Silence and the Art of Bedroom Production

I mostly do my writing in Swedish, in places probably not frequented to often by English-speaking readers of this blog. I do this both professionally, and sometimes, well, for other reasons then putting food on the table. This blog is sometimes a rather quiet place, due to my other engagements.  

Other then blogging here, in English speaking fora I tend to write about music technology and its discontent. And perhaps not so unfitting, one of my recent contribution is about silence.

For SoundBytes Magazine, I contributed the article "What happens after the dot"? It's a short essay, an attempt at a philosophical understanding on silence in music.

"Silence is what happens before and after the dot. The full stop. On a smaller level, it is what happens between each word. Also the stillness which the words themselves may convey."

For Bedroom Producers blog I contributed a review of Twisted Tools Reaktor instrument S-Layer. It's an original sampler, as I wrote in my review:  

"I can see this working equally well as a percussive instrument – or as a sound design tool. The samples provided are fascinating and versatile, but you may of course also use it on your own libraries." 

I am of course welcoming any thoughts you might have on my essay on silence, or on the subject itself.

These reviews just in (swedish)

Alpha 3 has been available for precisely one month and one day. I've gotten cheers, sales (but not that many) and three swedish reviews (that I know of) - and I am happy to see that they all contain interesting reactions on part of the reviewers.

Firstly, I got a fine review in Tidningen Kulturen. That article can be read here. Also the regional paper Värmlands Folkblad had a short but sweet text likening my work to that of Digital Mysticz, Third Eye Foundation and James Blake. VF thinks my work is: "in the twilight between ambient and bleak dubstep" and TK thinks I reminence the danish avant-pop act Choir of young believers. I feel honored.

Last but not least, my friend Daniel Kristiansson wrote down his impressions on his blog, in a piece I am also happy to link here.

This far I haven't gotten any english speaking reviews, but I've gotten positive reinforcement on behalf of listeners, and a few from my fellow producers. Of course, if you are a reviewer - do not hesitate to contact me. And if you haven't, feel free to listen and perhaps buy yourself a copy of Alpha 3, and tell me regardless what it makes you feel. 

The best music blogs (you've probably never heard of)

Hidden places music
Rarely updated but illustrates the saying of "quality before quantity". Tends to focus on psychedelic electronic music.

Aurgasm
Cheeky name but a music blog that packs some great content. Very diverse in its selection and therefore carries something for everybody. One of the few "pop"-blogs I read.

Ambientblog.net
Great finds in ambient music together with knowledgeable liner notes. Continuously manages to deliver music that I haven't heard of and is a joy to read.

Dub techno blog
Highly specialized but good for keeping up to date with Creative commons releases in the realm of dub techno.

Variety of Sound Interview

I was meaning to post this earlier. Only I didn't. It's a short interview I did with one of the great figures of freeware audio effects, namely "Bootsie" of Variety of Sound. He's known for great effects for different applications in audio production, which has generated a lot of well deserved recognition.

You can read my interview here, on the Variety of Sound blog.

The Wonders of Difference

Ever since I stumbled across the blog Cottage Garden Studio; hosted by gifted artist Sarah Sullivan, I've read it regularly. Some of you might remember that I won one of her giveaways earlier this year. Others have yet to read her sympathetic and insightful blog-posts.

She has a returning column called the Quilting Bee, which this time cut to the core on a very serious topic, yet again with a sense of warmth and recognition of the heart of the matter that I sometimes think go amiss when some people discuss "them". I am talking about kids and grown up people that fall under different categories such as asperger, ADHD, tourettes, OCD etcetera. It reminded me why I wrote about mental illnesses last month.

"Years of working with children and adults with autism, Aspergers, ADHD, mental issues, learning disabilities, my sincere belief is…we are truly missing something amazing here. That we need to start looking at these children as “Differently Gifted” rather than set them apart as abnormal."
- Quilting Bee # 16

This is a way of looking at things that I hope will spread. A perspective guided by being able to see potential instead of a static problem. I wouldn't for the world want to dismiss the care that therapeutic treatment and modern medicine can offer to better the life's of people who share some of these traits, there is however also a somewhat disturbing tendency to view anything that breaks the norm in human behavior as a problem, all under the guise that everybody should function in the same way.

This demand for normalcy, can create an enormous amount of pressure on kids and even grown people to adjust and fall into line with a notion of what is believed that everybody else functions and does. The real issue here to me, is that the image of what is normal can never translate into the enormous richness of the human experience. Not even close. If we recognize that everybody already is unique and different, I think this should invite to a sense of wonder and excitement.

In all honesty, everything that sets you apart from others can in unsupportive settings be considered a weakness and a problem. Some of us experienced bullying when growing up, and I know that there don't need to be any good reason for bullying to happen. Any reason would be fine.

And while some cry themselves to sleep in their kinder years for not being normal enough to be accepted by either their family, school or community, they might later grow up to be able to give some of the finest gifts to that could ever be asked for. Gifts that come from their own unique experiences which couldn't have come from anybody else. That which is shaped by the depths of their own being.

Thoughts on mental illness and melancholia

I have been reading a lot of thoughtful and noteworthy blog-post as of late. I want to share posts from two different blogs that have provoked my thought and let me reflect on my own life and experiences.

Sally Mandy over at the Blue Kimono have written several memorable posts about depression; or melancholia as she prefer to term it, and her experiences with this subject. I recommend you to read it, as it brings up how melancholia can manifest itself and that it also can mean a lot of things for different people.

"For me, running from suffering causes much more suffering. That includes running from depression. It feeds compulsion and addiction. Holding out for an impossible sense of joy and happiness is a setup for disappointment of the highest magnitude."
- The Blue Kimono

I have been on medication for depression and anxiety for quite some time, and I know that some are helped by these kinds of medicines and others are not. One of my personal lessons of living with issues such as these, is that a strategy for health has to be multi-faceted and individual.

Someones path might lead to lead them to specific religious teaching, another one finds comfort in a support group in family and friends, all of which might be completely wrong for a third person. If we recognize that each and every person holds the key to his or her health, even if they might not find it on their own, I think we might grow a profound respect for what it means to be human. Personally I have come to think that we create our own medicine trough our thinking and actions.

Also, why is suffering considered to be inherently unnatural? The thinking that it does not belong to any normal persons experiences can cause very much suffering as this ideal does not recognize the richness of many peoples experiences. To diminish whatever troubles us into something that should not exist denies the one thing it really amounts into: the human experience.

Bleak outlook - Photo captured last day of 2008

"I have spent much time contemplating the life of the homeless and mentally ill. Their current circumstances, as well as the history that has led them to sleep on the street, in SROs, self-medicate, and speak and listen to voices, intrigues me. I feel for them. I understand them. I am them."
- Thoughts on Life and the World

F. Monique Pitre writes on the topic of homelessness and mental illness on the blog Thoughts on Life and the World. With just a few words she manage to capture what I feel to be a very valuable truth. While we are different on many levels: underneath our different experiences we still all come from one source.

If meditating on the oneness of our existence might seem strange to you, maybe thinking a while upon all the things we have in common is easier to grasp. How it is that when we peel off more and more layers of culture and ways of living we are essentially so much alike?

While we do need to affirm our right to be different, choose different paths and live different lives, even live separate and defend ourselves, we are also breathing the same air and have the same color of blood in our veins. This understanding might be used to develop a greater compassion towards those around us.

Essentially mental illness is not something that only happens to others, and separating ourselves from a reality that affects all of us in one way or another does not offer real protection.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I got an award from the lovely Cottage Garden Studio today. I'm now officially a 'Kreativ Blogger'. I am happy and quite honored to have been awarded this. Sarah from Cottage Garden Studios in her turn received this from Tabitha over at her blog. This is the beauty of the blogosphere, that I can trace back who have revieved the award and find out all sorts of new inspirational people.



People who receive this award are encouraged to write down seven of their favorite things to go with this. Of course I will do this too. So, in no particular order whatsoever,

This is seven of my favorite things:

1. The feel of wind in my face. This is one of the reason why I love windy days. I close my eyes and experience the sensation of it. It amazes me and it is a very cool way to experience nature. I am still a bit concerned how people would view me if I would do this in public, which means that I often do this when people are not looking.

2. Any detail out of the ordinary both in the city and on the countryside. I like to capture these with my camera in all kinds of different angles. I am looking for those special little things that pop out. Things that lend itself to be part of my compositions.

3. Trees. I have developed a deep fondness for the birch. All the birches that flourishes in Sweden all have unique looks and forms that I too love to photo. Nowadays I cannot look on a tree the same way as I used to do.

4. New music. And when I say new, I mean new to me. It can be anything from Soul and Disco to Techno and Electronica. When I find out something new that's 'it' , it is very much like falling in love. Writing and occasionally performing music, well, that should deserve another place, but these are related.

5. The Tarot. 78 cards with a very interesting history or spiritual and religious nature. I like to go deep and have found something much more then a tool for telling the future. In fact, that is its least spectacular feature to my mind and something I am not very interested in.

6. Those special people who spread happiness to people around them. They really deserve to be mentioned here. People who make us feel connected to one another. Who care. Who do the little things without asking for anything in return. May your gifts find it's way back to your heart eventually.

7. Warm summer rain. In a similar vein to what I mentioned first, the last is about experiencing nature in a direct way. Just go out and just soak it in. You don't have to be naked or use your special clothes. But I have to warn you: there are chances that you going to get wet by doing this, but that is also the case if you take a shower.

Thanks again Sarah for sharing this with me. I also want to take the opportunity to give this award to momo jord. (rough translation: grandma earth) A swedish blog written by a very inspirational woman which I found out not so long ago.

The best Surprise ever

original art by Sarah Sullivan - 2009

I lack the proper words to describe my happiness. Today I won something that I will treasure when it arrives.

Cottage Garden Studios have had a giveaway of some original art by teacher, artists and mother of five - Sarah Sullivan. She does a kind of warm whimsical art filled with mystical creatures and characters. There is a earthy and kind air to her work and it's filled with witches, cats and unicorns.

She also wrote some very nice words about my photography and my blog which makes me very happy. Here I am living a life in Sweden and this amazing woman is sending me some of her original art from Idaho. Boy, am I lucky. I am thankful for the influx of goodness coming my way lately.

This is only one of several kind words that have traveled my way recently. Both from people I have gotten to know on the blogosphere and in real life. You know who you are.

I will find a special place for this when it has traveled all the way to Sweden.