Finn Harald Røed - blog archive 2013
December 22, 2013
The recording process of my next album is moving forwards with a steady pace. Songs nbr. 2 and 3 are now being recorded: "How does it feel like" and "Don't ask questions". I feel very comfortable with the direction things are heading. My oldest son, Ruben (14) is a great help with the drums. He's been playing the drum kit while I've been playing el-guitar and singing throughout the song writing process on the majority of the new songs, and is now functioning as my "drum assistant". In addition to helping me figure out certain details for the drum programming, he will also be playing digital drums on some songs to make sure we get the MIDI notes right.
It's important to me that the final result is close to the drum playing we ended up with when we were testing out alternatives while I was writing the songs, so we'll do a combination of recording MIDI signals from the drum kit, and add or adjust those beats with drum programming via a general MIDI controller. We've been playing some of these songs together for almost a year now, and we're very much musically in tune with each other.
I also want to add that Ruben's drum teacher, the acknowledged blues guitarist Tor Einar Jakobsen, has let me come and play el-guitar and sing with him (el-bass) and Ruben (drums) about every second week for about a year. We've mostly been playing my songs while rehearsing, which has been an important part of the process towards writing more songs for the album. It's also been motivating to hear that he finds the songs to be very good, and that they deserve to be recorded and released. Well, so they will be.
December 19, 2013
A good day in the studio, as Helmer Hemnes visited to record the el-bass for "She's in a magazine". He did a great job!
December 16, 2013
The studio work with recording and mixing about 10 brand new songs for my next album has started! The first track to be completed will be "She's in a magazine", an energetic rock song with distorted el-guitar. It's about a guy's attraction to (or maybe even obsession with) a girl in a magazine. I think I'll leave any further interpretation of the lyrics to the listener's imagination. The instrument setup is the classic solution that I've wanted to come back to for years; drums, bass, guitar, organ and vocals. I'm quite excited!
December 12, 2013
The western society is not the right place to be if you want to keep in close touch with values, powers and influences other than what can be bought with money or viewed on a screen. Unless you have a need to stick out from the crowd and enjoy being an outcast.
October 21, 2013
Memories out of range, I follow you,
Manic and all invane I search for
the things that are gonna change, I hand you
the images in my brain, to follow you home.
(Lyrics excerpt from one of my upcoming songs.)
October 11, 2013
I've heard people say things like "Why did God create mosquitos? They serve no purpose!" I can't avoid thinking it's even worse with humans. Nature has no need for us. What have we ever done that benefit the planet and it's inhabitants? In Nature's point of view, we are both destructive, without purpose and quite expandable. All 7 billion of us. Unlike mosquitos, we're not even a food source to others. We simply consume, or rather overconsume. In fact, to my knowledge, Mother Earth would be better off without us.
So, in order to exist, there has to be more to it rather than just serving an obvious purpose in the circle of life. I believe we've lost ourselves in the strive for materialism and misinterpretations of concepts like comfort, success and happiness. We can only be useful to the planet and our descendants by reconnecting to our very much existing common ground with everything natural we see around us, and start using intelligence to protect the world from ourselves. We need to rediscover our place in nature to find real purpose, and to achieve emotional and spiritual harmony with a world which we otherwise will feel increasingly alienated from.
By distancing ourselves from nature, we lose perspective of our role in the Creation. This is the opposite of what our ancestors did. It's a false lead making us lose track of our influence and the responsibilities that come with being human. We feel like we don't belong, no longer recognize who we are, and end up being not only useless, but rather enemies of the wonderful world which we are such a precious product of.
September 10, 2013
Finally, my new Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is ready to go! A pair of Yamaha NS8 studio monitors are also ready, and my Edirol FA-101 Firewire sound card/box (10/10) is, five years after I bought it, for the first time connected and up and running! I've also bought some nice new music software (VSTs etc.), which I can't wait to start experimenting with! The only thing that can stop me now is time, which is something I haven't had too much of so far this year. Nevertheless, I'm optimistic about starting the recording of a new rock album during 2013, and hopefully release a single on the internet before Christmas. The complete album will hopefully be done in 2014. Music style? My voice and I, with a solid rock sound built around distorted el-guitars, drums and bass, and of course, synthesizers!
8-9 of the songs for the new album are already written (2011-2013), including the lyrics. I wrote most them while singing and playing my el-guitar, which means distorted el-guitar will be a main instrument throughout the album. Now the songs are just waiting to be recorded in my home studio. I sense that these tracks will be a lot more rock based than basically anything I've previously released. I've always felt closely connected to rock, which is the music style I started playing and singing in the eary 80's. I'm very excited, and look forward to share the result with anyone who find interest in my music.
February 27, 2013
I'm in a creative mood these days. I've finished writing music and lyrics for two brand new guitar/bass/drum-based rock tracks ("I wish miracles never died" and "She's in a magazine"), and at least 2-3 more are just around the corner. Being well aware of that I'm not the most skilled guitar player around, I'm hoping I still will be able to record these songs in my home studio. Having the opportunity to try and try again until I'm satisfied will hopefully make that happen. Alternatively I could get some experienced guitarist to record the more challenging guitar parts for me, but until then I'll give it a go myself. That is, as soon as I get my new studio computer up and running. :-)
February 18, 2013
My smart phone is being filled up with a multitude of song ideas. We're talking 20+ ideas out of which I believe about 10 have the potential to end up as finished tracks during 2013. No promises, though, but yes, I'm optimistic about being able to release a new album this year. After all, it's been five years since the release of "Magical graphic color scheme" in 2008!
January 26, 2013
For the last couple of month, my 13 year son old and I have been playing together in a "practise band" with my son's drumset teacher in the local music school. I play the el-guitar (and sometimes the piano) while singing, my son plays the drums, and the teacher plays the el-bass (with excellence, if I may say so, he's a very skilled and experienced blues and rock musician). This has been lots of fun, and also a wake up call to me due to the fact that I realize I haven't really played in a band setting for a long, long time, actually not since the mid 90s. Time flies, mercyless and without exceptions, which makes it important to embrace the opportunities we are being given to do fun stuff.
Anyway, so far we've played "You are in my vision" and "Are friends electric?" (Gary Numan), "I will follow" (U2) and "Great Balls of Fire" (Jerry Lee Lewis). It seems likely we soon will do a couple of my own brand new songs, which at the moment aren't even quite finished. The nice thing about all this, is that I have a drummer right here in my own house to practise and do musical experiences with in our new home studio. Nice. :-)