Simon Elvnäs biography – Mistaken for a Man
Simon says that the music has always been there in his head. It was there before he learned to play a musical instrument.
Perhaps not surprisingly Simon grew up in a family where music had an important focus. His father played the accordion and entertained the local community at dances when Simon was young. His path to true musical discovery was born out of necessity. Simon’s father decided one day that he needed drum accompaniment for his performances and put the young Simon in front of a set of drums and taught him how to play. This would continue until the age of 14.
It was then that he wrote his first song, a song he says that he simply had in his head. Most of us would probably consider this quite remarkable but Simon talks about it as if explaining how it was to tie his shoelaces for the first time. The transition from drums to guitar was still many years away.
The subtle push towards musical expression continued when Simon’s older brother decided to start a band with Simon, Simon’s girlfriend and a couple of friends who not only knew nothing about music but had never actually seen one as Simon tells it. Still bitten by the music bug, Simon continued to play the drums and write music in his head, cranking out a total of three songs as the drummer.
Simon’s evolution into a true singer/songwriter came when he was 21. It was then that he bought his a second-hand guitar, his first, and a how-to book on playing guitar. Not long afterwards Simon found himself at a birthday party as the vocalist with a friend who could actually play the guitar. Apparently the will was there but not the ability…yet. This birthday party would prove be the turning point in his singing career
