say that in my head my pronunciation is extremely good! I'll work on the real deal though;)

Love,

Em

Don't dream it's over

Ingen kan leva ditt liv så bra som du. Låt ingen diktera hur du bör leva, vem du bör vara eller vad du bör tycka om det inte gör dig lycklig.

I slutändan är det du, och endast du, som ska stå för konsekvenserna.

A life well lived makes for no regrets at the end.

Våga vara stark!

EP

The EP Volume I has been out for a while and I have gotten a lot of great response! Now I'm planning for the next one which I'll begin to record now in September and have a great feeling about it.

It's a work in progress which is fun because right now I have an idea about what I want but it could turn out completely different.

Anyhow, awaiting the next EP, check out Volume I, you can find links to it on my website www.emmalarsen.com

Turn it up

While the past few years have been fun and full of excitement what with having multiple gigs at Fotografiska during Christmas last year, having to have played at the opening ceremony of the Child Cancer Foundation's photo exhibition as well as having to be able to record and release my first solo EP!

I am fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life to support me in all that I do and set my mind to.

I have now made up my mind to continue on with this new project I am working on called "Project Million" and I hope that you will all be able to take this journey with me.

Check out the links to my EP on Spotify, Itunes, Amazon and WiMP on my website:
www.emmalarsen.com

Until next time!

Love,

Em