Interview with Ina Forsman.
Interviewed by: Laury Verdoux
Hi Ina, such a pleasure to speak with you! Could you introduce yourself in a few words?
Thank you for having me! I'm Ina Forsman, a Finnish Soul singer-songwriter living in Berlin. I've been doing music for the past 10 years, and toured around Europe & the US. I’ve soon released 3 solo albums, the third one being my new album “All There Is”. I like to sing loud and write honest songs about raw emotions. My new album and live show are built around a theme "Cinematic Soul".
How did it all start for you?
I've dreamt of becoming a singer from the age of 6 - or more so I KNEW that I would become one, there was no other option. At 17 years old I started doing shows and I got together with a Blues band. That's when I really fell in love with Soul, Blues, R&b and Jazz. Around that time I also started to write my own songs and finding my own sound. Old soulful music has always been my biggest inspiration, and I'm on a lifelong journey to find out the perfect way to combine the old with the modern.
You've just released the single “Love Me”, such a sweet love song! What's the story behind it? Are the lyrics based on personal experience?
Till now, I've only written songs that are based on personal experience, though it would be a wonderful challenge to write about something I have no experience about!
I wrote “Love Me” about the thoughts and emotions you go through when you’re getting closer to the moment of saying “I love you” to someone for the first time. It’s that stage of the relationship where you believe nothing can ruin it, and the love will last eternally. With the composing, lyrics and arrangements we tried to create the atmosphere of this fleeting, yet life changing moment, and I think we truly succeeded. Now every time I perform the song, I’m reminded by my first “I love you” to the love of my life. That’s quite sweet.
Your album All There Is is coming soon (June, 24th). Which song was the one you preferred working on?
“Love Me”, “Poor Heart” and “We Could Be Gold Diggers” were my favourites to work on. All of them went through a different process from writing the song to taking it to the studio. For Love Me my vision was clear from the start, but that's why we did 4 different demos of it, and even recorded it in two different studios until we got the perfect version!
“Poor Heart” I always had a strong connection to because the song tells about inner struggles, but for some reason I couldn't hear in my head how the final song should sound like. The producer Michael Bleu stepped in and built the groove and structure around the lyrics and the melody I had. I fell in love with it immediately.
“We Could Be Gold Diggers” I have special feelings for, cos the idea for the name came while talking with my husband, and we worked on the lyrics together.
What advice can you give to any artist who wishes to have a career as successful as yours
I think "success" is relative, but I'm grateful if you think that I'm successful.
If I can advise anyone on anything, is that as early as you can, align your dreams with how hard you're willing to work, and what is it that you actually want; What is your own version of "success"?
And also: Unapologetically, follow your damn gut. Always. Intuition rarely lies, especially if you have a bad feeling about something.
Last but not least, who are your three favorite artists right now?
Right now I'm deeply vibing to Monophonics, Ceelo Green and Eryn Allen Kane!