SunriseAve ITALY

Sunrise Avenue Diary_ Samu from LA_day by day

Fievel in America

 Tuesday, 27 April 2010

(To get the best out of this text, listen to “Flamboy-Lingering” from their upcoming debut album. Ooops, but you don’t have it because it’s not out yet, muaaahahahahahahah ;)

I am Miles above the Atlantic Sea somewhere near Greenland on my way to Los Angeles to make some music. I love it!!! The weather there is 25 Celsius and it’s sunny. I got my guitar, a few pairs of shorts and my camera equipment with me. What a shitty life I have… God, if you exist, Thanx pal!

Our new EMI bosses have arranged these sessions with local writers / producers and I am very happy about this opportunity. These days when records don’t sell millions because children are stealing music from the Internet, it’s great that EMI folks see it as good business sending me over the ocean. I don’t know who I am actually gonna work with but I am sure I will be in good hands. There must be a million studios and teams in L.A. And if there’s nobody waiting for me, I will write stuff on my own on Sunset Blvd. Or Sunrise Ave ;)

It’s always a bit strange traveling alone without the boys but on the other hand it’s a way to get some time off from them too. I mean for them to get time off from me too ;) It’s great that we have our home team with Jukka and also these opportunities where I can hopefully bring something fresh to the whole Sunrise Avenue system.

Looking at the 3rd album, everything looks really great. We have recorded many songs and many are on the process right now. And I did a one-week session in Sweden and now this 2-week trip to USA. Then we will sit down in early June and decide how we proceed.

I must mention again how happy I am that we have found our “thing” with producer Jukka again after the super difficult PopGasm period and stupid stuff making our recording difficult. Now I feel exactly as confident in our music as I felt with the first album, but this time I am not panicking that much. A little panic is good.

No panic = No emotion = No goose bumps and joy when all ends up fine. No panic fits for office jobs, for music No No No ;)

All this feels honestly very good. Of course I am sure the time will come again when some record industry person / people will be crying AGAIN in at our studio but until then ;) No, I will not let anyone with wrong vibes get even near this project this time.

I have never been to L.A. before and it’s super great finally getting the chance to smell the sweat at whiskey Go Go for real. I also checked that Los Angeles Kings (The ice hockey team) might make it to the next round at the NHL play-offs and that would be THE thing. I’ll check the team’s status at the hotel tonight and if it looks good, I’ll start begging on my knees. I guess everything is sold out anyway at this time of the season.

The acoustic album is getting together extremely great! It sounds far better than what I expected. When I listened to the first mixed track (Only) I had every (three) hair up in my body. I didn’t know the audience sounds THAT great and that you all sing almost everything with us. You can’t hear that on stage with all the drums and stuff. I guess the album will be out in June. Well, if the labels want to release it. There’s always the bureaucracy shit that might stop things, but I hope for the best.

I don’t know the final track listing yet because we wanna hear all the mixes first and then see what we want to put on, but I guess it will be close to the whole show that we all just enjoyed together last month. There will be songs with both Jukka and Osmo. Osmonaut I mean.

There is also the great photo contest, where you send photos to our email and we check them out and we put the best ones to the booklet. There has been hundreds of photos already, so I am happy being here and the other guys have to choose the ones we pick.

I’ve sat on this uncomfortable plane seat for 4-5 hours and it’s still 7:11 to go. But they have a great movie service on the longer flights. Even on this “pig class” and I just watched Avatar and damn it was good. I was expecting this children’s movie but it wasn’t that at all. I can just imagine how it must look on 3D with the glasses and stuff. I fell in love with the blue girl for a while. But Now I got over her. It wasn’t meant to be. Poor her…. ;)

Now I am gonna watch Sherlock Holmes. Sami said it’s really great. After Sherlock I have only 5 hours to go. Luckily the movie database is endless and I have more on my laptop. I really hope the volcanoes in Iceland keep the biggest rocks inside now and the plane gets “home safe.” On the other way it would be a rock star way to go... And I hope the volcanic stuff stays calm so I get back home too. I would not wanna miss the festivals.

So take care everyone and be nice while daddy is away digging for gold,

Muah!

The city of Angels

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Here I am. It’s getting better with my jet-lag now and today I felt that I am fully here in full strength. I gotta say Los Angeles is absolutely the coolest US city I have ever seen. I have only been at the eastern coast so far but here’s something different in the air. It’s kind of relaxed in “The European way” and there’s folks from all over the world.

The weather has been pretty perfect for me. Not too hot but still warm enough to drive the top down even in the evening. Yes, of course I had to rent myself a convertible BMW. There are some things you keep the same no matter how far you go. It’s almost as fast as my own one in Helsinki (god knows how she is doing in Mr. Saukkonen’s hands) but fast enough.

I am on my way to see this local band at Whiskey a gogo. Their manager is actually responsible for my trip, planning the sessions etc, and it’ll be cool to see one of his own babies on stage. Whiskey a gogo is a lot smaller than what I thought. But still ALL the cool and very successful band have played there. If you have the Doors and Nirvana among others on your CV, you can call yourself a rock club.

I lost my damn phone in a cab two nights ago and even though my friend Liz from NY tried her best threatening the taxi company’s customer cervice center, I didn’t get it back. So if someone calls you from my number with a Mexican dialect, it’s not me drunk on sunset beach.

I have always hated traveling alone. I guess I would just feel lonely and I’d need someone to talk to 24/7 (you band guys know what I mean;) but this time it’s been super great. Of course it helps my flood of words when I need to be creative during the day writing songs and there’s always so much to talk about with totally new faces. I just love to walk these long boulevards with my iPod (that I had to buy because the old one went with the iPhone) and listen to music. And to look at the million souls heading somewhere and looking for something. Just like me. I listened through our whole acoustic album just now on my evening walk and I am so f**ing proud of my boys. My favorite mixing Engineer & drinking partner Jesse is doing a superman’s job again.

I have met some great music people and writers here. It’s so cool that no matter how far you go, there are still the same 6 strings on the guitar and nothing really changes. But I must admit that it has been really really inspiring here and we have already gotten some very good stuff together even though it’s only been 2 days working so far.

So… I am having a chicken salad by the pool and my “hosts” Andre and Liz are soon here to take me to the show.

So as Mr. Riku Rajamaa sings in one of his beautiful solo career songs, “Here I am alone.” But I must say I am feeling everything but lonely.

I hope I wake up early enough tomorrow for my morning swim at the hotel pool. Just like today. I can warmly recommend the Hollywood Standard hotel to anyone visiting L.A.

Good night everyone, where ever you are,

Uncle Sam

PS: I saw the BIGGEST tits EVER today. They were unreal. She was probably 35 and the two HUGE body parts were literally all over her convertible car. I am not a guy who likes big breasts really. I like more the neighbor girl stuff, but I must say that was impressing!!!! A cow would be jealous….;)

Meatballs, iPads and New Songs

 Wednesday, 05 May 2010

I just had the best meatball pasta ever. I actually tried ordering it yesterday too, but the waitress said they had removed it from the menu and today when I asked if they have something similar to the meatball pasta they “used to have,” the new waitress asked: “Why don’t you just choose the one on the menu??” I told her what the other lady had told me the night before but she said I must have understood something wrong… That made me look like a total idiot. So everything is not that easy around here ;)

Everything else apart from Meatballs is very ok. I am back in full strength again after the illness I had the last few days. Actually I heard from this photographer I met at the barbeque party on Saturday that many of the people there had been sick afterwards, so I guess it was not the sun after all. I thought I felt a little strange even the night before my sun-chair-day by the pool but then I thought I was just tired after a quite busy week. I had to cancel the Monday’s session with this top line songwriter and that is a shame, but sure he wouldn’t wanna have me throwing up on his nice studio sofa. It must have been the German sausages they served us. Not the beer because I only had two of them and I drove back to the hotel like any good fellow citizen. I hope they can still rebook the guy I had to skip for another evening this week before I fly back home.

Even though the writing sessions are very hard and intensive work, I must say I like doing this. For example, today I had breakfast at 9AM and drove right next to the Hollywood sign to write with this lovely Australian gang and I got back to the hotel at 8 PM. We didn’t even have a lunch break because we got so carried away with the song we were working with. Now that I have my stomach full of meatball pasta, there’s really no energy for anything else but this short update and then I’ll fall asleep like a baby. Tomorrow I have a day off and I am definitely gonna go to gym to get some juices moving. I haven’t done any sports here and not that I’d be the guy getting super fat super fast, it’s just the “stuck” feeling you get after a week in a studio chair and just driving a car. I’m so gonna sweat my pastas out ;) Then a little pool time perhaps and later I will go shopping for some photo shoot clothing (or some other excuse). We will probably have a photo session with this local camera master. Who also got sick at the party on Saturday.

The rest of the week I will be finishing the songs that are not quite there yet with different producers and I think all will be done by my flight back home on Sunday. I really like some of the stuff we have made here. It’s gonna be interesting to see how my band fellows take the new stuff. Sure it’s strange to hear someone else’s drums, backing vocals, basses and guitars (I did ALL the guitars here, even the solo parts, jeeee!!!) but it’s not outside the Sunrise Avenue world anyway so I am sure there’s something we can & will use. Or then I’ll have my first solo album half way done ;)

I will also have a meeting with my publisher’s SONY/ATV L.A. Office. They make great stuff with movies and stuff and you never know if they want me to be the next James Bond. Or maybe Bond’s enemy, Doctor “evil” Haber. You never know ;)

While I have been away, Riku, Sami & Raul have been responsible for mastering the “Acoustic Tour 2010” live album in Helsinki. I just listened to it all the way yesterday and I must say again it sounds so f**ing great! I hope they release it in as many countries as possible. I heard some rumors that it might not be out in every “SA country” but if that’s the plan now, I will put my foot down big time in front of the label people when I go back home.

I bought the iPad yesterday. Actually I got two of them, One for my mom and one for my dear friend Sami, our former Bass player. They were the first two to send the “bring me an iPad” request. I had one of the iPads with me today and I must say it’s very super cool and all but I really don’t know if I am gonna need one myself. Yes, I am an Apple addict and Steve Jobs is my GOD, but I just can’t figure out where it fits in between the MacBook and the iPhone. But it’s super cool and well… My suitcase is pretty full already now and since I am going to buy some clothes anyway, we’ll see. I will make my final iPad decision before Sunday based on the test drive on my mom’s product, muahahaha ;) I have her permission.

I heard that the volcano in Iceland is spreading the dust all over the place again and at least some flights have been cancelled. It would be SUCH A SHAME if I’d have to stay here for a few extra days. ;) I heard it’s snowing in Helsinki today and that’s really not on the top of my wish list after being warmed up by the nice Californian sun.

California dreaming (caalifoornia dreeamingggg) Good night everyone ;)

Doctor Haber

PS: I just tried having a Skype video chat with Raul. I couldn’t see Raul’s face, just heard his voice. He said the system just doesn’t work, but I am sure there is something he’s hiding from me. A new hair style or a new tattoo… You never know ;)

Back in Europe

 Wednesday, 12 May 2010

(To get the best out of this blog, listen to the new Giant Leap album. Good stuff – well done boys!)

I am sitting here at Frankfurt airport after a long flight from LA. I am super tired but I have decided to stay awake the whole day and just fall asleep early at home. That is the only way to get over jet lag. The other way, when flying west, it’s a little easier because then your day just gets a little longer and you fall asleep at 8PM like a baby and wake up at 6AM the next day. The other way it’s always harder because you kind of miss one night. And I am a night person ;) I’ll be fine. Today they play a very important ice hockey game at 9 PM at the WC games in Germany between Finland-USA. That’ll keep me awake. Finland lost against DENMARK (???WTF) already but they beat Germany. So depending on this game, we either go further in the tournament or then we start fighting for a place in the tournament next year. Imagine, Finland could fall out of the A-league. God, if you’re there, now is the time again…

The City of Angels

Whatta trip. I was a bit worried flying over knowing that the days will be full of studio work and writing sessions but if I’m honest, I feel like after a 2-week holiday. It is just so super fantastic that these people who have produced and written songs that have sold hundreds of millions of copies sat down with me giving our Sunrise thing new vibes. And it’s really hard to say what of the ideas will be used for SA as my head is full of melodies and thoughts now, but I will take a few days off now and have an “Ear break” and then listen to everything again and see what I think. There’s definitely some songs we will record and use. I also wrote a song for the Hollywood Hills on my last night and I love it. It’s kind of sad..;( LA is absolutely the coolest town in the US. Of the towns I have seen. It’s very “Anti American” in the good way but still good old land of the free. I loved it!

Volcano in Iceland

They cancelled my flight on Sunday because the volcano in Iceland was still behaving a bit rebel and I “had to stay in L.A.” for another 2 days. Poor me ;)

So I just jumped in a taxi at the airport and just told him to drive to any descent hotel. I didn’t think about it any more. The driver took me to this place that, well… now thinking about it afterwards, looked a bit strange compared to the nicer areas, but I was so damn hungry that I just checked in and decided to grab something to eat.

I must say the difference between West Hollywood and the airport surroundings is pretty big. They called me the “white boy” at this local joint I had my burger & beer in the night and the smell of illegal smoke (that is obviously legal in California) filled my room as some surfer gang were relaxing after their day on their boards. There were also a lot of people begging for money and prostitutes trying to make a living around the hotel. So after listening to “love noises”, I decided to hide at the Airport Hilton for the last night. The LA Airport Hilton is probably the crappiest Hilton I’ve ever seen. There was this strange mood in the whole area. But they had a swimming pool and that was all I needed. To get a little sun burned ;)

iPad

I was originally against it because I didn’t know where it fits between the iPhone and my laptop. I promised to buy one for my mom and one for our former bass player. After playing with my mom’s pad for a few days, I had to go boy one for me too. I am totally in love with it now ;) I really don’t know what I’m gonna do with it, but it’s just so super cool. And now for the first time, it’s actually REALLY just as fast as it’s on the Apple promotion videos on their website. iPad is a killer with pictures and videos. There was this very nice Austrian couple from Graz sitting next to me on the plane and I kept on blasting about Apple to them. I think they will buy a Mac next time they need an update. Just buy it!!! When they release it here, I mean ;)

What’s gonna happen now?

I have no idea. Tomorrow we have booked a studio with Jukka and the guys (yes, quickly back to business;) and I guess some shows are pretty close already too. I have had these two killer tracks in the back of my head ever since I left Finland and we made the arrangements on these songs with Jukka ready before I left. We’re gonna record then tomorrow. And hopefully we can book many more sessions, because there is more to record. I hope Jukka is not moving totally to Paris yet; I need him ;)

We also need to start looking at the setup for our next album. I have a strong feeling it will come out right after Christmas. It will be great. At least making it. The rest always depend on how the winds blow and how badly the volcanoes behave.

It’s 3:30 AM in Los Angeles and I haven’t slept one minute. I must look like an angel… I gotta get myself a cold beer now. Wahrsteiner – Alles was ein bier braucht!

Samu

PS: I gotta say that one of the strangest & most beautiful moments in my whole strange and fantastic life was when I was sitting alone somewhere below the Hollywood sign (like any tourist or fortune seeker) one evening outside my car listening to The Giant Leap’s “Best Time Of Your Life.”

Thank you everyone in Los Angeles, Especially André for making this experience possible to me. I lost my phone and “a lot more” back in LA but I do owe you one man! This inspiring trip made me really happy and gave me a lot of strength & energy for the storms ahead. Thank you!