20. December 2024

... that your perception of life would be turned upside down? No more colorful sunsets, intricate architecture or star gazing… Ever. Again. I’m just curious - how much star gazing are you doing? Do you even see the buildings you pass on your commute or are you on auto-pilot? Our minds have the ability to make sense out of chaos by categorizing things. Imagine being startled by a shiny metal object in the sky 30 times a day every time you saw an airplane. Or wondering why you keep finding...

11. December 2024

We want to do things right. Making mistakes doesn’t feel good and in some cases it can even damage our reputation so we tend to second-guess ourselves. The initial inspiration and confidence that motivated us to take a risk gets overshadowed by doubt and fear. Our thoughts start spinning, self-doubt grows, inspiration gets destroyed and action is paralyzed. I've been here too. Overthinking doesn't just happen when writing music - it can happen all over the place in life. It’s tempting not...

21. April 2023

1. „Pain Reliever“ – This was one of the first songs I wrote for the album and the final version is the demo, as was the case with every song on the album. I experimented a bit with form here. The song is stripped down – completely solo with no vocal doublings or other instruments added later. It represented the essence of what I wanted „Fata Morgana“ to become. 2. „Mirage“ – I used a more simplified chord progression than usual for this song. I wanted the instrumental section...

08. July 2022

17 Rhymes was the first song for Pax Victoria that Underhatchet and I worked on. We worked on it for ages and very passionately, not knowing we would kick it off the album. We both always liked the song. The Twisting was a song I wrote for QRASS because I didn't initially want the album to end with Rollout. It became clear to me that The Twisting did not fit on QRASS even though it is a fine song. With the Freaks was written by both Underhatchet and I and it was basically a jam session. It was...

15. June 2022

I have been going through old songs and demos from 2016 till now, some of which I had totally forgotten about. I will be releasing a handful from 2016-2019 and from 2020-2022 on YouTube. It's been really fun to revisit the songs - especially the early ones - and to compare them with more recent songs. When I hear an old demo, I remember exactly where I was when I wrote and sang it and I feel the general atmosphere of my life back then. I stand behind all my songs but I think I'm getting more...

21. September 2021

For the past couple years I have wanted to make a solo EP. I write a lot more songs than I publish and I enjoy the intimate expression of solo singing and playing. I don't like it more or less than creating songs with Underhatchet, but it is a part of my artistic expression that I don't want to be limited only to livestreams. Three songs on this solo EP I am working on were written on September 1 of this year. One song was originally intended for the album but fit better in an intimate setting....

17. July 2021

The weather won't stabilise, the summer won't come. It rains and rains and I keep going upstairs to write music and sing. And when the weather is nice, I go to the south, near the Alps, and I write lyrics sitting on the ground in the sun. I could do a live stream - I am ready - but I haven't found the right moment for it. The movie is coming back into my life. I developed it a lot a few months ago, I took space from it and now it's time to try some filming. This new album took me over. I had no...

09. April 2021

Last summer I started thinking about making a short movie. The idea was vague - the only thing in my head was a drive to express myself in the form of a movie. Simple. I realised that in some way in my concept album, "Pax Victoria", I had perhaps desired this kind of expression too, as it was a story with characters, music and a distinct mood. But for "Pax Victoria" I didn't have the bigger picture clear to me at the beginning. I started it with only immature ideas (more than anything musical...

07. March 2021

With every decision we make, we are pushing something forward in the world, small or large. I'm talking about the idea of carrying a torch in relation to music in this post but you could apply the metaphor to any aspect of your life - what you eat, what you wear, what kinds of jokes you make, etc. I am starting to understand that my need to write music is the carrying of a torch. The torch is a burning flame combining everything I love - the dreamy, dark chord world of Janacek and Schumann, the...

22. January 2021

Excerpted from: "Human Trafficking in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia “Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery, with illegal smuggling and trading of people (including minors), for forced labor or sexual exploitation. ... California: A significant leak in 2020 gave authorities the opportunity to shut down a fairly large limb of the trafficking operation located between Tecate and Campo, when a sketched map was left anonymously by a woman at a gas station in...