The embarrassement of the solitary handclap

At the start of every new year I think we all have some kind of Idea that we are going to make some big massive changes. Lose weight, stop smoking, stop eating roadkill, no more doubletracking Mellotrons etc. Im not really big on those massive commitments or resolutions because I dont think they really work. Roadkill is tasty in all its forms so why quit if you´re not getting sick.

My resolutions are kind of easy. Im going to record shitloads of music and release it and tour the world. It makes perfect sense. As everyone Im wrestling with the notion of a fairly indifferent world and a complete avalanche of new music every day but the thing is that when I mumble away loudly in Sollentuna. The outside world has very little to do with what I do. My ideas come from the inside.

A couple of weeks back I was at Deluxe Music in Stockholm and spoke to Jesper Skarin, the Bassplayer and singer of Vak and occasional Necromonkey Bassist, Vocalist and Percussionist. We both were complaining about bashing our heads against the wall concerning liveshows and indifferent or ineffective record labels. Jesper said "If I was 20 I would have been completely heartbroken by all of this but once you realize that you arent quitting anyway, that this is what you actually do, everything becomes simpler". I find that to be very true...that and a big chunk of "Ill show the bastards".

Ok, so what albums are coming out this year? Well we have Il Tempio delle Clessidre (ITA), White Willow (NOR), Pixie Ninja (NOR), Fredrik Klingwall (SWE), Nacht (SWE) Necromonkey (SWE), Weserbergland (NOR), Tom Doncourt (USA), ...in these murky waters (SWE), Molesome (SWE)...as far as I know...

Molesome is as you might know my own solo project and I think Ill start the year by printing a small batch of my second album Dial. If you want to hear it its on bandcampf.

https://roth-handle.bandcamp.com/album/dial

The goal is to put out two Molesome albums this year.

Song of the day is an experiment in a couple of different ways. For one thing it is the first track I recorded using an old Hoyer guitar that was donated to the studio by Björn Edholm. Its an old german 60s archtop with a questionable neck but a lot of fun to play.

But the "real" experiment was the miking in this case. On the track I used a little clip on microphone that is for Korg tuners and used that as the main microphone. And you cant really try a microphone without playing. And what is the use in playing if you are not playing a song or a small arrangement...so this track was done simply for that cause. Also I submitted it for a American TV.-series about an exconvict coming out of jail and facing freedom. Oddly enough I didnt get it as the track is perfect....right?

One of the weirdest things you have to do in the studio is to fake handclaps. Doing multiple sloppy takes and moving them around for suitable wideness. You feel like an idiot when you are doing it and it never really sounds really "real"...maybe it is because I know that it is. I seem to recall that there was a group in somewhere in America who only did handclaps. They would come in and just do handclaps...and you could choose how the handclaps should be... tight or sloppy, bright or mellow. Sounds like a perfect job.

https://soundcloud.com/rothhandlestudios/ribbons-and-lace

Cthulu Cream

So apparently its 2017 which is great as everybody seems to have become a bit fed up with 2016. For me 2016 was pretty ok with a lot of travelling and touring and then an incredibly productive fall.

Some of the highlights were without doubt the Necromonkey tour in October, Recording with Fredrik Klingwall, The Pixie Ninja album, The Gösta Berlings saga sessions, the Akaba tour in February, playing with Il Tempio delle Clessidre in Genoa just to mention some of the adventures. The Necromonkey tour stands out as it was a kind of weird struggle. Within 24 hours after leaving Stockholm everything sort of fell apart. Losing our luggage at JFK, our Fender Rhodes contact in Brooklyn being a no-show, trying to use a so called repaired set of Taurus pedals that turned out to be glitchier than ever and than slowly piecing our backline back together and finishing on a remarkable high note in Chicago with a guest appearance by our friend Mike Keneally.

Both me and David are fairly resourceful people but these issues and just the sheer amount of them were impossible to solve by ourselves. The tour would had been a very stationary quiet event
if it wasnt for Jim Robinson, Ray Loboda, Jon Yager, Cat Roache and Tom Doncourt. We cant thank you enough. We were also very lucky to get to open for Rikard Sjöbloms band. Great guys and a complete pleasure to tour with.

Jon, Jim, Tony and David in Chicago

Touring is a long series of problem solving, gaffa taping and spotify cruising and than the occasional music playing. Ive been doing it my entire life on different levels and I still enjoy it immensely. When you have a well oiled machinery on the road there is simply nothing better.

Thomas from Änglagård was asked in a interview why he wasnt touring with the band and he said "I try to make my life as simple as possible, touring (with Änglagård) is the exact opposite of that".

Someone asked me why Thomas wasnt touring with the band and I always replied "He is the smart one"

After I came back home a feverish flood of recording started. I try to do as much as possible without questioning or taking things apart. I just record them and wait. I might go back and add stuff but its also very possible Ill just throw them on the heap of 700+ songs I have written and just see how it survives. Picasso is apparently the most producrive Artist of all time and did 144000 pieces...They cant all be Guernica, right? Some of them must be small, simple and spontaneous.

Cthulu Cream is one song that is exactly that. Its simple, naive, clumsy and short. But it is something. And if you hate the song the title is still pretty great.

https://soundcloud.com/rothhandlestudios/cthulu-cream

Creating space

Its odd being in the studio. Im walking around by myself and trying to sort of make new room. In the studio as well as inside my head for new things. Im a slow cleaner. The whole Necromonkey tour will cast a very long shadow for a long time. Im trying to piece together gigs and tours for next year to keep the ball rolling. If everything falls into place 2015 will be a very interesting year indeed.

Reading the last issue of Swedish magazine Gaffa and saw that Yes got 5/5 for their latest album. King Crimson are apparently playing Starless.

I have started reading Riders on the storm by Doors drummer John Densmore. David from Necromonkey is a huge Doors fan but I have always been turned off by Morrisons dodgy poetry. The book seems to be a good read though. Reading it makes me want to play in a band....which is weird considering thats pretty much all I do.

I bought a jacket at a fleamarket in North Carolina. Ill be wearing it until it gets too cold in Sweden to remind me that that there is a place where its still warm and humid.

NP: 

Stina Nordenstam - Something nice

David Byrne - Walk in the dark

Sufjan Stevens - Romulus

Home again

Home again

After a wonderful tour with Necromonkey in the US Im trying to get back into the swing of things at home. The gigs and people we met were fantastic...I have always loved touring and being on the road. It is a accelerated lifestyle to say the least but so much fun. 

We played New Jersey, New York, Baltimore and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The transition to home isnt all that easy. Every night I dream of the tour, about getting up to a new venue. Love being with the wife and kids again but the idea of Swedes and chirping mobiles everywhere has become a turnoff of momentous porportions. We are also in the middle of a election where everyone in the entire country seems to want to shove their opinion in your face. 

Im blocking people on facebook left right and center.

Tonight Ill be playing with Akaba in Örebro. 

Anyways Im back. Trying to figure it out.

Video of the day March 29th

Depeche Mode, Astral Projection, the Propellerheads and Moa.

David recording the Yamaha CS-10 for Necroplex

Studio Update #5

Studio Update #5

Things have been awfully quiet on the blogging front for a while....which isnt as weird as one might think. The reason why I have just been automatically posting stuff is because I have been terribly busy.

My wife left for the states two weeks ago mumbling around at SxSW and San Francisco which left me with three kids and an awful amount of mixing to do. So I tried to focus on eating, sleeping and working....a bit of reading not a lot of writing. This last month or so Ive finished reading Donna Tartts the secret history and a Biography about Roald Dahl.

So maybe I should do I slight bounce around the bands that are currently active.

Kaukasus. We are just about wrapping up the cover and are working on promo material. The first single "lift the memory" will be out on the 7th of march.

Anima Morte. Are bouncing in and out of the studio recording a lot of cool stuff...they have been in Örebro recording Guitars and bass so everything seems to be on the move. We will continue on Thursday.

Vak. Will enter the studio to start recording their debutalbum. A full band recording which I am really looking forward to. The stuff the studio was built for. 

Owl and a half: Im thinking of doing a fairly simple digital release of the debutalbum "the complete Johnny Cash discography". If there sufficient interest Ill make a small batch of real ones.

...in these murky waters: the Optigan/chamberlin/Mellotron/Orchestron album. So far I think I have mixed 8 tracks...which means that of the original batch I have two left...but in the meanwhile I have written and recorded four new tracks that I probably want on the album.

A first taste of the album

Necromonkey: We are currently rehearsing for our upcoming gigs. This last sunday we rehearsed with the remarkable guitarist Einar Baldursson who will be joining us for the next two gigs.

16th April at Stampen

3rd of May at Bryggarsalen

Akaba: Giles Martin is currently mixing the final tracks at Abbey Road. 

Now playing: ...In these murky waters - Ophelia

Studio update #3

Studio update #3

Apparently the first batch of Necromonkey CDs have reached the US shores which makes me very happy. Its taking alot longer than we hoped for to get the discs over there so we appreciate your patience. If you want to order one please drop us a line at Necromonkeyness@gmail.com

Today we recorded vocals on the Akaba track Riflegun. Åsa is very convinced the title is gonna stay...Im not too sure. It really is a pleasure working on this album. We have been at it for some time but it still feels very fresh and Im also under the illusion that we know what is going on thematically.

After Åsa left I started mixing track 6 for the ...in these murky waters album today. This track is based around the Optigan disc Banjo sing a long which is a weirder one. Not so much weird but I have very little in my life that connects to finger picking banjos.

Ripping apart Optigan Banjos

As I am working on the album I try really hard to make it as interesting as possible. Sometimes it is about breaking up the arrangement or shifting the focus. In this video Im doing a treatment on the Banjos...where Im pitching it down and puling it thru some effects. When its played at the right speed it sounds a lot more....interesting....I think.

The thing is by doing this I started getting other Ideas and added some Mellotron Timpanis and all of a sudden everything changed.

Video of the day 20th of February 2014

When I write my blogs I realize that its very hard to keep someones attention for a very long time while so by having pictures people find it easier to keep their attention as well as initially capturing it. It is also a great way of adding a layer of info.

Video of the day is of Martin von Bahr recording Oboe on Necromonkeys track Transteens. Its from the 20th of February last year.

So I went online and searched for vintage oboe picture and this is what I found.

I think I need to have a little chat with Mr.von Bahr.

The future of Rock as we know it.

Martin has payed on a bunch of tracks for Necromonkey and is a real trooper. He also played a Oboe quartet on Vera Vinters drömde om dig. 

Video of the day 11th of february 2014

The song got its title from a local Chinese restaurant. Its not called Hing Long but Kinky Panda due to their logo. We actually ate there today. The food is pretty good but the woman who works there is terribly rude and unpleasant.  

I get the feeling she hates my guts.

As the new Necromonkey album is just out I thought I could treat you all to 

a sneak listen to track 2 of the next one.

This is one of those in session videos. 

The light was horrible so I did the best I could with the available light....

The amazing Nicklas Barker (Anekdoten, My brother the wind) recording some electric guitar. 

Nicklas Barker recording guitar on Kinky Panda

Necromonkey - A glimpse of possible endings

Necromonkey - A glimpse of possible endings

It is finally here.

Our second album. We are very happy with it. David and I discussed what track we should post as a teaser and we realized that all of the tracks represent the album and none of them do.

The tracklisting is as follows...

1. There seems to be knife stains in your blood

2. The sheltering waters

3. The counterfeit pedestrian

4. Glimpse

5. The worst is behind us

The album was recorded at Roth Händle V.

Track 2 was mixed by Kristian Holmgren.

Mastered by Christopher Cline.

Cover by Henning Lindahl.

As a sort of teaser we posted the second track, the sheltering waters on soundcloud.

Track 2 of the new album

The sheltering waters (6:30)

Electric Guitars, Baritone Guitar, Maas-Rowe Vibra Chime, Vibraphones, 

Glockenspiels, Mini Moog, Hammond and Crumar Organs, Teaspoon,

Yamaha DX-100, Yamaha SY-1, Drummachines, Drums and Percussion, Persephone.

Rob Martino: Chapman Stick

This song is very odd for us....see if you can spot why.

Here are a couple of videos from the sessions for the sheltering waters.

A very early session idea from the sheltering waters

David recording the Piano Part

A chamberlin solo female voice part that didnt make it

We have already started sending out the disc to the people who have preordered but also to magazines and reviewers. If you would want a copy of the album you are very welcome to do so by emailing us at Necromonkeyness@gmail.com

We have another 3 or 4 albums coming up that are pretty much finished. 

Our ambition is to release atleast one album per year.

Now playing: 

Fake plastic trees - Radiohead

The street - Harry Partch

Cracked knees, naked regulars and the Green Automobile.

Ive never been good at moderation. I want things to be bigger, louder and beyond. 2013 has been no different than previous years in that way. Ive smashed my head into a bunch of walls, gotten up and built new ones. Did a bunch of new things this year.

Started running. A lot. Found something terribly meditative about running 25+ km with headphones. It wasnt really about running that far. I just thought if I can run 3 I can probably run 5. If I can run 10 I can probably run 12. Took a couple of runs to realize that I had to create a specific playlist for the purpose. Running to Allen Ginsberg reading the Green Automobile will get you nowhere. 

People talk about a runners high. I never really noticed it. On some runs I had endless conversations with myself about what I was doing in the studio. Came up with solutions. Came up with some new problems as well. On other runs there was just silence.

I started reading about running and watched documentaries. Marathons and ultra marathons. One day I watched a documentary about a ultra marathon runner. He was talking about running thru the pain.

Later that night I had been running for 20 km when my knee started hurting. So I thought. I should run thru the pain. Also...20 km is nothing, 21,5 is a half marathon, right? So I kept on running.

The next day I couldnt walk at all. The x-rays showed later that I cracked the bone in my left knee by running too far. Moderation, right?

Realized that I couldnt run like that anymore. Needed something else. So I started swimming. Became very weird very fast. There are some places you want to be a regular and then there are places where you want to be as anonymous as possible. Im not sure why but there is something slightly disturbing about a 38 year old man going to a place where he gets undressed and swims back and forth for two hours. I am now very familiar with a bunch of slightly overweight wrinkly people from Sollentuna.  I started building systems about laps. How I counted them. Lap 75 for instance is my birthday. I counted from 1 and upwards and backwards. Lap 58 made my think about Rickenbacker guitars. Lap 38 my father in laws birthday and our relationship. 62 The Beatles. Etc etc. Sometimes I would just space out and realize that I had counted without knowing it.   

Swimming made me think of Brian Eno a lot.

I started seeing the waves my body made as sound moving around the pool crashing into other peoples waves. Swimming became noisy when you viewed it like that.

Made videos. A bunch of them with Necromonkey. Did one with Staphan O Bell. Appeared in one with Page. I have never been as visual. Before. 

Here I am playing the Hihat...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0k1LPhLNws&feature=youtu.be

Went to New York. Met Mitch Mignano.

My main annoyances this year have been with Mobile phones and computers..they seem to cause more irritation and frustration than possibilities and joy.

Necromonkey started playing live which felt remarkable and terrifying and the same time. Played the Sweden prog fest with three fantastic musicians. Kristian Holmgren, Jesper Skarin and Åsa Carild. Kjahart did the lights. Martin filmed us..Anders helped us with the stagestuff. I love the idea of the group working together. Also this group is spectacular in that I wouldnt mind getting stuck in an elevator with anyone of them.

A little video from our first gig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM8jJg-dhXA

We have our second album at the printers and we have just finished the first song on our third album that will probably be released in 2014 as well. The first picture at the start of the blog is the cover of our second album. 

Started reading a lot again. Read about food, wine and cooking. Read about Keith Richards and Neil Young. Douglas Coupland. Bill Buford. Nick Kent. Vaynerchuck. 

Started a bunch of new bands and album projects. 

Kaukasus is me Rhys Marsh and Ketil Einarsen. The album is a revoultion for me. The way of working with amazing musicians online and with constant communication and brainstorming has been a worldchanging thing. I have been involved in filesharing, filebouncing projects before but never as swift and easy. It also helps a lot when the music is vibrant, dynamic, dark and very much alive. 

Nacht is an album Im making with my wife. Its a conceptalbum about sleep and the music is (surprise! surprise!) very drowsy and twilighty.

ITMW...Ill keep this one under wraps. But its good. And different.

We have also started work on a new White Willow album. Me and Jacob have probably one of the longest working relationship that I still have. He has a remarkable sense of melody harmonics...my wife can always spot his stuff. Im a such a fan of him and now we have started the new album in a new way. Einar Baldursson talks often about how music is a conversation. With me and Jacob we have been mumbling for years.

When White Willow lost their drummer after the first album I wrote Jacob and said I was up for it. A while later I played on the second one.

2014 will be surprising, thats for sure. Thats how years work.

And with a bit of luck I might be able to start running again...in moderation.

Now Playing: Bibio - Silver Wilkinson One of my favorite albums of 2013.

A new beginning

So its apparently time...again. Back in the old days of the Roth Händle studio I had a webpage. It was voted the worst webpage online due the amounts of scrolling and windows you had to open. I have to agree. It was a mess...nowadays the webpage has been overtaken by some guy who seems to think cheap insurance is the way to go. But atleast it was something. Now there is no webpage just a fairly active facebookpage and a twitter account that sort of twitches and moves in a fairly random fashion.

The studio on the other hand is very much alive.

By a weird clash of calendars I ended up spending a lot of time in the Swedish countryside this summer. It was terribly nice being with my kids and all but what it meant was that I for the first time in a long while had the opportunity to think about what I am up to. And it forced to make some radical changes and decisions.

I decided to focus more on projects that I was directly involved in as a writer and not as an overdub musician. I wanted to have a bigger part in the artistic direction of the projects I was involved in...and I also decided to cut back on touring with other artists. By making my mind up things started to change. Im still an overdubpuppet by more on my terms and by that with more passion. I have forced myself to become more social musically and have started a lot of projects that will come into fruition next year.

This past year has been terribly active. And next year seems to go into overdrive.

These are some of the artists that have graced the studio in 2013.

Necromonkey, Akaba, Kenny Håkansson, Walrus, Kaukasus, Paul Sumner (UK), Velasco (Ita), Ingrannagi della valle, Nacht, In these murky waters, Paradox, Carl Hasselrot, Zorg, White Willow (Nor), Emma Nordenstam, Molesome, Kinski Pop, My god damn Territory, Staphan O Bell, Page, The Opium Cartel (Nor)....and more.

If you have ideas that you think belong at Roth Händle studios....drop me a line at

Rothhandlestudios@gmail.com

Have a great christmas and thanks for stopping by....