Malmö - land of the pee,home of the grey
Wednesday came much too quickly. Six days of fun passed just like that. Fun and hard work, I should add.
Now I'm on the train going back to Malmö and already after one stop, the train is delayed 45 minutes. I have no idea how they did it, but in Stockholm (that's where the train departed from) they actually managed to drive the wrong train to the wrong platform. Everyone going to Gothenburg got on the train to Malmö and vice versa, so it took a while before we started rolling. I don't mind though - I've got nothing better to do anyway...
As we drive through the pitch black landscape, passing old familiar places,I think of all the times me and my brother travelled the same way when we were kids, going from mom to dad or the other way around. How big an adventure itwas back then - it felt like a long, long way to go and we'd stock up on candy and comics to last through a whole weekend. Now - it's just another day in life passing, like the distance has shrunk - like a big hand has grabbed the country and squeezed it together into a much smaller ball.
I used to like those travels. My brother would usually get sick and throw up.
Results from six days in the studio:
Piano and drums on 13 tracks
vocals on 6 and a half
bass on 3
So my mission now that I get back home - practice the bass! That's the one thing I spent the most time doing re-takes on adn that just won't do.
Last day in the studio
Drums, drums, drums and drums. And then some drums. That pretty much sums up Monday's work. I haven't played the drums since April since I haven't had a rehearsal place - so I am a bit rusty, but all in all I think I've done pretty well." Fake it 'til you make it" as they say.
It wasn't all drums though - I did some vocals on a couple of songs too, which is the must fun part to do' cos that's when the songs come to life so to speak, the essence of the songs come out. The soul if you want. I always write songs around the lyrics and not lyrics around songs
Everything has been running according to plan, with the exception for one song - a little thing I wrote a couple of months ago called "The Kiterunner", yes it was named after the best seller with the same name ( a brilliant book if you ask me). I have the structure totally clear in my head, I know every chord, every crash, every floor drum and every single beat on the snare and still when I played it, it just didn't feel right...so I am thinking of ditching it for this thime and re - think the structure. Maybe I should just peel a lot of stuff off of it and turn it into a somewhat more naked accoustic thing? Maybe...hmmm...
I ran in to an old aquantaince on my way over to the studio this morning, an ex girlfriend of an ex friend of mine. She's nice and we talked a little before we went our separate ways. Funny how an old familiar face can bring you back to the past just like that. A second and you're back four or five years in time, remembering whatever it was you were doing at the time, streets and faces and smells and what not...
Today(Tuesday) we focused again on...tada...DRUMS AND VOCALS! And some bass, which sadly I have to admit I am even more rusty on than the drums. I have a bass at home but it's impossible to tune correctly so I never play on it and today that showed. Oh man...
Well, I'm not complaining, I have had the best couple of days in a long long time, I am so happy and excited about these recordings and even if I won't finish it this time, I have done a whole lot and I will continue hopefully in January. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last day, our train back to Malmö leaves at 17.
I'm writing this sitting in front of a fire at Sara's aunts place - an old beautiful house in the outskirts of Stockholm. An open fire is one of the most calming, soothing things I can think of. The snap crackle and pop and the heat. Just staring into a fireplace is way better than tv.
It's a strange recording session. I am the only one playing any instruments. I am the band. I ike it, I mean it's so much fun playing and recording but at the same time it's kind o f sad being there. I mean sometimes I miss being in a band, talking about the takes and discussing alternatives with other people. Magnus that is recording it is great though and my best friend Daniel has also been hanging out n the studio and he is a guy that I've known for many years and I trust his opinion and his knowledge about music. He's a good good friend indeed and I am proud to know him.
I don't want to go back to Malmö tomorrow, I don't want to go back to work, I don't want to go back to a city where I don't know anyone, where the streets seem to shrink down on me wherever I walk, where I feel like an outcast and a stranger in places that I once loved and felt so much at home at.
Oh well, just like anyone else I guess I just have to take a deep breath and think good thoughts ad do whatever I have to do to get through the everyday life until next time I get the chance to record again.
Daniel demonstrating how to use a battery.
Some indie kid with a guitar
"Love will tear us apart" was recorded through this table.
Stairs down to the dungeon
Slussen, Stockholm 
Slussens ugly side
Ok, travelling by train every time you're going somewhere might not be my favourite thing to do in the world, but it was ok this time...
"MELLON"
Some stupid indie kid again
It wasn't all drums though - I did some vocals on a couple of songs too, which is the must fun part to do' cos that's when the songs come to life so to speak, the essence of the songs come out. The soul if you want. I always write songs around the lyrics and not lyrics around songs
Everything has been running according to plan, with the exception for one song - a little thing I wrote a couple of months ago called "The Kiterunner", yes it was named after the best seller with the same name ( a brilliant book if you ask me). I have the structure totally clear in my head, I know every chord, every crash, every floor drum and every single beat on the snare and still when I played it, it just didn't feel right...so I am thinking of ditching it for this thime and re - think the structure. Maybe I should just peel a lot of stuff off of it and turn it into a somewhat more naked accoustic thing? Maybe...hmmm...
I ran in to an old aquantaince on my way over to the studio this morning, an ex girlfriend of an ex friend of mine. She's nice and we talked a little before we went our separate ways. Funny how an old familiar face can bring you back to the past just like that. A second and you're back four or five years in time, remembering whatever it was you were doing at the time, streets and faces and smells and what not...
Today(Tuesday) we focused again on...tada...DRUMS AND VOCALS! And some bass, which sadly I have to admit I am even more rusty on than the drums. I have a bass at home but it's impossible to tune correctly so I never play on it and today that showed. Oh man...
Well, I'm not complaining, I have had the best couple of days in a long long time, I am so happy and excited about these recordings and even if I won't finish it this time, I have done a whole lot and I will continue hopefully in January. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last day, our train back to Malmö leaves at 17.
I'm writing this sitting in front of a fire at Sara's aunts place - an old beautiful house in the outskirts of Stockholm. An open fire is one of the most calming, soothing things I can think of. The snap crackle and pop and the heat. Just staring into a fireplace is way better than tv.
It's a strange recording session. I am the only one playing any instruments. I am the band. I ike it, I mean it's so much fun playing and recording but at the same time it's kind o f sad being there. I mean sometimes I miss being in a band, talking about the takes and discussing alternatives with other people. Magnus that is recording it is great though and my best friend Daniel has also been hanging out n the studio and he is a guy that I've known for many years and I trust his opinion and his knowledge about music. He's a good good friend indeed and I am proud to know him.
I don't want to go back to Malmö tomorrow, I don't want to go back to work, I don't want to go back to a city where I don't know anyone, where the streets seem to shrink down on me wherever I walk, where I feel like an outcast and a stranger in places that I once loved and felt so much at home at.
Oh well, just like anyone else I guess I just have to take a deep breath and think good thoughts ad do whatever I have to do to get through the everyday life until next time I get the chance to record again.
Daniel demonstrating how to use a battery. Some indie kid with a guitar "Love will tear us apart" was recorded through this table. Stairs down to the dungeon Slussen, Stockholm Slussens ugly side Ok, travelling by train every time you're going somewhere might not be my favourite thing to do in the world, but it was ok this time... "MELLON" Some stupid indie kid again