The 'Songs to Unchain Hidden Hopes' tour is now over. Our last show at Semifinal was probably the best show that we've ever played and so, we're all feeling very pleased. We got to see lots of new interesting people and awesome places. Big thanks to everyone who participated and supported us during the tour, you people mean the world to us. Now it is time to rest couple of days and then start writing and recording new Edward material. Again, we will open a new blog about the demo sessions and how we're doing during summer, so keep visiting our website to get the lastest info. Have a great summer, we'll meet again very soon!
Here's a nice 30 Seconds to Mars cover song for all of you. For pictures, visit our website's Media page.
Over and out,
Leo
maanantai 31. toukokuuta 2010
perjantai 28. toukokuuta 2010
Heading to CityBear's and HARRI's Hometown
We all felt like this would be the craziest gig ever, when we started our beloved ED mobile's engine and headed to Savonlinna. We have few friends of ours (CityBear and HARRI), who are originally from Savonlinna, but nowadays they live in Southern Finland near us. Via these guys, we got to know their old friends from Savonlinna and it certainly didn't take that long time to notice that all of those guys are totally insane, when it comes to partying.
Once we arrived to our destination, CityBear and HARRI were already there. Actually, they've had been there for two or three days already, without any good excuse. Quickly, we dropped our stuff to CityBear's old man's apartment and drove downtown to do soundcheck. The soundcheck took like 3 hours, because gig place's mixing engineer didn't seem to be in a hurry. Not at all. Getting one microphone working took like 15 minutes and then the guy went for a smoke. That break took another 15 minutes. Nice. While we were on the stage trying to get our volumes right, we couldn't see the mixing engineer anywhere, we only heard his voice coming from somewhere far, far away. After scratching our heads for a while we noticed a small window (or more like a small, square hole) on checkroom's wall: the guy was mixing and shouting at us from the freaking checkroom! After the soundcheck we were on our way out and I asked the engineer (as a joke) if he was also a doorman in the evening, because the mixer was in the checkroom. He just stared at me and didn't say a thing.
Then we found ourselves watching a beautiful sunset on a beach. It was a great weather and there were lots of CityBear's and HARRI's friends around us. Me and Mikkis decided to play a few songs unplugged to warm up our voices before the show. At first everything went fine, but after about 5 songs one drunken girl shouted at us to play some Popeda, Yö or Klamydia. We decided to pack our guitars and head back to the bar.
When we got back to the gig place, we noticed a familiar face in front of the place: The fucking engineer was the doorman! With a big grin on my face we entered the place.
When we asked about the night's schedules (when we were supposed to play), answer was: "Let's see after 1 am". Fuck that's late. So, we decided to kill time the way we knew best. :) First band to perform was called Fallcrew. It was their second gig ever, but they played very well. When clock was about 1.30 am, it was our turn to play. The gig went just fine, but since it was so late, everybody in the bar were quite drunk or had already left the place.
After the gig we went ourside to catch a taxi. That wasn't so easy. It took about 1,5 hours for the first car to arrive. The clock was about 4 am, but still we decided to go for an after party. I stayed up for like two hours and then went to sleep, but some of us didn't sleep at all that night. They had too much fun with our host's drivable lawn mower.
Here are few photos from Savonlinna:
-Leo
Once we arrived to our destination, CityBear and HARRI were already there. Actually, they've had been there for two or three days already, without any good excuse. Quickly, we dropped our stuff to CityBear's old man's apartment and drove downtown to do soundcheck. The soundcheck took like 3 hours, because gig place's mixing engineer didn't seem to be in a hurry. Not at all. Getting one microphone working took like 15 minutes and then the guy went for a smoke. That break took another 15 minutes. Nice. While we were on the stage trying to get our volumes right, we couldn't see the mixing engineer anywhere, we only heard his voice coming from somewhere far, far away. After scratching our heads for a while we noticed a small window (or more like a small, square hole) on checkroom's wall: the guy was mixing and shouting at us from the freaking checkroom! After the soundcheck we were on our way out and I asked the engineer (as a joke) if he was also a doorman in the evening, because the mixer was in the checkroom. He just stared at me and didn't say a thing.
Then we found ourselves watching a beautiful sunset on a beach. It was a great weather and there were lots of CityBear's and HARRI's friends around us. Me and Mikkis decided to play a few songs unplugged to warm up our voices before the show. At first everything went fine, but after about 5 songs one drunken girl shouted at us to play some Popeda, Yö or Klamydia. We decided to pack our guitars and head back to the bar.
When we got back to the gig place, we noticed a familiar face in front of the place: The fucking engineer was the doorman! With a big grin on my face we entered the place.
When we asked about the night's schedules (when we were supposed to play), answer was: "Let's see after 1 am". Fuck that's late. So, we decided to kill time the way we knew best. :) First band to perform was called Fallcrew. It was their second gig ever, but they played very well. When clock was about 1.30 am, it was our turn to play. The gig went just fine, but since it was so late, everybody in the bar were quite drunk or had already left the place.
After the gig we went ourside to catch a taxi. That wasn't so easy. It took about 1,5 hours for the first car to arrive. The clock was about 4 am, but still we decided to go for an after party. I stayed up for like two hours and then went to sleep, but some of us didn't sleep at all that night. They had too much fun with our host's drivable lawn mower.
Here are few photos from Savonlinna:
-Leo
maanantai 10. toukokuuta 2010
Strange Places, Weird Journeys
After On the Rocks' gig we headed to Harjavalta, a ghost town, where none of us had never visited before. With a little help from our navigator, soap bubbles and Baobab of course, we managed to find the gig place.
Once we parked our car, everyone was more or less scared of what was going on. There were 5 to 10 middle aged drunkies fighting and grilling sausages at the same time. For some reason, they had a grill on the terrace. We all felt like 'if you wanna get your ass kicked, this is the place to be'. They kept fighting while we were carrying our stuff inside. At some point, Mikkis was coming out of the place and saw one drunken dude hitting another straight to the guy's face, which made him collapse in a blink of an eye. While making soundcheck, the drunkies kept asking us the most bizarre questions and hanging May Day balloons to my microphone stand. We were just too afraid to take 'em off.
Then it was time to eat some fast food again. We found our way to the nearest grill to have a healty snack with bacon.
After watching the fighting about two hours it was time to play some acoustic rock music. People seemed to enjoy our music a lot and we had some inevitable hugs during the set. We played about one hour and twenty minutes and then it was time for the second band to play their set. While watching their performance I had a nice little chat with one dude from the bar. The conversation was basically his monology about how great singer I was. It is always nice to have compliments, but this one just kept going on and on and on. I basically said 'thanks' like 100 times in ten minutes. Finally, after maybe 45 minutes, the other band finished their set and we could head back home. Once we left the place, we saw a girl throwing a guy through a window. What a lovely place it was.
On the 1st of May, we drove to Lohja for another acoustic performance. We had our Swedish reinforcement with us: Mr. Marcus from Stockholm. The place was much better than what we had in Harjavalta and there wasn't any fighting or what so ever going on. In fact, the feeling was so good that I sold our CD to some guy for 20 euros before we had even played.
The gig went fine, although some of us were a bit 'tired', because it was May Day. After the show we drove back to Hellsinki to celebrate like 'normal' people did that weekend.
Next Wednesday we had a bit stranger gig: a show at school in Espoo. Students had a party going on and we were supposed to be the climax of it. Before the show some nice girls brought us slices of mocha cake and some soda, which was nice.
If we had some doubts regarding this gig, they were all forgotten once we started to play. There were about 40 screaming teenagers in front of the stage. Probably the best crowd we ever had. Big thanks to everyone who participated and made us feel good!
Here are few videos from the gig:
On Friday, the 7th of May we drove to Jyväskylä for some more rock 'n' roll action. Our gig place was notoriously called 'Red Neck', but fortunately it was a place with warm atmosphere and nice staff. Red Neck's stage's roof was quite low and it was covered with a metallic web, which made my hair stuck there many times during the gig. The performance went just fine and after the show we got to know a roadie from a legendary Finnish punk band 'Klamydia'. Roadie Kosonen, we salute you!
The next day we headed to Kuopio, a place where you shouldn't drive a car. Our gig place was like 100 meters from our hotel, but still we needed to drive around two or three blocks of houses to get there, because there are just too many one-way streets there. The gig place 'Ravintola Rock' had very nice staff and everything seemed to work like a charm. But after the show something unusual happened. We were just hanging out at backstage when suddenly one barmaid showed up and asked us to quickly go outside. The barmaid was holding a napkin in front of her mouth and there were tears running down her cheeks. Some rocket scientist had launched a pepper spray bomb right in the middle of the bar's dance floor. The bomb's smoke was spreading fast and everyone ran outside coughing ja rubbing their eyes. Fortunately, at least a few of us were at backstage, when it happened and the smoke didn't have such a big effect on us. About 20 minutes later we got back in to grab our jackets, but the bar stayed closed.
Next weekend we're playing in Savonlinna and that is going to be one hell of a night, because there are just so many crazy people coming to see us. :) Hopefully we'll see the mysterious man called 'HARRI' too...
Until next week,
Leo
Once we parked our car, everyone was more or less scared of what was going on. There were 5 to 10 middle aged drunkies fighting and grilling sausages at the same time. For some reason, they had a grill on the terrace. We all felt like 'if you wanna get your ass kicked, this is the place to be'. They kept fighting while we were carrying our stuff inside. At some point, Mikkis was coming out of the place and saw one drunken dude hitting another straight to the guy's face, which made him collapse in a blink of an eye. While making soundcheck, the drunkies kept asking us the most bizarre questions and hanging May Day balloons to my microphone stand. We were just too afraid to take 'em off.
Then it was time to eat some fast food again. We found our way to the nearest grill to have a healty snack with bacon.
After watching the fighting about two hours it was time to play some acoustic rock music. People seemed to enjoy our music a lot and we had some inevitable hugs during the set. We played about one hour and twenty minutes and then it was time for the second band to play their set. While watching their performance I had a nice little chat with one dude from the bar. The conversation was basically his monology about how great singer I was. It is always nice to have compliments, but this one just kept going on and on and on. I basically said 'thanks' like 100 times in ten minutes. Finally, after maybe 45 minutes, the other band finished their set and we could head back home. Once we left the place, we saw a girl throwing a guy through a window. What a lovely place it was.
On the 1st of May, we drove to Lohja for another acoustic performance. We had our Swedish reinforcement with us: Mr. Marcus from Stockholm. The place was much better than what we had in Harjavalta and there wasn't any fighting or what so ever going on. In fact, the feeling was so good that I sold our CD to some guy for 20 euros before we had even played.
The gig went fine, although some of us were a bit 'tired', because it was May Day. After the show we drove back to Hellsinki to celebrate like 'normal' people did that weekend.
Next Wednesday we had a bit stranger gig: a show at school in Espoo. Students had a party going on and we were supposed to be the climax of it. Before the show some nice girls brought us slices of mocha cake and some soda, which was nice.
If we had some doubts regarding this gig, they were all forgotten once we started to play. There were about 40 screaming teenagers in front of the stage. Probably the best crowd we ever had. Big thanks to everyone who participated and made us feel good!
Here are few videos from the gig:
On Friday, the 7th of May we drove to Jyväskylä for some more rock 'n' roll action. Our gig place was notoriously called 'Red Neck', but fortunately it was a place with warm atmosphere and nice staff. Red Neck's stage's roof was quite low and it was covered with a metallic web, which made my hair stuck there many times during the gig. The performance went just fine and after the show we got to know a roadie from a legendary Finnish punk band 'Klamydia'. Roadie Kosonen, we salute you!
The next day we headed to Kuopio, a place where you shouldn't drive a car. Our gig place was like 100 meters from our hotel, but still we needed to drive around two or three blocks of houses to get there, because there are just too many one-way streets there. The gig place 'Ravintola Rock' had very nice staff and everything seemed to work like a charm. But after the show something unusual happened. We were just hanging out at backstage when suddenly one barmaid showed up and asked us to quickly go outside. The barmaid was holding a napkin in front of her mouth and there were tears running down her cheeks. Some rocket scientist had launched a pepper spray bomb right in the middle of the bar's dance floor. The bomb's smoke was spreading fast and everyone ran outside coughing ja rubbing their eyes. Fortunately, at least a few of us were at backstage, when it happened and the smoke didn't have such a big effect on us. About 20 minutes later we got back in to grab our jackets, but the bar stayed closed.
Next weekend we're playing in Savonlinna and that is going to be one hell of a night, because there are just so many crazy people coming to see us. :) Hopefully we'll see the mysterious man called 'HARRI' too...
Until next week,
Leo
tiistai 27. huhtikuuta 2010
In the Middle of the Tour
On the 21st of April we headed to Tampere after work with Baobab (Baoban), Tommy, Väiski and our street team's leader Jonna (Jonathan). Bob, Kalle and Mikkis took another car, because Mikkis is such a hardcore teleseller that he needed to go straight back to Helsinki after the gig in order to go working in the morning. We got to Tampere around 6 pm and started carrying our stuff inside this legendary gig place, YO-talo. I had the hardest time trying to hang our huge backcloth, because YO-talo's roof was so high. I borrowed some crappy ladder to reach higher, which wasn't such a good idea, because I was swinging back and forth all the time. Fortunately, our famous albino-driver held me still with his big ass monkey arms. Thanks Baoban for your support!
We had some difficulties during soundcheck, because there was some amateur behind the mixing desk who just kept complaining about everything. Usually, we are one of the easiest bands to make soundcheck with; it's one song and that's it. There are no, "can I have more hi-hat to my monitor please".
After the soundcheck we went to eat something and then came back to the gig place to have a couple of relaxing beers before the show. First band to play was called Ruinside; a great local heavy metal band. They played very well and had an amazing singer, but the sounds were just crap, because this ass muncher behind the desk. At some point it sounded like there was no PA system on at all.
After Ruinside, it was our turn to climb up to the stage. The gig went ok, but there wasn't so much feeling, because we had to turn down our amps so much. I had difficulties to hear what the guitarists were doing. After the show Mikkis, Kalle, Jonna and Bob headed back to Helsinki. Me, Väiski, Baobab and Tommy decided to go and see what's going on in Tampere during night. Almost all places were empty but Henry's Pub, where we saw a house band play some cover songs and met some old friends from our home town.
The next day we headed to Turku. The drive there was probably the weirdest one ever. In fact, it was so weird that I can't even say anything about it out loud. So, I suggest that you make your own conclusions of what might have happened. Here's a quote from Tommy: *Sound of spreading something* -Kukkuu?, thyi, thyi, thyi.
Once we arrived to Turku, it was the same routine: carrying stuff to the gig place called Klubi and going to the nearest fast food place to eat our poor stomaches too full. We were all pretty excited to be in Turku, because there was this other band called 'Monitors Alive' playing too. We've been playing many times with those fucks and it has always been freakishly fun.
We had a hotel room in Turku nearby the gig place: a good place to talk shit and have a few beers before the showtime. It was around 10.30 pm when we started our gig. The sounds were just great although my monitor wasn't working properly all the time. We had just an amazing feeling during the show and left the stage with huge smiles on our faces.
Our driver Baobab met some old friend of his and we all went to this cheap ass bar after the show. After about an hour in a bar I was feeling pretty tired and decided to go sleeping earlier than the others.
Next day we went to eat some fast food again, but luckily I found a salad from the menu list. I really didn't feel like eating kebab or hamburgers that day. Then it was time to get on the road again and head to Kerava. Before Kerava we stopped in Hämeenlinna to pick up our own mixing engineer Aki and another car to carry borrowed PA system. We arrived to Kerava at 6 pm and started the same routine again. Sounds were great and everybody was pleased. At this point we all started to feel a bit tired, because of the last few days. Fortunately, there was only one gig ahead the next day. Kerava's show went great, although I had this huge spotlight shining in my eyes all the time, which eventually gave me a huge headache. I left home quite immediately after the show and slept like a baby.
Then it was time to play some rock music in Forssa. Once we left Järvenpää behind we noticed that everything wasn't as it should be with our beloved band wagon, the ED-mobile. We stopped the car and saw that we had a flat tire. Nice. And of course, there was no extra tire with us. Nice. So, we called our dear friend "Harri", who gave us a lift back to our rehearsal place to pick up an extra tire. After about one hour we were back on the road again. In case, you wanna know more about this friend of ours, come to see one of our shows and we'll tell you a horrible story during the show.
Once we got to Forssa, we had a nice reunion with the owner of Blue Pool, Matti. He's with no doubt one of the easiest going guys there are, when it comes to bar owners. After the show this same guy took us to see some other bars in town and almost everything was free. Huge thanks Matti for taking such a good care of us!
The gig was probably the best of all four. Or at least our faithfull driver, schnauzer's son, Baoban said it was. People seemed to enjoy our 'give all you got although you're dead tired' performance nicely. Once we got to our hotel after the show, there were big and spicy hot dogs waiting for us. And there was lots of rejoicing.
Then it was time to relax couple of days, finally. But once I had closed my eyes, it was already Tuesday and time to get packing again. Here are some more videos and pictures from the tour. I'll try to write more stories here this week.
Leo
maanantai 19. huhtikuuta 2010
The Adventures of Baobab and Rambutan
Whoa! Three days of touring behind and we're all exhausted, but happy. When I woke up on Friday I warmed up my voice for like 4 hours, so that there wouldn't be any problems on stage at night. We left from Järvenpää around 6.30 pm and Tommy was the one driving the ED-wagon.
When we arrived to Hämeenlinna our manager Ewersti was already there with Aki, our own man behind the mixing desk. Soundcheck was quite fast and we went to a local pizza place to eat something. Tommy and I wondered, if we should order 60 Hot Wings, but decided to do that some other day. I suppose, it wouldn't be very nice to be sick on the stage and have a chicken bone flying out of your nose.
The gig was great and there we're lots of people watching. We sold many CDs, shirts and felt just great after the show. We spent the night at Cumulus hotel nearby the gig place. We had some difficulties when we checked in to the hotel, because we had two rooms for two people and there were 5 people checking in. But after a little story about how our photographer "Rambutan" always insists to sleep on a hotel room's floor we got our room keys ok.
On Saturday, we went to eat to this place called RAX. It's the kind of "Eat all you can for just 9 euros" place. Wasn't probably the best idea. :)
After packing all our stuff to the wan our friend Jesse "Baobab" jumped to the driver's seat and we headed to Pori. About 100 kilometers later we stopped to buy more petrol and something to eat. Jesse bought this new energy drink bottle, which included flavors of Baobab and Rambutan. We had a big laugh, because all the bottle's ingredients sounded just like a joke. So, this is how the twins from North Korea were born: Baobab and Rambutan. BTW, their father was a schnauzer.
The gig in Pori was probably the best from all these three and we had a blast after the gig. We went to our hostel to have an after party and our mixing engineer came with us. A really nice dude who build an impressive percussion set out of few empty beer cans, sand and spoons.
Here are some stupid-ass videos from last weekend. Enjoy!
This week we're playing four gigs in a row. On Wednesday we're in Tampere, on Thursday in Turku and then in Kerava & Forssa. I'll write more about this survival trip here when I have more time.
All the best,
Leo
When we arrived to Hämeenlinna our manager Ewersti was already there with Aki, our own man behind the mixing desk. Soundcheck was quite fast and we went to a local pizza place to eat something. Tommy and I wondered, if we should order 60 Hot Wings, but decided to do that some other day. I suppose, it wouldn't be very nice to be sick on the stage and have a chicken bone flying out of your nose.
The gig was great and there we're lots of people watching. We sold many CDs, shirts and felt just great after the show. We spent the night at Cumulus hotel nearby the gig place. We had some difficulties when we checked in to the hotel, because we had two rooms for two people and there were 5 people checking in. But after a little story about how our photographer "Rambutan" always insists to sleep on a hotel room's floor we got our room keys ok.
On Saturday, we went to eat to this place called RAX. It's the kind of "Eat all you can for just 9 euros" place. Wasn't probably the best idea. :)
After packing all our stuff to the wan our friend Jesse "Baobab" jumped to the driver's seat and we headed to Pori. About 100 kilometers later we stopped to buy more petrol and something to eat. Jesse bought this new energy drink bottle, which included flavors of Baobab and Rambutan. We had a big laugh, because all the bottle's ingredients sounded just like a joke. So, this is how the twins from North Korea were born: Baobab and Rambutan. BTW, their father was a schnauzer.
The gig in Pori was probably the best from all these three and we had a blast after the gig. We went to our hostel to have an after party and our mixing engineer came with us. A really nice dude who build an impressive percussion set out of few empty beer cans, sand and spoons.
Here are some stupid-ass videos from last weekend. Enjoy!
This week we're playing four gigs in a row. On Wednesday we're in Tampere, on Thursday in Turku and then in Kerava & Forssa. I'll write more about this survival trip here when I have more time.
All the best,
Leo
perjantai 16. huhtikuuta 2010
First one down, two to go
So, yesterday we had a gig at Torvi in Lahti and today it's time for Hämeenlinna. Yesterday's gig was quite alright, although there weren't so many people and I had some troubles with my voice. Anyways, I managed to shout it through and we sold a couple of CDs also. Today, I will defenitely warm my voice up properly before going on stage.
We had a great time with Micko Hell & the Motherfuckers at backstage. It was really nice to see those a-holes once again. :) We used to jam together a lot back in the days at our rehearsing place. A lot of good memories.
Before the showtime we sat in our car, drank few beers and had a laugh at some lonely-ass guys coming and going in and out of Thai massage places right next to us. It's good that we have tinted windows on our car. That way, those lonely fuckers didn't have a clue that someone was watching.
Well, I better go and do some packing now, because tonight we're spending the night in Hämeenlinna. Take care!
-Leo
We had a great time with Micko Hell & the Motherfuckers at backstage. It was really nice to see those a-holes once again. :) We used to jam together a lot back in the days at our rehearsing place. A lot of good memories.
Before the showtime we sat in our car, drank few beers and had a laugh at some lonely-ass guys coming and going in and out of Thai massage places right next to us. It's good that we have tinted windows on our car. That way, those lonely fuckers didn't have a clue that someone was watching.
Well, I better go and do some packing now, because tonight we're spending the night in Hämeenlinna. Take care!
-Leo
torstai 15. huhtikuuta 2010
Spring Tour Starts!
..Or actually, it has already started, about two weeks ago. Our first tour gig was in Järvenpää and the next ones in Helsinki & Porvoo. Today we're heading to Lahti with a band called Micko Hell and the Motherfuckers. Nice guys from nearby. Tomorrow we're in Hämeenlinna and on Saturday in Pori.
Today, after the gig we need to drive back to Järvenpää/Helsinki, because we don't have a place, where to spend the night in Lahti. The other reason is that some of us has to go to work tomorrow morning. Not me though, hooray for that.
You could say that these following gigs are the first real 'release party' gigs, because now we have the actual debut CDs with us. :) At first, we were told to have the CDs already in Järvenpää, but printing company's a**holes messed up the first round. This Monday the CDs finally arrived, only 1,5 weeks late. Fortunately, we'll get some kind of discount. Or at least we think we do. Anyways, now we can truly go and play our hearts out and sell these Digipack-wrapped babies from hand to hand. In case, you don't know, we're selling these Special Edition CDs only during the spring tour. So, come to one of our shows and get yours. The price is 15 euros.
Now it's time to get started with this craziness and head home from work. Later!Leo
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