News entries for the year 2005

30.12.2005 A little studio night yesterday, we loaned Petting Room studios and recorded the missing lead guitar parts to the three Bullets tunes we originally recorded some months back in Sweden. "Sound Supremo" was once again behind the sliders so the sound was tight as Mr. Colt rocked out some amazing guitar like he always does - some mind-boggling stuff, I tell ya. Mikko even popped in to play a few bars of piano - or slam would probably be a more precise verb for the stuff that he did. Tony will be mixing some shit in the coming weeks but I'm not exactly sure when he'll get all the stuff done - we're not in a hurry but it would be cool to share these songs with ya, friends. Oh yeah, I did manage to write that missing verse for the Royal Piss song "Sidewalk" earlier in the day, I said ASAP didn't I. And on a final note, if you're in town tomorrow you have to hop on the elevator and enjoy the New Year with The Sugarrush at Sky.

29.12.2005 It had been a while but yesternight brought a Royal Piss rehearsal with it. The first few moments were spent just trying to remember how the heck these songs were played but we got them sorted pretty quickly. The lyrics I had written for "Sidewalk" and "Underneath the Storm" were also fitted to the melodies which was an effortless task, we just found out that we were missing one more verse for "Sidewalk" which I'll try to write ASAP. We also worked out some new arrangements especially for the drums so I think we have the arrangement ideas quite ready to go now. We just have to practise on the drums some more now since it will be the trickiest part of recording. We're hoping to score a recording session from Firevision's Mikko sometime late January or early February, we'll see how it works out with his intense schedule.

23.12.2005 Everyone at Graceskull headquarters and the extended Nature Sucks Anyway famiglia wishes you a rockin' Christmas. Stay cool but remember to keep those knitted socks on that your Grandma made for ya. We'll return with the usual updates probably next week.

19.12.2005 Back on dat ass, it felt like I hadn't done any new music in ages even if that may not really be true. To quench my thirst in making music I paid a visit to Fireworks studios once again on Friday where me and Mikko made one final track to local discotheque Superstereo's website. It came out mellower than the three older ones but has the same kinda vibe all the same. This time we both made vocal contributions which were mor eor less hilarious, if only for the laughable lyrics - but hey, it's mood and not lyrical finesse we're aiming at, dude. Anyway, you might wanna check it out, it's right here baby.

12.12.2005 Sorry about the news drought, I've been feeling a bit lazy or something. Well, actually not lazy but just preoccupied with some other stuff than music. A mere week ago The Bullets had the release partay gig for the "Black Plastic Jackets" album (hey, if you have yet to purchase this classic rock opus, do it now!) which was good stuff I think. We really rocked out despite the not-so-great sound of Rewell Center ("Sound Supremo" tried his very best as always) and also despite having our trusty "Light Moron" behind the light sliders. For some unknown reason Andy J. (or Indy "Easy Target" Kivääri as he is known with the black plastic jacket on) was really ballistic throughout the gig, heckling the audience, screaming and sweating on everyone and then finally breaking his delicate tambourine at the end of the gig. Whilst some others would probably be concerned over the mental state of Andy J., I actually was thrilled to see him transform into this percussive monster, great stuff! The Hellacopters played after us and it was a good show but I guess the infamous Rewell Center sound took away most of the fun in watching them, I guess you had to be drunk as a cuckoo to enjoy it fully and I wasn't. There was also this band of up'n'coming heavy rockers on the warm up stage before our slot, I'm guessing they spell their name Sturm Und Drang but I could be mistaken. Look out for these kids in the future that's all I'm gonna say. Anywhoo back in the Graceskull world, while I've might been idle in the action department, I've however had my head doing some heavy duty work on "Don't Hesitate". This was basically just an idea for a verse that I'd pretty much forgotten when it suddenly popped back into my head and a chorus followed magically/automatically. When I got back home I tried to nail it with a guitar but it took me a while since this chorus probably had the most amount chords I've ever had in a song. I also had to transpose the whole song down some because the chorus wouldn't have worked sung that high. Ever since I got the chorus down I've been arranging this baby in my head, as I always do, and hope to get my ass around to demoing it sometime in the not so fucking distant future. Wish me luck!

02.12.2005 The Bullets' new album is out now! "The Black Plastic Jackets" should be available in Vaasa's Anttila TopTen and maybe some other Vaasa record stores too but definitely directly from Nature Sucks Anyway if you're a non-vaasa-ite. Tonight The Bullets shall rock Rewell Center in celebration of the release, we're supporting The Hellacopters so it should be a pretty fine bill. Get the record and get a ticket for tonight, see ya there!

30.11.2005 Just a little Bullets rehearsal yesterday. Take care.

28.11.2005 Another Loska partay behind us, it's also another tired Monday. I guess the Graceskull gig went just fine although I felt a bit uneasy during the first few songs. But once we got warmed up I think we did good considering that the amount of rehearsal was once again cut down to a minimum, Andy J. only had a few hours with us the night before so we just had to let the songs come out as they liked (which meant that "Morning Came" transformed into "Sweet Home Alabama"). The best rush I got out of the songs where I played the guitar the least (they were also the ones which we play not so often) like "The Sparrow" and "Nightmares". Anyway, the remainder of the night was spent deejaying which was great fun too. This time we had a special guest DJ brought in to fill in for Paati who was absent due to some work related business, Mr. Sami "Vrj" Rumpunen - and no, we couldn't have had a better man to step in. The song-against-song battle was seriously fierce until we finally found a united front at the end of the night when the final bulk of the set was dedicated to the body of work from our beloved Greg Dulli. That shit always sounds fantastic but there was something special about the way it sounded last night, it was just amazing, song after song. So thanks to Sami for his time and to everyone else too for coming down, your company was highly appreciated. Here are the contents both the sets: live set and dj set.

25.11.2005 A little rehearsal with Julius yesterday but unfortunately we had to start so late (I'd been shooting some commercial photos with The FLB) that we were both so tired that I dunno if it was to any use. Maybe I got to refresh my memory vis á vis some of the more obscure lyrics of ours. Anyway, get your ass over to DOM this Sunday and remember to wear black, it will enhance your Loska experience, I promise. Yay.

21.11.2005 Had an extensive rehearsal with Julius on Saturday, we were at the rehearsal space for over five hours straight and basically went through the whole Graceskull catalogue o' songs. Most were played, some were laughed at and a handful made it onto the list of candidates for next Sunday's Loska gig. Even tried out some new bits and Julius too liked "Bird On A Wire" - I don't think we'll play it just yet though, there's still a mass of stuff that needs to be sorted out for that song. We will however probably play some songs that we've never played before and some that you might have heard some three or four years ago - exciting stuff...maybe. The rehearsal was very nice despite the start of the session being a bit of a downer when Julius's newest construction failed to give the gain he'd been aiming for. I guess this was supposed to be a self made copy of a Leslie 122 (to me it of course looked like a heap of wires, tubes and whatnot). He's been working at it ever since and is apparently hoping he'll get it going before next Sunday - sure hope so.

17.11.2005 A lil' mo' songwriting yesterday, I'm calling this one "Bird on a Wire" which actually might be the proper title too since I already penned some lyrics too. I think I'll steal this riff off another recent song to this one since it seems to fit this one even better. This morning brought another tune into my head which will probably not be called "The Night Is My Lover" as it is called at the moment.

15.11.2005 Here we go with the Loska 4 poster. All fjord up yr ass, baby.

14.11.2005 Oomph. I'm just really tired out of my wits now. Having spent the weekend working damn hard on three Bullets songs in Piteå, Sweden I have to say I'm really proud that we pulled it through despite the uphill battle. It all started with a 10PM phonecall from Eric that Paati received in which Mr. Colt informed that he was unable to attend the studio session. Crap. How's a rock band going to work if there ain't no lead axemeister around? Well it ain't easy, I can tell you that. Fortunately we were too stoopid to reschedule the session and started driving towards Sweden long before the crack of dawn on Friday. Nine hours later we arrived at the studio where our trusty sound mastermind Tony had already rigged up the drums. We also had this Swedish dude called Daniel in the studio who was most helpful in getting things done the right way. Let's just point this one thing out right here: these guys are outstanding. Anyone thinking about hiring a producer, you should call these guys right away...it's just impressive to see them work the studio, the FX, the mics and whatnot like they'd been born with fingertips on the mute-button. Great love to ya dudes. Now back to the storyline. After driving that long (and none of us had slept for more than a few hours the previous night), our level of inspiration certainly wasn't sky high when we started recording and so it took a good while to get the two tracks' worth of drums on tape that were the only thing we had when we left that night. Also looking for the right guitar sound proved difficult, we tried a whole heap of amps which all sounded shit in the control room (and that's what counts, dude). So we we're pretty down when we got in the bed that night. Come Saturday morning something had changed. Drastically. The first take we did of "Soulshaker" worked instantly a hundred times better than the threehundred ones we had done the night before and it was all downhill from there. We loaned this Peavey stack which proved a super guitar sound and the bass was driven through a lovely Ampeg stack. It was also great to see how Frankie's improved as a vocalist, he got some great shit out despite the fact that his nerves were strung pretty tight due to our intense commentary. Sorry about that Frankie boy. So when we packed in for the night on Saturday we had all but the backing vocals done which we did on Sunday morning. I guess the not sleeping and working like a horse began to take their toll by that point since my voice was shot and some of the vocal stuff I've done on gigs were scrapped but we did get some other super stuff on (we gurgled water, imitated animals and whatnot for "Soulshaker"'s boogie-down section). All in all the whole session was great, we of course once again laughed our asses off about a million times in between - and during - takes. I think we're trying to get Eric's guitar stuff on these songs sometime later on when Tony has the time to get his ass over here but I have to tell ya that these songs are sounding like a million bucks now already. Can't wait to hear 'em all finished when Tony has unleashed all his mixing powers on them.

10.11.2005 The Bullets rocked the surprisingly vast crowd at Fontanaclub yesternight and I have to say that the gig going that well was a pleasant surprise for us, at least judging from the response we got it was a success of sorts. Sure enough, there were some of the usual mistakes but it's rock'n'roll we're talking about, baby. The interview bit we did for Radio X3M was a bit off the wall but I guess it made some people laugh and that should be enough. I also heard that the the sound of the set in both the radio broadcast and at the venue was pretty good so no complaining here, so sir. They've been playing bits of the show at Radio X3M also today so maybe you should try to check it out. The Bullets' next move is that were heading to Piteå in Sweden tomorrow to record some new songs with "Sound Supremo" himself, Tony Österholm. I'm not sure if we'll release them as an EP or as a part of a full length album but our intentions are to record four new ditties.

09.11.2005 News bulletin: Tonight The Bullets will be performing at Fontanaclub in Vaasa and you shall be there! If you shan't, you shall listen to Radio X3M where the show will be broadcast live at 22.00. So get there early or fuhgeddaboudit. Yay. With that out of the way The Sugarrush had a fun gig yesternight at local bar El Gringo's 12th birthday bash. I wasn't however playing, or at least I wasn't playing the guitar but I made an appearance as the band's über-roadie Haudi. Haudi has made appearances here and there at Sugarrush shows but I guess this was the first sighting of Haudi in about 4 years actually so if you were there yesterday and saw him in action consider yourself very lucky indeed. You never know how long it's gonna take before you see this denim-vested, sweat-pant wearing, chain-smoking, pony-tailed hunk of a man again.

07.11.2005 Just some minor writing during the weekend, I worked a bit on a song that surely will not end up being called "Nineteen".

04.11.2005 It's raining outside and leaves are lying soaked on the asphalt - so ain't no better time to announce Loska. Usually it's been late October but this year we've been busy (and continue to do so) so it will take place on the last Sunday of November, that's the 27th, dude. If you're not aware of what Loska stands for here's the deal: an evening of slow and beautiful music provided by Graceskull both in a live set and from behind the decks. We're not exactly sure again what the lineup of our live troupe will be - as always - but I'm sure we'll figure something out. You're all most welcome.

31.10.2005 I was over to Helsinki city yesterday (thanks to Ilkka for accomodations!) to peep a show with Iceland's finest, Sigur Rós. I've waited surely five years for a chance to see this band live so it's not surprising that it admittedly wasn't quite the orgasmic experience I had been having dreams of but there surely were a handful of great moments during the gig that made the trip worth making. I think the main problem lay in that after a bombastic opening number (played behind a white curtain onto which the bands shadows were reflected) the show aspect of the gig was forgotten and only the music remained. Until the final numbers that is when all hell broke loose and they managed to save the gig by showing a more dynamic side of the band (and the cool curtain effect made a comeback even cooler than in the beginning of the gig). The opening act Amina is also worth mentioning, sure enough most of their material sounded like interludes from an eels record but there was something in the way they played that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, harhar. They had a whole heap of obscure instruments like kanteles and bells and saws and whatever which they played hypnotically and managed to swap instruments in the middle of songs by making live loops of their playing - it looked so easy but I know it most definitely is not, these four girls (who also popped up on stage during Sigur Rós's set playing strings and whatnot) must've been practising like lil' demons.

26.10.2005 An energetic Bullets rehearsal yesterday. I'm not really sure if we played that great or anything but we seemed to have a whole lot of energy bottled up our asses so it was quite nice to rock out for a change. I think we at last also got "Shelter" sorted out, at least structurewise. I'm pretty sure that we also have the record coming out at last, we're planning on releasing it December 2nd when we have a gig opening for The Hellacopters in Amarillo/Rewell Center, Vaasa. So keep yr eyes peel, luv.

25.10.2005 A little rehearsal or something like that with Julius yesterday. We had a handful of ideas we worked on, mainly on this song "I Want To Believe" that popped up about halfway into our session. It was a bit of a rocker so I'm not 100 per cent that Graceskull can pull it off but I hope we can. Getting the verse done proved damn difficult which was odd because I usually have more trouble with the choruses. Julius had a few chord progressions which we tried to develop into songs and we managed that with at least one of them (maybe "Aim"), a dreamy future album track - you know, a kind of mood builder instead of a full on song.

24.10.2005 Weekend recap time. As predicted I returned to Petting Room stuido complex on Friday to work on some more music for the Superstereo website with Mikko "FV" Tamminen. This time we only did one tune so there's still one session to come. I think this one was the funkiest we've managed to come up with thus far, we're calling it "Invitation to the Dancefloor (The Beat of Superstereo)", hardyhar. So check it out, it's the first song that hits you when you visit Superstereo's site. After completing work on that tune Mikko wanted me to try out this song he'd been working which was missing a voc sample. I had been down with the flu all week (which should explain the silence of late on this column) so I'm not sure if I was at the peak of my powers with singing but I wrote down some words and sang it a couple of times and it ended up sounding quite good (Mikko's quite an expert production wise, so blame it on him). The rest of the weekend I spent on writing lyrics, firstly to the Royal Piss tune which had the unfortunate working title of "Feel My Bananas" and then for the Graceskull ditty "Remains of You". "Remains" (maybe I should call it just "Remains", what do ya think?) was thiiiis close to getting completed but it's still about two lines short of a full lyric, I'm searching for some variation to the chorus. It kinda took me to a different place than it did before so the song's not exactly about the stuff it was before. I should finish it ASAP so I could keep the mood it has now...I'll try my best.

13.10.2005 The Toilets had a surprising turn on their career yesterday, we got out of the Superstereo ladies' toilet we called our home and relocated to said venue's backroom where we played a nearly 4 hour long set yesternight. Naturally we had some props to make the transition a bit easier on us, we had a toilet seat (where we kept our beverages) and a washing machine (where we also kept our beverages, there sure were a lot of 'em) on stage with us. The set was of the usual Toilet quality, ie. rearranged Bullets hits alongside great generic rock tunes played really sloppy without me knowing at all what to play...and of course the improvised rockers, you can't forget them. It was a good, chaotic time even though Mr. Eric Colt waited until after the gig before he broke the gigantic mirror that leaned on the wall to the left of the stage. I wish we would've gotten rid of all the chairs they had there because most of the peeps just sat there all evening - it was definitely not some jazz shit, you know?

12.10.2005 A tiny Bullets rehearsal yesterday, we just basically did some old tunes and polished a couple of new ones. Also got together the thanks list for the album cover, I should have the sleeve all wrapped pretty soon.

11.10.2005 And now those aforementioned songs have appeared magically on the site, so check out Superstereo and shake your bottom. The first tune is admittedly heavy on LRD influences and the other one is kind of a mix between the theme from the German detective series "Ein Fall Für Zwei", maybe some testosteroned Kraftwerk and Blur's stupider moments ("Girls and Boys" etc, ya know). I think we're doing a couple of more songs with Mikko in the not-too-distant future because it was good fun, the folks at Superstereo should get their money's worth at least.

10.10.2005 Newsflash: I've gone commercial. A good part of Saturday (and naturally some of early Sunday) was spent on mybehalf at Petting Room studios where me and Mikko created two funky tracks that should appear on local discotheque extraordinaire Superstereo's website soon-ish. I believe we meant to do some kind of audio wallpaper kinda stuff but it actually came out quite danceable and song-oriented - well, it's just what we do, you know. Slap bass, robot vocals and tight beats, you can't really go wrong. I'll update ya when they hit the net.

04.10.2005 And now as of yesterday the aforementioned demo is one bassline and a better mix richer. XO, Ove.

03.10.2005 A bit busier weekend for a change. On Saturday I did some Graceskull stuff ie. wrote a sketch of a new song "Patiently" and recorded/programmed a half of a demo for "Remains Of You" (while trying to get a hang of Apple's Garageband program, a great program for demoing stuff but I'm afraid I'm not that great of programmer, that's all). It was actually the first time in Graceskull's history that I inserted some horns into a song, amazingly enough they sounded just fantastic, I hope Julius approves because I'm hoping they end up in the final version. I think I should rewrite the lyrics sometime soon (they're a bit sporadic/nonsensical in their current form) so I could finish the demo off. On Sunday I headed over to Petting Room studios for the first time in a long time and after laying some bass tracks for Mikko's song tentatively called "I Hate Your Face"(!) we recorded a Conquistadors interview that's to be included on the upcoming radio single "Daydreamer". It was pretty much laughs recording it but we tried to edit it down to sound at least somewhat serious...Anyway, the plan is that we'd get it pressed maybe next week and then it's off and we'll see what happens. We have the sleeves of the album also pretty much in check now so it very possible that it may actually see the light of day this winter.

27.09.2005 I wrote some lyrics for a change yesterday, this time for one Royal Piss ditty called "Sidewalk". It was actually interesting to work on something that's more abstract than the texts I provide for Graceskull, I guess adventuring in other types of lyrics does some good for ya - new perspectives and all that shit. Or maybe I'm just disillusioned and it turned out like my stuff always does - whatever, as long as The 'Piss is happy with the results.

22.09.2005 A Royal Piss session with Andy J. yesterday. After we'd stumbled through the material we've written so far we decided to get the final song for the forthcoming EP done and had some great results after a few false starts when we got a new tune "Feel My Bananas" (and you guessed it, it's a working title, catchy as it may be) all ready to go. After this achievement we plugged in Julius Wurlitzer and played some jazzy shit with me behind the keyboards and Andy on the drums plus vice versa - one (10 minute) song each. That was some interesting shit but we decided to leave it to some other project since the 'Piss is all about the buzz of a guitar...or something. Anyway we have now four songs for the EP all written (bar the lyrics) so now we have to rehearse some more and then start begging Mr Mikko Tamminen for some studio time.

19.09.2005 A little songwriting during the weekend, I kinda had ideas for a new song that I call "Time is of the Essence" and also spent much of my time thinking of arrangements for a whole heap of songs. Oh yeah and also figured out a kind of a bridge+chorus thing in my head for this older song I've been developing ("Verve-biisi"). To backtrack a bit, on Friday I attended a 3/4 Bullets rehearsal since our axemeister Colt was MIA. Despite that fact we had a pretty good rehearsal, worked on a couple of new uns, "Friday Night" based on Frankie's idea and this other ditty which we just jammed "together" (it was actually not a song that's meant to be together at all) which started of with an improvised riff o'mine. Good stuff, I think. Just a reminder once again; tomorrow (Tuesday) FST at 19.00 Jox which has Graceskull footage from our Gothenburg trip, hope it isn't destructive to our reputation as stand out gentlemen, hardyhar.

16.09.2005 Had a great session with Julius yesterday, we went through the bulk of stuff we had recorded after "Happiness" and made a list of songs that we're going to attempt to record for the new disc. Amazingly enough, some of the stuff we had (and had forgotten about) was some damn good shit and some songs really took us by surprise by being 100 times better than we remembered. It seems that sometimes taking a pause from the songs really seems to do good, a healthy distance helps one to see the song's true identity - and quality. Of course there was also a heap of songs that moved us little or less ("A Perfect Smile"), not forgetting the stuff that made us roar from laughter ("The Prairie Circus") but that's the necessary "evil". Anyway we have a list now of around 20 (good or better) songs and the sooner we get recording stuff, the better. We had the thought that we'd have time to discuss how and where we're going to record too but once we had listened through to all of the shit we have, it was the wee hours already so those decisions were left for later. Actually despite that I think we somehow agreed that at least the majority of future recordings will - as usual - take place in our own studio, we need that time and we need that freedom that no outside studio can deliver (at least with our economy). I guess that some parts (like maybe the drums) could be recorded elsewhere, too but I realized it yesterday that Graceskull on the record is heavily based on spontaneous ideas and experimentation which is at its best when it's late in the day and we getthe mics out to record the creaking of a cupboard door. Okay, enough of this prose, I'm sure you got the picture. Be sure to check out the rerun of Jox (with Graceskull in it) on YLE1/FST tomorrow (that's Saturday) at 17.05 if you wanna see our sexy beast Paati with his chest bare as on the day he was born.

12.09.2005 Check out the digital TV channel FST tomorrow at 19.05 hrs for some Graceskull action as they're running the first part (of two) of their document of our (and a couple of other band's) Gothenburg trip. I'm a bit nervous about the footage they're going to show, I'm sure there was some unflattering stuff shot during the process but I'm hoping on it being left on the cutting room floor. Aaanyway, it will be rerun on YLE1/FST-digital again on Saturday at 17.05 so even you analogue peeps can check it out. The latter part will be on the telly next week.

06.09.2005 Had a super Royal Piss rehearsal yesterday, just me and Andy J. in the rehearsal space but a fuckload of noise was made. A new song emerged (tentative title "Anotha Year") which I quite liked, it had a tad darker feel to it than the two previous ditties we had. Arrangement-wise we worked on that new one and we even got "Sidewalk" pretty much sorted out. We even tried out drum parts for the songs and got some pretty good ideas on what the drums should be like, it just remains to be seen if we have the skill to get them played the way we like. Andy also tinkered with this instrumental that might end up on the forthcoming EP (which may or may not be called "Cut the crap, here's The Royal Piss") so we basically have only one more song that we have to come up with, then some arrangements, a couple of lines of lyrics and a whole lot of rehearsing to do before we're ready for studio. Sounds simple, doesn't it.

05.09.2005 So I missed the radiostuff on Saturday but Julius said that they'd edited the interview pretty good and we were sounding a bit more chipper than we actually were. So thanks for a job well done, Joanna at X3M. It actually aired a few hours later than the time I announced on Friday but I hope some of you caught it anyway, sorry about that but that was the time they told me. Anyway on Sunday I received a couple of new mixes of Atyd songs I'm singing on and I really liked the more rocking touch of the new "Scorched Garden" mix. I should be recording some more vocals for Atyd soonish, I just have to find some time for that...I should also tell you that we've (that's me and Julius) recently discussed recording some new Graceskull stuff but haven't got any details on anything concrete just yet. We have to get our asses off the couch thought because the previous discs are now sold out and thus we have nothing to put on the merchandise desk at gigs. But don't get all excited just yet, these things take their time, we're in no need to rush out some shit that's shit, ya dig?

02.09.2005 The aforementioned lazy X3M interview is probably going to be broadcast tomorrow (that's Saturday) sometime between 4-6PM so tune in if ya like.

29.08.2005 Where to start? Well we could start off by saying that I wouldn't get in bus right now (or indeed in the near future) if you'd throw a bucket of cash at me. We spent almost half of our almost four day trip stinking up the minibus with twenty odd people onboard and although great fun was had, I have to say I'd rather have had it elsewhere. Okay, that should do on that subject. We started our trip to Gothenburg on Thursday afternoon along with Vaasa-bands White Widow and The Duke plus the trip coordinator Hippi (later re-christened Hippo by a Swedish sound technician) Hovi and the film crew from Yle. Fast forward a day (and some Swedish ferry craziness that is surely best left unremembered) and we found our asses in Gothenburg where the arrangements seemed to be a tad chaotic, no one seemed to know anything about anything minus the sound guy who was quite a nice and calm character. Anyway we got the soundcheck done just in time to catch an extremely loud and wet thunderstorm when we ran to the hostel where we stayed to get freshened up for the gig. Back at the venue (Musikens Hus) we were the first band on the bill which suited us just fine because the rest of bands represented the heavier side of rock - or in some cases metal. I thought the set was alright and even my Swedish stage banter seemed to be understood by the natives. The feedback we got was at least great and we even got some records sold - just lots of nice people in attendance. If you haven't read the earlier newsflashes I have to point out that this was kind of a band battle and it was because of this there was seven bands playing that night. Did we win? Nawww, dude but it really didn't bother me much. The judges picked one Finnish winner (that was The Duke) and one Swedish winner (The Hurricanez, one fuckin' great rock band) and everyone got a medal - I felt like I was back in Sunday school, hurhur. I guess Gothenburg has its fare share of heavy metal bands since two of the four bands were really heavy, namely Somber and Shadowbuilder. I rarely get to see bands like that so I thought they both rocked and played tight like a motherfucker. Hats off. Unfortunately during Shadowbuilder's set their bass drum pedal broke down (how's that for rockin'?) and they had to abort their set after just a song or two. This also meant that the Bullets set that was supposed to occur after their set was cancelled which was a bit of a bummer too. The Bullets did however get on stage the next day outside this great big sporting event but I think it was a bit too early for the set for our kind of rock'n'roll because we clearly weren't in tune and once again the Swedish arrangements were a bit on the chaotic side of things (the PA system - which was too small for an outdoor gig - got on location just some minutes after we should've started playing). After getting off stage me and Julius were interviewed for Radio X3M and probably sounded like two of the dullest fuckers ever to be allowed on the airwaves because sleep depravation and extreme hunger had taken their toll on our collective brain. Sorry about that. The lack of sleep can however work to the polar opposite effect too if it gets even greater which was well documented in our Sisuradio interview later on in the evening - I thought we were on fire. The host for the program was this sweet lady who probably thought we were out of our heads but she seemed to like us nonetheless, she was just great (her last name escapes me but she was called Ulla something). All through the day we were helped to get acquianted with the city by a former Vaasa-ite Mika Häkki who's been living in Gothenburg for a good few years now and we couldn't have had a better guide - a great big Graceskull hug to him, he surely seemed to know the city inside and out. I don't know if it was down to his craft or what but I got a pretty good feeling about the town, cool architecture, good food (we ate at this place called "Sukho Thai" where the food was just amazingly delicious even though their dishes had names like "Pad Phuk", "Pad Prik" and "Homok Gai") and...well, some things you just can't explain. Hope to return there soon (or more realistically sometime) anyway. Back on the bus we learned that the rest of the band (that's Paati, Macke and Jocke) had spent their day falling asleep in bars and had only gotten their shit together when they had found themselves in Liseberg which is the local amusement park. They'd had a great time even which was documented in a shirt they'd gotten for Hippi - three sleeping rockers photoshopped inside a football. yeahm it has to be seen in order for it to reveal its greatness (and tenderness). Back on the boat we finally got some sleep, actually I almost slept through the whole ride back to Turku. The remainder of the trip was spent watching classic comedies Airplane and Airplane II, some great damn movies. If you've not seen them yet, buy them today. All in all, the trip was great and big thank-you's should be handed to a great number of people, most of all of course the boys in the band for holding out, Tony for his mixing genius (and for pimping us for the radio!), Jarmo for his racy jokes and driving, and Hippo for getting this whole thang together. Over and out.

23.08.2005 A minor press conference yesterday, concerning the Gothenburg thingy. A few local media showed up and thus my face was on Pohjalainen and my voice (from what I've heard) on Radio Vega earlier this morning. Come sundown we also gathered in our rehearsal space to run through the supposed sets, both Graceskull and The Bullets. This was done shit quick though since Jocke had to run. In fact I think the best part of the rehearsal was while waiting for him to arrive, we had a bit of a jam (well actually a 15 minute one or something) which sounded great here and there, everyone had their share of cool moments. Aaaanyway, I guess we got the shit sorted but we could've had a few more minutes to get the Bullets tunes just right since we've not really rehearsed in a while. Oh well, it's not like I'd feel really uncertain or anything, quite the opposite actually - I'm sure it'll all work out just fine. Seeya in Gothenburg, mah babies - bring yr friends!

22.08.2005 It's not that we're sad, we're just all out of "Happiness". Un-encrypted that means that we don't have any more records to sell currently. So buy a t-shirt. Actually this also means that we should get our asses into a studio and record some stuff so that we could have some product to sell. I've also considered on making all our recorded history available online but I've not exactly sure if I have the time or energy to get my ass around to it anytime soon so keep cool and enjoy ye olde clips for now.

19.08.2005 It's the season of photo sessions. Yesterday - which dragged long into yesternight - the subject of such session was The Conquistadors. We had shoots on two locations, one outside on railroad tracks and one at this big empty hall near Petting Room studios. Mikko had some quality lighting with him that enable the photos to come out quite good I must say, even though those same lamps brought gallons of sweat on our foreheads and whatnot. Mikko suffered from the heat most since he also helped out the man behind the camera - The FLB - in getting the pics just like we wanted. It's gonna take some post production to get these photos looking like it's the Conquistadors in the frame but after we've got them sorted, it should be (at last) time to put out the promo single and eventuall the whole damn record. It can't happen too soon, that's for sure.

17.08.2005 A Graceskull/Bullets joint rehearsal yesterday. Jocke couldn't make it but we tried to make most of it and played through a quite usual set of Graceskull songs, trying to make a sensible set out of them for the Gothenburg gig. We only have a half an hour of playtime there which makes the set a bit harder to plan but I guess we came to a somewhat good idea of how it should look like. Julius equipment continued to have a bad month, I guess it was his tremolo that kept making terrible noise but in the end he got it fixed (he always does, you know). After the Graceskull portion we rocked out a number of Bullets tunes with Julius hammering his (still working) Wurlitzer and it sounded just great even though he hadn't played any of the songs before. According to the info I've received, also The Bullets will do a set in Gothenburg (out of "the competition" though) which means we'll have the same six peeps on stage as during the Graceskull set - we'll just see what the Swedes think of that. Anywhoo, there's gonna be a shitload of J.Lo's shit we have to haul with us, let's hope the bus is big enough.

12.08.2005 Night of the arts was rainy and dark - suits you sir! I was pretty damn pleased with the amount of people that dragged their bones over to Superstereo to spend the night with us even though it was late on a Thursday evening. The sound on the stage was a bit odd due to stage mixing and a dead Rat pedal under Jocke's left foot but judging from the feedback I've received everyone seemed to like the show so our six-man lineup was the right move, I guess. Jocke wasn't the only one however who suffered from malfunctioning equipment however - J.Lo got it bad! Julius Rhodes wasn't working in the soundcheck at all and while trying to fix it he dropped his other keyboard - the Crumar - on the floor and broke two keys in half. But come stage time he had managed to get the shit together, heaven knows what he did with the Rhodes but at least the Crumar was gracefully fixed with duct tape. I got the show on minidisc (don't wait for clips for that though, the sound quality on the soundboard recording wasnät all that great) and after listening to the first few songs on it I have to hand it to Macke, he had some pretty cool stuff going in those ditties so it's most probable that we'll be dragging him along for some more gigs if he's up to it. His and Jocke's styles of playing go dang well together too, just super. As I've pointed out before, I'm quite proud of the band that we have now, couldn't ask for better personnel, no sirree bob. Alright, enough with the schmaltz and back to Superstereo. After our gig I also did guitar duties for the latter part of The Sugarrush's set (Macke did the first half). I must say I'm sorry for pretty much spoiling the gig because I played like shit and since I had no room to move on that tiny stage, I neither rocked out as hard as I'd liked. I think I should start re-acquainting myself with the instrument called the electric guitar, it was far more difficult to play one than I had remembered. Yah, to end this lengthy entry I offer you to have a look at Graceskull's setlist for yesternight.

09.08.2005 A somewhat special rehearsal yesterday, we had a tiny crew from Finnish television filming and interviewing us. I guess everything went OK but I must say that the interview portion somewhat worries me since my Swedish isn't really that good - but who gives a crap, one always looks like a geek on television no matter what. The highlight of the interview was probably when Paati explained something so excitedly that he fell off his chair - don't worry, our sticksman is alright. More on the telly thingy after our lil' trip to Sweden since they'll be there with us filming it - scareee. Another reason for yesterday's rehearsal to be special was that this was the first time it was six of us - introducing Graceskull Big Band! We had both Jocke and Macke (that's Mr. Magnum to you!) onboard battling it out on their axes. Also we had Julius's new baby - the Wurlitzer - in action but unfortunately it didn't seem to fit in sonically with the six man lineup as well as it did when we did the three man thing at Kultrock earlier in the summer. The rehearsal in itself was a bit of a sloppy one, I guess after we'd been alert and stuff when the TV crew was there, we kinda let loose and rest of the evening we joked about with the songs so I just hope poor Macke got some picture of the songs he hasn't played before. The only song we really did some work on was "Found My Place" but we couldn't get a version going that everyone would've been happy with so we left it out of the set - sadly so because I think it's a pretty good song and I'd like to play it live too. Maybe we'll have time to really sort it out sometime, in the meantime you have to come and enjoy our Taiteiden Yö gig in Superstereo, Vaasa without it - still some good shit of course, starting at around midnite this Thursday.

03.08.2005 I'm sorry but it seems that these posters are coming later and later all the time but I'm a busy fellar y'know? Anyway here is the poster for next week's Taiteiden Yö gig with The Sugarrush. Enjoi.

02.08.2005 Taiteiden yö. The Night of Arts. August 11th. In Superstereo, Vaasa, Finland. Graceskull and The Sugarrush. Now can you dig that, sucka.

01.08.2005 Sunday night at Sky Bar nine storeys up on top of Vaasa City. Sounds good but I still had some motivational problems when it came to this gig - I was having some allergic attack (or the first stages of a flu) and the minimal space that we had to perform in brought a pizzeria gig in mind. Nevertheless we apparently pulled it off quite nicely, I heard some positive feedback on the sound and also on the gig per se. The sound being good was certainly a surprise since we only had a minimal PA system aboard, I guess it's just that the instruments the dudes have just sound that good (my guitar being an exception of course, it's crap). I also think we played pretty well, maybe I could even call it tight. Anyway the place left me with a strange feeling so I don't think we're playing there anytime soon again, I don't really think it's suited for rock gigs really. Thanks to Antti for setting the shit up and to everyone who wasted their Sunday night with us. Here's the setlist for ya. In other news I got the whole mixed Atyd track on Friday (ie. the Swans cover I did vocals for last week) and Micke had transformed it to a whole different shape, it was less distorted which did the track good. I also heard that the record company peeps who are releasing the tribute record liked it which was nice. It's still going to be quite a while before the record's out but when it's about to drop I'll let you know, of course.

29.07.2005 2 in 1. That's rehearsals we're talking about. Before the evening's main attraction of a Graceskull rehearsal, me and Andy J. had a little rehearsal of our own before the others arrived. You see, we have a new project which we came up with in the men's room at the recent Wild Force reunion gig - it's called The Royal Piss. And it seems we got two songs to our (fine) name now, "Storybook" and "Sidewalk". What's it like? Well I'd say it's 90's buzz-indie pop or something - Andy's on the guitar and I'm on the bass and an EP is of course planned already. But enough of The 'Piss, we shall return to this subject later on most probably. We had Jocke back in Graceskull's live incarnation so it was the first rehearsal in a looong, long time with this lineup. But you couldn't have seen or heard it, I thought everyone played just fucking great and Jocke learned the new songs basically while we just playing them. Another dude who was doing something whilst playing was Julius, he had technical trouble with his organ (no jokes, please) the first half of our session but was fixing it with his right hand when his left hand was playing a song on the Rhodes - a reneissance man, what can I say! In addition to the Graceskull songs we also had a fair share of jams as usual and "Black Magic Woman" made a scary return to our rehearsal quarters - I'm putting the blame on Andy, he seems to be the one always starting it.

26.07.2005 Behind the camera: The FLB. In front of the camera: The Bullets. That's yesterday evening in a nutshell. We had Superstereo as a location and shot 550 pics for the future album sleeve with one or two percentage of the pics succesful. It's hard to get it right with four guys in the same pic, someone always has a stupid grin on their face or something like that. But we got just about what we wanted and I should be starting work on the sleeve in the next week or so. Maybe the album will actually see the light of day before the end of the year...I almost said summer but that's pushing it.

21.07.2005 Better late than never, here's the poster for our next week's gig. Summertime and the living is easy.

20.07.2005 Recorded some vocals for an Atyd track yesterday. It's actually a cover of The Swans' "Celebrity Lifestyle" and I'm told it's supposed to appear on a Swans tribute record due to appear sometime in the future. More info on that maybe later on then.

19.07.2005 Kultrock, Friday night. Julius had arranged a deal with a P-Seinäjoki local dealer to purchase a Wurlitzer electric piano on the festival site and it took a half an hour of haggling to get it to change hands to a reasonable price. So the first thing Julius did with this wonderful instrument was that he hauled it on stage and played a gig. Our gig was nice, it was fun playing outdoors (although it did no wonders to my voice) and with this special lineup and I even think some of the people liked it even though the other bands on the fest were mainly quite hard'n'heavy. I guess the only negative aspect of this visit was that Julius was pissed off because the aforementioned keyboard dealer had offered him a Leslie cabinet he would've loved to drive home with but after the stack o'cash he had invested on the Wurly, it was just impossible - poor J.Lo, I know he has spent some sleepless nights now because of that. Aaaanyway, check out the setlist here, dude. After our set we were bound to hit the road immediately because I had another gig in Superstereo's (that's ex-Papin Nenä) opening party with the Toilets - in the ladies' john of course. It was hot and it was chaotic but I guess everyone had a good time. We had about a thousand visitors pulled from the toilet goers, with the likes of Julius (mean, mean harmonica!), Leopold Delloria's Jocki, The Duke's Mikko and bass genius (this time sadly on the percussions) Nicke Hägen contributing. Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy nights.

13.07.2005 Aaand a Graceskull rehearsal. We had to downsize our lineup for upcoming Friday's Kultrock so it's going to be just me and Julius plus Andy J. on the bass. The rehearsals went okay despite me and Julius being a bit tired, we're probably going to do some songs we haven't done in a while but I don't know just yet what the exact setlist will be. "Remains of You" surprised me in a positive way, I think it worked the best out of all the songs we played that night even though it still kinda is half finished in the lyrics department. You'll have to haul your ass over to Peräseinäjoki on Friday to hear if I've had time to finish it in time for the gig. See ya at Kultrock!

12.07.2005 A Bullets rehearsal yesterday and a very fruitful at that. Eric Colt had a great idea for a song which we built into a full blown tune. It was great because I think we haven't done a song sounding like this before, it reminds me of Foo Fighters' "February Stars" kinda sorta - anyway a slower tune with only one chord progression. We also tuned the previous couple of newer ditties and they're sounding pretty tight now.

06.07.2005 Some minor songwriting yesterday, a tune by the name of "Clemency" made itself known to me. Oh yeah and I've forgotten to post that we have a gig at Vaasa's Sky Bar later on this month - that's the 30th - so rearrange your summer plans now, dude. Was also over to Strampen - a seaside restaurant in Vaasa - to check out a comeback (of sorts) gig of the original Vaasa hair rockers Wild Force. The gig was pretty tight and especially the guitar (not to mention the Talk Box) magic of axeman J. Stolpe brought a nostalgic smile to my face. Pretty much the only critique would be aimed at the last song of the encore which was a cover of "Gimme All Your Lovin'" - did they really need to pull a bar band cover after their own classics? Note to self.

01.07.2005 At the rehearsal space yesterday with Julius, he had bought this German vintage amp that was just way cool and we had to try it out, of course. I think Julius had the Rhodes in mind when he bought the amp but I thought it sounded best with the guitar plugged in, kinda Bernard Butler-ish sound I'd say - a great sound anyway. It had a malfunctioning main volume button so it was at full volume all the time which was great but I think Julius is going to fix it for the sake of our future hearing. Oh yeah, for you equipment freaks, the thing was called Klemt Echolette M40. Maybe (hope J.Lo ain't gonna strangle me for remebering that all wrong).

27.06.2005 So one more wedding gig behind us, we shalt pray upon greater powers that no more of them emerge quite soon. Yes, I was nervous but I guess it went alright. The only real mishap was when Julius started Twilight Singers' "Teenage Wristband" waaay too slow. Despite the nervousness these songs were a real joy to play despite their untouchable status (that's the Dulli-ones for me). Check the complete setlist here and behold its strangeness. And yeah, only Jorma had ever heard that Tool song - but it didn't stop us from playing it, badasses that we are.

23.06.2005 The final wedding set rehearsal yesterday. The previous session left me a bit uneasy to be frank and so I was a bit nervous before theis rehearsal. But instead of further nervousness we got our shit together and rocked out some working renditions, three of which were new. We also threw a bunch of songs in the bin because they weren't just working out. I think we have six songs in the set now and that should be just the right amount I reckon. There are a couple of songs in the set I would've never touched otherwise but this being a special occasion we can let go of a couple rules of the order of pop connaisseurs. I'm just hoping that it will sound as good as it did last night, fingers crossed!

20.06.2005 Back again from the Provinssirock trail. Some good gigs, some good shows but nothing that really blew my mind I have to say. Fun times were had, of course, and thus I thank everyone at Vrj-organization for making them so. As I hinted in my previous entry, Mew was a miss for me and of course everyone was praising their show as I arrived in Seinäjoki on Saturday. Dang. Oh well, on to The Donnas - grrreat guitar player, looked and played just right for the job. I would have to claim that it was the best gee-tar action of the festival had they not had Bernard Butler playing on Sunday - his guitar shit is the shit. Gotta love it even though The Tears' music didnät move me an inch. Saturday night's first pleasant surprise came in the form of Halloween car mechanics as I witnessed the first five-ish songs of Slipknot's set - brutally enjoyable (or enjoyably brutal) to watch but Mars Volta's slot was nearing so I had to get outta there and into the big tent. The Mars Volta was actually the band I most anticipated on the bill so when they'd jammed on their first song for something like 45 minutes and the bad sound (on vocals and guitar at least) was getting in the way of my concentration, I have to say that I wasn't exactly happy. But then about halfway into the two hour set something happened (maybe the sound got better or maybe it was the songs, I dunno) and the remaining four songs were just dynamite. Amazing musicianship all the way through though, the drumer especially had his hands full all the time and didnät miss a beat (okay, he did miss one but it was when his drumstick was blown in half). Next up was the most grand disappointment of the fest, that's Mr Marilyn Mason I'm talking about. He seemed tired. The songs seemed tired. The show seemed tired. So we got tired and buggered off back into the big tent in favour of The Bravery which I knew minimally little of. So here came the other pleasant surprise of the evening as these boys looked like a milloin dollars and their light dude was worth a couple o' mil. The songs were okay but nothing to write your homepage about but they did the trick and it was a very nice'n'fresh show to watch after the stale performance by Mr Warner. It just left me wondering if these guys have a tailor that makes these jeans and leatherjackets for them, they just had the best fit ever. After the show I caught a glimpse of the Flaming Sideburns but their rockin' was just too honest and gritty after The Bravery's awesome plastic version of the subject so I made my exit. Sunday's headliner was of course Nine Inch Nails which I had to run to from a very pleasant gig (I caught about half) from Sweden's Moneybrother - I think I indeed need to check out their latest disc. Anyway, NIN couldn't have had a better start for the gig as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a great big fan but I love some of their work and it don't get much better "Wish" - my first goose bumps of this year's festival. The first part of the gig was all in all pretty fucking good but then they ventured off into stuff that I wasn't all that familiar with and so they lost me there a second - or actually an hour. But then towards the end of the set they got the right tools out again and it worked like a charm. I have to say that Trent Reznor really had a big ol' bag charisma going for him, his appearance just fits like a glove with his band's music. Maybe compelling would be the right word. Alright, that's my report for this year, I'll be back tomorrow with some Graceskull news. Keep cool.

17.06.2005 Wedding rehearsals yesterday with Sara's Jorma behind the axe. We tried out a heap of songs, many of which were a barrel of laughs - that's tunes like "Black Magic Woman", "You Could Be Mine" by Guns'n'Roses and stuff like dat. We managed to scribble something together though, probably four songs but we do need some more practise before hitting the stage. Strangely enough the song we got in best shape was a tune that none of us bar Jorma had ever heard before. I think we have to keep it that way too - I actually wish that we could've done all the stuff like this - only one of us would've known the song and would've taught it to us others. Maybe that should be a recipe for a future gig, hurhur. Provinssirock this weekend then, the other boys are heading to Seinäjoki already today but I'm getting my ass there no sooner than tomorrow morning. I'll miss Mew's gig which I would've like to have seen but judging from the couple of new songs they've posted on their website, I might be missing less than I think as they weren't much to get excited over even though they'd roped in J Mascis for some vocal tracks.

10.06.2005 I sat down with Sara's - and currently also Pedestrian's Motor's - Jorma yesterday and we tried out some songs for a special occasion that's happening in a couple of weeks' time. Okay, it is a wedding gig again (I think I've written that I'd never do one again) but it is a special one and boy did we have a hard time choosing songs to play. I really can't say which we picked (ah, the element of surprise) and also the boys in the band haven't had their say about it but anyway I think it's going to be a strange potpourri. The lineup we're going to have is probably Graceskull with Jorma on the guitar and half of the vocals. Scary stuff. Jorma also previewed one Pedestrian's Motor song which I might appear on later this year but maybe more on that later.

06.06.2005 First off, sorry about the delay in producing some news, I've been pretty much offline so the there's a couple of inserts from the past few weeks that I just got up here - I hope you don't mind. Then on to the real report. Cue Saturday night, Papin Nenä. The place was pretty much packed as The Bullets got on stage, Light Moron (that's our new alias for Mikael, sorry dude!) had set up a beautiful light show and our man Tony (The Sound Supremo himself) was behind the mixing desk so what could've gone wrong? Not much. I think it was probably the best ratio for playing accuracy / rocking I've ever managed to produce in The Bullets so I was feeling pretty good after the last chords of "Rock'n'roll Soldiers" had faded out and I think pretty much everyone felt the same. It just was a good show all in all (and we got the photos to prove it, I just saw some 150 photos that FLB had shot and there were some real beauties in there - you'll surely see some of them someday). I managed to even produce some blood for the show as I cut my finger pretty good on the mic on my Ric, it had splattered all over on the pick guard and strings so I had some cleaning do to when I got home. All in a day's work. In Graceskull related news I can tell you that I was in contact with some folks at Yle and they told me that they're filming the Gothenburg trip for some program they're running later this year or actually two programs as it will be shown in two parts. More on this later on for sure, right now I'm back off to bed to cure this summer flu I managed to catch. Seeyas.

02.06.2005 A lengthy (by Bullets standards, at least) Bullets rehearsal yesterday. We worked on "Seven Days" and "Sick And Tired" pretty damn extensively and got them in pretty darn fine form. "Sick And Tired" must be my new favourite Bullets tune - it's simple, rockin' and simply rockin'. "Seven Days" got a whole heap of changes made to it (for a song that basically was already done) and now it's even better than before. So now we're ready for this Saturday's gig at Papin Nenä with some new ammunition in our back pocket, come by and witness the demolition! Oh yeah, and there's a historical reason for you to come by too, Papin Nenä is having its last open night ever on that particular date.

31.05.2005 Just a little songwriting to report, I came across this little tune yesterday - I'm calling it "I Won't Forget" for now. I also realized that I hadn't reported on another song I worked a few weeks back which has the soon-to-be-changed working title of "Mother Mary".

30.05.2005 The Sugarrush had a gig at Papin Nenä on Saturday and they dragged me on the stage with a little unusual lineup of the band...or lineups to be more precise. The idea was that the rhythm guitar slot in the band would be filled by the last three guys who've stepped up for the task, that's me, Frankie Magnum and of course (also sometime Graceskull bass-meister) El Tero-Teró. We each had a couple songs that we got to play, then The FLB blew his trainer's whistle and sent the man on stage back to the bench while the next axe-man hopped in. As stupid as this idea sounds, it actually was quite a working one or at least that's how I felt about it. It was also a privilege to see El Tero-Teró in action once again, his playing is always joyfully brutal. As for the rest of the show, well, there were some dancing girls invading the stage at some point and stuff so I guess it was at least something you don't see every day.

23.05.2005 A real Bullets rehearsal yesterday for a change. We rocked out a couple of oldies and then proceeded to work on a couple of new tunes one of which might be called "Sit Down (Get Up And Go) (I'm Confused)" or something like that, the exact stupid chorus escapes me right now. Anyway we got both in pretty good form, they're just missing a few bits here and there. It was nice to cram out something new, it's been a while.

19.05.2005 Hammer time! Julius had managed to total his left middle finger on Tuesday when utilizing a sledge hammer in what is to become the new "Killing Music Studios". The bone is pretty badly fractured so it'll be a while before it can be laid down on a keyboard, the following couple of months should point out how good the finger will bounce back. And to add insult to injury I've also managed to get my back in bad shape, I have no idea what's causing me to have sizable pain shot through my back (and left thigh) every time I try to move a bit. The doctor said it's some sprained muscle which will ease back into normality in due time which I hope is true. Graceskull - getting better all the time!

12.05.2005 Fireworks! One hour into this fine day Julius's better half brought a brand new baby daughter into this world. It truly seems like Julius is slowly getting together a girl-band of his own - The 'Skullettes, anyone?

11.05.2005 It seems that there was a line or a few in today's Vasabladet about last Friday's happening. It claimed that of the contenders that went on to Gothenburg, we had the best songs going for us. Graceskull thanks and blushes.

09.05.2005 And away to Gothenburg we go. Basically the whole of Friday was a bit odd, I kinda felt myself misplaced performing in between high-school bands or something like that (and I don't mean that in a cocky way). Also playing only three songs (without a soundcheck - thank gawd for Tony showing up!) didn't feel that great, it's often after three songs that we are warmed up and ready to go. Well, explanations aside the final verdict was that Graceskull, White Widow and The Duke (who by the way had a fantastic show bar a few over-streched solos, hats off) got the go ahead for a gig in Sweden's second biggest (correct me if I'm totally wrong) city in the end of August. Surely it's going to be a fun trip but I can't help wishing that also The Bullets could've come along. I played like shit (like always) in The Bullets' set but everyone seemed to like it anyway so I think it was a one-or-the-other type of choice from the judges between two bands with the same friggin' guys. And since they already had rock music on the bill they opted for Graceskull. Speculation, speculation. Anyway we'll most probably drag Frankie Magnum along for the ride so it's all good. Hopefully we also get mixing help from the "Sound Supremo" himself (that's Tony) because he should be living in Stockholm by then and that's not too far from Gothenburg now, is it? Thanks to all ye who came by on Friday (and of course, the judges, hardyhar).

06.05.2005 A lil' ol' rehearsal on Wednesday we ran through a couple of ditties and decided which three we're going to do on Friday. Oh yeah, today's Friday so come to Club25 and come early since our stage-time is 9.20 PM. Rejearsal highlight was Julius' subtle addition to "Kings and Queens", he added a slice of Crumar to the second verse and I thought it sounded just fantastic. We still have Frankie Magnum on the axe because Jocke is taking his School of Rock -troupe on the road (Helsinki City, to be more precise) - yay, I don't think I've mentioned this before but Jocke really teaches playing and rock antics to youngsters and who better to do that than him, I ask ya? Well anyway, this also means that you'll have The Bullets standing on three legs tonite. We'll just see what that means, now won't we.

04.05.2005 And it seems like our stage time is scheduled for 21:20 on Friday so get in early if you can. Apart from securing that time yesterday we also received a gig offer from Lithuania but unfortunately we had other commitments on that particular date so we had to pass up on the offer. Hopefully a new chance for a gig like that emerges, it would be really cool to get to play there.

03.05.2005 Most probably we'll return to Club25 a bit sooner than we though. It appears that we are taking part in an event next Friday at Club25 where 10-ish bands play three songs each and based upon these performances a panel decides which of these bands get a gig in Gothenburg, Sweden in August. Sounds strange, doesn't it? Or perhaps it sounds like a battle-of-the-bands which I hope it's not gonna turn into - not to get all cocky on yr ass but I really don't think Graceskull would benefit from a band contest this far down the road. But then again, I wouldn't say no to a gig abroad. Aaaanyway, even I'm not really that up-to-date on what's really going to happen but maybe you'll come by and catch a couple of tunes by ol' Reiska. And if that ain't enough The Bullets are also on the bill.

02.05.2005 The gig at Club 25 on Saturday. Well let's start by saying the obvious; with this many new, unrehearsed songs we would've needed a little more rehearsing time but with that said, I thought we did pretty darn good. I also think we had the quiet and rockin' bits in balance just right which was fun, "Demons" and "Dying Days" rocked probably harder than we've ever done. Which was nice. The best thing for me personally was to see that the new songs clearly worked so we don't have to throw them in the garbage bin - I think "Light is Changing" was the most successful adaptation of the bunch. Besides having Frankie Magnum's help in the six string department (thanks a ton, dude!) we also had some extra help in the sound department this time around since The Bullets sound supremo Tony lent his hand at the mixer. According to reprts this meant that the sound was just fantastic so a thank you also to Tony. And you can't forget Mikael who lit the stage like a mutha, thnx. Other bands on the evening's bill were Dive and The Scaramangas. Regretfully since I was preparing for our own gig I didn't get to check out Dive as thoroughly as I would've liked to but I can say that The Scaramangas sounded hella good and the playing was also pretty damn tight. Nice peeps too so I'm looking forward to gigging with this bunch again. The setlist - if you're really that interested - is in here.

29.04.2005 Christ almighty, I'm tired. Since no other time would do, we rehearsed one more time in the middle of the night last night. But it all sounded just fine, probably some of the songs take a bit more time to get them perfectly refined (give us a year or two) but all in all I'm very pleased with the way things worked out for these new songs (and dude, harhar). So props are due to the boys in the band, kissy kiss. So let's all gather up at Club25 tomorrow and see how it all comes together on stage then, alrite?

27.04.2005 A full on rehearsal yesterday. We worked pretty fucking hard on a batch of new songs and as if that load of new info wasn't enough, we also had a lineup change which rearranged our plans for older material. Jocke informed me a few hours before the rehearsal that he was unable to attend the coming gig due to an unfortunate family related incident and that he had already fixed a replacement for him for the gig. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to guess who that replacement was, so we uploaded some 15 songs into good ol' Frankie Magnum (for the Bullets au naturelle) and he played some marvellous shit into the lot of it. Not only was it great that Frankie's playing worked like a charm but it was also nice that he was authorized by Jocke himself so the quality control has been taken care of. It remains to be seen if anyone of us remember these new songs at the gig but trust us, we've worked our asses off, dude. We'll just see, now won't we.

26.04.2005 Just tampered with "Remains of You"'s verses which is good, since I should have that baby ready for Saturday's gig. Maybe.

25.04.2005 Great and interesting rehearsals on Friday. We were supposed to rehearse with the whole band but Paati and Jocke were judging a battle-of-the-bands which stretched on a bit longer than they had thought so it was just me and Julius and Andy J. on tha bass. So because we couldn't really rehearse any of the old stuff, we opted for new songs only (okay, "Silence Makes Us Strong" is an oldie but we've never played it live) and boy, did we go through a pile of them. We actually managed to get some of the tunes sound pretty good with just the three of us and it just might be that we're gonna go for that arrangement in some song (I'm thinking "A Stupid Vein") on next Saturday's gig. I just have to say that it made me feel great to play new songs and try out new stuff. Also worth a mention is Julius' playing in the breakdown section of "Remains of You", it was just fucking phenomenal. I think we're having a full blown rehearsal tomorrow so we'll see how this new stuff will be adapted to the full line-up, hopefully we get as many new songs into the set as possible.

21.04.2005 I tried to get out a verse for "Decatur Illinois" out yesterday and did too but I don't exactly know if it was any good. Better than the original at least I think. I also continued on rewriting the chorus and I think I got the pretty-much-definitive version on paper now. Did I stop there? No sir! I also wrote a chorus for "Remains of You" and got some kind of a verse in there too, some fine tuning is in order but the storyline (if you can call it that) I have a pretty good grasp on. I was surprised how good that tune actually was, I had nearly forgotten it before I went through some demos. Another song I found that had no name also got some lyrics to its verse yesterday. Quite an active day. I also realized that I have some songs lying around that I haven't demoed at all and so I decided to try and do just that sometime in the not-so-distant future (before I forget them, ya know).

20.04.2005 I finally got my ass around to transforming one of the El Gringo gig live tracks onto a web-friendly format so here you go, "Dying Days" live in Vaasa. Okay, it's not "Live After Death" or nuttin' like that but bare with us - I just wish Jocke and Julle's instruments would've been a bit louder in the mix but it's a soundbord recording so what the heck. Anybody recognize which song we a verse of right at the end of the tune? Great, I knew I could count on ya. Anyway, I continued on polishing "Decatur Illinois'" lyrics yesterday and I think I pretty much have a definitve chorus in my back pocket but I'm now considering on re-writing the verses, music and all. The current verses are a bit too much on the happy side to match the...well, umm let's say desperation of the chorus.

18.04.2005 Let's get this outta the way, feast your eyes on this poster for our upcoming gig with The Scaramangas and Dive at Club25. This weekend I spent quite some time thinking of arrangements to some of the newer songs and this one song stuck out that I would like to try if we could get it working for the gig. I guess I've been calling this one "Decatur, Illinois" but it will surely have a more suitable title soon since I wrote some real lyrics for it on Sunday, the chorus and some minor stuff to the verses. It was nice to be doing some lyrics again, it felt refreshing.

11.04.2005 Ahem, sorry for the lazy updates, boys and girls, but I've been busy compiling The Conquistadors album and it seems like we have a master in our hands right now. Also we've been trying to get a promo single together, we're just in need of a bit of studio time for an interview that's to be added to the single and also some promo pictures should be taken before we get the package all wrapped up. Back to work now, seeyas.

04.04.2005 I unfortunately missed this year's Band Jam festivities (that had it's fair share of Graceskull related performers on stage or involved in other ways) but I heard all y'all had a blast. Better luck next year, I hope. Anyway on Sunday The Bullets gathered in El Gringo to rock and it was a nice enough gig I suppose. It's really not that easy to rock out on a Sunday, believe you me, but we tried our hardest and at least the sounds had been top notch, I hear. The sounds were kicking also at past Graceskull gig in El Gringo so I guess their sound engineer - Juho, I belive he's called - has got his shit together. Which reminds me that I might've promised you some soundbite from that 'Skull gig - I just got that gig on a CD a week back or so, so I'll be checking it out if some song would be net-release-worthy in the coming days maybe. Keep yr eyes peeled.

01.04.2005 And a reminder to bring yr ass to El Gringo in Vaasa on Sunday the 3rd, the Bullets are there to rock your world!

31.03.2005 News is trickling in about the future releases of Nature Sucks Anyway. Yesterday half of the Bullets (unfortunately I was not in that half) heard the final mix for the upcoming Bullets album and the reports were that it's just about fuckin' fantastic. This means that the album is probably coming out before the summer but there still sleeves and mastering and whatnot to be done so take that announcement with a grain of salt. The Conquistadors album is also in the works as we've been in talks with Kinkt records about releasing it and it indeed seems like it's coming out on Kinkt instead of NSA which is nice since the album's availability will be mucho better (they're distributed by Playground, woohoo) compared to what we can do at Nature Sucks Anyway. The schedule for that release is also set for late spring/early summer and we're in the process of getting a promo single (and website...and all that other necessary stuff) together right now. More on all this probably later on. In the meanwhile I suggest you get your hands on Patrick Wolf's brilliant new CD "Wind in the Wires" because it's amazing. i don't often rave about records here but this one hasn't left my CD-player (well, iPod actually) in the last few weeks and it's still sounding as fresh as the day I got it.

21.03.2005 Phew for a minute there I lost my...well, reason. Maybe it was more than a minute actually. The Bullets were pretty much on fire this weekend; on Friday we rehearsed (and added a new song to our setlist, "Seven Days" that is) and on Saturday we first rocked out a normal set at Club25 and then hurried off to Papin Nenä where we played for three hours straight in the ladies' bathroom under the name The Toilets. The Club25 gig went alright I guess, I played like shit but we had some kool backdrop projections that our lightshow manager Mikael had coughed up to lessen the impact of my bad playing. And we did get through the new song even though we had not rehearsed it that many really. Anyway after getting our gear off the stage after the gig (and after we'd gotten in our sharper-than-sharp costumes) we speeded with the stuff to Papin Nenä's toilet and started playing for the ladies...okay, there were also a couple of dudes who invaded the audience. We then proceeded to do some Bullets numbers, some improvised blues and rock ditties and a whole heap of covers of songs I'd never played before. Jocke just kept shouting me the chords and I tried my best. We played everything from "Breaking the Law" to "Purple Haze" to "Johnny B. Goode" to "Keep on Rocking in the Free World"...basically whatever we or the audience could come up with, Jocke...oh sorry, I mean Mr. Eric Colt knows because he knows all the rock songs ever made. No, really. Of course you had to be very, very drunk to enjoy that shit (if you weren't playing it, hurhur) and to our benefit everyone seemed to be just that with the band being the most drunk of all when the evening drew to a close with the singalong of the Bullets' original "Rock'n'roll Soldiers". While it was a highlight of the evening (at least for me), another highlight was when Sara (and presently also Pedestrian's Motor) vocalist Jorma hopped in the restroom and belted out a fine version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" with us...so much for goth credibility, then hahah! We had a couple of other guys singing this and that too but I failed to recognize these dudes but thanks should go out to everyone who stepped on the mic. Thanks also to Panu (for taking care of the screen biz at Club25), Terppi (for a load of tech help), Mikael (for both the visual show and getting the spare guitar when Eric's equipment malfunctioned in Pane) and to everyone who bought the brand new Bullets T-shirt (contact Nature Sucks Anyway if you'd like to own this beautiful garment!) It was a load of fun, let's do it again...in a few years time maybe.

18.03.2005 A reminder! The Bullets is playing Club25 in Vaasa tomorrow (that's Saturday, bro) so don't you miss it! We have some extra tricks lined up for ya and also this will be the first occasion on which official Bullets t-shirts will be available for purchase. We will be playing first (of two bands, Max on the Rox will close the night) so I'd advice you to get your ass over to tha Club around 22 hours. Also highly recommended is heading on to Pane after the Bullets gig, you could find it worthwhile if you know what I mean (and some of you might actually do, hurhur).

14.03.2005 On Saturday I witnessed The Sugarrush live from the audience for the first time in maybe 5 years or something. And I have to say I hope they sound as good with me behind the geetar as they did with my Bullets colleague Macke aka Frankie Magnum (which I doubt since Macke is quite a player compared to my clumsy efforts - but I sincerely think he should get himself strap-locks, hurhur). Of course Vaasa's Rewell Center provided for some echo-y sound but I thought it would've been worse (I've played a gig there once with Contrast and it was horrible). Anyway, I was proud of the boys and was glad to see they can rock out hard even without my heavy-weight input, harhar.

11.03.2005 Festival info, folks. We're playing this outdoor festival called Kultrock on July 15th in Seinäjoki (I guess the more specific location is Kalajärvi) so cancel your plans and go find your sleeping bag (mosquito spray recommendable). And don't forget to buy The Sugarrush's brand new "Useless Information EP" (and that's on Kinkt Records in case you forgot) today because it's in da motherfuckin' stores, homegirl. Buy it and hear a familiar tambourine cling.

09.03.2005 Yay, the review I mentioned yesterday is now stored on the reviews page so see for yourself what Mr. Patrik Back wrote about our El Gringo gig.

08.03.2005 Wakey, wakey, Vaasa peeps! There is a review of our El Gringo gig in today's Vasabladet so pick it up! My Swedish ain't impeccable but I got the feeling that the reviewer seemed to pretty much like it. If you can't find a copy of the newspaper, don't worry cause I'll probably post the article here in a few days' time.

07.03.2005 First off, thank you to everyone who came by to see us yesterday, it a Sunday and an unusual venue for us but I guess it went just dandy. At least that's what people told me and who am I to argue. One thing I heard was that the sound of the gig was fantastic which I have to thank El Gringo's sound man for. Actually everyone at El Gringo was super-nice so thanks ye, thank ye. One more thank you has to go out to Mikael for showing up with a cool light-show, even if it was a bit over the top for such a small place, hurhur. The setlist for the gig is to be found over here if you're interested - I'm glad to have finally slipped the oldie "Sleepwalker" into the set, I transposed it and now it serves as a nice intro to "Trains Pass By". A nice gig, yeah, but to backtrack a bit, I also tackled the guitar on Saturday but on a completely other type of project since I had promised TKK to add some shit into a remix that's bound to end up on an EP he's releasing later this Spring. I was originally going to add some bass onto the track but since I thought the bass that already existed on the track was good enough, I decided to add some humming vocals and some jazzy guitar. I think the guitar bits came out unexpectedly good since I'm not much of a guitarist and the track should be on its way to the printers as we speak. More info on this EP (which is actually a joint effort between TKK and Juhani) probably when it's released.

04.03.2005 Another rehearsal yesterday (hey, this time we had two before the gig!). Everything went just fine, I guess "Dying Days" was the only ditty we tried out more than once mainly due to a new breakdown section we - well, actually Jocke - made for it. After the main rehearsals Jocke headed homewards to heal his tinnitus (he had been to a Judas Priest concert the night before) while the rest of us proceeded to jam out some of the older stuff like "Silence Makes Us Strong" (which sounded hella good, maybe there still is a chance we could play it live one day) and "Hush". The evening ended with Julius playing something that sounded like Bavarian techno circus music when he rediscovered the synth section of his organ, so I guess what the B-side of the next Graceskull single will sound like then. Closing with a reminder, get your sweet booty over to El Gringo (that's in Vaasa, homegirl) on Sunday, we'll be there to rock your ass gently!

02.03.2005 If you've not come across the news about the Sugarrush's new EP hitting the shelves March 11th by now, get on going to (former Graceskuller Ilkka's new label, by the way) Kinkt Records website where you can download a preview track "Useless Information" from the disc. Well worth the buy with yours truly shaking the tambourine on some of the tracks. Just get it!

28.02.2005 Back at the rehearsal quarters with the full Graceskull lineup yesterday, it had been a while - actually about 10 months I guess. But it was quite funny that it sounded more like 10 days max. Sure there were some minor memory lapses (mainly mine concerning the lyrics) but I though it sounded just super and everyone added some more flavor to the older songs which were the main concern for the rehearsal. We did try out a couple of newbies but they didn't come out exactly right, I think there was just too much energy about - which might have been Jocke's fault because he had had some electric treatment done to him which had left him super perky. Luckily for all of us he promised to drink away that chirpiness in time for the gig.

25.02.2005 I was interviewed yesterday for this local radio show Radio Days. We chatted a bit in between a couple of cut I had chosen for the show (that's Sparklehorse's "Piano Fire", Twilight Singers' "Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair" and Zoot Woman's "Living In A Magazine") and I spilled the beans on current Nature Sucks Anyway situation and some other stuff. The show will air next Tuesday at 18:00 on Radio Vaasa so tune in if you can!

24.02.2005 I got something to share with you. Yeah you've guessed it, it's the poster for our El Gringo gig a week from now on Sunday. Checkity check it out, dude.

21.02.2005 Still continuing with the Eurovision Song Contest war stories, we did the finals on Saturday and it was a barrel of laughs and a great experience all together. On Friday we got our asses from Vaasa to Tampere's Kulttuuritalo which was this big-ass concert hall with some 1800 seats. The stage was already set and it was just wonderful standing there in the midst of all the corny lights and confettiguns and stuff - I felt right at home, dude. The rehearsals went just fine and we were all in good spirits - and surprisingly even got a good night's sleep before the actual extravaganza since everybody went to bed after we had caught WWE Raw on the telly (okay, Arttu said he only got some 15 minutes of shut-eye but I guess that's understandable at the very least). So come Saturday we got the golden shoes rolling over to make up and stuff and after some jooshing we hit the stage for the dress rehearsal. This rehearsal was recorded for the panels of judges all over Finland who then decided who would go on to the final six who the general public would then vote on to get the winner who will go on to Kiev to compete in the final final final and then maybe get into the final final final final - sounds simple, doesn't it. Well anyway, after a nice meal it was showtime and we rocked our best and had a nice time doing so, it went tons better than the rehearsal I thought. I must say that the best thing about the whole ordeal was the public, they went just apeshit over our performance (maybe they did that to others too but it doesn't matter) and it felt great. Unluckily for us, the judges didn't think the performance was Eurovision material despite the public's reaction and so we got the classic zero points from all the panels. Personally I think they were just afraid of the impressive wall of Rawk we provided, hurhur. But it's alright because the best man clearly won, in this case it was Geir Rönning who took the public vote by storm and rightfully so since his voice is just amazing. Other than that, he was also a helluva nice guy. Actually I have to say that the backstage was infested with nice guys, everyone was super friendly (and others hilarious to boot...that's Ressu Redford I'm talking about) with Yle's tech personnel topping the list - a great big thank you to them for making the experience even better. Alright, I've babbled on long enough so I'll only state one thing: if you've not seen Andy J. flexing his bicep on national television, you haven't lived. Rock'n'roll!

17.02.2005 Firevision's Mikko dragged me along to a little interview by local newspaper Ilkka yesterday, concerning of course FV getting into the Eurovision Song Contest finals. I got in a couple of lines of which the stupider ones probably get printed. The interviewer (whose name unfortunately escaped me) didn't tell us when the story's gonna run but he did take a few photos of our stoopid poses. Fearing the worst but we'll see how it turns out, heheh. Tomorrow we'll head on down to Tampere for the whole hulabaloo so I take this chance to remind you to catch the show and of course vote on Saturday. See ya in the box!

14.02.2005 Don't you know who I am? I'm the guy from the Eurovision song contest, you jerkoff..just kidding. So the contect came and went and Firevision got into the finals which was great! So a great big thank you to all who voted and please do vote again next Saturday when we are trying to kick it up a notch. Having now seen the tape of the performance I have to start by saying that we surely rocked out more than the televised portion might have insisted on, I guess the director of the show wasn't used to filming rock stuff but I think it was okay still. But to backtrack a bit, have you ever been to Imatra? Well it's goddamn far away which I didn't realise until we have driven over 9 hours and still weren't in a comfy hotel bed at about 4 o'clock on Friday morning. And yeah, the weather was just horrible so I guess I have to thank the gods that we got there at all. After a few hours of sleep we started the day by paiting and customising seven pairs of sneakers into the golden shoes we wore on stage later and I was just blown away by the results, they looked like a million bucks! Then we proceeded to the venue and there was a whole lot of rehearsing, soundchecking and make-up stuff to get through and at the end of the night we finally got to perform and it was a lot of fun and I think none of us were all that nervous about it...compared to a whole range of odd souls that were the other contestants. I have to say that the backstage of the show was a surreal experience for me at least, these are people that take their shit veeery seriously and their world just seemed to be distinctly different from our troupe. There just ain't no rock'n'roll in the Eurovision Song Contest so I'm glad we managed to shake things up a bit. Anyway I think it's good for a person like me to come face to face with these "professionals", it kinda makes me appreciate even more the thing amateurs like us have - the freedom and the lack of pressure to achieve this and that. Oh well, to each his/her own. After another nine hour drive (armed to the teeth with bad humour) we were back home late on Saturday which meant that I wasn't up to much before Sunday when I got my hands on a new Graceskull song called "Don't Hesitate". I even got some lyrics down but I dunno where the song is going, it just might be one of those one verse ditties if I fail to come up with a nice chorus. Well, I'll tell ya all about it then, of course. I also added the lyrics to "Lullaby" to the song section, I forgot to do that earlier for some reason even though I got them done a month ago.

07.02.2005 The final rehearsal for the Eurovision thingy last Friday. It was much the same as the one we had before, it got us a while to get ourselves tuned to the right frequency but then it seemed to work just fine, Arttu has however no such troubles, he sings it just right every time. There was also some talks about a Conquistadors video which we have some ideas for but I dunno when we will have the time to get it made. Anyway, I'll just remind you to tune in to YLE2 on Friday to catch Firevision feat. The Sugarrush (including lil' ol' me) on the telly. And don't you forget to vote!

31.01.2005 A Bullets gig came and went this past Saturday. I guess a lot of people liked the gig but I myself am certain that we can do better. I thought our playing was a bit sloppy, mine was at least and the mishaps were a plenty but we did have a lot of fun and I guess it was that that people paid attention to, so end's well all's well. What made my gig a bit more difficult was that the microfone I was supposed to sing in reeked of ass and puke - no, really - so I had to use my bass glove for covering the thing in order to be able to approach it. Mucho thanks to all who attended and of course Mikael for creating a spectacle with the lights (which almost melted my black plastic jacket).

28.01.2005 Another Vaasa gig added for this Spring, Graceskull will be soft rocking at Club 25 on April 30th with The Scaramangas and Dive so add that date to your calendar, baby.

26.01.2005 A little Bullets rehearsal yesterday, we just went through our catalogue and made a setlist for our gig this Saturday in Vaasa's Club25. It's going to be a benefit of some kind so that's one more reason for you to show up. More info at www.welmu.com.

24.01.2005 Last Friday I attended the first (of two I suppose) Firevision rehearsals for the Eurovision Song Contest thingy. The first coupleof times we did it our (that's the Sugarrush and me) backing vocals were just plain awful but after a few rounds I think we got enough of good notes out so that the FV boys didn't start regretting the choice of their backing band. We'll just see how it all goes on the telly, hope the mix is favourable to us, hurhur.

10.01.2005 Just a little songwriting to report. Yesterday (or yesternight to be more precise) I wrote a little ditty that I'm calling "Lullaby" for now, I even got the lyrics down pretty much so it's just missing a few musical details here and there. I did some minor writing on Wednesday and Thursday too I think but I really can't recall the working titles of those couple of songs. On Thursday I also visited Julius's place because he had gotten an assignment to fix Creamstar's Eero's Wurlitzer electric piano and I wanted to test this mother out. Quite a beautiful instrument I have to say and it was a joy to play too. Luckily Julius had made a pact with Eero that we get to loan the keybord if we need it in the studio so you may as well expect a few Wurly-packed songs when we get our asses back in the recording room.

03.01.2005 Happy New Year, ladies and gentlemen! My New Year's Eve was quite a busy one since I had this acoustic gig with The Sugarrush and also had to find time to get my ass over to Firevision's Arttu's place to have a mix-check for the Conquistadors album. Well the checkup was a success and everyone seemed to be happy with the disc so now all we have to do is get the songlist edited just right so that the album flows like it's supposed to. I'd like to extend a warm and cuddly hug out to Arttu for lending us his time and talent for this project, his work really wrapped the recording process perfectly. The Sugarrush gig went great at least if you asked anyone with a little heavier alcohol percentage to their name, personally I felt a bit uneasy with the acoustic guitar duties since I don't really play that good and when you're on the acoustic it shows. But I don't think anyone had a bad time since we even had the Firevision dudes come up on stage when we covered their "On My Own", it's all about collaborations in the 00's ya know...