A day spend editing that will be followed by another day of editing.
Things are getting a bit intense, and we're running short of time.
Preparations for the january 19th concert is in full swing. Still a lot of things to be sorted, though.
A few days ago we spend a few hours shooting videos for two of the albums tracks. The location was an abandoned military bunker from the cold war era. A small version of the band consisting of David, Tanja, Jesper and myself did a performance shoot in a room where huge maps of the eastern block posed prominently on the wall.
Elsewhere in the bunker the artist duo Camilla and Signe shot footage that could become a music video, or a concert projection, or something else.
I havent seen their work yet, and I have no idea what to expect.
Exciting!
Harvest will be performed live in concert early next year.
Ticket pricings are still to be finalized.
Confirmed on stage are:
Anders Brandt
Tanja Hollerup
Minella Ribert
Jesper H. Petersen
Christian Lundstrøm
David A. Jeppesen
Ste van Holm
Two special guests have also been confirmed.
Harvest will be performed at
Teatersalen
Indre By Kulturhus
Charlotte Ammundsens Plads 3
1359 København K
The doors will open at 18:00
The concert starts at 19:00
Tracklist:
1: Truth Serum
2: Damage
3: Brocken Spectre
4: Escapism
5: Incantations
6: The Jackdaw
7: Black Stalks
8: Harvest
9: Whiteout
Personnel:
Anders Brandt - Vocals and Guitars
Tanja Hollerup - Vocals
Minella Ribert - Vocals
Jesper H. Petersen - Bass
Christian Lundstrøm - Keyboards
David A. Jeppesen - Drums and Guitars
Ste van Holm - Guitars and Keyboards
The opening track from the new album:
There's no more recording to be done now that Jesper H. Petersen has laid down his grooves on the tape.
Now there's only post production...
The new album will be here soon!
Jesper and his JazzBass
The car and the kit 1
The car and the kit 2
The car and the kit 3
The car and the kit 4
David and yours truly in a now drum kitted car
One of the cool things about electric cars, except for being more environment friendly than it's fossil fueled cousins is, that there's free parking in the city centre. Hence we used Davids now well packed car to the Scandic Copenhagen congress hall where he was going to play a gig later that day. Two days earlier I had received an sms from David where he urged me to be his guy behind the mixing desk.
David's band in performance
I thought I was only going to do David's gig, but I ended up spending the whole weekend at the mixer. And I enjoyed it a lot.
David and his setup
One of the interesting acts was Temper-Mental MissElayneous, a girl from Dublin doing hiphop with a bodhran before doing a more traditional set. I have always loved the bodhran, and it was very refreshing hearing it in hiphop.
Temper-Mental MissElayneous with her bodhran
Another interesting act was the Norwegian / Danish band 'Megafon' who played a very strange blend of gypsy/punk/electronica. Their lyrics were sung in danish, norwegian, english and bulgarian, and they used processed saxophones instead of guitars.
I've spend a whole week absorbing all the inputs I got.
From Dirt Flowers Grow
On another note I have been doing dubs with both Tanja and Anders, and apart from a bit of hammond organ, only the bass is still missing before I can declare the new album a wrap.
The title for the album is 'From Dirt Flowers Grow', a statement I got from the electronic version of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies I always carry around on my iPhone. 'From Dirt Flowers Grow' was the card I drew the morning after performing a terrible gig and was considering not doing any more music at all. My answer will be released later this year.
All drumloops and mididrums were replaced by live drumming by none other than David Jeppesen.
David is the kind of drummer I like. Partly because I like him a lot on the personal level, but also because he hit those drums very hard and very precisely.
I am currently unable to record drums in my own studio, as I do not have enough microphones - or enough space. So we went to the Mir Sound Studio in Copenhagen, which is owned by Troels Bech.
I have worked with Troels on quite a few occations now, and there was no question in my mind, that he was the one for the job.
David at the MIR sound studio
Troels at the MIR sound studio
David's bass drum
The 'rotten' ambience microphone
A broken drum stick
The session lasted eight hours on the minute, and we recorded drums for nine tracks. Some were easier than others.
Now there's some editing to do...
Although I must admit that it is a very greyish and windy start of the summer.
Grey with quite a few raindrops as well.
Today I had coffee with my pal Martin Jørgensen who is the most able percussionist I have ever met. We had a nice chat about the times we were on tour together, and discussed possible futures.
Martin provided his skills on the Constructions album that came out in 2007, where he played on industrial rubbish and allsorts. This can be seen on the DVD that came with the CD release.
Copenhagen, Martin and coffee 1
Copenhagen, Martin and coffee 2
Martin now spends most of his time in Brooklyn, New York and hence we discussed how to collaborate via the internet. This took us to the nearest musical instruments shop to check out the latest incarnation of Propellerheads' Reason software. A software I now use for almost all music production I do.
Martin with Reason 6 on Mac
Edith is not really a musician, but a talented filmmaker, and this weekend I served as runner as she shot the final scenes for her forthcoming film 'Out of Season'.
Filming at Zentropa 1
The filming was done in a large studio at Zentropa, the base of Lars von Trier, and featured a 6 by 6 metres green screen.
I can't reveal the plot, but it will premiere soon.
Filming at Zentropa 2
As the night fell the other evening, we had a very special guest. A stork decided that our rooftop was a cosy place...
A welcome guest
I know a lot of musicians who thinks my way of working is odd. I guess they write the lyrics as they strum along at the very first stages of a song. That's not my way. I have tried it, but it has only worked for me on rare occations (The Noise from Constructions). My way is to do an entire instrumental production, and then move on to writing lyrics. It may be odd, but it works for me. And now that stage is done too.
I'm not through recording though...
Anders by the mic screen
Long time collaborator Anders Brandt came by the provisional studio the other day to provide vocals for the album. He also brought his black Les Paul guitar and did a very beautiful solo for the closing track.
Work is progressing well...
You can check it out over at her blog: Yogawise.dk
- I sell more music in Germany than in Denmark.
- Cloudberries is my best selling track.
- The folks down under seems to have discovered my music. Thank you, Australian listeners. I salute you!
Minella in the studio
Apart from the strictly paper aspect of being a musician, I have been recording more vocals for the forthcoming album. This time the ever so beautiful Minella Ketscher was in front of the microphone. Minella has a singing style that instantly makes me think of singers from the sixties. A beautiful voice with a lot of expression.
Snowdrops at the covershoot
When I walk outside, I have discovered that a lot of snowdrops and eranthis have appeared. A beautiful and sure sign that spring will soon be here.
It also reminded me, that it is already a year since I shot the cover for the yet to come album, currently titled 'From Dirt Flowers Grow'. But both title and cover might change, as nothing is finalized yet...
However, I have found time to do some work in the studio. Most recently the recording of two songs with Tanja Hollerup on vocals.
Tanja in the studio
Tanja first worked for me when I was doing a concert six months ago, and I had only little idea of how it would be to work with in the studio environment. Tanja, however, is a very able singer and we recorded everything using only a minimum amount of takes.
One of the songs we recorded is called Brocken Spectre, after an optical phenomena which in earlier days made people believe in witches.
I went to the Brocken mountain in october last year, but I didn't catch a glimpse of the spectre, as it was way too foggy...
At the Brocken Bahnhof, Harz mountains
David A. Jeppesen and Anders Brandt who both played in my live band back in august, has visited my studio and recorded solos to be featured on my forthcoming album currently titled 'From dirt flowers grow'. The solos are noisy and dirty. Just like I dig them...
David doing guitar solos
A little bit of flame and sparks
If everything goes as planned, I'll have a new album out in 2012.
And I'm selling my analogue equipment. Maybe I'll have a fully digital studio this year...