Still Woozy: Breaking Genres, Isolation, and New Music

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Written By Shaeley Hicks

Over the past week, a few team members here from Soul Talk Magazine had the opportunity to attend a press release for Sven Gamsky, more notably known as artist “Still Woozy.” We got to pre-listen to his new single “BS” and hear what he had to say about his craft, his life at home, and much more with special thanks to the 1824 team at Universal Music Group.

Gamsky has taken the reins at the head of the bedroom pop movement but can ultimately be defined as genre-less. With smooth synth notes and groovy melodies, he has attracted many listeners. He is well known for his singles “Goodie Bag” and “Habit” that have accumulated over 200 million streams on Spotify combined. Gamsky first began gaining popularity in 2017 with his catchy singles and has since released the “Lately EP” and more recently the single “BS.”

Regarding his new single “BS,” Gamsky explained that he is always trying to create something that maintains his interest and therefore the track is not indicative primarily of the future, whilst “it is a part of a whole picture.” The song is one piece of the “Still Woozy experience” in which Gamsky commented is best experienced through headphones.

“The way that I produce it, it’s a headphone experience. I mix in these tiny little noises. If you’re using headphones, you’ll be able to hear it more. I’d put on headphones and go for a walk.”

Listeners have attempted to throw Gamsky into various genres and defining playlists - indie, lofi, alternative, pop - any combination or style, you name it! At the end of the day though, he comes forth as generally genre-less. He commented that “I never want to get stuck in a genre. I have too many ideas to get stuck in one place. I don’t want people to get used to just one thing either. I want space to express all the different parts of myself.”

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Gamsky’s music can be described as easy to the ears with lively tunes and sounds. However, when looking closer at some of his lyrics, there appears to be some sadder themes. In “BS” he sings “I know you got some things hurting you bad, although / I got a million voices in my head, hollow / All of them keep telling me to go.” While writing about sadder topics, many of Gamsky’s songs still have a primary focus of finding joy in difficult times. He said, “for me music is a coping mechanism. My goal is to create more of a safe space to get a little break from yourself. I create it so it can help me first. If it can provide some level of a buffer, I know I can do the same for other people.”

It is no mistake that with the world in isolation, musicians have been cut off from live performances and are given more time to immerse in their art. Gamsky’s perspective on the effects of self isolation are that “It’s more reinforced what I want to get out of the music, but I don’t think it’s made me stronger.” And while at home, Gamsky said that he has been listening to the new Dominic Fike album and songs by D’Angelo.

Most notably, Gamsky is part of a rising collection of artists who are creating success from “do it yourself (DIY)” music that can be made in a bedroom, hence the genre name “bedroom pop” - a branch within the DIY outlet. Before signing to a label, Gamsky was known to release music from his own garage right after finishing it. Self producing allows many artists to make a name for themselves within a community without needing a record label at first. By wearing various different hats within the music industry, aspiring artists can gain a lot of knowledge and experience. Gamsky noted various pros and cons within self producing and solo work:

“I love playing with sounds and textures. It’s so fun to create beats and make something out of nothing and feel the different texture of the drums and building from the skeleton outwards. It always blows my mind a little bit. You lose that when you’re working with someone else. When you give stuff to someone else to do, it’s never going to be your true vision. You would be able to hear if I got someone else to produce my stuff. The highs are being able to have total control and being able to have an idea and execute it.”
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Lastly, we asked Gamsky what advice he had to give new artists and he said to “just focus less on getting big and focus more on the music and get that to a point where you feel like it’s on the same level as everything out there. People get caught up with not knowing what they want to do or say in music.”


In the meantime, Gamsky can be found making Tik Toks with his fiance Ali as they attempt to tackle trendy dances or posting adorable videos on Instagram of his dog BMO. Make sure to give “BS” a listen and for more information on Still Woozy please reference below:


Shaeley Hicks
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