His name might not be familiar, but his songs certainly are. Jorgen Elofsson has written tracks for Britney, Westlife, Pop Idol, American Idol and Il Divo.
This Saturday, a yearly tradition will take place - the X Factor finals and the ensuing (almost guaranteed) number one slot in the charts for the winner. For the second year in a row the winning song will be a cover, and Simon Cowell has chosen Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. But up until last year, Jorgen Elofsson wrote almost every winner's song for the pop mogul's talent shows. So, how did a guy from a small town in Sweden become one of the most successful pop writers in the world? On a recent trip to Stockholm I had a chat with Jorgen about how it all came about.
How did you end up being a writer-for-hire?
Like most songwriters, I started out playing in a band. A manager tried to shop me as an artist to a bunch of labels, but nobody was interested. So, as a last resort, he asked me to write a song for Carola Haggqvist, one of the biggest artists in Sweden, who ended up cutting it. It was such a revelation to hear an artist sing something I had written and make it her own. I knew immediately that that was my calling.
After a few years writing for other Swedish artists like Dr Alban I ended up getting a record deal with a British guy. We recorded it at Cheiron Studios, the home of producers like Denniz PoP and Max Martin. Out of the songs that in-house producers David Kreuger and Per Magnusson produced for us, there was one left over because it sounded too boybandish. When a request from Boyzone came in I told the guys to take out the rap and we rewrote the verse. That was my first international cut and ended up on their multi-million selling Where We Belong album.
The Cheiron guys then asked me to go to Key West and work with an unknown young girl. I remember a psychic telling me, shortly before the recording, that a blonde girl would be significant in my career. She was right; the girl I was working with was Britney and I ended up writing her second single, Sometimes. (Jorgen also wrote her hit Crazy)
How did you end up writing the Pop Idol single?
Having been part of Cheiron from 1998 until its closure in 2001, Per, David and I had to spread our wings. We had already written for Westlife and I'd developed a great relationship with Simon Cowell. He'd order songs from me, I'd deliver and, bang, they became hits.
Simon felt that radio wasn't that interested in playing pop at the time, so they came up with the idea of moving into television. Simon Cowell came to me and explained the concept of Pop Idol, asking if I could write the winner's song. He said: "How does the artist feel when he's standing on stage as a winner, for the first time? That's what I want the song to describe." That's why I wrote: "I want to take this moment and make it last forever" in the chorus of Evergreen.
As it took them ages to get the project together, the track ended up on a Westlife album first. (The Will Young version was the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, selling 403,027 copies on its day of release. It went on to sell over 1.7m copies.)
That was quickly followed by the request for a song for the first American Idol, for which I wrote Kelly Clarkson's debut A Moment Like This (the Clarkson version sold over 1m copies and the Leona Lewis version sold over 500,000 in its first week). After that I wrote the Australian winner's song. At that time I was writing all of the winner's songs around the world.
I feel like I have had a lot of different creative lives. Boom- there went the Britney era; boom - there went the Westlife era; boom- then followed the talent show era; and then I entered the classical era with Il Divo and Kathryn Jenkins.
You have to be at the right place at the right time if you want to be commercial.
Why do you think there are so many successful Swedish songwriters?
Swedes are very good at imitating. The Cheiron guys tried to make American music, just like Abba did. Sweden is good at many things: making cars, furniture, vodka. Swedes are hard-working and disciplined and have traditionally been very open to American music and the outside world. We didn't dub movies - that's why you don't see many massively successful German songwriters. And when it comes to pop music we have a trace of our melancholic folk music in there, which is very much like Irish folk music. Maybe that's why I've had such success in the UK and Ireland.
Next week: Jorgen talks about the writing process, the state of music today and gives advice on how to write a hit song.
source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/dec/12/behind-the-jorgen-elofsson (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/dec/12/behind-the-jorgen-elofsson)
this was very intresting to read!
Wow, thanks.
Could you please post all these when the article is released.
Thanks in advance, Linda, very interesting!!
Thank you so much Linda. A fantastic interview. I love Jorgen, so rare to read an interview with him. Looking forward to next week.
Thanks Linda and welcome back by the way! It's good to read it, Jorgen is usually very discreet in the press...
Wow than's linda. It's amazing for me read jorgens'life and work. I love him.After max he's my favourite.
That was a very nice read, oh how I want a recorded interview :(
Quote from: turnaround on December 13, 2008, 10:21:48 AM
Wow, thanks.
Could you please post all these when the article is released.
Thanks in advance, Linda, very interesting!!
yes of course!
My fave bit was the part about the psychic telling him about britney! =D
freakkyyy
Behind the music: Jörgen Elofsson on how to write a real hit
Continuing last week's Behind the music chat with Jörgen Elofsson – the songwriter behind Britney's Crazy and hits recorded by Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson and Il Divo, to name but a few – I was curious to know the secret to writing a hit.
What is your process when it comes to writing music?
How do you experience our writing sessions together? How do they feel to you? (laughing)
To me they feel like they work completely on intuition
For me, that's how it works. I trust my intuition 100% in the writing process. If you start thinking it stops the flow. If you write with a couple of other people, someone may come with a great idea and run with it, and you just have to follow and support them instead of arguing about who's right and who's wrong.
True. When I write on my own I can easily "get paralysed when I analyse" too much
When I write on my own it usually takes a lot longer. The music can appear extremely quickly. Like this song, La Promesa, the title track I've got on Il Divo's new album. The weird thing about it is that it was a dream. I dreamed about the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank. In the dream, I heard an incredibly beautiful melody playing continuously. Even though it was 5.30am, I stumbled down to the piano. I found the right chords immediately and there it was – written in 15 minutes. Sometimes it works like that, as if you can't even grasp what's going on.
I always say that, for me, it's all about finding the key. There's always a key that unlocks it all and solves any problem. Once you find it, the song will write itself.
And you can immediately hear if you've found that key, when you listen to a song?
Absolutely. There are rules for songwriting. Number one is to keep up the energy. There has to be something to keep the interest and attention of the listener all through the song.
Hit songs have to have some sort of suspense. An example being my song Evergreen with Will Young. The chorus starts with "I'm gonna take this moment and make it last forever" and ends with "I'm gonna take this night and make it evergreen". It goes from a universal statement, back to the here and now. These are tools of the trade that have always worked for me. That's up until now, when it feels like someone's taken a wrecking ball and hit the whole music industry. Now there are no rules for how one shall feel or not.
The technical evolution in the past 10 years has made songwriting extremely simplified. More and more people call themselves songwriters. It can be a hobby or a craft. You may have a hit, but it doesn't mean that you know what you're doing. For example, Basshunter was incredibly lucky. He threw something together in his little studio and had a worldwide hit with it. I don't know what to say ... it must be good since people like it. It's got something, but it's simplified. They focus on beats and fill in the blanks with some "edgy", tired lyrics. There's no romance, no warmth, no love. It's music for the brain, not for the heart. And people get used to that. That's the other danger for the music industry. Most of the music is so shit that it's understandable that people don't want to buy it. If it doesn't move you on a deeper level, why pay for it? Give it another couple of years and there'll be computer programs that write songs. It's on its way.
But take a song like Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah – that could never have been written by a computer program.
True. But if I had written that song today and brought it to Simon Cowell, he would have said: "What's this crap?" and thrown it in the bin. He chose that song for the X Factor finalists because it's famous and has already created emotional ties with the public. That's the only reason he's willing to use it.
Simon was looking for a new Nessun Dorma for ages. We wrote songs until we were blue in the face – fantastic songs – for the Il Divo record. But he just couldn't hear it. I said: "If I brought in Nessun Dorma today, as a new song, would you be able to hear that it's a great song?"
"Good question," he said. "I'm not sure I would."
Finally, what is your standpoint on illegal downloading?
I'm going to continue to pay for my food when I do my weekly shopping at Sainsbury's, pay for the petrol when I fill up my tank at the garage – and, of course, also for the music I consume. Some people think we should have some sort of communist model where everything that's yours is mine. But even Cubans pay for their salad.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/dec/18/jorgen-elofsson-britney-leona-lewis (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/dec/18/jorgen-elofsson-britney-leona-lewis)
very nice , jorgen is a great songwritter, the most interesting part when he says heard the melody in the dream , it is true , it happens to me , sometimes , I hear amazing melodies sleeping . ;D
Quote from: Raul_esp on December 20, 2008, 01:26:07 AM
very nice , jorgen is a great songwritter, the most interesting part when he says heard the melody in the dream , it is true , it happens to me , sometimes , I hear amazing melodies sleeping . ;D
i wish it happened to me. all my dreams are mute. lol
Geez, songwriting while sleeping! This is almost mystical, I wish it happened to me too! ;D
Jorgen you are my idol,I love you. I adore you!!!!!!
I love Jorgen even more now, he sounds so nice.
dreaming a melody! geez, amazing, wish that would happen to me.
Thanks for posting that Linda, it was a great read. Me, I just want home like Jorgen's lighthouse! ;D
http://www.jorgenelofsson.com/ (click on the link; 'The Lighthouse')
Wow I went on the site and looked at the pics of the studio, it's so beautiful and chic! And it looks like it's located in a lovely place!!! Do you know where anyone? Ahh, Sweden is such a nice country!!
Hi Sabine, i dont know specifically where Jorgen's studio is, but you can see more of it in this clip; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNPg1H07ggY - all in Swedish Im sorry. ;)
wow, The Lighthouse is beautiful, is that just his studio or also his home?
I'm interested to know where it is too, I notice there is a guesthouse!
Does anyone know if Jorgen is married??
Ahah Reb, already thinking about moving in with Jorgen? :P
I don't think he lives there, looks like the room is just for artists when they have to work late in the studio...
Anyways, Jorgen is really rich, he must have several houses!
haha, yes, I have a big crush on Jorgen. He seems lovely.
Quote from: Rebecca on March 11, 2009, 08:38:05 PM
haha, yes, I have a big crush on Jorgen. He seems lovely.
I prefer Max ;D
Ahaha, girls fighting for boys! ;D
I prefer Alexandra ;D
Quote from: *Sabine* on March 11, 2009, 09:55:58 AM
Wow I went on the site and looked at the pics of the studio, it's so beautiful and chic! And it looks like it's located in a lovely place!!! Do you know where anyone? Ahh, Sweden is such a nice country!!
Hi Sabine, I think it's in Lidingö near Stockholm.
Btw. did this interview series have any more interviews?
Thanks a lot Turnaround! It looks like a really beautiful region!
Quote from: turnaround on May 05, 2009, 08:43:34 PM
Quote from: *Sabine* on March 11, 2009, 09:55:58 AM
Wow I went on the site and looked at the pics of the studio, it's so beautiful and chic! And it looks like it's located in a lovely place!!! Do you know where anyone? Ahh, Sweden is such a nice country!!
Hi Sabine, I think it's in Lidingö near Stockholm.
Btw. did this interview series have any more interviews?
no not that i know of.