Hey there people.
Still working on the record "Tuomo reaches out for you".
Almost all of the basic tracks are recorded, some vocals too
and I've figured out most of the arrangements.
The problem is (again), I've been crazy busy this summer and what's more,
my schedule keeps criss-crossing with that of my sound engineer, Tommi.
No worries, though, I'm pretty sure it'll be finished in time for a release early next year.
Anyway, the last time I wrote about my plans for the album (that was in april)
I was pondering what songs to put on the album and what to leave out.
Now I've got that figured out. I think.
It seems that I have a problem picking one style and sticking to it.
I mean it would be cool to be able to decide "I'm going to make a soul album"
or "a funk album" or "an acoustic album" or "a jazz album" or "a prog-rock album"
and then write the appropriate amount of songs in that concept.
Instead I seem to write songs in twos or threes.
That's the challenge of being an all-round music lover,
whenever I hear good music I think "This is exactly the kind of music I want to make".
When I started recording songs for the new album I had bunch of songs,
but maybe not enough to make a good, coherent album.
I had to write more. At some point I realized that I had too many songs to choose from.
I knew that the album I want to make shouldn't be massively long and complex.
I hope to make an album that people want to listen to all the way through, every time,
without getting bored or distracted.
So now I'm working on two albums...
The one I'm going to complete first is going to be a bit more soul-oriented,
with big arrangements and my band playing their ass off.
In addition to the good old Prince, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield references,
the following names have been flying around in the studio,
some of them before, some after recording a song:
...The Staples, Air, Elton John, Santana, White Stripes, Genesis, Lenny Kravitz,
The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Sam Cooke, The Band...
(ok, don't take this list too seriously,
most of these are references to some minor detail in an arrangement)
And as mentioned before, the working title is "Tuomo reaches out for you".
Conceptually I'm aiming for an uplifting, soulful and somewhat extroverted mood.
Not without it's darker undertones, of course.
The latter one, which I'm hoping will be ready later next year,
bears the working title "My own private sunday".
For this one I've mostly chosen the songs that I felt were too...
I don't know, always "too something".
"Too quiet". "Too sensitive". "Too depressive". "Too pompous". "Too explicit".
"Too Simon & Garfunkel". "Too wimpy". "Too prog-rock". "Too musical".
More personal? Not exactly, maybe just... more intimate. More introspective.
Not without it's brighter overtones, of course.
Ha.
Besides this, I'm producing a new album for Janna with my friend and guitar player Aki Haarala.
The band HUBA is also working on a new album. Emma Salokoski Ensemble's new album is coming out this month.
That's what I mean crazy busy.
Peace,
Tp