When 2020 began, musicians all around the world began to see the year as a prime opportunity for growth and touring. 

With the mess that was 2019 fully in the rearview, artists and fans alike were prepared to declare 2020 “their year,” and devote the next 12 months to perfecting their crafts and seeing as much of the world as they were able to by way of touring and releasing new music. 

But when March came and the COVID-19 pandemic shut down nearly the entire globe, artists such as Sweden’s rising act Pressure were forced to rethink their yearly goals and find new ways to stay creative and afloat while the world seemed to come to a halt around them.

A fresh faced band who were just beginning their journey, Pressure used 2020 as a way to focus even harder on their musical abilities than ever before- all while maintaining their day jobs and full time careers. 

Releasing their debut single “Osårbar” at the start of the year, the band have since set to work on a new album and several new singles, many of which are set to debut in early 2021 and showcase the band’s dedication to turning the year around.

We had the chance to chat with Pressure’s lead vocalist Olof Jönsson to chat about how the band is handling the lockdowns, where they hope to take Pressure from here, and how 2021 will be better than the past 12 months.

You can read our full interview below, and be sure to check out the band’s upcoming single “What You See,” out next month.

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Second Society Report: How did you hold up during the insane year that was 2020? Hopefully your friends and families are staying safe and healthy!

Olof Jönsson: To start with families and friends, we have been really lucky. There are some close ones that got infected but all of them made it and didn’t have to go to the hospital. But of course, we feel for everybody that hasn’t been that lucky.

To talk music wise, we have focused on creating our sound, recording singles and an album. All of us have other jobs as well to finance our life’s. Olof is running a bakery, Emil is working with computers and Simon is a full time musician with guitar students and works as a session musician as well. I think it has been hardest on Simon, but he is a real fighter and doing well.

SSR: Did you have any big releases or tours that were put on hold because of the pandemic? How has that affected the band? (could be personally, financially, morale wise, etc.)

Olof Jönsson: Since Pressure are a really young band (the band, not the members) we didn’t have any tours planned before the outbreak. But now it’s getting a little frustrating not to be able to book live gigs tours etc. But we do our best to find alternative ways, even though a live stream isn’t like a live gig at all. Our releases haven’t been affected, worth mentioning.

SSR: How have you been spending your newfound “downtime” while the world has been essentially shut down?

Olof Jönsson: As I mentioned before working on our sound, recording, making videos for our songs. Finding good people to work with.

SSR: Have you picked up any new hobbies while quarantining that you’d like to share?

Olof Jönsson: Ha ha, no. Music is a very serious hobby for me (Olof) and Emil that we hope and work for to be more than just a hobby. For Simon music is both work and hobby, I think. So, we have focused more on our own music.

SSR: Have you worked on any new releases during this time? Any that are already out or that we can get a sneak peak of?

Olof Jönsson: Almost all that we have released during 2020 have been work we created or finished during this pandemic. We have planned for two more single releases during spring and one album release just before summer. After summer we plan to release an Ep in German.

The first single we will release is “What You See” / “Vad Du Ser”. Same song in two different versions. One in English and one in Swedish. You could get a sneak peak at that.

SSR: If already out- what was the inspiration for the release? Have you written any songs specifically about the state of the world right now?

Olof Jönsson: Almost all our songs are about different kinds of pressure (hence the band name “Pressure”). The pressure cloud is good and/or bad- it’s up to the listener to interpret the song. We want our music/songs to help people overcome everyday problems, and we want to start a discussion about topics that sometimes could be hard to talk about. Most of our songs can be interpreted in two different ways, this makes our music good for interesting conversations and discussions.

But no, none of our released songs or soon to be released songs are written about the Covid state the world is in now. But most of them you can relate to anyway, because they are about things that people feel or are experiencing regardless covid is in the world or not.

SSR: How has it been being an artist in a time when you cannot tour? How have you been working to promote your music and expand your reach?

Olof Jönsson: First of all, we are really, really longing to get out there and play live music. Other than that, yes, we worked on promoting, social media, finding good pr people and a long-time plan for the band.

SSR: Do you have any words of advice for fans that are feeling particularly bummed out about the live music world coming to a halt?

Olof Jönsson: Interact with people, band on social media. Listen to different live streams of your favourite band and maybe of some new ones;-) Of course it’s not the same as going to a real live concert but hopefully we don’t have to wait too long for that.

SSR: When the world returns to a safer spot and we are able to (hopefully) attend live shows again- say in 2021- what do you hope to achieve?

Olof Jönsson: To start out with a lot of smaller gigs to be able to interact with people on a personal level. Some bigger gigs/festivals to feel the real PRESSURE.

SSR: Is there anything you wish your fans would know about you or about the current state of the music world?

Olof Jönsson: Be supportive out there. To everybody. Most of us out there have probably a pretty hard time. Everybody has different problems and most of the problems are probably different than they used to be for the Covid. Try to take care of the lonely and isolated.

As I mentioned before, we are a really young band that has just started our journey. We are working hard as many others right now, and many before us have done. We do what we do with passion and hope you feel that when you listen to our music.

You can listen to us at almost all streaming services. If you do like us, please don’t forget to subscribe. Especially on our YouTube channel, there will be a lot of things in the future.

Put a smile on your faces. If you have a hard time, don’t give up, keep on fighting.

Have a great day everybody.

You can connect with Pressure now, via the links below, and be sure to stream their latest release “Julstress,” out now, and stay tuned for “What You See,” out February 18th.

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