i have written almost 400 songs until today. i wrote my first song when i was about 8, but that one is disappeared and forgotten since a long time now. the first song that i can remember, and that i have a recording of, was written when i was about 16. that's where my song count starts.
recently i've been trying to play the piano quite frequently, finishing my bunch of new songs. as a result, i happened to write a new song the day before yesterday. i've been working on it for quite some time, but it needed two months to come out finished. i can't finish a song before it's ready, so to speak. that time is passed when i forced out songs.
some songs have to be kept unwritten during a certain amount of time, to ripen, to blossom, to mature. then one day, they are ready to be written down. i can't explain it in a better way!
i love the piano. its possibilites are almost unlimited. maybe because of the range of playable notes and the pedals i now prefer it to the guitar. the guitar is limiting me in a way that the piano can't. technically it can, of course, because i'm not a skilled player, but i love playing the piano and the love itself is bridging most of the gaps. unfortunately, the piano doesn't seem to love me back =)
or maybe i need to play more frequently to avoid the pain in my fingers? especially on my right hand, there will actually be blisters soon.
or is this the moment when i should continue playing, to harden my skin?
i'll finish my coffee and rest my case. just for today.
=)
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walking around in this high-speed world, i suddenly realized something:
there's no silence anywhere, no peace or quiet.
sounds, engines, noise, sounds, engines, sounds, noise, everywhere. music in every corner. music i don't want to hear. music that poisons my living space.
and some people wonder why we feel stressed?
do this, do that. hurry, quick, come on, you're wasting my time, get out, return, get in, quick lunch, get back to work, get back to stress, to pressure, hate, ignorance, greed, quick, buy, sell well-being.
hell-being.
something is missing. no, not money, not chances, no greed here. we have all we need here. i'm sick of the speed here. slow down!
slow
down
just
a
second
and
listen
to
the
silence
maybe
it
will
tell
you
a
couple
of
things
if
you're
ready
to
listen
to
some
truth
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got it!!!
i'm still working on the design and look. please let me know what you think, or if you have any ideas!
=)
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i'm trying to improve the look of the blog....
sometimes it's not as easy as it should be hehe
i just can't seem to be able to change the SIZE of the POST TITLE.
while i'm working on it, i hope you have more patience than me..... i'm sorry, but it's on its way :P
=)
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my friend, the brazilian singer and composer VANESSA PINHEIRO, won the first prize in a songwriting festival in BRAZIL last weekend, for her song "temporal"!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! PARABÉNS!!!!
to know more about one of the best upcoming brazilian artists of today, visit her website:
» vanessapinheiro.com
=)
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i made a late decision to visit "STIM music expo", a day of panel discussions arranged by the swedish perfoming rights & songwriters society (STIM), where quite a lot of the focus was on the digital part of the music business - downloads, online presence, etc...
one of the most interesting things was to hear Mic Michaeli from EUROPE, the Swedish world-famous glam rock band (anyone who doesn't know "the final countdown"? :P) say that if europe had been a young band today, they would probably never become famous. because today, it's very important for artists to also be entrepeneurs, to learn how to do everything from recording to design and do promotion, in addition to be artists.
it's the same thing with the BEATLES - how would they have sounded if they produced their albums NOW at home, without george martin's arrangements and the input from different people in the music business?
their sound would definitely not be the same! it's enough to listen to the first demotapes of their songs, sometimes they're like completely different songs. they sure were an incredibly talented band, but would they still have become famous? i'm not sure...
last year, only 3,6 % of albums released in the usa, reached the break-even point! it means that 96,4 % of the albums releases are bad business.
or maybe most part of the music is so bad so people don't want to pay for it?
if artists and record labels could care more about good songs and not just about quick money, maybe the numbers would be different. i don't know about others, but i'm working MORE with each song now than i have ever done before. now, one song can take up to 40 hours for me just to write.
i just hope that it means that my new songs are better :P
=)
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i love the vibrant, colourful paintings of PAULA RINDBORG.
she now has an exhibition in stockholm, so it's a great opportunity for everyone to get acquainted with her work.
the exhibition opened yesterday and continues until THURSDAY the 8th only.
open 11-19
ALLA GALLERY
köpmanbrinken 6, gamla stan
stockholm
» paularindborg.com
=)
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life never stops amazing me. every new day is like the first sight of peach blossom in the spring. maybe babies see the world like this - every day with new eyes. everywhere they look they are amazed by the colour and shape in front of them. maybe we should try to rediscover this amazement once in a while.
now, the trees change colours day by day here in stockholm. four trees next to eachother can have four different colours - green, yellow, orange and red. i am lucky to be able to see this every time i go outside my door.
this autumn i've lived in stockholm for four years. maybe it's time to move on. in many ways, the last year has been one of the most wonderful years in my life. things are changing, and i'm trying to embrace the changes instead of holding on to the past. the past is always here with us, but we should let the past be past - passed.
not here with us every moment in the present. if we can't let go of the past, there's a big risk we'll miss something better and even more wonderful that exists here and now.
and if we take good care of the present, and let ourselves grow and develop with it, we can make these wonderful moments stay with us instead of becoming pale photographs that we don't want to throw away, but that we keep just for the sake of keeping.
i can feel that a new chapter is coming up in my life.
so let's finish this old one nicely and look forward. it's time to say goodbye to some people and some places. but it means that it's also time to welcome others. every end is a new beginning. there are new roads to walk, new places to discover, new experiences to share.
in china, the peach has always been a symbol for long life. and of course, for spring and new beginnings....
so i think i'll name my next chapter "Momo".
it's "peach" in japanese, it's more suitable in my case, isn't it?
=)
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this little blog just reached 200,000 visits!!!
first of all, i'd like to thank all of you who keeps coming back!
then i'd like to take the opportunity to apologize for not writing and posting more often. but i don't want to post just for the sake of posting... if i don't have anything new to write about, why write? the web is full of blogs without content, so to speak.
so here's a quick update, for those of you who have not yet signed up for my newsletter and don't get regular updates and news by email...
i'm currently focusing on writing and finishing a bunch of new songs, at the moment i work with 4 or 5 new lyrics (apart from the 14 songs already finished ;)
at the same time, i study the japanese language at university level and this takes almost all of my time and concentration. and i AM trying to do a total make-over of my website and blog, but time fails me on this one....
=)
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here's a marvellous song with my friend SIMON STEWART, a british singer/songwriter, in a great live recording from july.
it's one of my favourite songs of his, so don't miss this, you're gonna love it!
SIMON STEWART - THINKING OF YOU
» www.myspace.com/simonastewart
=)
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