Had a pretty busy week here putting in the final tracks for the E.P. and starting on the mixing.  As always the first stages of mixing were a little frustrating but once I made some adjustments things started to take shape nicely and a few more sessions should do it.  All in all I am very happy with how the songs have turned out.

I jumped back into the studio work with both feet because I had put it on hold to get ready for the first live show.  I guess I was in a bit of an "onwards and upwards" mode considering that there were only a few people at the show and there had also been some minor technical problems.  Generally a bit of a frustrating night I have to admit but I am optimistic that things will get better and I have already sorted out the technical problems.  Now all I have to do is get a few more people to actually show up!

Other than that just getting prepared for tomorrow, another crazy "May Day" here in Berlin.  Considering that I live in the heart of the riot zone there are always some consideration to be made, e.g. parking the car far enough away so there is no risk of it getting damaged, getting some cash (all of the banks and their cash terminals get borded up) and this year because it is on a Saturday I have to remember to do all my grocery shopping today in order to get through until Monday.  Yes, lots to do here so I better get at it!

And just to give you an idea of what it's like, check out this video...

Atari Teenage Riot - May 1st, 1999

As you can guess by the title, there has been quite a bit going on around here over the past few weeks.  But unfortunately not enough it seems.  I'll start with the bad news (which really isn't such a big deal but I like a bit of drama with my morning coffee).  Due to some setbacks in the studio the EP release will be postponed by two weeks making the new release date June 15, 2010.  So now on to the good stuff...

...and where to start?  I suppose the development that ties in with the release date is that there will be a "CD Release Show" at a local record store here in Berlin.  You can check here for info etc.  But that's not the only show coming up.  On May 29th I'll be part of a double bill at a cool club called Madame Claude.  The other band will be Ben & Béné, a dynamic duo from Paris!  That one should be very interesting indeed...

And last but not least, I am really looking forward to the debut show tomorrow night at Supersonic.  I finally had time this week to set everything up the way it will be on stage and was relieved to find out that it works in practice and not just in theory.  Should be a good night!

Maybe I'll see you there...

After quite a bit of consideration and deliberation about the best way to get some recordings officially "out there", the decision has finally been made.  The first release will be an E.P. of six songs and will be released on June 1, 2010.  The original idea was to release an album and enough material is ready but instead of blowing the load all in one go it will be divided up into 2 E.P.s with the second probably getting released near the end of the year.  There will definitely be some kind of release "event" but planning is still in the early stages.  More updates on all that coming soon!

Oh yeah, and this is "for reals", i.e. not an April Fool's joke!

And Happy Easter if you're into that kind of thing.  And if you're not too "devout" about these kind of things you might get a kick out of this video...

Origins of the Easter Egg

You might have already noticed that there is a new page on this site, "Alive!" which basically is what you would think, i.e. a listing of upcoming live performances.  Only one confirmed so far but a few more should be showing up there soon.  It's been a while since I last went through this process of getting gigs and I forgot just how complicated it can be.  Club owners/bookers tend to keep odd hours and getting them to respond to an email is pretty much hopeless.  Not to say I blame them, they are probably bombarded with requests - just have a quick look at Myspace and you will start to think that just about everyone in the world is in a band...that's a lot of people looking for gigs and since it has become almost impossible to sell recordings of music I imagine that many more artists are trying to get "out there" and get their share of the pie.  Whatever, I guess I'll just keep trying and see what happens.

So I will finally be getting out of the studio a bit, very necessary for my own mental health among other things.  But things are going well in the recording department and there will definitely be a release this spring.  It's not 100% decided but it will probably be an E.P. and will be released very early in June.  Exact release date coming soon...

All for now.

Didn't waste any time getting back into some serious studio madness now that the cold and earache are gone and the past week was super-productive, especially the lyric writing which has been like a crazy rush of adrenaline-fuelled controlled chaos.  Start one piece, get a verse done, take a few minutes to ponder the next move, think of something that could work for a different piece, move to that, a few minutes later back to the first one...and so on.  Sounds like a situation where nothing would actually get done but in the end a whole slew of tracks now have complete lyrics.  My head is spinning a bit but I am sure that will pass...

On top of all that there have been other pieces of these puzzles being put into place and then editing and on top of all that a whole new idea for separate sessions that would involve a bit of collaboration with an old friend from Toronto.  He sent me an email completely out of the blue a couple of weeks ago which included a poem which he "gave" me (although I am still waiting for clarification on this "given" status).  I read through the poem over and over until a soundscape started forming in my head and I immediately fired up the Ableton to start bringing it to life.  Most of the piece was worked out that afternoon in a mad rush and a few more touches have been added since with still a bit of refining to be done.  Very ambient, very moody, very "score"-like.  I wrote back to my old friend to let him know what I was up to and to ask if I could do this with a couple of other poems I have had from him over the years.  Only thing is, he still hasn't replied and knowing him the way I do it could be months before he bothers to get back to me about this.  It's just the way he is.  He's the kind of guy who will "disappear" for weeks, months and sometimes years at a time and then suddenly pop up in your face, either in person or by email.  Always a wild ride when he's around.  So we'll see how things go but one thing is for sure:  this soundscape I am working on and some others that have yet to take form will be finished, either with his words or with mine or with none at all for that matter.  Why not a few instrumentals to round out the mix?

Yes, a lot of experimenting going on in this laboratory/studio here.  But really nothing compared to the torture TV show experiment in France.  Now that was an experiment!  Not really a new idea, similar experiments have been done, but not in such a public and sensational way.  And the big lesson from this?  That the majority of people are easily manipulated and will obey orders blindly if they come from a figure of "authority"?  That the majority of people are cowards afraid of upsetting the status quo or breaking free from the herd? 

I don't like to be cynical but examples like these make it hard not to be.  And I am not going to be self-righteous, I know I have allowed myself to be manipulated at times in my life and I am not sure how I would have behaved if I had been involved in this experiment.

Maybe that bugs me most of all...

Game Of Death: France's Shocking TV Experiment