Sofia Talvik
Born 24 November 1978, in Göteborg, Sweden, Sofia Karolina Talvik grew up on Orust, a Swedish fishing and boating island with a population 15,000 and a history that includes shout-outs in "Beowolf." She started playing the piano when she was 8 and still spends a lot of time playing and writing music, when she is not busy insulting me. She loves dinosaurs and sci-fi. Her favorite movie is The Ice Storm. (Of course it is, weirdo.) Maybe she doesn't realize that Jurassic Park is a way better movie which is also sci-fi and has dinosaurs in it. If you ever see Sofia singing somewhere, be sure to yell "Jurassic Park rules!" in between songs.
Green eyes / Height: 168 cm / Weight: "None of your beeezneeez" / Favorite Atari game: "What is this obsession with Atari? I'm way too young to have meddled with old stuff like that."
HOW EXCITED ARE YOU ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10?
[seven seconds] Probably a 5.
OKAY. HAVE YOU EVER MET SOMEONE ON A BUS, TRAIN OR AIRPLANE, AND THEN CONTACTED THEM AGAIN?
Yeah!
FOR EXAMPLE...
[laughter] I met a guy on the subway once and we went out for a date a couple of weeks later.
YEAH? THAT REALLY HAPPENS?
That really happens!
DID HE COME UP AND TALK TO YOU?
Um, we kind of bumped into each other. It was only that one date, though.
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND MEETING PEOPLE ON THE SUBWAY?
Yeah, sure. Why not? [laughter]
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FIRST JOB.
Like my first, FIRST job, or my first "real" job?
THE FIRST TIME THAT YOU GOT PAID FOR WORKIN'.
[laughter] The first time I got paid for working. I was probably maybe 8 or 10 or something, and I did my own magazine.
YEAH?
It was called K Composite. [much laughter]
OH, I LOVE THAT MAGAZINE!
It was actually called The Nightfly or The Dayfly or something like that. And I wrote about stuff that happened in our neighborhood. Then I photocopied it and I went around and sold it to the neighbors.
WAS IT PRETTY SUCCESSFUL?
Yeah. I thought so. I think I sold it for like 5 kronor each or something like that [about 75 cents] and probably made like 20 kronors!
SHIT!
That was a lot of money when you were 10.
THE PRICE OF NIGHTFLY IS GOIN' THROUGH THE ROOF THESE DAYS! [laughter] HOW MANY ISSUES DID YOU MAKE?
Probably two or three. And I did it on a typewriter, as well, and there were recipes and stuff in it.
WOULD YOU EVER KNOWINGLY BE FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS A RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS TATTOO?
[laughter] Are you referring to yourself?
NO. I DO NOT HAVE A RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS TATTOO.
It's okay. You can tell me. [laughter]
OKAY, LET ME SHOW YOU MY BACK. [laughter]
Yeah, of course I would. People can have whatever stupid tattoos they like.
YOU HAVE PRETTY LOW STANDARDS?
Yeah. I'm friends with you, aren't I?
[laughs] GOOD POINT. ARE YOU SMARTER THAN MOST PEOPLE OR DO YOU THINK MOST PEOPLE ARE SMARTER THAN YOU?
I'm smarter than most people. I'm smarter than Mister Lennart [nickname for Sofia's husband Jonas Westin, also in K Composite 14].
YOU'RE SMARTER THAN YOUR HUSBAND?
When I first met him we did an IQ test online.
[laughing...] WHAT AN AWFUL THING TO DO! WHAT A TERRIBLE IDEA.
I had a higher IQ than he had. [laughter]
THAT'S AWFUL.
That's why I married him. Out of pity. [laughter]
"AW, THIS POOR GUY'S NOT GONNA DO ANY BETTER." [laughs] WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT EVEL KNIEVEL?
Not much.
ANYTHING?
He was some kind of race driver, right? Or... Am I wrong?
HE DROVE A MOTORCYCLE.
Yeah, over buses and stuff.
YEAH, EXACTLY. HE WOULD JUMP OVER THINGS.
That's pretty much all I know. [laughing...] Why are you asking that?
I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WHO AREN'T AMERICAN KNOW ABOUT HIM.
Oh, okay.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE FONTS?
Hmmm. [eleven seconds] Avenir is a pretty nice font.
OH, DAMN STRAIGHT IT IS! [laughter] GOD, WHAT A GOOD ONE!
Yeah.
I DID A LOGO FOR... MY BROTHER AND HIS WIFE HAVE A DENIM SHOP AND THEIR LOGO IS IN AVENIR.
Good choice.
THEY LIKE IT, TOO. [laughter] THEY'RE BIG FANS. [note: this interview text is in Avenir]
Good choice.
HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN ANY BONES?
No.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL?
No.
PRETTY CALM LIFE THEN?
I have rushed myself to the hospital once – or twice – but not because I broke any bones. Once I had the dengue fever. So when we got back – when we landed at Arlanda [Stockholm's airport] – we went straight to the hospital.
THAT WAS IN THE PHILIPPINES?
No, we had been to Thailand. But they couldn't do anything [to help]. Me and Mister Lennart had the dengue fever for several weeks. And then one time I got some kind of penicillin which made me very sick, so I had to go to the hospital.
HHMMM.
But nothing serious.
WHEN PEOPLE STOP YOU ON THE STREET AND ASK FOR DIRECTIONS, HAVE YOU EVER PURPOSEFULLY GIVEN SOMEBODY INCORRECT INFORMATION?
I would NEVER do that! [laughter] I hate people who do that! [laughter] I fucking hate that! That happened to me in Amsterdam last Christmas. I asked if a train I was about to get onto... I asked if it was going to stop at a certain station. And they said yes and it DIDN'T. Then I had to go around the whole town and eventually I had to go back to the airport to get the other train. Why do people DO that?
IT'S KIND OF FUNNY, ISN'T IT?
I think it's... [four seconds] It makes me very angry. [laughter]
CAN ALL BIRDS FLOAT IN THE WATER OR JUST SOME OF THEM?
[laughter] "Does it float?" [laughter] I think all birds float. Why do you ask that?
I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER. I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT THE OTHER DAY.
Really? I think all birds float.
DO YOU PICK YOUR NOSE A LOT WHEN PEOPLE AREN'T LOOKING?
Sometimes.
EVERY DAY?
Probably. [laughs]
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE BOOGERS?
[laughs] Scrape them off on something? [laughter] Like your chair. [laughter] There's not always boogers, just because you pick your nose.
YEAH, SOMETIMES JUST LITTLE CRUSTY BITS. [laughter] YOU CAN JUST WIPE YOUR FINGERS AND THEN IT GOES AWAY.
Sometimes it's just itchy.
YEAH. [our mutual friend] JENNY [Levallius] WAS WONDERING IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY BORN AS A WOMAN OR IF THAT CHANGED LATER?
[laughter] I'm actually a hermaphrodite. [laughter] So, you know, you haven't noticed but I'm also Mister Lennart. [laughter]
WOW. HE'S MUCH TALLER THAN YOU.
Well, that's just plateau shoes. [laughter] Stilts.
WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT AMERICA?
Ehhh... [laughs] You tell me. [laughs] I think it's great because it's so diverse and it's so big. And you can tour forever and ever and not have to feel like you've played every venue already. In Sweden, there are too few venues.
YOU'RE ABOUT TO SHIP OFF TO THE U.S. FOR TWO YEARS, DO YOU KNOW A LOT ABOUT AMERICA?
As much as I have to. They have Bud Light Lime. [much laughter]
YOU WANNA TRY SOME QUESTIONS FROM THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION TEST?
[laughter] Oh my God. I'm not gonna know anything about it. Okay, go ahead.
EVERY FOUR YEARS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ARE HELD. IN WHICH MONTH ARE THESE ELECTIONS?
[four seconds] I don't know. February?
NOVEMBER. HOW MANY STRIPES ARE ON THE FLAG?
Really? Is that on the test?
MMM HMM.
Really?! I have no idea.
IT'S THIRTEEN.
Why?
WELL, THAT'S THE NEXT QUESTION. [laughter] WHAT DO THE STRIPES ON THE FLAG MEAN?
I have no idea.
THEY REPRESENT THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. WHO WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?
I don't know anything about the States... Lincoln? [laughter]
HOW MANY STATES ARE THERE IN THE U.S. TODAY?
I don't know, fifty-two? How many are there?
FIFTY. NAME ONE NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE.
[nine seconds] I should definitely know this. [four seconds] The Apaches?
YES. IF THE PRESIDENT AND THE VICE PRESIDENT DIE, WHO BECOMES THE PRESIDENT?
You do.
[laughter] I LIKE THIS! I LIKE YOUR VISION FOR AMERICA!
So, you're making this interview to ridicule me? [laughs] And you're actually sending this to the embassy where I get my permanent visa? [laughter]
NO WE'RE ACTUALLY FINISHED WITH THOSE QUESTIONS AND I JUST HAVE ONE MORE FOR YOU.
Okay.
IN JAPAN, DO YOU THINK WHITE TOURISTS HAVE A REPUTATION FOR TAKING A LOT OF PICTURES ALL THE TIME, OR DO YOU THINK JAPANESE PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO TAKE TONS OF PICTURES AND THEY CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY NOBODY WANTS TO PHOTOGRAPH THEIR COUNTRY?
[laughter] I think the Japanese take a lot of pictures... When we were in China, there were people taking pictures of us! The Chinese people took pictures of us.
BECAUSE YOU'RE SO FREAKISH LOOKING?
Yeah. Probably. They probably thought we were freakish looking.
I THINK YOU'RE FREAKISH LOOKING.
Thank you. [laughter] That's what I'm aiming for.
Work with K Composite
Part-time design project
K Composite 14
Issues 6 to 12
The printed versions of K Composite Magazine Issues 6 to 12 are available as a paperback book. 43 interviews in 198 pages!
