Recording the new album - Day Eight

Start of a new week, and early in the morning I’m already with my headphones on, the guitar hanging, the amp buzzing and ready to continue where we left off last time. I brought my goold old SG guitar with me, the one I bought in LA and later almost destroyed after a gig… you can still see the scars on the body, oops. So we used it for the first track of the day, “No Better”, the newest of the songs on this album. Doing fat rhythm guitar tracks is always the best part of a session (as opposed to vocals, which is a drag to do), so that was the logic choice on a Monday morning to lift up the spirits and get energized, first on the SG and then on the Explorer. “No Better” is one of those songs that keeps pushing forward from the start, a lazy headbanger kind, but I love it. Getting the guitar licks on the chorus later proved a little bit more difficult that thought at first, as I’m such a lousy solo player anyway and couldn’t stop having a laugh all the time. The lack of sleep and the overcaffeinated coffee sometimes plays tricks on you...



After finishing with “No Better” we shifted all our attentions to “Frames Of The Past”, which we had already started with acoustics. We took out the Les Paul and did all the clean tracks, the fat tracks and than the solo tracks, for which we used an old CryBaby wah. The good old sound of a Paula into a wah, just classic. Even the solo went well, in less than the usual takes, hehe.



As we had done enough tracks and felt a little relaxed, we decided to start doing some vocals. I mean, you have to do them sooner or later, but better later than sooner. Or rather never than later, but we are pros (are we?). So back into the fishbowl, as we call the separate cabin where I have to hide to do the vocals. And off we went into “Frames Of The Past”, “Peaches” (one take of punk rock), “If You Only”, “Berlin” (that sounded really nice) and “Voltage”. By the time we finished with it, it was already fucking late again and time to go. And so we did after listening back to a few songs from the day so that everyone was happy, and off to bed.

Songs done:
“No Better”: all guitars
“Frames Of The Past”: electric guitars, solo, vocals
“Peaches”: Vocals
“If You Only”: vocals
“Berlin”: vocals
“What’s The Voltage William?”: vocals

Recording the new album - Day Seven

…And on the seventh day, they rested. Did they? No fucking way! On the seventh day we were still recording guitars (I didn’t really remember there were so many before the album) and coming forward, just two (or were they three?) songs still to be completed before starting with vocals.

Again, the full band lineup was there to give opinions, get bored, read magazines, nod in approval from time to time and some of them also to record (by the way, have you seen Tobi’s new drums? Cool or what?) We decided to finish up those bunch of songs which we had started during the week before starting with new ones, otherwise we might lose control of what we already have, what we had planned to record, what we are currently planning to record and what will be done in the end. You know, “Didn’t we have a guitar lick still pending somewhere? I cannot remember which one on which song right now, but it was something like ga-ga-bum-cha-ga-ga-cha-bum… Shit, we should have written that down”. Those kind of sentences can be quite often heard if you don’t keep a control (also called paper and pencil) of the progress.



Anyway, as we are quite decent and clean people and always like to have our things in order and tidy (except for T_b_), we started by finishing “Stroboscope” and its doubled chorus guitars. All I can say is that it was an experience running two Marshall amps through a Marshall pedal and still wondering afterwards if we had a marshall’y enough sound. We did, don’t worry. Or worry if you don’t like Marshalls. So, in less than half an hour, first song of the day wrapped up in paper and ready.

“Berlin” was next. Going through several options we settled for a fat Big Muff sound for rhythm guitars and then a solo full of feedback with the semi-solid guitar. It was a pain in the arse during takes when I wasn’t playing, it kept howling all the time, but when you started to play it was tone heaven. Hearing the song afterwards in the control room for the first time with all guitar parts was quite an experience, almost a psychedelic one (hey, what was in the coffee anyway?), we were just blown away. I cannot wait to hear the final mix of this one at full blast.



After another coffee and a short chatter on the speed of light, we dove into “Scent” and did some guitars for the chorus experimenting a little with preamps and several different combinations of modern and vintage amps, Les Pauls and Explorers. I don’t really know how that can sound, but if Juergen says it’s ok, then it’s ok. I always say his ears should be in a museum. Now some handclaps overdubs and that kind of shit next time and we’ll have it in the can.

Again today, “Time” was left for the end part of the session. After double-tracking rhythm guitars with AC30’s and some licks, Juergen brought out one of his many gadgets lying around in the studio: a real vintage tape echo machine, with thousand knobs and wheels. We wanted a real surf sound for one specific bit of the song, and what we got was much cooler than just that. I was having a blast playing around while Juergen was kneeled on the floor fiddling with the knobs again and making amazing sounding noises. It was so cool, man, I was laughing madly while playing, wanking with the sound, while Tobi and Timo where in the control room also having hysterics at my face of pure delight. Too bad we couldn’t play longer. It was already quite late and we had to go home to do the kind of things you do at home when you come late from the studio. And I mean get some sleep, of course.

Songs done:
“Stroboscope”: more rhythm guitars
“Berlin”: all the rest of the guitars, solo
“Scent”: chorus guitar bits
“Time”: rhythm guitars, surf!

Buying a new drumset - What a day!

Oh yeeaaaah!!!
This is mine.
From now on.



MY NEW SPAUN REPTILE HYBRID CUSTOM-SET (ACRYL/MAPLE)

Is it sexy or is it sexy??!

Green is the colour of a frog...


I`m so exited to show u (and me,of course) the fat sound of it
at our next shows.

Greetings from a veeery happy TrommelTobi

P.S. Pictures of me and my froggy drumset will follow...for sure!

Recording the new album - Day Six

Time flies when you’re having fun. We’re already into the sixth recording day and well ahead of the schedule, six songs are already complete except for vocals, which always come at the end anyway, when the singer is way too tired and ready to go home. We should record the vocals first next time around, hehe.

After being treated once again to the delights of a wonderful salad (so that our stomachs wouldn’t be louder than the guitars), we continued tracking acoustics from the day before, as the various microphones were already prepared for me to mistreat. “Frames Of The Past” was the first, and just after one take and then double-tracking it to get a fatter sound it was in the can.



“Berlin” was a little harder to get, as it’s quite a long number (around 5 minutes) and the guitar groove goes on forever. Probably I didn’t warm up my right wrist enough before it (Tobi had taken the Jenna Jameson magazine home), or probably I was just too damm stupid to get it right, but by the end I had a stiff right arm and it was fucking hurting from going non-stop on the guitar. I just bloody lost the plec as well, couldn’t get a grip, so it got a bit messy there and had to redo the whole thing again after a short pause.

And then, “Into The Sea” was there, probably one of my favourite tracks on the album. We started with the acoustics again, and after finishing them, the workhorse Gibson Songwriter went back into its case for the rest of the sessions, as it won’t be needed. Well, probably, you never know later on. We then added some amazingly sounding clean guitars with the ES-333 into the Peavey Classic 30 and into a 4x12” Engl cabinet… and it was one of those magic moments. For me, at least. It’s such a nice regular arpeggio going up and down that has something of a nursery rhyme in it. I had really a “floaty”, hypnotic feeling doing it (or perhaps I was just digesting the salad, go figure...) But it was nice anyway, I hope it comes through in the song. Fat guitars and the solo came later on, and this is where a Mesa Rectifier and a Les Paul can really do the job. And so, we finished “Into The Sea”, just waiting for the vocals to come. Did I say I liked the song?



We set up several smaller amps again to do some clean guitars on the next batch of songs, mainly the Classic 30, a Mesa 50 Caliber and the pair of AC30’s. For “Berlin”, we also used a few ultracool pedals, among them one from Sovtek called Small Stone. Ain’t that cool? Anyway, then we tried a few different amp setups for “Stroboscope”, not quite sure which one to use at the end, so we recorded all of them and Juergen will have to look in the mix which one suits better. Sometimes having too many possibilities can be a drag, as all of them sound nice, but using one or the other can change the mood completely. Sometimes I remember when I had my first shitty guitar and ever more shitty amp, and I was just so happy with that one shitty sound, as I didn’t know what was out there. Ignorance is bliss, they say, and a little truth is there too.

Before calling it a day, we almost finished “Scent” and its anti-solo (you’ll know why when you hear it) and took a try at “Time” with the Les Paul straight into an AC30 just ten minutes before going, which went surprinsingly well. At least it sounded so to our tired ears, it may all be just complete bullshit when we listen back to it next day. Such things hapen. Quite usually, indeed.

We’re taking a day off (cool) and will be there again on Thursday afternoon ready to frog and roll again. Stay tuned.

Songs done:
“Frames Of The Past”: acoustic guitars
“Berlin”: acoustic and electric guitars
“Into The Sea”: all guitars
“Stroboscope”: guitars
“Scent”: guitars
“Time”: guitars

Recording the new album - Day Five

A new day, a new week, the same little band. Day five of the recording, today just Timo and me there. After a wonderful and way too healthy lunchtime salad we were all really grateful for, it was time to continue the good work. I took along the Explorer guitar, so it was crunchtime for some killer riffs in drop D. Metal mania! “Peaches” was the first to be slaughtered. It’s a fucking fast punk number that I’m glad just lasts one and a half minutes. Otherwise I couldn’t make it. It went really fast, just two takes and in the can.

“Stitch The Memories” came straight after, as it had the same guitar tuning and similar sound and feel. But I was especially looking forward to recording this one all the time. It’s got a fat bluesy riff going most of the time in three different parts of the stereo panoramic and then a totally melodic chorus in the middle before it becomes a screamer at the end. Explorer deep into a Mesa/Boogie running through two different cabinets and there was the sound, exactly as imagined. Loud, fat, dirty and mean. Groovy… Then after some overdubs with the Les Paul we had it ready for the vocals, which can be quite fun to do in this song. When we do them later on, I mean, for now we’re rather concentrating on the guitars and shit.



And as we had the mighty Explorer at hand, we decided to finish up with “If You Only”, for which we already had recorded some guitars last week, but was left incomplete waiting for some extra guitar double-tracking with a different sound. I think we got it pretty well.

By the time we had done these three, the body (and especially the ears!) needed a little bit of a slowdown. After discussing a bit which song would be next and which guitars and amps would be used, we decided to start recording some acoustic guitars. It was not exactly early (rather fucking late already) and it was the right moment for a more mellow approach before going home for the day.

After testing several tube microphones which looked like spiders from outer space (they probably were, too), we started doing some rhythm tracks for “What’s The Voltage William?”, just for the sake of having that extra crispy percussive sound going in the background. Together with the overdriven ones, the song is simply killer, looks like we have an opener already. Yuhu!



Change of microphones again, and into a rather speedy version of “Scent”, where acoustics have more weight (they carry the whole song actually) and then some bits of “Stroboscope”. I was simply amazed at how cool those bloody tube mics sound when heard through headphones, they pick up every single minimal noise and nuance of the guitar… I just didn’t want to stop. But as it was already half past late and if we arrive later than midnight we lose the crystal shoe and our cars turn back into pumpkins, we decided to call it a day. A night rather. And off we went. Goodnight.

Songs done:
“Peaches”: all guitars
“Stitch The Memories”: all guitars
“If You Only”: guitar
“What’s The Voltage William?”: acoustic guitars
“Scent”: acoustic guitars
“Stroboscope”: acoustic guitars

Recording the new album - Day Four

Zzzzz...hmmm?... Oh, you're there! Oops, sorry, just snoozing a little. Well, the fourth recording day came and we conveyed at TB in the afternoon to continue recording guitars.



After inspecting Jürgen's copy of The Beatles Complete Recording Sessions: The Abbey Road Years by Mark Lewisohn for a while and desperately wanting to take it home, tapes were ready to roll, and nothing better than starting a fresh new song, "If You Only". That's when Timo, casually passing by, suddenly asked "What?? Oh please don't tell me it's actually a G#... Shit!!" So, well, yes, we wouldn't argue over half a note, so he had to re-record the song again, this time with the right note on it.

We did several takes of the main riff guitar with the Les Paul and redid them again just to be sure they will kick ass when we double them with the mighty "riff-machine" Explorer. It didn't take that long, so we decided to start and finish a complete song, and the choice fell on "1976".

Wow, that was the beginning of the amp parade... the cool thing about Jürgen is that he really loves to experiment with different combinations of amps, boxes, guitars, pedals, preamps, more amps and a lot of crazy shit you wouldn't believe. You can see he loves that adventurous spirit of those Beatle sessions back in the day when he searches for sounds. He won't just settle for one or two cool sounds and use them for the whole record. Instead, every song has got to be a little gem with recording tricks and special touches. Not bad indeed.



Anyodds, as I was saying, we started with '76, tracking clean and "not completely clean" guitars with the ES-333 and also the Les Paul for the dirtier parts and the metal frenzy at the beginning and ending of the song. Timo and Tobi, who had arrived by that time, probably had a good time laughing at my faces when I turned up the Rectifier full to the right and at completely insane volume. True metal never dies, baby! After the take my hair was combed back from the wind and I had the face of someone who has seen the other side and has returned. Amazing. About five different amps used for the song, how cool is that?



Listening back to the track we were all grinning silly for a while, but before going back home for a break until next Monday, I just wanted to finish "Voltage" and get the solo recorded so that at least we had two full songs in the can ready for vocals next week. A quite "creamy" solo, you will hear...

So, first week finished, a LOT of the work done, and now over to three days of rest for our ears. Time to change strings to the SG and Explorer to bring them in, time for Jürgen to get a few other amps (!), time to disconnect. And mostly, time to sleep.



Songs done:
"If You Only": rhythm guitars, bass
"1976": all guitars
"What's The Voltage William?": solo

Recording the new album - Day Three

Timo was already there when I arrived today in the afternoon, he was checking out yesterday's bass tracks and deciding which ones needed to be redone before going into guitar mode. It's not exactly a tremendously adventurous or creative thing (it's actually quite boring listening just to drums and bass), but as with a house, you have to check that the foundings are solid enough before starting with the decoration.



At this point I must again express my utmost fascination with Jürgen and his ears. It's incredible what the guy can listen in a take, song or whatever. We'd be thinking "oh, great take, so cool", and he'll just nod and mumble "that finger accidentally hit a string while changing the chord". And we'd listen to it, and, exactly where he said, there was some minimal noise... incredible. Watching him edit and tweak knobs is a show by itself. Reminds me of those kids in front of the game console hitting knobs and twisting buttons at incredible speed and still getting to the next level. That's Jürgen more or less, all ten fingers on the sound desk or the keyboard, concentrated look, and in the blink of an eye he has edited the song to a reasonable thing from the mess he had before...

Then it was time to record two songs from Monday and redo a few from yesterday. "No Better" was especially fun to do for Timo, as he always remembers the right progression and key changes...



When we had finally got what we wanted with the rhythm tracks, it was finally time to start with guitars. About fucking time! As it was already late enough, we decided to start with an easy one, and the choice fell on "What's The Voltage William?", which could be a nice opener as well.

Recording guitars is where Jürgen has more fun at, which is really nice for me. We just did two rhythm tracks, one with the Les Paul into my Peavey Classic 30 and the Orange box, and the stereo track with the Les Paul into TWO Vox AC30 (a really vintage one and a top boost one) running in stereo with distortion provided by a Marshall Guv'nor pedal. Amazing how those little cheap pedals can sound... After just one take we decided to hold it there until the next session. The song really kicks ass already now, can't wait to hear it finished with vocals and shit.



Anyway, another productive day. Three days and already into guitar recording mode... yuhu!!

Songs done:
"Berlin": bass
"Scent": bass
"Stitch The Memories": bass
"Stroboscope": bass
"Follow You Around": bass
"No Better": bass
"What's The Voltage William?": bass, rhythm guitars

Recording the new album - Day Two

Yawning and desperate for coffee we arrived (too) early in the morning in Treuenbrietzen after picking up yet more shit from the HQ, ready for a long day of frog'n roll. Timo was already there, so "unfortunately" we saved our backs from unloading more bass amps, guitar boxes and things.



After the first cups of coffee it was time to start with the serious stuff. Banging on the drums for a few minutes to get warm while Timo was setting up his gear to record and I was going into my aquarium like a goldfish, we were ready for the tapes to roll. Well, actually it's not tapes, it's a hard disk system, but sounds cooler.

"Time" was the first victim of the day, and it went quite smoothly, just the usual two takes and ready it was. "No Better" wasn't that easy to nail, especially the ending that Tob always felt he should play on and on and on. Oh, and Timo didn't hit a single right note too! :o) Jürgen was shaking his head all the time and I couldn't help but laughing, so it was wrong notes by me too... thanks god I was just doing the pilot track and not actually recording anything.

Short ciggie pause and into "Into The Sea" and "Frames Of The Past", both going really easy. You could notice which ones have been played live over and over again. And Tobi changing snares and hi-hats all the time to try out new sounds depending on the songs... "If You Only" saw the first sparks of energy jump around, I wish we had recorded my screams at the end of that one, really kewl metal. Bang! Same with "Stitch The Memories", three takes and ready. And just before going for lunch, "1976" and "Peaches", both done in the blink of an eye. Especially "Peaches", which runs for exactly... the blink of an eye. We tried it at a superhuman speed at first, but sounded way too sloppy so we redid it at a simply fucking fast tempo.



The most bizarre experience of the day was the place where we went for lunch: an Asian food corner which also served döner kebap, which meant they had mixed the best (and worst) of both cuisines into a... well, funny blend to say the least. They were absolutely astonished as they saw 5 people walking in at the same time, I think after that they closed the place for the day.

Treuenbrietzen is a small place, all cobblestones, no asphalt. Probably the birth rate among bicycle riders has been steadily going down for years, but no one seems to care. Absolutely nothing to do, except recording. The TB Studio is located in a backyard where you would never guess it, and probably that is what makes it so special. In the middle of nowhere, you have this absolutely incredible studio, packed with all kinds of gizmos, amps, huge sound desks, and everything for the modern (and not so modern) musician. It's quite cozy, I must say. And no distractions too... well, what can you do there anyway except working on the songs?



Back in the place we were all lying around on the couch, not wanting to do anything but sleep a long siesta. Too much Turco-asian food can have that effect on active people like us. Tobi had to have yet another ciggie before going into the recording mode again, and to really shake things up, we started with a slow number named "Berlin" which took more than the usual takes to get done, mainly we were all snoozing around while doing the song. It wasn't such a good idea to do slow songs right after lunch, believe me... "Scent" followed and went definitely better. Afterwards, "Stropboscope" and a remake of "Off The Tide", which we had decided to re-record for the album, not using the previuos tracks from the Soja Studio in September, mainty to give the songs a sense of unity and all that shit. This was done with closed eyes, even the bass player nailed it. :o)

Before going home (it was already seven or so), we took a chance on a song called "Vertigo", which we were not so really sure about, as we had never rehearsed it before. After a few takes it was clear that we had enough songs for this album ready to work on, so we left it for the next one. A pity, 'cause it's a nice one, but perhaps not so fitting with the other ones.



An extremely productive day, I must say. We have now all the drum tracks and mostly all basses ready (with Timo trying cool things with the 5-string MusicMan StingRay, the Fender Precission and the Rickenbacker 4000/1 he borrowed from a certain singer).

Songs done:
"Time": drums, bass
"No Better": drums
"Into The Sea": drums, bass
"Frames Of The Past": drums, bass
"If You Only": drums, bass
"Stitch The Memories": drums, bass
"1976": drums, bass
"Peaches": drums, bass
"Berlin": drums
"Scent": drums, bass
"Stroboscope": drums, bass
"Off The Tide": drums, bass

Recording the new album - Day One

OK, so here it goes. Today, Monday August 7 we were due to start the recording of what should be our fourth record. The place? TB Sound Studio in Treuenbrietzen, about 60 km from Berlin.



Today it was mainly loading in all the shit we're bringing with us, drums, guitars and so on. So it was just Tobey and me, tomorrow all of three of us will be there from the early hours of the morning.

Jürgen (our producer and wizard behind the knobs) had to spend quite a while fine-tuning the kick drum sound, but in the end he did a fine job, and it "kicks" ass (get it?) It was quite late when we actually started recording the first drum tracks for "What's The Voltage William?", and a certain drummer needed more than the usual two takes to get it nailed, ehem, but he scored back by doing "Follow You Around" in a blink of an eye.



Then, after setting up drums, amps, guitars and mics for three hours and actually only one recording, we took the road back home and here I am now, begging for some sleep but happy as a child with the perspective of spending the next few weeks doing a new album...

Songs done:
"What's The Voltage William?": drums
"Follow You Around": drums

New album recording start date set

Recordings for the follow-up album to "Allergic" will start on August 7th at the TB Sound Studio in Treuenbrietzen, near Berlin. Twisting the knobs and producing will be Jürgen Block (Keimzeit, Die Prinzen).
This will be Frogcircus' third album after 1999's "Acid Jokes" and 2005's "Allergic".

Fashion-Frogparty im Sage Club

Gestern wars also soweit-DAS Event im Sageclub,der Star FM Rockgarten mit dem Froschzirkus auf der Bühne.Großartig.

Werden wir wahrlich in schöner Erinnerung behalten,wenn sich auch wieder Freud´und Leid zugleich die Hand reichten.



Das Leid zuerst? Ok... :

- 16 Uhr Aufbau und Soundcheck bei 30 Grad Aussentemperatur,50 Grad Clubtemperatur und 80 Grad Bühnentemperatur exclusive Scheinwerferbeleuchtung-durchnässt bis auf den Leib,obwohls doch eigentlich noch garnicht begonnen hat.
- Bereits ab 19 Uhr füllt sich der Laden mit schönen Frauen.Denn ne Modeschau ist ja auch noch geplant für 24 Uhr-Underground Fashion verschiedener Labels der Punk-, Lack&Leder- und Fetischindustrie.



Wie?Das führe ich unter "Leid" auf?

Na klar- die "vergebenen" Männer dürfen nicht, die Single-Männer können sich nicht entscheiden.
- Mein ganz persönliches Leid: Blutblasen an fast jedem Finger,zurückzuführen auf 290 Grad Bühnentemperatur während der Show (22.30-23.20 Uhr) und entsprechend durchnässte Gliedmassen.
- Hektischer Bühnenabbau nach der Show zwecks Platzmachens für die Fashiongirls.Abtransport der Instrumente durch c.a. 500.000 schwitzende Leiber,die unsere Show verfolgt haben,dementsprechend nass sind vom rocken,von der auf 387 Grad angestiegenen Clubtemperatur und vom ansteigenden Hormonpegel nach dem Erblicken erster Models in knappen Kostümen.
- Ein weiteres ganz persönliches Leid: Nach der Show reisst c.a. 150 Meter vom Sage Club entfernt der Gaszug meiner Amelie (Anmerkung d. Red.: Das ist meine Vespa,nicht meine Freundin),also schiebe ich nachts um 01:00 Uhr meine ganz persönliche Liebe etwas fluchend von der Köpenickerstrasse in die Kastanienallee zu meinem Roller-Spezi.Kenner wissen die Distanz zu schätzen.Anschliessend laufe ich nach Hause.Was für ein rühmlicher Abgang eines Rockstars.



Nun gut- genug gelitten.Nun zur Freude:

- Der Sage Club is geil
- Der Sage Club hat guten Sound,sowohl nach draussen als auch auf der Bühne.Dank an den Haustechniker!
- Der Sage Club hat nen Pool.Ich war drin.Geil. Körpertemperatur von 45 auf 37 gesenkt.
-Der Sage Club hat nen schönen,grossen,wirklich sauberen Backstageraum.
- Dort steht ein voller Kühlschrank.Der funktioniert.Es gibt Wasser und Bier.Alles was Rockmusiker brauchen.Die Krönung: Nach unserer Show ist der Raum gefüllt mit halbnackten Models.Hey- mit etwas Fantasie sind das all unsere Groupies,die darauf warten,von uns befruchtet zu werden...(war das jetzt zu laut gedacht??!)...Spirituell befruchtet meinte ich natürlich.
- Im Backstagebereich steht ein bequemes Sofa.Nach dem Pool-Bad freue ich mich ganz persönlich über 90 Minuten Schlaf darauf.Und das bei sicher nur 19 Grad Raumtemperatur.
Welcome to Paradise! (wären nur die oben aufgeführten "Groupies" schon da...)
- Es gibt BBQ im Sage Club.Beziehungsweise im wirklich schönen Outdoorbereich des Clubs.
Persönliche Empfehlung: Das Steak!
- Im Sage Club springen viele hübsche Frauen rum (sollte hier halt dann doch auch aufgeführt werden).
- Die Show hat super Spass gemacht, sowohl Stone,Timo und mir als auch unseren treuen Fans (wie immer 1000 dank!!!).Aber auch neuen Gesichtern hat man den übergesprungenen Funken angesehen. Und DAS ist die größte Freude, die man uns bereiten kann!
- Gleich 4 neue Songs unserer kommenden Scheibe ham wir präsentiert.Da sie sich schön ins Set eingefügt haben, das Publikum gewippt,getanzt,gebangt oder gar mitgesungen hat,kann ich im Namen des ganzen Frogcircus sagen:

Wie immer war unsere Freude weeesentlich größer als das Leid.

So we´ll keep on rockin`....

Cheerio,

der TrommelTobi

P.S. Amelie war heute morgen schon wieder repariert. Olaf- Du bist mein Hero!

P.P.S. Italien ist Weltmeister.

Postbahnhof, School's Out!

Hmm?... What?... Oh, you're there! Sorry... yeah, well, we did that gig yesterday. It was school holidays start in Berlin and there was this, er, event for young and old, with a lot of rock'n roll, beer and fucking heat! Oh, yes, and a lousy organization from the promoter, not keeping the stage times and all that. A usual gig.




We were a little down as we had just received the news that our gig at the Monsters Of Rock gig in Bulgaria had been cancelled due to the City Council's tight time limits, and that a lot of the other bands had also been cancelled in order not to throw the whole festival away. To make it worse, I almost broke my beloved Paulina right before the start, and thanks god it's still alive and kicking. It just bloody fell down, so much for security locks, but anyway... Awful sound onstage, although we got word afterwards that it was really cool outside over the PA, but I got so fucking upset by the shitty amp and monitor sound I had there that I finished up hitting cymbals and mic stands just to let go.



Played a brand new song, "Frames Of The Past" which we'd rehearsed once or twice, and are probably going to record when we enter the studio next month. Songs keep piling up, I guess it's going to be difficult to choose down to 12 songs or so to release.

OK, and next week at Sage Club, Star FM; Rock Night. I just hope the stage sound is better than yesterday. Well, it must be, it couldn't be worse. The best of the evening were, once again, our fans. Yes, my friends, we have some, and I must say, the bloody fucking best ones around, you hear? And THAT, my dears, is what makes all this worth.

In love with my guitar,

Stone

España 1 - Francia 3

Aaaahhh... fuck it! The frog-eaters kicked us out of the tournament, dammit! OK, next time around it will be better, we got a very good and young team. Now, back to writing about music and this crazy little band...

We'll be entering the studio for the follow-up to "Allergic" in August, right after the Bulgarian Adventure. Got a million new songs ready and are really looking forward to starting doing new shit in the studio with this line-up, the best we've had in years, believe me.


Now off to bed, da-da...

España 1 - Arabia Saudí 0

Back to the old habits, Spain played with a complete reserve team, and that's what it was: a training more than an actual game. Boring for 90 minutes, but main thing is we won and are now group firsts, meaning that next Tuesday we're playing against France in the next k.o. round. Geez, that's a difficult one, even though the French are playing mirerably and are a bunch of aged stars, they're quite dangerous too... By the way, wasn't this a music blog?

Salon Ost

Erst hatte ich ja Angst es würde total in dieHose gehen, da wir wieder einmal eine größere Pause zwischen den Gigs eingelegt hatten und die fällige Generalprobe am Abend vorher wieder Erwarten völlig problemlos, einige Blasenbildungen, nein ich rede nicht von Fellatio, jetzt mal ausgenommen, verlaufen war, ist es aber nicht, da auch der Gig, direkt nach dem Abfiff des WM-Spiels gestartet und von den Anwesenden, da Abwesende dieses schließlich gar nicht können, innerhalb kürzester Zeit in eine fette Party verwandelt, ohne größere Zwischenfälle verlief, so das uns, oder zumindestens mir, es vorkam als ob das Konzert in zehn Minuten vorbei war und ich den ganzen langen Weg nach Hause brauchte um das wieder abzubauen was von einer guten Freundin der Band als "Viel Energie" bezeichnet wurde, wobei ich mich im Nachhinein noch köstlich über den, total übermütig und ausgeflippt, auf der Bassdrum balancierenden Gitarristen unserer kleinen Band amüsierte und zu der Feststellung kam das die kleinen Gigs manchmal die Besten sind, was natürlich nicht unser Verdienst ist, sondern der von unseren Freunden und Fans, die jedes Konzert zu etwas besonderem machen.

Amen.

Timo

España 3 - Túnez 1

Phew, that was near! After behing behind 0-1 for 80 long minutes, the Spanish guys turned the game around in 5 minutes. Incredible, but that goes to show there are no easy rivals in a World Cup, and that even after coming from bashing Ucraine, a second-rate team like Tunisia can make your day pretty fucked up... but anyway, we're in the next round.

It was great watching the game with a lot of other Spaniards, including Diana, Patri and some Argentinian friends who also came along to suffer wit us :o) Berlin is incredible theses days, the city filled with people from everywhere sporting their colours in a incredibly civilised way, more like a huge party that anything else...

OK, and now to bed, it's late and I have a very interesting book to read.

España 4 - Ucrania 0

Sitting in Leipzig right now, hot as hell out there and thirsty for beer, lots of beer, or at least something cold and liquid. Beer perhaps. Spain has just played the first game of the World Cup, and guess what, WE FUCKING WON! About time if you ask me, normally they play like idiots at these kind of tournaments, but this time they played a great game, loads of goals and a great show in all.

There are thousands of Spaniards here right now, all is in red and yellow. And a lot of girls too. It's been surprising how many girls are following the World Cup this year, and with the heat they all look so... so... well, so very undressed, it's evil.

PS: Tobi should have written the diary entry for the last gig in Chemnitz, but he's been too lazy :o)

Back to Spain!

We have secured our first gig in Gran Canaria as a full band in almost six years. So it's back to where this all began, fuck yeah! On September 28 at the Paraninfo in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, starting no earlier than 22 h, as usual over there... are we happy or what!?

Whiskey Soda, gig review

Online rock magazine Whiskey Soda has posted a concert review of the Kurt Cobain Tribute. You can read the complete article by clicking here. But the, ehem, most interesting part is reproduced below :o)

Springtime!

Yes, indeed! Spring is back in Berlin!!! About fucking time! The trees are getting their green again, the sun shines, you can walk in a shirt and we have blue sky in the mornings (although it later gets a little cloudier, ok). I'm feeling well, thank you, and no, I haven't had lysergic acid.

And oh yes, I've got a few brand new songs ready! Aaah, it should be spring more often...