Johanna Kuvaja – Wanna Make Love To You

By starrymag | July 29, 2021

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) If you listen to my three singles that I’ve produced so far, you’ll hear that they’re very different sound and style-wise. My first single is disco-pop, second is a power ballad and this new single is an R&B-song. Pop is still my main genre. I love music from 80’s and 90’s, so you’ll hear the influence from those eras. People in the music industry often tell me that my voice is very distinctive; like a mixture of Anastacia/Whitney Houston. My voice changed a lot after mold toxicity; it sounds little bit raspy and very soft. Something good came out of mold toxicity in that sense. 😄

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences? 

A) George Michael, Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, The Corrs, Shania Twain, Celine Dion

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Wanna Make Love to You.”

A) I wrote my song when I was dreaming about experiencing a deeper connection with someone. I realized that there’s a difference in making love and having sex.

Making love is art created by two people with deep feelings for one another. It’s giving behavior with commitment and care. I’m single and I’m hoping to manifest my dream partner by putting this song out there and showing my ideal relationship through my music video.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) I hope that people connect to the good energy of the song. It’s sexy and catchy.  My goal as a songwriter is to write songs that you can remember and repeat the chorus after the first listen. If I hear that my children hum my songs at home secretly, I know I’ve succeeded (even though I had to tell them not to sing this song at school or I might get in trouble .😅

 

Q) The video stars the hunky Mr. Europe/Mr. Mundo Dani Rivero. How did he get to be your leading man?

A) The director of the music video knew him from previous collaboration and after I had ditched all the male models from the catalogs that he showed me, he remembered Dani. I was looking for a tall, muscular dark-haired Spanish looking guy. As soon as he showed me Dani’s pictures, I knew it was him. He had a bad boy look, but he also could look like a gentleman. He had a lot of charisma and I found him extremely attractive, so I knew I wouldn’t mind kissing him and doing the bold bed scenes with him. Dani checked my Instagram and listened to my song and said yes right away. We had a lot of fun together.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

A) I get most of my ideas at home when I start to hum melodies when I’m alone and I feel inspired. I was lying in bed ,and I started to hum “Wanna Make Love to You” chorus one evening. I thought it was pretty catchy, so I grabbed my iPhone and recorded it with my voice memo.

Once I have a catchy chorus in mind, I try to sing the whole song intuitively and I use whatever lyrics come to mind at that moment. Typically, some of the phrases remain in the final product. After that I try to play it with my keyboard, and I pay attention to details and finish the lyrics+ structure.

 

Q) Sefi Carmel lent a hand in production on “Wanna Make Love to You,” but how much of say do you have in the production of your music?

A) A lot. That’s the reason why I’m an indie artist. I get to decide how my songs sound like. Sefi chose this song out of my many songs, and I agreed that it would be a fun song to produce. Then, I sent him reference songs about the sound of the backing track.

After he sent me the backing track, I asked him to make the song a bit slower and add more bars to C-part. Then, I planned all the vocal tracks around it and went to London to record it with him. I was able to do it exactly like I had planned.

After Sefi sent me the first version, I was able to make changes and even participate in the mixing process via Skype. I’m very grateful for that. My songs sound like me cos I’m the boss. [smiles]

 

Q) Will there be a full album or EP coming in the near future?

A) I have lots of songs composed but it’s pretty expensive to produce them alone. Let’s see what happens.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

A) My childhood hometown, Kiuruvesi. It brings so many memories. They have a big music festival in my home city and top performers from Finland performing there in the summer. I’ve been performing there many times with the pop orchestra.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) I would like to write songs to other artists, and I have a few in my mind already. One from Spain and the other one from the States. They’re both good-looking guys with amazing voices and we’ve been talking about collaboration. Maybe I could do a duet as well. But let’s see what the future holds.

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

A) Lately I’ve been listening to Justin Timberlake. I love the production, so I try to learn from it. I hope to learn how to mix and produce my own songs in the future.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) It brings people close to me. My fans get to see what I do every day, ask me questions and I even reply to their DM’s. Many are surprised to get a reply from me. They realize that I’m a normal person and I’m easily approachable. They like to support me and see me on gigs.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Your support means the world to me. Thank you! I hope to see you on gigs soon.