Hoikkaset

Ensemble Hoikkaset, as a trio this time, played a two hour concert today for very attentive audience. Finish and Russian music for violin, flute and accordion. One lady told me while the band was having a break: "I could listen to you for a week without eating!" I answered her: "Well, in such case could we musicians eat something every now and then..." Apparently the gig was nice.

Juha H.

Nightwish

The moment of Silence after listening the First time of Nightwish and their latest album Dark Passion Play. I'm deeply impressed... Sini bought the CD the day it was released here in Finland, Wednesday this week. And she has already listened the whole for a few times. Luckily/unfortunately before this evening I had only the time to listen some excerpts of the whole that she offered to me. Well, well - Dark Passion Play is, to put it simply, a Musical Masterpiece. Thank you very much, Nightwish.

Ensemble Hoikkaset rehearsed today. And it is always so nice!!

Juha H.

While picking up cranberries today I had some time to take photos, too. - In the evening Dream Theater and their latest CD Systematic Chaos. (Juha H.)

Dream Theater

Scene from my backyard. - Back from Helsinki. Dream Theater was once again quite fantastic. Especially the heavier material from their latest album Systematic Chaos was a pleasent surprise. The whole band is such a great bunch of musical virtuosos. (Juha H.)

PasunaPelimannit

PasunaPelimannit rehearsed earlier today. We played Finish folk music quite exclusively. Almost no jazz this time. There are some gigs and concerts coming.

Tomorrow something else. Sini and I are going to Helsinki to see and hear Dream Theater. We'll be back on Thursday.

Now's the time to play some mandolin for relaxation...

Juha H.

Improvisages

Improvisages rehearsed today - well, sort of. Actually we mostly talked about things to come. There's a multi-art concert in November and something else. We're going to add at least one more musician and one more visual artist. - Since yesterday I've already written some compositions that are possibly going to be performed... Time will tell.

Juha H.

My grand piano. Well, it's not really a Steinway... - Ensemble Hoikkaset played a gig. Four selections of Finish Folk music. (Juha H.)

Lauantai

Saturday and everything seems to be fine.

Ensemble Hoikkaset had a nice, nice rehearsal. Some music, some talking, coffee and all. We rehearsed and played some compositions to be performed on some future gigs. Tomorrow is going to be our next show...

Sini and I finally watched Letters from Iwo Jima - the japanese version of the bloody fightings of one of the cruellest battles of the Pacific theatre... Some day soon I hope to see the version depicting the American side of the battle. Thank you very much Clint Eastwood.

Juha H.

An Aspen Leaf and Falling colors. (Juha H.)

Katri Valan runoudesta

Now I've composed 20 poems written by Katri Vala. It took me a couple of days more than three weeks. This should be enough of written music for accomplishing my dream... Hopefully some day soon I can begin to lay down the backing tracks into Pro Tools so that Sini may begin to rehearse and record the vocals. But now after the actual writing process is mostly done I may relax a bit, for a day or two.

Juha H.

The Swarm

Finally I decided that I'd better have some time off every now and then, at least for a few minutes a day... So I began to read a book. At first it felt sort of sinful - not doing anything with your hands and ears, just moving your eyes along the written rows of words - then it began to feel nice and exciting. The book that I've been reading is The Swarm written by Frank Schätzing. It's an ecological thriller...

The CD of the day - Threshold Dead Reckoning. Melodic prog-metal.

And then I had time to play flute and domra for some hours .

Juha H.

Sunset view from my backyard today. - I composed one more Katri Vala's poem. Unfortunately for so many days I've had so many other obligations than music. Sometimes this is the way it is... (Juha H.)

Changing colours. - Now I've composed 16 poems of Katri Vala - some more, some more to go. (Juha H.)

Sini on a hill. (Juha H.)

Fall. (Juha H.)

Mushrooms spreading their fingers. - Machine Men are in Vosselaar, Belgium. According to what I've heard through their Tour Diary, personal emails, txt-messages and phone calls... pretty much everything's gone quite fine. Tomorrow the band'll fly back home to Finland. (Juha H.)

Colours of Fall are beginning to show. - Machine Men in Pratteln, Switzerland. (Juha H.)

After sunset today. (Juha H.)

Machine Men ja Katri Vala

Yesterday J-V called from Nurnberg, Germany. Pouring rain and no wlan. Today we got a postcard from Prague, Czech Rebuplic. It was signed by all the guys of Machine Men. How nice!

I just keep on composing poems of Katri Vala. Now there are 12 songs.

Well, 9/11 and all that shit what happened six years ago. So sad. Was it right what those selfish religious zealots did then? Did they really get into their heaven by destroying so many people then? And as a side effect what they did has caused so much turmoil and disaster afterwards through all these years...

Juha H.

Found objects. (Juha H.)

Pasunapelimannit

Pasunapelimannit had a rehearsal in Sumiainen. Finish Folk music. There are some gigs and concerts coming.

Now I've written ten compositions based on Katri Vala's poems. And after I create at least ten more I can begin to record them. That's a mighty task in itself.

Machine Men are in Budabest, Hungary. According a txt.message everything has gone quite well.

Juha H.

This is what Sini has been doing lately. - Machine Men are in Prague, Czech Republic. Before the tour they were very eager to go to Prague. (Juha H.)

Foggy evening. (Juha H.)

Sunset - once again. - Machine Men in Hamburg, Germany. (Juha H.)

Luikertelua

While in the forest today I had a close encounter... Sini and I were picking mountain cranberries. All was peaceful and nice. There were lots of berries. All of a sudden a viper was slithering just two or three centimeters from my fingers. Luckily it just slithed away. Viper is the only venomenous snake in Finland and fortunately its bite is not life-threatening. But poison in your blood could be very painful. - I've always tried to be careful while picking up berries. From now on I'll probably be even more careful. But forests and berries are so nice. And snakes are definately horrified of people. Humans are so much bigger. Slithering reptiles definately want to try to escape. They merely bite when they can't see no way out...

And when we game back home from the depths of the forest - with a bit less than 20 litres of mountain cranberries - I wrote a composition based on a poem written by Katri Vala. A really sad and lonely story of a snake and dying. Minor Blues, sort of.

Machine Men are in Nurnberg, Germany.

Juha H.

Katri Vala ja Machine Men - taas

After a couple of too busy days I finally had some time to write one more Katri Vala poem into music. Now I've created seven of them. But I think I have to write ten to twenty more... It'll take a few weeks - depending on other obligations...

Machine Men are in Aschaffenburg, Germany. Everything seems to have gone fine. Gigs have been great - at least that's what they've written in the Tour Diary. For the rest of the time they've just played cards...

Juha H.

Flowers from my backyard. - Machine Men in Bochum, Germany. (Juha H.)

Factories fuming at sunset. (Juha H.)

Tyrni (Sea-buckthorn ; Hippophae rhamnoides) - berries from my backyard. - Machine Men continue their Fall 2007 European Tour in Helmond, Holland. (Juha H.)