Still Woozy makes music so we don’t have to
By Sabrina Li Image courtesy of NME Halfway through answering questions from youth-centered media outlets all across the country, Sven Gamsky’s (stage name: Still Woozy) muted-calico cat jumps onto his chest and lies there the rest of the call. Last ...
Image courtesy of NME
Halfway through answering questions from youth-centered media outlets all across the country, Sven Gamsky’s (stage name: Still Woozy) muted-calico cat jumps onto his chest and lies there the rest of the call.
Last Tuesday, WMUC had the pleasure of being in a Zoom press conference, hosted by the 1824 division at Universal Music Group, to promote Still Woozy’s then-upcoming, now-released single, “BS”.
In the past few years, Still Woozy has blown up and revolutionized the independent and bedroom pop scene with his melancholy vocals strung over psychedelic pop backing tracks. His Spotify streams from “Goodie Bag,” “Lucy,” and “Habit” total up to approximately 250 million plays alone and he boasts more than 4 million monthly listeners, all while having yet to release a full-length album.
Coming from a math rock background, Gamsky has been able to craft a genre-less soundscape unique to his own—whose free-flowing melodies and instrumentals act in direct opposition to the strictly technical beats of math rock—through his solo project Still Woozy.
“I could never really describe my own music,” admits Gamsky, “I don’t wanna ever get stuck in a genre.”
On “BS,” Gamsky plays with opposition, juxtaposing drawn-out notes with staccato verses stated over a multi-layered composition. Still Woozy manages to create a sonic atmosphere that feels simultaneously hollow as it is full. Lyrically, Gamsky explores the sensation of falling in love with laid-back verses that tread on the outskirts of conversation; what Still Woozy does best is elevating the mundane.
Lying propped up against his pillow, Gamsky embodies the accessibility of his work—you don’t have to be Fantano to like Still Woozy. Critics and fans alike praise Gamsky’s effortless genre-bending sound, pinning him up with words like ‘genius’ and ‘prodigy,’ but at the end of the day, Still Woozy would still sound like Still Woozy even if there weren’t anyone around to applaud Still Woozy. Sven Gamsky’s just a guy, who likes purple, who loves his fiancé, who struggles learning TikTok dances as much as you or I do, and who really, really, really likes making music. And we’re all just lucky enough to live in a timeline where we get to hear his music, too.
Listen to “BS” by Still Woozy, out on all streaming platforms today.