Sven Sundberg
United States, North Carolina, Asheville
About Sven Sundberg
Sven Sundberg specializes in creating melodic instrumental pop gems; from soft adult contemporary to pop, pop/rock and urban to remixes with modern beats, Sven uses the perfect blend of piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and percussion to craft timeless music for all generations.
DON'T PUT OFF CHASING YOUR DREAMS, YOU'LL REGRET IT (Sven's Story)
When I was young and living in Phoenix, I was very fortunate to receive piano lessons from John Steinway (of Steinway Pianos). I was too young to realize the significance of this man, and it wasn’t until I was in high school that it dawned on me, I was taught by John Freaking Steinway!
After a couple years of lessons at a young age, my family went through some difficult times and all our belongings were repossessed, including our piano. We moved to the Midwest, but were never able to afford a piano again. I remember missing our piano and wishing we had one again. I remember liking to use the chords and scales that Mr. Steinway taught me to make pleasant sounds. I used to drive my family nuts playing that piano so much!
When I was in high school, my best friend Jack played electric guitar and was in a band. I envied him so much! I would go with him to his band’s jams and practice sessions, all the while wishing I could play the keyboard along with them. It became my dream to write songs and play them, hoping others would like my music. But I didn’t have keyboards, so all I could do was listen. I would soak in their music, watching them play, and kept dreaming of one day either being in a band playing keyboards, or writing my own music.
It would stay a dream for many years.
After high school I went to college, got a job and moved up the ladder. I soon became a busy nonprofit executive and my job became my life, as often happens to so many people. I was too busy to think about pursuing my dreams, but it was always there in the back of my mind, gnawing away at me because I couldn’t find the time. So I kept working long hours, as my job demanded, and putting my dreams off.
Then it happened. Cancer.
I was devastated! I was only in my 30’s. They say when you look at the prospect of dying, your life passes before your eyes. That didn’t happen to me. It wasn’t my life that passed before my eyes, but my regrets.
I regretted not acting on my dreams. I thought about how I would never be able to make my own music now, surely I was going to die, and I became very depressed. I vowed to myself if I could just get passed this and be cured, I wouldn’t take my dreams of making music so lightly and actually do something with it. Well, long story short, half of my colon was removed and the effects of chemo and radiation stayed with me for a long time, but I survived!
I survived cancer. So I would keep my promise to myself to stop putting my dreams on hold and actually make music.
While I was still sick, I bought an inexpensive set of keyboards that had a lot of bells and whistles. I began to write songs and soon discovered what kind of music was in my heart to write. I rearranged my schedule at work and delegated more tasks, freeing myself up to have time to do what I always knew I would love doing … making music.
Fast forward 11 albums, some licensing successes, several awards and a million other musical experiences along the way and it’s still that vow that I made to myself when I think about my life and career as a musician. If I didn’t get cancer, I wouldn’t be where I am now, connecting with 15,000 new friends I met through my music. When I had cancer, I regretted not being a musician. Now that I am past that, I have absolutely no regrets about having had cancer! It kicked me in the butt and got me moving in the right direction.
I don’t mean to sell the creative process short. Needless to say, it’s essential. For the listener, it’s everything. But to some extent almost anyone can make music.
But when it comes to BEING a musician, it’s all the memories I helped create along the way. It’s hearing a song I wrote (I’ve written more than 100 songs) and instantly knowing which song it is and how the melody goes. It’s the familiar weight of my keyboards, guitars and other instruments because I’ve dragged them everywhere. It’s all the miles I’ve put on my car dragging my instruments around. And it’s a million other little subtle experiences that define what it means to be a musician. At least that’s the way it’s been for me. It’s not the piano chords or the number of albums sold, but rather it’s knowing those things first hand that make me a musician, a veteran. And it’s knowing that you are one of a small percentage of the population to not only have seen, but to have lived behind the curtain that makes this whole crazy thing worthwhile.
But perhaps even more importantly than all of that, it’s YOU, the listener, that makes all of it matter.
I look forward to many more sometimes hard, sometimes ugly, always worthwhile experiences along this musical journey. Here’s to hoping that you are part of that journey.
Thank you for being a listener, for making my dreams come true, and for making it all matter.
— Sven Sundberg :)
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