Getting To Know Still Woozy
By Caroline Meade
Singer songwriter and Our Era’s Music Representative, Caroline Meade, attended a virtual press conference just last week to discuss the future of Still Woozy’s music, his process, and life in quarantine as an artist.
Sven Gamsky, aka Still Woozy, has gained not only a following, but adoration with his comforting and intimate psychedelic pop songs. Still Woozy is this cocktail of pushing the boundaries of genre whilst being a staple within any left of center esque playlist. Perhaps that is the magical combination it took for him to book Coachella prior to his debut album being released. Sven’s humbleness and work ethic is not to be overlooked either: hearing the reasons why he does what he does was the refreshing dose of humility that the music industry has been lacking. What better time than now for his new single, “BS”
Upon first and exclusive listen, BS is a warm track that holds you in a fun way. Sven’s signaturture psychedelic combination of bass and beats ring familiar, but there is a more mature texture to this song than anything previously released. We’re still out of it, we’re still singing along, but something about the chorus, where Sven sings “Honestly lately, I wanna throw ‘em all away” and “just lay with you all day” feels more vulnerable and honest than we’ve heard him sound before. We stan a sensitive bop.
So let's get into it ... what's Sven been up to in quarantine?
Considering he started out recording and producing in his garage in the Bay Area of California, not much has changed! Sven, newly engaged, has been continuing to make music along with learning the occasional tik tok dance with his partner (who isn’t?). Sven commented, “That shit is hard..that took us like a day and a half to do that ten seconds, but I love that stuff, it's so fun. One of my goals is [that] I want to do a full length music video with choreography and not look like an idiot”.
But has quarantine’s zoom fatigue caused a lack of inspiration? No actually, he states that it’s just reinforced what he wants to get out of his music. “For me music is kind of a coping mechanism”, “My goal is to create more of a safe space to get a little break from yourself. I create to help me first”. It's clear his work provides solace to the audience and himself.
Sven’s relationship with work is incredibly relatable. Sven mentioned, “I’m not the kind of person who can do more than one thing at a time”, “One of the greatest goals I need to learn in my life is multitasking...but it's probably never gonna happen. But I value that in people who can do that”. Sven added, “I’m such a perfectionist it's crazy”, “honestly I feel bad for my whole team and the people I work with. Like I'm constantly revising and revising.”
When asked why he still self produces, Sven explains “When you give someone else stuff to do, it's never gonna be your true vision . You’d be able to tell if I got someone else to produce my song. I’ve curated my own taste over the years. Maybe that's why it feels more like a unified whole, because this is my particular lenses”
Art by the lovely Amiya Kahn-Tietz (courtesy of Republic Records)
Working as a solo artist vs. being in a band adds pressure as well. Sven explains the pro is being able to have total control - being able to have an idea and immediately execute it. The con however, is having to be self critical...then getting stuck on things and not having people to bounce it off of. “My partner has to do a lot of the heavy lifting...to be objective I guess”.
Speaking of his partner, a beautiful question was asked: How does her own art inspire his music? His partner, Amiya Kahn-Tietz, is the artist behind his immediately recognizable cover art for his albums
and singles. Sven says that she inspires his music, not just her art. H e sweetly states, “She just kind of makes her whole life into art - She’s incredible”.
Currently, what's inspiring him is the new Dominic Fike album. And of course, a staple in his queue is D’Angelo.‘I can always turn toVoodoo” he comments.
So... a common consensus amongst Still Woozy’s work is that it feels fun and intimate. What setting should we enjoy his new single in?
Interestingly enough, even though he describes it as a “headphone experience”, he listens to all of his mixes in the car. I immediately wondered if he knows he’s practically on every Gen Zers hookup playlist too.
BS is now available on all streaming services. Enjoy it in the car, on a walk, with your friends or ... you know.
