Scrolling through the Instagram account of Sven Gamsky, you get a peek into a place where some peculiar magic happens. It offers a glimpse of the Oakland, Calif., home studio where the performer behind the one-man passion project Still Woozy writes and records the intimate R&B-schooled electro pop that’s helping him sell out venues across the country. The cozy space, strewn with synthesizers and cables, is home to an orange-and-white tuxedo cat and is adorned with original art by Amiya Kahn-Tietz, who also made the cover art for Still Woozy’s releases. It seems just right for inspiring music that elevates the ordinary.
“Anyone who likes really clean, pristine, nice places is gonna be a little unhappy with the studio,” Gamsky tells the Scene. He’s calling from the back seat of a Ford Expedition, between dates on a 19-stop tour that crosses the U.S. and dips into Canada. “When I get in the zone, I don’t think about the place I’m in.”
Gamsky has been deep in his zone, turning the indietronica scene on its head with Still Woozy’s witty lyrics and funky, far-out grooves. On the handful of songs he’s released, he sings in a sweet falsetto as bass lines womp their way through primordial goo atop skittering beats.
“Experimenting more than anything else — with Ableton and different synthesizers — has transformed my sound,” Gamsky says. “It’s experimenting with things, but trusting my gut and trying to not overthink things.”
He’s been moving in this direction since Feed Me Jack, the math-rock band he formed with friends at the University of California at Santa Cruz, disbanded in 2016 after a five-year run.
“I wasn’t making something that was a full expression of what I wanted to hear,” Gamsky says, recalling the compromises of a collaborative process that had run its course. “It was necessary for me to be with those guys. I feel like I understand music and songwriting a lot better thanks to being with them.”
Starting with Still Woozy’s April 2017 debut single “Vacation,” Gamsky set about brewing up a distinctive concoction of acoustic and electronic elements. In the beginning, he wrote, recorded, mixed, mastered and released the songs himself. “But as more things started piling up and I had to release more songs as singles,” he says, “I have been leaning on a few friends of mine.”
Gamsky’s schedule got a lot more hectic after a sudden burst of interest in his second single, “Cooks.” Shortly after its release in July 2017, the song landed a spot on Spotify’s weekly Fresh Finds playlist, which the streaming service designed by analyzing the listening habits of subscribers whom it had identified as early adopters of new music. At press time, Fresh Finds is followed by nearly 650,000 Spotify users, and it’s been a boon to artists like Gamsky — artists who’ve found themselves on the list, even if they weren’t sure quite what it was.
“I didn’t even have a Spotify account at that point,” says Gamsky. “People texted me about it and I was like, ‘Oh? Fresh Finds? That’s nice.’ Then I started to see an insane number of plays in one day and it blew my mind.”
For Gamsky, appearing on Fresh Finds helped him earn a slew of new fans who stream his music regularly, and that’s allowed him to finance a substantial North American tour, plus a spot on the Coachella bill. But he hasn’t become a superstar overnight, and he’s not traveling in a luxurious tour bus. “I’m not with a label,” he says. “It’s all self-funded through the money I’m making with streaming.”
Not only has Gamsky sold out more than half of his scheduled shows so far, but Nashville had to make extra room for him. Still Woozy was originally booked at The High Watt, which can hold roughly 250 people. The show quickly sold out and was moved over to Mercy Lounge, which has double the standing-room space, and promptly sold out again.
“It is so nice feeling the energy from the crowds,” says Gamsky. “They’ve been super receptive, warm, and just want to have fun. Which is what we want, at least the people I am touring with right now. We just want to have a good time, relax onstage and be ourselves, and I think that’s translated.”
That good feeling seems to be shared among several artists who are playing with Still Woozy at different dates on the tour. R&B-rap artist turned bedroom-indie act Dreamer Boy, aka Zach Taylor, opens the Nashville show on Sunday.
“I caught sight of Dreamer Boy’s project through a friend of mine a couple weeks ago,” says Gamsky. “It sounds really beautiful and fleshed out. I’m stoked to meet up with him and see if he wants to play basketball.”
