tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:/blogs/the-legend-of-the-fisherman?p=5
The Legend of The Fisherman
2024-02-11T16:40:29+02:00
The Fisherman & The Sea
false
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/7349504
2024-02-11T16:40:29+02:00
2024-02-11T16:41:29+02:00
Jon's Tour Diary '24 – A Farewell to Joel and a new beginning
<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/256958/aec498c1da1ada46e567dee9fb01f7932a312936/original/live-at-linnabar-still-13.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p>LinnaBar, Helsinki – February 2nd 2024</p><p>Wow! I didn't expect to get so emotional about this gig! Not because it was Joel's last gig with us – he'd told me over a year ago he'd probably be off to do his own thing at some point – but because it was the return to the place we'd started recording <i>Be More Boldly You</i> almost four years ago. Man, what a ride it's been! We had to keep pushing the release of the album back and back and back again and again, so I'm guessing there was a lot of built up energy released last Saturday at LinnaBar. And although I was exhausted to the point of not being able to see straight, all of the stress and other baggage fell right off when we climbed that stage! I did manage to delight the guys with some very spontaneous lyric changes during a couple of songs, but that's almost part of our charm, right? <i>Right?</i></p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/256958/5195c06ca44c0ddac832f85083a5a1365c26bd4f/original/live-at-linnabar-still-12.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p>Tim and Max from Show Station had again volunteered their time to create a really cool light show for this gig, the best they'd ever seen at their establishment I was told by the bar staff and the same apparently applied to the sound where we were lucky to be able to count on our long time friend Kiffe again. To top it all off though, we had Samu and Juho manning a couple of cameras so we were able to catch all of this fancy glory on video for future viewing pleasure! So yes, a concert film of this gig is also definitely coming your way in the not too distant future…!</p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/256958/d7ac00fb45cf4eec1939adbe440fef6265d5e3f3/original/live-at-linnabar-still-8.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p>We'd decided early on to only play songs from the new album because those songs felt more “us”. I mean, they are actually the <strong>first</strong> songs that everyone in the band has been working on equally, so I guess that's kind of a given. We only left off three songs from the album, but still several people came up afterwards telling us we should have kept playing longer. 10 songs and 45 minutes didn't satisfy them, although that's actually quite a long set for a small band like ours to play. Usually we're restricted to around 7 songs and 30 minutes of showtime.</p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/256958/feacb9f9a02a4899bb6d9851aa0c757ddb47c25f/original/live-at-linnabar-still-10.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p>But you know what, let me tell you something about this crowd, ‘cause I think this is crucial here. First off, we weren’t sure <strong>AT ALL</strong> <i>anyone</i> was going to turn up for this gig, because LinnaBar situated on the island sea fortress of Suomenlinna is a 15 minute ferry ride away from the mainland, the weather turned out to be several kinds of terrible and the bar itself – well, let's just say it's not the biggest of buildings and you kind of have to <strong>want </strong>to find it. But when we hit the stage the place was actually packed, like pretty much sold out if we'd charged tickets for the show! A completely unexpected (at least for me) turnout and a wonderfully jubilant atmosphere right from the moment we kicked into set opener <i>Anthem for the Nerds</i>.</p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/256958/6d40c1dfc9d493f97070d9ef5a99f11b2129cb06/original/live-at-linnabar-still-11.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><p>At several occasions during the show I felt like something new was happening with our band, like we'd found a new focus, a new way of being – pardon the pun – more boldly us. Maybe it was the energy from the crowd, maybe it was the songs we were playing – probably a little bit of both – but it felt like we're a fresh band just starting out playing our first gig, although it must've been something like our 30th. Something just clicked for me on that stage. I'm convinced it was the start of something beautiful. Which is a strange thing to say about Joel's last gig with us, I know. But I'd like to think of it like he carried us to this certain stage in our career and now leaves us even more focused having to carry on without him. I can't quite explain it. But I guess you can't – or at least shouldn't attempt to – explain magic. Because magical is what this super busy and taxing night amongst friends and new acquaintances felt like!</p><p>We played:<br><i>Anthem for the Nerds</i><br><i>Stranglehold</i><br><i>Easy Come, Easy Go</i><br><i>The Ceiling</i><br><i>The Courage of a Worm</i><br><i>Icicles</i><br><i>Waiting for the Good Guys to Win Again</i><br><i>Soar</i><br><i>Just Like Balloons</i><br><i>Agents of the Change</i></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/7168723
2023-03-10T09:56:02+02:00
2023-12-05T09:58:02+02:00
Jon's Tour Diary '23 – Cancellations, festival vibes and a new hit song!
<p>Bar Loose, Helsinki – March 9th 2023</p><p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/256958/5cc2d3a2d0b9b2a442a458aa193c8fe41b236432/original/tempimageokjufm.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p><p>Weekdays are a struggle for sure. That's why we're extra thankful to everyone who came out and partied with us tonight at Bar Loose in downtown Helsinki!</p><p>On Monday we were informed Motion in the Ocean who'd booked the show in the first place would have to cancel their show due to illness and doctor's orders. So for a moment I probably thought what anyone would think “is this gig even happening then?” But sure enough the Bar Loose staff assured us the gig was still going ahead as planned and I hit up our old pal Antero Kerkkä and asked him if he'd like to fill in on short notice. And sure enough he did and brought his whole band with him, bless his soul! They were playing a gig on the road the next day so sleep was an issue, but nonetheless they agreed to come down and bless us with their roots-americana fused with Finnish folk. Loved it!</p><p>We played before them, opening the whole night and because in my mind Bar Loose had a reputation as a punk rock bar I figured we'd pull out all our fastest and rockiest tracks. The guys assured me though that the bar featured a wider array of music, but I wanted to see if we could pull off a sweaty take-no-prisoners kind of rock set. And sure enough we did! Doesn't hurt to have a back catalogue of about 50 songs at this point either…you're almost bound to find a bunch of songs befitting any kind of situation. Speaking of which; I don't know why we haven't played “Stuck With A Rhyme” live for years. Every time we've played it people come up afterwards and tell me “now THAT was a good song!” And now that we dug it out once again, not one but several people told me afterwards how much they enjoyed it. So I guess we've found ourselves a new hit song then! It's not coming off the setlist again, that's a promise! By the end of the set we had the people clapping along to “Agents of the Change” although not laughing at my jokes, which probably just means they've got taste… What probably warmed my heart the most this evening was when I heard we'd conjured up some “festival vibes” with our set. That's the best compliment I can think of because – at least for me – festivals are by far the best place to discover cool new music and party to the bands you already love. Festivals are bliss!</p><p>Shout out also to our pals in Kami Mate who just bring the party and the fun to these gigs! It's been a fun few gigs with them and maybe maybe maybe we shall see eachother again…!</p><p>And last but not least, my dear friend and lighting wizard Tim who didn't hesitate for a moment when I asked if he could “shed some light on our situation” (ping my daughter: “Dad joke!”). Aided by his compatriots Max and Samu, they really set up a cool atmosphere at the “dungeon-y” venue. Thinking of future collabs with you guys already!</p><p>Peace & Love,</p><p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/7118351
2022-12-06T09:48:20+02:00
2022-12-06T09:48:20+02:00
Jon's Tour Diary '22 – Quan, fun and more double bass than the PA could withstand
<p>So the funnest thing about playing shows is meeting new people. No big secret there. It gets especially fun though if you meet parts of your audience on the street days before the show walking home from band rehearsals. I'm sorry, what? – you may ask. So let's start at the beginning – on Monday last week I'm walking home from band rehearsals with my guitar on my back when a young gentleman I've just passed on the sidewalk catches up with me, introduces himself as Quan (dude, I've no idea if I've got the spelling right, but do let me know, will ya!) and asks me if I'm a musician. We get to talking about where he can get his guitar repaired and what kind of music I make – spoiler alert; it's not the most typical genre that a Finnish band will play, and chances are, if you're reading this you have a good understanding that we're probably a couple of genre overhauls away from death metal. Anyway, towards the end of our journey together Quan asks me about future shows of my band and as fate would have it, we're playing in downtown Helsinki that very Saturday. So I write the details he needs down into his phone and sure enough he turns up five days later with a couple of his friends for our show at Bar Base! Funny how life works out sometimes. And all without social media – a true breath of fresh air and actual human interaction – just what the doctor ordered, eh?</p>
<p>But yeah, speaking of death metal – that's probably what the Bar Base clientele were more tuned into expecting from a live band at their favourite establishment. The PA was blaring out Pantera, Avenged Sevenfold, Gojira and the likes during the whole evening which meant that Tuukka, Joel and Karza felt right at home whereas Tomppa and I joked about the insane amount of notes all the drummers were playing – we're both more punk kids than metal heads. So yeah, I thought it was a ballsy move from our pals in Motion in the Ocean to book their record release show there and have us open the night.</p>
<p>And we did try to cater to the audience a bit, which is far easier when you're able to choose from a back catalogue of fifty songs rather than just the eight songs you've been rehearsing in your basement for your first EP/album. The stage in Bar Base is tiny and Joel's keyboard probably occupied about half the available space, but somehow we managed to cram ourselves onto that tiny bit of real estate and kick of proceedings with "Ugly". Karza was sealed off from the rest of the stage behind his drum kit, only able to escape his confines and walk off stage after the gig after dismantling half the drum kit surrounding him. Tomppa I don't believe moved more than 20cm during the whole gig, because he'd have knocked out Joel in front of him instantly. And I felt like a theatre curtain every so often taking one step to my left and revealing Tuukka behind me playing a solo or riff during my brief vocal breaks. Here's a photo to prove my point!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/8a0a6e25b0a14b0720fbdc34bb1ea5eb622a53e7/original/img-3068.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Can you see Tuukka?!? I know; takes a while longer than you'd hoped... But all five us are actually in this picture. And this is literally the only pic from this gig where that is marvelously the case! Okay, but all tomfoolery aside; we had a lot of fun, the crowd seemed to enjoy it as well, we made some sales and got loads of pats on the back – all good! And the house staff were totally welcoming, friendly and fun to hang out with so absolutely no complaints from our side. On the contrary; what a total blast from start to finish!</p>
<p>We played:<br>1. Ugly<br>2. Scream into the Void<br>3. Soar<br>4. Beggar Princess<br>5. A Man with no Dance<br>6. Stranglehold<br>7. The Courage of a Worm<br>8. Agents of the Change<br>9. Trail of Lies</p>
<p>Kami Mate were on after us and they absolutely nailed it! They were great! Really looking forward to seeing these guys again in March at Bar Loose. They've got some tunes, man!</p>
<p>When Motion in the Ocean took the stage for their album release show the room was absolutely packed and everyone was up for it. Even through some technical difficulties and the singer's cold they soldiered through and came to the backstage area pumped after their gig where I'd retreated to with Tuukka, Tomppa and Jukka, a long time friend of ours, to rest our ears. Their gig was blaring over the backstage area PA loud as hell as well and at some point something within the in-house speaker system gave in and the music started sounding more like an Edith Piaf record on a gramophone. Maybe all the earlier double bass metal had finally taken its toll on the audio system towards the end of the night.</p>
<p>We're already hugely looking forward to the biggest show yet with these two bands in March at Bar Loose. Hope to see as many of you there as humanly possible. It'll be an important night for us! You can find all further info on the gig on our <a contents="Shows page" data-link-label="Shows" data-link-type="page" href="/shows" target="_blank">Shows page</a>.</p>
<p>Take care all yous and happy Independence Day to our beloved home country!</p>
<p>– Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/7071659
2022-09-30T12:23:02+03:00
2022-09-30T12:23:02+03:00
A Farewell to Botify the People
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/9f2e86b30bc85f074e751a2a6b1babc2113c259d/original/btp-round-batch.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>It’s crazy to think this album was a total accident! But that’s what it was. Back in late 2019 Tomppa had just joined the band and we’d sifted through about 30 songs I’d demoed, to choose around a dozen to record for our second album. On our first day of recording in March 2020 this small developing story about bats in China that you’d been maybe following but probably not so much, suddenly became THE ONLY NEWS for two years or so. Quite unforgettably everything, gigs, rehearsals, studio time etc etc got canceled on that first day of recording our second album, our first one as a full band. But because no-one in the world could really say for certain what was happening, humankind did the only sensible thing and went into lockdown. </p>
<p>While everyone around the world had to adjust to a new normal for an uncertain period of time, it became more than clear we had to put our album on hold and wait until we were allowed to practice again and the studio was allowed to book us for the next session. I’m no good at waiting around though, so the first thing I did was to record the five songs for the <a contents="Songs from Tuesday EP" data-link-label="Songs from Tuesday" data-link-type="page" href="/songs-from-tuesday" target="_blank">Songs from Tuesday EP</a> at home and released that two months later to our mailing list members as well as later on CD. </p>
<p>But today I want to bid farewell to Botify the People, the album that wouldn’t have happened without COVID. So, if you like the album or you have just one song on there that you really like, you can say Thanks COVID – because none of the tracks would’ve been born if it weren’t for the first lockdown. You can watch the whole creative process on our <a contents="Youtube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w/playlists" target="_blank">Youtube channel</a> and read all about the record on this blog and even listen to <a contents="a couple of podcast interviews" data-link-label="Press" data-link-type="page" href="/press" target="_blank">a couple of podcast interviews</a> where I go into the ins and outs of the record – so I won’t do that here. But such a lot has happened in these past two years and much like COVID and its lockdowns have increasingly moved into the rear-view mirror – at least here in Finland – I feel the urge to close the book on Botify the People as well, before I can move on to the next thing. </p>
<p>Botify the People – my baby – you did well! You brought us more radio play in Finland, Germany, the US and New Zealand than all of our previous releases combined! And the weirdest thing is – the song that got the most airplay wasn’t one of the more obviously radio friendly tracks like Scream into the Void or But the Boy Is Dead! – no, it was the brooding title track of the album that is almost 6 minutes long, in which the lyrics kick in around the one minute mark after a lenghty intro, that has a tempo change and that even features a prog rock guitar solo. Literally every one of those details is exactly what every radio and record label executive will tell you absolutely NOT to include in your single. Yet, THAT was the track that got the most airplay as well as playlist plays. Big ups to all the radio hosts who played that track! Also goes to show, you really can’t plan for anything in this world… </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/63183bb055d57072650223a454338180cde4b960/original/img-2417.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Botify the People – my baby – you look great! And I’m not only talking about the climate neutral packaging your physical version came in. Although I gotta say I still love the big poster booklet, that sliptube that replaced the plastic shrink wrapping, the embossing on that sliptube and that cover photo shot by my friend Alex Schimpf. Even if it wasn’t my own album, that record would still hold a special place in my record collection for its looks alone. I’ll let you – the reader – decide yourself about the music ;-). I don’t know what possessed me to go for the cyber punk ”neon colours and a lot of darkness” aesthetics for the video and album design, but I wanted to go for something memorable and most importantly cheap, because one aspect of being a musician during COVID was being poor as a church mouse... I’m pretty sure a record label would’ve told me the graphics were unacceptable because they didn’t draw the uninitiated listener in as well as a more normal band or head shot could’ve done; and they would be right as well. Nonetheless, the aesthetics were exactly what I ended up feeling when finishing the record, so I stand by them unwaveringly. We’ll put some friendly faces on the next record – promise! </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/fe72665c6aec88942b833696587b49fa7a347800/original/tempimagevjoneg.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.png" class="size_l justify_center border_none" alt="" /></p>
<p>Botify the People – my baby – you came out at a strange time in history. When your first single dropped in January things – in hindsight – seemed more or less okay, but on the eve of our second single release Scream Into The Void that I’d banked on opening the most doors for the upcoming record, our neighbouring country invaded another one of its neighbours just a two hour flight away. Promotion went out the window while everyone in Finland checked on how to prepare for a possible invasion; where us men had to report to in case of an attack, where to seek shelter and in the worst case; how women and children could flee the country. Now, none of this happened in any kind of panic mode, but instead calm and collectedly after the first day’s shock of this actually happening in our lifetime having blown over. But man, COVID <strong>AND</strong> the invasion of Ukraine?! I’ve certainly released records in easier times… </p>
<p>But most importantly – Botify the People, my baby – you gave me loads of self-confidence and confidence in our music to keep at it and keep on writing, recording and playing live! The greatest manifestation of this was your release party on April 9th at our quasi living room Semifinal, Helsinki. I’d managed to get all my and the band’s shit together for a spectacular first live outing after the COVID lockdowns and made a deal with the venue that anyone with a Ukrainian passport got in for free. The guys were on fire that night and we’d managed to pack the place all without a support band. To top it all off our brother in arms Kiffe not only mixed the show brilliantly as he always does, but we also managed to record and film the whole thing as you can now witness on Youtube as well. We even managed to squeeze in a tribute to Taylor Hawkins and a former student of mine that had both passed about a week earlier in the form of a rendition of A Song for the Hills that Tomppa had never played before but absolutely nailed on the spot. What a crazy crazy moment in time that was. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/718c1169794ae6c8a3bd25169d671619d7bdca75/original/lats-casual-l.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>So farewell Botify the People – my baby. You were a total accident, but a very happy one! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to separate writing you and your release from the tough and challenging times you were born into, but I’m very proud of you nonetheless. I think your message runs deeper and more profound than the short snapshots of history that served as the backdrop for your inception and release. The instrumental track Bridge over Yonder that I wrote during your writing process and today am sharing with everyone on our mailing list is the perfect way to say goodbye to you – peaceful, full of yearning but also the feeling of having overcome the worst; all of those are present on this last track of your era. </p>
<p>On to the future then.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/7055706
2022-09-08T12:51:03+03:00
2022-09-08T12:51:04+03:00
Jon's Tour Diary '22 – French connection, architectural critique and the mad truth about kebab/pizzerias
<p>These structures probably look the same wherever you go in the world. Somewhere between a cheap motel and a road side diner, these one story buildings sprung up everywhere in Finland in the 70’s and 80’s. And because we didn’t have any money back then their colour is uniformly best described as weathered concrete while – just as uniformly! – the low hanging roofs are of the cheapest brown sheet metal. These buildings always sit in the middle of sleepy suburban neighbourhoods often adjacent to parks (like this one), market squares or some other open space. Recently, wherever they have some money in the community, they’ve started to tear down these buildings in favour of something, if not prettier, then at least a little more modern looking. </p>
<p>This wasn’t the case with our first tour stop after the summer break, the Hard Rock House in Helsinki, Roihuvuori, though. At the same time though, to their credit, the owners had gone out of their way to make the place more welcoming. A self-built (probably) year-around terrace sat in front of the building where you could definitely fancy yourself spending an hour or two on a lazy summer afternoon if these were your neck of the woods. Inside, the wall panels and the bar instantly transported you to a fairly well run British pub that’d seen some action through the years. At the other end of the room we were playing stood a massive full-length pool table, undoubtedly the pride and joy of the place with its turquoise velour finish. Our bass player Tomppa managed to sneak a few games against the local pool shark during the opening band. </p>
<p>Initially though, it was only Tuukka and me who pulled up for load-in in the late afternoon. The other guys’d said they’d only be able to make it there half an hour before stage time (although Tomppa’s rehearsal with another band of his fell through and so he was able to come shoot some pool) and seeing as there was not going to be any kind of soundcheck – just a quick line check right before our set – we’d decided to just go with the backline gear of the house. So the only thing we really needed to test out was Tuukka’s effects board. The staff greeted us warmly and since we were the first members of any of the three bands playing that night, they let us run our quick check. </p>
<p>After saying hi to the guys and gal in the other bands who started to trickle in, Tuukka and me headed over to a nearby mall that promised to harbour a couple of pizzeria/kebab places. Yes, you need to know that in Finland – for whatever unimaginable reason – Italian and Turkish fast food have merged an unholy alliance and will be found under the same roof, at least if you’re looking for either food on a budget. Without fail, if a place sells just one and not the other, the food’s always going to taste better. But in any suburb in Finland everyone goes into this kind of place expecting nothing less than to be able to order both. That was the kind of establishment that Tuukka and I ended up eating in. In fact – true story! – here’s a conversation I overheard in a downtown kebab place once – and mind you, in downtown Helsinki, because of all the hipsters and tourists, businesses are actually able to focus on just one product and make it taste like sweet heaven. Anyway, this is a real conversation between a cashier and customer that I overheard: </p>
<p>”Hi! Can I see your pizza menu?” </p>
<p>”Sorry Sir, we only sell kebab here.” </p>
<p>”What do you mean, only kebab? You’ve got chicken, pita and… You gotta have pizza, right? Everyone has pizza.” </p>
<p>”I’m sorry Sir, we only sell Turkish style kebabs here.” </p>
<p>”But how can you advertise something that you don’t sell? </p>
<p>”Where, Sir?” </p>
<p>”Outside. It says ’döner’ outside.” </p>
<p>”Döner is a kebab, not a pizza, Sir.” </p>
<p>”What do you mean? I’ve had numerous döner pizzas in my life!” </p>
<p>”Yes, Sir. I’m sure you have, Sir.” </p>
<p>”And you can’t make me a döner pizza?” </p>
<p>”No, Sir. We can make you a pita döner or a dürum döner if you’re looking for something with a bread-like quality to accompany your döner.” </p>
<p>”Well – I mean… This is outrageous!” </p>
<p>And before the cashier could reply the customer had stormed out. In true Finnish fashion all of the seated guests had paused munching their whichever Turkish delight and listened in on the conversation. After they’d all watched the unhappy pizza seeker storm out they turned to look at the cashier in silence. The cashier knew better than to engage in banter with his Finnish audience and instead just threw his arms in the air and looking rather bored shouted something in Turkish to his co-workers in the kitchen that couldn’t be anything far from ”these people and their pizzas!” It seems like it wasn’t the first nor the last time this had happened. </p>
<p>Tuukka over his kebab and fries and me over my platter of just the latter shot the shit for probably close to an hour until it was time to get back to our place of residence for tonight to catch the opening band Motion in the Ocean who were playing their first gig ever. Before their set though I bumped into Annika from Hamburg who’d caught our very first gig at the 2017 Night of the Arts festival in downtown Helsinki. She’d brought her friend Valentine (”Hi, Valentine!”) from Paris along, so all of a sudden with all of these culinary experiences and people converging on this British pub-looking establishment, the evening was suddenly looking like an all-out pan-European extravaganza! We really should’ve opened the night with Charpentier’s Te Deum, come to think of it. That’s the opening fanfare of the Eurovision Song Contest, in case you’re wondering. I realize suddenly, high brow humour probably doesn’t become me. </p>
<p>Instead we opened with Ugly which is just the perfect right-in-your-face kind of opening song when you’re playing to a bunch of people who’ve never heard you before. Forget fanciful intro tapes and slow building openers – people only want to know what you’re about and then decide if they want to stay or not. Lucky for us, everyone decided to stay and have a listen to our set. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/61238909ba35cb4d9352cc6f1cacf1a6d564f6ff/original/3397a263-e38d-4985-8850-e7ac4a676dac.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />© Maquée</p>
<p>I don’t know if you can tell from the picture, but the stage wasn’t big enough to hold all of us, so I casually set up my microphone right next to the first audience table. In the middle of doing so I bumped into my old friend Maquée who – amongst other wonderful things – plays keyboards on the studio version of A Man With No Dance. As much as you always want to reach new people with your shows it’s just as great to see familiar faces again. Never mind one of my oldest pals that I’ve known since childhood and have played in my first band with! Anyway, he gave me a thumbs up and that usual grin of his and provided with me with a couple of photos from the gig afterwards, so show him some love! </p>
<p>The crowd was great for a Thursday night and the gig was over in a flash. Really loved seeing how progressively through the show everyone including the bar staff got more and more into it. Usually the hardest people to please are the folks behind the bar because they stand there pouring drinks day in and day out to the tune of blasting heavy metal, scorching punk and chest-obliterating hip hop beats. They’ve heard it all before and they don’t have any reason to give a fuck about any of the bands that come around. So to have people dancing and jamming along to our songs that they’ve not heard before is a great reminder of why any of us do this in the first place. Oh, and speaking of never having heard our songs – remember Valentine? From Paris? Turns out she hadn’t heard our music before the gig either and got her first impression of us right there live. She said it’s the best way to be introduced to a band and I couldn’t agree more. I vividly remember going to see Band of Skulls at a festival in Germany not knowing what to expect and being completely blown away by their sound, energy and – most importantly – their songs. Doesn’t matter which knobs you twiddle with in the studio, there’s just no way a band is ever going to sound as good on record as they do live. That is, if you’re any kind of good as a live band. And according to Valentine we are. And I’ve made a point out of never arguing with a French woman so… d’accord! </p>
<p>We played: </p>
<p>1. Ugly <br>2. Soar (NEW) <br>3. Beggar Princess <br>4. Skinny Dip <br>5. Scream into the Void <br>6. Agents of the Change (NEW) <br>7. The Burglars Are Back In Town <br>8. Stranglehold (NEW)</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6943623
2022-04-08T11:40:52+03:00
2022-04-08T11:40:52+03:00
"Botify the People" explained, pt. 8 – I Owe An Explanation To Myself Now
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I guess I wanted to create one version of ”the perfect album closer” with this track. Slow but steady build to a cathartic release of emotion and power and a quiet haunting outro. For some reason it reminds me of the songs I used to write in my young and reckless post-grunge era maybe twenty years ago. But unlike those songs of old, this song has unwavering determination and knows exactly what it wants to say. </p>
<p>Obviously as the album closer of a concept album this song needs to tie up loose ends and deliver some kind of closure to the whole album. Now if this was a huge major label production, I’d probably have to write a closing track that goes something on the lines of ”oh my God, I’ve found myself again, the old me is dead” or that sort of thing. You know, to have the ultimate cleansing feeling of release at the end of the record. But unfortunately I’m European and don’t believe in Hollywood endings. </p>
<p>In fact, I don’t believe in endings at all. Everything around us is a work in progress and the closer I look at it, the more I realize how deep in its infancy it still is. The interesting thing about social media is that a lot of people from time to time swear off it, take a break from it or even quit it in grandiose fashion, only to return to it after not even a terribly long while. It’s seems like kicking an addiction; super hard to do if you don’t have profound conviction and will power. And besides, it’s not like social media is going to give you a heart attack or make you choke on your own vomit (metaphorically obviously yes!). So it’s not life-threatening and there’s less of an impetus to kick it for real. </p>
<p>Instead what you get with this track is definitely a way out of your struggles. But it also invites you back in if you’re unable to escape the hamster wheel of social media. Both are realistic while the latter is definitely more common. In the end, whatever you choose, you have to make your own peace with your decision, whatever it is. And that’s what the song title (also) suggests. </p>
<p>Now rewind and listen again! </p>
<p>Peace & Love, </p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6942441
2022-04-07T10:37:39+03:00
2022-04-07T10:37:39+03:00
"Botify the People" explained, pt. 7 – Light the Liars on Fire
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>If yesterday I told you about the most painless and fast production experience with ”Plastic”, this song is the exact opposite. It took ages and ages to get right which probably isn’t much of a surprise either as it’s a 7 minute long prog juggernaut. Still, both the arrangement and production took a long time. </p>
<p>There’s an early version of the track that was released on the latest ”Banding Together” benefit compilation curated by Blow Up Radio that featured some of the arrangement but most notably a more punk rock approach which I personally loved as well but in the end didn’t suit the brooding nature of the album. I wanted a more sinister sound to the album version and finally started to find it when I slowed the drums down and went for a thundering tom bear instead. </p>
<p>One of the things I especially like about the track is it’s long intro. Just when you’ve settled for ”oh, I guess this is an instrumental” somewhere after the 2 minute mark the lyrics kick in with dripping venom. Another favourite moment on the whole record for me is the scream leading into the last chorus. I mean, I sang it and mixed it so I know exactly what I did there, but nonetheless it still sends shivers down my spine when I listen to it. It’s just absolutely brutal and raw. Or pure emotion as some people might call it. </p>
<p>The song is about being fooled into a certain behavioral pattern by someone because in the end it will pay off if you just stick to it. Instead you’re just another one of those gullible idiots feeding into someone else’s agenda, completely expendable and disposable – like 99% of us on social media if we don’t have millions and millions of followers, sponsorship deals and whatnot. The way social media companies have made a business out of all our personal lives, loves, pictures, thoughts and engagement is truly baffling. And at the same time we’re like the kid that came out to their parents and now the parents have kicked us out and won’t talk to us because we’re not what they wanted us to be. </p>
<p>Algorithms suck if all they’re meant to do is to drive engagement and ad revenue. What they should be driving is true human interaction. But no. We’re just useful idiots.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6941603
2022-04-06T13:56:28+03:00
2022-04-06T13:56:28+03:00
"Botify the People" explained, pt. 6 – Plastic
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>This is the last song that I wrote for the album. I initially thought the power pop aspect to it was a bit much at first, but I hardly had to mix the whole thing – it just magically locked into step. And when something just comes together so naturally you don’t mess with that! I’m pretty sure this song required the least mixing which always speaks for the song itself, in my opinion. </p>
<p>If there’s a tag line for this album it’s probably ”I wish I was as useful to myself as to machines” which is a line from the second verse of this song. I went as far as to feature that line on the slip tube of the physical album, because I think it so perfectly encapsulates the problem discussed in the album’s storyline. </p>
<p>It’s funny though, some songs write themselves and this one even mixed itself, so there’s actually not a whole lot I can think of saying about this song, haha. But I have to say there are a lot of reasons why it’s potentially my favourite song on the record. The chorus line ”That’s why I’m turning my inside in now” is an accidentally beautiful way of describing how you’re letting go of social media and stopping over-sharing. On every album there’s that little gem, and I think in this album’s case – at least for me – it’s this song.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6940643
2022-04-05T12:55:58+03:00
2022-04-05T12:55:58+03:00
"Botify the People" explained, pt. 5 – Faith in the System
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>This song sounds the most like Rage Against the Machine on this record – if you only go by the lyrics. When you listen to the song musically it’s about as much removed from RATM as you could think. It’s a ballad featuring piano and even a glockenspiel solo, but juxtaposition is something I absolutely love love love in music and you’ll find this throughout my back catalogue. I both can not and will not help myself from combining a beautiful ballad like this with lyrics about ”mindfuck” and ”rape”. I even semi-apologetically explain ”I’m too crass for goodness’ sakes” in the lyrics – this song really challenges you to feel it. Not just listen to it. Feel it. Because if you don’t, you’re going to wonder exactly what the hell I’m trying to say with it. And fair dues if you don’t feel it. Honestly, it’s a challenge. But I don’t need my music to be easy on the listener all the time. Sometimes it’s fun both for the listener and for the songwriter to know how far each of us is willing to go. </p>
<p>So no, although I think it might work well as a single from a musical standpoint, I don’t think we’re quite there yet to process these kinds of lyrics in combination with a ballad on mainstream radio. The indie’s will do exactly what they want obviously, and more power to them! </p>
<p>So what is this song actually about then? Like I said, this song is the most Rage Against the Machine-like probably in our whole catalogue. And one reason for that is the theme of the song which is the unwillingness to conform to societal or other imposed norms designed to keep us docile and not question how self-appointed authorities would have us behave. ”Why am I here, am I only to please?” That’s the right question, I believe. And when it comes to social media for example, we’re only meant to please the algorithm right? Not really our artistic selves, or if so, then only up to a certain point. And that’s a shame. The minute someone sets limits to how you’re able to shine as a personality, it’s compromising on the thing that’s most wonderful about our species. </p>
<p>Insider scoop: I actually like the live version of this song better than the recorded one! So count your blessings if you manage to catch this one live. </p>
<p>Peace & Love, </p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6939798
2022-04-04T14:10:13+03:00
2022-04-04T14:10:13+03:00
"Botify the People" explained, pt. 4 – Conversations with an Algorithm
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Conversations with an Algorithm is actually what the album was meant to be called before I came up with the term ”botify” (only to later learn I wasn’t the first one at all). This is the second track on the album and I really couldn’t decide whether to release this or ”Scream into the Void” as the second single. I decided against this one for no particular reason. </p>
<p>This song is about the loneliness social media can make you feel instead of the opposite it’s supposed to be doing. ”All night wide awake in bed, letting the world into my head” is still one of my favourite lines on the whole record. I also love the title of the song. It’s not as direct in its criticism of social media as ”Scream into the Void” but in its more metaphorical imagery I personally think it describes the weird paradoxical loneliness you can easily start to feel when suddenly having access to the whole world via social media. </p>
<p>Conversations with an Algorithm was the second to last song written for the album and the only one actually written on a baritone electric guitar instead of an acoustic. I’m funnily enough writing this blog entry in the same chair I remember sitting in when coming up with the main riff. </p>
<p>I don’t think I need to reference any article concerning this song’s theme. You all know what loneliness on social media feels like. </p>
<p>Peace & Love, </p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6937664
2022-04-01T10:13:20+03:00
2022-04-01T10:13:20+03:00
"Botify The People" explained, pt. 3 – But The Boy Is Dead!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>This song is about burnout, plain and simple. The chorus has your colleagues wondering ”Oh, my word, but the boy is dead!” when you finally break down from exhaustion – while you probably could’ve used their help earlier as stated in the opening lyrics: ”I feel so strung out on my own, no pulse, no vital signs to show”. </p>
<p>The song is about anyone feeling overwhelmed and crushed under whatever load, usually work, I suppose. In my case it’s specifically about the debilitating wave of exhaustion I felt in early 2019 after the release of our debut album. What had started as a fun one-man project in 2017 had hit its peak with the January release party for ”The Hurt & The Humour” where for the first time we performed as a five-piece and it felt all kinds of awesome. Immediately after, a number of things didn’t pan out as I’d hoped and I suddenly realized that after two years of constant writing, recording, releasing, artwork, show booking, scheduling, media outreach, music video shoots, content creation for social media and PR in general, I’d reached the bottom of my barrel. Right when I should’ve been milking an album that I’m still proud of, the most, I just stopped dead in my tracks and did absolutely nothing for a month or two. I couldn’t even touch an instrument. </p>
<p>I barely scraped together enough energy to finalize the ”The Bear & The Bird” EP that I’d promised our fans to deliver. And although I quite like the EP, I can’t listen to it from start to finish because it immediately transports me back to that time I really don’t feel like revisiting. Life being life though, me not doing anything to promote the EP, the song ”(I Only Ever Listen To) Oasis” was discovered by comedian Dave Bailey who played the song on his podcast. Finally I was able to laugh at myself again – the only thing that helps me snap out of any kind of negative mood – when I did the least I got the most. Biblical irony that. And irony I can appreciate. </p>
<p>Long story short though – when writing this album I discovered I was by no means alone with my struggles. In fact they are so commonplace in today’s indie music scene that they were <a contents="addressed by Matthew Maysonet" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://musically.com/2022/01/19/digital-burnout-fears-its-a-lot-were-asking-of-artists/" target="_blank">addressed by Matthew Maysonet</a>, head of sales and marketing at Empire at NY:LON Connect conference not too long ago: </p>
<p>“We’re asking artists to do a lot. They’re not just recording and touring. Now they’re expected to understand crypto and NFTs, and expected to be using TikTok on a regular basis, and be on their Twitter feed, and on Instagram, and creating content and engaging with fans.” </p>
<p>“It’s a huge task! They’re holding multiple jobs in addition to creating art, and I think a lot of times, people forget that music is art, and it takes a certain mindset and level of focus to create that itself, let alone commercialise and monetise it.” </p>
<p>“We do risk burnout for some artists who are using all these socials, including having to worry about the algorithms on different DSPs. ‘If I don’t release a single every five to six weeks I’m not pinging that algorithm and my monthly listeners are going to decrease…’” </p>
<p><br>Thanks Matthew! Rarely has someone spoken so directly to my heart! Oh, in addition to other artists of course. Here’s a quote from the artist Ghastly whom I don’t know personally but stumbled upon his <a contents="tweet" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/Ghastly/status/1496030344738492421" target="_blank">tweet</a> a while back: </p>
<p><br>”It’s no wonder so many new artists are struggling to develop a following – the pace at which they are now required to pump out content is inhuman and unrealistic given the modern attention span is less than a goldfish[’s]. […] Whereas a viral song could do you wonders just a few years ago but now? Well that’s a great song you have there but I need you to give me a reason why I should care about you. What are your thoughts? Who are you dating? Do you make entertaining content? Are you following the trends?” </p>
<p><br>Phew. I feel you, brother. </p>
<p>Peace & Love, </p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6936618
2022-03-31T11:28:25+03:00
2022-03-31T11:28:25+03:00
"Botify The People" explained, pt. 2 – Scream into the Void
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Sometimes you really don’t know which songs are going to be singles from an album – which songs are going to be the ones you use to tell people about the album, and which ones to make <a contents="music videos" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmBAqXhhV9Q" target="_blank">music videos</a> of. Certainly not while you’re recording them… Unless you have fans from Argentina tuning in to the <a contents="live streams" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">live streams</a> you’re broadcasting your album writing sessions on! From the get-go Eduardo from Buenos Aires professed his love for this track over the Youtube chat and I was honestly surprised as I didn’t think too much of the track at that early stage yet. In fact I thought it might be too simple and that I should maybe leave it off the album. Just goes to show how little you sometimes understand the value of your own music! </p>
<p>In fact, Eduardo’s involvement in the track’s evolution is what now makes it one of my favourite tracks from the record! If I think back to the live streams from the album’s writing sessions, <a contents="this one incident" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik_r7YzG8Nw&list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_&index=3" target="_blank">this one incident</a> where Eduardo suggested I should ”add a cat” to the song springs to mind instantly. We both laughed so hard on both sides of the Atlantic when I inserted a sample of a cat meowing right before the last chorus. That sample is still in there albeit buried a bit deeper in the mix than at first. But I wanted to remember that moment of joy and it’ll now be forever part of the track! </p>
<p>And besides – Eduardo and me laughing hysterically over that cat sample via a Youtube live stream about a song that’s critical of social media is such a wonderful testament about the complexity of the modern human condition. On one hand there is the pure joy that Youtube as a social media platform is able to provide us with by connecting us over the Atlantic. On the other hand there’s the Youtube algorithm not pushing that moment of joy to anyone else, because our Youtube channel doesn’t have the right tagging, I’m doing something else on the channel from what the algorithm expects me to be doing or the video thumbnail looked boring. It’s just sad that social media is about driving traffic to stuff that is safe and adheres to its own wishes in order to get as much eyeballs on the commercials they can then show the audience. It’s got potential for so much more! </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I actually don’t hate social media! Maybe for a while I did, but I don’t now. Maybe writing this album actually helped me make my peace with it. The way it’s set up, though, only benefits the social media companies themselves, not natural discovery, real human connection or any of the things you’d actually expect from it going into it blue-eyed for the first time. It’s supposed to make you addicted, keep you scrolling and make you aspire to things that you can only realize by…paying them money. ”Marketing tools, for all of us fools, look at my trajectory!” That’s what those lines in the song are about. </p>
<p>But at the core of it social media is a marvelous idea. And if you listen to the people who came up with Instagram or the likes in the first place, it was designed as a really wholesome and joyous app instead of the addictive money making scheme it turned out to be in parts when investors became involved. If you want to learn more, I strongly recommend you check out the documentary <a contents="”The Social Dilemma”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.thesocialdilemma.com" target="_blank">”The Social Dilemma”</a> on Netflix. It’s really eye-opening and features some of the creators of those apps and platforms talking about these addictive algorithms and designs. </p>
<p>Me though, the undying optimist that I am, I’m going to stick around and see things change for the better. And who knows, maybe I’ll get to have another <a contents="”Eduardo moment”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik_r7YzG8Nw&list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_&index=3" target="_blank">”Eduardo moment”</a>. I’d love that so much! </p>
<p>Peace & Love, </p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6935613
2022-03-30T10:34:03+03:00
2022-03-30T10:34:03+03:00
"Botify The People" explained, pt.1 – Botify The People
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4f1e6d0710ea2ca11f2112ad4753ec4c480761f7/original/btp-digi-cover-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I never meant to write a whole album on the effect Big Tech and Big Data have on our lives. I just remember reading <a contents="this article" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://musically.com/2020/07/30/spotify-ceo-talks-covid-19-artist-incomes-and-podcasting-interview/" target="_blank">this article</a> (Music Ally) in late 2020, getting up from my seat, taking deep breaths and trying to calm myself by staring out the window. But no, I was angry as all hell and unable to let it go. What I’d just read was a billionaire tech entrepreneur – Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek – telling me I needed to work harder on my fan engagement and release music more frequently, essentially turning my art into a constant flow of content for his platform. What he’s saying is artists should devalue their music as art and think of it just as the musical part of their social media content. </p>
<p>Because, it’s not like you’re getting on Spotify’s official playlists by simply having good music. No, what they need to see from you is fan engagement, that you’re linking your social profiles and your posts to Spotify, that you’re essentially sending them new customers – because it’s not like anyone listens to music anywhere else but Spotify, right? Spotify are using their leading market position to do exactly what any adept dictator will do: bend everyone to their will. Their misinformation campaign doesn’t pale in comparison to authoritarians either: while constantly pumping out stats and news stories on how they’re making it possible for indie artists to succeed (Spotify Wrapped, anyone?), they also pay out 0,0035€ per stream – you’d need 30.000 streams PER DAY to make about the same as from a low paying job. And that’s for one person. Our five-piece band would obviously have to gain 150.000 streams a day to make a living but I suppose if we were able to generate that, our main source of income wouldn’t be streaming anyway. </p>
<p>So the utter hypocrisy of championing the indie artist and still paying them absolute garbage while simultaneously having the money to <a contents="invest in war technology" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.ft.com/content/fc69f2b8-8016-4833-a9e1-61154e4b25eb?sharetype=blocked" target="_blank">invest in war technology</a> (Financial Times) and – for Christ’s sakes! – being able to <a contents="sponsor FC Barcelona" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/spotify-become-main-sponsor-fc-barcelona-2022-03-15/" target="_blank">sponsor FC Barcelona</a> (Reuters) with 280 million euros is what caused the uncontrollable anger I was feeling staring out my window desperately trying to calm myself down that one day in late 2020. </p>
<p>Lucky for me, I have music as my outlet and thus grabbed my baritone and the song ”Botify The People” just flowed out of me. That’s all I wanted to do as well – just to write that one protest song for myself. To let it all out. But strangely enough, after I’d written it, I realized I couldn’t be the only one feeling this and I was also nowhere near calmer. Instead I felt a grim obligation to dig deeper when I realized similar structures of pigeon-holing and subjecting us to predetermined behavioral patterns were coming up around all of us, regardless of whether you’re a musician, baker or office clerk. We were all being ”botified”, I felt. So I kept on writing, because it suddenly felt important on more than just a personal level. I’ll talk to you about that tomorrow in the second part! </p>
<p>Peace & Love, </p>
<p>Jon</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="R-QGRGuhDHM" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/R-QGRGuhDHM/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R-QGRGuhDHM?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="320" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6907045
2022-02-25T16:07:15+02:00
2022-02-26T13:36:12+02:00
Scream Into The Void + UNICEF in the Ukraine
<p>Our new single Scream Into The Void is out today. All its proceeds will go towards helping the children in the Ukraine. Sometimes releasing music seems suddenly insignificant due to world events around you. I wrestled with myself whether to pull the release entirely and what to do generally until I realized you can’t let the darkness win. No matter how insignificant a new song might feel in these days and no matter how small the soapbox that I’m standing on might be; let’s do some good here! </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/e133747e9dd4cd74833654a7e6832ecbc6c64cf1/original/sitv-ukr-unicef-001.jpeg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>That’s why we’re donating every last penny we’ll make from Scream Into The Void to <a contents="Unicef" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.unicef.org" target="_blank">Unicef</a> and their emergency help for the children in the Ukraine. </p>
<p><strong>Here’s how you can donate via purchase or stream: </strong></p>
<p><strong>Scream Into The Void </strong></p>
<ul> <li>
<a contents="Our website" data-link-label="Music" data-link-type="page" href="/music" target="_blank">Our website</a> (100% donated, pay what you want) </li> <li>
<a contents="Bandcamp" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://thefishermanandthesea.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> (85-90% donated after commission, pay what you want) </li> <li>
<a contents="iTunes" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.apple.com/itunes/" target="_blank">iTunes</a> and <a contents="Amazon" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.amazon.com/albums/B09PVKTGX6?marketplaceId=A3K6Y4MI8GDYMT&musicTerritory=FI&ref=dm_sh_3wLrbtwDYCxTWE5ZKTwVeiqSs" target="_blank">Amazon</a> (around 75% donated after commission, fixed price) </li> <li>
<a contents="Spotify" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/track/05Lt0YggXs3Dzor232byUm?si=7aa675c3e4d248c1" target="_blank">Spotify</a> (100% donated, 285 streams make 1€) </li> <li>
<a contents="Apple Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/fi/album/scream-into-the-void/1603645908?i=1603645914&l=fi" target="_blank">Apple Music</a> (100% donated, 100 streams make 1€) </li> <li>
<a contents="Amazon Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.amazon.com/albums/B09PVKTGX6?marketplaceId=A3K6Y4MI8GDYMT&musicTerritory=FI&ref=dm_sh_xpp4AAnjNom7Wgwv7xnfoohNL&trackAsin=B09PVMV234" target="_blank">Amazon Music</a> (100% donated, 120 streams make 1€) </li> <li>
<a contents="Deezer" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://deezer.page.link/kyR6kDZnG8MRA4Uc9" target="_blank">Deezer</a> (100% donated, 270 streams make 1€) </li> <li>
<a contents="Tidal" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://tidal.com/browse/album/211511312" target="_blank">Tidal</a> (100% donated, 128 streams make 1€)</li> <li>
<a contents="Tiktok" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.tiktok.com" target="_blank">Tiktok</a> (100% donated, 242.718 streams make 1€) </li> <li>
<a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmBAqXhhV9Q" target="_blank">Youtube</a> (100% donated, 240 streams make 1€) </li>
</ul>
<p>While on the subject of Youtube; go check out the brand new video to Scream Into The Void on our <a contents="page" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="/home" target="_blank">page</a>! And then watch 239 more times in order to donate 1€… No, just kidding of course :-). But we really hope you like it and it IS that second part of our short film at least some of you have been dying to see. So here it is!</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="QmBAqXhhV9Q" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/QmBAqXhhV9Q/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QmBAqXhhV9Q?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6498302
2020-12-14T07:30:00+02:00
2020-12-14T07:40:03+02:00
Fresh Start Monday, Dec. 14th – Last week before the Christmas break; and it's a busy one!
<p>Hey all you beautiful people!</p>
<p>I hope you have a wonderful start to this week! We're taking a break and spending Christmas and the start of the new year with our families, so the next Fresh Start Mondays blog will be out on January 11th. So I'll gather everything between now and then in a neat little package for you!</p>
<p><strong>MONDAY, Dec. 14th</strong></p>
<ul> <li>these lines you're just reading. How awesome of you, thanks!</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>TUESDAY, Dec. 15th</strong></p>
<ul> <li>CWAA LIVE album session "Writing Bass Lines" on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">Youtube</a>. On at 9.00 Finnish time. That's 23.00 Monday US Pacific, 2.00 US Eastern, 7.00 UK, 8.00 Central Europe, 17.00 AUS Melbourne, 19.00 NZ</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>THURSDAY, Dec. 17th</strong></p>
<ul> <li> <p>CWAA LIVE album session "Writing Keyboard Parts" on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">Youtube</a>. On at 9.00 Finnish time. That's 23.00 Wednesday US Pacific, 2.00 US Eastern, 7.00 UK, 8.00 Central Europe, 17.00 AUS Melbourne, 19.00 NZ</p> </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>FRIDAY, Dec. 18th</strong></p>
<ul> <li>Awesome gift giving day on our e-mail list. If you're not already a member of our newsletter, you're crazy! Doesn't cost you a dime and in turn you receive awesome stuff like free exclusive songs and whatnot! So go on and register on https://thefishermanandthesea.com already!</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>SATURDAY, Dec. 19th</strong></p>
<ul> <li> <p>CWAA LIVE album session "Writing Drum Parts, vol. 2" on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">Youtube</a>. On at 19.00 Finnish time. That's 9.00 US Pacific, 12.00 US Eastern, 71.00 UK, 18.00 Central Europe, 3.00 Sunday AUS Melbourne, 5.00 Sunday NZ</p> </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>=== Christmas and New Year's break ===</strong></p>
<p><strong>FRIDAY, Jan. 1st</strong></p>
<ul> <li>"Six Feet Under" Jon Auer cover released to <a contents="Spotify" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://spoti.fi/2E2MkOi" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a contents="Apple Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://apple.co/2n89DhD" target="_blank">Apple Music</a> and all their children.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>THURSDAY, Jan. 7th</strong></p>
<ul> <li> <p>CWAA LIVE album session on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">Youtube</a>. Topic too early to tell at this point. On at 9.00 Finnish time. That's 23.00 Wednesday US Pacific, 2.00 US Eastern, 7.00 UK, 8.00 Central Europe, 17.00 AUS Melbourne, 19.00 NZ</p> </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>SATURDAY, Jan. 9th</strong></p>
<ul> <li> <p>CWAA LIVE album session on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">Youtube</a>. Topic too early to tell at this point. On at 19.00 Finnish time. That's 9.00 US Pacific, 12.00 US Eastern, 71.00 UK, 18.00 Central Europe, 3.00 Sunday AUS Melbourne, 5.00 Sunday NZ</p> </li>
</ul>
<p>Also, we'll obviously send out a New Year's delight to our e-mail list member's on January 1st! Did I mention you should join the e-mail list? I did? Well, do! You can do so directly on our homepage https://thefishermanandthesea.com</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now if you haven't already, you should abso-total-lutely check out <a contents='our latest edition of "Last Month Tonight"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RnjecHjfk" target="_blank">our latest edition of "Last Month Tonight"</a> – our almost funny homage to John Oliver's HBO show – on Youtube very quickly recapping what we've been up to for the last month; please do so below!</p>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RnjecHjfk" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/9a0c0486df8f645ed75842dc45ed1c26b234ff24/original/newsletter-video-players-lmt-2-001.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p>And in case you haven't been following my live making of an impromptu album, you're either completely nuts or by far the sanest person around – but definitely NOTHING in between. The project is called "CWAA" and you can follow the madness live or as a replay here:</p>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/fbd099d2accca32f3e287311b33d9adb09d8bc88/original/cwaa-thumbnails-playlist-001.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p>But hey; the best comes last. This week's good news comes from Europe again, where our local bison is no longer deemed "vulnerable" as a species! Give them "time, space and safety" and they'll recover. And so they did! Actually sounds like a winning formula for any kind of project. But read for yourself: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/european-bison-numbers-reach-6000/</p>
<p>Have a lovely Christmas and New Year everyone! And if you celebrate something else during this season, rock it like only you know how to!</p>
<p>Talk to you again next year!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6493215
2020-12-07T08:45:33+02:00
2020-12-07T08:45:33+02:00
Fresh Start Monday, Dec. 7th 2020 – Oops... I guess that happened!
<p>Okay... So let me just start off this Monday by admitting how completely I was able to outfox myself: Last Monday morning I was ABSOLUTELY NOT planning to be announcing a new album on Friday and even less so <a contents="streaming the first songwriting session live on Youtube!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=846XhrPXjmE" target="_blank">streaming the first songwriting session live on Youtube!</a> What the hell, Jon?!? </p>
<p>On Tuesday I played the hitherto last <a contents='"Songs on Tuesday" Facebook livestream' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">"Songs on Tuesday" Facebook livestream</a>. Last, because Facebook apparently decided to not share me going live with our page followers (almost) at all. And then I realized I'd had enough of this bullshit of trying to fight against an ever changing algorithm preventing me of reaching the fans who'd signed up to receive information about our band in the first place. The reason Facebook is doing this is, you guessed it, money. Immediately when I'd finished the live video, Facebook told they'd gladly distribute this video to people if I pay them. But that's not really the point of LIVE video, now is it, stupid?! To see if after the fact when you can't interact but just passively watch?! How benignly stupid can you get – or probably more to the point – how stupid do you think I am?! It's insulting.That's what it is.</p>
<p>So on Wednesday I took to <a contents="our Facebook page" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea" target="_blank">our Facebook page</a> to inform our followers of the hiatus of the livestreams and also to vent a bit of my frustration about how Facebook is making life for small bands ridiculously hard on their platform. The irony of doing that on Facebook is not lost on me and actually part of the charm.</p>
<p>And after what must've been a comparably uneventful Thursday, on Friday I announced to our e-mail newsletter recipients my intention to record a new album inspired by the frustration I felt towards Facebook and Spotify, latter of which is a story entirely of its own that you can read my first thoughts on <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://thefishermanandthesea.com/blog-news/blog/i-m-making-a-new-album-inspired-by-spotify-ceo-daniel-ek-here-s-the-weird-story-behind-it" target="_blank">here</a>. And on Saturday I was <a contents="live on Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=846XhrPXjmE" target="_blank">live on Youtube</a> going through what I'd written so far – skeletal pieces of songs and lyric as well as melody ideas – while also having a great exchange with a fan from Argentina. A wonderful experience altogether even if it felt a bit awkward to begin with for me. But you gotta get out of your comfort zone and just do stuff without analyzing it to death. It'll feel good, trust me. And it did for me.</p>
<p>So after this total upheaval of things, this week's schedule looks like this:</p>
<p><strong>MONDAY</strong></p>
<ul> <li>7.30 This here blog (21.30 Sunday US Pacific, 0.30 US Eastern, 5.30 UK, 6.30 Central Europe, 15.30 AUS Melbourne, 17.30 NZ)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>TUESDAY</strong></p>
<ul> <li>
<a contents="9.00 Album demo sessions: Vocals, melodies on Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">9.00 Album demo sessions: Vocals, melodies on Youtube</a> (23.00 Monday US Pacific, 2.00 US Eastern, 7.00 UK, 8.00 Central Europe, 17.00 AUS Melbourne, 19.00 NZ)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>THURSDAY</strong></p>
<ul> <li> <p><a contents="9.00 Album demo sessions: Drums, vocals on Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">9.00 Album demo sessions: Drums, vocals on Youtube</a> (23.00 Monday US Pacific, 2.00 US Eastern, 7.00 UK, 8.00 Central Europe, 17.00 AUS Melbourne, 19.00 NZ)</p> </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>FRIDAY</strong></p>
<ul> <li>
<a contents="18.17 Fisherman Friday: Last Month Tonight on Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7EKFu1lnL7Upf4aifLc8ZD2" target="_blank">18.17 Fisherman Friday: Last Month Tonight on Youtube</a> and <a contents="Facebook" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea" target="_blank">Facebook</a> (8.17 US Pacific, 11.17 US Eastern, 16.17 UK, 17.17 Central Europe, 02.17 Saturday AUS Melbourne, 04.17 Saturday NZ)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>SATURDAY</strong></p>
<ul> <li>
<a contents="19.00 Album demo sessions: Bass, guitars on Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7GnFoum2TRJQE05tseCCLN_" target="_blank">19.00 Album demo sessions: Bass, guitars on Youtube</a> (9.00 US Pacific, 12.00 US Eastern, 17.00 UK, 18.00 Central Europe, 3.00 Sunday AUS Melbourne, 5.00 Sunday NZ)</li>
</ul>
<p>Make a new album, fill up your calendar, right? Obviously LOADS more information coming about what the hell is happening all of a sudden, but I need a bit of time to organize all of this myself as well, so I ask you to be a little patient with me!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/c10dd1bb0cd32949976c054202e9b6574f1ce66f/original/asoh-cover-wouldnt-mama-be-proud-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>What I completely forgot to tell you about last week – and this is solely down to poor brain function, nothing else – is that we released our Elliott Smith cover to all the streaming platforms. So do check it out on <a contents="Spotify" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/track/1r7ozjqalrRb6Hmy0jOPW5" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a contents="Apple" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/fi/album/wouldnt-mama-be-proud/1525834455?i=1525834462&l=fi" target="_blank">Apple</a> and the likes or just go for the video instead:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="UTIJc_QuwNk" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/UTIJc_QuwNk/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UTIJc_QuwNk?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>And lest we forget, this week's good news are for everyone in Europe at least: https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/marked-improvement-in-europes-air<br>We're actually breathing fresher air! How about that?</p>
<p>Have a wonderful start to your week everyone and see you down the road!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6491680
2020-12-04T18:16:14+02:00
2020-12-04T18:16:14+02:00
I'm making a new album inspired by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek – here's the weird story behind it
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/54e0ddedf337df2332b90439c304891f250f2ac0/original/spotify-spoof-001.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Okay. So, a few weeks ago I noticed a headline on <a contents="NME.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://nme.com" target="_blank">NME.com</a>: <a contents="”Is Spotify’s Discovery Mode just asking acts to work for ’exposure’?”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.nme.com/features/spotify-discovery-mode-asking-acts-to-work-for-exposure-2811510" target="_blank"><strong>”Is Spotify’s Discovery Mode just asking acts to work for ’exposure’?”</strong></a> (Highly recommended read, by the way!) Now obviously for a small indie band like ours Discovery Mode immediately sounded intriguing. Maybe this was a great opportunity to get our music in front of new people? I don’t mind putting in the work as long as there’s a reward I’m happy with at the end of it, right? Instead, after reading the article I just lost it. I’d completely had it. And I’m sorry for the upcoming choice of words, but this was literally what I was thinking: Fuck the music industry. Fuck Spotify. Fuck every greedy-ass Big Data corporation with their billionaire CEOs scamming me out of my last savings just to maybe (and that’s a big f-ing maybe!) hook me up with some aetherial ”exposure”. </p>
<p>Because what Spotify’s new Discovery Mode is, is nothing more than another moneygrab from artists. If you as an artist let Spotify have something that’ll likely amount to something like half of your royalties – which are ridiculously low to begin with; we earn 0,004€ from one stream and that’s just because we don’t have a record label or manager and get to keep all the royalties ourselves – Spotify will in turn alter it’s algorithm to be more favourable to the new music you’re pushing out. Now you may argue ”Well look here, Jon. See it as an investment. If they take half your royalties but in turn you triple your stream amount, you end up winning, don’t you?” I’m sure that’ll be Spotify’s company line as well. </p>
<p>What they’re not saying, but as business people have absolutely factored in, is that they’re creating a new normal with this Discovery Mode. Because if just a fraction of artists opt into this, and they will because like with anything new; if you’re first to use it you’ll reap the greatest benefits before your peers. And so eventually everyone who releases music on Spotify will be forced to forego half of their royalties just in order to have any kind of competitive chance on the platform at all. It’ll be the new normal for artists and Spotify will have doubled their revenue from streams. Which apparently they desperately need to do as they’ve only picked up debt for the entire length of their corporate existence – while at the same time their CEO is a billionaire. Not a millionaire. Or more logically – in debt himself. No. A billionaire. Someone financially savvier please explain to me how that is even possible?! </p>
<p>Anyway, in essence what Spotify have done is exactly what Facebook have been doing for years: restricting the artist’s access to their listeners by setting up their algorithm in such a way that to gain any (possible!) exposure, the artist has to feed these hungry machines their last pieces of their remaining budget. Would anyone like a band t-shirt? Sorry, but we had to give that production money to Facebook and Spotify just in order for them to (again, possibly! – I’ve not figured out how big of a sum you have to pay for a Facebook post to reach absolutely everyone that’s following the page – it’s probably in the thousands…) notify you about our latest release. By the way, the best way to follow any artist, not just us, is signing up to their e-mail list where at least they can definitely reach you while you can still ignore the e-mail if you’re not feeling up to it. So if you want to support us and not lose a single penny of your savings, sign up for our twice-a-month newsletter here: https://thefishermanandthesea.com </p>
<p>So yeah, the impossible battle against the Facebook algorithm in combination with this new development at Spotify is what broke the camel’s back for me. I just lost it. I threw the phone away I was reading the article on and tried to calm myself by just looking out the window for a few minutes. Then I started laughing. Hysterically. How is any of this fair to people without a huge bank account or an organization like a record label behind them? While everyone keeps telling indie musicians that thanks to social media this is the best time to be an indie musician because you can reach everyone via Facebook or Instagram, the fact is it’s the same it’s ever been, just packaged in a timelier way. Sure you can reach anyone via social media – if you’ve got the fat wallet for ad campaigns you’re going to be forced to run just to pop up on people’s radars (and do that an average of seven times before your target audience is going to click your ad – yes, there’s actual science around this issue as well). Now I’m not saying you don’t have to invest in marketing when you’re releasing new music – I realize you have to do that and I always put aside a certain budget for this stuff out of my own pocket. But buying a banner ad on billboard.com is not the same as paying a social media company to let my newest post be shown to the people who have signed up for my posts and are relying on the social media platform to pass that new information about my release onto them! Without paying Facebook, the organic reach of a regular post on our band’s page is going to reach somewhere between 1-4% of the people that are following us. 1-4%. Let that sink in. It’s more than likely you’re in the other 96-99% who will not see that post organically. Unless of course, I pay Facebook for them to ”free” my post. Sounds an awful lot like ransom, doesn’t it? Far as I know that’s still a crime, right? It doesn’t matter if it’s a person or information being held ransom – a crime is a crime. But don’t get me started down that path. I feel like I might have to go down that way sometime later… </p>
<p>But! After all those myriad stages of shock, disbelief and hysterical anger… I felt inspired! </p>
<p>A few weeks prior to me reading that NME article, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek had declared that musicians should work harder towards building sustainable music careers in the modern music business. Artists just couldn’t go away for three years anymore to work on an album (and tour, by the way/road) and expect the Spotify algorithm to still favour them after being gone for so long. In fact, Spotify’s algorithm needs an artist to release something new every 4-6 weeks (!!) for the artist to stay ”current” and the algorithms favourable to your music (unless you’re Ed Sheeran of course, but that’s a whole other can of worms I’ll open another time). Essentially Don Ek wants us all to become his content creators while paying us on provision; you know, fractions of a penny and whatnot. Now a whole lot of big name artists slammed the Don for that, after which some younger artists slammed those artists for not being in touch with the modern music business etc and back and forth and back and forth, like these things always go in today’s oversaturated news landscape. </p>
<p>But what conveniently gets buried in all this mudslinging is the original point, which is that Don Ek doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s never played an instrument and definitely hasn’t released music in any shape or form himself. So with the timeline of 4-6 weeks between new releases that he’s figured out for his content sharing platform, aka Spotify, it appears he’s one of those kids that believes music just magically happens. The magical musician has an idea and before you know it, it’s already a perfectly produced audio file on your computer. </p>
<p>Now, I hate to break this to you Don Ek, but there’s a little more to it than that. After that first idea for a song – and let’s say this musician is practically a magician like Prince or Michael Jackson and has written the whole song in one 15 minute sitting, chords, lyrics and all – you still have to arrange the song. You know, stuff like ”this song could use a drumbeat, a bass, maybe even a piano. Let’s take a little bit of time to figure out what those might sound like” and ”this song also needs to have some dynamics, like quieter parts here and louder ones there”. It also needs to be recorded by someone who’s at least got an inkling of what they’re doing, it needs to be mixed, produced and mastered by equally talented people. It needs to be promoted in order for anyone to give a shit, so you’ll probably have to shoot a music video as well. Let’s not even get into the calculations of how much money all of that costs, but let me share this ever more obvious insight with you, dear Don Ek: 4-6 weeks is not the time which to squeeze all of those aforementioned stages of getting a song from idea to finished streaming file into, agree? </p>
<p>I know, I’m taking forever and ever to get to the point. But I wanted to completely let you in on the mindset I’m in at the moment. And like I said before, after a brief moment of being appalled – I actually felt inspired. And that caught me off guard as much as anyone, especially after all my negativity I just ranted (ab)out. Maybe Daniel simply doesn’t understand the long process of music making that ends up as audio content (or resale product, if you’re feeling less amenable) on his platform. I sure as hell don’t know anything about coding, yet am fluently conversing on the effects of coded algorithms here, right? </p>
<p>So what I decided to do is to make a record for Daniel and document the whole process from start to finish. Yes; from the point where the first small ideas for songs emerge to the finished song that I hand over to Spotify. Now, I’m also not doing just one song but an entire album for reasons that I’ll explain later. And I’m letting you partake on that journey via live video on Youtube starting tomorrow! You’ll be able to watch me write, record and produce these songs in real time while being able to chat with me, ask questions and even make suggestions if you like! Because music is about community, joys, sorrows, inspiration, people – life in its essence. So even if you’ve never touched an instrument in your life or sung a note outside of the confines of your shower, please know that you’re more than welcome to stop over anytime and ask or let me know anything you like! </p>
<p>As the live videos will simply be me writing an album, I can promise you it’ll be anything but edge-of-your-seat excitement most of the time, but instead the realest possible look into how a music album gets created. No edits to hide failures, frustrations or other personal shortcomings of mine. Instead you’ll see the moments of inspiration and convergence of ideas that lead to a piece of music being written. I’ll keep my fingers crossed all of that happens, anyway, haha… </p>
<p>”But Jon, aren’t you in the middle of recording an album already?” Well, yes we are indeed. And not to worry either; me writing one album while I’m simultaneously recording another with the boys is nothing if not ordinary. Records we make as a full band simply take longer to make than records I do mostly on my own. In fact, the final nudge for me to write this completely separate body of music for Daniel was when we had to cancel a studio rehearsal with the guys scheduled for this week because of new tightened gouvernment restrictions due to COVID-19. We’ll get back at it early next year probably, but we’ll also have to postpone the studio sessions from January to hopefully just February. So not to worry, the album we’ve been working on will not be delayed in any way because of this new record I now have time to make. The record I’m starting work on tomorrow will in fact come out earlier than the one we’ve been working on for a year now. Funny how that goes, right? </p>
<p>So, if you’ve read through all of this, by God I think you have a future in law! Or maybe just not a case of severe ADHD? Whatever the case, you know I love you for being here and I’m sure you’re more than ready to get into this participating in seeing an album done from start to finish, right?! If I may, I’d suggest you subscribe to our <a contents="Youtube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">Youtube channel</a> (you can subscribe to any Youtube channel if you’ve got a Gmail address) and turn on notifications in order to never miss a video. But if you find that tedious, you can also subscribe to our newsletter that we send out every two weeks. You’ll get all the relevant updates that way as well. You can sign up for the e-mail list <a contents="here" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="/home" target="_blank">here</a>. </p>
<p>Peace & Love, <br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6488014
2020-11-30T07:30:00+02:00
2020-11-30T07:40:06+02:00
Fresh Start Monday, Nov. 30th 2020 – Back live on Tuesday, Rude Questions on Friday and well, just the good news you needed!
<p>Happy first of the week and last of the month to you!</p>
<p>I hope this week treats you to the kind of rockstar start that you deserve! But if not, let us non-rockstars see if we can't doll your week up a little!</p>
<p>First off, I'm back with my <a contents='"Songs on Tuesday" Facebook livestream' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">"Songs on Tuesday" Facebook livestream</a> again tomorrow. The <strong>Late Edition starts at 18.00 Finnish time</strong> but I haven't decided on a theme quite yet although there's several I'm considering (and have been pitched to!) at the moment. Think I'll just go with my gut on the day and hope to pleasantly surprise you with the set I pick!</p>
<p>This week's <a contents="Fisherman Friday" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX" target="_blank">Fisherman Friday</a> offers up a twist that I hope you'll find entertaining! I'm going through a batch of <strong>rude questions and sentiments directed at me and my band during the years</strong> and answering them to the best of my ability. Most of these questions were asked of me by kids (not my own) so I guess in essence they're more blunt than intentionally rude, but some also come from critics who may or may not have been having a bad day at the office... I obviously haven't done the "interview" yet, but I'm pretty sure it's going to turn out some shape of super funny!</p>
<p><strong>Also on Friday,</strong> I'm gifting another exclusive song to all the members of our e-mail list as I do every first Friday of the month. So if you haven't signed up for our e-mail list, <a contents="what's the hold-up?!?" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="/home" target="_blank">what's the hold-up?!?</a> We don't spam; we just update you twice a month with a couple of things you might find interesting. You can also opt into the whole package and receive a newsletter once a week, but that's totally up to you. And yeah, like I said, a new and exclusive song every month for you to download for free! ... and this December, one song just didn't seem quite enough for you as a Christmas present...</p>
<p>Oh, and harkening back to last Friday, do check out my <strong>Fisherman Friday live set of songs both old and new</strong>... but mostly new on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU6PCetTbc4</p>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU6PCetTbc4" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/836c9ae15e75080049009f0136ea0a44f4cd8fd6/original/8-video-player-001.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a>Oh, and in case you were wondering who had the better response to COVID-19, authoritarians or democracies – well, I've got bad news for all you dictator lovers! Oh, and that's good news for everybody else, of course. So here you go: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/?srnd=premium-asia&sref=B9VwE2e5</p>
<p>TUESDAY</p>
<ul> <li>
<a contents='"Songs on Tuesday" livestream on Facebook' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">"Songs on Tuesday" livestream on Facebook</a>: 18.00 Finnish time, 8.00 US Pacific, 11.00 US Eastern, 16.00 UK, 17.00 Central Europe</li>
</ul>
<p>FRIDAY</p>
<ul> <li>
<a contents="Fisherman Friday – Rude Questions! session on Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX" target="_blank">Fisherman Friday – Rude Questions! session on Youtube</a>: 18.17 Finnish Time, 8.17 US Pacific, 11.17 US Eastern, 16.17 UK, 17.17 Central Europe</li>
</ul>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6483320
2020-11-23T12:49:30+02:00
2022-02-26T13:36:43+02:00
Fresh Start Monday, Nov. 23th 2020 – New lyric video, Special Session on Fisherman Friday and this week's good news!
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>and apologies for not being here for your morning coffee hour! I guess you know those days as well – and those days somehow tend to be Mondays, don't they – when it starts of all wrong and you can throw your timetable out the window almost as soon as you've managed to get out of bed? The world just doesn't wait and neither does it much care, at times, right?</p>
<p>Anyway, I still obviously hope you've had a swimming start to your day and this last week of November! Maybe a bit of music will cheer you up? We've just released the <a contents='lyric video for "A Song for the Hills"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRvNcCP8cFg" target="_blank">lyric video for "A Song for the Hills"</a> from our debut album. The song itself was inspired by the landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and I've wanted to make a video combining that scenery with this song for ages now. So I finally got around to it and made it happen! It really does look spectacular and seriously tickles your traveling itch, so be warned before clicking below!</p>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRvNcCP8cFg" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/28bfcd49c7d6a89bc4d0353049aac003fd22ec4c/original/newsletter-video-players-asfth-001.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p>Furthermore, my <a contents='"Songs on Tuesday" livestream on Facebook' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">"Songs on Tuesday" livestream on Facebook</a> is off this week, but to make up for it, I'm playing an extra long session on <a contents="Fisherman Friday" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX" target="_blank">Fisherman Friday</a>! So do check that out and while you're at it, why not check out<a contents=" last Friday's live session" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSMrDYTbC6c&list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX" target="_blank"> last Friday's live session</a> where I played through our special fundraising EP <a contents='"Songs from Tuesday"' data-link-label="Songs from Tuesday" data-link-type="page" href="/songs-from-tuesday" target="_blank">"Songs from Tuesday"</a> in its entirety – probably for the only time ever! But see for yourself:</p>
<p><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSMrDYTbC6c&t=102s" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/7fedc3b02ebdd35e518c8ffcbd99304f3c920d4b/original/newsletter-video-players-sft-live-001.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpeg" class="size_xl justify_center border_" /></a></p>
<p>And last but not least, how about this week's good news?! Let it sink in that science has come up with a vaccine for COVID-19 in ten months instead of the ten YEARS that it usually takes! What a testament to science, my friends. Just wow! Anyway, read more about it here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-17/covid-shots-barrel-toward-finish-line-in-300-day-science-feat?sref=B9VwE2e5</p>
<p>I hope you continue to have an awesome day and talk to you again next Monday morning at the usual (earlier) time!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6478270
2020-11-16T07:30:00+02:00
2020-11-16T07:40:04+02:00
Fresh Start Monday, Nov. 16th 2020 – New Music for your Spotify from the Fisherman's Trawl + live(s) and good news
<p>Top of this Monday Morning to you!</p>
<p>I hope this day finds you at least a little motivated to get you into the weekly grind again, but in case you need a little pick-me-up here's a <strong>Spotify playlist</strong> I've combined for you especially to start off your day with a little more spark in your step: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4wQzwWaYTg8WwxW0kro7iz</p>
<p>I've called it the <strong>Fisherman's Trawl</strong> and it holds absolutely awesome music, most of which I suppose you mightn't've heard about yet, but that will immediately restore your faith in humanity, the world, the music business and most importantly, yourself! I'm not kidding! These songs make me so happy to be alive, this playlist is the perfect friend for a grey Monday morning or for any other time you're feeling like you could use a boost of energy to get you through a day at work, a work out, an unending commute or what have you. I hope the <strong>FIsherman's Trawl </strong>becomes your digital bestie! I'll keep adding music to this playlist regularly and tweaking here and there to try and keep it fresh and running smoothly for your listening pleasure. Yes, I may be a starving musician myself, but I'm a music lover first and foremost and I absolutely believe these bands and artist are worthy of more, but especially YOUR attention!</p>
<p>This week I'm live again twice. First it's the evening shift on our <strong>Facebook livestream "Songs on Tuesday"</strong> and on Friday I'm playing a <strong>special set on "Fisherman Fridays"</strong> on Youtube, still shrouded in secrecy. If you can barely handle the excitement, I suggest you join our e-mail newsletter (that goes out on Friday before the show) and thus be in the know. All you have to do is pop on over to the Hub at https://thefishermanandthesea.com/hub</p>
<p>MONDAY<br>07.30 – This here pristine blog!</p>
<p>TUESDAY<br>18.00 – "Songs on Tuesday" Evening Edition on <a contents="Facebook Live" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">Facebook Live</a> (That's 8am US Pacific, 11am US Eastern, 4pm UK, 5pm Central Europe)</p>
<p>FRIDAY<br>18.17 – "FIsherman Friday" Special Acoustic Set by yours truly on <a contents="our Youtube Channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">our Youtube Channel</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Should you find yourself with a bit of time on your hands, about half an hour that is, then a look at last Friday's Playthrough & Reaction Video to our debut EP "Beggar Princess" may well be worth a watch. Sadly, this time our cat didn't hop into my lap although she was with me in the room again but nonetheless that half hour just flew on by! Here, have a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEi5En5TwbA&list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="ZEi5En5TwbA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZEi5En5TwbA/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZEi5En5TwbA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Another fun thing that came out last week was our monthly recap "Last Month Tonight". It's much shorter form and you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtcAY7ElzKU&list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX&index=2</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="wtcAY7ElzKU" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/wtcAY7ElzKU/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wtcAY7ElzKU?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>And again, last but not least, here's today's Good News – and this time it's actually thanks to covid...! But check it out for yourself. You might now turtles are close to my heart...: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/29/endangered-olive-ridley-sea-turtles-mexico-record-number-hatch/6068153002/</p>
<p>Have a wonderful start to your week and hope to catch you either Tuesday, Friday or...BOTH!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6472733
2020-11-09T07:30:00+02:00
2020-11-09T08:12:00+02:00
Fresh Start Monday, Nov. 9th 2020 – Last Month Tonight on Wednesday & good news from, well, the USA!
<p>Hey there,</p>
<p>if you're Monday seems to have a little more swing in its' step than per usual, I'd venture the guess you're not completely averse to the shift in power due in the USA in January. It's interesting how this election affected so many people outside of the US as well. Personally I'm more interested in political movements in the US that fly a little under the intercontinental radar, but I have to say I was surprised of the amount of relief I felt in me and in the people around me. Donald Trump's bullying and juxtaposition of Americans against one another – and also in his foreign policy with other countries as well, by the way – was definitely a new approach to politics, but although most of us will probably agree that politicians need to be more active in solving problems of the ordinary person, Trump's take on the idea was fueled by basic negativity which is a horrible platform from which to try and build up. I don't want to get into a long political discussion here (but if you'd like to, let me know in the comments, I've absolutely no problem with that!), but I just wanted to express my amazement over the fact even I, in little old Finland, felt a certain kind of weight lifted from my shoulders when the world's biggest bully suddenly lost his vindication.</p>
<p>As for us, I apologize I wasn't able to get our monthly recap (that we've very cleverly dubbed "Last Month Tonight", wink wink...) ready for last Wednesday as I initially promised! The first one is always the hardest and especially if you've got a certain kind of concept in mind that you don't want to compromise on, like I do with this one, the amount of work you have to put into that first outing can be a bit of a surprise. Anyway, all of this is to say: this Wednesday – be prepared! Last Month Tonight is definitely going to hit your eyes and ears on <a contents="our Youtube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">our Youtube channel</a>!</p>
<p>Furthermore, we've obviously got your "weekly Fisherman programming" scheduled for you, so here's a full overview of everything that's going down this week:</p>
<p>MONDAY</p>
<ul> <li>07.30 Finnish time: This here lovely blog (21.30 Sunday US Pacific, 0.30 US Eastern, 5.30 UK, 6.30 Central Europe)</li>
</ul>
<p>TUESDAY</p>
<ul> <li>14.00 Finnish time: <a contents="Facebook Live Session:" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">Facebook Live Session:</a> Early Edition – My own favourite cover songs (07.00 US Eastern, 12.00 UK, 13.00 Central Europe)</li>
</ul>
<p>WEDNESDAY</p>
<ul> <li>18.17 Finnish time: <a contents="Last Month Tonight" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">Last Month Tonight</a> on Youtube (08.17 US Pacific, 11.17 US Eastern, 16.17 UK, 17.17 C. Europe)</li>
</ul>
<p>FRIDAY</p>
<ul> <li>18.17 Finnish time: Beggar Princess EP Playthrough and Reaction with Jon on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">Youtube</a> (08.17 US Pacific, 11.17 US Eastern, 16.17 UK, 17.17 C. Europe)</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>That doesn't look too bad for some weekly entertainment, does it? I hope you like it!</p>
<p>Oh, and there's a totally crazy sale going down on our webstore as well, so do check that out! We're cleaning house and so the prices are low as...ummm... the floor...?</p>
<p>And if you missed last Friday's live session between our keyboard player Joel and me, do check it out! It was a riot!</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="v1s0ixGt-pA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/v1s0ixGt-pA/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v1s0ixGt-pA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Talk to you again next Monday!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6467946
2020-11-02T07:30:00+02:00
2020-11-02T07:40:02+02:00
Fresh Start Monday, Nov. 2nd 2020 – New The National cover, Friday night special + green energy is now cheaper than coal!
<p><span class="font_regular">Top of the Monday Morning to you!</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">I know, I know, it's Monday again and why the heck am I already in such a cheerful mood? Shouldn't I be conserving that to at least Friday or something? Well, as always I want to highlight some things that might make your start of the week a little more fun and exciting.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">First off, we've got some fresh music out! Or at least it's new on your <a contents="Spotify," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/track/3hCMo70z5TRtjM9aSbyukL" target="_blank">Spotify,</a> <a contents="Apple Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.apple.com/fi/album/slow-show/1520245424?i=1520245427" target="_blank">Apple Music</a> and what-have-you's. It's <strong>our cover of The National's "Slow Show"</strong> and the fact that it's an awesome song made the making of this cover such a sweet ride as well. It's definitely our own version of events, but I hope we were able to do it justice. It's definitely one of my own favourites! You can have a look at the video from a couple of years back on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEn9WW7Bcjo" target="_blank">Youtube</a> as well!</span></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/161c76dac1ed4218d08cc5ead2c83ad472d5b03e/original/asoh-cover-slow-show-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">If you're feeling like having a bit of a chuckle, maybe a laugh even, all you need to do is to head on over to our Facebook Live page https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live and watch me get Radiohead's "Creep" hilariously wrong on last week's <strong>Songs on Tuesday </strong>livestream! The magic starts to happen somewhere after the half hour mark, but of course you're more than welcome to watch the whole thing!</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Speaking of chuckles, I think the <strong>Monthly Recap video</strong> we'll be posting on our <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">Youtube</a> and <a contents="Facebook" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea" target="_blank">Facebook</a> pages on Wednesday will have you chuckling quite a bit as well. It'll be the first one of these, so... it'll definitely be the best one yet! Anyway, we're going to take a little bit of a look back on everything we've been up to for the last month and get you up to speed if you haven't had the time to sift through all of our channels and content. By the way; all you have to do is to <a contents="subscribe to our mailing list" data-link-label="Hub" data-link-type="page" href="/hub" target="_blank">subscribe to our mailing list</a> and <a contents="follow this blog" data-link-label="Blog/News" data-link-type="page" href="/blog-news" target="_blank">follow this blog</a> to catch ALL our worthwhile content and never miss a beat. Just in case you're not the kind of person who likes to traverse the wide spaces of the internet all that much...</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">As for our regular stuff... well, I guess the only thing regular about them are the times they're on again, so that'll be my <a contents="Songs on Tuesday livestream on Facebook" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">Songs on Tuesday livestream on Facebook</a> on...errrm... Tuesday. I'll be playing <strong>my wife's Spotify playlist live</strong>, you know, just me and the old guitar at the Evening slot at 18.00 Finnish time. That's 8am US Pacific, 11am US Eastern, 16.00 UK, 17.00 Central Europe.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">And on Friday on our fifth edition of <strong>"Fisherman Friday"</strong> I'll be joined by our keyboardist for a special acoustic session on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">Youtube</a>. Definitely worth tuning in, even if I do say so myself! We're on at the weird time of 18.17 Finnish time, so that'll be 8.17 US Pacific, 11.17 US Eastern, 16.17 UK, 17.17 Central Europe. On last Friday's session I taught you how to play "Beggar Princess", so if you missed it, here it is:</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="zUdJ9xWbXdw" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/zUdJ9xWbXdw/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zUdJ9xWbXdw?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">And hey, last but definitely not least; a friendly reminder that the world is not as shitty as we sometimes think it is: <strong>Green Energy is no cheaper than coal.</strong> Yup. That happened! Don't believe me? Not to worry, these scientists have got you covered: https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-and-levelized-cost-of-storage-2020/</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font_regular">So with these awesome news I leave you to start your week maybe just a tiny bit more happier than you felt five minutes ago! And hey, if you're reading this post in the first place, that means you're one of the most special people on this Earth anyway. And that's OUR unbiased opinion no-one can take away neither from us nor you!</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Peace & Love,<br>Jon</span></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6462969
2020-10-26T07:30:00+02:00
2022-04-05T08:11:07+03:00
Fresh Start Monday, October 26th 2020 – It's Education Week (apparently...) + awesome good news from Uganda!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/ac7d44ffa754b864a1a6ac840ed12829deb8f53a/original/3-blog-photo.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Okay, so this stare between Tuukka and me from last Friday's <a contents='"Fisherman Fridays"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX" target="_blank">"Fisherman Fridays"</a> Youtube session is just one of the MANY reasons it turned out both great and utterly hilarious. Nothing like having a brotha-from-anotha-motha, right? If you didn't catch it during the weekend, here's definitely a half hour's worth of stuff to lighten up your Monday mood! Check it out on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qow_zZByDC8&list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX&index=1" target="_blank">Youtube</a> if you need help getting into gear this Monday morn': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qow_zZByDC8</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="qow_zZByDC8" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/qow_zZByDC8/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qow_zZByDC8?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Anyway, we hope we can play a small part of making your Monday just that tiny little bit more exciting by sharing a couple of things with ya – sharing is caring, right?</p>
<p>First off, here's this week's Fisherman itinerary! This is turning out to be a educational week of sorts...:</p>
<ul> <li>
<strong>TUESDAY:</strong> Early Edition of my livestream on <a contents="our Facebook page" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">our Facebook page</a> <strong>at 14.45 (note the different time!)</strong>, so that's 8.45 US Eastern, 12.45 UK, 13.45 Central Europe, 23.45 Australia. The extraordinary scheduling is due to the fact that I've agreed to substitute for a friend of mine, so this livestream is going to be coming your way from a school and not my bedroom this time! Obviously I won't be able to resist the idea of doing something in regards to my past as a music instructor as sort of a theme for this livestream...!</li> <li>
<strong>FISHERMAN FRIDAY on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL08uO1TuWC7F3d8cLfwvo7lXul7rgDDNX" target="_blank">Youtube</a> at 18.17,</strong> like always to kick off your weekend in true Fisherman fashion! Keeping with the educational streak this week has turned out to have, I'm teaching how to play our most beloved (if we're talking <a contents="Youtube views" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYeufDVqRYE" target="_blank">Youtube views</a>) song to date: <strong>Beggar Princess.</strong> Now, that song is actually played a little differently on record than we do it live and I'm going to get into that as well. But don't worry, I'll try and make it entertaining even for those among you who don't play an instrument, and to be absolutely honest, the song is not very high brow in any case, haha... Doesn't mean it's not good! Just really easy to learn, that's all.</li>
</ul>
<p>And to round things off, here's the <strong>GOOD NEWS on this Monday:</strong> https://mondestuff.com/world-news/ambitious-reforestation-project-will-plant-3-million-trees-in-uganda/</p>
<p>If you're anything like me, seeing the Amazon rainforest burning or seeing the forests in Australia and California burning, it drives a little dagger into your heart. So news like this are absolutely awesome to come across. Trees are the lungs of this planet after all! Now, the fact they're planting 3.000.000 (I wanted to write that number out because it's amazing!) trees is an incredible thing in and of it self. But forests obviously don't just produce the air that we breathe, but can also be a home to endangered species like chimpanzees in this case and the staggering amount of 50% of mainland Africa's birds, just to name a few species that will benefit from this project.</p>
<p>So as always; don't let the world get you down! Be an Agent of Change like these local African communities and their partners in a manner that best suits you!</p>
<p>Have a wonderful start to your week and I hope you're able to make the best of it!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6457880
2020-10-19T07:30:00+03:00
2020-10-19T08:49:21+03:00
Fresh Start Monday, October 19th 2020 – Playlist live livestream on Tuesday, acoustic gig on Friday and some good news from London
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>I sincerely hope you catch a great start to your Monday and the week as a whole. To cue you up for the best possible start, here's some <strong>remarkably good news from London:</strong> <a contents='"Dramatic plunge in London air pollution since 2016, report finds"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/03/dramatic-plunge-in-london-air-pollution-since-2016-report-finds?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1601716505" target="_blank">"Dramatic plunge in London air pollution since 2016, report finds"</a> the Guardian titled a while back, and it really is astonishing that the City of London have been able to reduce the amount of toxic gases in the city air by 94% (!!!) in just 4 years. A lot remains to be done for sure, but don't let anybody tell you there's nothing that can be done against climate change and the likes. Just wanted to share something uplifting with you to start off your day. As some of you know, I've also been posting these good news on <a contents="my Twitter account" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/jon_fisherman" target="_blank">my Twitter account</a>, because there's never such a thing as too many good news – unfortunately they very often get buried under the more "headline-y" bad ones.</p>
<p>While on the topic of good news, last night's (or this morning's, depending on when and where you're reading this) acoustic slot at the massive <strong>Banding Together virtual festival </strong>on <a contents="BlowUpRadio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://BlowUpRadio.com" target="_blank">BlowUpRadio.com</a> was good news as well, albeit on a much smaller scale. I "phoned" in my set via Skype and also recorded the video for it, so I'll see if I can make that available to you in some shape or form soon. I played a nice little mix of old and new tunes, so stay tuned for that!</p>
<p>And while we're talking acoustic sets, we have a real treat coming your way this <strong>#fishermanfriday: </strong>During my Facebook livestreams I've been asked to play a bunch of particular songs that I've promised to deliver later, simply because they're meant to be played on two guitars. Now I – or rather we! – are able to make good on that promise when our lead guitarist <strong>Tuukka joins me on Friday for a very special session on <a contents="our Youtube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">our Youtube channel</a>! </strong>We'll be live again Finnish time 18.17 (counting in Youtube's 2 min countdown...), so that's 8.17am Pacific, 11.17am EDST, 16.17pm UK and 17.17 Central Europe. We're also playing stuff both old and new, so please feel free to tune in if you want to start off your weekend in style! I'll be on the live chat as well, so do hit me up with how you're doing and anything you'd like to share.</p>
<p>If you haven't found the time yet, you can check out <strong>last Friday's #fishermanfriday</strong> feature called "From Dream to Song" where I detail the unusual creation of a new song called "Agents of the Change" that you might remember as the opening track from our <a contents="September full band livestream" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VgmaqWTsRA&list=PL08uO1TuWC7Gfd2LdmqrdIdk_KAaXFyCI&index=5" target="_blank">September full band livestream</a>. Take a look here: <a contents="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4jNI_oM5vY" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4jNI_oM5vY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4jNI_oM5vY</a></p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="E4jNI_oM5vY" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/E4jNI_oM5vY/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E4jNI_oM5vY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>I'll be live on <a contents="our Facebook page" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">our Facebook page</a> again tomorrow, Tuesday with the "Late Edition" </strong>at 18.00 Finnish time, so again that's 8.00am Pacific, 11.00am EDST, 16.00pm UK and 17.00 Central Europe. This time around I'm doing a special <strong>"Playlist Live"</strong> and I'm going to play music from my daughter's (8 years old) Spotify and Youtube playlists. Now that can't be anything else than completely totally hilarious...!</p>
<p>So if the good news on this Monday weren't quite enough to get you into gear for this week, I'm going to do my darndest to get you in a happy place tomorrow!</p>
<p>See you around, everyone!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6453701
2020-10-12T10:27:59+03:00
2020-10-12T10:27:59+03:00
A Fresh Start! – This week a live acoustic set on BlowUpRadio.com, "From Dream to Song" on Fisherman Friday etc etc etc
<p>Hey you,</p>
<p>I hope you have a wonderful start to your week, because frankly, you deserve it!</p>
<p>From now on, we're going to post a blog every Monday morning to kick off your week with some fun stuff that we've been up to. If you suffer from the Monday Blues, I hope we can lift your spirits a little – and if you're a Monday person, well, hopefully we can make your Monday even more fun that it already is!</p>
<p>Here's what you can look forward to this week:</p>
<ul> <li>
<strong>Tuesday:</strong> me doing my acoustic <a contents="livestream on Facebook" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">livestream on Facebook</a> at 2pm Finnish time, so that's 4am (wow, sorry!) Pacific time, 7am EST, noon in the UK and 1pm in Central Europe.</li> <li>
<strong>Friday:</strong> <a contents="Fisherman Friday on our Youtube channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvHb0SgcHOv21b5wkLTm4w" target="_blank">Fisherman Friday on our Youtube channel</a> again! This time it's a mini documentary called "From Dream to Song" about a song we're recording at the moment. Some of you might even guess from the title which song it is, but let's keep it a secret for now. It's definitely an usual story and though I say so myself, I think the doc is definitely worth a watch. We're premiering it live at 8am Pacific, 11am EST, 4pm UK, 5pm Central Europe and 6pm Finnish time and I'll be live on the chat as usual. So do hit me up with any questions or news about your life that you like! If you want to be notified directly to your e-mail before we go live every Friday, simple write "FF" to jon@neckofthewoodsrecords.com and you'll be notified a few minutes before broadcast!</li> <li>
<strong>Sunday:</strong> another acoustic livestream from me, this time at the mind-bogglingly huge <strong>Banding Together festival</strong> on <a contents="BlowUpRadio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://wherenjrocklives.com" target="_blank">BlowUpRadio.com</a> to benefit the <a contents="Spondylitis Association of America" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondylitis.org/webathon" target="_blank">Spondylitis Association of America</a>. The festival runs for three days from 11am to 10pm starting Friday. <strong>I'll be up Sunday at 12.05pm EST</strong>, so that's 9.05 Pacific, 17.05 UK, 18.05 Central Europe and 19.05 Finnish time. If you're listening from outside the US, be sure to click the second link in the top right corner, the first one only works for people inside the US. So thrilled and honoured to have been asked to do this!</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>In case you missed it:</strong></p>
<p>On last week's Fisherman Friday I had my first listen in three years of our sophomore EP "Stuck With A Rhyme" and was also visited by my cat twice during the broadcast. If you'd like to have a look, you can obviously still do so:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Q_sa1PHPx38" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/Q_sa1PHPx38/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_sa1PHPx38?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>You can also find last week's, and all the previous Facebook Lives on our Facebook Live page <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://facebook.com/thefishermanandthesea/live" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We want to take you for a fun ride this year and the next, and we're literally buzzing about all of the stuff we've got planned for you guys but can't quite share yet.</p>
<p>So stay tuned and have a wonderful start to your week!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/6265494
2020-03-29T19:19:26+03:00
2020-05-05T09:25:59+03:00
Help us to help you to some new music :-)!
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>and welcome back to our new site, entirely redesigned in the vein of our new EP "Songs from Tuesday"!</p>
<p>I'd never have thought the break from recording Fisherman stuff would be this short, but the idea of putting together this EP had developed almost immediately after I wrote all these songs that one afternoon, December 18th 2018, a Tuesday. That was just a month away from the release of our debut album. And now, with everyone confined to their homes due to the Corona virus situation, I decided it was time to just do this and see how it turned out.</p>
<p>These are not songs we're planning to put on the second album that we've also started recording – you can see pictures of that first session on our website already and there's more to come – and they're a sure step away from what "The Hurt & The Humour" sounded like. Starting with the cajón drumkit being replaced by a "real" one, if you will. There are also heavier guitars and more modern keyboards in play here. But don't worry, I've not tried to reinvent the wheel here; all of these songs still sound very much like The Fisherman & The Sea – just, for the lack of a better word – a lot more FRESH. </p>
<p>If you're wondering about the pricing of this EP; this record is special on so many levels. The price is set so you'll not only be paying for a good old CD (in a really stylish matte finish centre fold digipack) but also directing your money towards us being able to continue with the recording of our second album whilst all other sources of income for indie musicians like us have completely dried up in the current situation. BUT, we're not only offering you a bunch of really cool new songs and some fancy packaging. If you buy a copy of this limited edition – we're only going to release a hundred copies of this! – you will get your own numbered copy (between 001-100) and your name written into our personal Thank You note on the inner sleeve. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/e185063255941c87b15f72c43ac4d18a75f7bd57/original/tuesday-inner-sleeve-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />So if we ever make it big, say, with the next album perhaps..., you'll have a true collector's item that'll easily be worth much more than what you paid for it! Kinda cool, right? But you know what? WE'RE STILL NOT DONE! As a bonus, everyone who orders this CD also receives a customized digital version of closing track "The Burglars Are Back In Town" featuring a special recording by me with your name added to the song lyrics! You'll be getting your own customized song that's just for you. Now if that isn't something to get excited about, I don't know what is. I'm really looking forward to doing this for the first hundred of you!</p>
<p>Now that we've established how this can be a really personal record to you, let me add a few thoughts of my own here and talk a little about each song.<br>Like I said earlier, I wrote all of these songs in a space of 45 minutes while on a break from work. Obviously I didn't write the full songs within that time, but I had all the chords, melodies and bits of lyrics together. That is the absolute first time this has happened to me in such a short time space. Come to think of it, I'd be hard pressed to remember whether I've ever written five songs in a DAY, let alone 45 minutes.<br>Anyway, the actual point here really is that when I started recording these songs I realized they told a really strong personal story – they had a common arc – and there wasn't a way that these songs were going to work in any other order on the EP than in the order I wrote them in. The whole EP is a very personal journey from a place of acute depression and frustration towards finding a new purpose within myself to maybe even going a bit overboard in taking part in a society-wide revolution during the last song. And while I initially thought these songs might be too personal to share, I came to realize that I can not be the only one going through these (e)motions while juggling work, life, love and your dreams.<br>So yeah, releasing this EP is both scary in a positive sense but also the proudest I've been of any of my recordings 'til date.</p>
<p>In closing, let me just briefly glimpse at these songs.</p>
<p><strong>01. Follow Your Love To The Letter</strong><br>When I sat down to write down the final lyrics for this song, I didn't have to think at all. Quite like the original song itself, the lyrics just happened in that one instant. Don't ask me what it's about; I know what it's about. But I think the lyrics do a better job of explaining the mood than I could ever describe in writing about it. There's one intentional pun in there though, just because no matter how dark I might get, I've yet to lose my sense of humour, I suppose: the line "I'm a forest burning as my streams have run dry" is indeed in reference to music streams of our music drying up and thus royalties doing so as well. They never dried up entirely though; you guys are just way too cool for that. But it's a little fun at my own expense. Couldn't help it.</p>
<p><strong>02. Lost In Spaces</strong><br>This is what I actually wanted to initially call the EP until I realized the whole story arc thing within this record will be clearer with a title like the one I chose for it in the end. The drums on this are first take! I'm probably going to say this a lot regarding this EP, but a lot of stuff just happened spontaneously, organically and without over-analyzing it too much. Structure wise this is probably the simplest song I've ever written. The vibe on this one is magical. I'm really proud of what the song SOUNDS like, if you know what I mean? And what a cool little chorus, even if I do say so myself...</p>
<p><strong>03. Take Me Back To The Lovely Side</strong><br>I'm hating a lot on bosses and "the Man" in general it seems. And this, despite the fact that in general all my bosses have been alright at least, some even great. I'm guessing it's just my inner societal anarchist that's just never going to stop hating against "the system" until everyone is treated equally. Or maybe I'm just an asshole who likes revisiting the few times that people have been assholes to me. But yeah, as you can probably tell, this song is about being completely fed up with my work. The lyrics are brutally honest too. Kind of liberating, actually. This song sounds like The National covering The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Interesting vibe as well.</p>
<p><strong>04. I Like Everything That Gets Me Out Of Bed Today</strong><br>...or ILETGMOOBT for short, haha! This is me rediscovering my positive resolve and sort of having a little jab at myself for being a whiny little bitch in the previous songs. There are always a whole bunch of people that are worse of than me, there are always a whole bunch of people who are going through the same stuff as I am, and there's always going to be a bunch of people that just seem to perpetually be better off than me. Just deal with it, Jon. Don't lose track of the silver lining. I guess that's pretty much the message of the song, really.</p>
<p><strong>05. The Burglars Are Back In Town</strong><br>So, this song makes me smile. There's actually a bit of a dark undertone in the lyrics since it actually touches on criminality and the societal divide in our midst getting constantly deeper and deeper. But what makes me smile is the unabashed, almost naive optimism through which everything in this song is portrayed. Yes, we're starting a revolution here, yes we're going to share the wealth so nobody has to live on the street anymore, but most importantly, yes, we're going to do it in a manner in which no-one gets hurt! Only ever really happens in Hollywood, but who's to say we shouldn't try, right? We are all Earthlings. Everything else is just talk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alright, if you've read this far, you should probably just get this record for free for being a total badass! Hats off to you, we salute you and hope you like these new tunes!</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5859705
2019-08-16T10:01:34+03:00
2019-08-16T10:01:34+03:00
So great to be back – One down, two to go!
<p>There's something magic about the Night of the Arts in Helsinki. The whole town's abuzz with every conceivable artist putting their craft on show and if the weather plays along like yesterday, there's not a lot of places I'd rather be at at that particular moment in time. That being said and this being the third year in a row we've played the same festival, it's funny how every time before the gig I ask myself whether this is really a good idea. Last year was the album preview gig and we hauled along a tent, lighting equipment, a PA system, recording equipment, a generator as well as a video crew of likeminded friends. Now while that was a lot of fun and totally worth it as well, I just didn't feel like doing anything even remotely like that this time around. I actually felt more like taking only our instruments and setting up somewhere on the grass, pure hippie style!</p>
<p>So when we arrived on location with Karza, we had a quick look around, saw that the dock we've played on for the last two years was in the shadows (nothing new there, it's been that way every year, obviously) and instead opted for a perfect sunlight spot just some 20 metres away. Sorry to anyone who was looking for us on the dock and therefor missed us, although I do hope the music was still somewhat audible over yonder...! Almost managed to confuse Joel though, who was on drumming duties and had agreed to meet us at the usual spot...</p>
<p>Anyway, it was time for something new and uplifting and so I decided to change my wardrobe from the previous gigs (Karza's comment: "Thank fuck!"). I just wasn't feeling it anymore. Funny thing though, totally by accident, Karza wore the same shirt as at last year's gig. And they say men don't notice these kinds of things! When all it takes is editing hours and hours of album preview show video footage to help them remember... </p>
<p>Again, back to what I was saying – I wanted this gig to feel more like a cool hangout with friends, with us delivering an upbeat soundtrack to a warm summer evening. Nothing too artsy-fartsy – it just didn't fit the concept in my mind. So we decided to play A LOT of new tunes and just two actual old ones if you count 'The Hula Hoop Shakes' as new, too. Joel playing away on his Loota kit, Karza on bass (!!) duties and me doing me, it just felt fresh and invigorating in my mind, and I hope it felt like that for the audience as well. Totally made up a whole new verse for 'Beggar Princess' because I just couldn't remember anything but the first word of the third verse – which I believe is the word "I", which again is actually only one letter, so... kind of a poor showing from me and my brains to be truthful! Didn't botch a single one of the new lyrics though, so go figure...</p>
<p>We brought some air sofas for the front row, people were dancing, people were clapping along and people generally seemed to have a good time. Sold a lot of t-shirts as well – thank you, You Know Who! It all definitely felt like something new and different all around. Like a new chapter beginning.</p>
<p>We played:<br>01. The Hula Hoop Shakes<br>02. The Ceiling (NEW)<br>03. Soar (NEW)<br>04. Unfinished Business With The World (NEW)<br>05. The Light Upon The Hill (NEW)<br>06. Beggar Princess<br>07. The Fairytale Waltz<br>08. Agents of the Change (NEW)</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/cf7aec6da6235094536a1dd5046ebf4150870d4e/original/68476426-1112015169008554-1740302211260350464-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Snapshot from Joel's Instagram, moments before the gig. And while yes, those are goose feathers on the ground; no, we didn't step into any of their poo. They had a separate lawn for that...</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5721165
2019-04-16T10:45:22+03:00
2019-04-16T10:45:22+03:00
'The Bear & The Bird' – It's all about the fans this time
<p>It's been a while, to state the obvious first.</p>
<p>Seeing as all our endeavours around the release of 'The Hurt & The Humour' didn't quite pan out the way we'd have liked, I decided to go back to our roots and do something completely on my own. I even decided to make this record without the wonderful help of our mastering engineer Justin Perkins, so for all it's advantages and faults the four new songs on here are as me as possible.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/33f37bc0e1af87929f09f3c9edf86027d732823d/original/the-bear-cover-small-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>My whole idea with this last EP that we're releasing around 'The Hurt & The Humour' is to give back something to our listeners, followers, friends and fans whether they've been with us since the beginning or relatively new to the ride. So there's loads of stuff here that's been added both for the fun of it and to actually put a smile on your face – you the person reading this! – as well.</p>
<p><strong>First</strong> off, a full circle moment with the cover as it's again a drawing by my daughter, one she actually drew just a couple of weeks after she'd drawn the cover for 'Beggar Princess'.<br><strong>Second,</strong> I decided to add four – instead of the usual three – new songs to this release just because...well, who's to stop me, right?<br><strong>Third,</strong> the songs themselves are not just a random selection of all the stuff "left over" after finishing the album. With 'Dead Out Of Time' and 'Suiciders' there's two songs on here that featured on my very first demo ten (!!) years ago when I started putting together what would eventually become The Fisherman & The Sea. I have to say that both versions on the new EP are vast improvements on the songs from ten years ago and 'Suiciders' especially has been an absolute blast to play live.<br><strong>Fourth,</strong> with '(I Only Ever Listen To) Oasis' I'm letting myself do something I initially didn't think would suit The Fisherman & The Sea. I have tons of songs with both self-deprecating and humorous lyrics, but not quite this humorous and tongue-in-cheek as this one. I guess I didn't initially think that it would fit the more serious world of The Fisherman & The Sea, but then I realized being a goof from time to time is just, well, me, so I thought "Screw it!" and put it on here.<br><strong>Fifth</strong>, seeing as I already decided to be open about my goofiness I decided to also share my crazy with the inclusion of 'I Don't Know What To Believe In Anymore' and its symphonic arrangement. Until we can afford to book a whole symphony orchestra, there's no way we can replicate this live. But that's the beauty of it; it'll live it's life as a monstrous beast of a track on the record and as something completely different at any possible future live offering.<br><strong>Sixth,</strong> Nani Annette's wonderful photography has featured on every single one of our releases 'til date and 'The Bear & The Bird' will be no exception. The back cover of the new EP is a conscious nod of hers to one of our earlier releases. A little bit of visual fun, if you will. You'll only be able to see it though when you hold the actual physical copy in your hands...</p>
<p><strong>'The Bear'</strong><br>I literally didn't know which song to pick from the album to feature on this EP so I just picked the one that went best with the artwork. True story. It did help however that Lazlo at BlowUpRadio had played this on his show around the release of the album and it sounded really great in between all those other tracks!</p>
<p><strong>'Dead Out Of Time'</strong><br>First of two songs from my first demo from ten years ago, this one was actually called 'A Broken Man' for the longest time without me ever liking the title. It always had one of the best choruses though so I knew I wanted to use it somewhere down the road. So I finally dug it up after the release of 'The Hurt & The Humour' and realized I'd actually halfway recorded a new version of it already that I just continued work on to get to the final version you can hear on the EP. It's sort of a sister song to 'Beggar Princess' in my mind, but I don't know if there's anyone who'd agree with me on that to be honest. It's definitely not the lyrics, I'll give you that.</p>
<p><strong>'(I Only Ever Listen To) Oasis'</strong><br>I started writing this, came up with a chorus that I thought was funny as all fuck and then realized that musically it sounded exactly like something Noel Gallagher would've written for Oasis around the Be Here Now era. So we ended up playing it last summer at our 'I Can't Alone' release party on the Espa stage and it went down a storm with the crowd although for me it was more about summer shits and giggles at that point. But after that gig I decided to do something with the song, and although it'd have been way too cheeky to be included on the album, I thought it'd be fun to go all out tribute/homage/fanboy with this song and release it here. So there you go. My apologies.</p>
<p><strong>'Suiciders'</strong><br>The second song from that decade old demo, this song is actually about a childhood experience when for a fleeting moment I thought was drowning in orange juice and fell to the floor. Yeah, sounds cooky, but who's childhood isn't, eh? So obviously as an adult I write a whole sinister song about the incident, right? Go figure. I actually love the song and it's one of our favourites to play live (although it does fuck up any lead guitarists wrist for the rest of the show...) and I actually like the fact it reminds me of a childhood memory. I should write more about my childhood actually, just realized. Third album, here I come! (Second's already written.)</p>
<p><strong>'I Don't Know What To Believe In Anymore'</strong><br>I've lost count on how many working titles this song has had. Two I can remember from the top of my head include 'Watered Down' and 'No Heroes Of Mine' both of which are cool but have no connection to the song's story despite the former actually being a line from the chorus. But yeah, looking back now I'm actually a bit sad I didn't include this on the album as it's easily one of the best songs I've ever written. It's not your typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus song either but more of a meandering wholesome musical journey that just came out like that during writing. But it would've been too massive an undertaking to finish it in time for 'The Hurt & The Humour' so I'm just going to sit here and eat it. I'm actually really proud of this song with all its unusual elements for us, like a sampled beat, a symphony orchestra and a few other productional gimmicks. I guess in lots of ways this is actually me at my purest. Might have to do a re-issue of the album now. Damn it!</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5614785
2019-01-27T15:29:19+02:00
2019-01-27T15:29:19+02:00
Crossroads – Where do we go next?
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/89bad46f4fb072873590d1539f093ccf9793bab4/original/fisherman-semifinal-netti-039.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Admittedly it's kind of counter-intuitive, but the fact is that while on Friday we made our biggest and most important release with our debut album 'The Hurt & The Humour' fact is that playing live with this full band is now 50% out of our own hands and into yours – the readers, the listeners. For our album release show at Semifinal we pulled every string we had and invested the most time, money and effort into making rehearsals and the gig itself work. We didn't only play live as a five-piece for the first time – drums, bass (!), guitars, keyboards and three singers – we're also lucky enough to have some of the bestest friends you could ask for in Kiffe who did an outstanding job with the sound, Milkku who kept the show going flawlessly as our guitar tech and Tim who sat behind the mixing desk for hours before the gig to figure out the perfect light show for our performance. Our deepest gratitude goes out to those three guys who selflessly gave it their best and made The Sea rock and roar that evening!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/1dec93f952b757fb96d2a24c9ff643ba972cf16e/original/fisherman-semifinal-netti-035.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>As you can imagine though, putting on such a show is not easily done and requires for A LOT of things to fall into place, most of all logistically. So I can honestly not say for sure when you'll get to see and hear us at the peak of our powers again as it now depends on how the album performs on streaming platforms, radio and reviews. That's what I mean when I say our situation with the release of our album is counter-intuitive; the launch show was the pinnacle of our doing up until now and not the launch into a new era where we get to play these kickass rock shows around the country. We're done for the moment and now have to see how things start developing.<br>Lucky for us though you can help directly. Simply by listening to us on your preferred streaming platform or even requesting that our songs get played on the radio. That's literally all you have to do. Because make no mistake, we're constantly working hard behind the scenes to make headway in this business. But – to paraphrase a recent EP title – we can't alone.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/3a350dab4590a84408000fed1da83fa4ee6d75af/original/fisherman-semifinal-netti-046.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The show itself was a smashing hit! Yes, it wasn't sold-out like we'd hoped but we didn't only play to our aunts and uncles either. I can honestly say we have never sounded better or kicked more ass than two nights ago! My personal highlights included 'Beggar Princess', 'Ugly', 'Trail of Lies' and set closer 'The Funny One'. No coincidence they're all uptempo songs – they sounded ass-on-the-floor rocking! I'll carry the live experience of those songs with me for a long time, no doubt. Another special moment came during the "encore" when Sanna K. joined us on stage for a rendition of 'Reptile I' from 'I Can't Alone'. That haunting vocal solo and most of all the way she does it, it gets me every time. Literally had to look away to not start bawling. She is a true treasure that one.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/f86c02952459367de92d6dedaaa48d2c4974e79a/original/fisherman-semifinal-netti-063.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>And while on the subject of treasures; a quick shoutout to our opener for the night AleksiKaufmann! Him and his guitar – he's like the soundtrack to every heartbreak in every indie movie you ever loved. Such awesome soul in his songs. "Nerd folk" he calls it himself which is only self-deprecatingly accurate. Bless him.</p>
<p>But in closing I have to say what Kari and Sara did groove-wise on drums and bass, what Tuukka switching to electric guitar and Joel getting to utilize his Nord keyboard in full meant sound-wise, I felt was extraordinary. It really felt like the big screen version of our music. Even if only for one night.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/a11233f14d838ca9b9cf002f2f2284e812eb63e3/original/fisherman-semifinal-netti-053.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We played:<br>01. Hurry<br>02. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>03. The Fairytale Waltz<br>04. Beggar Princess<br>05. The Undertaker<br>06. A Song For The Hills<br>07. Skinny Dip<br>08. Ugly<br>09. The Bear<br>10. Homesick<br>11. Life In The Service Of Others</p>
<p>12. Reptile I<br>13. Trail Of Lies<br>14. Suiciders<br>15. The Funny One</p>
<p>All photos by Nani Annette.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5550403
2018-12-12T10:08:31+02:00
2018-12-12T10:09:14+02:00
The Hurt & The Humour – The Songs | Part 3
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/a562228b658f547661e6239d4761dd30c679ab96/original/hh-lp-cover-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Part 3 of our THTH trilogy!</p>
<p><strong>Ugly </strong></p>
<p>This is me pissed off. Pissed off at everyone, pissed off at the world, but most of all just pissed at myself. I think it’s about rejection in essence though. Especially in the music business 95% of the time you hear the word ’No’. Or you simply just don’t hear anything at all. It’s incredibly difficult to catch a break and that fact will easily frustrate most people. I guess that’s why most bands quit after just a few years of only uphill battle. I suppose there’s a case to be made that it’s just not worth the 5% of time when being in a band trying to get places is actually fun. </p>
<p>I don’t want to complain though, because I’ve settled into doing things at my own pace. But that won’t stop me from filing a complaint in the guise of a song, ha! </p>
<p>Anyway, screw whatever feelings of inadequacy I deal with in the lyrics, this song is just a beast live! It’s crazy how much this one fuels you up and you just want to kick shit to pieces. It’s also very taxing to perform and because of that it’s usually the set closer. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The Bear </strong></p>
<p>Bit of a secret favourite maybe? It’s less of a grand gesture than the other songs on the album. It’s definitely the folkiest song on the album if you ask me. People who’ve heard the song have asked if the story about the bear is an analogy and I always tell them no. It’s just about a bear out in the wilderness, confronted with people from time to time and finally going berserk at the loss of its cub. Yeah, you can draw parallels and analogies to our lives easily enough but that was never my intention when writing the song. </p>
<p>I always wanted it to be on the album . Especially debut albums tend to be a first Greatest Hits of sorts because of the amount of years the bands usually have had time to develop their sound and songs, an amount of years that you almost never get between future albums. But I never wanted this album to just be a ’single after single’ kind of playlist but also have a bit of depth. Sure, ’The Undertaker’ and ’A Song For The Hills’ lend that as well, but their still kind of heavy in their appearance. And ’The Bear’ is not heavy at all, bar part of the lyrics, and is more of a trip than the other songs. Not the song you catch yourself humming along to after you’ve finished the album. But a song that’ll keep pleasantly surprising you with its layers listen after listen. Well, here’s hoping anyway! </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Homesick </strong></p>
<p>I always picture this song playing over the end credits of a cool little indie film. The title gives away exactly what it’s about, so no need to dive in more deeply there. Would’ve been easy to make this a huge bombastic affair with drums, strings and whatnot. The song totally lends itself to that kind of treatment. But that always felt half-hearted to me. And so I took upon myself the more challenging task of doing way less with it but still achieving the same kind of emotional response as with the Hollywood production. I like how it turned out in the end. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Life In The Service Of Others </strong></p>
<p>Now while ’Homesick’ would be such an obvious album closer, I always try to fight the obvious to a certain extent. And so I decided early on I didn’t want to close the album with a down tempo song. Instead I thought it’d be fun to close with a song where I scream my lungs out in the bridge before the last chorus. So here you go. </p>
<p>Lyrically I suppose you could say this is a traditional protest folk song about working for the Man. Musically it’s probably the song that’s changed the least over the years. It’s one of the oldest ones on the record but I’ve always enjoyed it regardless of all the new songs I’d written. On top of that, I kind of like the idea of making a statement at the end of the album stating clearly ”this is where the roots are”, this is how it all began. I wrote it around the same time as ’Beggar Princess’ and ’Trail of Lies’ from our first EP and both those songs went through massive changes until they were recorded. This one just didn’t. It’s our roots song, I guess.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5543626
2018-12-07T10:13:22+02:00
2018-12-07T10:22:56+02:00
The Hurt & The Humour – The Songs | Part 2
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/a562228b658f547661e6239d4761dd30c679ab96/original/hh-lp-cover-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Part 2 of our trilogy. Tracks 4-7 of 'The Hurt & The Humour'...explained?</p>
<p><strong>Beggar Princess </strong></p>
<p>Our first release and by all accounts still our most listened to and watched song on all our platforms. I mean, it IS quintessentially The Fisherman & The Sea in every possible way. It’s the happiest song on the record because it’s about my daughter and how I marvel about her possibilties and what she’ll be able to achieve in life. But, it wouldn’t be a song of mine if it didn’t have a minuscule tinge of envy mixed into all of that happiness. I think envy of little children is both stupid and ridiculous but at the same time a very human thing. Hence the line ’I want to steal this, from you my beggar princess’. I’m poking fun at myself again. Can’t help it. I’m a Ben Folds fanboy after all. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The Undertaker </strong></p>
<p>Now talk about a radical change of…everything between this one and ’Beggar Princess’ before it. Because this one’s about Death. And I do mean with a capital D. Because the protagonist in this song is the Grim Reaper himself who has come to collect a soul to ferry to the Otherside. It’s extremely dark but hauntingly beautiful at the same time. I guess it’s my most Finnish song in lots of ways. I definitely had Finland in mind when depicting the forest, the lake and the house guarding the water’s edge in the song. </p>
<p>This is kind of a ’sister song’ to ’Marina’ from the ’Stuck With A Rhyme’ EP. For the longest time I’ve had this really obscurely dark road movie playing in my head with ’Marina’, ’The Undertaker’ and a couple more tracks as the soundtrack. I don’t think I’ll ever have enough money to make it happen though, haha. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>A Song For The Hills </strong></p>
<p>Lyrically we only get slightly lighter on this track since it’s not about Death but only dying. Or more accurately about a person’s dying wishes. As a person who’s always lived on the flattest of lands, hills, let alone mountains are cause for excitement and romanticism for me. So in this song I picture myself wandering the Scottish Highlands in search for my final resting place with a song to ease my passing and to stop me from going mad with grief. Now if you think that’s a bit much on the Sadness scale, I’ll give you that one, haha! But at the same time I believe it’s the combination of the lyrics and the music that make the song. I don’t like being depressing in my songs – or, you know, only to a certain extent – and this one’s no different. The music’s actually uplifting and what that suggests to me in combination with the lyrics is that yes, we all have to go sometime, so let’s try and do it on our own terms and in a way we're comfortable with. </p>
<p>This was actually meant to be the opening track of the album for the longest time and we’ve played it as the set opener at 95% of our gigs. But when it came to picking the running order of the tracks on the album I just wasn’t feeling it for some inexplicable reason. Now it opens the imaginary B-side of the album which I’m much happier with. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Skinny Dip </strong></p>
<p>Now this is probably the most straight forward lovesong on here. It’s about falling for a girl that’s still recovering from her last break-up and sort of the protagonist dancing around that fact both trying to let her know about his feelings and at the same trying not to ”crowd” her so she can deal with her feelings. Tricky! </p>
<p>Pretty much wrote this during a bike ride with the guitar part playing in my head and me singing out the lyrics in traffic to a fair bit of amusement and bewilderment of quite a few pedestrians.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5538379
2018-12-04T10:06:01+02:00
2018-12-04T10:06:38+02:00
The Hurt & The Humour – The Songs | Part 1
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/a562228b658f547661e6239d4761dd30c679ab96/original/hh-lp-cover-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Like all good things, let us do this as a trilogy as well. 'The Hurt & The Humour' has 11 tracks and each one of them harbours a unique little story of its own. So here are the stories behind the Starting Three of our debut album!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Hurry </strong></p>
<p>’Hurry’ was coincidentally written in…well, a hurry. About 5 minutes before I had to leave for work I suddenly started playing this riff you can hear in the verses. So about 10 minutes later I’d demoed the first version of the song onto my phone and was absolutely late for work. Other than the lyrics I don’t think I ever refined it much, it’s still basically the song that happened in those 10 minutes of conception. </p>
<p>What I particularly like about ’Hurry’ is that it sounds like a happy, cheerful song – I mean there’s lines about hurrying up, phone calls and mom – but it’s actually a profoundly sad break-up song. To me it’s the perfect song to open an album called ’The Hurt & The Humour’ – although it wasn’t supposed to for the longest time – because it incapsulates both those sentiments perfectly. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Stuck With A Rhyme </strong></p>
<p>Well this one you already know. I really love the recorded version of it. It’s got grit, raw power and almost kind of a punk feel to it. Suffice it to say, I can’t wait to play it live in January with the whole band. It’s going to kick so much ass it’s ridiculous! </p>
<p>Initially about writer’s block, this song finally unfolded when I made it about a whole personal blockage on many levels. Not just being stuck with the pencil and paper referred to in the chorus but also with yourself and everything you’re trying to achieve. </p>
<p>The video to this song is still my favourite one out of the self-directed ones, at least still at the point of writing this… </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The Fairytale Waltz </strong></p>
<p>This is my personal favourite song on the album at the moment. I love how effortlessly everything fell into place during the recording and mixing stage. Because for the longest time I thought getting this song right was going to be the hardest thing ever. But now it just perfectly blends the Alice in Chains Unplugged-album with something eerie out of Twin Peaks. </p>
<p>I believe this song’s actually one of the more humorous ones on the album with the protagonist wanting, but struggling to stay miserable in the face of falling for a girl that's making fun of his misery. I’m basically just having a laugh at my own expense, about my personal moments of ridiculous but sinister doom and gloom here.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5535886
2018-12-02T17:50:50+02:00
2019-07-31T09:20:32+03:00
”Play a happy song, for Christ’s sakes!”
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/0c1dabba0049f3dec401d898aff321638582abcb/original/img-1209.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Pic by Lisa. Note Tuukka's Christmas sweater!</p>
<p>Bringing your own kids to gigs always leads to two things: total anarchy and therefor, most likely, a good time. So mine and Tuukka’s girls (no boys in this exclusive club!) decided to man the balcony at IPI and shout down wishes and more importantly: suggestions. All of this to the continued amusement of a lovely crowd of people who’d gathered to watch our (last ever?!? Well, at least for this year) acoustic show. And we’d decided to mark the occasion by letting our audience choose a few of their favourite Christmas songs via Facebook and also premiering our brand new Christmas track ’Christmas On A Mountain’.</p>
<p>But to be honest, we decided to use the gig at IPI to evolve our sound more towards club shows, so we weren’t strictly speaking acoustic anymore; Tuukka rocking out on his Les Paul and Joel conjuring up all kinds of sweet sounds on his keyboard. And this was Karza’s last gig on the Loota for now as well an there’s a whole new band member you have yet to meet... But I’m getting ahead of myself here. More on all that...ummm...yeah, tomorrow. Rest assured though, the only thing I’m changing is my outlook on life...I mean my posture. I’m gonna ditch that bar stool and finally be able to do all my nervous dances while singing and swinging. Been a long time! </p>
<p>Anyway, IPI is still one of my favourite places to play because for some strange reason the sound is always remarkably good there although the architecture definitely suggests otherwise and the staff there are nice in the most extremely positive stretch of the word. And the food...wow! I kinda actually want to live in that place, come to think of it. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/7ffe09947e722520f186dacacba69e67508ff57b/original/img-1208.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Pic by Lisa.</p>
<p>So anyway, on to the gig itself. I think we played for an hour and a half or something. So, longest gig ’til date. Heikki, our sound engineer of the evening had conjured up a lovely sound for us on stage and for the people in the audience as well apparently, so it was a joy to play. </p>
<p>We started out with a couple of our own songs and plunged into our first Christmas offering ’Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ with me on ukulele. Everybody had a solo in it, even Karza pulled out a burner out of the very limited natural resources of the Loota. A few songs on I broke my first string of the evening during ’The Bear’ which meant we had to skip Skinny Dip completely and for me to play ’Christmas On A Mountain’ with one string less. Both because those two minutes of changing a string and tuning it are the worst kind of entertainment there can be. Can’t afford guitar techs. Yet... </p>
<p>So all of that caused a bit of confusion, mostly in my own head, I’ll admit, so I decided to play our next Christmas cover ’Varpunen jouluaamuna’. I felt like I hadn’t completely put the commotion in my head to bed during my rendition of that particular song or as Tuukka more aptly put it ”I felt like having another beer.” <br>So when I thereafter apparently made my daughter cry with ’Reptile I’ (which sounded great! I love doing it now that I’ve gotten somewhat used to not playing anything on it) my daughter’s friends audibly plead to us to ”play a happy song for Christ’s sakes!” from the balcony. Lucky for us we were able to oblige with ’Life In The Service Of Others’ (not exactly happy, but upbeat atleast) and ’Beggar Princess’ (happy, yes, check!). I don’t know what would’ve come raining down on us if we hadn’t managed that twist. I happen to know there were some edibles upstairs... </p>
<p>Anyway, the last Christmas cover was cheekily suggested by my friend Maquée (who features on the studio version of ’A Man With No Dance’) on the Facebook poll and completely tore the roof off; the last Christmas cover obviously had to be a cover of... ’Last Christmas’. And yes, we incorporated a singalong for the audience. Because that’s what you do if you were raised right. I don’t trust anyone though who claims to know what the hell happens in those verses. I don’t believe there’s anyone who does. I certainly don’t count myself as one of them. </p>
<p>After that Tuukka soon kicked his bar stool to the curb and we rocked out to ’Stuck With A Rhyme’ and ’Ugly’ to close off the show. <br>Really enjoyed chatting to friends and meeting new people after the show. What I really love about these small shows is that you actually get to chat with the people who came to see you and get to know them just that little bit at least. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone! We really loved playing for you guys. Have a lovely, relaxing Christmas with the people that make you happiest! </p>
<p>We played (although I'm somewhat fuzzy about the order down the middle...)<br>01. Trail of Lies<br>02. A Man With No Dance<br>03. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree<br>04. Hurry<br>05. A Song For The Hills<br>06. The Bear<br>07. Christmas On A Mountain<br>08. Varpunen jouluaamuna<br>09. The Fairytale Waltz<br>10. Reptile I<br>11. Life In The Service Of Others<br>12. Beggar Princess<br>13. Last Christmas<br>14. Homesick<br>-----<br>15. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>16. Ugly</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5492021
2018-10-30T10:12:16+02:00
2018-10-30T10:12:16+02:00
I Can't Alone – Song stories
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/b8a6ee0ab8a59227a5da75d03b8e12d660a72387/original/ugly-cover-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><strong>Skinny Dip </strong><br><em>(featuring Tuukka on lead guitar and Karza on melodica) </em></p>
<p>I literally wrote this on a bike on my ride between jobs. I’d just written the guitar part so it was playing in my head while I was driving through downtown Helsinki and all of a sudden all these words and melodies started pouring out of my brain. In order to remember it all I had to start singing all the parts out loud in traffic which got me some curious looks when I stopped for a light. Eventually I got where I was going and managed to sing all of the ideas onto my phone in some Helsinki hallway without a guitar or anything. </p>
<p>I played it to Tuukka and Karza at our next rehearsal and I think we then played it live for the first time only three weeks after that bike ride. There was never any demo of it. So there was never any doubt in my mind that I wanted the guys to also play their parts on the recorded version exactly like they play them live. And that’s what you got here. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ugly </strong><br><em>(featuring Karza on background vocals) </em></p>
<p>You know when artists say something like ”I wrote this song in 15 minutes” or ”This song just came flowing out of me like magic”? The amount of times you read that in interviews you’re led to believe that it happens all the time with almost every song. It doesn’t. It’s just a cool story (and a cool thing!) when it does happen. And it certainly happened with this one – which is rare for me! But I was feeling frustrated, angry and bitter, sat down with my guitar and wrote this in 15 minutes. Everything but the second verse. I believe I finished that later in the evening. </p>
<p>But even though the song itself was an easy write, the band arrangement was anything but. I mean, the drums were dead easy, but all the rest took ages. Especially the lead guitar. That was just another barrier I had to break down in my mind, that yes, I can actually incorporate something that sounds like System of A Down into the world of The Fisherman & The Sea. I was a bit anxious when I came up with those riffs about whether people would think I’d gone off the deep end. But it was actually just a case of thinking to myself ”what would Tuukka do?” And so there you have it. </p>
<p>An interesting side note is that while I experimented with what other lead elements to incorporate in the song beside the vocals I dabbled with some synth riffs as well. I had to admit to myself that those were just too far out there to be in the final mix. But now I’m more than happy to be able to share those synth parts with you in the GRINNA remix of the track that’s part of the single release on November 6th. I’m sure some people will hate it and others will love it. It’s a completely different take on the song but it works. Just in a completely different genre. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Naive </strong><br><em>(featuring Emppu Suhonen on lead vocals) </em></p>
<p>This one’s by far the oldest song on the EP. It had existed for years as a sort of mellow country ballad that I always liked but thought was maybe a bit naive (pun intended indeed!). I don’t know why I one day just started playing it way faster and in a totally different key from the original. But I suddenly realized, wow, this was actually a pretty cool pop song. So out of the blue I decided to include this song on ’I Can’t Alone’ and sent the acoustic demo of it to everyone who’d promised to feature on it. </p>
<p>Emppu was the first to respond literally the next day. She said she loved the track and sent me a demo of her ideas she’d recorded on her phone right away. She had the brilliant idea of making it a duet which gave the story so much more depth and also immediately had that poignant vocal harmony you can hear in the chorus. She’d just elevated that song tenfold within a day. I was floored. Should’ve known to expect nothing less from a pro like her though… </p>
<p>Emppu was essential for the last step it took for this song to find its final shape as well. She had some big reunion gigs with Tiktak, her old band, over the summer and was doing some press to promote it and I stumbled upon one of her interviews while mixing the EP. She was lamenting the absense of distorted guitars from today’s pop music and that’s where I decided, hell, I’m gonna do her a solid and add some distorted guitars on her track on this EP. So when I got back to my workstation almost instantly this sort of Queens of the Stone Age-esque riff came out and that’s the one you can hear in the final version now as well. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Reptile I </strong><br><em>(featuring Joel on piano and Sanna K. on vocals) </em></p>
<p>This again is the newest song that will feature on any of our releases around ’The Hurt & The Humour’. Having written it just two months before recording it for this EP it’s actually more recent than a lot of our second album, haha… When I play it it sounds more like something by Elliott Smith, but when I turned it over to Joel to ”do whatever you want with it” the song just turned into this great big ballad in the vein of Rufus Wainwright and some of those big piano balladeers from the 80’s. Well, at least in my mind. Joel took this one and totally made it his own. </p>
<p>When I came up with the vocal solo I was immediately dead set on getting Sanna to do it. I just instantly had her haunting vocal sound in my head when I wrote it. Luckily she didn’t need a lot of convincing and pretty much nailed it on the first take. We did a couple more takes just for good measure, but man, she’s such a treasure! Can’t wait for her to release some of her own stuff some fine day. </p>
<p>As far as the song itself, I just love the fact that the verses and choruses are in completely different keys but that it still works without you ever thinking about it twice. I guess it’s the track that actual music nerds find the most intriguing on this record. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>A Man With No Dance </strong><br><em>(featuring Joe Carroll on lead vocal harmonies and vintage synth, Oskari Nurminen on guitar solo and background vocals, Sanna K., Cassandra Zaeske, Erika, Jan-Henrik Stecker and Severi Pfeiffenberger on background vocals, Maquée on retro synth and synth strings and Kiffe Sjöblom with percussion programming) </em></p>
<p>Out of the 13 guest musicians that participated on this EP 9 feature on this track alone. So this was never going to be much of a challenge for me other than somehow trying to incorporate everyone’s ideas and contributions without layering too much stuff on it and losing sight of the song itself, i.e. overproduce it. But I always felt it was more of a mixing challenge in the end. I mean, everyone brought their ideas to the table without knowing or hearing what anyone else had done, just going by the simple acoustic demo I’d sent them. But still magically, everyone had ideas for different parts of the song so it worked out great. I believe I only had to turn one idea down that had to do with a programmed drum part which I felt would’ve shifted the feel of the track too much. </p>
<p>But quite perfectly it now is this huge celebration of a lot of talent, minds and voices coming together all the way from New York and Dublin to Helsinki and it just compliments the sentiment of the song perfectly. It’s a party and we’re building something. And we need everyone involved. I just love how it all worked out with this one.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5466415
2018-10-12T10:40:52+03:00
2018-10-12T10:40:52+03:00
Banding Together 2018 – A rare interview with BlowUpRadio's Lazlo!
<p>Today, on October 12th, Lazlo of BlowUpRadio.com releases his annual <a contents="Banding Together benefit compilation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together benefit compilation</a> for the Spondylitis Association of America. And for the first time, The Fisherman & The Sea are prominently featured on this whopping 35 song compilation featuring indie artists from the New Jersey area as well as – like in our case – just a little further away... You can get all of the songs for just 10$ which amounts to something between 8-9€. All of the proceeds will go towards charity. Check out the track list and download right away <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">here</a>!</p>
<p>Lazlo has been a huge supporter of our band since our first EP and just this week he featured our monthly e-mail list special, a track called 'Taking Back Thursdays' on his show. <a contents="The Banding Together benefit compilation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">The Banding Together benefit compilation</a> also marks the fourth time our songs have featured on one of his curated compilations, with 'The Funny One' featuring on Rock Against Hate, vol. 2 just this May. </p>
<p>For <a contents="Banding Together" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together</a> Lazlo asked us if we had a song that he could have as an exclusive until January. Well, yes we did – and we told him he can have the track as an exclusive until at least April, because that's when our last EP from this album cycle is probably going to come out, at least as far as I know now. It's a track called 'Suiciders' and it's actually the other of two quintessential songs without which I would've never started The Fisherman & The Sea, the other track being a song called 'The Undertaker' from the upcoming album. The only reason 'Suiciders' is not on the album is for the fact that alongside the Loota cajón drumkit which we use on (next to) all of our songs, there's also an actual drum kit on it which would disturb the unique dynamic of the album too much, I feel. It's one of my absolute favourite songs that I've written though and an absolute beast to play live (yes, we are playing it tonight at the Superwood Festival and plan to do so at every show from here on out!). I believe 'Suiciders' has found an amazing home for the next half year on the <a contents="Banding Together" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together</a> compilation until it will appear on our final EP in the spring or early next summer.</p>
<p>Putting together such a massive compilation is an incredible amount of work though, and the compilation is by far not the only thing that Lazlo is kicking up today and in the coming weeks. What that is and why he is championing a little known indie band from half a world away – Helsinki, Finland – he'll tell you all about it in this rare and insightful interview! He really is a remarkable man with an important story to tell.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/d334a5400cdb9f2a9b239b1c8cbb577b5f595592/original/banding-together-2018-lazlo-band-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><strong>Jon: <a contents='"Banding Together"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">"Banding Together"</a> is a benefit for the Spondylitis Association of America. What is spondylitis and why make this in particular the object of such a huge annual benefit endeavour?</strong> </p>
<p><strong>Lazlo:</strong> Spondylitis is a genetic, arthritic, rheumatic disease that causes inflammation in the spine and ribs, and can cause fusion of the spine. That is a very basic overview. There are far more detailed explanations, by medical experts (which I am not), on the Spondylitis Association Of America's website, <a contents="www.spondylitis.org" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.spondylitis.org" target="_blank">www.spondylitis.org</a>. </p>
<p>As for why I do this, my wife was diagnosed with spondylitis over a decade ago. At that time neither of us had heard of the disease. She reached out to the Spondylitis Association Of America for information, and found them to be an amazing resource that helped us better understand the disease, and put her in touch with doctors that were well informed about the disease. Over the years of doing <a contents="Banding Together" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together</a> benefits, more doctors have been diagnosing spondylitis, which has led to greater awareness of the disease. The Center For Disease Control estimates that 1 in 200 people suffer from spondylitis. </p>
<p><strong>Jon: <a contents='"Banding Together"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">"Banding Together"</a> is not only a compilation. There are a lot of other things, like a webathon and live shows, being organized as well. What can we expect from those?</strong> </p>
<p><strong>Lazlo: </strong><a contents="Banding Together" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together</a> is a multi-faceted benefit. There are three concerts happening in New Jersey (USA), with a myriad of local musicians performing. Since the bulk of the people reading this are probably not going to be able to make those shows, we also have a 3 day benefit webathon. From October 19th thru 21st, there will be 40 musical acts performing live in the studio on <a contents="BlowUpRadio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://BlowUpRadio.com" target="_blank">BlowUpRadio.com</a>'s internet station, which people can listen to anywhere in the world. This has become a hugely popular event both for the musicians and listeners, and it allows us to have a lot of fun, while simultaneously reminding people they can donate to the Spondylitis Association Of America via a donation link on <a contents="BlowUpRadio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://BlowUpRadio.com" target="_blank">BlowUpRadio.com</a> that goes directly to the SAA's secure servers, and any donation of $10 or more gets them a download of the <a contents="35 song compilation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">35 song compilation</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Jon:</strong> <strong>There's 35 (!!!) unreleased songs on the <a contents='"Banding Together" ' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">"Banding Together" </a>compilation. Together with everything you've just described all of this sounds like a gigantic undertaking, and I happen to know that this is not the only benefit you organize during a year. F.ex. <a contents='"Rock Against Hate, vol. 2" ' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://rockagainsthatepp.bandcamp.com/album/rock-against-hate-volume-2" target="_blank">"Rock Against Hate, vol. 2" </a>came out in May. How do you do it? How many months ahead do you have to start planning for this? Do you do this all on your own or do you have help from other people or organizations?</strong> </p>
<p><strong>Lazlo: </strong>Yes, it is a lot of work doing compilations and benefits, but I can't imagine not doing them. It is very easy to feel powerless when there are things you cannot control or fix, for example seeing my wife in pain from spondylitis and not being able to make it better. I may not be able to make her pain go away, but with the <a contents="Banding Together" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together</a> compilation and benefits, I can raise money for an organization that is at the forefront of educating and helping to find a cure for the disease. </p>
<p>As for how I do it, I ask. I am very lucky to know a lot of musicians, both locally here in NJ, and around the world, that are happy to help out by donating a song, and if they are local enough, being a part of the benefit concerts and webathon. </p>
<p>I generally start planning three to four months in advance. Hopefully giving artists enough lead time to be involved in the benefits in some way. Some musicians have been involved with <a contents="Banding Together" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together</a> every year, and actually reach out to me in advance of me contacting them. </p>
<p>There is always help in putting together any of the benefits I do. Obviously, there are many musicians who help, by donating their music and performing, without which there would be no benefits. In addition, my wife helps with some aspects of the benefits, there are several musicians who have helped a great deal in securing the venue and booking some of the benefit concerts, and I am in constant contact with the Spondylitis Association Of America to coordinate everything. I cannot stress enough how it is only through everyone banding together (hence the name) that the benefits are possible, and I am so grateful for everyone that is so gracious in helping. </p>
<p><strong>Jon:</strong> <strong>How do you select the artists you want to feature on the compilation? Is it hard to get artists to participate in this kind of benefit? </strong></p>
<p><strong>Lazlo: </strong>I've probably said this several times already, but I am very lucky that so many talented musicians want to participate in <a contents="Banding Together" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://spondy.bandcamp.com/album/banding-together-2018-compilation" target="_blank">Banding Together</a>. Each year I reach out to musicians whose music I like and play regularly on <a contents="BlowUpRadio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://BlowUpRadio.com" target="_blank">BlowUpRadio.com</a>, as well as posting about the benefits on social media. The number, and quality, of submissions that come in for the compilation is a real testament to how many amazing musicians are out there, that are also wonderful people who want to help. </p>
<p><strong>Jon:</strong> <strong>This is the fourth time (wow! Thank you!) you've featured our music on one of your compilations. With the vibrant music scene in your native New Jersey and the US as a whole, why champion a small indie band from the (relative) global backwaters of Finland? </strong></p>
<p><strong>Lazlo: </strong>While <a contents="BlowUpRadio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://BlowUpRadio.com" target="_blank">BlowUpRadio.com</a> was primarily started to focus on the New Jersey's independent original music scene, I have always had programming about music from outside on NJ. I like to support good music, which is a subjective term I know, but good music doesn't come from just one place. I am always seeking out new music from a myriad of sources. I believe I discovered your band through <a contents="Noisetrade" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://noisetrade.com" target="_blank">Noisetrade</a>, and while listening to that first EP I knew this was a band I couldn't wait to tell people about. That feeling of discovering amazing music and wanting everyone to know about it, that is why I do <a contents="BlowUpRadio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://BlowUpRadio.com" target="_blank">BlowUpRadio.com</a>. It's not for financial gain (I lose money doing the website & station), it is not for fame (I would rather people remember the music then remember me). I do this because if I like a band I want to share it with others... though that may be in part because of the band builds a bigger audience they are more likely to put out more music.</p>
<p><strong>Jon: Thanks Lazlo for the answers and the amazing amount of work you have put into this compilation as well as your continued support of indie musicians from around the world! You make this a better world for all of us.</strong></p>
<p>-Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5462924
2018-10-10T14:24:55+03:00
2018-10-10T14:24:55+03:00
Tales From The Road – "The last stops on the mini solo tour were a public toilet and a bar..."
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4dc1f0391769fb7f9ecde0688799a30b4eb871db/original/vk-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>So the last stops on the mini solo tour were a public toilet and a bar. And that's not a diss against Turku where the WaterLoo, a former public toilet, is located. Although upon arrival Dr. Dan and I were warned by the owner that Turku people generally don't like people from the capital. I don't know if he was preparing us for a bar fight later on or to dampen our expectations a bit, but to my delight it turned there seemed to be no immediate threat of violence before, during or after the gig. Seeing as the venue is tiny and there were a fair amount of people there, my mellow acoustic numbers were pretty much drowned out by the audience chattering away over their x-th beer. I massively enjoyed Eetu Kujala and his band though who were on after me somewhere around midnight. They're a tight bunch of guys, him, Kauri and Jonatan, and obviously had a lot of fun on their home turf. Other than that, I enjoyed the drives with Dan a whole lot, although he has some extremely weird opinions on Soundgarden... </p>
<p>At the WaterLoo I played:<br>01. Skinny Dip<br>02. Trail of Lies<br>03. The Bear<br>04. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>05. Beggar Princess<br>06. Hurry<br>07. Homesick<br>08. The Ceiling<br>09. Naive</p>
<p>So on the following day it was on to our beloved living room in Helsinki, Vastarannan Kiiski in Töölö. I was lucky enough to find time for a nap somewhere during the day after only having slept about three hours after the midnight ride back from Turku. Still feeling frustrated by having been shouted down for parts of my set on the night before I decided to shuffle the setlist around quite a bit for the Vastarannan Kiiski show. So I ended up playing:</p>
<p>01. The Ceiling<br>02. Beggar Princess<br>03. Taking Back Thursdays<br>04. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>05. A Man With No Dance<br>06. Naive<br>07. Hurry<br>08. Homesick<br>09. Ugly<br>10. Trail of Lies (encore)</p>
<p>The changes seemed to pay off and it seemed like the crowd was there right from the get-go. But somehow I've yet to play a show with bad vibes at the Kiiski. The crowds have been positive every time, the staff is super nice and friendly and there's always people there who care about the music. It's just such a great vibe. I think this was probably my favourite show of the tour alongside Klubs DEPO in Riga.<br>I caught myself singing along to some Dr. Dan tunes on my way back home. I really enjoyed his set that night. Antero Kerkkä, who came solo as well, and whom we'd played with at Semifinal in June was awesome as well. His songs really work incredibly well in a solo acoustic setting as well. I was surprised how many little nuances in his songs I'd missed the previous two times I'd seen them play.</p>
<p>So all in all, I'd say it was a tour of plenty of memorable and useful experiences, a whole bunch of nice people both in the audiences and on stage and a whole lot of fire now to start the album campaign after Friday night's gig at Superwood!</p>
<p>Love to everyone who came out to see us play! And thanks to Dan for arranging the tour and driving us around – cheers man!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5450305
2018-10-01T12:54:37+03:00
2018-10-01T12:54:37+03:00
Tales From The Road – "Let's get your music out of Finland!"
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/92ae029e856b0dd81e33f75631ee6ab60f2f36aa/original/img-1645.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Leg two of "Le Tour de Solo" washed me away to the lovely countries of Estonia and Latvia, specifically the cities of Tallinn and Riga. After last year's Christmas Bash at Dubrovnik and the Pub Pete show in March, both these dates were organized by the SW Agency, the motto being "Let's get your music out of Finland!" As is often the case with little known bands like ours, I went and did these shows abroad solo, as taking the boys on the road would've exploded the budget for this tour. Instead, my wife tagged along and turned out to be best possible tour guide of Riga (yes, we did actually have some time off!) as well as the main man himself; Dr. Dan. Dan drove us from Tallinn to Riga and back, but most of all put on a great show as the opening act on both nights. He's definitely got some tracks that are worth checking out if you get the chance!</p>
<p>In Tallinn we played the Red Emperor Bar which exists in combination with a hostel so the crowd that gathered to watch the shows was less Estonian and more a merry mixture of people from all over. Interesting venue and super-friendly staff. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/6f34be8b8fae6654d3c62e1171c4308df4ec26f3/original/img-1657.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>To play an acoustic set on your lonesome for close to 45 minutes – and nobody knowing the songs beforehand! – means that I had to put some real thought into which songs to play and how to play them in order to keep them interesting and entertaining without the band backing me up. So in the end only 'Skinny Dip' ended up sounding anything like the recorded version and all the other songs received a special treatment, so as to better appeal to a "bar crowd". I quite liked the challenge of reimagining these songs in a completely fresh way. I mean, some of these songs are a couple of years old already, so it's a little bit of fun for me as well.<br>Not only that though, I also played a new song called 'The Ceiling' from our second album. Just because it totally lends itself to an acoustic set like this and there was no publicist there to tell me no. And I know we still haven't even released our first album yet... I just thought it'd be a fun gag. And it was!</p>
<p>At the Red Emperor I played:<br>01. Skinny Dip<br>02. Trail of Lies<br>03. The Bear<br>04. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>05. Beggar Princess<br>06. Hurry<br>07. Homesick<br>08. The Ceiling<br>09. Naive</p>
<p>So after a 5,5 hour drive to Riga the next day, my wife and I went for a bit of a sightseeing tour around Riga while Dan stayed at the hotel growing increasingly miserable watching his beloved QPR getting a not so royal treatment from Swansea. Had some pelmenis in the Old City and saw one of the coolest Art Deco houses I've seen in some time!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/592fd924fe51f6010f37a53055f6abf6846d774a/original/img-1629.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The gig at Klubs DEPO was a fun little show for a handful of people. I managed to learn everybody's names and was taught to say thanks in Latvian by the crowd. So "Baldes!" to all of you who were there on Saturday evening! As per your wishes, I hope I'll be able to bring the band along next time.</p>
<p>I played:<br>01. Skinny Dip <br>02. Trail of Lies <br>03. The Bear <br>04. Stuck With A Rhyme <br>05. Beggar Princess <br>06. Hurry <br>07. Homesick <br>08. The Ceiling <br>09. Naive<br>----<br>10. Life in The Service Of Others (encore)</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/8f46e04e5913ef66ce584eb60e84b45e1c255086/original/img-1669.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>The tour with Dr. Dan continues next Friday in Turku's WaterLoo with featuring guest Eetu Kujala and on Saturday at Helsinki's old and trusted Vastarannan Kiiski with additional guest Antero Kerkkä. It promises to continue to be an interesting tour!</p>
<p>See you down the road,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5409540
2018-08-31T22:40:38+03:00
2018-08-31T22:40:38+03:00
Tales From The Road – Headlining time, baby!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/590332fc845ec93fa3b0b922b8f597300e347ce0/original/rooperi-netti-017.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>You know it's going to be a good gig when someone just walks up to you four hours before we're meant to go on stage while you're patrolling the area and asks for your latest EP because said someone's blasted the shit out of the first two already and needs a refill! I was impressed she recognized me in my street gear. I can be kind of unrecognizable at times...</p>
<p>But I mean, the gig was bound to be a massive hit anyway since it was only the second time that we managed to get all of the guys on stage together. First gig was Semifinal and now almost three months later we do it again! Brace yourself for December, eh? (No kidding, there's a gig there that we're doing as a four-piece as well...) But yeah, the songs just come so much more alive when Joel plays them sweet keys all over them that it's just a pleasure to play them as well. And dude, we were headlining! Who ever had that bold idea had some massive cojónes! (It was actually a woman. But I've been told that in the name of gender equality women can have cojónes as well. I mean, since men have always opted to be pussies whenever it suited them in the past as well... It's a new world, kids!)</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/9b6a92c83e6be450d7f2c60f49e76ae7c2a711dc/original/rooperi-netti-007.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>There were loads of people who stuck around and watched us play, even if it was late and basically the middle of the week. Thanks everyone! I hope we were able to give back a little to you guys. It was a pleasure and an honour! There were people jamming along, people dancing, some of you even seemed to make up your own vocal harmonies (no, not the drunken ones but actual cool ones!) by the time the second choruses kicked in. </p>
<p>We played:<br>01. Naive<br>02. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>03. A Song For The Hills<br>04. Beggar Princess<br>05. Ugly<br>06. A Man With No Dance</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/0a92ce5a0c74b616e63fe686479c3f15f1b22b9c/original/rooperi-netti-012.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Everyone – the volunteer staff and organizers, the people – at Rööperifest are just amazing and deserve a round of your applause. It's definitely been two of our favourite gigs playing there. Also just seems to blow right past you, that half an hour you spend on that stage. Joel wasn't the only one who went "What? So I'm off home again for real?! What's it been? Like two minutes?!"</p>
<p>Hey Rööperi, maybe we get to play for you next year again! It would be our pleasure. So, til next time!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/8688db5083f5402c9f41534e7088158a83527297/original/rooperi-netti-025.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>All these amazing pics © Nani Annette.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5404961
2018-08-28T21:28:14+03:00
2018-08-28T21:29:18+03:00
Tales From The Road Less Traveled... – "Should've gone by boat... I'm The Fisherman after all!"
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/e6867233756544429b495aefd13fb8bbd5c12b94/original/img-1499.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Wow, so there's a lot of cool indie/underground-sy – whatever you wanna call stuff that's not the Flow or Weekend – festivals in Helsinki! Hadn't heard of the Isle of Sheep (Bäääää!) festival before until a friend of mine asked whether I'd like to perform there. I mean sure, I knew of the place – we filmed a <a contents="music video" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlDiQteXTSk" target="_blank">music video</a> there with my buddy Severi a few years back – just not of the festival.</p>
<p>Anyway, takes a bit of getting there. Not like a bus or tram stops anywhere near the island. Should've gone by boat... I'm The Fisherman after all! But yeah, since this was sort of the first part of a Fisherman solo tour that'll climax at the turn of September to October I didn't have the boys with me and ended up carrying a huge backpack and a guitar with me only to find that all of this felt more like bootcamp than one of those glorious limo drives to Madison Square Garden... "Aim high or you'll hit your balls..." or something, right?</p>
<p>So while I hadn't heard of the festival before it turns out I actually knew some of the people there organizing this shindig. Turns out, my wife knew the rest of them. She should really be my manager or something...<br>Lovely setting and great sound, absolutely nothing to complain about. I was starting to feel the lack of sleep (not the lack of sheep! Although there was that as well...!) from the past few days/nights somewhere down the set though and got a bit frustrated with myself. Only this time around there weren't any of the band's boys around to dig me out of the hole, so I had to manage on my own. And I did, I suppose. I don't believe anyone noticed either. But while I never figured myself a multi-tasker it's amazing to me how while I'm playing guitar and reciting lyrics from memory, my brain still thinks that's not enough activity and starts its own critical rant in the background. Or maybe I'm just schizophrenic and this is the first time I realized. At Isle of Sheep. I love sheep.</p>
<p>But yeah, I had time for seven songs altogether and without trying to blow my own horn too much, I think you should try and catch me at one of these solo shows, because I'm playing songs you know a whole lot differently and most definitely songs you haven't heard before. Most definitely never. It's a therapeutic cleansing musically that I never thought I needed, but playing all these songs in a completely different way on the other hand makes playing the band versions with the guys a hell of a lot cooler, as much as I didn't think that possible. But there you go.</p>
<p>I played:<br>01. Skinny Dip<br>02. The Fairytale Waltz<br>03. Trail of Lies<br>04. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>05. Beggar Princess<br>06. Life In The Service Of Others<br>07. Naive</p>
<p>The other solo dates for this tour include Tallinn on September 29th, Riga on the 30th, Turku on October 5th and Helsinki on October 6th. Check our <a contents="tour page" data-link-label="Shows" data-link-type="page" href="/shows" target="_blank">tour page</a> for venues!</p>
<p>And if you're too much of a hipster to enjoy just a dude with his guitar, you can still catch the whole band in swing at Thursday's Rööperifest (9.30pm!) and on October 12th at the <a contents="Superwood Festival." data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.superwoodfestival.com/program-2/" target="_blank">Superwood Festival.</a></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/497d3dc07176a3261d085e2605a4d0e285019aca/original/img-1481.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>See you out there you lovely peeps!<br>- Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5402738
2018-08-27T09:10:59+03:00
2018-08-27T09:10:59+03:00
Tales From The Road – There's something big around the corner...
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/e023b7ee79a4168ecfcde32081b06375e2eb2a5f/original/thth-live-at-night-of-the-arts-2018-screenshot-cam-2.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>So – Night of the Arts, south tip of the Töölönlahti Bay in Helsinki – talk about being back EXACTLY where we started from last year. But were we though? And yeah, before I get into a meandering analysis on how much has happened since we last played on that exact same jetty, I'll just stop. Because a lot has happened and this time around we weren't playing our first gig together, no this actually marked our 15th gig as a band.</p>
<p>And this time around we didn't just bring two guitars and the Loota, no, we went borderline crazy on the audiences asses bringing a tent, lighting, recording software and 5 cameras! Because the plan was to finally get a proper sound and video recording of our performance and what better occasion to do that than the first time we're playing through our debut album 'The Hurt & The Humour´, right?! Needless to say we started a couple of minutes late having had just barely enough time to work through all the kinks of making all of that extra business work. And even then I had to abort midway through opener 'A Song For The Hills'' intro when I realized I'd forgotten to press "record" on the laptop, but oh well – the people weren't hurt and took it with humour. Plugged it, ha! What's the point of that whole hassle you may ask. Well, the point was for our overseas fans to have the chance to catch us live. The initial idea was to make it a Facebook Live show, but we're such sticklers with sound that we quickly abandoned that idea and made this whole big thing out of it. But we really honestly couldn't have done it without the help of our friends Nani Annette and Saku who came down just to make sure we have the absolute best camera set up possible. And Saku doesn't even live in Helsinki. But he came anyway. He's just that cool. And he'll be shooting a music video with us next month...!</p>
<p>So anyway, here's what we played (and while these are definitely the songs that are going on the album, I'm still only 95% sure this is the correct running order...):<br>01. A Song For The Hills<br>02. Beggar Princess<br>03. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>04. The Fairytale Waltz<br>05. Hurry<br>06. The Bear<br>07. The Undertaker<br>08. Skinny Dip<br>09. Ugly<br>10. Homesick<br>11. Life In The Service Of Others<br>-------<br>12. Naive (encore)</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/8bcec1a80c1f90af06eb835d6ff9113c8be56e4c/original/thth-live-at-night-of-the-arts-2018-screenshot-cam-1.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>There were quite a few people there that had been there for last year's gig as well and there were a few people going "wait, is this the same thing as last year?" Really cool to see some familiar faces again. In some funny way it felt like returning home, to a familiar place. But I expect that'll automatically start to happen once we start to revisit some of the places we've played in before. But that's not meant to diminish any of that warm and welcoming feeling that we had playing for you guys! There were even a few people that wanted to buy the album already. Unfortunately it'll not be out until November, but yeah – we believe there's something big around the corner...</p>
<p>Not hurt but humoured,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5389664
2018-08-16T13:21:29+03:00
2018-08-16T13:21:29+03:00
Happy Birthday...All of Us!
<p>It's been one year now that The Fisherman & The Sea has been around your eardrums and eyeballs. So – time to sit back and let a few memories fly past at blog speed!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/26248e817aa7c505924dabf3e071d47cb54c948c/original/img-1344.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I remember sitting at this very same desk eagerly checking Spotify and Apple Music if a childhood dream of mine was actually reality: my release in the same stores and playlists as the Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, The Decemberists – hell, all of those cool artists that I've looked up to over the years. And yup – there it was, 'Beggar Princess' – my daughters artwork and the track list smiling back at me. Still a bit incredulous I just had to push play on one of the tracks. Yup – that was really my song. Might sound a bit strange in hindsight – all that positive anxiety – but I remember that moment fondly and how proud my daughter was when she realized that her painting was actually on that cool "inter-thing where you can hear music and watch videos".</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/7ec8a1fe5588d3cd8ec80fc89cf0b107ee8e45a1/original/beggar-princess-ep-cover-small-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I also remember having the staunchest of plans regarding my releases: EPs in August, November, January and April and the album in May. So instead of the 9 tracks you've been able to hear so far, according to my original plan you'd have heard all 23 of them by now. Well, November became December for the 'Stuck With A Rhyme' EP which wasn't so bad, although probably any PR firm could've told me putting out that kind of a punk record for Christmas was probably not the best idea. But hey, I'm in this for the learning curve as well, so I don't mind. For some reason finishing the 'Stuck With A Rhyme' EP was a massive struggle for me and I had to concede that getting the third EP out in January was in no way happening. I'd also learned that actually these EPs have a longer promotional life than I thought. There were still things happening around 'Beggar Princess' in December and around 'Stuck With A Rhyme' in May which is way longer than I'd anticipated.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/50b2840a90b0f001e3a11306756097d27dba4a66/original/stuck-with-a-rhyme-ep-cover-001-small.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>So yeah, turns out I'm not Superman with a God-like plan to dominate the world's music scene after all. Quite on the contrary – I need people by my side who share a similar love and passion for music and getting shit done (!!) as me who help me live up to the music's potential. First and foremost those people are the three guys I've been touring with for the last year: Karza, Joel and Tuukka. I can not even begin to explain my appreciation for their talent, insight and wisdom in regards to the music – most apparent on the upcoming third EP 'I Can't Alone' (seven months late according to my initial plan!) – as well as the time and mileage they put into rehearsals, gigs and – finally with the new EP – video shoots as well! It's a special kind of brotherhood that I'll never take for granted. So thank you guys and onwards towards a new year!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/436acbbaec047729c482aa05dc7e390505bb0494/original/ica-buddy-photos-joel-001.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I've assembled some press coverage over the past year to a new <a contents="'Press' page on our website" data-link-label="Press" data-link-type="page" href="/press" target="_blank">'Press' page on our website</a>. You'll find interviews, quotes and features in there and I'll keep adding stuff over the coming weeks.<br>Another thing I'm very proud of is the 'A Sea of Heroes' which gained us a lot of new fans from around the world. Go watch it again on <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4dZ9nFhwCU" target="_blank">Youtube</a> if you're feeling like taking a trip down memory lane! On that note: I'm thinking about releasing those covers to Spotify and the likes as well. Let's see what happens. Also, I haven't forgotten about all the cover suggestions that you sent us a few months back! We're definitely going to dig into those when the time comes.<br>There's also the<a contents=" 'Recorded At Home' " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFjhAt6TcUs&list=PL08uO1TuWC7EBPaZ7PHsu_zod7xLr0-2x" target="_blank"> 'Recorded At Home' </a>miniseries that you might like if you're a bit of a gear head or just want a peek behind the scenes of recording our EPs and album.<br>And if you're just feeling like blasting all of our released songs on full volume, go to <a contents="Youtube" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITMPiZbiFX8&list=PL08uO1TuWC7EPwjW8O00FDF4QllpU8YTD" target="_blank">Youtube</a>, <a contents="Spotify," data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://spoti.fi/2E2MkOi" target="_blank">Spotify,</a> <a contents="Apple Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://apple.co/2n89DhD" target="_blank">Apple Music</a> and the likes!</p>
<p>Thank you for being here with us and here's to another year!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/7cc3ac40c169dcb4fc1a6129a38a37c8f1a9c1e2/original/37526071-10155905183334611-709466380402950144-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Gig, 'Stuck With A Rhyme' cover and t-shirt photos © Nani Annette. She's the coolest.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5356316
2018-07-21T10:45:15+03:00
2018-07-21T10:45:15+03:00
Tales From The Road – "You guys should play in LA!"
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/3dcfe9f4f0a0511eebd9b05f2d65902e9f6c2618/original/37603544-10155905183079611-7938475288277549056-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><em>All photos © Nani Annette</em></p>
<p>Rain? Sure, it looked like it for the best part of the day heading up to our gig. But we've yet to play an outdoors show in the pouring rain! And we didn't start yesterday, either. Quite on the contrary actually. I can't remember ever being so hot as during the soundcheck. And while I'm not entirely dissatisfied with my physical appearance, no – that's not what I'm referring to here. It was like playing somewhere in the middle of the Amazon rainforest or something with the rain having subsided and the sun coming out rays blazing turning downtown Helsinki – at least for that moment – into one of the most humidly hot places on Earth. I mean, geez... Stay hydrated, people!</p>
<p>And I don't know; maybe it got marginally better during our set, but I distinctly remember sweat pouring through my eyebrows into my eyes somewhere during the second song and it stinging like hell. Oh well, 'nuff about the weather now! Although I'll do say this: I think the weather really helped this time around. I was expecting way more traffic in front of the stage, but most people actually stayed for the whole hour to watch us play. For the people unfamiliar with the Espa stage: it's literally in the heart of Helsinki right next to most of our favourite tourist stops. So there's always people hurrying back and forth between those attractions. Yesterday though, a lot of people took that one hour out of their lives to hear a band play that they probably hadn't heard of before and gave us a chance. Thanks for sticking around everyone! We do appreciate it.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/7cc3ac40c169dcb4fc1a6129a38a37c8f1a9c1e2/original/37526071-10155905183334611-709466380402950144-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>We used the Espa gig to launch the 'I Can't Alone' EP on CD and immediately sold 10% of our stock. Wow! Played three songs off of 'I Can't Alone', namely 'Naive', 'Skinny Dip' and 'Ugly' as well as two new ones called 'Suiciders' and a song we're just calling 'Oasis' at the moment, because it sounds like...well...I suppose you guessed it. Thinking of actually christening the song 'Liam'. Really enjoyed playing both of the new ones. They worked even better live than I'd anticipated. Also just barely managed not to start giggling with happiness during set closer 'Ugly', because it was the first time we played it like the System of a Down (yeah, imagine that band in this context!)-infused punk folk that it is on the new record. It just sounded savage!</p>
<p>Had the chance to chat to some members of the audience after the gig and was happy to see some familiar faces as well as new ones who'd enjoyed the show as much as us. Drew from the City of Angeles came up to me and told me "you guys should play in LA!" Well Drew, we concur! We'll do our darndest to make it happen some fine day!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone who showed up yesterday! Thank you everyone who supported us by buying something from our lovely Merch Lady! All of you made yesterday's gig one of our absolute favourites so far!</p>
<p>'Til our paths cross again!<br>-Jon</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/6950e15c3980d75e559524b185ce736155a1fa88/original/37416117-10155905183144611-5056498309347147776-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5300457
2018-06-17T10:36:34+03:00
2018-06-17T10:44:10+03:00
Tales From The Road – 18 songs later...and Ronaldo is still single-handedly sinking Spain
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/4dc1f0391769fb7f9ecde0688799a30b4eb871db/original/vk-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Ha! Don't you just love the World Cup?! I love watching players and countries go at it that I usually don't see as often, football that happens outside the limelight of, say, the Champions League or qualifiers here in Europe. My favourite match 'til now though: Argentina vs. Iceland. Talking about the underdog sticking it to the silver medalists from four years ago. Amazing squad performance and amazing goalie! Joel – bless him! – sincerely doesn't give a shit though.</p>
<p>Anyway, on to the music. We set up at the Kiiski during Morocco vs. Iran. Tuukka and I were pleasantly relieved that Finland wasn't playing (don't worry, they're still a looooong ways off from qualifying for these things) because the last time, years ago, when we played a bar that showed sports before a gig it was a sensational ice hockey match between Finland and Sweden. Finland were leading 5-1 but lost 5-6 in the end. And then we had to play to a crowd who were pretty much smashing windows and getting into fist fights at that point, but more importantly for us, leaving the bar in droves.</p>
<p>Anyway, sidetracked again, sorry!</p>
<p>For this one we'd pulled out all the stops to play as many songs as we could. We're always trying to come up with something a little special for every gig, you know? And as our gig last week at Semifinal was awesome but short, this one was, well, awesome yes, but also looooong. We played 90 minutes just like Portugal and Spain next door. And damn, we were sweating as much as the players on the pitch after full time! I was literally soaked all over. But I guess that's what you get for having something close to winter clothing as your trademark even during the summer months. Next album's gotta focus around fishing in the Bahamas or something...</p>
<p>So, in the end it seemed like people enjoyed our show. We got some nice cheers for our own stuff and probably the biggest ones for our Beatles cover, because – well, hell it's the Beatles! – so, of course. Handshakes, compliments and some merch sells after – thank you, all you lovely people! Played a couple of new ones that are actually still at least half a year off from being released and a couple of old ones we haven't done for a while, Joel chipping in a couple of fills I was laughing my (mental, because I was singing at the time) ass off about. Good times all over! 'Til next time.</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p>We played:<br>01. Listen Up (Oasis cover)<br>02. Taking Back Thursdays<br>03. With A Little Help From My Friends (Beatles cover)<br>04. The Funny One<br>05. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>06. The Fairytale Waltz<br>07. A Man With No Dance<br>08. Skinny Dip<br>09. Hurry<br>10. Life In The Service Of Others<br>-- BREAK<br>11. Suiciders (NEW)<br>12. My Love Is Dumb (NEW)<br>13. Homesick<br>14. A Song For The Hills<br>15. Trail Of Lies<br>16. Beggar Princess<br>17. Naive<br>18. Ugly</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5281123
2018-06-07T18:07:23+03:00
2018-06-07T18:13:48+03:00
Tales From The Road – I Can't Alone...in so many ways!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/60ad693da40dcd0ea1e7dfcd1840cff1e0f40574/original/logo-main-semifinal.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Wow, so that went well!</p>
<p>Getting a slot at Semifinal was a big deal, and with the help of the other acts (the blissfully mesmerizing Ulla Kolla and Mr. Cool himself Antero Kerkkä) we managed to draw a crowd that even the promoter was satisfied with for a Wednesday night.</p>
<p>But, putting that aside for a minute, this was such a special night in so many ways. First, this was our very first gig as a four-piece with Joel (who's been sitting in on the drums whenever Karza can't make) on keyboards. And boy does that one instrument make us sound good or what?! I literally had goosebumps when we started playing that opening riff to 'A Song For The Hills' over that majestical (let's call it a) "hillscape" that Joel had conjured up on his Nord. And judging by the reaction of the audience they were way into it as well!</p>
<p>But okay, I'm getting ahead of myself here. We always try to come up with something special for each show, so tonight we decided to play the whole upcoming 'I Can't Alone' EP in full. And part of the reason you've had to wait so long for it to finally emerge from...err...The Sea, is that as the title suggests I didn't want to do the EP by myself, but instead tried to get as many of my musical friends to participate on it. Obviously my Brothers of The Sea – Tuukka, Karza and Joel – all feature on it, but that's not everybody. Not by a longshot... Neither does everyone participating on the EP live in Finland, but I wanted to have as many of the people who're here at the moment to find their way up on the stage tonight, so for the EP closer 'A Man With No Dance' we were joined by three awesome singers; Cassandra, Erika and JH who've done a marvelous job singing on the record. Cassandra actually joined me and Joel for the song before that, 'Reptile I', to lay down one of those haunting vocal solos that only she can pull off in that special soulful kind of way of hers. Anyway, it was high time to get someone up on stage who actually gets the lyrics right – although Erika and JH were debating whether 'God' came before 'Man' at the soundcheck. It's 'Man' before 'God' in this case. And no, that's not a religious statement. Not even a political statement. Not even a statement, actually. Or maybe just a statement of facts. Lyrically, like.</p>
<p>Anyway, did I mention that everything sounded awesome!? I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for new musical impulses, and it's a special kind of feeling to have really talented people take time out of their lives and contribute to your music. It takes special kind of people to do that. 'Cause you know, I Can't Alone!</p>
<p>A heartfelt Thank You to everyone who came! Loved chatting to everyone after the show and hope to see you again soon.</p>
<p>Stay safe and maybe even see you Friday next week at Vastarannan Kiiski?!?</p>
<p>We played:<br>01. Skinny Dip<br>02. Ugly<br>03. Naive<br>04. Reptile I<br>05. A Man With No Dance<br>-----------------------------------<br>06. A Song For The Hills<br>07. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>08. Beggar Princess</p>
<p>Peace & Love,<br>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5244397
2018-05-19T20:47:30+03:00
2018-05-19T20:47:30+03:00
Tales From The Road – ...And that's literally the *road* this time!
<p>Aaaah, festival season!<br>There's literally nothing better than summer, sun, a whole bunch of tables and booths set up seemingly at random and a couple of stages with different kinds of music. Now that'd be your average kind of festival, but obviously the people of Arabia don't just stop there, but there's all sorts of crazy exhibitions, activities and stuff I can't even begin to comprehend going on while all of the formerly mentioned is also taking place. And that's the Arabia Street Festival (Arabian Katufestivaali) for you in a nutshell. I'd've loved to linger there for longer since it was a perfect start to the festival season with the sun out with the people in the streets ready to soak in anything and everything – like our performance at the Chillilava for one – but we were all sort of on a schedule today, so I only caught a glimpse of it all.</p>
<p>I'd spent the morning mixing one of the tracks from the upcoming EP 'I Can't Alone' until Tuukka came around at about quarter to eleven and we packed up the car and took the drive to Arabia (not the one in the Middle-East, by the way...). Found the Chillilava easy enough and immediately started that whole "bumping-into-friends-from-back-when"-thing – Milos, was one of the guys running the stage. I'd played in a band with him for a time, a few years back. Remember playing a pretty badass rendition of the Foo Fighter's "Pretender". And so Joel – who subbed for Karza on drums (and plays keyboards at our next gig at Semifinal, psyched!!) obviously knew Milos as well, and then Matti – bass player in Tuukka's and my first band – appeared, followed by a colleague from work and Maqué – childhood friend of mine and also playing keyboards on the next EP! – showed up. Just the kind of party atmosphere you want the first gig of the summer to have.</p>
<p>Still, it was particularly nice to witness how many people actually stayed and listened to our set. Thing is, we were basically parked on a sidewalk with people passing by on the street going to the bigger stages (hence the title), so we had a constant flux of people but also a good amount of people who generally liked our stuff although maybe not having heard our stuff before. And that's just the best thing about these festivals really, isn't it? Making new friends through music, the sun and the overall positive vibe. Festivals – you have got to be one of humanities best inventions, if I dare say so. Sold a fair amount of CDs as well, which covered our costs for this gig, so thanks again you lovely people of Arabia!<br>Wish I'd been able to stay and soak in the wonderful atmosphere of you and your festival, but I had to get back home for a couple of important recording sessions for the upcoming EP. So yeah, a packed musical day! And while I'm completely exhausted having spent over 12 hours on music today; what a load of fun it has been. It was a pleasure playing for you Arabia, and we hope to see you again in the coming years!</p>
<p>Peace and love,<br>Jon</p>
<p>We played:<br>01. A Song For The Hills<br>02. Beggar Princess<br>03. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>04. Hurry<br>05. Skinny Dip<br>06. A Man With No Dance<br>07. The Funny One<br>08. Naive<br>09. Ugly</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5230933
2018-05-12T22:47:35+03:00
2018-05-12T22:53:58+03:00
Tales From The Road – A Step Into The Unknown...
<p>Okay, so starting work at 5am, playing a gig at 10.30pm, being home at something like 3am and starting the next shift only two hours later – Tuukka wins "Soldier of the Day" hands down. I mean, somebody pin a medal on this guy. On top of that almost inhuman time schedule he also drove us there and back to our first proper out-of-town gig in Lahti (that's a little under 100km away from our neck of the woods). Gotta say I felt a bit silly complaining about performing with an unrested voice after a whole day of work in comparison. But singers complain. Always. Sad to say I'm no different. Bunch of whiny dumbasses we are.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/583d3689299a3d031c02b7e2222f8d3f878d986e/original/32293856-10155740589007637-5745321629521543168-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Anyway, what am I bitching about here, for the love of God! There's absolutely nothing more fun to do on a Friday night than take the car with a couple of your bestest friends on a sunny summer evening, pack a bit of gear and perform for a bunch of people who've never heard of you and have the constant option for the whole of the gig to go downstairs and catch some porn. Yeah, you got that right, there was (attention: rough translation!) a "porn party" in full steam downstairs for the whole of our gig at Tirra. So it probably ain't a big surprise either we performed in front of this remarkable backdrop:</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/b957be2c4b4366805dec7731a731e20ca1cd9b69/original/32289096-10155740587192637-4776883362713305088-n.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Now, I gotta say that kind of stuff to start off your gig evening puts you in an interesting place. I sort of went to my "Beatles in Hamburg/Reeperbahn" place with this one. I mean, we were booked for this gig kinda last minute anyway (I'm thinking maybe the original band scheduled to appear realized they were up against a "porn party" with striptease shows and the lot and just threw in the towel beforehand). Now obviously I'm painting a bit of a caricature of the whole place here. It's actually a nice little establishment with a profoundly welcoming crew behind the bar and the mixing desk and some local artisan beer they were reasonably proud of (you get a fist in your face when you're OVERLY proud of something in Finland! Not just in Lahti, but generally...)</p>
<p>Started the gig with a bit of slapstick when Tuukka's pedal battery died midway through our first song. Of course we didn't realize that right off the bat so I went into an impromptu rendition of a song I'd never played live or even for the boys before called "Taking Back Thursdays", you know, just to give Tuukka and Pauli, our sound engineer the time to work out the problem. Karza was bored at that point so he just joined in on the drums without ever having heard the song before. But you wouldn't have guessed it, if you didn't know it. There's just some deeper understanding that you have musically when you've played together for nearly twenty years as we have. He just knows what I'm going to do in the next part of the song like second nature. Also, I should remember to tell you, he's a pretty talented guy. So he just kinda nails that kind of stuff like it's nothing.</p>
<p>Anyway, moving on I think the crowd needed a fair few songs of convincing – after our stupendously brilliant start to the show – that we actually sort of did know what we were doing and weren't complete talentless cock-ups. I think 'Hurry' might've been the first song that got a convinced sort of applause. All uphill from there really, although I did sneak a pretty bold jazz chord into 'Trail of Lies' for absolutely no good reason. But yeah, in the end – or actually; towards the end a very friendly patron of the arts came up to the stage with drinks for everyone in the band. Surprising but very cool! We're certainly not above people buying us drinks during our shows and bringing them up on stage. Just saying y'all...</p>
<p>Sold a couple of CDs and chatted away with some of our listeners afterwards. Realized how dead tired and how absurd my ramblings started to get on the drive home. But Tuukka and Karza did have some interesting suggestions about covers and setlists for future shows...</p>
<p>And did I mention there's just nothing cooler than playing music with these guys and taking steps with them into the unknown, sometimes even the almost scary? </p>
<p>So thanks Lahti! You have refreshingly different, warm and excitable people in your midst judging by this first visit. And good burgers.</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p>P.S. Pics by Tuukka<br><br>We played:</p>
<p>01. A Song For The Hills<br>02. Taking Back Thursdays<br>03. Beggar Princess<br>04. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>05. The Fairytale Waltz<br>06. Hurry<br>07. The Funny One<br>08. Trail of Lies<br>09. Skinny Dip<br>10. A Man With No Dance<br>11. Life In The Service Of Others<br>12. Naive<br>13. Homesick<br>14. Ugly<br>(Yes, that is our longest set 'til date!)</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5195653
2018-04-22T21:56:53+03:00
2018-04-22T21:56:53+03:00
Tales from the Road – "You guys were the most rock'n'roll show ever!"
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/525372a9549b2b076e8c7d3b2f3a76a161b85c34/original/img-0772.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Photo by Lisa Tirkkonen.</p>
<p>Spring has hit our shores. The days are longer and the sun warms your face while in the shadows you can still feel the last chills of winter subsiding. So what better way than to celebrate that spring on a Saturday in pretty much a glass cube at one of Helsinki's numerous bay shores; in other words: Café Piritta?! Rhetorical question, of course.</p>
<p>Also, remarkably, this marked our first gig together with no free admittance. So of course you're left wondering if anyone's going to pay to see you play after having seen us at one of those café or pub gigs. And, remarkably yet again, Café Piritta was packed! I couldn't see an empty seat for the life of me. Obviously this was only in small part thanks to us. We were sandwiched between two great bands this evening; Elina Teini and Tuuletar. And the recurring club night "Iholla" that we got to join on this gig is a well organized affair top to bottom and the wonderful ambience of Piritta just seals the deal.</p>
<p>But yeah, even me being my own staunchest critic, I have to say that when with ticket prices you have the possibility to have a good PA and someone sitting behind the desk mixing your sound, I think the investment made by the listener at the door does pay off nicely. At least I've not yet been showered with so much praise for the sound of the band at any previous gig as I was with this one. And I have to say that it was probably the first gig that I felt comfortable playing back to back thanks to adequate monitoring and a soundguy who knew his shit. Obviously we'll probably still play some crazy shows parked somewhere on a seashore with a rudimental PA, but I have a feeling that the people who heard us at PIritta won't want to go back to a more organic sound when they have the chance to catch the "upgraded experience". And the upgrades are coming, don't you worry!</p>
<p>Anyway, we were booked to play for an hour and so we obliged with the longest set yet, with a few songs we haven't done in a while and a new one called 'Homesick' featuring me holding the longest and highest note that I can muster. Worked beautifully though, I guess.</p>
<p>We played:<br>01. A Song For The Hills<br>02. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>03. Beggar Princess<br>04. The Fairytale Waltz<br>05. Trail of Lies<br>06. The Funny One<br>07. Life In The Service Of Others<br>08. Skinny Dip<br>09. Hurry<br>10. Homesick<br>11. Naive<br>12. Ugly</p>
<p>Such a great night out with the guys! We had time to relax before the gig – well, Karza and I did, while Tuukka had to take care of a little kid's birthday logistics – we didn't have to rush the soundcheck; it was just an overall nice step into a right kind of direction where you don't have to take care of absolutely everything yourself starting with the technical set-up.<br>Also saw some old friends that I never expected to see, but they'd parked their kids at a relative's and marched over to see us play over a nice dinner. I think it must've been their wedding a few odd years back that I last saw both of them. Funny how little things like that make an evening even more special.</p>
<p>Peace and love to everyone who came – you were an absolutely lovely crowd that we very much enjoyed playing for! Even if the promoter told the crowd after our show that "this was probably the most rock'n'roll show in the club's history". But I'm pretty sure she meant that as a good thing. I mean, rock'n'roll is a good thing, right? Believe it!</p>
<p>See you next month on the 19th at the Arabia Street Festival or June 6th at Semifinal!</p>
<p>Take care!<br>-Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5181567
2018-04-14T11:03:02+03:00
2018-04-14T11:07:44+03:00
A Sea of Heroes – The Final Chapter
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="f4dZ9nFhwCU" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/f4dZ9nFhwCU/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f4dZ9nFhwCU?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Wow, what a ride it's been!</p>
<p>Compiling the full series video was like the biggest flash from the past imaginable. All those endless hours trying to get camera angles, lighting, set pieces but most importantly the music to work does take me on an emotional ride. And I have to say, I'm still immensely proud of the whole thing and I'd say I still stand behind 95% of all the stuff. The 5% were just stuff I didn't know how to fix or simply didn't have the time to since we're on a schedule here, but I'm guessing most of you won't either mind or notice any of those things. That being said, one reason for doing this aside my love for these artists and their music was just to learn how to make something on this scale and see what I'm able to pull off. And yeah, I do think I've improved my work flow mixing sound and editing video a lot and I'm looking forward to putting it all to further good use down the road!</p>
<p>The cover versions I've done for 'A Sea of Heroes' I still genuinely love as much as I did when I first started posting them. Maybe even more now now that I'm able to close this chapter and look at the whole thing from a bit of a distance. I wanted to add my own spin to all of these songs and I think I succeeded in making covers that are distinguishably mine.</p>
<p>So now you, the people, have already voted for us to continue covering stuff but this time around we'll be doing not our heroes but yours. We've already received some exciting requests from you guys and we're looking forward to posting the first batch of new covers somewhere in the near future.</p>
<p>But today I'm just going to put my feet up, pat my self on the back (a slap in the face will always remain an option though...) and watch the whole thing from start to finish right after I've cleared my hard drive of hours and hours of footage.</p>
<p>Here are the links to all the individual tracks on Youtube:</p>
<p>01. <a contents="Oasis – Listen Up" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2vfZbMq" target="_self">Oasis – Listen Up</a><br>02. <a contents="Midlake – Rulers, Ruling All Things" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2GYcSoR" target="_self">Midlake – Rulers, Ruling All Things</a><br>03. <a contents="The Beatles – With A Little Help From My Blackbird" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2EHPnu9" target="_self">The Beatles – With A Little Help From My Blackbird</a><br>04. <a contents="Beck – Gamma Ray" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2JLJpfF" target="_self">Beck – Gamma Ray</a><br>05. <a contents="The Decemberists – June Hymn" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2JHkx8u" target="_self">The Decemberists – June Hymn</a><br>06. <a contents="Jon Auer – Six Feet Under" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2HlDhvS" target="_self">Jon Auer – Six Feet Under</a><br>07. <a contents="Mumford &amp; Sons – Awake My Soul" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2GX73no" target="_self">Mumford & Sons – Awake My Soul</a><br>08. <a contents="Nickel Creek – Best of Luck" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2qtBI5M" target="_self">Nickel Creek – Best of Luck</a><br>09. <a contents="Eels – I Like Birds" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2vbZp78" target="_self">Eels – I Like Birds</a><br>10. <a contents="Pohlmann. – Starwars" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2JHPEkq" target="_self">Pohlmann. – Starwars</a><br>11. <a contents="Egotrippi – Mies räjähtää" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2qv9zLl" target="_self">Egotrippi – Mies räjähtää</a><br>12. <a contents="The National – Slow Show" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2vfaHYk" target="_self">The National – Slow Show</a><br>13. <a contents="Ryan Adams – Political Scientist" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2qxX7JZ" target="_self">Ryan Adams – Political Scientist</a><br>14. <a contents="Elliott Smith – Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/2EL8vaD" target="_self">Elliott Smith – Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5167319
2018-04-06T10:06:05+03:00
2022-04-28T09:49:56+03:00
Tales From The Road – The best pizza in town
<p>Wow! So that actually WAS the best pizza in town at Linko. At least the best I've had in this lovely hometown of ours. Karza only ranked it amongst his Top5 though. Said the best he's had was somewhere in Ogeli. So I guess I'll have to call that place up and tell 'em we're coming over to play and expect to be paid in pizza.</p>
<p>No, but on a more serious note, not only was the pizza great at Linko, but also Ari who handled everything from booking to mixing the gig did such a great job with the whole set-up that it was truly a pleasure to play for the people there. And there were a nice number of people there despite the sudden onslaught of a monsoon that had started pouring down before the gig started. This time it was Tuukka who carried the torch of one of us always being sick during our gigs. He'd had a nasty fever for the last couple of days and told us after the gig he'd sort of lost the plot during 'Stuck With A Rhyme', almost blanking out. I hadn't noticed a thing though. He's a soldier, you can't put him down. Meanwhile I was busy singing and playing while seriously contemplating saving up some money to buy myself a teleprompter in order to start getting verses and stuff in the right order. I mean as long as most of the songs haven't been officially released I can sort of hide behind the "live experience factor" but this time next year I'm gonna get my ass handed to me by all the people wanting to sing along. I don't know, usually I'm not that prone to early onset of Alzheimer's, but yesterday was another kind of day. Point is though, we had lots of fun and the best sound yet and all the people who came despite the rain made it a thoroughly pleasant evening for us, so thank you for giving this lil' indie band of ours a shot!</p>
<p>The evening was closed by our friends Kaikuluotain who make perfect pop music. How do I know? Well, I could've sworn they only played cover songs until I realized probably the only cover they played was 'In My Time Of Dying' by Zeppelin. So yeah, I'd only heard those songs once before at our last team-up at IPI Kulmakuppila last year. But now hearing them for the second time I felt like I'd known these songs forever. And Karza was exactly the same. So that's how I know they make perfect pop music.</p>
<p>See you at Café Piritta in two weeks or Semifinal in June!</p>
<p>We played:<br>01. A Song For The Hills<br>02. The Funny One<br>03. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>04. Hurry<br>05. Skinny Dip<br>06. Naive<br>07. Beggar Princess<br>08. Ugly</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5163399
2018-04-04T11:45:09+03:00
2022-05-27T12:57:15+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 14: Elliott Smith – Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="UTIJc_QuwNk" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/UTIJc_QuwNk/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UTIJc_QuwNk?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>I can still recall clear as day the first time I heard Elliott Smith. It was 'A Fond Farewell' somewhere on a new music compilation. I was shocked both at not having heard of him before and to learn that he'd already passed away. There are just some artists that speak directly to your soul, and I do mean directly; not sometimes or some songs, but every time you put a record of her/him on it triggers an emotional response you're not able to control. You laugh, you cry, your stomach turns... That's what Elliott Smith does for me. From 'Roman Candle' straight to 'New Moon'. Every. Single. Record. Every. Single. Song. Like I said, not something I'm able to control.</p>
<p>So obviously it's kind of daunting to try and come up with the right song to cover and should you argue this isn't it, I'd probably agree because it could've been any other song just as well. But the reason I ended up with this one is that riff I've added after the second chorus and at the end. I have no recollection about how I ended up with that riff or even how I entered it into my cover version, but it had both a Elliott Smith vibe and a dance-y vibe at the same time. Not two things I'd dream of mixing together really, but then again, that's always one part of my approach to these things. Just to try and mix it up a bit, marry the unexpected, even if it means almost polar opposites like in this case.</p>
<p>I'm totally ready to go into full essay mode about my love for Elliott Smith, both the person and the musician, but I'm going to save that for a later date.</p>
<p>This marks the end of our 'A Sea of Heroes' Youtube series, a bittersweet feeling. I'm going to miss making these covers and videos. But I'll get into all that stuff on the 24th when we release the whole series as one long-ass Youtube video.</p>
<p>Until then, all the best!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="XG7SYf7MjEA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/XG7SYf7MjEA/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XG7SYf7MjEA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5145614
2018-03-24T13:19:09+02:00
2018-03-24T13:19:09+02:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 13: Ryan Adams – Political Scientist
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="-PciTI0IMDY" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/-PciTI0IMDY/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-PciTI0IMDY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This video is our second last track from 'A Sea of Heroes', and although we only put out about 3 of these a month, time just seems to be flying by. There's just been such a wonderful flurry of positive reactions from all around the world to these covers. I hope this latest track makes no exception!</p>
<p>If you're a singer-songwriter there's no way around Ryan Adams. You just need to know what he does and you have to be able to name your personal favourite Ryan Adams album – me, I'm torn between 'Gold' and 'Love is Hell'. Just can't decide between two equally brilliant but so different albums. Besides his unique songwriting skills I have to say I admire how prolific the man is. The amount of records he's put out is astonishing.</p>
<p>So when I tried to think of a Ryan Adams cover to do I was leaning towards something off 'Gold' just because those songs are more accessible than the ones on 'Love is Hell' I suppose. But then one time after listening to 'Love is Hell' on my headphones I picked up the guitar that I'd left in a bit of unusual tuning but had forgotten about it. So I started to play two chords over and over until I spontaneously started singing the lyrics of 'Political Scientist' over them. I immediately thought it sounded cool – the chords had a special kind of vibe to them, same way the chords in the original have although my take was not nearly as dark as the original. But the cover caught that slight air of eeriness and adding in that recurring bass line made it sound almost like some slightly spaced out prog thing at times. Well, at least to my ears anyway.</p>
<p>The rest of the song I pretty much made up on the go, so yeah, I guess this is the song that probably sounds least like its original counterpart. Still, I hope you'll enjoy this one as well!</p>
<p>Last part of 'A Sea of Heroes' coming in ten days!</p>
<p>Until then, peace!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="bMHBuktADSo" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/bMHBuktADSo/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bMHBuktADSo?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5127354
2018-03-14T10:38:12+02:00
2018-03-14T10:38:12+02:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 12: Egotrippi – Mies räjähtää
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="8bd44jkdKHg" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/8bd44jkdKHg/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8bd44jkdKHg?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Okay, so first off: This band is up there with The Beatles for me. Not in terms of popularity, but in terms of importance. For me, mind. They're the band that I've followed (almost) since they started out, I've seen them live more often than any other band, I own all of their albums, but most importantly their music still resonates with me a lot. It feels like I've grown up with them, if you will. Sometimes people and music just click because they click on an emotional, maybe even an instinctive level. That's what happened with me and Egotrippi. When I first heard their music over 20 years ago I suddenly knew that I belonged. That there were people making my kind of music – and therefor probably not making a whole lotta moolah, although they finally (and so deservedly!) progressed through the years to the kind of recognition that they've more than earned. Not an easy feat living off music in Finland. Just saying...</p>
<p>There's a hundred songs I could've chosen to cover by them and once again I was unable to decide on which one. That's the problem with every one of their songs being so entirely awesome, folks! So it all happened by chance again; I'd just gotten my daughter a (pink!) ukulele for her birthday and we were messing around with it and my daughter cooed "Such fun!" and so I started to sing a spontaneous improvisation with those lyrics over some chords until I suddenly I was singing this Egotrippi song. I remembered all of the lyrics right on that spot (because they're just so damn funny and true at the same time!) and my daughter loved it and begged me to do it over and over again. I still have to play it every time she sees me with a ukulele. She won't take no for an answer. For this version I added a bit of extra craziness in order to include my imaginary brothers Jack and Joe in this one as well.</p>
<p>It's meant to be a bit of fun and out of all these covers that I've done for this series, this is the one song I still play spontaneously more often than any other. It's just... I don't know – it's got everything I want from a song. Nuff said!</p>
<p>- Jon</p>
<p>P.S. I can't find the song on Youtube, so here's the Spotify link to the <a contents="original" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://open.spotify.com/track/0DBitrAAFpjfrF8EPFEC6O" target="_blank">original</a>.</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5123332
2018-03-12T14:16:00+02:00
2018-03-12T14:16:00+02:00
Tales from the Road: SW Agency Showcase Night @ Pub Pete
<p>Back at it and this time without the boys.</p>
<p>So my first gig with the SW Agency was at Pub Pete – a venue you can and want to get absolutely hammered at – and it was without the boys this time. Just lil' ole me doing it solo style like in the spring of last year when I road tested a couple of songs at Samettiklubi. I'd decided to road test a couple of new songs this time as well, one's that I haven't even had time to introduce to the guys yet, so that was one thing I was looking forward to. But what I was anticipating even more were those other bands and artists also playing that night: Rebecca Clamp, Hollywood of the Wolves, Fresh Tides and The Clean Rebels. I'd seen the Fresh Tides at the Christmas party last December and loved their energy. And now having seen Rebecca Clamp and her band and Hollywood of the Wolves I'm even more proud to've performed in such company. Lovely people and music you should definitely check out if you ever have even the remotest chance! Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay long enough to see The Clean Rebels, but a gut feeling tells me I'm yet to get another chance...</p>
<p>Bit of a throwback to something like 15 years ago with our first band was when we asked the staff whether they'd be able to help us get some decent lighting going and the reply was something on the lines of "naah man, no idea how they work". So old skool DIY style the sound guy and me figured out how the lights were wired and got some of them going in time for my set. Gotta love the attitude of some venues towards live music though. Later, especially during the Hollywood of the Wolves' set they were cranking some shitty karaoke so loud in the next room you could easily sing along with it. Didn't affect the performances though, so whatever I guess. Just makes you wonder about some people's attitude, that's all.</p>
<p>I had a bit of a hard time choosing the right songs to play that night because you suddenly realize that you're no longer able to do all of them justice the same way that the band can. I mean, if everybody knew the songs that'd be a different thing obviously, but now I had to pick songs that would work with just guitar and vocals. So I ended playing nothing from the latest EP and just 'Sea of Pleasantries' from the first one, but I was happy I got to do that one since it's never been played live before. Also played two new songs called 'Naive' and 'Homesick' that seemed to go down fairly well so if you didn't on Saturday, you're going to hear them at the upcoming gigs!</p>
<p>All in all though I have to say sometimes it's irrelevant where and to how many people you play. The important thing is who's there to listen. And it was a bunch of special people I got to play for on Saturday, so no, I wouldn't change a thing!</p>
<p>I played:</p>
<p>1. Life in the Service of Others<br>2. Skinny Dip<br>3. Sea of Pleasantries (live debut)<br>4. Hurry<br>5. Naive (new)<br>6. Homesick (new)<br>7. Ugly</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/3f501980a3bca68549c9be141d60a7c7e468d2d9/original/fm-pub-pete.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />© Daniel Beech</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5110259
2018-03-04T13:33:40+02:00
2018-03-26T11:59:15+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 11: The National – Slow Show
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="sEn9WW7Bcjo" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/sEn9WW7Bcjo/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sEn9WW7Bcjo?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Only four more songs to go in our 'Sea of Heroes'! This is one of my favourite arrangements for this series.</p>
<p>This is also a very important song to me personally for a number of reasons. I didn't discover The National by myself, I was introduced to them more or less at gunpoint. And I have to say it did take me a while to "get" them. At first I just heard so much bottled up misery channelled into songs that meandered and meandered and never seemed to find a chorus with a singer who seemed to care more about his lyrics than a comprehensive melody. Well, joke's on me. I love them now. But only because that gun was kept aimed squarely at my temple.</p>
<p>There's a couple of bands out there though, that I just don't get at all the first time I hear them. No matter how open-minded I think I am towards music. But it's just the greatest feeling when you suddenly do start to get a band like that and a whole new avenue of music starts to unfold before your eyes (or ears rather). Glad it did with this band! Though I still don't get Wolf Parade, but hey...maybe I will someday...</p>
<p>It was clear to me from the get-go that I wouldn't be able to do a cover of this song anywhere near the original. So I just sort of rewrote it for myself. Haven't listened back to the original in a couple of years now because I just wanted to get this right and my own take of it in there. For a song that holds so much personal relevance I just needed to make it sound as much me as possible. That's where the bass line, the drum pattern and the backing vocals come from.</p>
<p>I hope you like it as much as I do!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="rCR0Tr2HTfA" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/rCR0Tr2HTfA/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rCR0Tr2HTfA?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5097006
2018-02-24T13:42:19+02:00
2018-06-01T13:09:25+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 10: Pohlmann. – StarWars
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="anaLc0fTBn8" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/anaLc0fTBn8/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/anaLc0fTBn8?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Hello everyone, or today rather Hallo zusammen,</p>
<p>yeah, it's a special one today. As some of you know or have read in our bio, I am a child of two harbour cities separated by a sea, and yeah that's in part where the name of the band comes from. Those cities are Helsinki, Finland and Hamburg, Germany and while I live in Helsinki I feel like part of me will forever live in Hamburg where my father is from. That's just what it's like when you're born into a multicultural family. You're never really at home anywhere in particular except for the world as a whole. And I'm not complaining! People like me are born with an incurable itch to go, move, do something, find something different. So I'm really happy to be able to do this today and share 'StarWars' by Pohlmann. with you.</p>
<p>I thought long and hard about which song to cover by a German artist who'd have close ties to Hamburg. There's a LOT of them. And such stellar artists and songs too. But I just couldn't make my mind up. So for some reason I thought back to the summer almost two years ago when I was in Hamburg with my daughter just having one of those slow, sun-doused Sunday breakfasts with the local radio station playing in the background and us making plans on which park to hit first. You know those memories of situations that feel almost like a postcard, things you remember so vividly that when you close your eyes you're right back at that breakfast table on that slow Sunday morning? Well, when this song came on in the background, that moment turned into one of those postcards. And that's exactly the kind of emotion I associate with Hamburg where I spent so many summers of a wonderful youth. Obviously that suddenly felt like exactly the right thing to try and recreate here.</p>
<p>So there I sat again with the lyrics in front of me trying to work out how the song went without listening back to the original (because those are the rules for the 'A Sea of Heroes' covers!). I couldn't remember how the song started, how it ended or how exactly it was structured, but I knew I wanted my version to kick ass from the get-go so out of nowhere I started playing the riff you hear – well, basically in the parts of the song that I had no recollection of, haha... It just all magically fell into place right there and then. I thought for a long time that I must've nicked the riff from somewhere because it just sounds so familiar in a way. But I haven't been able to find any song with that riff in it. It sounds like a cross between Foo Fighters' 'In Your Honor' and Smashing Pumpkins' '1979' which is...not exactly bad, so I'll take it, haha!</p>
<p>Now I know I haven't actually talked a whole lot about the song or Pohlmann. himself, but I think the feelings that I described earlier, that he was able to conjure up in me in that moment speak volumes more than some simple praiseful diction. Some songs just simply are life. In it's most simplest, in it's most wonderful, and in it's most memorable form. So this is my 'StarWars'. I hope you like it as much as I do.</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="V9s0lBRQD0k" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/V9s0lBRQD0k/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V9s0lBRQD0k?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5078575
2018-02-14T11:36:06+02:00
2018-02-14T11:36:06+02:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 9: Eels – I Like Birds
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="rTnqieVpUM0" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/rTnqieVpUM0/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rTnqieVpUM0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Happy Valentine's Day everyone!</p>
<p>And don't we have just the right thing for you to celebrate this day! Granted, it's a song about being fed up with people so bad that you turn to liking birds (no, not the British girl-meaning kind, although I'm sure that's part of the joke...), but you know, who says your Valentine can't be a parrot?! A Monty Python sketch comes to mind, but alas, let's leave it at that...!</p>
<p>'Daisies of the Galaxy' is one of my favourite albums and Eels is just so poignantly on form on that one it's simply a joy to listen to. He's such a witty guy and his incredible talent of marrying his lyrics with unexpected pieces of music is beyond comparison. For me, there's no-one who does that better in the singer-songwriting world. 'It's a Motherfucker' is my favourite track off that album and the perfect example of Eels doing exactly what I just tried to describe. So of course I thought about covering that one first, but it's just not the same without the piano which I'd initially ruled out as an instrument to keep the tight trio sound although we're admittedly cheating a bit on our cover of 'Six Feet Under' by Jon Auer.</p>
<p>So in the end I'm not sure what made me choose 'I Like Birds' – I'm guessing it must've been summer time and that song popped into my head. Wouldn't be the most unbelievable of events... Anyway – like always with this series – I didn't listen back to the original and instead came up with a little guitar riff and built my version around that. I immediately started to hear the percussion part in my head, but only when I started wondering what the hell to do with the bass part and by complete accident came up with the Primus-ey Les Claypool-inspired chord stomp did I have a version I thought was genuinely worthy of being an Eels cover. After that I went even further into Primus territory and added some over-the-top Bible Belt accent backing vocals.</p>
<p>It's just a fun little number with some deep profound wisdom underneath that only Eels can create. I hope I was able to do his song a little bit of justice with this one!</p>
<p>'Til the next one!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p> </p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="uh6Qla-OQ-M" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/uh6Qla-OQ-M/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uh6Qla-OQ-M?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5060434
2018-02-04T10:02:59+02:00
2018-04-26T15:50:34+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 8: Nickel Creek – Best of Luck
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="i7QmGPlhEYQ" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/i7QmGPlhEYQ/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i7QmGPlhEYQ?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Okay, so with this one I seriously broke a sweat! Only when you've dialed in a cool tempo for the opening riff do you realize how impossibly fast you'll have to deliver the lyrics in the verses! Geeeezzz... But in the end I think I handled myself well enough...phew!</p>
<p>This is actually the song that introduced me to Nickel Creek. I vaguely remember seeing them perform this at a talk show – might've been Conan, I don't know – and being completely blown away by the performance and the song. I'd been dabbling with a few songs trying to create something like acoustic grunge and suddenly here was this band that did not only create that but took the whole thing way way further (and better places) than I'd dared dream of. I'm so bummed I can't find the video of that performance anywhere anymore. Anyway, the next thing I did was to get my hands on the album, and while I might've initially hoped for all the songs to be more in the vein of 'Best of Luck', that whole record, 'Why Should The Fire Die?', went beyond my expectations and completely blew me away. Such great delivery on all of the songs, really fresh and clever instrumentation and a whole world of sweet and sometimes unusual harmonies (like on this song). Basically, they'd done everything I wanted to do at that point with an acoustic sounding album, so I scrapped my own sessions and simply delighted in the fact that someone had just went and made the perfect album. And that's what it still is to me today: one of those really rare perfect albums where there's literally not one note I disagree with. Not too many of those knocking about. And yeah, not the biggest surprise that an album like that can only happen somewhere a bit further away from the mainstream. Not saying a mainstream album can't be perfect, but then again, I'm having trouble thinking of one right now.</p>
<p>I actually wanted to do 'Somebody More Like You' at first because it's got a really cool guitar part to accompany the vocals, but I wanted to do a trio version and although I did try, a band version of that song just doesn't make any sense. So one night I just started playing the opening riff to 'Best of Luck' but more like a dirty garage rock version of it and just thought maybe this'd be fun as a band version. The first version actually had some additional riffs, but it just became too much stuff so I started cutting things. The lyrics to the song are a bit obscure as to what exactly the situation is, although you get a lot of backstory, but in the end they're about a painful situation that the narrators (!) find themselves in. So me being me, I just couldn't stop myself adding some happy "lalalas" background vocals to the verses, just because I love that dichotomy that they add which just makes the story even more painful. There's an easy happy life for the couple to have away from each other, but they just seem to be unable to keep away simultaneously ruining both their lives. Okay, maybe I'm starting to overanalyze here, but I'm pretty sure some people will the lalalas...let's say surprising, so I just wanted to share the idea behind them.</p>
<p>Anyway, I hope again that you'll enjoy this latest addition to our Sea of Heroes!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="RjrlqYz8GAc" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/RjrlqYz8GAc/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RjrlqYz8GAc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5040527
2018-01-24T10:44:18+02:00
2018-05-02T11:24:51+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 7: Mumford & Sons – Awake My Soul
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="2LSwb6Z9_Zc" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/2LSwb6Z9_Zc/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2LSwb6Z9_Zc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Here we are then, back again with more of 'A Sea of Heroes'! And no, we haven't forgotten about the video for 'The Funny One' off of the new EP, but the video shoot's proving a bit harder to schedule than we initially thought, so we're going to continue with a couple of cover songs in the meanwhile. </p>
<p>We actually premiered this cover song in our live set just last Saturday. Fun fact: Tuukka hadn't even heard the original Mumford & Sons version before we played this version live, so I jokingly forbid him to listen to the original one at all. Most of you probably don't have that same problem, although 'Awake My Soul' was never a single as far as I know. But I feel that at a certain point a few years back there was just no way of escaping particularly the 'Sigh No More' record that this song is on. There was always someone raving on about that record, and yes I'll admit, deservedly so. It was and still is a brilliant album. I suppose you can debate all of the stuff released since, but that first one's just pure class. You can somehow hear that the record came together while touring pubs and small clubs and that the going might've gotten rough at times. Still they persisted with these awesome tunes, melodies and harmonies.</p>
<p>I remember stumbling upon them when I was trying to find an equally brilliant band and record as Midlake's 'The Courage of Others'. I'd seen them in the NME in some weird Amish get-up if I remember correctly and probably just dismissed them as another one of those "NME band of the week' kinda groups. But I don't know, somehow they stuck in my head and I just had to give them a spin, so I did and here we are.</p>
<p>Seen them live once, not in a small venue but an arena, sadly, but they were still brilliant. They're all incredible musicians which somehow is not the first thing you think about when you think of Mumford & Sons. But they're incredibly versatile and on point as a band. One of the best gigs I've seen, hands down.</p>
<p>We get compared to Mumford & Sons quite a bit on blogs and in reviews, and while I'm more than ready to concede an influence on tracks like 'Beggar Princess', they're still just one of a whole plethora of influences that we try and bring into our mix. But I take great pride in being compared to them, it's a badge of honour if you ask me!</p>
<p>I hope you like our version! I just started strumming the first chord you hear without knowing what I was playing and suddenly the first batch of lyrics came out. I couldn't quite remember how the song progressed after that "har-har" bit, so I took a look at the lyrics and had a crack at the whole song without listening to the original one, just looking at the lyrics. That's the reason the chorus is nothing like the original one and to be honest I can't even remember how the original song goes. I hope you find the thing interesting. It's certainly a lot of fun to play!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p> </p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="KpcBjt8Wqg8" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/KpcBjt8Wqg8/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KpcBjt8Wqg8?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/5035135
2018-01-21T20:25:21+02:00
2018-05-07T11:23:58+03:00
Tales from the Road – A Lovely Winter Evening
<p>January, 20th, 2018</p>
<p>So, I guess when an evening begins with strangers asking us if there's music tonight when they see us loading into the venue and decide to change their plans in order to see us although they've never seen or heard of us – I guess you can take that as a good sign, can't you? And it was! Yesterday's house was packed! No free seats as far as I could see. Friends and strangers enjoying themselves, an all around warm and welcoming atmosphere. Literally the only way to screw the night up would be for us to suck for some unimaginable reason. I mean, the recipe for disaster was there at the start of the week when I could literally not sing one decent note thanks to yet another flu, and I was still suffering on the coat tails of it yesterday, though nothing too obvious, thankfully. Still, placing screamo-rama 'Life In The Service of Others' somewhere down the middle of the set was kind of a ballsy move in hindsight...</p>
<p>But like I said, it was one of those nights where a lot of things just magically click. The right people in the right place at the right time. That sort of thing. And a lovely accommodating staff to top it all off! And for God's sakes: there were people there really actually singing along to some of the lyrics! I mean, what the actual hell-of-a-#nastybutsuperappreciativeword?!? </p>
<p>A couple of novelties – as we're slowly transitioning out of the puritanically acoustic live realm – were introduced yesterday, most noticeably with the introduction of an intro tape at the start of the show. It's always better to avoid having the audience subjected to my rambling stage banter for as long as possible. I'm "in the gig" somewhere around the sixth song probably – it just takes me a bit of time to feel the room, to feel the situation and the mood – so the less I have to talk before that, the better! We also hooked Tuukka up with a volume pedal so he could really highlight those solos and melodies of his. And we also played a couple of new tunes, 'The Funny One' from the new EP and 'Awake My Soul', a Mumford & Sons cover that we're also releasing in our Youtube cover series 'A Sea of Heroes' next week.</p>
<p>Also, to celebrate the just arrived hard copies of the 'Stuck With A Rhyme' EP we had a special merch sale after the gig "3 for the price of 2", and it might be that you're wondering what the third possible sales item might've been, well... we thought it'd be a nice idea to give our listeners the full experience by giving them the chance to get a hold of Karza's Lyrae project's debut EP 'Answers'. And it went down a storm! Karza ended up signing and dedicating a whole bunch of his EPs as well! Gotta love it. Goes without saying we'll be bringing all the EPs along to the next shows as well.</p>
<p>We played:</p>
<ol> <li>A Song for the Hills</li> <li>The Funny One</li> <li>Stuck With A Rhyme</li> <li>Trail of Lies</li> <li>The Fairytale Waltz</li> <li>Hurry</li> <li>Life In The Service of Others</li> <li>Awake My Soul (Mumford & Sons cover)</li> <li>Skinny Dip</li> <li>Beggar Princess</li> <li>(sort of an encore) Ugly</li>
</ol>
<p>See you at the next show!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4978611
2017-12-15T10:47:28+02:00
2018-05-11T15:48:55+03:00
The Second Coming...err...I mean, the Second EP is out today!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/50b2840a90b0f001e3a11306756097d27dba4a66/original/stuck-with-a-rhyme-ep-cover-001-small.jpeg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Hey one and all!</p>
<p>It's the birthday of our second EP today and we've christened it 'Stuck With A Rhyme'. You can say "Hi, and welcome to the world!" in these places f.ex.:</p>
<p>Spotify: <a contents="http://spoti.fi/2B2Ma89" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://spoti.fi/2B2Ma89" target="_blank">http://spoti.fi/2B2Ma89</a></p>
<p>iTunes: <a contents="http://apple.co/2jWZjZ0" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://apple.co/2jWZjZ0" target="_blank">http://apple.co/2jWZjZ0</a></p>
<p>Bandcamp: <a contents="http://bit.ly/2ArJLCM" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://bit.ly/2ArJLCM" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/2ArJLCM</a></p>
<p>Soundcloud: <a contents="http://bit.ly/2B2XHEw" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://bit.ly/2B2XHEw" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/2B2XHEw</a></p>
<p>Or, you know, just look at the bottom of this page and hit "play".</p>
<p>If you're feeling like you and/or a friend needs a CD and/or a download version of the new EP, just go to our <a contents="Store" data-link-label="Store" data-link-type="page" href="/store">Store</a> or the <a contents="Music" data-link-label="Music" data-link-type="page" href="/music">Music</a> page. Your support will go towards making the next EP happen, so whether you're into the Blues Brothers or Coca-Cola, you're either on a mission from God or on a mission from Santa. Either way, we love and thank you for all your support! And for anyone who's as perpetually broke as me, go and listen the shit out of our stuff on Spotify, iTunes and the likes! Every time you listen to a song we make about 0,005€. That's half a cent, and it doesn't make us rich but it makes us happy! So Thank you for just streaming our songs as well. Every little thing you do keeps us in the game!</p>
<p>Here's a couple of thoughts on the tracks on 'Stuck With A Rhyme':</p>
<p>STUCK WITH A RHYME</p>
<p> ”A song initially about writer’s block, it evolved into a lyric about being stuck with yourself as a whole, rather than just being stuck with writing. Everyone knows that feeling when you know almost exactly where you want to go with your life but it seems there’s just no way to get there. I poured all of that sort of frustration into the song, and I like how it kind of goes from the singer not being able to complete a lyric to not being able to complete anything in life. The ironic – or maybe just the obvious – thing is that I had terrible trouble completing the lyrics. I actually just managed to do that before our first live show, but funnily enough it suddenly all came easy. </p>
<p> Musically, again, this was a challenge. When we play it live it has great energy and all that, but it just didn’t translate onto tape at all for some reason. So I ended up spicing it up with electric guitars and a few riffs. It’s probably the most rocking track on the upcoming album, but I like albums to have that one ”punk” song on there that just widens the palette a little.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>MARINA</p>
<p> ”If we ever have enough money this track would be the opening song for the weirdest and gloomiest road movie ever. I just imagined the most bizarre film noir story with no dialogue, just music, shot in black and white on misty sea shores, in foreboding forests and with vintage 50’s hearses on deserted roads in the middle of nowhere. Now if all that sounds nuts, granted, it is. But that’s what it took for me to write this song. I love how it evolved from a gloomy ballad into an almost gothy folk dance number. </p>
<p> What I like most about this song is that it’s a journey and not your usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle 8-chorus-chorus kind of pop song, but instead it lingers in a certain mood for a couple of minutes and then just goes into all these other parts to complete the journey. I’m especially fond of the quiet part towards the middle. It reminds me of Spiritualized for some reason. I think this song definitely enriches the whole The Fisherman & The Sea experience.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>THE FUNNY ONE</p>
<p> ”This song and ’Trail of Lies’ from the first EP are kindred songs in a way, I guess. They’re two of only three songs that I recorded an actual live drumkit for, instead of the Loota cajón drums. Well, actually they both feature on this track. You can hear the Loota at the beginning but when you start hearing the ride cymbal coming in that’s the actual drum kit. </p>
<p> Another thing I apparently like to do with these uplifting numbers is to combine the joyful music with lyrics that turn the whole thing from a sunshine pop affair to something a bit more bittersweet. This song’s about a comedian who makes a joke that sparks outrage amongst a certain group of people and gets into trouble because of it. A vast silent majority back him up though, but don’t join in the fight, leaving him to fend for himself. I guess in the end it’s about our reluctance to stand up for what we believe in and instead counting on someone to stand up in our name allowing us to keep to ourselves.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>DANCING WITH DAISIES</p>
<p> ”Initially I thought this would be the album closer. But I quickly realized it was too weird and I actually wanted to avoid having a ballad as an album closer. </p>
<p> I had a bit of trouble coming up with an arrangement for it, so I started goofing around with different kinds of spacy sounds and reverbs until I stumbled upon something that reminded me of Desert Sessions Queens of the Stone Age stuff and some 60’s verby guitar sounds. I really loved those sounds ’cause it was about as far away from a mainstream sound as I’d dared to venture at that point. </p>
<p> After that the song started to come together real easy. I added some synth textures that to me had a touch of Pink Floyd to them and to the middle 8 the loudest and heaviest guitars you’re probably ever going to hear from The Fisherman & The Sea. It’s a trip for sure. And probably my favourite lyrics on the EP: ”It’s not like I find myself / With all of my time on Earth / Doing more than dancing with daisies”. I think it kind of neatly wraps up the whole EP lyrically. We’ve come full circle from being ”stuck with a rhyme” to those last lines from ’Dancing With Daisies’.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thank You everyone for being YOU and therefor being HERE. It's a privilege to share this new music with you and I hope it speaks to you in the same way the first EP did, albeit it being more than a tad different!</p>
<p>A whole lotta love to the lot of you!</p>
<p>-Jon</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="ITMPiZbiFX8" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/ITMPiZbiFX8/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ITMPiZbiFX8?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4976697
2017-12-14T10:32:19+02:00
2017-12-14T11:07:11+02:00
’Stranger Things’ Inspired New Video For ’Stuck With A Rhyme’
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="ITMPiZbiFX8" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/ITMPiZbiFX8/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ITMPiZbiFX8?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p> Yeah, so I’m just another one of those people transported to scenes and memories of my early childhood by the brilliantly made ’Stranger Things’ on Netflix. And whereas the new video doesn’t feature monsters or any sort of special effects (but it DOES have blinking lights on a wall...), it got it’s inspiration from that theme of ”the normal life” colliding with ”the upside-down” (i.e. the dark hidden side to our lives). Obviously this theme is essentially the oldest story in the book: Good vs. Evil, Olymp vs. Hades, Heaven vs. Hell, or – another current example – the Light Side vs. the Dark Side of the Force. </p>
<p> Now all of those stories happen on a huge, even epic, scale. But those battles of good and evil happen on a much lesser scale as well, inside us all, that ”angels and demons on your shoulder” thing everyone’s heard about. And while I was stuck – quite literally – with a lot of things when writing ’Stuck With A Rhyme’ those angels and demons appear to advise you on what to do. I wanted that element of dichotomy, of being torn between two extremes, to be the driving idea behind the video. And, I mean for Pete’s sakes, it’s just a music video, so no need to get any more analytical about it than that, right? </p>
<p> But I just wanted to give you a little backstory on it, because the few people who’ve seen it before it’s release have asked me why I look so damned angry in the video. It’s because the song’s about being fed up with being yourself at that particular moment in time. And while my lyrics – as per usual – shroud that whole theme in a cloud of slight mystery, I wanted the video to address the theme as straight forward as possible. </p>
<p> And I mean, it’s basically a punk song, so of course I’m going to look disgruntled and ready to pick a fight! </p>
<p> On another note: the idea behind this whole EP is that I’ve done it completely on my own. Whereas I had a good friend of mine help me out on the first one and the third EPs going to feature a lot of my friends – especially Tuukka and Karza that I’ve been playing the gigs with – I wanted this EP to be about pushing myself to the limit and see what I’m able to do completely on my own. Everything you hear – and now also can see – is done by me from the ground up. Writing, performing, recording, mixing the songs and dressing, shooting and editing the videos was done by your’s truly. It’s been a fun challenge and I’m actually quite pleased at the moment with how it all turned out – and I’m not easily pleased with myself at all, mind… – but at the same time I’m looking very much forward to hearing other people’s voices and instruments playing on the next EP. But that’s too much jumping the gun at this point, so let’s get back on track! </p>
<p> Fun fact about the video: it’s shot entirely on my iPhone! I’ve used Moment lenses for some shots, others are just your basic iPhone 4K video. I just don’t have the money to rent or – God forbid – buy any fancy video equipment, so I’m happy to make do with what I’ve got. And besides, that’s just another manifestation of the guerrilla approach I’ve taken to making this whole The Fisherman & The Sea thing happen. And it’s still so much fun. It’s painful and disheartening at times, but the fun always wins out in the end. The fact that anyone else except me cares about these songs or their videos is still so amazing and humbling to me. And a way bigger reward than any financial gain can ever be. Still, not to say that I wouldn’t mind making a little more than the 1,65€ that I’ve made so far from streams, haha… So feel free to stream the shit out of this EP, please!</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4946940
2017-11-24T09:52:50+02:00
2017-11-24T09:52:50+02:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 6: Jon Auer - Six Feet Under
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<p> Some records – and I’m talking about actual albums here – just speak directly to your soul. It’s almost as if you’d written the record yourself regardless of whether you actually play an instrument or not. I knew ’Songs From The Year Of Our Demise’ was one of those records for me from the first note. Literally. I could’ve stopped after that first note of ’Six Feet Under’ and died a happy man. There’s not one song there that shouldn’t be on the record and there’s not one song that doesn’t speak to me on some personal level. </p>
<p> Some records become more than just that for some people and this is one of those for me. It’s a state of mind, a place you can visit, a hideaway for you and the people that understand you. I’ve even written a short story for a creative writing class based solely on the songs on this record. So yeah, this one speaks to me. Screams even. And there’s probably a lot of echoes from this record on the upcoming The Fisherman & The Sea album. </p>
<p> I did, however, debate a while with myself over which song to cover. There’s ’Four Letter Word’, ’Josephine’, ’Song Noir’ etc etc. But I don’t know. In the end the decision to do ’Six Feet Under’ was an easy one when I came up with the idea of playing the glockenspiel riff as a loop on the melodica. You can’t actually see it in the video, because the opening credits need to go somewhere as well, but the melodica you see played at the beginning goes into a looper and that’s why you don’t see anyone playing it in the video again! </p>
<p> I love this song to bits and I’m so happy I managed to find my own take on it and do something a little different with it. I hope you approve of what I did here as well! </p>
<p> Have a great weekend you peeps! </p>
<p> Jon</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's the original</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="oHx1rFnBUd8" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/oHx1rFnBUd8/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oHx1rFnBUd8?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4931792
2017-11-14T12:12:08+02:00
2021-06-16T08:01:54+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 5: The Decemberists – June Hymn
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<p> This is to me as close as it gets to a perfect song. It maybe comes on a bit unassuming on ’The King Is Dead’, but it’s just not the same record in my eyes without this song. I also know a few Decemberists fan who’ll go ”’The King Is Dead’? Why not do something off ’Picaresque’? Or ’The Crane Wife’?” Well granted, there’s loads and loads of good songs to choose from. But I didn’t just want to go down the most popular sort of road, like picking to cover ’16 Military Wives’ although I love that song as well. And besides, I simply fell in love with ’The King Is Dead’ the first time I heard it and still love it exactly as much as I did at first listen. Writing this right now, I’m actually feeling like immediately putting it on. I don’t know what it is about that record. Maybe it’s because it was recorded in a barn, I don’t know. But there’s something about the sound of the record and the instruments that inspired me on my own journey putting together my songs for the album and the EPs. Just roughing it, you know. Outside the pristine studio environment. That’s just the kind of subtle anarchy that appeals to me. </p>
<p> ’June Hymn’ was also kind of the benchmark on how I wanted to approach this whole ’A Sea of Heroes’ series. I don’t think I’ve ever looked up the chords or played along to the record to figure out how it goes. Instead I’ve always just played it by ear. And that’s what I decided to do with all the other tracks in the end as well. But this was one of, if not THE first. </p>
<p> So once you start and try to put your own take on someone else’s songs like that, a lot of ideas start floating around your head and I think the first one was that I wanted to play it as a trio and not just the singer-songwriter style like it is on the record. I could never match Colin’s performance on that. But after that shit got a bit out of hand I suppose. I started to look at ways to utilize every asset I had with the trio arrangement. So obviously I then came up with a vocal arrangement for the whole song that I’m actually quietly proud of. Took me a while to write it, but I think it was worth the time and brain wreckage. </p>
<p> Anyway, it’s one of my all time favourite songs in the world and I hope I was able to do it a little bit of justice on this cover version! </p>
<p> Talk to you soon! </p>
<p> Jon</p>
<p>Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="KusWM9AKfZg" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/KusWM9AKfZg/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KusWM9AKfZg?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4929277
2017-11-12T21:34:51+02:00
2017-11-12T21:34:51+02:00
So long, Coffee House mini tour!
<p>With this second leg of our tour promoting the 'Beggar Princess' EP we wanted to try something that I haven't heard too many bands try over here: playing coffee houses the way bands do in the States regularly. It's such a wonderful way to reach new listeners over a cup of coffee, tea or what have you. So that's why we took it from the streets to select coffee houses in our native Helsinki.</p>
<p>Obviously the coffee house gig culture is nowhere near as evolved here as it is in the States, but I knew that when I started contacting all the cafés I had on my list. So it didn't surprise me at all that the answer I heard the most was "You want to what? Err...sounds crazy, man. Thanks, but no thanks!" Still, we managed to book three cafés with staffs that had an open mind and weren't afraid that we'd come blast their customer's ears with high volume death metal. Here's a little round-up of the gigs:</p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>September 29th – Bulevardin Kahvisalonki</strong></span></p>
<p>After the last street gig at Hirsitetris I actually thought we'd be taking the rest of September off. But the people at Bule wrote back so soon after I'd emailed them and offered us this date that I just thought "oh well, let's do this!" But I also wanted to treat our listeners on this tour to some new songs, so we sat down with the guys and rehearsed two new songs for the set, "A Man With No Dance" and "Skinny Dip". Skinny Dip I'd written just two weeks before the gig, I think, but I instantly knew it was the kind of song still missing from the album, so I played it to the guys at rehearsal and talked them through the arrangement I had in mind. They immediately picked it up and it sounded great. We've since even managed to record it for the album and I'm so happy to have at least one song on there that features Tuukka and Karza playing as well.</p>
<p>The gig itself is more or less veiled in a haze for me. I remember having had a terrible day at work and having to rush into the gig without catching a real breather during the entire day. But the people – and it's always about the people! – seemed to enjoy the set and we even got to play Beggar Princess a second time by popular request as an encore. And the new songs went down well, too. So, all good in my book!</p>
<p>We played</p>
<p><em>01. A Song For The Hills<br>02. Beggar Princess<br>03. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>04. The Fairytale Waltz<br>05. Life In The Service Of Others<br>06. Trail Of Lies<br>07. A Man With No Dance<br>08. Skinny Dip<br>09. Hurry<br>10. Beggar Princess (encore)</em></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/e682047dfe46c2c16dd736d26dd9917e6588695f/original/img-0227.jpg?1510514810" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Pic by Jacqueline of All Trades</p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">October 21st – IPI Kulmakuppila</span></strong></p>
<p>Never been to this café before, but now I want to go back again! This place was home to the most uncomplicated and forthcoming staff imaginable, always greeting you with a smile, more food than you could ever eat before a gig and just an overall nice and warm ambience to the place. I'd had a sore throat and the flu for the whole week leading up to the gig trying to oil my vocal chords with some tea and honey, but I was really weary of what I was going to be able to pull off vocally that night. We'd had our last rehearsal the Tuesday before and I'd struggled through two songs after which I just had to stop singing 'cause I'd ventured waaaayyy beyond any even remotely cool Tom Waits territory. Karza was also sick the day of the gig, so the signs weren't looking too good for this one. So of course it turned out to be the best gig of the whole tour! After double headlining openers Kaikuluotain (check 'em out! They're really able to generate a great mood with their performance.) we took the stage with Stuck With A Rhyme and a host of technical difficulties which luckily enough got resolved before we got to our second song. But apart from that and some of my least on point stage banter yet, that whole show evolved into a really cool gig and everyone there just seemed to be really into it. Lots of smiles and warm applause, almost familiar at times. Just pretty much exactly what I envisioned a coffee house mini tour should be all about.</p>
<p>We played</p>
<p><em>01. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>02. Hurry<br>03. A Song For The Hills<br>04. The Fairytale Waltz<br>05. Life In The Service Of Others<br>06. Trail Of Lies<br>07. A Man With No Dance<br>08. Skinny Dip<br>09. Beggar Princess<br>10. Ugly</em></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/5630fe44f8f6c959b1c6b42283f748386462c14a/original/22906434-10155265474679611-657041932-o.jpg?1510515182" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Pic by Nani Annette</p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">November 11th – Café Roasberg</span></strong></p>
<p>For the final show of the mini tour we'd managed to book a gig at Café Roasberg, basically as central a location as it gets in Helsinki. It's a really cool place with a nice chilled out vibe, just a place you can sit and not notice the hours flying by in. And they even have a basement floor with a nice little bar and some nice decoration. We played the basement floor with the same busking equipment that we did our very first gig(s) with at the Beggar Princess launch at the Night of the Arts back in August. So a nice little full circle moment there. Probably the funniest thing of the whole show was Tuukka's daughter pulling up a chair literally just three feet away from him towards the end of the gig and staring him down like the harshest imaginable judge at one of those talent shows on TV. Oh, and in between songs she kept asking me why I insisted to sing in German (I didn't!). I died though, funniest thing. Weird playing these gigs though where you have no idea what it sounds like to the audience and instead you just go with your gut. But the people seemed to've enjoyed the whole thing, so all good, I'll say!</p>
<p>We played</p>
<p><em>01. A Song For The Hills<br>02. Stuck With A Rhyme<br>03. Hurry<br>04. The Fairytale Waltz<br>05. Life In The Service Of Others<br>06. Trail of Lies<br>07. A Man With No Dance<br>08. Skinny Dip<br>09. Beggar Princess<br>10. Ugly</em></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/501d21e82501c91a86053b7b5f68a810c29d8971/original/21985199-177482796154029-7324182127568748544-n.jpg?1510515214" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Pic by Karza</p>
<p><strong>Thank you to everyone who took time out of their lives to catch our small but ever growing band live on this tour!</strong> Thank You! You make it all worth the while. We wanted to try and do something new with this tour and the experiences we've gathered are both enlightening and encouraging. Let's see what we'll cook up for you next...</p>
<p>Meanwhile, still two confirmed gigs to come: December 9th @ Dubrovnik Lounge & Lobby, time TBC and January 20th @ Vastarannan Kiiski, 8pm</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lots of love,</p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4919035
2017-11-04T08:58:50+02:00
2017-11-04T09:12:36+02:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 4: Beck – Gamma Ray
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="gJ3eA9R0nsc" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/gJ3eA9R0nsc/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gJ3eA9R0nsc?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe> </p>
<p> I’ve followed Beck since ’Loser’, some times more closely than other times. But what I find so remarkable about him – as many others do as well – is the journey he’s taken and all the while keeping so prolific. Added to that he’s been a huge inspiration to me in my own album project when it came time for me to decide to either not do it at all or to do it on my own. He was one of the main artists to encourage me to just try and play every instrument myself on the record. So after a bit of getting used to the idea, I decided to do it. Thanks Beck! </p>
<p> Now as ’Mutations’ is one of my favourite records of all time I’d initially decided to cover my favourite song off that record ’Nobody’s Fault But My Own’. But then I found this marvelous live version of it that he’d done himself and immediately knew the world didn’t need my version on top of that. Adding to that I was aware of the fact that the songs I was considering for ’A Sea of Heroes’ were starting to pile high on the slower ballady side. I mean, for myself I could do hours and hours of slow, airy and moody covers, but I guess most people lose interest after about 15 minutes in that sort of thing. So I settled on doing another style that Beck does so well: a quirky uptempo number that sounds so easy but for some reason nobody else is able to do quite like Mr. Hansen. </p>
<p> Anyway, my favourite record for those uptempo and quirky numbers is my second most listened to Beck album, ’Modern Guilt’. So when I decided against ’Nobody’s Fault But My Own’ I immediately started humming the guitar riff to ’Gamma Ray’ and figured it out on the guitar. Still haven’t listened back to the original version so I’m not sure f.ex. if the original’s actually in E like I play it with my ”brothers”. Also didn’t have a clue what happened in the song after the second chorus. I just had the lyrics infront of me and remembered that there was some part between the second and the last chorus but couldn’t remember for the life of me what it was. So sticking to true ’A Sea of Heroes’ dogma I didn’t listen back to the original and instead went with something spontaneous I’d played after the second chorus. And yeah, there’s also a nod to the Foo Fighters’ ’Learn to Fly’ in there. The Foos are definitely a band that have been a huge influence on me, and if The Fisherman & The Sea was the only band I had they’d definitely have been part of ’A Sea of Heroes’, but actually they’re more of an influence on other stuff I’ll someday hopefully get to share with you, so I left them out this time. </p>
<p> I hope you enjoy ”our” take on this Beck song. It’s certainly a whole lot of fun to do and it’s a nice kick in the butt at this point of our cover series. Here’s to kicking it up a notch! </p>
<p> Have a nice weekend everybody, </p>
<p> Jon</p>
<p>Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Z25_T_wkAV4" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/Z25_T_wkAV4/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z25_T_wkAV4?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4904013
2017-10-24T09:59:42+03:00
2017-10-24T10:21:03+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 3: The Beatles – With A Little Help From My Blackbird
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="1uhODV9KPeI" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/1uhODV9KPeI/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1uhODV9KPeI?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p> I remember there were only two artists that I listened to as a kid. My mother made me sit down with headphones on and put some Mozart on. That was pure heaven to me. It took me to another place. And the other artist was the Beatles. </p>
<p> My father had this huge tape machine and some speakers he’d built himself in the 70’s. We also had a vinyl player (which I still have today!) but no cassette player, let alone a CD player. Pretty old school, I suppose. So anyway, the way I remember it is that my father would put some music on when he was working on something and you could hear it all around the flat. I’d be sat in our room playing or something and suddenly hear this exciting music and instantly felt drawn to it. So I’d sneak over to the livingroom where my father was working, sit on the couch and just listen to the awesome sounds that were coming out of those speakers. I distinctly remember hearing ’Bungalow Bill’ – as any kid would, I suppose – a lot, but also ’Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’. That’s not a bad introduction to pop music at all, now is it? </p>
<p> Later I learned that my father was actually listening to mix tapes and there was a lot of Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly and some Stones in there too, but I guess most of it was the Fab Four. I vaguely remember myself wondering how many singers this band had, but obviously still couldn’t put two and two together. </p>
<p> So when I started putting ’A Sea of Heroes’ together I obviously wanted to include something by The Beatles as well. I’d taught myself ’Blackbird’ on the guitar as so many others have as well, but I didn’t want to just do another ’Blackbird’ cover. I could tell without looking that Youtube was probably full of them already. So for a long time I didn’t know what to do. Then one day we were at the cinema with our kids watching a cartoon and it featured both ’Blackbird’ and ’With A Little Help From My Friends’ on the soundtrack. So while I can’t remember for the life of me which movie it was, I remember going ’Aaaah, that’s what I’m going to do!’ Never hurts to go to the movies folks, even if you can’t remember what you watched afterwards! </p>
<p> I also wanted to bring my brothers Jack and Joseph back for ’A Sea of Heroes’ after having so prominently featured in the ’Beggar Princess’ video. This seemed like the opportune moment to do that. Oh, and speaking of ”moment”. This is the first video I’ve shot with the help of Moment Lenses for iPhone. Those things are a real treat! It allows me to make the videos just that little bit more vibrant. Easiest way to spot their use is probably the fisheye lens I have on Jack on the drums. But enough with the geeking out! </p>
<p> I hope you enjoy this cover version. It does make me smile so I hope it does the same for you! </p>
<p> Until next time, </p>
<p> Jon</p>
<p> </p>
<p>P.S. Here are the originals:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="SkyqRP8S93Y" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/SkyqRP8S93Y/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SkyqRP8S93Y?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Mo_DMGc2v5o" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/Mo_DMGc2v5o/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mo_DMGc2v5o?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4891574
2017-10-14T13:46:21+03:00
2017-10-24T10:22:12+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 2: Midlake - Rulers, Ruling All Things
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="jJhPlDnHiXM" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/jJhPlDnHiXM/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jJhPlDnHiXM?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p> So Midlake is one of the bands whose influence I think you’ll be able to hear on the album, particularly on ’The Undertaker’. Probably less so on our first EP or even the upcoming one. But regardless of that, especially their album ’The Courage of Others’ made a huge impact on me and they definitely gave me confidence to pursue my own sound, homemade as it may be. If you haven’t checked out that album, you’re missing out. I’ve rarely heard such beauty put into earnest, maybe a bit left-field folk popsongs. Completely heartwarming. </p>
<p> One of the gigs on their European tour of that album was also one of the most memorable live experiences I’ve had. The band were in such great form and sounded amazing, but in a way I did somehow suspect that. So what really blew my mind that evening was actually the supporting act John Grant. He came on stage alone, sat down at his piano and straight off blew my mind with the first couple of chords. That voice, that raw power of his songs – Jesus! I remember the spit flying out through his teeth while delivering incredible and partly venomous stories of heartbreak and self-loathing. But so so elegant and beautiful. He just baffled me. I couldn’t find words. I just remember thinking ”Is this real?!” And then it turns out that the guys from Midlake played on his record. ’Queen of Denmark’ is a masterpiece in my books, equally deserving of that accolade as ’The Courage of Others’. Imagine the guys from Midlake being an integral part of two such amazing albums at the same time! I don’t know how they did it. Apparently they had some trouble getting their own album to sound right and just did the John Grant one sort of as a therapy session. Well, it paid off big time. Crazy… </p>
<p> I actually first thought of doing a cover of ’Roscoe’ but I guess I felt after a while that it was too obvious a choice and that there’d probably be a million covers of that one already. So I started on a version of the title track of ’The Courage of Others’. That incredible heavyness it starts off with is just right up my alley. But in the end I wasn’t having that either. So I fiddled around with ’Chasing After Deer’ after that, until I decided it had to be a song I could do on my own with just a guitar which finally brought me to ’Rulers, Ruling All Things’ and the version you can see and hear here. </p>
<p> So as you can see, sometimes it’s easy to decide on the band you want to cover but less obvious which song it’s going to be. I had my troubles with this one, but the first time I tried figuring out the chords to ’Rulers’ from memory I knew this was going to be it. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed playing it! </p>
<p> Thanks for listening and you can expect the next cover to drop on the 24th! </p>
<p> Until then, </p>
<p> Jon</p>
<p> </p>
<p>P.S. Here's the original:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="e4IrgdHbLk0" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/e4IrgdHbLk0/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e4IrgdHbLk0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4876534
2017-10-04T11:58:32+03:00
2017-10-04T12:00:52+03:00
A Sea of Heroes, Part 1: Oasis – Listen Up
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Welcome to A Sea of Heroes! </span></strong></p>
<p>This is my tribute to the bands and artists who have been an inspiration during the years and have helped to shape the aura around the sound of The Fisherman & The Sea. This is by far not everyone though. I think my initial list of acts to cover was something like 50-60 names long. Obviously I had to narrow that number down, but let's just say that there's a distinct possibility for a "Season 2 and 3" if you all take a liking to these covers. This first "season" is going to be 14 songs long plus a few bonuses, I hope. There's a lot of crazy and funny stuff to look forward to, but I wanted to start things off on a very small and intimate scale and build from there. Slow & easy, eh? </p>
<p>Also, a small (obvious) <strong>disclaimer</strong>: I don't own the rights to any of these songs, but I'm also not releasing them anywhere else but Youtube. Should that change, I'll try to get permission from the rightholders to release them properly. Also, if my cover suddenly disappears from Youtube, that'll be because of the wishes of the rightholders which I'm more than happy to comply with. </p>
<p><em><span class="font_large">A few words about my process and why these songs don't sound exactly like the originals: </span></em></p>
<p>HI wanted the songs to be true troubadour covers in the same sense in which songs were passed on from musician to musician in the Middle Ages before notation and certainly records. The troubadours back then taught eachother the songs or played it by ear. That way every song sounded like the artist himself despite it being a commonly known folk song. </p>
<p>So I wanted to apply the same philosophy to my covers, and the way I did that was to simply not listen to the songs I decided to cover and just play it by ear, no matter if I'd last heard the song ten years ago or just last week. What I quickly realized was that with every song there was always some detail that I just couldn't remember how to do, but I embraced that fact and just came up with something of my own for that part. I'm awful at remembering lyrics, so yeah, those I did look at, but all the songs I've covered here - I still haven't listened to the originals again after deciding to do them. I imagine it'll be really funny and fresh to hear them again after having been absorbed by my own versions for such a long time! </p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Listen Up (Oasis Cover) </span></strong></p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="VpcLiSFDYco" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/VpcLiSFDYco/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VpcLiSFDYco?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p>
<p>Noel and Liam Gallagher were my absolute childhood heroes, full stop. And Noel was the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place. I'd listened to some dance and punk records and my father's Beatles albums before but when I discovered Oasis I became obsessed with music. I collected every single thing they'd released from a plethora of record shops (I know, good old days!) and was blown away - as so many others were - how much good music there was beside the album tracks, hidden on b-sides of their singles. Listen Up was one of those songs. It's a b-side on the 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' single along with another total a-side (for me) 'Fade Away' and one of the coolest covers of 'I Am The Walrus' that I've ever heard. </p>
<p>Now 'Listen Up' is a song that I haven't heard in ten, maybe fifteen years, but something that's such an integral part of your childhood you just don't forget. In this case I didn't even have to take a look at the lyrics. That song just came flowing out of me right there and then in it's entirety. I couldn't remember all the chords correctly (there's some cool ones in the bridge!), but I just went for it without thinking, and the version you can hear me do here is pretty much exactly how I played it the first time. </p>
<p>I hope you enjoy this version of Oasis' 'Listen Up' and look forward to sharing the next track with you on October 14th! </p>
<p>Here's the original by the way:</p>
<p><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="cyVMQ-1lJ6c" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/cyVMQ-1lJ6c/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cyVMQ-1lJ6c?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe> </p>
<p>All the best, </p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4870140
2017-09-29T11:18:53+03:00
2018-03-08T14:11:57+02:00
A Sea of Heroes – The Story Begins...
<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>so we're playing tonight at Bulevardin Kahvisalonki (Bulevardi 1, downtown Helsinki, be there!!), but we're also launching our Youtube series 'A Sea of Heroes' on October 4th – and we'll get the whole show on the road in the form of a quiz. The idea is to guess the artist and the song before the video goes online. Whoever's first wins a copy of the 'Beggar Princess' EP. Should you already own a copy, I'll figure out something else...!</p>
<p>The point is to have a little fun in the form of a quiz/treasure hunt. I'll be posting hints all over our social media (except Facebook, 'cause that shit's serious...), but you'll eventually find all the hints on my twitter page as well (that's www.twitter.com/jon_fisherman). You can submit your answers any way you like!</p>
<p>There will be a few hints per day until deadline – so get your music geek on!</p>
<p>The first person to guess the song correctly will be contacted by me.</p>
<p>Rules:</p>
<p>1. Guess the band/artist.</p>
<p>2. Guess the song.</p>
<p>3. Deadline's October 4th.</p>
<p>4. Have fun while you're at it!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's the first hint that I just posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jon_fisherman/status/913668119591358464</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Have a great weekend and see you tonight!<br>-Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4838874
2017-09-06T11:11:06+03:00
2021-06-08T23:07:21+03:00
First mini tour done and what a blast it was!
<p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>Man, it's been a couple of mad weeks in the world of The Fisherman & The Sea! I would never even have dared to hope for all the attention that all you people who came to the gigs and followed us on the internet suddenly threw our way. That was such a wash of positivity from your part it totally caught us off guard. I mean you have to know that the guys – Tuukka, Karza – and me have been in a band on and off for more than 15 years now, and way back in the early Noughties we worked our asses off (or so I'd like to think) just to get the attention for our music that we got with our first show as The Fisherman & The Sea. I'd like to think the music was good way back when as well, but it's funny how these things work out. Maybe we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dunno. If you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about and don't mind lyrics in Finnish, just go <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://neckofthewoodsrecords.com/kia" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>But anyway, basically all I wanted to do with this first mini tour was to take my songs out of my bedroom and into the streets of my hometown and see if anyone takes a fancy (or takes offence!). But I didn't want to do it alone, because the two slots I played at the singer-songwriter nights at Samettiklubi in the spring really did weird me out a bit. I realized I was so used to having my brothers-from-another-mother Tuukka and Karza around that I just straight up called them up and asked whether they'd like to tag along for another issue of The Ride. 'Course they did. Despite them being busy and working on other projects as well. They still said yes. Which means they're still a bit crazy. Bless their hearts.</p>
<p>So during the summer we rehearsed eight songs as a trio, those same eight songs we played at all the gigs except Rööperifest (only five songs). We thought about getting a bass player as well, but then decided that me playing a baritone guitar already we really didn't need all that low end. We kinda dug how the music sounded a bit light and fresh. And it did work kind of nicely with our street mentality.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/a1f9bf42f1a7e0712262aded21abb069cac4c20f/original/21074290-10155709532609312-1131207367-n.jpg?1504682409" class="size_l justify_center border_" />So for the Night of the Arts gig we just packed our street gear and went to the Töölönlahti Bay to see if there'd be a cool place to set up. We decided to go with the jetty. But man, was that a windy evening until the start of the second set! For a moment I honestly thought no-one would be able to hear a single lyric from my mic but only some windy static instead. Turned out well though. Big kudos to everyone in the audience though! That first set must've been dead cold at times. And still you stayed. Can not thank you enough for that!</p>
<p>Right before the second set the wind completely died down and we we're able to light some candles and do a bit of lighting as well. Broke a string on my baritone. Fucking punk rocker that I am. Third set was cool...and started getting chilly towards the end. Just talking weather here though. All of you people kept it such a joyfully warm affair for the duration of all those sets. Such a great way to kick off our tour! Thank you again to all of you who were there and came up to talk to us between sets. Such a privilege to have a chat with all of you!</p>
<p>We played:</p>
<p>01. A Song for the Hills</p>
<p>02. Stuck With A Rhyme</p>
<p>03. Trail of Lies</p>
<p>04. The Fairytale Waltz</p>
<p>05. Ugly</p>
<p>06. Life in the Service of Others</p>
<p>07. Hurry</p>
<p>08. Beggar Princess</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/46d218b3d0dcc99f45f6bff30be84d168bdf5601/original/img-0079.jpg?1504683383" class="size_l justify_center border_" />The Rööperifest gig was always a must for me since I live just around the corner and have been a part of the organizing team at the festival for some years now. We literally carried all our gear from my bedroom to the gig. Wish every gig could be just around the corner! Totally would've wished for better weather as well. Always feels kinda wrong sitting under a nice tent roof while the people cheering you along are left out in the rain. What's up with that?! Luckily the weather gods were merciful and didn't soak anyone during our gig (lest you landed nose first in one of them puddles...). The fact that really struck me was that after the gig several people came up to me and told me they'd come just to see us play! Wow. Flashed! That's about the nicest thing you can say to a totally obscure band only just starting out that next to no-one knows about. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having that special open mind of your's!</p>
<p>We played:</p>
<p>01. A Song for the Hills</p>
<p>02. Hurry</p>
<p>03. The Fairytale Waltz</p>
<p>04. Trail of Lies</p>
<p>05. Beggar Princess</p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/024b66fe93b697ecbd953611efa15d0ddddd7b40/original/photo-by-make.jpg?1504684189" class="size_l justify_center border_" />The Hirsitetris gig was a much more spontaneous sort of adventure than the other gigs. Sometime in August I just called the museum(s) up and asked them whether they'd mind us playing in their backyard in that cool timber structure that they'd built for the summer months. They didn't. And man what a cool place to play! I think that might've been our best sounding gig 'til date. Again, could've done with better weather and thus more passers-by stopping to listen, but nonetheless, there's loads of videos on Japanese, German and Slovenian (I think) cell phones of three crazy Finnish guys rocking out in a fucking timber tetris in downtown Helsinki. Something I didn't realize – because I couldn't actually see it for the trees – but someone told me afterwards that a lot of people across the street had their windows open and we're leaning out listening. How cool is that?</p>
<p>But by far the funniest thing was when everyone took out their phones at our request to film us playing Trail of Lies. As you may already know, we used most of that footage shot by the people there for the <a contents="Trail of Lies lyric video" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoJUJ1sedtM" target="_blank">Trail of Lies lyric video</a>. Wish I'd thought of asking the people at the previous gigs as well.That was a whole lotta fun! Also had time to chat with some of the people in the audience afterwards. Loved it. Go raibh maith agat and Dankeschön!</p>
<p>We played:</p>
<p>01. A Song for the Hills</p>
<p>02. Stuck With A Rhyme</p>
<p>03. Hurry</p>
<p>04. The Fairytale Waltz</p>
<p>05. Ugly</p>
<p>06. Life in the Service of Others</p>
<p>07. Trail of Lies</p>
<p>08. Beggar Princess</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Last I'm going to thank my brothers Tuukka and Karza a-fucking-gain, because they're the kind of guys you want around when you're pouring your heart out into your songs. They get it. They get me. And that's a rare thing musically. I'm so lucky to have them and I hope I can twist their arm to play the next batch of shows with me as well. I'll keep you posted on those!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Much love and I'll be seeing ya,</p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4816868
2017-08-17T11:09:50+03:00
2017-08-17T11:09:50+03:00
Cut the "(almost)" – The EP is finally here!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/7ec8a1fe5588d3cd8ec80fc89cf0b107ee8e45a1/original/beggar-princess-ep-cover-small-001.jpeg?1501169922" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><strong>Oh sweet release date!</strong></p>
<p>What a wonderful feeling to finally – after such a laborious half year – be able to give you the first proper glimpse of what The Fisherman & The Sea is all about. It's now no longer in my hands but in the hands of Spotify, Apple Music etc. My baby's finally left home to find out what this big wide world has in store for it!</p>
<p>If you're still into old skool CDs, you can get those too. We're selling a (very) limited edition at our gigs and I'm looking into possibilities of opening an online store on our site to sell the CDs and maybe some other stuff as well. I'll keep you posted on that one.</p>
<p>But hey, I'm gonna enjoy this moment now and I hope you "find dem tunes agreeable" as well!</p>
<p>Whole Lotta Love to you and here's a couple of thoughts on dem tunes if you like:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Beggar Princess – A Quick Track by Track from Jon </strong></span></p>
<p><strong>01. Beggar Princess </strong></p>
<p>”This is the first song I recorded properly for this project and the one I spent the most time with, figuring out what I wanted The Fisherman & The Sea to sound like. The first version that I did at home sounds close to something …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead might do. The next version I did with a friend of mine in his studio with him producing sounded way better and had an 80’s kind of Bruce Springsteen vibe. But it still didn’t sound like the thing I had in mind – there was too much reverb on the lyrics, the guitar parts started sounding plain real fast and the programmed drums lacked any kind of edge. </p>
<p>Still, I took all of those recordings back home and started messing around with them. Then one day I was shopping for guitar strings at my local music shop and stumbled upon this new cajón drum set. I tried it and knew instantly this was the drum sound I wanted for this project. So I re-recorded the drum parts at home with that and used the recordings from the previous session after toying with the guitar arrangement and the dynamics. And that’s what you hear on this final track.” </p>
<p><strong>02. Sea of Pleasantries </strong></p>
<p>”One of the newest songs I included for this album project – there’s 22 songs altogether – I wrote this after the then candidate for the US presidency Donald Trump had said something along the lines of ’I could walk out on 5th Avenue, shoot a man and nobody would care’ on the campaign trail. Obviously appalled by the notion itself, in the end I was still more interested in the kind of psyche that might lie behind such a statement and so this song is written from the perspective of that person, i.e. the now president. It feels eerily accurate in hindsight, to be honest. Also probably my favourite song on the first EP.” </p>
<p><strong>03. Trail of Lies </strong></p>
<p>”This is one of the oldest songs. I had the hardest time coming up with an arrangement for it. In the end it’s one of only three songs to feature a drum kit instead of the cajón drum set that I use on most of the other songs on this project. I like the way it’s a journey both musically and lyrically. It feels like a quintessential The Fisherman & The Sea song, really, and the guys in the band love it. But it’s got a drum kit on it, so it’s not going on the album. End of story. Haha. Besides, I love the idea of these EP’s not only having obscure tracks that couldn’t have made it onto the album anyway, but also to have these tracks where someone might go ’Wow, that’s actually my favourite track and they’ve buried it on the b-side of an EP’. It’s probably really bad marketing though…” </p>
<p><strong>04. Sick Song </strong></p>
<p>”This is based on an ancient demo I made in GarageBand. I would’ve loved to’ve kept the original vocal takes as well, but unfortunately the lyrics were a bit naff so I had to re-do them. Still, the vocal effects, the guitars and the background noise are all from that demo and I ended up just adding stuff towards the end. The funny thing about this song is, that sometimes it’s my absolute favourite song and sometimes I can’t wait for it to be over. Fuck knows, really. Might be a problem that comes with mixing and producing your own songs from start to finish. But you know, it’s a trip – I think with this song it really depends on your mood whether you love it or hate it. But in the end it’s my baby, so of course I love it.”</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4795398
2017-07-28T17:51:07+03:00
2017-07-28T17:51:07+03:00
New website and EP are (almost) here!
<p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>I've more or less finished building my website. There's still some stuff to come, but most of it is now here.</p>
<p>The blog section is where I'm going to post all the stuff that people might also call 'News'.</p>
<p>The debut EP 'Beggar Princess' is coming August 16th, but all of you who are here before that, just go <a contents="here" data-link-label="Contact" data-link-type="page" href="/contact" target="_blank">here</a>, join the mailing list and you get the whole freaking thing for free! It's meant as a thank you to all of you who are here right at the beginning of the adventure. I hope you'll stick around for a long time!</p>
<p>We're (yes, it's not me alone anymore – and I'm so excited! – more on the rest of the gang at a later date...) playing a release gig at the south tip of Töölönlahti in Helsinki at the Night of the Arts, so that's Thursday, August 24th. Actually we're playing 3 gigs in one sitting – one at 8pm, one at 9pm and one at 10pm. I hope you can make it to one of those shows. It's gonna be such a blast! If you're old school like me, that's also the first chance to get your hands on the CD version of the EP, so bring a 5er if you like!</p>
<p>A week later we'll be playing the Rööperifest street festival almost next door to where I'm recording the album, so that's gonna be a lot of fun, seeing all my neighbours and the people I run into while walking the dog. Showtime's 8pm again and the date is August 31st.</p>
<p>But hey, I hope you enjoy this site! And if you've got any questions, ideas etc, don't hesitate to <a contents="contact" data-link-label="Contact" data-link-type="page" href="/contact">contact</a> me! Apart from the live shows, I'm still 90% doing all this stuff on my lonesome, so all help and hints are appreciated. And if something's taking longer...well, you'll know why!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea
tag:thefishermanandthesea.com,2005:Post/4775926
2017-07-12T09:45:10+03:00
2017-07-29T08:42:14+03:00
Test driving a few songs
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/47d6b20f06050722bf70d5131cfc7019ca8458bc/original/img-7494.jpg?1499842033" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Seven years after writing the first batch of songs for The Fisherman & The Sea I had decided on 22 songs to record – well, 21 to be exact since this was February-March this year – and one song hadn't been written 'til then. But more on that later. The point was that I had a ton of songs that all sounded promising and of course I had some inkling about which ones were LP and which one's EP material. But as you know, the truth is out there, and in the case of songwriters it's in front of the listener. So, after a hellishly long abstinence from playing my own songs live (it's been years, sheesh!) I decided to test drive a few of them at the Samettiklubi singer/songwriter nights in Helsinki.</p>
<p>First one up was on April 4th at On the Rocks supporting headlining singer/songwriter <a contents="Emppu Suhonen" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.instagram.com/emppu_suhonen/?hl=en">Emppu Suhonen</a>. Loved her stuff, by the way! Check it out, if you get the chance. Really rootsy, raw and honest stuff and fucking (sorry, Mom) great song titles. Lots of other great acts there that night as well. Especially liked Viinapullo and Lucky Lane. Awesome stuff! Also bumped into a colleague from work, Mette, who I didn't even know sang or wrote her own songs. Damn! Really soulful stuff from her as well. So yeah, it would've been a great night regardless of whether I was going to be playing myself or not. But I did, and boy was it fun doing my own thing again! Though I have to say, what a weird feeling to be standing up there on a stage all by your lonesome and with monitoring that I hadn't set up myself. Took a bit of getting used to, I'll admit. </p>
<p>Played 3 songs that night; 'A Man With No Dance', 'The Waltz' and 'Hurry'. Went down beautifully. People especially dug 'Hurry', so it seems I hadn't been completely wrong about that song.</p>
<p>On May 16th I played another 3 songs, this time at the Samettiklubi at On the Rocks Kallio in support of Titta. Lots of dance-y and R'n'B kinda stuff on that night. Got to admit, that maybe my folksy acoustic pop routine didn't quite fit into that mix as well as at the first gig. Obviously did myself a bit of a disservice by playing 'No Heroes of Mine', a terrific (I think) but meandering song that's got something like 8 different parts and a fake ending before the last chorus. Basically a lot of stuff that'll make people give up listening and give you the finger instead. But hey, this is exactly why it's so important to play these songs in front of people. It's the only way to realize what works and what doesn't. I'm fairly convinced that particular song is going to work well on record, but it sure doesn't work acoustically in a small club setting, I'll admit. The other songs we're off the first EP. The setlist was 'Trail of Lies', 'No Heroes of Mine' and 'Beggar Princess'. 'ToL' and 'BP' worked well, so all in all I came out on the better side of it, but a bit of a weird one this.</p>
<p>I have to give a special shout-out to my fellow singer/songwriter friend Sirene who was there and did her own beautiful thing and got immediately booked for the Herttoniemi Block Party by the people hosting the night. She's definitely got that certain something. And such a lovely human being as well!</p>
<p>Oh, and about that 22nd song. I actually wrote it on the morning of that same night, but didn't have time to finish the lyrics. Otherwise I would've played it right there and then. That's the kind of spontaneity I like from time to time. But I immediately knew I wanted that song, it's called 'Ugly' by the way, on the LP although I've written something like 15 new songs since deciding on the 21 to initially record. But they all had that 2nd album kind of feel to them. 'Ugly' is different. It's really gritty and raw, acoustic punk probably. That's something I felt was still missing from the first LP and it certainly does – as a song – help to balance the whole record out.</p>
<p>Last but not least I want to thank every one of you who came out to see and support me on those two nights! Friends and family as well as new acquaintances, you know who you are and I'm so grateful that you took time out of your day to come and see me whether intentionally or by accident.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/256958/b7eb1b2e528bde571a86978110d013705672510c/original/img-0405.jpg?1499841868" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Peace,</p>
<p>Jon</p>
The Fisherman & The Sea