Intimate, stirring, authentic and profound, Meadows turns his insides out; sometimes gloomy, sometimes hopeful, but always full of life and emotions. Born and raised in the small town of Söderköping, on the east coast of Sweden, the finger style guitarist and songwriter Christoffer Wadensten has traveled the world under the alias Meadows. He’s been sharing his introspective, dreamy acoustic music at clubs and festivals and in living rooms and theatres across Scandinavia, Europe, UK, Australia and USA.
His song ‘The Only Boy Awake’ is an emblematic track on the soundtrack of Netflix cult series ’13 Reasons Why” and has earned over 26 million Spotify streams. The debut album ‘The Emergency Album’ is due out 27th March, on the New York-based label AntiFragile Music.
FACTS:
1: Jupiter is 2.5 times bigger than all the other planets in our solar system combined. It works like a vacuum cleaner, sucking up crap that might hit us otherwise. Respect Jupiter.
2: Karate Kid is still an awesome movie.
3: I think love is the only rational way to approach the world.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
It’s basically just from walking through life with open eyes. But I realized that I’m not really a storyteller, most of it is kind introspective. Trying to make sense of my own human experience. I’m very happy to have to opportunity to put it into music, it’s makes life more interesting and fun.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
My parents always played music around the house, so it was a very natural thing. But I started taking it seriously when I was 16. Bought my first guitar and put all my energy into it.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time?
Genesis – Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Camel – Snowgoose
Peter Gabriel – US
Jonathan Johansson – Lebensraum
Klabbes Bank – Protect The Forest
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
FOOD! My girlfriend used to live there and we ate our way through the city. In my opinion it’s the best place in Europe to eat great food from every corner of the world.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
There’s a nature preserve close to my house. We spend a lot of time out there. And if I’m hanging around downtown, I always enjoy my favorite pub Dannes.
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Apart from enjoying the silence, I guess my creative outlet would go more into writing. Music and literture is a bit similar for me, in how it works from the inside.
7. What was the last record/music you bought?
Bought a vinyl from favourite jazz band Klabbes Bank.
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
I think Lisa Hannigan is one of the most interesting and mesmerizing singers around. So singing with her is high on the bucket list.
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
It’s extremely hard to pick just one, but I think one of the concerts I did in the city church in my home town Örebro must have been up there. We ended the concert with the whole church singing together. That was beautiful.
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
It depends. For my recording process it’s of course very important, but I don’t like stuff. I have a few selected, really nice, things that sounds good and that I know my way around. I also turn more and more simple, using acoustic and analog instruments. The way I recorded this album, it could basically have been done on a tape recorder. My writing process is still done with instrument, pen and paper. But I have no dogma around this, whatever gets the job done. I don’t care if it’s analog or digital, live or edited. As long as the result is what I hear in my head.
11. Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career/art?
Yes, I have a younger sister and an older brothers. My sister is a singer and my brother is a dancer, so they both full understand the nature of what I do. They always support me. One of the best treats I ever had was when my sister and my mom came all the way from Sweden and showed up at a gig in Berlin.
Image credit: Samuel Asberg
