A recap...

Had almost forgotten about this blog/journal. Every now and then I thought about it and thought that I should utdate myself and future readers on what's going on. But always forgot to do so. Well, here's a short recap.

Was in the band mentioned in the last post from early 2013 and intil last week. About three years. Played eight gigs in various formats and venues. Published two songs in late 2013. Recorded an album which is to be finished these days and released hopefully within the year. I already recorded bass for most of the album and might drop by the studio to add some backing vocals if the other guys want me to. Wrote three songs for the album. One which is catchy and cool, but really a throwaway song from before the band started. Another two that was written specifically with this band in mind. None of these really showcase what I think I am really capable of as a songwriter, but they are all right.

As I predicted in may 2013 the band got more serious for some of the people involved and already in late 2014 I was beginning to feel that this wasn't really what I wanted to do. All the same, I would rather start something new than push this band in my direction. After all, the style and sound of the band developed rather naturally (which I think is a cool thing) and the other three seems to really enjoy it. So it was more about finding a natural time to leave and for them to find a proper replacement. Ideally, recording the album and then doing a few gigs to support the release before leaving would have been the preferable option. But recording took (as one could imagine I suppose) longer time than we had planned and the band started gigging again after spending all of 2015 doing rehearsals and studio work. With that, I felt I had to change something and say that enough was enough. I had lots of fun and really developed as a player and even somewhat as a singer. I'll look back at my time in this band with fond memories, but at the same time I feel I have made the right decision.

Thankfully the other guys were very understanding and nice about me leaving. Surprised I think, but so far no drama. Hope we can keep it that way. It might even be that they already have a replacement. Which would be great, since then they kan keep going at the pace they want to without me holding it back. I look forward to hearing the finished album and seeing them live as a fan somewhere down the line.

February last year I also joined another band who really wanted me as a bass player after having seen me performing live with the aforementioned band. Flattering, right? I was sceptical at first, but it has worked out well indeed. I would not say that I chose this band over the other one. After all I was in both for over a year. But I did feel after a while that being in two busy bands where certain members of both really wanted to raise the bar further was psychically exhausting and kept me from doing other things and being creative. So one had to go unfortunately. And I chose to stay in the band I enjoy the most right now, which is this one. It's kind of punked up hard rock sung in Norwegian. Not a joke band, but not taking itself too seriously either. Suits me! It's not really a place where I will get to expose my songwriting a lot, but I get to incorporate all kinds of influences in the bass playing, which is fun. Great way to rehearse regularly, play some live and just have a good time with friends. We have been arranging songs as a group recently and the chemistry within the band is awesome right now. We also did one gig on relatively short notice and the feedback from the audience was great!

Not mentioning any band names at the moment in case they google it, but namedropping will happen when time is due :)

As for Strange Horizon, the project as it was does not exist any more. The sound and concept might live on in the shape of some doom metal solo release from me at one point, but other than that, it's over. And I firmly believe that sometimes it's better to end things and start over than to keep going just for the sake of it. Because, it does look like something similar will happen soon with me and one guy I've been playing with for some time. Studio project at least to begin with. Taking it one step at the time. I suppose you could say that it takes one aspect of what I wanted to do in SH and expands that aspect further. We will probably use some SH tunes as well, but the first two songs were written by me over the course of last year, so it's fresh stuff. More on that the next time. For now, just note the new name of the blog and that the description below the name remains. Cheers!