I guess...

...I should start singing some backing vocals today. Hangover and headache are not very helpful at the moment. Maybe I'll sing very, very quietly.

Sometimes...

Train of Anvil

Hi fuckheads!

I'm, surprisingly enough, sitting in a train again. On my way to Lappajärvi to finish the recordings of the most epic acoustic album ever recorded in Lappajärvi (probably the only one as well, so the competition ain't too tough:) ) 4 days of recording and next week we play 4 shows in a row, from wednesday to saturday, ought to be fun, although it also means a shitload of travel ahead.

What I actually wanted to write is that I'm at the moment watching "Anvil - The Story of Anvil", you know, the documentary about the band. I know absolutely NOTHING about the band, only heard the name somewhere before, but goddamnfuck is this documentary not one of the best, funniest things I've seen in ages. Real-life Spinal Tap, and it's so fucking funny since everyone who has ever worked in this business has at one point or the other been there themselves. I'm only half an hour in to the movie, but I am soooo loving it. Check it out if you already haven't, it's most definitely worth your time, even if you don't care for the band at all :)

I have to get back to the movie to see how it turns out for the guys :) Btw, it was really funny to see some familiar faces there as well (Masahiro, Matti-mies, if you read this, you still rule dude :)


EDIT:

Finished the movie, it was really good. Kinda heartwarming and sweet as well, dunno if it was intended to be, but that's how I saw it :)

50min left of this train ride, maybe I'll go and have a beer...

I agree with Gary

Quote of the day:

I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it.

Feast your eyes people

For this is probably the only time EVER you will ever see me eating ice cream :)

Oh, look at the time...

Ookey then...

...that midsummer's crap is now officially over, and good riddance! Let's face it folks, the holiday is totally pointless and pretty fucking lame as well. Not that I particularly enjoy any holiday, but I think this one pretty much takes the cake as the most boring, useless, stupid fucking thing ever. But then again, that's just my opinion. And the only one that matters. Doesn't matter if you don't agree, that just means that you are wrong and I will go on about my day :)

Tomorrow it's monday and I'll get back to work. Feels almost like being a normal person. If I start feeling any more middle class than this I think I might have to remove myself from the gene pool...

Drinking...

Is a fun, albeit a tad bit expensive hobby, especially if you're as good at it as I am. Can warmly recommend it to everyone anyway :)

Midsummer's eve

Have fun fuckers!

More shopping

Went and bought a hookah today. Tonight I shall relax with some beers & smoking.

Dear diary...

Today I got some new clothes, got my hair colored and enjoyed some exquisite chinese cuisine. A day well spent :) BTW, I know what I just wrote sounds incredibly girly/gay, but I don't give a flying fuck motherfucker :)

Tonight...

Damn...

Pendulum calls it quits

That's a shame, I really liked them and was looking forward to their next album. Well, bummer...

One thing folks

Tony was my brother-in-arms for ten years, and I still hold him in high regard. If you don't like him/SA that's fine, but this is not the place to out your anger/whatnot. My blog, my rules. In my books Tony is cool so lets just leave that one alone, shall we? I have not been moderating this blog on my behalf, or for it's comments, and I would not want to start now. Chill the fuck out.

My pedal board

Backstage

Drinking beer and watching football. So not feeling this, but then again, when am I ever excited before a show...

Holy hand grenade of Antioch Batman!

This has been a long day, spent 8h+ laying down the guitar tracks. We have now the basic guitar tracks for 14 songs and lead vocals for 13 or so. One song yet to sing for Timo, but that can't be done yet as I haven't found the time, the inspiration nor the energy to write the lyrics for it. Poetry eludes me these days...

I finished laying down the guitar parts at 00:30, then we had a sauna and after that I did some translation work for Timo. Now it's 03:04 and I am dead tired. Should try to get some sleep soon, as tomorrow it's again time to hit the road and go do some acoustic super-shows. Have to get up earlier than I have used to here (my sleep cycle at the moment is very nocturnal, to say the least), so I don't know how this is going to work out. Well, one will see.

Oh yeah, we also got the first draft of the recording deal from our label-to-be today. Looks like this fucker is actually coming out :)

It looks pretty funny...

When you program a click track for an acoustic song while trying to preserve some of the live-feel :)

On the road again...

400 km to Lappajärvi, oh fucking joy. Continuing with the recordings tomorrow.

Sooo....

Apparently me and Jens thought it would be a good idea to empty a bottle of calvados last night. It wasn't...

Stayed up...

.. for too long for my own good. Mr.T went to sleep earlier, I stayed up with Jens just talking bullshit. A night well spent :) Now to sleep and tomorrow back to lappajärvi to continue with the recording.

Stones Grow Her Name...

Everyone asks me what I think of the new SA album. I fail to see why it matters what I think of it, but here goes: I haven't heard it in entirety so far. Tried once in lappajärvi last weekend, but I was drunk and pre-occupied, so I wasn't paying too much attention. To be perfectly honest I didn't like Unia too much, although it had it's moments, and I never heard the next one (don't remember the name) from start to finish. I heard some of the new one and I give you this: I thought the banjo-rock-song (again, don't remember the name) was pretty funny, and "I Have a Right", which I've heard a few times, has a great chorus, I like it a lot. Really sticks in your head. Kudos for that, it's what I always thought the band should be about, great songs and great hooks.

I don't know if I mentioned this already, but I actually met Tony last month, for the first time in six years or so. It was actually really nice to see him, he's a good guy so don't you people go badmouthing him here. There's no bad blood between us and I really so appreciate him and his work a lot.

On our way to Timo's place @ helsinki now, the show was actually pretty much ok. Jens will join us later tonight, Strato has some stuff to work on tomorrow, and in the evening we drive back to lappajärvi to continue with the acoustic album.

Your local bum, signing out.

So, this gig is going to hell...

And fast. The PA of the club is some Mickey Mouse-crap that sounds like shit. Our own gear is in helsinki...

NINJA EDIT:

The PA works now, apparently the lical "sound guy" didn't understand the concept of power amps... Holy retardedness Batman!

Vajaa

Top of the morning to ya laddies

I'm..

...high as a kite and my teeth are fucking green, merry fucking christmas!

Weekend

Damn this has been a tiring day

But also very productive. 12h of studio work and even found the time to go jogging. We've gotten quite a lot done today which is a good thing considering that we are struggling to meet our deadlines already. Some really cool shit found its way on tape (well, hard disk, but anyway...), today Timo sang the cool cover song I mentioned a while ago, and damn I am psyched about that, gonna be great. At least in my opinion, and that's the only one that matters anyway :)

Tomorrow, or actually today, as it is 02:50, we drive to southern Finland to play two shows and then on sunday we head back here to continue (and hopefully finish) the recordings. I guess I should get some sleep now so I can rock like fuck/a hurricane/whatnot tomorrow.

Over and out of the window.

Unisonic

Listened through the new(?) Unisonic album while in the sauna. It wasn't quite what I was expecting...

Guitar stuff

I've noticed that many people expect me to talk about guitars and shit here. Quite frankly, talking about guitars and equipment bores me to tears, but fine, I'll entertain for a while:

This is what I use on the acoustic guitars. Ernie Ball and Elixir I am using for the acoustic album, as they are brighter, more "high-end" sounding sets, whereas the DR is what I use live, as they are very durable and good all-around strings.

Used to play the acoustic with Dunlop Jazz III picks, which I've used for my electric playing for years, but I thought that the attack of the Jazz III was way too hard and harsh sounding, especially for the strumming parts, so I switched to a bit thinner and more flexible picks for the acoustic work.

Just came from jogging, now it's time for sauna. Then back to the world of acoustic rock music.

Funny...

...how sometimes when you smoke the first cigarette of the day it goes into your head. I feel like I'm stoned... Well, back to the old drawing board :)

Morning glory

It doesn't look as depressing as it used to. Quite a lot to do still though, especially on the backing vox sector. Well, back to the old drawing board...

What a terrible morning...

Fuck me sideways, this was an awful morning. I really didn't drink too much last night (8 portions of alcohol during 7 hours or so...), and as a thank you for that I got one MAJOR hangover. When I woke up I was pretty sure I would puke, thankfully just opening a window and getting some fresh air remedied that. I had a terrible headache for 10h straight though, just now finally starting to feel ok. Not too good of a thing considering our schedule, but maybe I can still lay down some boogie-tracks tonight...

Major Hangover reporting for duty

Man it can be easy...