#001: Memes, dreams and streams – the life of producer Joel Sjöö
Swedish producer/songwriter (and first Aux Haus customer) Joel Sjöö looks back on the insane success of his Eurovision winner “Arcade”. He also talks about new trans artist Nao Mali, three important music producer tips he’d like to give his younger self and how his son inspired him to become a better man.
Ok so in the spirit of full transparency, we’ve known each other for quite a while.
Yeah, we must’ve met sometime around 2009. I remember that you and Andreas used to live in the same building in Malmö. I think we first met drinking some leftover wine in yours and Andreas’ back yard (Andreas Söderlund, producer/songwriter HYENA and co-founder of Aux Haus – editor’s note).
That’s right, my apartment was directly two floors above his. It was all very Seinfeldesque. Speaking of Andreas, you’ve worked a lot together with him and you guys used to have a band called It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane. How did you first meet?
Me and Andreas were on the same record label, Razzia Records. Andreas produced the album of my band They Live By Night, which was the first of my bands to get signed. Then the record label put us together as songwriters.
“I was so sure that our song was gonna win.”
Sort of how Simon Cowell put together One Direction?
Haha exactly. But like a shittier version, with two moderately good looking people who couldn’t sing or dance.
I remember seeing you on the news being interviewed in 2019 about “Arcade”, the song that you co-wrote and that later ended up taking home the prize in Eurovision.
Yeah, Eurovision was a fun thing and a real spectacle. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a bigger sense of winning.
I can imagine! So take us back to that night, Eurovision finale of 2019. What was that like for you?
I was in Tel Aviv, hanging out with the music publisher and Wouter Hardy who produced "Arcade". I was so sure that our song was gonna win, I just had this really strong conviction.
Duncan Laurence on the night of his 2019 Eurovision win with “Arcade”.
No doubts at all?
Well, beforehand people thought that “Arcade” had the highest probability of winning, so I actually had that to lean on. But I remember for some reason actually getting super nervous walking into the arena that night. Then after Duncan had nailed the song live I got very confident again.
I can’t remember, was it a close call or did the song win by a landslide?
We got the first twelve points but then North Macedonia started getting all these twelves and I was like “wait, what the fuck is happening?”. But in the end, Arcade won. Career wise for me though, what happened with that song one and a half years after Eurovision was so much bigger.
Ooh that’s right, the TikTok thing?
Yeah, at first the song was part of “Dracotok”, a TikTok meme where they’d re-cut Harry Potter to make Draco Malfoy into the hero of the story. Then it was used in some Russian challenge where you were supposed to cry a single tear into the phone camera. When the algorithm kicked in, the song really took off.
Video of Draco Malfoy to the sweet tunes of 2019 Eurovision winner “Arcade”.
That’s incredible! Then what happened?
The American label started pushing for the song even more and the whole thing went global. It ended up being Universal Music Group's second most streamed song of 2021, with 4,5 billion streams. You could say that “Arcade” has had two lives, one in Eurovision and one on TikTok. The second life ended up getting me a house and a brand new recording studio.
How did you start working with “Arcade” singer Duncan Laurence?
My girlfriend is from the Netherlands. In 2016 she studied in Rotterdam, so I started going there to hang out with her and to have songwriting sessions. I met Duncan and we actually wrote Arcade in our very first session. We made like half an album together and pitched it to a bunch of major labels but nobody was interested. Then the song ended up in the Eurovision selection and that started a record label bidding war.
Was it infuriating in the beginning when no label was interested?
That’s always tough, especially on the artist. But through the years I’ve worked on a lot of things that haven't landed anywhere, because nobody has thought it would amount to anything. I’ve always had this feeling that if they’d only believed in it, it could’ve been huge.
Well, even The Beatles got rejected at first so I’m guessing that’s just the way it goes?
True, I love that old Decca Records rejection of The Beatles, saying how "guitar groups are on the way out" and "the Beatles have no future in show business".
“if you only listen to stuff that you listened to at 15, it’s like you’ve given up. It’s a certain kind of trip that you really shouldn’t take too often. ”
How did you ever get into music to begin with?
Actually, speaking of The Beatles, I used to listen to them quite a lot when I was younger. I didn’t start making my own music until I was in my late teens. But before that, I used to read a lot about bands, buying lots of records, just being super passionate about music and dreaming of my own music career.
Where did you get your influences?
I didn’t have a cooler, older brother to introduce me to new stuff but my dad had a lot of really good “dad music” at home, like Prince, Eurythmics and Bruce Springsteen. So I started there and then I sort of paved my own way after I discovered Smashing Pumpkins and picked up the guitar at age 15.
To this day, I still return to the records I listened to in my mid-teens. Do you do that too?
Oh sure, old records by Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr. always give me these incredible highs. But if you only listen to stuff that you listened to at 15, it’s like you’ve given up. It’s a certain kind of trip that you really shouldn’t take too often.
How do you mean?
As much as I love that music, I don’t feel like what I listened to back then is the best music ever made. I’m much more into finding new things that give me the same feeling. Like “oh, this new song reminds me of Refused”, or whatever. But it’s cool that music can be forever young in a way that many other art or culture forms can’t. It’s the raw expression from one person to another that makes it work.
You’ve been hanging out a lot in Los Angeles, writing music. What’s that like?
Yes, I’ve been there quite a lot, I’m actually going back there in October to write again. It’s a lot of fun! In LA, stuff that’s out of left field can still be on major labels. Everything’s on a bigger scale even when the music is weirder or less mainstream.
What type of music are you focusing on making now?
I’m trying to do things that have sort of an indie vibe to it rather than making super commercial songs, with “Arcade” sort of being the exception to the rule. I love finding projects that feel unique and have a purpose in a wider context.
Any examples of projects or artists that fit that description?
Yeah right now I’m working with a drag rapper and singer called Nao Mali. I feel like drag and queer culture has a lot in common with the punk movement. It’s got tons of energy and there’s something to break and rebel against. I think there’s a young audience out there who really can identify with those cultural expressions.
The artist Nao Mali. Photo: Paul Edwards
Do you have any songwriter- or producer tips that you’d like to go back five years in time and tell your younger self?
First of all, I used to be tempted to take a lot of shortcuts, like “what if there’s a preset that sort of does what I want”. My first tip would be to really figure out what you want and strive to create that, instead of just shuffling through tons of presets hoping to find something pre-made that fits.
Right, that sounds like good advice! Anything else?
I think it’s also easy to just throw stuff on the wall and keep your finger’s crossed that something will stick and sound good, like adding ten things to a song and hoping that one of them will create something magical. To me, that’s relying on luck. I’m trying my best not to do that anymore. Now, I want every single thing I put into a song to have purpose, even though happy accidents are always very welcome. And my third tip goes hand in hand with the second one – “less is more”. It might sound super boring, but that’s just the way it is.
You mentioned earlier that you’ve bought a house. You also became a dad a couple of years ago and you recently built a brand new studio. Has the way your life’s changed affected your way of working or writing songs in any way? It sounds like you’re collecting all sorts of grown-up points.
Haha yeah, and I’ve also taken my drivers license and gotten a car! I mean, for one thing, I don’t really have the time anymore to just sit around and feel depressed. I’ve spent so many years feeling bad and doubting myself professionally, letting a sense of failure get the better of me. So I’ve been working a lot on myself from a professional point of view. I don’t wanna come home from the studio and put all that negative shit on my son. Instead I try to focus on the good stuff. Like, imagine making a living out of creating music. That’s actually pretty cool!
