SunriseAve ITALY

We are sitting at our backstage with the guys in Innsbruck, Austria getting ready for the TV show of the night. I started the official “Out Of Style” promotion yesterday in Berlin alone by playing the new songs for the media folks and doing interviews and the boys joined me this morning. Today we do this very strange German TV show, TV Total, where they go down the hills with wok pans and tomorrow we attend the DOME again, for the 8th time. We are DOME veterans ;)

We started the promotion already in January and we have done many “one offs” in Finland, Germany and Estonia. In Estonia the trip was probably the hardest so far with their local Saaga-Vodka at the Estonian Music awards after party. The vodka is super good. Ask Sami ;) And we also attended the Miss Finland finals playing Hollywood Hills acoustic there. The downside was that we had to share the back stage with the girls. As we came to the backstage before our part, the ladies were changing their outfits from swimsuits to dresses. I didn’t know if it’s more rude to look or not to look. Riku relaxed us all by jumping into the winner’s uniform for a moment and the ice was broken. Usually I don’t like it when the people at home can select the winner for Eurovisions or the new Miss Finland, but this time I have to say the best one won. Congrats & Good Luck!

It’s been a strange month after mastering and finalizing the album. I must say I succeeded pretty well in relaxing and keeping my thoughts away from music and the new album. Now it feels as if we all have our batteries full for the next step and I have a funny good feeling in my stomach about what’s to come.

My bags didn’t arrive from Helsinki yesterday and I am a little worried what I am going to wear the whole weekend. I could easily wear the same jeans and stuff every day, but we are so much in front of the TV camera and the promoters might have something so say about it…

I have been amazed how good the start has been with the new album. For example in Germany Hollywood Hills is in top 3 both in sales and also on radio charts. There are many festival offers already on the table and seems as if we will have a busy year. Me like!!! I have no words to thank you lovely people who have been supporting us, voting and other stuff. Thank you so very much! We will pay you back on tour by sweating our asses off.

The next few weeks I / we will be doing interviews and other promotion all over the place and after that we release our third album JEEEEEEE ;) I drove alone in Helsinki a few days ago and listened to the album after a 2-week break. I am so damn happy and proud of the final result and there’s nothing I’d do different. I don’t know if or how much the album will sell & succeed, but as a piece of music I am very very happy. It’s the best Sunrise Avenue album, no question, if you ask me. I can’t wait to get all the 12 songs to you people so you can hear what we have been doing in studio for the last year. And you can disagree or agree with me ;)

We’re discussing the live show plans with the guys now and Sami suggested that we start the show on tour with “I Gotta Go.” He said in Finnish “Se lähtee ku reidet perseestä…” Have fun translating that ;)

Anyway… See you all very soon and thank you so much for all the feedback and help so far. I bet we will have a great year ahead together!

On the plane to Bremen 

I decided to continue my blog on the plane, since there’s nothing to do and the Internet didn’t work at the hotel last night so I couldn’t post it to the web. 

Was a long day yesterday. We started at 10 in the morning and we were done at 01 in the night. Ok, most of the time it was just waiting at the back stage and sitting in the car or plane, but still. Today the day will also be long. The Dome TV show is always a huge media circus and there’s a lot to do, but everything there is very well organized. Well… Once they burned Sami and me with pyro walls, but we have forgotten them ;) It’s so cool to meet the reporters and other people after a long long break again. The biggest problem I have now with the promotion trips is that the Finnish national Ice Hockey Play Offs start today and it’ll be a bit hard focusing on the reporter’s questions sometimes. I guess I will be singing the national anthem on the first Helsinki IFK home game next Friday, where they hopefully beat the shit out of the Narri-Jokerit.

 My bags arrived and I am wearing nice clean clothes. Fully out of style, as usual ;) So today will be about a lot of interviews again, some red carpet and a very cool TV performance on stage for millions of viewers and the live crowd too, of course. Some artists say they don’t like the TV shows that much. Of course for us too, the real shows are better when you get to play and hour or so, but I like the whole hassle and stuff that goes on the whole day today too. And there’s also the after party too ;) We use to have the “heavy partying” reputation in the past at the dome after parties, but we lost it somehow. I wonder if tonight we could steal that trophy back. I count on Sami after the session we had in Tallinn ;)

See you all very soon!

Love, from The DOME back stage,

 Samu