Switching to Tumblr

Hello!

I just wish to inform you that I'm switching over to Tumbler now. I got tired of the Blogger layout and html possibilities.

http://fransswahn.tumblr.com/

Is my new blog. I will focus on posting new tracks and information about upcoming concerts.

If there's anybody out there who happen to have photos taken during one of my performances, I would be delighted to gain access to them. I would really like to post photos or even videos on my blog. Naturally, it's very hard for me to take pictures myself. You'll get all the creds for the pictures, off course!

Na, good night. I hope you don't find it too irritating to keep track of me on my Tumblr. If it just turns out this idea of changing my blog is crap, I'll switch back to Blogger.

Poster Nostalgia!!!

So much is going on at the moment - every Friday we host a gig at Kristiania Espressobar, bringing in nice music from all over Berlin, so far mostly in the area of singer-songwriter music.

Also my recordings somewhat up-and-running. Slowly.

Instead of writing a piece on what's been going on, I post all posters that I've designed in the past year. Hope you see them and remember. I try to at least.

The first Vorspiel - Oct 8th 2010
A passageway to the great north
Made by hand, colored in Photoshop

Nr. II - Dec. 10th 2010
When I was DIY and Japanese
Made by hand then scanned and edited in Photoshop

Nr. III - Jan. 28th 2011
Photo by Jan Korgaard
At the banks of the Landwehrkanal
My last Photoshop-poster

Nr. IV - March 18th 2011
The first Vorpiel with another band
Also the first one with The Sun & The Wolf
Picture taken in Alhambra
I'm trying out the possibilities
working with Illustrator 

Nr. V - May 20th 2011
Short lived sci-fi drone project
With my friends Josef, William and Fredrik
Tarkovskys "Stalker" being beamed upon us

Poster for my gig at Sing Blackbird - May 21st 2011
I was really into circles, they ran in all my scetches
for poster and flyers, I even tattooed one on my right arm
Childhood photo of me, sis, mom, grandma in a cold environment 

Nr VI - June 23rd 2011
A real quickie
We threw a going away party for Anna
I turned it into a Vorspiel, and you were supposed
to dress up as a hippie

Nr. VII, IIX, IX, X, XI & XII - Oct. 14 - Nov. 25th 2011
Deciding to start throwing a Vorspiel every single
friday there just wasn't time to come up with a
individual poster for every event, therefore they
were all crammed onto the same one
Coffee plant + the contours of Kristians face

Nr. X - Nov. 11th 2011
Suddenly finding more time to work on design
I copied this pattern of a coffee cup
An event that just grew bigger and bigger
through the addition of Mire Kay

Nr. XI - Nov. 18th 2011
This concert was supposed to be on July 22nd
But was cancelled due to the events on Utøya the same day
The design circles, as so often before, around my fascination
For adding too many fonts to a design
Photo of a coot family at Wannsee

Nr. XII - Nov. 25th 2011
Strongly inspired by the covers of to Section 25 albums
Fahrt suggested adding the painting "Licht II" by Hans Vaga
So I distorted it slightly and incorporated it into the design
Originally it was a picture from Bergfelde, a village north of Berlin

Summer's over. Life's beginning.

It's September again! I'm back in Berlin again.

I spent one month in Sweden, bouncing between Malmö and Gothenburg, fully enjoying my internship at Malmös city planning office, and preparing for my last weekend of August concert. I came up with two new songs, one fast-paced drum machine-driven cosmic rocker and one example of the ultimate musical introversion that I try so hard to achieve at the moment, using, for me, unorthodoxly much computer interaction and tapes. Unfortunately Kurt Vile also granted my hometown with a concert, meaning my audience could've been bigger. But I was really happy, there was a nice atmosphere in the small gallery. The meditative piece I really felt was exactly what I'm up for at the moment.

I discovered Jon Hassell. Now I'm turning from the upbeat sound I was chasing the first half of 2011, trying to make as much as possible with as little as possible. Less is more. I'm finally coming closer to the end of the minimalist road.

Two weeks ago I played St. Gaudy Folk Society again. I know it probably sounds weird, but this time I kind of feel it was my best concert to this date. First of all, Maja Milners four-song-set was emotional and personal. Then my four-song-set was also emotional and personal. I think. I had the audiences full attention, and for the first time it didn't bother me one bit if something went out of hand, my technology or my ability to sing and play. I felt I hardly had a plan for how I was going to perform the songs, and seeing that I composed two of them the day before, I had good reasons to feel nervous. But no, this time it just happened. Total connection. Or whatever not-as-pretentious-expression you like to use. Thank you to all the people who showed, it was your openness that made me feel so calm.

Today me and Andreas started working on the album again. We were both convinced, that the effort we've made, the tracks we've recorded, weren't all work for nothing. We've been experimenting, trying to find my musical voice. And it seems we got further and further from the retro-inspired stuff I was doing when he offered his production services for the first time. Maybe none of the tracks we did during the summer of 2011 will find a place on the record, but there's no use to feel sadness over this. Todays results were just remarkable. It all went so smooth, and after three hours we had recorded two almost finished songs.

Tomorrow, Friday, I was supposed to play a concert with Sarah Mcguire, but the people at Soupanova had made a double booking. This means we'll play in the end of October instead. So write it up in your calendar, Friday Oct 28th it is! The place is on Stargarder Strasse 24 in Prenzlauer Berg. The closest S/U-Bhf is Schönhauser Allée.

Also, I'm starting to make plans for Kristiania for October. I want to arrange a concert every friday, showcasing at least two acts per evening. Next week will see my attempts to glue a schedule together. It's going to get wild at K-A !

Thanks for reading, your the reason I'm doing this.

Frans

Setting things straight pt. I

People of planet earth!

My last post was may 20th. I find it hard to say what I've been up to since then. Recording some with Andreas Köhn. Going to Sweden. Playing a few gigs, one really good at Kristiania Espressobar (beaming El Topo and sinking deep into the mantras that I turned my choruses into), and one at 16DOORS with Kohwi where I felt at unease (bad day, technical problems, you know the story).

I was going to play with Nina Hynes last Friday. Then the news of the Oslo Attacks came, and we cancelled the whole thing. I felt shaken by the news, still feel weird. Had prepared what I felt would be a great set, only to be disturbed by this fanatic asshole. The energy you put into preparing. It takes a while to recover.

I've had the same old feeling coming back, that I don't know if I'm actually up for all this music stuff. I've got so many opportunities, I meet people, get to play venues, write new material. But all feels pretty hard. Like I'm waiting for some kind of break-thru. Like I've got to get past this big obstacle that is the way to a bit bigger fame than just friends and hangarounds. I get appreciation for what I do, I do. Maybe I just feel my music is to melancholic, like I can't make people happy with it. On the other side, I don't even know if I want to make people happy. My view of my music simply mirrors the trouble I have with everyday life, that is 'What am I supposed to do?'

I'm thinking of solutions: If I get a band together I don't have to feel so lonely with my music, if I really dive into the music and work my pieces out into the most perfect pieces of music yet that might grant me some satisfaction, if I start drawing again I'll find a way to take my focus off music and onto another, less competition oriented hobby, if I move back to Sweden maybe people will understand me there...

Well, there's probably no easy solution, I have to put up with myself, my ambivalence, my interest in music, for the rest of my life. I am happy that I'm able to experiment with my way of life the way I am. My only real problem is my own attitude. I'm a pessimist, and I don't really believe that my effort is worth much. But I'm trying to work with these issues.

I'm going to Sweden for a month, to Malmö. I'm doing an internship at the Town Planning, photo-documenting important details of buildings. On my spare time I'll prepare for a August 26 concert at the Makeriet gallery and event space, I'll probably en up mixing my drum machine-ladden guitar songs with more meditative drones and tape loops. I want my music to be diverse, I want my performances to rely on several disciplines. If I could. I'd erase boundaries between decades and genres. There's so much warmth, experimentation, soul in a lot of music. I'm trying to unite.

See you on Makeriet!

Two gigs this weekend!

All you dreamers out there!


Tonight (21.00) my old, reinvented band Liquid Sky will perform blissful sci-fi drones at Kristiania Espressobar (Fehrbellnier Strasse 5). It will be amazing, there's no other word to express it.

Tomorrow (20.30) I'll play seven partly new, partly reworked tracks at Sing Blackbird (Sanderstrasse 11). I see this as one of my biggest concerts this spring, as I'll perform music from my forthcoming debut album properly (my last gig at the Gaudy saw the lack of proper effects due to a forgotten cable) in front of strangers, in a really nice café.


My prescription for your depression is combining these two gigs, together with warm or cool beverage of choice.


In case you're not free, or have no interest whatsoever in these two events, I still recommend you listen to the music of BigStrongBrute (AUS) and Basketball (CAN). Two great live perfomances in the last two weeks. In case you hate my music, BigStrongBrute is playing somewhere i F'hain tonight.


Bis sehr bald!

Record in the making together with Photo-Verlag!

It's been confirmed - I'm doing a record with the Photo-Verlag! One of the two brains behind this new, Berlin-based record label, Andreas Köhn, payed Kristiania a visit this week, showing me samples of the labels upcoming releases (ambient synth stuff and field recordings), record sleeves in nice materials and mini-CD:s. He handed me a remastered version of the MONUMENTS EP to show his ambitions concerning my music, he explained that his interest in and understanding of music had changed from the time he was a techno DJ, through playing in droney improv-bands to this current endeavor of his, the graphically oriented Photo-Verlag. Over all he seems like a really nice guy with a burning musical spirit, and I was quickly convinced that this label, albeit its present focus on ambient music, is ideal for producing and releasing my music.


We discussed the direction my music was taking, and I explained my interest in making this label debut of mine religiously themed, or that is to say, I intend to make the record a spiritual one, a lo-fi, goth-kraut mass. I picture quite clearly before me passages of sombre choir parts, the transmitting of feelings through a slow build-up.

Frauenklinik Neukölln

I also have the artwork worked out. In may I'll invite a bunch of people, hopefully around 20, to the abandoned women hospital of Neukölln. Everyone have to bring their own bed sheets, I'll bring beer, and we'll make a photo session aimed at producing ghastly images aided by my shitty analog camera. This will be done during day time, and hopefully the light is right, and I'll get good material for working a nice digipack out. Anyone who wish to participate on this event, please let me know!


As you see, things mos def are boiling! And I'm pretty happy about it!

Gigs, upcoming "record deal(?)" and the uploading of the Totem EP

Now it's time for updates!

I've had some stressful last months, studying, working, going to Sweden, etc. But I also had time to write some new songs. The present songs ranges from the last few months sunny naiveness to todays darker, more repetitive sound. I've gone through heaps of genres and artists to refine, define, redefine my timbre, my baggage of noise, idm, folk and hip-hop sticks with me (at least in my mind) but now I'm heading towards a hybrid of prog, goth and shoegazing with a simple but effective production.

In March I played to gigs, one at Der Hagestolz and one Vorspiel, together with 50% of The Sun and The Wolf, at Kristiania. If I am to evaluate the gigs, I feel the first performance was sabotaged by, among other things, the fact that I lined everything through a tiny guitar amplifier, which compressed and robbed the sound of bass and mid frequencies, meaning the audience didn't really fully enjoy the 45 minutes.

March's Vorspiel, on the other hand, turned out to be the best gig I have ever done solo. Even though I almost forgot lyrics and fumbled away some guitar lines, I felt as though my presence has never been so intense. I was able to embrace the role as the centre of attention, which is normally my biggest problem, leading to nervousness and stiff fingers. I think it much had to do with the audience, which seemed more focused than ever. It's hard to explain, but I realized that the bond between the performer and his audience has to rely on mutual sacrifice, otherwise there can be no genuine emotion expressed. So to all the people, who came to see me, thank you for being so "into it".

After the gig, I was approached by Andreas Köhn, who's just starting up his record label Photo-Verlag. He liked what I'm doing and suggested I make a record for his label. It seems the label focuses on ambient music, or I'll get to know exactly what they do after their upcoming release of 7 albums and 2 singles. However, I would like to pursue this idea of his, and finnish what I'm currently doing, ending up with a body of 5 - 7 songs between 3 and 7 minutes. The label would manage the mastering, produce the album, and leave me with all the rights to the material. What I must find out, is wether we could press the album as LP or not. As you might guess I am very happy right now, thinking about how to finish off my songs, record cover ideas, how to spread the word about the record, and so on and so forth.

Production-wise I am now considering using cassette tapes as a means for destructing the sound of my recordings, looking for a tape player with a rec button. Another idea is to run stuff through a guitar amplifier, to achieve that warm, blurry sound. The tape might be the direction I am also going when it comes to playing live, using multiple tape players for playback and sound effects. I brought my Casio SK-1 along from Sweden, allowing me to loop my voice among other things.

On my Soundcloud page is now slowly being uploaded my tape from 2008 (the Totem EP), track by track. As I now only posses 2 more copies of this tape, I thought it good if it was immortalized on the internet, at least until I need more space for my new songs.

I've been busy, you might say.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the start of spring!

http://soundcloud.com/frans-swahn

http://fransswahn.bandcamp.com/