The Total Sound Of The Undergound

Lelahel Metal

Swedish artist Ludwig Jonsson delivers a powerful message with "Anybody Out There," blending emotional depth with a spacious, melodic sound. We discuss the track’s meaning, influences, and his journey as an independent musician.

1. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind "Anybody Out There" and what message you hope to convey?

I wanted to create a song that everyone could relate to. It's mainly about how we treat the planet these days but it could be interprented as any kind of addiction actually. Anything you know is not good, but you still can't let go of what you're doing.
I wanted the sound to be "me" but with a lot of space to it. I just love the album "Gravity" from "Bullet For My Valentine" and I had that in mind when I tried to get the sound togehter. I tried to build it up with synths and piano melodies and I think it worked out pretty well.


2. The song carries a strong message about humanity’s treatment of the planet. Why was this theme important for you to explore in your music?

Well, I guess that's an important message or statement for anyone right now. The reality speaks for itself wether you admit it or not. Since having kids, this has gotten more important to me because it's their future we hold in our hands.


3. You’ve cited We Came As Romans and Bullet For My Valentine as influences. How did their sound shape the direction of this track?

BFMV is my all-time favorite band, and I think they've shaped my way of writing music basically. I just love their melodies and heavy riffs. As I mentioned, their album "Gravity" has a sound I wanted to emulate for this song. Not completely, but for me, it's there.
"We Came As Romans" is another band I listen to with a lot of compelling melodies, and I love their way of building songs: a slow verse that builds up to a powerful chorus.


4. You wrote, recorded, and produced the entire song in your home studio. What were some challenges and advantages of working independently?

I guess the challenge is always to make yourself happy with the results. You can always sit there and tweek, edit or adjust things a bit more. If you work along with someone else you could always get a second opinion on everything and that's most often a benefit when it comes to producing music.
My advantage though, is to be able to do everything exactly the way I want it. No one can tell me what to do. And that's a great feeling.
In the end it's my music and it should be done in my way, even if the final product could get better with more people working on it.


5. You mentioned the chorus came to you while driving. Can you walk us through your songwriting process—how did the rest of the song take shape?

Most of my songs just comes up in my head while doing normal daily stuff. I remember sitting by the steeringwheel, singing as always and then the chorus just hit me. I thought it could be a cool chorus so I kept on thinking about the song and about 30 minutes after I had a final product in my head. I usually record those ideas in my phone to not forget about it.
The song was stuck that way for about 2 years before I finally decided to record it. The song is pretty much exactly the same as that day in my car.


6. The track is described as having a "big" and "spacious" sound. What techniques did you use in production to achieve this?

I love reverb, sometimes a bit to much... but I think it's a fair effect to use in this song. A lot of reverb along with a lot of synths panned out to get that wide and big sound.
The chorus is also based on lots of vocal tracks.


7. How does "Anybody Out There" compare to your previous releases? Do you feel it represents an evolution in your sound?

The song is definitely me, but maybe my original songs are a bit simpler in production. I used to build my songs on guitars in different ways, but maybe this way of producing music opened my eyes to something more. I will probably combine techniques from my previous songs with this one to build something new and interesting. So maybe yes.


8. What emotions do you want listeners to experience when they hear this song for the first time?

Of course, I wanna make them feel like "wow." Even though it's a bit much to ask for, hehe.
I just want people to listen to the whole piece, and by that I mean every instrument and every sound. I think everything makes the whole complete.
Just sit down, use some high-quality speakers or headphones, close your eyes, and just listen. Hopefully, the feeling and emotion will speak for itself that way.


9. You've gained over 25,000 streams on Spotify with your previous singles. How does it feel to see such a positive response to your music?

Yeah that's way more than I could ever imagine. I'm very very greatful for that. I think the thankfulness grows even more when you have done everything yourself. That makes yourself believe that you're actually doing something right.


10. With the release of "Anybody Out There" on January 15, 2025, do you have any plans for live performances or further releases in the near future?

Live performances, probably not in the near future. I hope to be able to perform my songs some day but I need to find musicians willing to work with me and so on. There's a lot of work to make that happen.
Further releases is something I work on all the time. I released my second single "No Angle Is Watching" like a month ago and hopefully my next single will be out around May. I'm working on a few new songs but I wanna make sure everything is good enough before I let anything out of the studio.


11. As an independent artist, what has been the most rewarding part of your journey so far?

Definitely seeing so many listeners and followers on the streaming platforms. It's really rewarding to get that kind of feedback.


12. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring musicians who want to create and release music on their own?

Simply, just go for it. If you like it, someone else will to. You will learn along the way.
A cliche but still true, don't forget to have fun and enjoy because that's all what music is about.

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Ludwig Jonsson (@jonsson_3) • Instagram photos and videos

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