• photography Agnes Strand
    fashion Ken Mogekwu
    top Christiana Hadjipapa
    trousers Naomi Tarazi

    An interview with Delphi

    Written by Khaddy Gassama by Sandra Myhrberg

    With her positive state of mind, Delphi has a way of making the best out of every situation. And she’s putting her heart into everything she does, ranging from ice cold baths, passion for music, to the environment.

    Tell us about yourself.

    I’m Delphi, born in Sweden with Gambian/Trinidadian/austrian heritage. I Sing, write music, perform and do some producing. I have 2 street cats from Gambia, a loving family, and a passion for music out of this world! Super Grateful for all of it.

    What does a regular day look like for you?
    Right now I’m taking every opportunity to be in the studio with other people writing songs and being creative. I recently completed a small tour so December consisted of traveling, rehearsing, soundchecks, eating fast food, stressing out, meetings, having fun, and performing. Intense! In the days in between, I found comfort and recovery spending time with my love, swimming in the ice cold ocean (Wim Hof method), cooking nice food, hanging out with my cats, those kinds of things…
    On the days when I’m not working at the factory, I like to make music. Working on 4 songs atm, and I have more coming!

    How did you get into the profession that you are active in today?
    As a kid, I never felt more in my element than on stage. When I acted, danced, and sang, I was myself. Being very bullied growing up, performing gave me the rare opportunity of recognition because I was good at it. This was extremely motivating. Also, I idolized successful people that looked like me, who I could somehow relate to, like Beyonce and Rihanna. Makes a lot of sense now, considering how few “me’s'' were represented in media, books, etc. growing up. 
    It all started with a dream. And though it has not always been easy and I’ve doubted my abilities and whether or not I can succeed with this, I have always found my way back to the path. I’m good at what I do, therefore things I do always lead to something new!

    What advice would you give to someone that would like to get into the career you are in?
    I find people can be afraid to commit because of a fear of failing. Many have a fantasy of a perfect start, skyrocketing numbers of plays, instant recognition, etc. Being an artist is a constant commitment and rarely is there a “right time” or a “perfect hit song”. Even if you have an amazing smash song, chances are not that many people will hear it, especially if you're independent. Artistry is hard work, and we all have to start somewhere. The consistent ones will remain in the end, those who are willing to give their all and who love the process as much as the idea of the possible outcome.
    Have fun! It’s all about networking, and If you're good at what you do, opportunities will arise, rumors will spread and you will have some sort of a career, even if you're not the next internet sensation :)

    Tell us about the photoshoot for Odalisque.
    I had the honor of working with Khaddy “Swedish Hair Mafia” who organized this shoot with Agnes Strand (photographer), Ken (stylist), and Thereza (makeup). I have done some modeling before, but this was something different. Every artist had a focus area, a job, and wanted perfection and I was the canvas. It was a thrilling and fun experience. Nice to be able to wear such cool designs too.

    Who do you look up to and why?
    The list is long, I look up to many people. My mother is one of my biggest sources of inspiration. She has the ability to turn difficult challenges into opportunities. I think that's an incredible superpower, to have that kind of strong mentality and be able to choose how you react and respond to things happening in your life.
    I look up to people who find solutions, people who want to inspire others, and who take responsibility. People who strive to do their best regardless if they’re working against the stream. That’s inspirational.

    Describe yourself.
    I’m Brave, I’m strong and I rarely avoid a challenge. When I love, I love passionately and with my whole heart. I am not afraid to make a fool out of myself, constantly growing, evolving, exploring.

    Which is your favorite song by you?
    Of the songs that I have released so far, I was probably vibing most with PHRESH during the time of producing it. But to be honest, the stuff I’m working on right now has been on repeat a lot more… so I’m very much looking forward to sharing these next upcoming singles.

    Where do you pick/get most of your inspiration from?
    I’m inspired by LOVE, Heartbreak, relationships, angels, and demons. Almost everything I write is about things I have experienced, either by hearing others' stories or by going through it myself. I try to empathize with people, even those who do me wrong. By writing about it, through my perspective, or trying to understand theirs, I deal with it. I work through it, I get a better understanding and can eliminate hate or bitterness. So music is like therapy in a way.
    I like to have contrasts in music. A heavy message with an uplifting beat, like bringing up abuse in a way that makes you dance and also reflect, I find effective… One of the songs I made the other day for example is about a worst case apocalyptic scenario where we have destroyed the planet beyond repair. I ask for forgiveness in my lyrics though I know It’s too late for apologies.

    How do you stay motivated this time of year when days are short?
    Physical movement and musical journeys. There is nothing more depressing than sitting inside for any length of time watching series in the dark… I have a deeply rooted need for movement, both in terms of exercising and change of scenery. I love biking, taking cold swims (such a kick), trying out different restaurants/cafés, and also working up a sweat. I have a physically very demanding job, working in a big fridge, lifting tons of milk and juice.
    There are many reasons to avoid air travel right now: Covid, environmental reasons et.c. However, music enables you to time travel AND takes you places. I dream of hotter, sunnier, humid places, and some nice reggae, afrobeat, calypso, for example, can take me there!

    End of last year you had your first release party. Tell us about that.
    I collaborated with a group of music business students. They needed someone to promote in their finals and I was their chosen guinea pig. The promotion of the song wasn’t very successful, however thanks to Cassandra and Ami I had my very first release party. With the assistance of my go-to piano player Chris Sandberg, I performed three songs in a backyard in Stockholm, very intimate, very nice. More people than I hoped for showed up, it was pretty cold. It was just amazing.

    You performed at the Extinction Rebellion Climate Event. What is climate awareness to you and how do you see that you can contribute?
    Climate change should be made TOP priority, but is not. People are treating it like a thing you can choose to believe in or not. I think that the recent movie “Don’t look up” made some strong points, using a comet coming at top speed towards earth as a symbol for climate change.
    We can choose to act as if everything is normal and that we are not in danger but by the time we’re ready for change, it might be too late. It’s easy to feel helpless and unable to make a change as a single person in this big world, but we can all contribute to change. My way is through showing support for people who are actually prepared to do something, like the Extinction rebellion, even if it's radical, because this is a radical situation that needs immediate attention! I will write about it in my music, try to support good ideas, brands and inventions and spread awareness, however I can.

    What are your plans for this spring and 2022?
    My plan is to release a new single early this spring. I have upcoming collaborations with artists in LA, Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Gothenburg. I'm also doing a live show that will be uploaded on Youtube, by Selam Sessions. I have some Live gigs planned as well but with the current situation with restrictions, you never know. So I am focusing on creating murda music, and planning a smart and effective marketing strategy for the songs.

    coat DAY Birger et Mikkelsen
    dress House of Dagmar
    gloves & shoes Humana Secondhand
    ring Bedazzled Jewelry
    coat DAY Birger et Mikkelsen
    dress House of Dagmar
    gloves & shoes Humana Secondhand
    ring Bedazzled Jewelry
    top Christiana Hadjipapa
    trousers Naomi Tarazi
    jacket Göran Sundberg
    dress Charlotte Backaryd
    shoes Vagabond
    jacket Göran Sundberg
    skirt Humana Secondhand
    shoes Vagabond Shoemakers

    photography Agnes Strand
    fashion Ken Mogekwu
    makeup Tereza Luyirika

    hair Khaddy Gassama / Swedish Hair Mafia

    post production Sabina Hannila
    top YAS
    skirt RitaRoslin

  • photography Agnes Strand
    fashion Jahwanna Berglund
    all clothing Filippa Fuxe
    all jewellery All Blues

    An Interview with Filippa Fuxe

    Written by Valeria Bartocci by Fashion Tales

    After studying at Central Saint Martins, award-winning designer Filippa Fuxe is on her second year of a Bachelor’s degree at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm.
    Growing up in a family with many scientists and psychologists Fuxe often strives to find new methods and techniques in her design. With similarities to a research project, she often starts with a hypothesis that is tested during the process.
    Odalisque visited Fuxe’s summer house in southern Sweden to shoot her garments on her favorite hidden spots along the coast such as Hovs Hallar, the iconic location where Ingrid Bergman’s The Seventh Seal was filmed.

    Tell us about your latest collection.
    This fall I created a capsule collection that is based on the idea of two innovative powers, one being my great grandmother Karin Ek, a pioneering poet and author, and the other one the innovative material Circulose®, a biodegradable raw material that recycles clothes in a new way. I see this, not only as an interesting meeting between two innovative sources but also between the past, present, and future.
    I started off investigating the life of my great grandmother Karin Ek (1885-1926), who was a poet and author in the early 20th century in Stockholm. The garments are created based on Karin’s poetry which includes themes such as melancholy, death, love, and the philosophy that nothing exists except the stormy movements of one’s own heart. Another important theme from Karin’s poetry is her for the time period original and bold expressions about women's sexuality. I was also inspired by the fact that the timing of my collection aligns with the 100-year celebration of women’s right to vote in Sweden.
    In the collection, I have used raw materials provided by Renewcell in the form of cotton threads discarded as waste, recycled Circulose® pulp, and recycled viscose fibers. Different techniques such as wet molding, screen printing, knitting, and draping silhouettes were used to create three different looks.

    You won a Danish international design competition this spring, what did you present?
    Earlier this year I was happy to win an international design prize created by the Danish company Selfmade, where I presented a design idea with a garment that can vary and shift identity and shape through different detachable parts. These parts can be replaced with other versions, for example changing the shape of the sleeve or varying different color combinations. I wanted to let the consumer become their own designer and use their creativity. The pattern will be available in stores in Scandinavia and parts of Europe in spring 2022.

    Who is your muse?
    A 60’s Nikki De Saint Phalle and Mick Jagger.

    How would you describe your style?
    Progressive, sensual, and cinematic where every garment is their unique character who all exist in the same visual world.

    Someone you’ve always wanted to dress?
    Definitely Margaret Qualley. Or FKA Twigs.

    Where do you see yourself in the future?
    Developing my design further and working more with influences from music, art, and theatre.

    photography Agnes Strand
    fashion Jahwanna Berglund
    model Filippa Fuxe
  • photography Sandra Myhrberg

    transcription Oskar Borin

    An Interview with SKYND

    Written by Valeria Bartocci by Sandra Myhrberg

    SKYND is an electronic-industrial band whose songs are inspired by true crime cases. SKYND consists of two members, the lead singer, SKYND, and producer/multi-instrumentalist, Father. They have spearheaded the genre of true crime music and use menacing visuals and aesthetics in their videos, performances, and attire that help depict the violent nature of these cases. While controversial in their approach, SKYND hope to raise awareness about mental health issues and what leads people to commit these heinous acts. Through their music, they hope that they can prevent similar crimes being from repeated in the future. 

    How has this pandemic affected you as an artist? Skynd is all about performing and sharing music with people. When you aren’t able to tour I imagine it must be really tough as an artist.
    Yes, it was tough in the beginning because we were about to tour the US and Australia. We had to cancel those tours. I went into a dark place and deep depression after that. That dark place inspired me to start investigating new true crime cases, to use the depression to explore my creativity, and use the time to translate these experiences into new music. 
    The most difficult part about the pandemic was not being able to shoot videos. I felt like I was in “release prison”. I had so much new material that I wanted to shoot videos for and share with my fans but couldn’t due to all the restrictions.  
     
    Skynd’s videos are visually striking, detailed and thoroughly thought out. They provide fans with a glimpse into your world and enable them to perceive who you are as an artist. What is the creative process behind your music videos and what are the challenges of making them?
    The creative process begins as soon as I write the songs. While I am translating these crime cases into music, I have a vision in my head as to how the video looks in terms of colors and aesthetics. I write down everything that comes to mind, then sit down with the director or producer to develop the visual concept and further build on the idea. It’s important to me that we respect the cases by staying true to facts, and not trying to romanticize anything. When writing about true crime, it’s important to be accurate with our lyrics as to what transpired. Through the video, I want to tell the story from my point of view but not romanticize any facts.  

    Your niche of subjects you sing about is unique, how did you get into crime stories or murders? What is it that fascinates you?
    I think the fascination of morbidity is innate to all of us, programmed in the human condition. Many people enjoy watching cruelty in fictional media, as do I.  I like watching true crime documentaries because there’s always the question of motive…what led these people to do the things they did. When my imaginary friend “Skynd” appeared when I was about 3 or 4 years old, he whispered all these horrible stories in my ear. Stories that made me feel like my skin was being peeled off. I started becoming really fascinated by them. I was intrigued because he showed me that we don’t live in a unicorn world. He revealed that there are violent crimes occurring all over the world. This also really interested me in learning more about the human psyche.  

    When you were a child, what was your state of mind like? What was it like having an imaginary friend who would tell you scary things?
    I always had a dark side to me as a child. My imaginary friend, Skynd, is a big part of that.  He opened that world up to me. It’s a world I really enjoy living in, which also inspires and fuels my creativity. I enjoyed those morbid crime stories because I wasn’t afraid. I was actually very interested and fascinated by them. I had a TV in my room and sometimes he would turn the TV on. When I was 10 years old he turned the TV on to a documentary about Gary Heidnik. Although the story was scary, I found it so intriguing that I couldn’t stop watching. What would drive a person to do such horrendous things?
     
    What is the creative process behind writing your songs? I imagine it must take a lot of research about these crimes to stay true to the stories, in order to accurately depict the facts through your songs?
    It always starts with the crime case. I have a journal where I write notes about all the cases that inspire me and whatever sparks my creativity. I need to have all the facts together to write my lyrics. “Father” is also a part of the creative process, we have a deep understanding of how we work as artists and are able to bring out the best in each other. We bounce and build ideas off each other…and we’re both perfectionists so we’re never satisfied with the song until it meets all our criteria.  

    How did you and Father meet?
    Father and I met in Australia at a bush party [outdoor music festival]. He was sitting on a stone, rocking back and forth. A voice inside my head told me to approach him. So I walked up, sat next to him, and we started talking. We instantly felt a strong connection, I shared my interests in true crime that he was also intrigued by and up until this point I had never met anyone that thinks along the same lines as me creatively and shares the same interests and tastes in music. 
    The next day we went straight to the studio. It was serendipitous, we worked incredibly well together and had this unexplainable connection, like we were landing on destiny. 

    What inspires you to write about certain crimes?
    It depends on the nature of the crimes and what inspires my creativity. I feel like every human being is capable of committing inhumane cruelties and crimes. I’m trying to shine a light on it and raise awareness about what drives people to commit these acts. I get criticized a lot for writing about these topics. I feel there’s no difference between watching a movie or documentary on Netflix about these topics and what I’m doing, which is writing songs about it. For example, “Michelle Carter” is about a 17-year-old girl texting her boyfriend into suicide. It’s important for me to make people feel comfortable addressing their mental health. Hopefully it will give them the courage to get the help they need, in order to prevent such heinous acts from happening in the future.

    How did you come up with the name “Skynd”? Was the name inspired by your imaginary friend?
    Skynd appeared when I was really young. I grew up with him and he’s been a major influence and inspiration in the development of my life. When I was searching for a name as an artist he whispered to me…“call yourself Skynd”.  When he told me all those horrible stories as a child, I really felt as though my skin was being peeled off. I think the idea for him was that my music should go under your skin and make you feel uncomfortable. 

    photography Sandra Myhrberg

    transcription Oskar Borin

    all clothing made by SKYND Music

    makeup SKYND’s Own

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