One Step Back...

today is a trifecta of curses
love hate and cynical nurses
prescription drugs in the form of news events
about some new war in faraway continents
I'm hiding devils up my sleeve and angels in the closet
go ahead and put down your deposit
the snow feels warm and the fire is freezing
this is gods joke that fucker is teasing

somewhere along the way we all lost our heads
no one can help us see
now we're sleeping in our unmade beds
among flowers of the withered tree

you cannot bend what's already broken
fix the words that's never spoken

Band Of Horses - Voxhall

"This show is dedicated to trucker Joe."

Fem fyrer der oser af god energi og venskab kan ikke slå fejl, og det gjorde de så afgjort heller ikke.

Danmark betyder uden tvivl noget for Band Of Horses, ikke bare bliver de spillet en del i radioen, men de har en stabil fan skare og deres koncerter i landet er altid udsolgte (aftens koncert var ingen undtagelse). Desuden har de spillet deres første "rigtige store" koncert på Roskilde Festival 08, som de selv kalder for deres livs koncert. Hvad de da også hintede til med nogle projekteret billeder, på det kæmpe lærred der dækkede hele scenen bag dem, under nummeret "Islands On The Coast" af dem rundt omkring på festival pladsen og under selve koncerten på Arena.

Som sagt var VoxHall pakket med mennesker, de knap 800 billetter der var sat til salg var væk efter en uges tid. Det må også siges at være lidt af et scoop for et lille spillested som VoxHall, at ha' fået så stort et navn som Band Of Horses til at gi' intimkoncert.

Opvarming bestod af danske Figures, håndplukket af hovednavnet selv. Jeg havde selv lidt blandet følelser da jeg hørte de stod for opvarming, men må bøje mig og erkende at de er et vel spillende live band. De minder genre mæssigt på mange punkter om BOH ret meget, så valget af dem må siges at være oplagt. De gjorde ihvertfald et fremragende job til trods for publikums noget kolde modtagelse af dem... Trist for de var sgu gode i aftes.

Fløjten fik mildt sagt en anden lyd da BOH gik på og stemning iblandt publikum gik kun en vej og det var op mod stjernerne. Bandet startede ud med den noget stille ballade "Infinite Arms" fra det seneste album af samme navn. En underlig måde at starte på kan man diskuter, men det fungerede nu meget godt. Dernæst fik den et lille nøk op med "Factory" også fra det nye album, også fik den ellers skrald for alle pengene på nummeret "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands" til et begejstret publikum, der brød ud i fælles sang.
Sådan gik det ellers resten af aftenen igennem med et godt varieret udbud af sange fra deres tre albums, plus et cover nummer af J.J. Cales "Thirteen Days".

Et nummer der især var værd at bemærke var "Older" der blev sunget af Ryan Monroe på keyboard og guitar. Han synger mindst ligeså godt som forsangeren Ben Bridwell og formår et ramme de karakteriske lyse tone Bridwell er kendt for.
Og selvfølgelig kogte publikum over da der blev spillet "Is There A Ghost", som har været et hit i "mainstream Danmark" siden udgivelesen.

De så ud til at hygge sig der oppe på den lille scene i Voxhall, hvor de små jokede med hinanden og publikum. I det hele taget var de meget veloplagte og det smittede af på os der stod som sild i tønder, så man glemte helt varmen og den lidt for fulde ældre herre man stod ved siden af. Tiden fløj afsted og før man viste af det var koncerten slut, eller ikke helt. For efter en klapsalve der ingen ende vil ta' medmindre ekstra nummerer blev lagt på bordet, kom de da os' tilbage og gav to ekstra nummerer.

Og ja, selve Voxhall er jo - efter min mening - et af de bedste spillesteder i Danmark. Lyden var som altid i en klasse for sig, intet mindre end perfekt og burde være et forbillede for alle andre større eller mindre venues. Bare hør lyde på det her YouTube klip optaget med en mobil telefon og forstil hvordan det har lydt.

Alt i alt, en hyggelig mindeværdig aften i selskab med nogle rare gutter.



Setliste:

Infinite Arms
Factory
Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
Marry Song
The Great Salt Lake
Islands On The Coast
NW Apt.
Is There A Ghost?
Weed Party
Older
Blue Beard
Compliments
Thirteen Days (J.J. Cale-cover)
Part One
Laredo
The General Specific
No One's Gonna Love You
Ode To LRC
Wicked Gil
The Funeral

Neighbor
The First Song

Frankenstein Guitar Part II

Guitar stripped down to the bone.


Out put connected to volume pot - one in on the side and one wire on top (weird wiring, but whatever).


Another view of the wiring for the out put.


Ground wired on middle tone pot.


Another view of ground wiring.


Grounded to the back.

Then just following the diagram for a standard tree pick-up to five way switch set-up.

& VOILA:



It's done! & it sounds fuckin' awesome!

Frankenstein Guitar

My cousin gave me his old beat up Stagg guitar. I think it looks pretty cool. The fretboard feels good to play on and though worn down, I reckon it still has some years to go on. The pick-ups sounds alright, much better then I expected for a ridiculous cheap chinese guitar like this. However I think it can be better with a few significant modifications; I'm going to put in all new electronics, Fender 54 pick-ups and a new tremolo bridge.

To be continued...

Polaroids From RF2010

Roskilde 2010 - Feeling The Orange Vibe

Roskilde Festival 2010 is over, it all went by so fast. Too much too see, so little time, but the memories of the best Roskilde year out of my now five years in a row is still fresh. Experiences you can't find any where else, people you can't find any where else and of course the amazing concerts. Those two swedish girls I smoked joints with at a reggae concert; that drunk stranger who stumbled into our camp and kept on telling us he loved us; that girl in the neighbour camp who gave us a frame of can beer the last day; Those crazy campsite parties; all the dirt, smell of urine, warm beer and licorice shots.

I can be drunk and stoned for 7-9 days without feeling hung over. Don't know how it's possible; maybe it's all the fresh air or maybe it's that magical "orange feeling." Whatever it is, it's fantastic.

One week where you forget the outside world, nothing else exist, no bills to worry about. The break-down-depressions I've increasingly been having fades away, all that's left is a sincere love for everyone and everything. It sounds corny, but I've never felt more alive then I do while I'm there. It's one of the few places where I can be my uncut true self.

All Packed & Ready To Go!

Sitting here checking off the checklist over what to bring to Roskilde, while drinking Guld Tuborg and chain-smoking cigarettes. I think I've managed to get everything I need packed... Now all there's left to do is clean the apartment and get some sleep before we take off tonight. The gates for the camping site won't open until tomorrow at 18:00, but after the last four times I've been there, I've come to learn that not only do I not want to wait that long when I've packed, but also nothing goes according to plan when it comes to Roskilde; which by any means is not a complaint -- I love the chaos.

So yeah, I'm killing time, counting hours (28 hours, 8 minutes and 23 seconds) and filled with an excitement only Roskilde can endues.

Ready For Roskilde?

Well, accordding to the checklist I am.



Unless I forgot to write something on it, which is highly plausible, but who cares; I'M FUCKING READY!!!

Photography

I want to get back into photography, or rather start to really get into it.

For as long as I remember, I've been interested in visual design/art. I drew a lot when I was a kid, of course pretty much any kid likes to draw, but I was very serious about it even at an early age. I'd spend hours at a time trying to copy characters from comic books. It was all did, beside hanging out with other kids and playing video games that is.
My mother is definitely where I got this urge to be creative from, she's the one who sparked my passion in drawing. She's a very creative person whether it be drawing, designing, painting, origami, whatever really.

I stopped drawing a long time ago, but my interest in visual design persisted. I love editing photos and playing around with photo editing programs; taking pictures, setting up a scene which is to be captured and edited to the desired end result. This is want I enjoy and I think I'm pretty good at it. I should've realized this back when I dropped out of school, pursued a career in photography and graphic design, but I didn't. Instead I'm now chained to a job I hate; a job that's slowly, but surely, draining me mentally and physically, making me depressed and on the occasional verge of a break down.

But enough of that. Right now I'm excited about getting a respectable (DSLR) camera and after a lot of asking around and browsing the world wide web I'm down to two possible candidates, I can afford: the Cannon EOS 550D or the Nikon D90 - I'm leaning towards the Cannon, but we'll see.

"Next Blog"

One of my favorite things to do when I'm bored out of my mind, is browsing through random blogs by clicking the "next blog" link on top of this page. 9 out of 10 times you're just directed to some family blog with a bunch of pictures of children eating ice cream, failed journalist writing bullshit stories or pages trying to sell you something. Things I couldn't care less about. (I realize there's probably those who couldn't care less about this blog. Well, just click that link then, if that's the case.) Sometimes, though, you come across something interesting, real people with something to share that interests me. Insight to some strangers life.

It amazes me how much some people are willing to share with (in theory) the whole world. I know I'm no better, I've put my personal life in display here as well, which is a pretty peculiar thing to do when you think about it. Personally it feels almost therapeutic writing something and putting it out for everyone to see, even though the number of people reading this could be limited to myself. Like I already said, there's most likely a few who's click "next blog" and been directed to this blog, whom in turn thought "I couldn't care less about this," next blog.

Roskilde Schedule

I do this every year; make a schedule of bands to see and time when I should get in line for each band, depending on how eager I am to get close to the stage. I do this every every year, and every year my plans - with the exception of a select few - fall to the ground. I'll end up too drunk or stoned in a camp not even making it to the festival site, forget time and miss one of the bands I planned to see.. Or I'll get dragged to see another band not on my list by fellow campers.

So why bother? I don't know. As long as I get to see Porcupine Tree again, I'll be happy. They're the only band I HAVE to see, the rest is just icing on the cake

The schedule, so far, looks like this:

--------------------

Sunday:

Kill Screen Music
Kandy Kolored Tangerine
Iceage

Monday:

Susanne Sundfør
Mescalin, Baby
Fallulah
Thee Attacks

Tuesday:

Night Fever
Sleep Party People
Joensuu 1685
Ghost Society

Wednesday:

Chimes & Bells
Ignug
Fonän

Thursday:

Serena-Maneesh
Solstafir / LCD Soundsystem - Playing at the same time, but I'm leaning towards Solstafir.
Porcupine Tree / Gorillaz - Also playing around roughly the same time, but as I mentioned above, Porcupine Tree wins.

Friday:

Teddybears
Delphic
Alice In Chains
Biffy Clyro
Dirty Projecors / Them Crooked Vultures / HEALTH - Another timing problem, but I really want to see HEALTH, so...
Tech N9ne
Japan Droids
Beat Torrent
Den Sorte Skole / Hocus Pocus - I think both will be awesome, so whatever I'm closes to I guess.

Saturday

Kings Of Convenience
The Floor Is Made Of Lava / Vampire Weekend: - When I thing about it, I'm not sure I really want see either....
Beach House
Pendulum
Drake / Robyn - All depending on my mood.
The Prodigy
Moderate / Kellermensch - I saw Kellermensch last year and Moderate seems to my very limited knowledge of them, as a do not miss kind of band.

Sunday

Converge
Local Natives
Mötorhead
The National
Kasabian
Pavement / The Temper Trap: - Really don't know.
Prince

----------------------

So there you have it. The list that gives the illusion of organization, written to never be used.

The Human Brain

It cannot feel pain. The brain can feel pain from all over the body, but not within itself.
The brain can survive for up to about six minutes after the heart stops...

Summer Breeze 2010

- "I know what you did last summer!"
- "Really 'cause I forgot..."

Yeah, the joke only works if you were stoned with me in the summer of 2004.
Sorry for wasting your time.

Summer breeze makes me feel fine...


---

Grey Tone Soul

I feel like something is crawling around inside my head
something with a mind of it's own, but with words unsaid
I catch an occasional glimpse of it out the corner of my eye
it's always with me - always nearby

could be the memory of you lingering in my mind
the good time we had and the bad intertwined
manifested is this paranoiac state you left be behind
something malignantly designed

I sense it in the day of light and see it late at night
though still out of my width of sight
waiting for a chance to stab a knife in my back
and give me my long over due anxiety attack

I wonder what to do
while I'm thinking about you
feeling like the living dead
listening to your words spoken inside my head

New Amp - Vox AC15C1

My new amp arrived last friday and after having spend the last three days playing the shit out of it, I can say that I'm in love with this thing.

It's a member of the family of the latest amps in the Custom Classic series from Vox; a Vox AC15C1. Don't let the 15 watts fool you, this thing is loud. This 15 watts all tube amp kills the 75 watts Line 6 transister amp I have. Of course it's not a matter of how loud it is, the sound is what matters, and it sounds incredible; exactly what I was searching for. I had plans of changing the stock Celestion Greenback speaker to a Celestion Blue, but right now I'm perfectly happy with the Green one - it's killer!

I tried a bunch of amps before deciding that it was either going to be this one or a Fender Hot Rod, but in the end the Vox won me over. It seemed to me much more diverse, capable of more then the FHR. I still think the FHR is a good amp, even though I've heard otherwise from a lot of people, but I love the thickness in tone on this Vox that the Hot Rod seemed to be lacking.

Just look at it. It looks as good as it sounds:




And best of all. To my surprise it sounds great with my old customized Les Paul.
I solely brought it based on how it did with my Telecaster, didn't expect it to be this good with the Les Paul. Win - Win.

Analog vs. Digital

I'm an analog guy trapped in a digital world.

I'm one of those freaks who prefers vinyl over cds and mp3s. Of course it's not like I don't own cds or an iPod. Hell, I'm writing this on a computer, does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe it does, but that's not the point. At least I've come to learn of the warmth present in anything and everything analog. Digital is cold, you can't change my mind about that, period.

Yes, digital is convenient; easy - just press a button and fly away - but really, is the convenience over quality really worth it? I don't think so. In my world the inconvenience is part of the beauty.
For instance, it's my experience that you can throw any cd on your stereo, or play any mp3 file on your computer and yeah, sometimes you listen to it, but after a while you barely notice it. On the other hand when you take out an old (or brand new for that matter) vinyl record from the jacket, dust it off and put it on the turntable, then you've put a certain amount of effort into wanting to hear that record and correspondently want to listen to it, instead of just having it play in the background.

(I'm not really saying what I wanted to say, but I hope the point is there somewhere. My head is killing me, I feel nauseous and my eye sight is fucked up. I shouldn't be sitting here writing while staring into the screen, but I forget my physical condition when I do. Like shooting yourself in the leg to forget the pain in your chest.)

And don't even get me started on guitar amps. Transistors vs. Tubes, though it's something else completely, well kind of...
Which gives me a chance to throw in that my 15 watts all tube Vox amp should be arriving with the post tomorrow. Something that will definitely be mentioned here upon its arrival.

Syd Barret

Possible one of my biggest influences, inspirations and (even though I hate that word) idols.

He was one of those people who was so ahead of his time that people called him crazy, and ultimately he became just that. "He reached for the secret too soon."

He was a genius in his own way, so much more then Roger Waters and David Gilmour, who are normally what most people think of when Pink Floyd is mentioned. Don't get me wrong I enjoy post-Barret Pink Floyd, but there is something special about an album like "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" that I just can't find in the other Pink Floyd albums.

It's not just his music, though it's a big part of it, but it's just as much the way he was as a person.



I see myself in him and that makes me a little afraid. As much as he fascinates me, he made a lot of sacrifices that I'm sure not ready to make. Of course I'm no Syd Barret, but there's a small piece of me in the back of my head that reminds me of him.

Shine on, you crazy diamond...

2010 Roskilde Festival Poster

The Festival posted a contest on their website today, involving designing a poster for the festival. The price is two tickets for the festival and even though I already bought my ticket, I thought it could be fun to make one anyway. That and I think the original poster sucks - headliner wise.

So here it is:

50 Days Till I'm Home Again

I can almost smell that sweet combination of beer, weed and piss. Can almost feel the dust in my hair, hear the drunken swedes and the even drunker icelandic people singing in the distance.
I miss all of it. All those happy beautiful carefree people, the music, the atmosphere. Even the chaos of not finding a spot for the camp, the never moving lines for recharging cellphones, the portable toilets.

Roskilde Festival is getting closer and my senses are tinkling. Getting ready to awake from their slumber.





Soon enough everything will be good again...

Another State Of Mind

Every once in a while -- if you're lucky enough and willing -- you cross path with something that will change your perception so dramatically, in a way where you completely forget how you perceived things before it. It can be through a movie, a book, music, a painting, anything. It will come through in sense, in smell and in taste ever so lightly. It will feel familiar and unknown at the same time. It will puzzle you like a déjà vu. The term "déjà vu" describes it well. Only it will feel much stronger and after it, you'll no longer be the person you were before. That person will seem like a shadow, an empty husk to you now.

The best way for me to describe it to you is to compare it with a dream. It will feel like a dream, in fact you'll think you're dreaming. Everything around you seems vague and odd, but you'll accept it. Imagine walking around on the streets in a big city in the middle of the day were cars and people should be all around you, but there are no cars, no people. All there is are the deserted streets you walk, every house and store is empty -- you're completely alone. The mere idea is preposterous, but you accept it and you like it.

This déjà vu like feeling may sound intimidating to the uninitiated, but fear not, at worst you'll be left puzzled and mystified for a period of time until you either solve it, dwell in it or brush it off.

I choose to dwell in it. I want to experience it to it's fullest, and I fear that by solving what it is it might go away. I've learn how to trigger it through certain books and songs. Though I may not experience it every day, I know it's there right behind me. Days, months, years can pass by without seeing it and then one day I turn around and there it is again, starring into my eyes -- into my soul. It creeps up on you slowly, and then you suddenly realize you're in this state of mind again.

Embrace it. Love it. I know I do. Whatever it is...

Don Mclean Live - i HNT

Det er de færereste der kan formå at gå på en scene alene kun med en guitar og en banjo som følge, og så komme igennem et helt set (et improviseret set vel at mærke) på næsten to timer uden at tabe sit publikum undervejs.
Don Mclean er en af de få der stadig kan og han gjorde det med bravur i går på Horsens Ny Teater.

Han lagde ud med at fortælle at han ikke havde nogen set list og ville spille hvad der nu faldt ham ind, men at han nok skulle spille de hits folk kender, "including that Madonna hit."

Han startede ud med et par cover nummer af Buddy Holly og med dem blev min frygt for at lyden i HNT ville være forfærdelig gjort til skamme. Hans medbragte lydmand gjorde virkelig et fænomenalt job. Jeg har været til et par koncerter i HNT hvor lyden var mudderet og decideret elendig, så lydmanden fortjener en medalje for hans arbejde den aften.


Som sagt optrådte Don Mclean solo på denne tour (hans eneste følge var hans lydmand), da hans band igennem de sidste 15 år sad fast i Nashville som følge af askeskyen. Og gudskelov for det fristes man til at sige for det var virkelig en oplevelse at få en solo koncert fra en så stor (dog efter min mening stadig underkendt) legende som Don Mclean. Han var utrolig vel spillende den aften, stemmen intet mindre end perfekt og kunne ligeså godt være taget direkte fra hans plader. Især hvis man samligner ham med andre aldrende folk-musiker af hans karakter (Dylan f.eks.), så har Mclean virkelig formået at bibeholde hans live performances, som de var den gang for 40 år siden.

Han kom godt omkring i hans improviseret set, hvor han udover diverse cover nummer af Buddy Holly og Josh White selvfølgelig også fik spillet sine egene nummer, blandt disse var "Winter Wood," "If We Try," "Vincent," "Empty Chairs," "Castles In The Air," "And I Love So" og ikke mindst "American Pie." Sidst nævnte var tydeligvis og ikke overraskende det mest kendte nummer blandt det -- kan man vist godt tillade sig at sige -- provinsielle publikum, der absolut ikke skulle blive forpustet af at klappe eller synge med på en sang. Stor hittet fik dog publikummet op af stolene og nøjsomt synge med på omkvædene og hvem bemærker så at Mclean glemte et par linjer og et helt vers i sangen.



Hen i mod slutning af aften fandt han banjoen frem og efter et par af hans egne nummer fremført på banjo blev det -- efter min mening -- virkelig interessant da han sluttede af med at spille et cover af Dylans "Masters Of War." Med det nummer viste han en anden mere alvorlig side af sig selv, den indre aktivist kom frem og alvoren dukkede op i hans ansigt. Han havde en meget slående pointe med netop den sang, om publikum så forstod den eller ej, kuldegysende det var den ihvertfald for mig.
Men det skulle selvfølgelig ikke stoppe der. Efter begejstrede klapsalver kom han med et smukt fortolket ekstra nummer af Beatles' "In My Life" og sluttede aftenens koncert med et smil og ikke dyster alvors miner.

Kendetegnende for Don Mcleans optrædende den aften var hans meget afslappende tilstedeværelse, det var tydeligt at mærke på ham at han har mere end 40 års erfaring som turnerende musiker, igennem de små indkastet anekdoter og guitar/banjo jams imellem sangene. Det var en hyggelig aften og man fik det indtryk at han ligeså godt kunne ha' spillet for en lille håndfuld mennesker hjemme hos sig selv for fornøjelsens skyld, og ikke en udsolgt stor sal i et teater for pengenes skyld.

Silent Hill Heaven #2

Download here.
Or here.

XXXX

"We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get into locked a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. "

"Nature Boy"

The mood in this song is immense. It continues to surprise me every time I listen to it, especially Miles Davis' version.



There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy
And sad of eye
But very wise
Was he

And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings
This he said to me
"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return"

"The greatest thing
You'll ever learn
Is just to love
And be loved
In return"

Whisky & Beer Are For Fools

"Whiskey and beer are for fools; absinthe for poets;
absinthe has the power of the magicians; it can wipe out
or renew the past, and annul or foretell the future."

- Ernest Dowson

A Black Nothing

I find myself in an increasingly state of indifference, everyday this rat race called "life" becomes more and more pointless. My old goals and dreams have been replaced with a constant all consuming worry about paying bills and juggling finances. An evil spiral I've tried so hard to not fall into, but the more I seem to fight it, the more it just comes back twice as hard; every time I think I've won a round and can relax, a new one sucker punches me in the back.

I can't focus on what I love to do, which is making music and playing music, with all these endless battles going on. I can't keep track of my goals and dreams either; don't even know what they are anymore; actually beginning to doubt I've ever had any.

This is not how I thought my life would be at age 23, but again I've forgot were I thought I'd be at this point.

The only thing that prevents me from closing the book is that tiny glimpse of light, that hopefully soon will come my way. At least I've been trying to convince myself of that for years. Does that make me a fool?
------------

I found a picture file on my old computer. Didn't exactly help in cheering me up.

Old Crayon Drawings

Not sure how old these are, but I know I made them when I lived with my parents, so maybe 6 or 7 years.

They're pretty creepy...


Entitled: "Face (Pain)"
----


Entitled: "The Faceless"
----


Entitled: "Face (Torment)"
----


Entitled: "Face (Phantom)"

Roskilde Festival

My favourite place in the world; my favourite time of the year is those 8-9 days of camping on the Roskilde Festival. Where days and nights are filled to the brim with good music, happy free minded people & booze in excess. A utopia where 80.000 people get along.



I used to hate the idea of festivals: being dirty from all the dust or mud? Sleep in tents? All those people? Fuck no! But boy oh boy was I wrong. I first went in 2006 with my brother, I had decided to ignore how much I hated festivals because Tool was headlining. I was a HUGE fan of them and there was no chance in hell that I would miss seeing them. Oh yeah, and Roger Waters was the closing name.

We got there on a Thursday, the festival opened the previous Sunday, and we were both knocked over by the size of the festival. Tent after tent after tent and all those people. We spend more then an hour walking around the camping site looking for a spot for our tent, the festival was sold out, so it wasn't easy to find one. The next four days were an epiphany to me, this place was none less then a heaven on earth for me. There was music and the kindest most helpful beautiful people I've ever met. People really throw away whatever facade they normally have and show who they really are. They take so good care of each other, even though they're complete strangers, that continues to amaze me.



The music is the main part of the festival with more then 160 performances covering every genre and sub genre out there. Everything from the radio hit band to the deepest darkest underground, the possibilities to discover new bands and for new bands to break through is enormous. It's clear to see that the bookers takes some risks with some of their bookings, and I love them for doing that. I've had some of my best concert experiences on that festival. A big reason for this is again the fact that no matter how drunk or stoned everyone is, they're still friendly and considerate.



I've gone to the Roskilde Festival every year since 2006, I can't imagine how horrible it would be to stay at home knowing what I'm missing; I'm a Roskilde junkie now - I need my yearly shot.

86 days to go...

Coffee, Cigarettes & Guitars ...

... Three of my favourite things.

Dust N' Guitars

I remember building something you could call a slide guitar out of one string wrapped around two nails on a board back when I was around eleven. Man, I spend hours fiddling around with that thing, amazed at how simple it was to produce a tone. But the first time I played a real guitar was at a party when I was eighteen. We were starting to get pretty drunk after having played some serious hardcore drinking games, and there were this guy who had brought his guitar, which he'd been playing while singing - very well I might add. Well, we were sitting around talking and he handed me this guitar and asked me if I played, I said I'd never, so he showed me a few chords. It was instant love, like through a shock of lightning I found something I was passionate about and it was playing guitar. Could've easily been the booze talking but two days later I bought my first guitar.

I don't know why it took me so long to discover my love for playing guitars. I've always been interested in playing music and had a keyboard when I was ten years old, so why I never got the idea of picking up a guitar is beyond me. I never had any proper lessons in playing anything, back at age ten I just loved hitting random notes on the keyboard that occasionally made sense. Never did learn to read music - still haven't sufficiently.

My first guitar was a spanish Santana guitar. It was a decent guitar to begin with, nothing special though. I found some chord diagrams and scales on the internet and played till my fingers bleed. I loved it, a day without time to play was a bad day. Apart from whatever written lessons I was able to find on the internet, I never had any lessons in playing, so the process of playing well came slow, but I got there.

Then one day I was visiting a music store in Aarhus to buy picks, I looked through the electric guitar section and fell in love with an Epiphone Les Paul. It looked like the ultimate rock guitar with it's stunning design, and so I ended up buying it and a small Marshall 15 MG amp. That was the turning point for me. My ambition was never to play electric guitar, all I wanted at that time was strumming chords and singing my favourite songs, but that Les Paul possessed me into playing rock and blues and I'm thankful for that.


Picking up a guitar is the best thing that's ever happened to me, it's given my love for music in general a boost and my favourite thing to do today is writing songs, or just sitting in my room playing till my fingers hurt.

I still have that Les Paul, though I've modified it and put in two new pick-ups. I gave the Santana to my brother and bought a western Washburn D10 which is the guitar I play the most. My newest guitar is a Fender Telecaster that sounds just as good as it looks, but my favourite guitar is still and will probably continue to be the Les paul.

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

I recently rediscovering this little gem. This has always mananged to cheer me up. It's an article from the New York Sun, printed in 1897:

Dear Editor- I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, If you see it in The Sun, it's so. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

-Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

In a world where iPods, videogames and reality tv rules and corrupts our minds, I find this inspiring and heartwarming.

Coffee & Cigarettes

These two go together like Bonnie and Clyde, Butch and Kid, John and Jane. They are the perfect combination (however unhealthy they may be). They can and never will work to the same degree on their own. One completes the other and enhances one another. These two evils can put you in a state of mind where everything suddenly becomes durable, be it just getting up in the morning and going to work, writing, composing, anything really. With coffee and cigarettes you transform into a detective from a 1930ties spy-novel, capable of solving the most puzzling murder known to man.

However, one downside should be mentioned. Once you've experienced this God-like combination you can never have one without feeling the need for the other. It takes your nicotine and/or caffein addiction to a whole new level.

And with that I'll leave you with a scene from a movie (coincidentally) entitled "Coffee & Cigarettes" by Jim Jarmusch, featuring Iggy Pop and Tom Waits having coffee and cigarettes.

Between Walls

Between Walls is a project I started upon getting back to playing piano, and for the first time began producing my own original drum patterns and beats. I'm very excited about it, and though there's still plenty of room for improvements, I feel like I've found my niche in music.

The style is a dark sort of Electronica - Trip Hop built up around catchy piano melodies.

I have fire songs up for listening (+ an experimental ambience piece consisting of a heavily distorted musical saw that really doesn't have anything to do with this project, I just thought it was pretty cool).

You can check 'em out HERE.

Dansk Frihed?

Hvilket menneske kan tillade sig at forhindre et andet menneske retten til at leve et liv uden frygt for forfølgelse og frihedsberøvelse?

Hvorfor kan man ikke se igennem kulturelle og religiøse baggrunde og anerkende mennesket bag?

Er Danmark virkelig så snæversynet og intolerant et land?

Er vi virkelig så lige glad med andre menneskers liv, så længe vi selv kan leve i fred?

Hvorfor skal vi være de eneste der fortjener den tryghed?

Hvad har vi gjort for at fortjene den tryghed ulig andre mennesker? Fordi vi tilfældig vis er så heldige at være født og opvokset i et land der gir' os den tryghed?

Netop de spørgsmål stiller jeg mig selv ofte for tiden.

Hvad er et demokrati værd når folk er så blinde?

Danmark er det Danmark vi kender idag netop fordi man kæmpede imod den undertrygelse vi ser idag. Alligevel vælger hovedparten at kigger den anden vej når vi ser den ene efter den anden overskrift i medierne om de groteske politiske beslutninger der blever foretaget af neonationalistiske uhumane magtindehavende politiker. Personer vi har valgt til at tage de beslutninger, men så sandelig også personer og partier vi kan fratage den magt til at foretage disse beslutninger! Dog er det kun de få der aktivt siger dem imod og viser deres modstand.

Hvordan kan vi være bange for andre mennesker fra andre lande der kommer og beder os om at får del i vores frihed og tryghed? Det er jo absurd og decideret udansk. Vi har jo netop en pligt som et "frit land" at tage imod mennesker der flygter fra undertrykkelse og gi' dem den tryghed.

Man kan nærmest sammenligne denne holdning med den som Danmark udviste under Anden Verdens Krig. Vi valgte at samarbejde med besættelses magten og lukke øjnene for hvad det medførte. Gudskelov valgte nogle enkelte at gøre modstand mod besættelses magten, personer vi idag har glorificeret som "helte," men som den gang ikke modtog helt den samme anerkendelse af regeringen, tværtimod.

Ulver.

The Ulver concert last weekend was by far the strangest concert I've ever attended. Not to say it wasn't as great as I expected, because it was. They played perfectly and beyond my imagination and high expectations. Especially when keeping in mind that they haven't played live for 15 years or so. The set list was everything I could've hoped for, presenting a good variety of their songs; though none of their earliest songs were played.



Garm looked uncomfortable from start to finish and seemed to be either slightly pissed off or annoyed with something. Maybe it was because there weren't that many people in the crowd. Maybe because of the dumb-asses that wouldn't shut up during the quieter parts of the set. Maybe it was simply because of their inexperience playing to a crowd. Or maybe he was in need of a well overdue cigarette, I don't know. it didn't affect his performance one bit, though. You sure couldn't tell that he's only reasonably started singing live, but his odd presence gave the entire concert that strange feeling. However, speaking for myself, that strangeness along with the music and incredible VJ'ing only enhanced the mystery of Ulver, which had me ending up thinking it was intended.

I suppose my own excitement about seeing these guys was a factor that played in as well. I have been big a fan since I discovered their album "The Marriage Of Heaven & Hell". I was overwhelmed when they played the first song and by the end of the concert in complete awe.



The rest of the band did a phenomenal job as well, and were a little less gloomy then Garm. Daniel O'Sullivan on guitar, bass and piano was fucking incredible! That man got skills.

The sound at the venue was okay. No more, no less. There were some technical problems with the vocals at one point, but nothing serious. All in all I couldn't have hoped for a better place for them to play, I just wish the main part of the crowd had enough respect for the band and the rest of us not to chatter durning the concert.


Set list (beside the order I'm fairly sure it's correct):

Eons
Let The Children Go
Little Blue Bird / Rock Massif Pt. 1
For The Love Of God
In The Red
Operator???
Funcbrae
part of Silence Teaches You How To Sin ???
Plates 16-17
Hallways Of Allways
Porn Piece Or The Scars Of Cold Kisses???
Like Music???
Not Saved

I wish I had more time, or rather the "right kind of time" to to make music in, but then again hobbies don't have deadlines - I'm not obligated to deliver anything to anyone within a specific time frame. I'd probably go nuts if I was a professional musician and had labels breathing down my neck, demanding I'd make something for them to sell. I can easily understand why a lot of big musicians fall into some kind of substance abuse.
Though, I would be lying if I said I'm not just a little jealous of them.

Profil of a Dreamer

Wears a halo that doesn't fit
Shoes that can't keep out the rain
A scarf tied in a noose
Glasses that blinds

Wears his heart on his sleeve
Playing an out of tune guitar
& a piano that's synthesized

God & Satan are my enemies
Along with their Angels and Demons

Is not Red or Blue
Sees only in grey tone
But dreams in color

Lost the heart that loves
Along with the girl who stole it
Both now somewhere in the New World