Discography Type: Album

Layout & illustrations: Victor Hagström

My self-titled, debut album was recorded in my friend, Johan Zaar’s, studio space in the industrial harbor of Malmö, Sweden. I spend 5 months, day and night, between oct -04 and February -05 writing and recording it. When my friends went out partying, I stayed in the studio, completely lost in another dimension, swallowed by the magic of recording music.

6 months earlier I was almost finished with my first, first album… I was on my way from my job as a dish washer at, my old friend Jonas, restaurant and I just got this feeling that something wasn’t right. I don’t know where it came from but I felt it so I ran towards my studio… When I arrived, I saw the door kicked in and soon realized someone had broken in and had taken all my stuff. All my instruments, computer, speakers, notebooks, everything. This stuff that had taken me 10 broke ass years to be able to buy.

This was in the beginning of digital recording for me so I didn’t think of making backup’s
(I was lazy and broke) and I couldn’t afford insurance on my gear so all of the sudden, I had nothing! And not even having my notebooks, really pushed me back to zero. Of course, I remembered the essence of a lot of the songs that I’d recorded but I just couldn’t start over with those songs. It was too hard. All that work… I went on a 3 week bender before I decided to start from scratch, leave EMI (they wanted me to be someon else I think) and look for someone else to collaborate with. Camilla Nordahl at V2 records was that someone and she put all her faith in me. My friend, Rasmus, lend me enough to buy a new computer, a shitty soundcard and a low budget tubemic. Johan Zaar, lend me his space and instruments and 4 months later my real first album was recorded.
Some of the songs foundations were actually recorded on tape at a studio out in the countryside with my liveband at the time and Mattias Jeppsson engineering (info under credits) but most of it in Johan’s studio.

Fun fact: That studio was owned by the company that is now my management so the circle has been completed.

One highlight for me on “Tingsek” is Måns Mernsten’s guitar solo on “Then you Came along”1:14- 1:39. He has since then been a very big part of all that I do but not many know that he started as a guitarist in my band. Also, his Rhodes solo on “Mind on Hold” followed by the amazing Pauline’s verse on that same song still gives me goosebumps. But the big highlight would probably be the song “Mind on Hold”, which I think is pretty amazing. Even the lyrics, opposed to most of them on this album…

The songwriting and production was at a crossroad between my previous obsession with country music and Americana (I opened for Willie Nelson when I was 22 btw) and my new found love with D’angelo and everything he took inspiration from. Soul, funk and RnB wasn’t at all in my life before then, except for Stevie Wonder and some of the other classics from back in the day. I grew up with The Beatles, Depeche Mode, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, ELO, Bob Marley followed by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, U2 and Blur. Then in my mid teens, 70’s disco took over my life completely for a while. This followed by a sharp turn towards Neil Young, The Byrds, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Willie Nelson, Son Volt and so on… You could say that I loved all kinds of music that touched me, and I still do

Anyway, the album as a whole and especially my vocals, sounds demo’ish alot and it kind of is, but I will always be very proud of making it in such short amount of time and getting my self back up on the horse so quickly after losing everything. It got pretty great reviews In Sweden and after a 6 month solo tour at all the university’s and small radio stations, I’d got myself the foundation of a true fanbase.
That whole experience set the bar of never giving up quite high, so I’m guessing you’ll never get rid of me. No matter what.

Recorded at Mission Hall Studios and Johans Zaar’s space in Malmö Harbour.
Produced by: Magnus Tingsek
Mixed by Magnus Tingsek
Engineered by Magnus Tingsek, Johan Zaar & Mattias Jeppsson
Mastered by: Hoffe Stannow at cosmos Mastering, Stockholm
Cover photo by: Fredrik Nilsson
Artwork by: Ola Kalnins

“Njutomjorden” aka “ateljapan”  was an old 60’s officespace in the harbor of Malmö, where artist Ola Kalnins invited me and Mårten Dahl (My Bassist and collaborator at the time but also good friend and brother since many years)  to set up our studios. Magnus de Oliveira and Emmi, who were big parts of this record as well were also there, basically every day.  It’s also the spot where we were all robbed of everything we had (more details in the story of my first album) I didn’t live there at the time and the humiliation and great sorrow suffered from that event made me move out. After I did my first album at my friend, Johan’s space I worked up the courage to move back and start on my second album. I ended up living there for two years with Ola and our friend and superchef, Martin.  even if that space didn’t have a real kitchen (or a shower) he made us plenty amazing meals and I had the time of my life. It became the spot where all our friends ended up hanging, partying and practically living as well.

The music video for “World of its own” was recorded there, on its roof and surroundings by Frank Ashberg and Nicolai Zelmani. The graffiti artist in that video is Ola Kalnins.

I worked 24/7, writing and recording this record between October 2005 and august 2006 and it’s a time of my life that I will never, ever forget. My bed was next to my drums and everything was recorded with one or two mics in the same room, on an old pc with Cubase SX.

My friends, Magnus de Oliveira, Johan Zaar, Emmi Sandberg, Måns Mernsten Tomas Ebrelius and my brother, Anders Tingsek also played a big part on this album and Swedish superstars, Salem al Fakir and Mapei both played and sang on it.  This was before their breakthrough, visiting our spot in Malmö.

The songs I love you (part 1) actually has a part 2 as well but it’s well hidden in that old pc, along with a lot of other ideas that didn’t make the cut.

The song, World of its own is all about this magical place of ours and it took me less than an hour to write the whole thing. “So real” was the first song that did make the record, and kind of set the tone for what it was gonna become.

This era shaped me musically and personally on so many levels and it brings tears to my eyes thinking back on it. The song “world of its own” was played a lot on Swedish radio and got me playing on the bigger stages.  I’m eternally grateful for this record and to all my friends helping me make it.

Recorded at Njutomjorden, Malmö, Sweden 2006
Produced by: Magnus Tingsek
“Follow me Down” Produced by: Magnus & Anders Tingsek
Mixed by Magnus & Anders Tingsek
Engineered by Magnus Tingsek, Johan Zaar & Magnus de Oliveira
Mastered by: Hoffe Stannow at cosmos Mastering, Stockholm
Cover photo by: Zandy Mangold. Layout & Design: Karl Arvidsson

Me and my friends and collaborators, Johan Zaar and Magnus DeOliveira
felt that we needed to get away from the city as quick as possible. Living in an old office space in the harbor without a real kitchen or a shower had taken its toll. We found an old farm outside of Malmö that we could rent (from the military, actually) and it was perfect. We moved instantly and set up my studio. I didn’t have a drivers license at the time so I was kind of stuck if no one else was home because the closest bus stop and grocery store was an hour walk from there. In many ways this was excactly what I needed and I almost never went in to town. I stayed in the house until it was time to tour.

Anyways, after the “World of its Own” album, wich was an album made of me just goofing around, recording music, I felt I needed some structure.

So I hired my brother to co-produce. For the first time in my life I made music on a schedule and it was WEIRD. In many ways I loved it but I was so not used to it. Of course, I lived in my studio so I worked day and night for 6 months but still, I had to be up and ready to go once my brother knocked on the door. Another new thing was that I could afford to by a decent studio set-up so this was my first album recorded with Pro tools HD and with more than just one mic. As you can hear, my recording and mixing skills was still pretty rough around the edges, especially with the Drums. Fucking drums, gotta be so hard to record properly… My brother, Anders, definitely came in with another point of view on things and it made this record a lot better than it would have been without him. He co-wrote; “You amaze me” (that riff is all his) “I’m Not Supposed to be Like This” and “A Simple Mind”. He also pushed me forward a lot and made it possible to make this record in such short amount of time. Six months might seem like a long time, but if you do most things yourself and those months include writing everything from scratch at the same time as you’re touring the last record, it’s not.

Johan Zaar and Magnus De Oliveira that also lived there were obviously involved in the album as well. Johan played all the horn parts, just as he did on the previous two records and Magnus played some guitar and did some backing vocals. Mostly they served as tastemakers, I dragged them into my studio countless times to give feedback and the positive vibes they gave was a big part of the confidence that’s needed. Måns Mernsten was of course part of it as usual (Without his keyboardskills and vibes my albums wouldn’t be the same at all) and once again I wrote the string parts together with the amazing Tomas Ebrelius, who also played all the strings.

This was the first of my albums written and recorded whilst in a relationship and lyrically it’s obvious. She wasn’t there a lot during the recordings because she was travelling but it definitely affected my writing and my way of doing things. ..Another part of the new, somewhat more structured life…

One great highlight of this album, I think is the first 40 sek of “I’m not supposed to be like this” where the Nylon stringed guitar and piano meets the pump organ, flutes and clarinets… mmm that’s my kind of vibes! Another is on March Moon between 1.04-1.32. I just love the flutes that float on the piano and clock like drums.

The song; “Coming Back in from the Cold” is probably my favorite and that string arrangement makes me shiver with pride.

Recorded at Studio Kranke, Skåne, Sweden 2007-2008
Produced, Engineered & Mixed by: Magnus Tingsek & Anders Tingsek
Mastered by: Hoffe Stannow at Cosmos Mastering, Stockholm
Photos by: Jens Nordström Artwork and Design: Karl Arvidsson

Produced & mixed by: Magnus Tingsek
Mastered by: Marcus Eriksson.
Artwork by: Karl Arvidson.

Magnus Tingsek: Vocals, guitar, piano, bass, drums & percussion
Måns Mernsten: Piano, Rhodes, Moog, Prophet 08 & harmonica
Johnny Åhman: Double bass
Caroline Karpinska: Violin
Maria Andersson: Violin
Elina Nygren: Viola
Gerda Holmquist: Cello
All songs written by Magnus Tingsek (Sony/ATV Music Publishing Scandinavia) except Track III, by Tingsek, Svante Lodén & Måns Asplund and track VI by Tingsek & Slakah the Beatchild.

Linnea Henriksson appears courtesy Sony Music Sweden

String arr on track 11 by: Caroline Karpinska
String arr on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9 by: Magnus Tingsek & Caroline Karpinska.
String arr on track 1, 7 & 10 by Magnus Tingsek, Caroline Karpinska & Måns Mernsten

Another album and yet another space to put all my gear in. I grew tired of the countryside and moved back into Malmö with my current gf so I needed a new space. What I found was yet another old office space that was turned into rehearsal rooms and studios, which was perfect… Well it was perfect up until I realized that a heavy metal band rehearsed right above me almost every day… I actually didn’t mind it vibewise but I had to record all the delicate stuff during the days when all other bands, who had normal jobs, wasn’t there. I usually didn’t go there until afternoons for many reasons.

The area was pretty dodgy with a number of scrapyards, smoke choking chimneys, illegal nightclubs (one of the reasons for late starts), the occasional burning car and other wonderful things that we musicians are used to and very well aware of…

After the “Too many feelings at the same time” album I felt I wanted to go back to making music with no schedule or deadlines so that’s what I did. I got totally swallowed up by the making of music. I also left universal and started my own label with my manager at the time, Camilla Nordahl. (She was the one who gave me a chance when no one else did in 2004)

That also gave me a great feeling of freedom and a big self confidence boost and I felt I was on fire. The first song I wrote for that album was “Leave it all behind” I started it with an old Mellotron sample and then it wrote it self. I felt that it needed something though and man was I lucky. This guy from Toronto that called himself, Slakah the Beatchild, wrote me and professed his love for my music. I instantly fell in love with his vibe too, so I send him the song and told him to do whatever he felt like. I left a possible “verse 2“ empty for him to vibe on and when he, a couple of days later, send me the result I almost cried. When he whispers “wake up buddy” and it ping pongs between left and right in your headphones…. Aaaaaah.

This made me instantly invite him over to Malmö and he happily excepted the adventure. We wrote “Something Special” “Coming back to you” and he also laid down a verse on “Stick to You” which was a song I rejected for the previous album. This jumpstarted my album and pushed it in a direction I really loved. More R’n B ish and soulful than I had ever done before. The rest of the album kind of just happed that year of 2008-09.

Like before, Måns Mernsten on keys and Tomas Ebrelius on Violin played a big part in the sound but also my Ringo’ish way to play my shit drums did a lot for that album. I started playing with some new friends during this time as well and one of them, Peter Zimny, took over all the horn parts on both on the album and live. There’s a clip on youtube where we rehearse an old song called “Mind on hold” wich is from that time and in that studio. Also, the clips “Tingsek and friends jamming Stick to you and “playing Good vs bad like it was 1899” is from that studio and time.

Six Years feat Pauline is probably the song that has gotten the most attention. I wrote the chorus part together with Svante Lodén for the “world of its Own” album in 2006 but could finish it. I played it to another friend and producer, Måns Asplund whilst making Restless soul and he said he might have the perfect verse progression for it… He did. I took his little guitar part and it fitted perfectly into the vibe me and Svante created years before. I called my good friend Pauline (who sang Lazy day from my first album with me and did the bgv’s on World of its own) and the song just got wings. Pauline is one of the greatest singers I’ve ever worked with, period and she made this song one of my favorite songs I ever released. Apart from that, some highlights on this album according to myself are; The outro on Stimulation Overload… GMA! Those harmonies are why I make music…

The song Goodbye! I wrote that riff for the Too many feelings album but couldn’t find a way to make it into a song until I moved back to Malmö and it turned out to be a classic amongst my songs.

Slakah’s verse on Something Special… Wow, that calm, soulful and beautiful voice with that melody just makes me as happy as I can be.

Produced by Magnus Tingsek except “Something Special” & “Coming Back to you”,
Produced By: Magnus Tingsek & Slakah The Beatchild
Mixed by: Magnus Tingsek
Mastered by: Mathias Oldén & Magnus Tingsek
Artwork & design by: Karl Arvidson

Produced & Engineered by: Magnus Tingsek
Co Produced by: Måns Mernsten except “My Turn To Fall” Co Produced by: Jarle Bernhoft & Carl Granberg
Mixed by: Carl Granberg with Magnus Tingsek
Mastered by: Hoffe Stannow at Cosmos Mastering
Artwork by: Love Lundell, Layout & Design: Måns Mernsten