AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NEWEST MEMBER TO TEAM ELYSIUM JOHN LINDAHL
John Lindahl feels very lucky to have known his passion from the start.
He has the right to be! With a voice like his and a kind, down-to-Earth personality, no wonder he’s such a heartthrob. With the perfect retro-pop sound, he brings a new age flare to his fun, classic-like tunes.
The pop star released his latest EP Changes, which includes six exciting and exhilarating tracks of his own and features the founder of Team Elysium himself, Logic.
I really enjoyed this chat with Lindahl as he explained how thrilled he was to have released this EP finally! He admits that he never really listened to it in full, only because it seemed weird at first, but by the time of our conversation, he gave it a run through. His final conclusions? Proud.
The artist was originally born in Maryland, but grew up for most of his life in Southern, California, where he resides currently.
We dove into topic spanning across the spectrum from his experiences in music to past concerts he went to things to be looking forward to, and for the season, what holiday traditions his family had. Lindahl began by explaining how his humble beginnings in music started at a really young age. He would find himself amongst performers and back stage with them a lot of the time, and his influences came from some of the legends such as Gene Kelly, Michael Jackson, and others. You can even hear it in his sound, a little George Michael here and a little Prince there, and more. He admitted that these artists “inspired me to perform and be on stage and try to pursue my dream in that way… I’m lucky enough to have always kind of known what my passion was, which I know people search their lifetime for a passion, so I feel very grateful to have known what I wanted to do since I was 5 or 4!”
I asked him what song he is currently jamming out to, to which he chuckled and replied, “You’re gonna laugh, but I’ve been bumping “Gucci Gang” by Lil Pump.”
The last concert Lindahl attended was LCD Soundsystem, only showing you how big of a variety his taste in music is. “I went with Brian who produced the EP… and Daniel who played guitar for the EP. The light shows were my favorite part of the show!”
I then wanted to get insights of what it must be like to be an artist now, so when I asked what’s his favorite part of the music industry, he genuinely responded with, “being an artist and creating music is definitely the best part, and all of the little victories to get along the way. Because there are the times where you get pulled down and shot down and you feel a little discouraged, so the little victories along the way when you pour your heart and soul and you start to see a little return on it I think is the best part.”
One of his close friends and co-workers happens to be Bobby himself, aka Logic! How they met was a serendipitous and sweet story of how Lindahl met Logic’s audio engineer and how through a few writing and listening sessions together, the two became friends instantly. That is when he introduced Lindahl to Logic, hanging out with him in the studio during the making of The Incredible True Story.
Logic then decided he wanted to start this label (Team Elysium) and asked Lindahl to be a part of the formation of its foundation, and Lindahl couldn’t pass it off. “I feel like a member of his family”, so it only made sense for him to be apart of this crew of amazing and talented people.
As every album should have, Lindahl did have an experiential and eye-opening moment. “My biggest revelation [during the making of Changes] was finding that I was truly coming into my own, as an artist and as a creative. I know that you’re always learning and that you’ll always get better, but I finally feel very comfortable in my own skin in the studio, on stage when I’m performing, the words that I’m singing, the way I’m conveying the message that I’m try to say. I think it was an overall revelation of comfortability with myself as an artist, which is great, because I have always struggled with confidence in myself, and now I feel like I have arrived today.”
My favorite song happens to be “My World” and “Contagious”, so I asked him what was the influence at least behind “Contagious?” “I’ve always loved ‘All Night Long’ by Lionel Ritchie or “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, all these fun records I’ve always wanted to capture and emulate. And I just wanted to make a really fun song about the power of music in general, because it is contagious, the one true universal language is music. I would say my main thing behind this process was I just wanted to make an infectious feeling that people would want to sing and dance to, and just be together with other people.”
If the young songster could collaborate with anyone, he explained that it would be artists like J.Cole, Ariana Grande, Kanye West, and Mayer Hawthorne, but he also say that he would be willing to collaborate with anyone. He loves hearing their talent and finding what makes them uniquely their own being in the music scene.
Music is not the only area he shows talent in! He also dresses really well, so when asking about his fashion, he talked about how he goes about picking his outfit of the day. “I look kind of normal, and so do my clothes, but what I do have to do is make sure that my talent is extraordinary! So in my fashion, I try not to go too over the top. It’s the little things in my outfit that pop, nothing too extravagant…nothing that’s too insane, but something that draws your attention”. His fashion-icons are Michael Jackson and A$AP Rocky, and a few other artists, but overall, he explained how just by adding a denim jacket to a look, or wearing an all white outfit and pair of different colored shoes, you can really make a look pop in the chillest way possible.
Describing himself in one word? “Imaginative”, Lindahl elaborates, ” I’m such a dreamer to my detriment. I am always looking at the future, and always think about if I do this, and if I do that, but I am very lucky to have parents and people around me who know my goals and dreams. My parents have been super helpful in creating an environment to show me how I have to work to achieve my goals, because if I didn’t have that proper training, I would still be dreaming and never act on it. I have to thank my mom and dad and the Elysium team for believing in me.”
Being only 21, I thought it would be daunting to be in this scene of experienced pioneers, but Lindahl explained that there never was a disconnect, and he was always the youngest in the room, from the start, so he has grown up amongst these people.
“I never want to be the most talented or the smartest in the room, because I can always improve upon myself.”
So, what do we have to be excited for in the near future? Lindahl expressed his excitement of releasing videos to go along with the songs from the project! He sees it as being able to give every track it’s own moment. “I feel like ever song deserves a chance at its own visual.”
Since ’tis the season, I had to know if the artist had any special holiday celebrations or traditions that he did with his family…”My mom is driving my sister home from college, and we always go to a Christmas tree farm and play this intense game of tag. All my family are athletes, so it gets really crazy but it’s so much fun. We knock down so many of the trees”.
Off the EP, the R&B crooner explained to me that “Changes” would be the the most important track in the project, but “Contagious” is the one that would best describe his demeanor in his current state.