Riding the wave

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I almost missed the whole Christmas concept this year and if it wasn't for my stubborn parents I would probably have stayed in Helsinki to work on the album.
 I'm glad I didn't. I just had the first couple of days of after working for 6 weeks. It really made me realize how important rest is for a good result.
Now I'm heading back to Helsinki. Tomorrow the work continues with Eric Gast. We will focus on a ballad that's written by the guitarist in my band.
There's a lot to come next month and I'm trying to prepare as well as I can to make everything work. I think I never had a crazies schedule than the one I have had the last two months and it's getting even crazier.
The album work continues,  a lot of paper work, finding sponsors, distributors, publishers, rehearsing new songs with the band, Finnish lessons, Midem in Cann, acting in a music video, Kung Fu etc.
One of the most important things is the UMK competition. It's gonna be really interesting to see what happens next.
They're going to pick out the 12 artists who will continue in the competition in January. I don't want to "say hi before I cross the bridge", but it looks promising since I'm top 2 on the list.
I still can't believe how it happened. I'm used to work at least a week on a song before I go to the studio and this one I had about 20 minutes to learn before we started recording.  All I can do is being thankful and work my butt of to get as far as I can with it.
If you want to help me stay as a top 2, please vote (you can vote more than once), share the link with your friends and post it on our Facebook wall. I would appreciate it a lot.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X_mHhi-nSQ
http://satumaa.yle.fi/umk/kilpailijat-2012/jessica-wolff-better



Cheers,

Jessica


Ps. Here are some random pictures from Johnny Lee Michaels studio.

From studio to studio

Getting ready for the Christmas party

Hi there,

Eric Gast who is producing my album was supposed to fly back to New York today. Instead he extended his trip until New Years,  so we can finish one or two tracks before he goes back.
We've been working about 12-14 hour/day for the past two weeks, in three different studios.
 The days are floating by and it's hard to keep track of time while working inside the "the bubble of creativity".
It reminds me of when I once jumped of a cliff into the the sea. The jump itself wasn't so bad but to get up was the tricky part. I had to climb a slippery,6m long rope, while the waves smashed me to the side of the cliff.
My body was shot and normally wouldn't have had the strength to go on but I had no choise if I wanted to stay alive, so the adrenaline gave me the strength I needed.
It's the same with my album, the music keeps me going. To have Eric here working with me is a once in a life time chance.

 Besides the lack of sleep I've been laughing and smiling a lot. I had an awesome weekend starting by a small Christmas party and a great session in the studio with Johnny Lee Michaels and Eric.

Cheers,

Jessica

Eric The Producer, Squishy The Snake and Santas New Helper

Ps. Here's something random I did with my stunt friends a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uJbjBOK_lo&feature=youtu.be

Soup sized coffees and marshmallows

Hi there,


It's been a crazy week and it's getting even crazier. I'm still not sure what I did or how it's possible that Eric Gast comes all the way from New York to work on my album and didn't want to believe in it before I actually picked him up at the airport last Wednesday.

Next day we ran from one meeting to another from 11am to 12pm, ending with Eric meeting Squishy. They became buddies right away.

Next morning we went to Olli Saksas studio. It was in his studio everything started when I was 18 years old.

After working for about 8 hours we went back to town to meet Johnny Lee Michaels, before starting to work with him next day.

After spending the whole next day in the studio we went to a "One Piece" launch party.

Almost everyone was wearing one.
 After a while I got introduced to Thomas Adams who came up with the concept. 

It took him about two seconds to ask why I wasn't wearing a One Piece, and before I knew it I looked like a pink marshmallow. I think it's the most comfortable thing of awesomeness I ever wore. I can't believe he gave me one for free! 

After another sleepless night with a slight "the day after"- feeling,  I went to band practice early Sunday (still wearing the One Piece).
  Later in the evening I went back to the studio with Johnny and Eric to work on some vocals. 

A four hour sleep, an early wake and an hour later we arrived in Stockholm. Today we've been working with in the third studio in 4 days.

We've been laughing all day to the most stupid jokes because of our lack of sleep. Eric fell asleep in the chair and I've been drinking a few cups of "soup sized" coffees.

Eric Gast, me and Thomas Adams

Comfortable marshmallow at band practice

Olli Saksas studio

Working with Johnny Lee Michaels

Cheers,

Jessica

Happy independence day

Hi there,

I love this day. It reminds me of my roots and to appreciate what I have.
Last year I interviewed my 89 year old grandmother and recorded the story of her life. I remember leaving her house speechless.
We talked a lot about the war and she described how everyone worked so hard to win Finlands independency (1917).
One Finnish soldier had to shoot about 10 soldiers to even it out.
Everyone else also did what they could, like making clothes for the soldiers or becoming "Lottas" and watching for airplanes or working as nurses etc. Back then there was no room for selfishness or small talk. People worked as a team.
It must be chocking going through something like that and watch the world change like it has. If people helped each other, or communicated the same way today things would be a lot different.
I wonder what my neighbor would say if I knocked on the door and asked if I could borrow an egg? The truth is, I saw my neighbor yesterday for the first time in two years. When and how did it go to that?

Anyhow, my point is that especially today is the day when the older people deserve a big hug and an even bigger Thank You. Without them I think most of the Finnish peoples lives would look very, very different.

Cheers,

Jessica

Ps. If you don't know much about Finland, check this out :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSraqmOHDQ

Cleaning my laptop with coffee

Hi everyone,

I woke up with a flu today and the next thing I know I pour coffee on my laptop. Good job!
I'm gonna try to rest today with a lot of Strepsils and tea.
It's funny how I can go months with out being ill but right before something important comes up it hits me. I think it must be a curse or something.
I have a producer coming from New York to start working on the album next week. In this case a flu is not too bad, it could actually give my voice a nice "Whiskey vibe".

Tomorrows gig is a different story though. There are a lot of really talented musicians within the Wushu team, so my Kung Fu master put together a "Wushu band" for the Christmas party.
We rehearsed twice and I don't really know the songs, so there's going to be a lot of improvisation. Luckily the requirements and expectations aren't deadly serious.

Cheers,

Jessica