A Chat with Sev Karlsson (14.05.26)
LA-to-Vancouver artist Sev Karlsson has released his latest EP, Reverie. Blending a hazy atmosphere of alt-pop and indie electronica, the EP is an examination of what making music means to the artist. We chat with Sev Karlsson about all things music below.
OSR: You’ve just released your debut EP. What does this moment feel like for you emotionally, after spending so long building toward it?
Karlsson: It’s a really big thing for me, honestly, because I’ve had quite a debilitating fear of releasing music that has prevented me from progressing with my music for ages. I’m always afraid that I won’t be proud of something I’ve put out years down the road, but I’ve recently come to the conclusion that that’s kind of a nonsensical way of thinking because I can’t possibly predict what future me will feel about anything. I’ve been trying to remain more grounded in the present moment in general, and I think releasing quality music that’s up to par with my current standards is the most emotionally liberating thing I can be doing right now.
OSR: When you look back at the earliest stages of this project, what was the original spark that set it in motion?
Karlsson: It all started with Bygone, really. There were an unruly amount of demos that didn’t make it on the project, so I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t a challenge to decide on what the project would sound/feel like, but from Bygone onward, I had a pretty solid idea of the general vibe of the project.
OSR: The EP blends a lot of sonic textures, between indie electronic, chillwave, and alternative pop. How did you decide on this palette, and did it evolve?
Karlsson: It’s really just the culmination of all of my influences. I would describe my listening as falling pretty cleanly into a few buckets: chillwave/classic indie pop and indie electronic, classic EDM, and then a good bit of post-rock, Midwest emo, and other more guitar-based genres. I think the EP leans really heavily on the first bucket sonically, but I’m definitely influenced by all three during the creative process. I’ve released a huge amount of EDM in the past, and there’s a whole progressive rock album out there for those savvy enough to dig it up.
OSR: You’ve described writing this during a period of transition between Los Angeles and Vancouver. How did those two environments shape the sound or mood of the record?
Karlsson: I think a lot of Reverie is informed by being in Los Angeles and missing/yearning for Vancouver. That comes across most discernibly in the general mood of the record. I don’t think there’s a distinct “sound” that I could attribute to either LA or Vancouver, but I will say most of the visuals were shot in Vancouver, and I think they match the music quite well.
OSR: What was the most challenging track to finish on the EP, and why?
Karlsson: The title track, I think. That or’ Window’. But they were both difficult vocally, not instrumentally. I think all of the instrumentals came together really effortlessly. I think for ‘Reverie’ and ‘Window’, I just struggled to get both the lyrics and vocal tone right. I’m not even sure I have! But they are what they are. That’s the struggle of making music.
OSR: Lyrically, the project feels quite introspective. Were there any themes you found yourself returning to again and again without initially realising it?
Karlsson: Yeah, most of the lyrics I was writing around that time were sort of angsty or written from a sort of limbo I felt like I was in. Definitely yearning for some sort of change in my life. I’m glad people are finding the project to be introspective because I do feel a lot of the messaging is baked in abstraction, but if people are pulling what they need to from it, then that’s great.
OSR: Which artists or records were you unconsciously or consciously drawing from while making this project?
Karlsson: Consciously, ‘Window’ is basically a love letter to M83 and late 2000s/early 2010s indie-pop. But that’s kind of it for tangible, conscious influences. I wasn’t drawing sonically from anybody for the title track, but the theory was inspired by ‘No Fear’ by Big Thief and its trippy time signature/meter. ‘Myopia’ was probably pulling from the more Porter Robinson–leaning corner of my synth-pop influences, but again, nothing concrete there.
OSR: As a producer and multi-instrumentalist, how do you know when a track is “done”, especially when you’re working alone?
Karlsson: Like I hinted at before, most of the time I find that I kind of just don’t. You really could make an infinite number of changes to a song or tweaks to the mixdown; it’s never-ending, and it can drive you insane. I’d say most of the time I don’t have an “a-ha” moment where I realise a track is done, but more of a moment of surrender where I say, “I can’t work on this for another second; it’s going to make me crazy.”
OSR: What part of your creative process do you think people would be most surprised by?
Karlsson: People might be surprised by how unintentional everything starts out. Of course, there’s a point where my creative process with each track becomes extremely intentional, but almost every time, I’m going in blind, and stuff just kind of falls into place from whatever experimenting or playing around I’m getting up to that day.
OSR: Now that Reverie is out in the world, what do you hope listeners take away from it, if anything at all?
Karlsson: I hope it leaves people curious about what’s coming next. The project is a lot of things, and it’s very important to me as an artist, but one thing it’s not is a tell-all encapsulation of my sound. I do hope Reverie holds its own in my catalogue as I put more stuff out into the world, but there are many more things on the horizon for people to enjoy alongside it.
Many thanks to Sev Karlsson for speaking with us. Find out more about Sev Karlsson on his Instagram, YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and Spotify.
