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Benson Chao

Singer Sophie Zelmani, on her first world tour, is more attuned to playing in her bedroom or at a picnic than flying around the world.

'I am not a pop singer . . . I didn't want to be a singer and perform on stage,' said the 24-year-old Swedish singer-songwriter from Munich, Germany, about her self-titled debut.

'I just wanted to make an album.

'For a few years after finishing school, I was worried and restless because I couldn't do anything but dream about making the album. I did not know how to do it and I had nobody to help me.

'I was supposed to get a job [demanded by her parents]. I didn't like it. I wanted to make an album so that I could listen to it when I got older.' To satisfy her parents, she took on casual jobs such as typing, delivery driver, waitress and shop assistant - but she did not stay more than a few weeks in each position.

Her pent-up frustration dissipated when friends helped her to make a two-track demo.

 The guitar-oriented tunes appealed to one Swedish label so much that they responded with a contract.

'They played the tape to Lars Halapi [a well-respected guitarist in Sweden] and he loved the songs,' she recalled.

 'So we went into a small studio for three months and it worked out easily. We recorded the album in two weeks.' Now, as far as Zelmani is concerned, her mission has been completed and even her mother is glad she has a job she likes.

'My elder sister, who is six years older, is even more happy than I am.' Her humility shows in the simplicity of her music.

Forget about catchy arrangements. The music is back-to-basics acoustic guitar on every track; drums are thrown in for diversity; lyrics are about love, feelings and relationships; and the CD jacket features her sipping mineral water lounging in a barren farmhouse. It does not get much simpler than this.

Word has it that she is so unaffected by the trappings of fame and fortune that she stays at home staring at the wall for hours.

'It was just one of the examples they used to show that I don't go out every night,' she said.

'I wasn't that shy. I just didn't say much and people thought I was shy.

'I like to be at home where I can sit and dream about life and love.' Since the beginning of the year, however, her quiet haven in her hometown of Skoojas has become unfamiliar as work has taken her away on promotional tours to Asia and Europe.

She has been on the promotion trail in Tokyo and Osaka, dashed to Morocco to shoot the video for her Swedish number one single Always You (she thinks it's 'strange' to make a video), and played gigs in London, Manchester and Munich.

'It was fun to travel and meet people but I need to have a normal life to write songs,' Zelmani said.

 'Right now I don't have one.

'When the album was done, I felt relieved because I had reached my goal.

'But now I have too much to do on the road.

'I'm looking forward to coming home at the end of the year.' Meanwhile part of her world revolves around her friends and her feelings.

 One outlet for such self-expression was her love of poetry when she was a child.

But her channel for revealing her feelings transferred from the pen to the guitar at 14.

'I wrote poems in Swedish everyday when I was young but at 14 I wrote my first song and I switched to English,' she said.

Although she has had nine years to fill her song vault, Zelmani confessed that 'there were not a lot to choose from' when it came to selecting songs for her album.

Her inspiration may come from ordinary things but she cannot tell when the flow will come.

'You never know,' she said. 'I don't plan to write songs. It could take months to write a song and sometimes it would take an hour.

'I have lots of half-done songs because if I don't like them, I throw them away.' Even though success may be the ultimate aim of anyone who treads on the international music scene, Zelmani is not obsessed with hitting the big time.

'I don't want to be as successful as [her countrymen] Roxette,' she said.

 'I am not working that hard. Don't get me wrong . . . I would really like to make another album but there is no hurry.

'I still enjoy the normal life of taking a walk, meeting friends, having a picnic or driving to the countryside . . . [and eventually] to have a family and be healthy.' When her touring schedule slows down by the end of the year, she hopes to indulge in things that she enjoys.

'Since I've [made the album], there are other things that I can do, such as take care of animals,' says Zelmani. By that, she means her pet dog.

  As a child, her dream was to be a veterinarian but these days it looks like the only animals she will be seeing are the Asian dragons.

 After staging four concerts in Japan, she will be strumming her way across Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Australia.

Sophie Zelmani, Fringe Club, 9pm July 11. Open to Fringe Club members and Sony guests only 



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