Interview: Tim Schou

In today’s blog post of my interview series, I’ll be interviewing the Danish pop artist Tim Schou. An incredibly talented singer and songwriter from Denmark. You might hear his name for the first time but in his home country Denmark and Scandinavia he is a famous platinum-selling artist, who sells-out his live shows. Tim started his music career in the pop-rock band A Friend in London. They were active between the years 2005 and 2014.Since 2017 Tim is releasing his solo music and fascinating his fans with every new project. After sharing the well perceived acoustic live-EP Face to Face – Live at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with his listeners. It was time for Tim’s international breakthrough single called Acapella, which became a radio hit in Denmark and Tim’s most-streamed track up to date with almost 5 million streams on Spotify.

Me personally, I’m a huge fan of him since I discovered his solo music with the release of Nirvana in 2018. My favorite songs of his discography are: Nirvana, Run (x5 times), Acapella, Beat Around the Bush and his newest songs If I’m Being Honest, High Water and Where You Are. All in all, I enjoy listening to his soft tender vocals, enchanting melodies and diverse song productions. Today I’m honored to have the chance to ask him some interesting questions about his passion for music, his quarantine lifestyle, and new music. So let’s start!

Dear Tim welcome on erenblogs – Today’s Pop Music. I’m eternally grateful to have this interview with you. Thank you so much for joining the interview series on my blog.

1. First, let’s get to know you better as a person and musician. How would you describe yourself in five and your music in three words?

Myself: Romantic, A dreamer, 33-year-old man with Peter Pan syndrome.

My music: authentic, raw and poppy!

2. What kind of music did you grow up with and which artists inspired you as a teenager?

There is only one true king, and that’s Elvis Presley. That’s probably the closest I came to being cool when I was a kid because I’m gonna come straight out and tell you the truth. I listened to all the guilty pleasures such as Backstreet Boys, Westlife, A1, etc. – It wasn’t until I met my former band, that I was introduced to the cooler side of the music scene like The Beatles, Radiohead, Kings Of Leon and much more indie genre artists, I think that’s when my whole fascination of diving into the lyrical universes of these songs began.

3. Please name the first album you bought with your own money and the first concert you went on!

First album: Jimmy & Rene with Stægt Flæsk med Persillesovs, Kartofler og rødbede. On tape. LOL!

First concert: Kashmir!

4. How would you end the sentence: In school I was ……?

In school, I was a mix of being popular but also got somewhat bullied for taking music classes and playing in the school theatre club.

5. I’d say 2020 has been a horrible crazy year for the entire world due to the pandemic. How did you spent/are spending your quarantine days?

In the first few weeks, I had a beautiful and much-needed breakdown. A complete shutdown of my system, thinking the world was ending. As soon as I got back up again, I immediately started getting something out of the situation and taking advantage of the situation. Among other things, I taught myself to record and produce my own demos for example.

6. I’m interested in a typical quarantine day of yours, did you come up with new habits? In my case, I was definitely eating more than usual, and working out less, shame on me.

I got so super geeky and nerdy during that time. My beard grew crazy long until I looked like a mad man. It was pretty awesome to just let it grow and let it be. haha.

7. What did you appreciate the most during the lockdown?

The solitude and the time for myself to really dig deep.

8. What is one thing you’ve learned about yourself while being isolated from the outside world?

That I can get used to anything and that everything is nothing but adaption

9. Let’s get into your private life for this question. So you’re dating Adriane Hernandez, who is a talented designer and artist from the US for some years now. A long-distance relationship sounds scary to most of the people. Therefore, do you have any tips to make it still work? I also love your Instagram post with your nephew. Do you want to become a father one day yourself?

The long-distance relationship is by far the most beautiful relationship I’ve ever had with anyone. The patience you teach each other in a LDR is really beautiful to experience, and each time you have to leave your partner, you get to go and think about what you’ve just learned about this person you’ve spent time with, and in our case, that meant that we always came back 10 times stronger for each other every time we reunite and reconnect. People always ask me “But isn’t it sad you can’t be together all the time?” and my reply is usually; “What’s sad about having found someone you truly and deeply connect with and keep falling in love with?” – There’s not one negative thing about it, the only thing is just that we are built to be greedy and want more and more and more instead of just appreciate the good things about our situations, whatever they may be. If that makes sense?

10. You entered the music business in 2005 and experienced a lot while being in a band and now as a solo artist. What kind of advice would you give a new artist, who just has released his/her debut single?

If you just released a new single or JUST started on this crazy journey, don’t forget to enjoy the ride and find what you love and let it kill you. This is not about you becoming successful in making money or getting that big house, this is about finding your place and purpose and you’re already doing it, so congrats and carry on! You’re already here.

11. I remember watching you and your band at the ESC 2011, you were actually one of my favorites. I was like hypnotized by the melody of New Tomorrow. ESC in Europe is a big thing, and I love it, especially for artists to represent their home country with a song they believe in. How was the whole experience for you? Could you imagine to participate again in the contest as a solo artist?

That show is a blessing and a curse. That’s all I’m gonna say about that for now. A FRIEND IN LONDON managed to get some good tours and years out of that show, so we can’t complain.

12. How do you start writing a song? Any certain order for the lyrics, melodies, and production?

I always carry a thousand notes on me, of words of sentences or titles. I especially love having a title before I start or even a sentence, it gives me a good idea of which direction I’m headed, chordwise and vibe wise.

13. Throughout the years you have worked together with many other artists like Alma, Ella Henderson and Felix Jaehn just to name a few. Who are still your dream collaborations? It can be any singer, songwriter and producer.

JOHN MAYER! and I’d love to work with Teitur (Farao singer/songwriter)

14. Let’s talk about your single High Water, released this year in January. It’s a beautiful romantic acoustic love song. In the lyrics you sing about loving your girlfriend through hell and high water, even though you admit, you both don’t match perfectly together.  I must say that I love the acoustic guitar in the production and your tender vocals. What can you tell us about this track? How was the writing process? What inspired you to write this heart-melting love song?

I wrote it at 2.30 a.m. sitting right next to my girlfriend in bed while she was sleeping. To not wake her up, I wrote the whole thing almost whispering, and I think that feeling and vibe was what brought the tenderness to the song that was written about our relationship and that most relationships have two sides of the coin to them and it’s not all good, but it’s yours.

15. Your latest release Where Your Are was released this summer in August. This one is more upbeat and a banger for my ears. It’s definitely a perfect late summer track. You have a clear message in the lyrics that you’ll love your girlfriend wherever she is. You say that you don’t care how many miles far away she is, your heart will always travel where she is. So, I think it’s clear that your singing about your long-distance relationship. Have you been scared to release such a personal song? And how did your girlfriend react when she listened to the song for the first time?

I rarely put out anything that’s not personal (except for maybe once. lol.

My girlfriend is pretty private, so it’s kinda scary for her to have a boyfriend who openly writes about her or talks about specifics of our relationship, but she’s very flattered whenever I write something inspired by her, which happens quite often.

16. You have been on tour all around the world (Europe, US and Canada) with your band A Friend in London. What’s your most embarrassing/crazy tour memory with the band? Can we expect you to go on tour as a solo artist again as soon as the pandemic is over? Do you have any rituals before you go on stage?

Can’t talk about that. It’s 2020 for Christ’s sake. Haha. But my best memory was touring Canada, that was absolutely some of the years that really made an impact on me as a young artist and singer in a band.

I am currently ON tour as we speak, in Denmark. And I hope to be able to tour in Germany again after the pandemic is over. And yes, I sometimes pray.

Now It’s time for this or that:

Pizza or Sushi? Pizza. Because “HOME ALONE”. A whole cheese pizza just for me!?

Waffles or Donuts? Donuts. Because “America, duh”.

Coffee or Tea? Tea because I’m a singer and gotta look out for my voice.

Spotify or Netflix? Netflix. hahaha. F*CK! Shouldn’t have said that.

80s Disco Pop or EDM? Anything 80’s!

Piano or Guitar? Piano. I play the guitar. that’s my first instrument, but my secret lover is the piano. It’s almost like a parallel universe when playing the piano.

Germany or the UK? The world! Because “Megalomania.” lol.

Alec Benjamin or Shawn Mendes? Alec Benjamin. Huge fan of his stylistic simplicity in his songwriting.

Julia Michaels or Ryan Tedder? Ryan Tedder is a big dream of mine to get to write with!

Stadium tour or an acoustic session with few fans? First small acoustic sessions with a few fans and then bring them all to a big stadium concert! So they’ve seen me up close first and we already have a deeper connection.

17. I know it’s a bad year but let’s focus on the positive things. What was your highlight of 2020 so far? Every little reason to celebrate counts, right?

I sold out the danish royal playhouse… twice because it got moved from March to October and now, I’m playing it for real and I can’t wait!

18. What are you most excited about to happen in 2021? What can you tell us about new projects, you’re working on right now?

Definitely the release of my debut album coming out in spring! Waited 15 years to get here.

19. One question you want to ask me?

What’s your “why”? Why do you do what you do?

Pop music saved my life. It’s a big source of inspiration and vital power for me.

Thank you, Tim, so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I wish you the best for your musical career. I’m looking forward to your next releases and hope to see you soon on tour.

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