I’m sitting on my couch watching the final (at least I think it’s the final) episode of the Pain of Salvation documentary. I’ve loved watching it for various reasons. The obvious being that they’re one of my all time favourite bands, but also because they’re a weird band in many ways, they don’t compromise and they don’t take the easy road. So many things go wrong for them (sometimes it’s almost Spinal Tap-esque) and it looks like Daniel shoots himself in the foot constantly by being really disorganised while at the same time being the guy who has to make all the decisions. I watch the documentary also because it’s kind of where I dream of being, on tour. That’s what we’re constantly working towards.
We’ve gotten a tiny, small, minuscule taste of that dream again. A small taste of normal. Last week we took the stage after a year’s absence and tomorrow we’ll do it again. Last week’s show was in Helsinki’s Tiivistämö and even though I was incredibly nervous and felt like everything was going wrong for the majority of the gig, it was an amazing experience. I did watch the show afterwards though since it was streamed (you can find it on Inverse Records’ YouTube channel) and it turned out (as always) that most of what I felt on stage didn’t show externally. Some sloppy guitar playing here and there and vocal pitch was off every now and then but I’ll forgive myself for it. I’m sure tomorrow’s show here in my hometown will go better too now that we’ve worked out some of the kinks.
Tomorrow’s show is special for a few reasons. First of all it’s our record release show FINALLY after being pushed back from April due to corona. Secondly, I’ve been to some great shows there and always thought to myself “it would be cool to play on that stage one day!” Last but not least, it’s where my parents met in the 80’s so there’s a little bit of personal magic to it too. My parents split up when I was around 10, but I’d like to think that perhaps I wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for that venue, YO-Talo.
We also put out a new song, Misplaced! We recorded it as part of the Here And Now album sessions, but I set it aside ultimately because I felt it didn’t belong on the album. It’s not a B-side or anything like that, but it’s actually a really old song of mine from my previous band to which I just reworked the vocals. It’s got a whole different vibe than the rest of the songs we recorded for Here And Now so I thought it would work better as a stand-alone single since you constantly have to have something to release nowadays.
I’m also super happy with the music video, we were originally going to go with someone else, but Lakea Film (who produced our videos for Decay and Straws) came in to save the project at the last minute because our original choice suffered a burnout. No hard feelings here, the video turned out great and mental health comes first.
I hope you’re all safe, your loved ones too.
Wish us luck for tomorrow!
Sincerely,
Viljami