Thoughts for Summer

This is Frans behind the keyboard, reporting on the progress of my music making. The last weeks I have been occupied by things that weren't of musical matter. On my spare time I have been able to make some music, though... I have come up with a couple of songs, the best I have uploaded on my mypace (myspace.com/fransswahn). The songs are based around samples of jazz, funk and rock songs by such great names as Bobby Hutcherson (Verse from the album Stick Up!), the Meters (Stormy from the album The Meters), Television (Prove It (1974 version) from the bootleg record Double Exposure) and an Esquivel song that turned into some kind of dub. Other artists I have sampled in songs that are still in progress are Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Astrud Gilberto and Circle Takes The Square. I've made attempts at combining samples from different genres into funky hip hop beats.

Ableton Live has been a close companion, although I doubted the reliability of the program when it all of a sudden gave up on me some weeks ago. However, I managed to get back on track and now I have begun the recording of a new wave song à la Pylon, a pastiche of a 50's ballad and an advanced chord progression bossa song.




Making music with the BMS (myspace.com/brokenmixersessions) is oddly enough still a thing I like, and long to do. Alas, teaming up with'em hasn't been easy. I enjoy the solo music making. The problem i that if I get stuck in the middle of a tune there is no one else there to help me out. Therefore some song tend to never be finished. Oh, thats a lie; none of my songs are finished. I dream of putting 5 of my best songs onto a record and mail it to producers, record companies and festivals. My only problem is that I never get satisfied with my results. This summer I must make myself, as we say in Sweden, get my thumb out of my butt, and JUST DO IT!!! I really want to do some concerts, either with or without the people of BMS. Once we talked about throwing a party somewhere in Lund and performing our songs. Perhaps this plan is still a plan. We'll see when Josef and Fredrik return from their two weeks in Thailand. Our friend William has been employed as poster paster by the Malmö club Inkonst. For us, this could mean possibilities to perform at one of Skånes best stages.

This fall we have a gig, improvising music to Victor Sjöströms film Körkarlen. This will be an interesting experience, since none of us has done anything like this before.

I'm visiting Adam in Stockholm this weekend, and I really look forward to meeting the hip-ass people of our capitol. I'm so tired of this village I could die. In June me, William and some other people are going to Berlin for ten days to delight ourselves at Berghain etc. Yeah! After that I might train down to the French Riviera via Amsterdam, along the Rhine, Alsace/Lorraine and Geneva/Montreaux. Trips to the family in Varberg and Karlskrona are compulsory in July. Can't see any time for work or music, YUK!

This blog is a super swell idea. We are a couple of guys who need a place to post our musical and artistic ideas and tales of our experiences. Unfortunately, the sole participants so far has been me and Jonaz. This means that the goal of A Swedish Taste of Technology is yet to be fulfilled. I hope for this blog to be of great use for us, and other readers. Please spread the word about this dawning avant-garde movement. It's about time that Sweden sees a full artistic movement of genuine quality. Especially in these times of icons like Amanda Jenssen and repetition of retro-guaranteed-to-make-U-dance-"new wave"-ish and French house music. Man, I'm bitter!

Well, just so you know it: Things WILL actually boil here at Swedish Technology. Whether it will be me or we who make this joint jump only time can tell. I hope for a posse of never before beheld magnitude. Aiigght???

Frans