Another month has passed since my last entry. Crazy… :D
Last weekend we were in Tampere playing a gig. It was part of "Lost in Music" festival, which was a showcase festival for music industry people. Shows like that are always odd ones to do, because they are so different from the normal gigs. The audience there is not fans (although some fans showed up too, and thank you for that!) or normal music listeners, but people who make their living out of music (I guess some of them can be normal too...;D). That's why it's very different to perform to them, and I know that many musicians hate it, but I think we've always been good at those shows. As long as we're just having fun together on the stage it's all fine :)
Welcoming committee @Tampere. Thanks guys <3
So as said the gig went well, but we did have a lot of fun off stage too. Our 15th floor hotel room had a magnificent view over the central Tampere (I guess that must be the highest floor I've ever slept) and the Tampere nightlife proved to be worth of the stories :D Not to forget the hotel breakfast and morning sauna: something I always take advantage of when we're on the road, since those are the luxuries I don't have at home. Or I didn't have…
I shit you not, I just moved into a huge mansion! It's quite an upgrade from my old one bedroom flat :D So now I have like four bathrooms, sauna, jacuzzi and a huge terrace. The catch is, that I'm not gonna stay here for long, since the owners are coming back soon and I have to get a new apartment, which will be a one bedroom flat again. It's gonna take a while before I get to live in a place like this again, so I'm gonna enjoy every bit of it while I can! :)
@YleX
During the past week we did this "mini radio tour". We went to YleX and NRJ and played unplugged set for the crews. It was so cool to meet all these new people, and I think both of those stations have a better understanding about who we are and what we do now when they have seen us live. Big thanks goes to our PR person Tommi! Gotta love Tommi <3
@NRJ
Much Love, - Olli <3
Ps. If a bus route runs late every single day, doesn't it mean that that is the time it takes for a bus to drive the route and somebody at HSL should just correct the timetable so that people wouldn't have to be FREEZING THEIR ASS OFF FOR THE EXTRA 5 MIN EVERY MORNING?! Thank you.
Tonight we'll have an odd gig. Sony Music has flown their executives from Sweden, Norway and Denmark to Helsinki to listen as we play a gig in a secret venue. So there's not gonna be anyone else in the audience than a couple of music business guys. I guess it's not gonna be one the wildest crowds ever, but we have to pull off a great show since this gig can have a major effect on what's gonna happen in the next few months.
The weird thing is that even though this is one of the most important gigs we've had so far, I'm not at all nervous. We have practiced so much and we've had a lot of gigs, so I'm very confident that we're gonna rock it tonight! :) If we manage to have fun on the stage the way we always do I can't see anything that could ruin the show. One thing that we've learned this summer is that no matter what kind of technical disaster happens on the stage, if you don't let it affect your performance it won't matter. We even had a gig where my in-ear monitor system crashed and I had to play the entire gig without hearing a thing that the other guys played. It was something we had feared for a longtime but that gig just showed us that doesn't matter as long as you're just having good time with the audience and don't let little setbacks affect you (an attitude that goes well with anything in life :)).
Krippe getting ready
Last week we shot some new stuff to our upcoming music video. The location was very cool and I think we got some really nice footage! :) The release date is not that far away, so you get to see it soon and judge for yourself :)
Another highlight from the last week was the open air screening of the movie "Moulin Rouge" in the center of Helsinki. I hadn't never been at such an event and it was so cool! The atmosphere was perfect: thousands of people having a picnic an watching the movie in the sunset and applauding to the best scenes. It's also one of my favorite movies, so it couldn't have been better :) Such a shame that things like these only occur during the Helsinki Festival. I'd like to do something like this every week! :D
The screen outside the Helsinki Music House
Next week we'll go back to our normal schedule and start writing new song again. Looking forward to that! :)
Much love, - Social Joe <3
Ps. Last week I had a dream where Paul first peed on me and then staged me to a crime :D I woke up being extremely mad at him before I realized it was just a dream. Just saying…
Hi Popsters, I'm writing this post with my iPad. I love it and I will always stay by its side, but writing a bit longer text with it can be arduous (hah, yep Google Translate :D). So why I'm not writing this entry with my laptop? Well…
A couple weeks back I was going to our studio for rehearsals. I was going to the gym afterwards so I packed all my sportswear in the same backpack with my other stuff, including my laptop. Once I arrived I discovered that the shampoo bottle I had in the bag had opened during the bike trip and all of its content had poured on (and into) my laptop. After 30 minutes of cleaning up the mess I dared to switch on my computer. The laptop smelled better than ever, but somehow it failed to appreciate this point of view, and after about ten seconds the beautiful green screen turned into black. The repairman was quite impressed by the comprehensive destruction I've managed to achieve, and kindly suggested me that pretty much everything inside the laptop had to be replaced. Well, I guess wouldn't have come up with anything to do with those 900€ anyways, so what the hell… :D
The last couple of weeks have been strange for me. Since we haven't practiced every day, I've had more time to do other things, and I've found myself reading a lot about the history of the 20th century, learning to play the guitar and starting a new gym routine. Nice, but I already miss waking up early and getting to the studio, and the satisfaction that comes along working hard. I'm weird, I know… :D
Axel playing on the Lauttasaari bridge. Guess the song :D
Since we're not writing new songs right now I needed to come up with something productive to do, so I bought an acoustic guitar. My finger tips have been sore ever since, and slowly some progress can be heard. As frustrating as learning difficult new songs and fingerings can be, the supreme hardest thing have been breaking a bad habit. You see I have played the guitar for years, and I've been able to play "campfire guitar" (I know the expression doesn't exist in English, but it means being able to play very simple basic stuff with the guitar). Now that I started to really practice the instrument, it turned out that for all these years I've been holding the pick the wrong way. Learning more complex stuff with the wrong technique proved to be impossible, and so I had to learn again how to hold the pick. And that's hard!! Since I've been doing this in a certain way for years, it have gotten into my "muscle memory" and changing it is so much harder than just learning something completely new. But as said, after a couple of weeks of frustration I finally got hold of it. I guess in the future I'm gonna play the guitar solos. Or not… :D
So beautiful... <3
This week I've been sick and so forced to stay at home. Very boring, but luckily I have Netflix and the guitar :D The weather haven't been the best ever either, so it made the task a bit easier :)
As Krippe wrote last week we're gonna have some gigs this month all over the Souther Finland (check the dates from the previous post). Hope we'll see you there <3
From our boat trip to Porvoo last week :)
- Social Joe <3
Ps. Who ever designed the plumbing system in our house, didn't know what he/she was doing! :D
Pps. Note to self: always put the shampoo bottle in a plastic bag before packing it.
Right now we're having somewhat a holiday, meaning that we still practice everyday but only for 2 hours a day. It's quite a change from what we've been doing for the last 1,5 years, and it feels so strange. For the last 1,5 years my life have been very straight forward: waking up at 7 am, a cup of coffee and then to the studio where we start at 9 am. From there on we'd be writing songs to 7-12 pm depending on the day. Now the album is almost ready and we've decided to have a break from writing songs.
Me and Axel went to Tammisaari Last week
On the way to Tammisaari
One might think that having this much more free time would be just great, but strangely enough it's not. I have this strange feeling of not knowing what to do. My life has been so scheduled that I haven't had to think of anything. I just woke up every morning and knew what I had to do. I had this goal where I was going (getting the songs ready for the album) and nothing else mattered. Having too much free time means that you have to make plans for everyday and you get bored very easily. First world problems, I know. :D
Krippe "SWAG" W.
As you know we were filming the music video for our next single a week ago. We haven't seen any of the footage yet, but we saw the director on the other day and he said it's gonna be one of coolest videos ever :) We also got the mastered version of the song yesterday, and it sounds great! They really know how to do these things in Sweden :D Speaking of which I really want to visit Stockholm this summer. It's one of my favorite cities and I didn't get the chance to go there last year.
- Social Joe <3
Ps. All this vining about having too much time, and yet I managed to forget to write this blog on time :D
Pps. Don't miss our next gig! We're playing at the opening ceremony for the Helsinki Cup next Monday! It's gonna be in the evening somewhere near the Olympic Stadium. Check our Facebook to get the exact time and place :)
It's been another great week! And I can't think of a better way to end it that this, which is writing a blog in a park as the sun sets in the horizon :)
Writing this blog entry...
So I was about to start writing this blog entry at home, and I was feeling a bit sorry to sit inside as I could see the beautiful weather outside. I sat there on the sofa, but didn't get anything done since all I could do was just to stare out of the window as the sun set behind the roof tops, and that's when it hit me. I took my laptop and a blanket and went to the park next to our building. So here I am sitting in Koffin Puisto writing the blog and listening to Dire Straits in the beautiful sunset. This is the only way I'm going to do this in the future! :D
We had a great day today. We wrote a new song that we all liked a lot. The last couple of weeks haven't been our most productive ones, so it feels great to finally get some results from ones work. It's a great song and I'm pretty sure it's going to end up on our upcoming album.
Another great thing about today was that we finally got the unplugged versions of some of our new songs to work. We've been working on those for sometime now and today they finally started to sound the way we wanted them to sound. Our songs have a big "in-your-face" sound and sometimes it can be really difficult to come up with an arrangement for the unplugged instruments without losing the original feeling of the song. We have an unplugged gig coming up next Saturday in Sysmä, so you can come to check it out yourself if we did good today :D
Like those of you who follow us on Instagram already know, we went boating yesterday. It was a beautiful evening as we cruised along the Helsinki coast line. The water was smooth as glass and the sunset colored everything orange and red. It was our first trip of this summer, but it won't be the last. There's a certain calmness in floating on still water, lying on the deck as the stars come out that you can't find anywhere else. It's a great feeling that everybody should experience at least once in their lifetime.
Ready to take off
The sunset yesterday
- Social Joe <3
Ps. We met Samu Haber from Sunrise Avenue today at the studio. He seems like a great guy, and I hope we do gigs together in the future :)
Pps. As some of you might have already noticed, Paul got an iPhone 5 a couple of days ago. Our Instagram and Vine are filling up with crazy photos and videos :D
Paul on Instagram :D
Ppps. Some girl sitting next to me has the most wonderful perfume. I'm mesmerized… ;D
Yes yes I know… It's Tuesday and I'm a day late. But I have a very good excuse though :D
So yesterday I was walking home from the gym thinking about writing this blog entry when I'd get home, but then all of the sudden my phone rang. Our A&R from Sony called and told that the first draft of our music video would be waiting for us in our e-mail. So even though I was exhausted from the work out, I ran home and opened my laptop… AND OMFG!!!!!!!!!!! For the rest of night I was so blown away that I totally forgot the blog. even the first draft of the video looks SO AMAZING!! I can't wait for you guys to see it!! :) Now there's really nothing that can keep us from rocking the world, except North Korea but I count on Kim that he will come out and reveal that it was all just a prolonged 1st of April prank :)
Here Krippe's reaction when he first saw the video :D
The release date of our debut single and the music video is not that far away, and we're so excited!! We'll let you know the exact date soon! :)
Last Friday we had an unplugged gig in a shopping center called Hansa in Kouvola. It was so nice to get to play live after a somewhat long break. We played a couple of new songs and did something that we haven't done in a long time: played a cover :) The song was "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles. If you know the song, you know that it is very different in style from our own songs, but it was very fun to play, and I think it fitted in quite well. Please tell us what you thought about it and the new songs :)
Playing in Kouvola
I also made my debut as a part-time glockenspiel player :D It was so heart warming to see once again so many people to show up :) We really love and need the feedback and support you guys give us <3 I hope that we can be even a little bit as sweet and supportive to you as you guys are to us <3 Much love <3
Meeting the Popsters <3
The gig and meeting all the fans was a lot of fun, but so was the trip back :D I'm not going go into any details, but trust me it was hilarious ;) There's just something magical about hitting the road with your best friends. That's always when the best and funniest things happen, and that's why I'm waiting for touring the world with SC so impatiently :)
...on the road...
- Social Joe <3 Ps. Last week Paul went out to get some coffee during our rehearsals. We got bored waiting for him, so we made this :)
Hi there Popsters! <3 Last week was filled with meetings and recording sessions. It's getting more and more hectic everyday as the release of our debut single is getting closer! We also settled a couple of really exciting gigs for the spring! We'll let you know about those later, but I can sure you that it's gonna be so much fun!
Axel can't keep away from his iPhone, even while recording! :)
Last week we had a couple of sunny days here in Helsinki, and you could see how the city came back to life. People were crawling to the daylight from their holes and underneath the stones and I think I caught a couple of them smiling. The summer is on its way! :)
I decided to take the best out of the sunny weather, and had the most wonderful brunch yesterday :)
For a while now we've been trying to make a ballad that would be good enough for the upcoming album. Now, after a thousand attempts, we finally nailed it last week! After endless hours and so many different versions it just kind of came to us one evening, and it was just there! It's a beautiful song, and I know you're gonna love it too, just as we do :) Today we got the final mix of our upcoming single, and I can't even begin to describe how amazing it sounds! Next up is mastering, where we're gonna tighten it up just a bit, and then it's ready to hit the radios! Whole my life I've been waiting for this moment, and now it's here! Europe be ready, cause we're coming!!! :)
- Social Joe <3
Ps. I just saw a movie called Project X. We were thinking about doing something like that at Axel's place, so stay tuned! ;D
PPS. If you have a band, and you're wondering about how to get to the record labels, here's a tip: just run in! No one will stop you. Here's some proof! :D
We just finished recording our first single last week! So now we can take it easy!(?) not quite…. Right after we got the last backing vocals recorded we went back to our own studio and got an idea for a new song. A couple days went by and the song got ready. We thought it was a very good song and so we decided to play it to our producers and the record company guys. We had a meeting at Sony Music where everybody gathered around a big table in the meeting room. We played the new song and I got a bit nervous as usually, wondering whether they are gonna like it or not. After the song ended there was a long silence until the the CEO of Sony opened his mouth: "Um… Guys, I think we're gonna change the first single". It was followed by a even longer silence until we got a word out of our mouths: "Um…ok…right…so…seriously?". After a short discussion about if this was actually possible in such a short time frame, we decided that this new song is gonna be our first single! I think it was quite "ballsy" move to make just two weeks before we're gonna fly to Miami to shoot the music video (I guess that the director wasn't crazy about the idea at first, considering that the script was already done, but after he heard the new song he was convinced).
A coffey break with the producers
I guess there is always some crazy story behind "the all-time greatest hit songs", so we're on the right tracks :) So now we're spending all of our time in the studio recording the upcoming single. It's far from ready as I write this, but I can tell you that this one is a killer, just wait until you hear it…. :)
Krippe found a new friend in the Sony lounge.
Oh, and if you haven't heard yet… WE'RE GOING TO MIAMI NEXT WEEK!!! :D I can't tell you how excited we are about all this. We're gonna spend the week laying on the beach, cruising around, watching the sunsets…
Years ago when we had just founded this band and I was dreaming about all the glamorous things, like getting a record deal, playing a gig for thousands of people and so on. Back then those things seemed like light years away, and I remember thinking that what would be the first time when I would feel that we've achieved something really REALLY big, something that I couldn't have experienced without this band, and how would that moment feel like. And now as I'm going to board a plane next Tuesday that will take me to Miami, I know that that moment has come and can't describe the feeling! After all those sacrifices and the countless hours of hard work, I get to fly to the USA to shoot a music video! I've heard the phrase "this is not why I started to play my instrument" being said by musicians too many times, and now I'm very proud to say that this is exactly why I started to play drums back when I was 9 years old! But this is all because of you. Without you Popsters we wouldn't have a record deal, there wouldn't be anybody in the audience and without you our record company wouldn't be willing to invest all the money to our music video, and we wouldn't be going anywhere. Thank you so much for all this! I love you all <3
- Social Joe
Ps. As corny as it might sound, dreams really do come true. Just don't ever stop believing and don't let anybody to tell you that you can't do something. You can <3
Last Friday we had a meeting at Sony Music and I was so delighted to see a big pile of letters, packages and christmas presents you guys had sent us. We spent that afternoon reading all the letters together, and there was a lot of smiling going on in our little reheasal room :D Thank you so much for all the support you are giving us! We try so hard to do the best we can, and it means the world to us to see people responding :) We try to come up with some extra fun to you guys who sent the letters and packages! :)
And if you would like to send us something, but don't know where to send it, the address is:
Sony Music Entertainment Finland
Tallberginkatu 2 A, 5.krs
00180 Helsinki
Finland
Or
krippe@satincircus.com
axel@satincircus.com
paul@satincircus.com
olli@satincircus.com
for e-mail :)
The production of our first single has taken some huge leaps, and we're hoping to start recording vocals this week. We're so excited about all this, and I can promise that it's going to sound so good! Once this thing comes out you'll be the "cool kids" who knew it before it was cool… though it's pretty damn cool already!! :D
We're also writing a script for the music video that will be announced at the same time with the single. We have picked a very exotic place for the shoot, and I think it's pretty safe to say that it will be the best trip of our lives. And the video itself will be something that Finland has never seen before!
Don't forget to get your ticket to our next gig in Vuotalo, Helsinki the 25th of January (you can get it HERE)! That show will be different from all the other shows we've had so far, so be there! :)
- Social Joe <3
It's cold outside. Don't forget to wrap up warm! :)
Ps. We got memberships to one fitness club a couple weeks ago, and we've been going there five times a week for the last two weeks. Today we went to BodyPump, and I can hardly lift my hands right now… :D
On Thursday we had the Rähinä Records & Rähinä Live Christmas party, which was a lot of fun! We met a lot of new people, like the YleX crew and Elastinen, the hilarious party host. I guess the lesson was that if you want to have a great party you should party with rappers :D
On Saturday we had a great gig in Caribia, Turku with Robin. Before I even start to talk about the gig itself I should mention the hilarious ride to the venue. We shared a bus with Robin's crew, including Jimi Constantine who shared some pretty amazing stories he had experienced during his years of touring around Finland! He's such a nice guy :)
Soundchecking. I'm finally at the front row!
And the gig… It was AMAZING!! This was the first time that we were able to set the drums right in front of the audience. We've had this stage plan for a while now, but due to practical reasons we've always had to put the drums to the back of the stage (and if you've ever been performing on a stage, you know that when you're at the back you're not really able to see the audience because of the stage lights that are blinding your eyes). So there I was drumming two meters away from the front row and I saw the whole audience: all 1700 people! It was so great to get this kind of interaction with the crowd that I've never had before, and to get to party with them throughout the whole show! And what a show it was!! I think it was one of the best ones we've ever had!! Thanks Turku! :)
It was also so nice to see so many fans coming to see us after the show. You have no idea how much you guys mean to us!! <3 After a show we always hope that the audience would have had even half the fun we've had on stage, and it's SO heartwarming when people come up to us to tell us that they had the best time too! You Popsters keep us going! <3
After the show we spent the night at the Caribia Hotel. The hotel itself was nice, but the best part was the spa/waterpark! :) We had some really intense races in the water slides and a snowball fight at the outdoor pool. I guess the waterpark lifeguards are happy if they don't see us for a while :D
Having fun at the hotel lounge
Today we had a meeting at The Fried Music studios with Patric Sarin and the executives from Sony Music. The deals have been signed, and now we're finally starting to record our debut album with the Swedish top producer Peter Månsson and Patric Sarin. We heard some talks about this being the most expensive debut album ever made by a Finnish label, so you can just imagine how good the album is going to sound! We've been waiting three years for this moment and it feels so amazing to finally be here. Thank you so much for supporting every step of the way <3 You made this possible! <3
Christmas is almost here! Have a nice holiday <3 We had an amazing year together! Next year we'll rock the world, together! :) - Social Joe <3
I've been trying to not to eat candy but the backstage catering is not making it easy :D
Another month has passed and it's my time again to let you guys know what we're up to :)
This Thursday we are gonna take the train to Tampere and we're going to be on a TV show called Galaxi on YLE TV2. We're gonna play an unplugged version of Peach Party and do an interview. It's not gonna be live, so the show will be aired sometime later. We'll let you know once it does :)
We have spent the last few weeks pretty much in our studio so I'm really looking forward to this trip. Also, it's been a while since the last time I was in Tampere and I've always liked the city. Axel has been the one organizing this trip, and we might be staying in Tampere for a bit longer than just for the show. Let's see what Axel comes up with but whatever it is, it's gonna be something that Tampere is not gonna forget! :D
The "Pikkujoulu" season (pre-christmas party - check the very first blog entry to see the long explanation if you don't know what it is) is almost here and we've been invited to some really cool parties (Sony Music and Rähinä Records just to mention a few)! Our trademark have always been the bright colored jeans, but for these occasions we've planned something special: bright colored blazers! It turned out to be a really difficult task to find four jackets in different colors this time of the year, so we've been searching through the internet to get our hands on some. It became quite an international shopping trip since Axel found his from the US, Krippe found his from the UK and I found mine from China. Now let's just hope they'll make it to Finland in time. Since Paul is the most handy of us he made his by himself :) We're really looking forward to meeting some great new people and to have tons of fun at these parties! We'll keep you posted on the subject :)
Just a random pic from our last years "SC-pikkujoulut" ;)
Last week we passed 1.5K likes on our Facebook page! Thank you all so much! The support you give keeps us going! We love you <3
- Social Joe <3
Ps. Last week we wrote a song about you Popsters! It turned out to be a really good one and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be on the album :)
Usually I'm writing about gigs, writing songs and other "band stuff", but this week I'm going to tell you about something completely different. As Krippe mentioned in his last week's blog we had a couple days off for the first time since July, and I used those days well :D
The Old Town and some random guy ;)
When we decided to have this "mini holiday" I booked a trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia with some of my best friends. I was looking for a nice relaxed holiday, but to be honest, since I hadn't done any study about Dubrovnik I wasn't expecting too much from the resort and boy, was I pleasantly surprised once we got there!
The most fabulous and beautiful old town I've ever seen! The whole town was squeezed inside the ancient city walls which meant that everything was quite "tight". The streets were often so narrow that two persons couldn't walk side-by-side, and I had to walk sideways to be able to get passed the corridor in our hotel. It might sound like a nightmare for some, but for me it was heaven. I love the way the cities were built back then: buildings were charming and close to each other. It's so cozy, and no car can get in.
The view from our balcony
The balcony in our hotel room was another great surprise. It turned out that because of the very narrow streets there was only a very few balconies in the whole old town and our room just happened to have one! Since our hotel was on a hill and we had the top floor, the view was spectacular! I had some of the breakfasts and sunsets of my life up there :)
The sunset
Me jumping into the sea :)
Once I stepped outside the city walls I found another pleasant surprise: the bright blue Mediterranean Sea and the beautiful coastline which went on as far as eye could see. Since we had luck with the weather I ended up spending most of my time laying on the rocky cliffs by the sea and on the white beach.
Now we're back in Helsinki writing songs and practicing for the Wednesdays in Kamppi shopping center. We're gonna play at the main plaza at 4 pm. (16.00). The gig will be aired live on Radio X3M. See you all there!!
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