Brother Leo is quickly becoming a name you ought to know about. Launching out of Sweden, his new path in the music industry is interesting, different, and engaging. To-date, he has released “Strangers On An Island”, “Push Up”, and “Shine”, as well as an addicting collaboration with Felix Jaehn & Breaking Beattz on the song “LIITA“.
What a lot of people aren’t aware of, is that Brother Leo previously found fame under his own name Ola Svensson, gaining multiple hits in Sweden and even went international with the songs “All Over The World” and “I’m In Love”. He actually launched his career in 2005 where he was a contestant on the second season of the Swedish version of Idol, where he came eighth. From there he gained a record deal and has gone on to release a total of four studio albums and multiple singles with 11 of which charted inside the top five on Sweden’s singles chart, six of which peaked at number one.
Now, under the new name of Brother Leo, he has started a brand new career path for himself in the music industry, and as he builds up his releases, it’s clear he is one artist we all need to watch. We were honoured to be given the opportunity to interview him; we chatted about his new single “Shine”, his decision to release new music under the new name Brother Leo, and his future music plans.
Hi Brother Leo, how are you today? What have you been up to?
Hi! I’m good, thank you! Well, I’ve been pretty busy making music, rehearsing and all the million things that’s involved around that.
Now, this is a new project for you, but many Swedish people will know you as Ola Svensson. Why did you start releasing music under Brother Leo and where does the name come from?
It’s a combination of many things. But I guess the biggest reason was that I wanted to create something new to be able to challenge and stretch myself creatively both as an artist and a songwriter. It’s scary, but it also means freedom! When I was a kid I had this reoccurring dream about a twin brother, his name was Leo.
Your recent single is “Shine”, can you tell us more about the track?
Yes, “Shine” was pretty much the start of Brother Leo. I had a bit of a break from music and I was in a pretty dark place at the time so I wrote a song about how I felt, longing for something to change. It turned out to be a pretty therapeutic experience that inspired me and eventually turned into Brother Leo. “Shine” means a lot to me.
You’ve recently released remixes and an acoustic version of the track, which is your favourite version and why?
Oh, that’s a hard one, but I like the acoustic versions. I love to strip the songs down and just get to the core of it.
Are there more remixes on the way?
Yes, two more on the way, which Im really excited about!
A music video for the original track was released a week ago, what was that like to film?
It was inspiring and I think we got to a really good place with it. Also amazing to create this one with Leopold.
https://youtu.be/EtoIFK5k01A
Can you tell us more about the music video? And how it connects with the song?
I wanted to visually create a colorful trip into the subconscious a feeling of being trapped and lost inside your own self-made prison, longing to find a way out. But at the same time, I prefer people to make up their own minds of what it’s about to them.
Where was it filmed? The building looks incredible.
Calp Spain.
The director of the visual was Amitay Leopold, what was he like to work with?
It was amazing really. He’s super talented. We talked a lot of what the song is about, where it comes from and how we should visualize that.
The song follows up your previous two singles “Strangers On An Island” and “Push Up”, can you tell us more about these tracks?
“Strangers On An Island” was my first release. It’s a laid back tune about wanting to leave everything behind, and just disappear, find a place where you can hear your own thoughts far away from all the madness…
It was produced by Fatboy Slim, which was a huge honor getting to work with him.
Are all these releases leading up to an EP or an album? If so, what can we expect from it?
Yee, I’m working on an album at the moment. I’m trying to keep an open mind when I write music for myself, and not limit myself to one specific style or genre so I guess you can expect the unexpected. It’s songs I love, and hopefully, it makes you feel something too.
These three songs aren’t the only release under Brother Leo that you’ve dropped, you also collaborated with Felix Jaehn & Breaking Beattz on the song “LIITA”. How did that come about? What were they like to work with?
It was great, I got the question last year if I wanted to write with him for his project. So we did and when we were done Felix asked me if I wanted to feature on it. It was great working with Felix, we share the same idea of perfection, I guess.
Now, you’ve done a lot in your career, has there been any highlights?
The fact that I’m able to create what I want is the biggest highlight to me. I’m a curious person and I hope the biggest highlight is yet to come.
Going back to your current music, what can fans expect from you for the rest of the year?
Right now, I’m between the studio and rehearsing for the summer tour. Then I have a couple of new singles on the way that I’m really excited about.
What do you hope to achieve under the name Brother Leo?
I just wanna create music I love and that hopefully connect to some people! In the end, I guess it’s that simple really.
And, finally, do you have a message for all your fans?
Thank you so much for your love and support and for joining me on this journey! It means everything to me.
Thank you, Brother Leo, for taking the time out to answer our questions. We are loving the new remixes of “Shine”, especially the newly released Jack Wins Remix. We’re excited to see where your career takes you under the new name of Brother Leo and we’ll be supporting you in every step.
As we await the upcoming album that Brother Leo is working on, why not check out the songs he has released under this new name to date.