Words can convince you, move you and words can change you.
I’m gonna keep this short, I just want you to listen to
Bob Dylan’s poem about Woody Guthrie, his idol, it’s unbelievable.
Everytime I listen to it I find something new & I thought that maybe not
everyone has heard it.
/Oskar
Luck is a word often passed around by us all, often in context of winning, progress & love.
This last month I’ve been pushing all my senses to make this album
the best album I could possibly make and satisfaction when you’re in the studio
is not necessarily just getting a good take, but capturing the unexpected that wasn’t there
when you started.
When that happens, what’s the first thing to thank? Luck? I had a one of those moments on the first song we recorded which also happened to be one of the first songs we wrote for the album called Step Out. We havn’t been 100% happy with it at rehearsal,
So on the day of recording it, I was just noodeling around on the guitar like I always am and I happened to stumble over a soothing part over the chorus that gave the song much more sense, for me that is, then it ever did before. Instead of giving the credit to luck though, I want to believe that it was all my hours of practise and devotion to the guitar that helped me find it.
If you work hard, you’re gonna get more luck, it’s simple as that. It’s not luck that takes the same guys to the final table at the World Poker Tour year after year and it’s not luck that made Stevie Ray Vaughan the best guitar player I know of, it’s hours and hours of hard work.
Luck is probably more of an equation where hard work meets possibility and opportunity. I’d like to hear more people praise themselves when they achieve something great, like “THANKS ME!!”
This album is gonna rock your socks of, I’ve been living with it, giving birth to it and I’m not tired of it.. It’s fantastic. Thanks Me!!
All the best, hairy chest.
/Oskar
If you ever go to USA “you gotta try that”, “eat some of those”, “buy them”, “go to that place” etc..
Today we ate at our favorite pizza place, “Pie In the Sky”, for the third time and I realized I gotta dedicate a post to the food. The food here is amazing, I mean for real. Oh, and by food I mean restaurants and fast food, since we haven’t cooked a single real meal since we got here, haha. Also, coming from Sweden it’s also very cheap to eat out. I don’t think they have much taxes and that’s probably why.
Besides eating we have just been lying around in the pool today, planning for the upcoming week. We won’t be in the studio much so we’re going to act tourists for the first time. Probably go to Memphis and Graceland and maybe play golf, which is relaxing!
Pie In the Sky Pizza, Oreo Cheese cake, pulled chicken sandwich (hard rock café), Pasta, Chinese and Mexican!
Have a good start of the week.
Henrik
Just realized that we’re spending the 4th of july here in the U.S and wow, do I have high expectations! The sky will be every persons favourite colour, people will cry tears of joy, there will be at least five rainbows shooting out confetti and candy for the kids, a spontaneous linedance number will appear out of the blue where young and old will blend into one.. The Yould.
All ze best
/Oskar
Aaargh, this is your captain speaking! We’ve discovered that the album is almost done and it seems it’s in the process of mixing already. Fantastic news! This means we’ll set sail for a new destination shortly, Sweden. There the album will be promoted by friends or foes. You will hear it and if not, you must have flooded your ears in these troubled times.
A raven from our thieve companions in west Nashville told us about great treasures to be found in the guitar shop of Gruhns on Broadway, we must leave!
Set sail, ohoy!
I’m grateful, happy, proud & completely exhausted. We’ve been working on these songs for so long now, twisting and turning, looking at all the songs from different angles. Are they different enough from one another, are they too long, too short and so on. I feel that we’ve been taking a lot of risks, gone outside of the box and it couldn’t feel better now, I’m glad we took our time and chances. Hopefully people can take something they like from this album whoever they are and whether they like rock, pop, soul, folk or blues. We’ve covered a wide range of “styles” but let’s just call it music!
I recently read a book about Einstein and one of the quotes he said that stuck with me was “The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who know it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out can”.
Now we’ll be mixing, mastering and then we’re flying back home to Sweden. It all sure feels like a big mystery, I have no idea what comes next but I can’t wait to find out.
Whatever it is we should always remind ourselves to be thankful and to give more.
Be fantastic, And seek the mysterious!
/Oskar
I brought my mini chess that I got in England a couple of years back.
We’ve been playing almost every day since we arrived and Simon is at the moment
the only one that’s undefeated. We’re always playing at the same spot, Where
it’s not too warm, not too cold, the table has the perfect size and it’s guarded by a
a turtle and therefore we call it “La tortuga de rendevouz”.
We’ve had an extra day off from the studio this weekend, It’s good getting some perspective and to do something else for a while. When you listen to the same things over and over to try and perfect it, you sometimes end up making it worse by putting layers and layers of stuff til’ it reaches the point where you barely recognize the original idea of the song. That’s not the case though, I hope, But distance and perspective is always good.
Well, I’m off to La tortuga de rendevouz for another battle and this time I’ll be playing
my first game against Simon the giant. I’ll tell you how it went later!
Au revoir
/Oskar
