Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes

One of the great guys in the audience
who rocked with me from the beginning
to the end.

Last week I promised that I would share some big news today, but before I get to the point I want to takethe opportunity to thank the absolutely amazing audience for last nights gig.

They rocked with me the whole gig through and gave me such a good vibe I almost jumped through the roof.

To the point. This is going to be one of the longer blog texts so make sure you sit comfortably.

About 2 months ago one of the best things ever happened. Mika Karhumaa contacted me and few weeks later he became my manager. Not only that, but before I even met him he had already got me a distribution deal with AXR Music. A manager like him doesn't grow on trees.

I wanted to share this, already a month ago but needed to get it confirmed on paper before writing about it.

So, last week I went to AXR:s office. Mika had told me many good things about Ilkka Vainio and the team at AXR, and ensured me I would be fine going there without him.

 He was more than right. The first thing that happened when I got through the door was a big hug from Ilkka Vainio. He is such a warm hearted and nice man! The whole team was very friendly and made me feel at home right away.

Three hugs later, I walked out with a big smile, a signed contract in my hand and a bunch of Christmas CD:s Ilkka gave me. I don't have the words to describe how thankful I am.

However, every price has a sacrifice. One of the first thing I was told after I started working with Mika, was that I would have to push the release date and not only that, but also remake a lot of things on my album. My first reaction was a big NO. 

No way I'm going to burn down the house I built for three years to build a new one! Besides, I want to stick to my promises and already pushing the release date once feels bad enough.

I had already met up with a close friend to Mika, Jimmy Westerlund, who is a great songwriter/producer just to "meet and greet". I gotta say, the vibe was great and I was amazed how it sounded, but still the thought of re-making a lot of things felt like a slap in the face.

After a lot of talking, thinking and even arguing I started to see how I was trying to say no to one ofthe best opportunities so far.

I need to go a few steps back in time in order to give you the full picture.

During the last three years I've been working in 4 studios with different producers. I started with 5 song together with Johan Bejerholm in Malmö, 2010. By that time I didn't plan to release a whole album myself and tried to find a record label. I was creating a package of a few songs, pictures, website, a music video etc. and tried to find a 50/50 deal with a record company. When it didn't happen soon enough I decided to release the album no matter what.

I loved working with Johan, but since it was my first studio I still felt I needed to step out and look around. It's a little bit like Silja Lines buffet, the first round you try a bit of everything, and by the second round you know exactly what you want more of.

With Eric Gast and Johnny Lee Michaels

Thanks to Jyrki 69 (who has helped me a lot on the way) , I was lucky to get connected with Johnny Lee Michaels. We decided to give it a shot and he produced one song for the album.

 The style was a bit different, way more rock than the 5 songs I did before. Nothing wrong with that though, Johnny rocks and knows what he is doing.

Around the same time I was in Stockholm for a song writing session with a couple producers and working with them felt good as well even if it was a bit more pop than with Johnny.

A retarded picture of me and the 2 Swedish producers
Joakim Övrenius and Patric Jonsson.

Now we're at 3 different studios with 4 producers.
 I loved working with all of them, but there was one big question ringing in my head. How the hell am I going to get all of them working together for the same goal?

Me and Eric Gast in Sonic Pump studios

I thank kitesurfing for the solution. 

As I was kitesurfing in the Caribbean I met a bartender who knew someone who knew Eric Gast. A wonderful human being and producer who has worked with many big stars in US and the founder of FM-worldcharities which is based on connecting music to charity.

It's something really close to my heart and a chance I didn't want to miss out on. Check out this interview with me and Eric if you want to know more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3QebJg6BFY

I took the risk and went to one of his charity events in New York with out knowing if he would even have the time for a meeting.

 I got very lucky. After a good conversation he listened to all of the songs from the different studios and decided to come to Finland and help me get the album together.  I have to say, that guy is one of the most warm hearted people ever. 

Me , Eric and my snake Squishy

He came with me to all the studios and worked with the producers in order to connect the songs to each other.This is not an easy task, because the more chefs in the kitchen the messier the soup. Even if it was complicated at times I'm happy I made the choice to work with so many people on the same album. It taught me a lot. But I'm not going to make it a habit.

The problem was never that people wouldn't get along, but because they have their own artistic way of doing things, and there's a fine line between giving someone freedom and giving too many directions of how to work.

This was also a reason why the album release got dragged out, trying to fit all these schedules and opinions together, and after all the hard work with all these wonderful people it felt like a slap in the face that I would have to re-do some things on the album.

 But then I realized that during these three years, and thank to all the wonderful people I've been working with, I have grown a lot more than I would have, only sticking with one person.
 What I did three years ago, is different from who I am today. I have more to give from allI've learned. And I realized that after working so hard, it would be wrong towards the audience and myself to release the album if it wasn't up to date with who I am to day.

After a couple of days of thinking it became more and more clear that this is what I want to do. Having a strong team behind me now, that wants to build up a proper strategy and giving me the chance to make things better than before, I would be a fool not to go for it.

Therefore I'm going to Los Angeles in the beginning of January to spend three weeks with Jimmy Westerlund to make some new songs and work on the old material and make sure it's the best I can give.

The album will be released in April 2013. There is still one big surprise that I can't reveal before it's confirmed, that is also one of the biggest reasons for the new release date.

Stay with me and I will share the good news in the next blog text.

Big hugs to all the supportive fans and friends.

- Jessica Wolff

One big Pesodent smile

Hi everyone,

The winter has come, my snake just shaded skin and my music scene just turned upside down.
Don't get me wrong it's definitely not a bad thing.
I wanted to update my blog much earlier but first I wanted to be sure about some things before sharing.

About a month ago when I was meditating it became very clear to me how much I need a manger. I known it for a long time but now it really came up to the surface.
The further I get with my music the harder it is for me to keep track of the business part: promotion, planning releases, layouts, marketing, website, getting deals, organize gigs etc, not let alone the most important of all, being an artist.

I thought about what kind of a manager would be good for me. Someone who knows the business well, who's outgoing, energetic, see me for who I am and dedicated.
A few weeks later I got a phone call from a manager being interested.
First I didn't want to get my hopes up, but a week later we had a meeting and before I knew it he became my manager.

It's the best thing that has happened in a long time.

Three years ago I jumped out of acting school to focus full time on music. I decided to give myself at least 6 years, before I would "allow" myself to consider doing it as a hobby if it nothing happens (hopefully I can go on for many more years).

I set up my own company in order to control as much as possible, especially in the beginning since the music business was so new to me.
I started applying to fonds, finding investors, found a team of a promoter, booking agent, business consultant etc.
I got the band together, the websites running, recorded songs and wrote new ones, went to stage coaching, took promo pictures, and eventually made music videos, singles etc. The list goes on.
So far it's been an amazing trip, that's been developing me as a person/artist but also teaching me a lot of valuable things about the music business.

The only problem that caused me stress many times the further I went, was that I started to feel I needed 10 more hands, twice as many hours a day and 5 more personalities in order to get everything done the right way.
People around me had very different opinions on what to do and how to act, and the only thing I could do was to follow my intuition and use my common sense.
I was constantly thinking: What is the next step? What can I do tomorrow to get closer to my goal, and what is the to-do list for 1 months, a half year and a year from now?

As soon as the management deal was confirmed, it felt like a big rock lifted from my chest. The Pepsodent smile is still wide on my face.

There will still be as much work as before, but this time I can focus more on the music and feel relaxed knowing that I have a smart guy behind me who knows how things work and who can help me to focus on the right things. It feels like the best Christmas gift of all times!

A lot of awesome things have already started to happen that I would love to write about, but I still have some things to work on before sharing. All I can say is that feel very happy and thankful.

Life rocks rights now!!!

Cheers,
Jessica

Ps. Check out my blog the end of next week

What A Coincidence

Hi everyone,

About a week ago I got a very interesting phone call from a great songwriter/producer called Jimmy Westerlund. He had heard about me through a friend who suggested that we work together.

We quickly met up for a coffee and right away got along really well. We decided to write a song together and a few days later he knocked on my door, ready to start a songwriting session I won't forget in the first place.
We had a great laugh about the fact are we're not only sharing the same initials JW but we're also born on the same day. Not let alone the fact that guy he had written the song idea with, happened to be my keyboard player Jani Hölli. Quite a coincidence.

First we were both quite sleepy. Him after driving for 5 hours and me having a heavy flu, but after a quick meal and some coffee we were fit for writing.

We didn't have a studio to go to, but my parents weren't at home so we set up a small studio in their living room.
I was so surprised how easy everything was.  It didn't take long before we got the text and melody for the first verse.
 I usually rehearse a lot before I go to the studio and sing at least 50 takes to get the best possible result. Sometimes it requires a few takes before I get into it, but not this time.

I'm not sure if it was the chilled atmosphere or the good mood, but I didn't have to sing more than a couple of times every line, before we were pleased with the result.
We kept on working until 5 am when we could barely keep our eyes open anymore.
It was one great experience and I was surprised how well the sound turned out coming from a quickly home made studio.

Rock on!

Sometimes a chilled atmosphere with great conversations and a little
bit of white wine is all you need.

Jessica

Broken Wings

HI there,

I just finished the music video shootings for the up-coming single "Broken Wings". It took us 4 days in total.
The first day was everything from awesome to a nightmare. We started 8 am with make-up and I didn't get home until 5 in the morning. I thought it was going to be challenge to film with small kids but with some Angry Birds candy it went smoothly. The kids were very patient and so sweet.

The little "fan club"

I was also met by a small "fan club"of school kids, when we got to the second shooting location. Except for pulling my hair and jumping up and down in front of the camera, they were very cute 

and helpful.

The "nightmare part" started at around 7pm on a random playground in the middle of nowhere. Not only was it raining but it was very cold outside and the power kept on going off. 

I almost started to regret I had decided that my character shouldn't wear any shoes or jacket. After an hour I started shaking so badly I couldn't keep my body still or control my breathing. 

On top of that we had fire effects that were supposed to go off on a certain time in the song. It took a while to prepare them before each take and I knew I couldn't afford to mess it up because I was freezing.

It's gonna be interesting to see how it turned out. If you can't fight it you gotta turn it into your advantage, so I did my best to use the coldness as a tool to get the emotion needed for the chorus. 

After this day the rest of the days felt like a piece of cake. We were also very lucky, since two actors jumped out right before the shootings and both times we managed to find new ones half a day before the next shootings. So big thanks to Josefin Silen & Irina Tundra. You girls rocked!

 I also had the honor to get the wrestler/singer, "Starbuck", to play one of the main characters in the video. He did an absolutely amazing job.
Big thanks!

-Jessica

Starbuck & my freezing self

Brain cell damaging activity

Cold to the bone after spending some wonderful time in the water at the photo shoot

Hi there,

I think I must have lost half of my brain cells, spending 4 hours on the train, staring at myself on the laptop screen trying to pick out 10 out of 2245 promo pictures for the album. Maybe not the best way to get that energy boost before a gig. 

The internet connection was really bad and it took ages for the pictures to show.  However, with a good mood, patience and a lot of coffee I managed to go through about 700 pictures.

 The deadline for the up coming single and music video (Broken Wings), is coming up very quickly and there is a lot to do. It feels exciting, stressful, awesome and a tiny bit scary.

I have about two weeks time to master the single, pick out one picture for the single cover, find a grafic designer, register the song, get the needed codes and texts for the layout and finally send them to printing.

When it comes to the music video the story hit me as I was recording the song.  After a bunch of meetings later with the director we had the script in our hands. The song is about the pressure of the society and it's effect on people. It's something I wanted to write about for a long time and it has woken up a lot of thoughts and feelings on the way.

It's always exciting following the journey from the beginning of an idea to the final result. It also gives you a better chance to express yourself on a deeper level.

 That's also the little scary part, to take something so personal and expose it in public. I guess it would be like standing naked on the stage. It doesn't get more honest than that. People like or they don't, but usually they react.

Rock on!

Jessica

Rocking on an lung infection

HI there,

A lung infection is one of the last thing you want before a gig, especially if you have two in the same day. After being sick for 2 weeks I was still hopeful of getting well before my shows last weekend.
But the same morning I my throat was still dry, my nose was stuffed and I couldn't stop coughing.

After freaking out about it for a bit I pulled my up and decided I'm not going to let that ruin my day. There's not much to do about the situation but getting nervous and worry defenitely won't make it better.

 I decided to do the best out of the situation, stay relaxed and only focus on the message I want to deliver. Before I've also been focusing on moving around, the sound of my voice, the instruments etc. Completely ignoring those thoughts made me feel more free than ever.
My voice broke every ones in a while but luckily people didn't seem to notice.

In the end I had a lot of fun and it felt so great being up on the stage. It turned out to be a very valuable experience for me and it was another proof for me how much of the performance is based on mind power.









Rock on!

Jessica

Writers Block

Practiced a Kung-Fu kick called "Butterfly". I later realized it looked more like an attempt to stage dive in the park.

Hi there,

I've been trying to come up with a good interesting subject to write about for a week now. I've been at home in a heavy flu, which should be a good mode for blog writing. I thought the subject would just naturally pop up in my head sooner or later. Well it still hasn't, so I guess I'll have to write about writers-block.

It happens to me every once in a while, especially when I'm dealing with "office stuff" and tricky contracts. Business stuff and song writing simply don't go hand in hand.
Since I've released everything myself It basically makes me my own record label. Which also makes me responsible of everything else besides the actual singing. It's good and bad to be your own boss. You need more than a lot of discipline to make it work, which can be exhausting sometimes. But on the other hand you have all the control and can choose which direction you want to go. It was scary in the beginning since I'm so new (3 years) to the business side of music.
 I've made a lot of mistakes on the way but that's the way to learn, and I don't think I would learn the same things on a school bench.

You often hear people talking about artists as "products". It's really sad, but it's also the raw truth.
It felt like a slap in the face when my consultant told me 3 years ago that I better start seeing it that way and get used to the thought.

That's where it gets weird. I'm responsible of selling a product which happens to be myself. That's quite mind twisting sometimes. So, I've come to the conclusion that it's better to just "be", keep your feet on the ground and do what feels right and keep focused.
If I'll think too much about that stuff I will most likely get a writers block. ;)

Rock on!

Jessica Wolff

Hi everyone,

Sunday, two weeks ago I got a message from a guy asking if I wanted to do a promo gig the following Wednesday. The gig would be 4 hours away from Helsinki at a big rally event with a lot of people and they wanted me to be the main act.
I've never been asked to do a gig only 2,5 days before and I told the guy it might not be possible to get the band together with such a short notice.
After calling around it turned out that half of my band members were abroad. However, I was dealing with a very stubborn guy who insisted that I make it work.
If someone's working hard to give me a gig I don't want to be the one giving up.
The following Monday became one hectic day. I made about a million phone calls and by the end of the night I finally found a keyboard guy who was ready to learn the songs in one day. I also got a base player who ended up taking an 8h train ride from the north of Finland just to do the gig.

Unfortunately we didn't have any time to rehears. Normally this would have made me a bit nervous but somehow everything came so fast I couldn't afford, and didn't have time to stress about it.

After a 4 hour drive we arrived to the place and started to get ready for soundcheck. Their schedule was late and someone told me we would have to skip the whole soundcheck.
I thought it couldn't get worse: New guys, no rehearsal and no soundcheck, great.  Luckily one of the organizers realized it wasn't such a brilliant idea to let the band play without having any idea about the sound, so he managed to arranged some more time for us.

 It turned out that this guy who got me the gig had recommended me and some other bands to the arrangers. He had asked them to pick their top 3 but instead they had put my name 3 times. He tried to explain they need at least one back up but they insisted that I was the only option.
 No wonder why the guy had been so stubborn, at some point I even thought it was a bit weird that he tried so hard. Anyhow, I can't complain, it was a big compliment that made my day.

After the soundcheck I still didn't feel any sort of nervosity and it almost started to worry me. Of the times I've been nervous before a gig this should have been the worst.
 I thought maybe it would hit me like a rock in the stomach right before I go on stage like a couple of times before.
However,  stressing about not stressing is probably the most stupid reason to stress, so I decided to keep my calm vibe and if the nervosity hits, it hits.
Well, for some reason it never happened and it actually turned out to be one of my best gigs. At least I had a lot of fun on stage and think I was a bit all over the place. The keyboard guy and base player were both fantastic and the audience like it.
Sometimes it's good to just throw yourself out there without being prepared and just trust the situation.

After the gig we got a really good response and after a long night I got home at about 5 am in the morning.

The next gig will be the 8th of September in Tampere in Särkänniemi. I will have two gigs the same day. If you're around that area I hope to see you in the audience!

Rock on!

Jessica

Chilling on an island

Hi there,

I had a great day today. I've been spending almost a week atmy family's summer cottage based on an island two hours away from Helsinki inFinland.

 A couple of weeks agomy new single Dirty Kisses became the signature song for a new TV show called"Motorbikers World".

They also interviewed me for one episode in the show, aboutmy music and my biking interest. I had a very nice day of driving around on thebike. It will be on the Jim channel in Finland on Saturday the 21st of July.

Picked 2 l of wild berries that turned into a big pie

The same guys are also making a TV show that's all aboutboats. Since the sea and boating have been a big part of my life since I was a childthey thought it would fit well for an episode.

So today they came to the summer cottage to film me drivingaround in a boat the whole day. It was a lot of fun speeding up and down, makingcircles etc.

For me the boat has always been only for commuting back and forth to the mainland andI think it was the first time I got to "drive for fun". 

Most of my childhood summer I've always spent 2 monthsstraight on the island and most of the weekends also in the wintertime. 

It's where my roots are and the best place for a good inspiration kick or peace for the soul.  I once even brought half a studio with me togetherwith my friends to have a productive weekend of songwriting.

Unfortunately the last few years I haven't been able to behere as much as before since there's been a lot of work to do. But I still gota wonderful week left of rehearsing songs, chopping wood and swimmingbefore going back to the studio next week.

I still got three songs left to record and then it's justthe editing, mixing and mastering left. Getting there!

Rock on,

Jessica

Dirty Kisses

Hey there guys and girls!

My new single "Dirty Kisses" is finally here! Check out the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKInSXe1sBs&feature=g-all-lik

It's always both scary and excited at the same time to release a new song. After working on the song following it from the first created note, to the final version, you get immune and it gets hard to imagine what it sounds like to someone who never heard it before.
Of course the goal is always, at least for me to effect people in a good way with my music. The feeling is so awesome when someone gives you good response after you put your heart into something.
However I think it's important not only when it comes to music but anything you create in general, to be open to peoples different opinions and remember that what you create is, not you, just a small piece of your personality. Even a strong negative reaction is better than nothing at all, and unless it's full of pointless crap it might even help you to grow as an artist.

It reminds me of one of the first gigs I had in Helsinki a few years ago. It felt like it went really well and I thought it was the best gig so far, but when I got off the stage the first thing my Kung-Fu master said was "That was shit! I couldn't even hear your voice". Well, I can't say it cheered me up but I'm glad he was so honest because it taught me that I should get my own mixer in the future.
Anyhow, enough  about reactions and creations.

When I wrote the lyrics for this song, it was like putting my feelings down on paper and turn it into something productive.
The message I want to bring out is to appreciate what you have in the present moment because a moment later it turns into a memory. I could probably write a whole page about the story behind the lyrics, but I rather leave it open for the listener to interpret it the way they feel.

I'm really thankful that I had such a great team around me working on this song. So I wanna share big thanks to the Swedish producers Joakim Övrenius & Patric Jonsson and Eric Gast (additional production) for the great work! I also want to share my appreciation to however invented coffee, which without this song would have sounded different ;)


Rock on!

Jessica Wolff


Ps. If you want to buy the single online, here are some options.

http://digianttila.com/
http://kauppa.nrj.fi/
http://cmstore.fi/
http://download.mtv3.fi/

Finland Fest in Tokyo

Tokyo 24.5 - 29.5

Day 1

Finally in Japan! It's been a lot of Traveling the last week. I came home to Helsinki in the middle of the night a couple of days ago. Next day I had a band practice, a meeting and then off to Japan.
I was running around like speedy Gonzales trying to get everything packed, send the single to printing, feeding my boa snake etc. I probably forgot half of my stuff at home.
Now I'm on the bus on my way to the hotel together with my producer, some Heavy Metal dudes and some people from Music Export Finland.
I'm glad the event doesn't start until tomorrow. Otherwise the Japanese record labels would probably mistake me for a sleep walking zombie rather than a rock/pop artist.

My window view

Day 2
Fighting the jet lag

One heavy jet lag! Rise and shine. I'm so glad I bought a pair of big sunglasses a few weeks ago.
I woke up 3 am feeling weird, sick and tired but not able to sleep. After rolling around in the bed for four hours I called Eric who was awake too and we went out for a very early breakfast.
We found a bar that was closing at 8 am in the morning and there I had the strangest breakfast of my life. A clam soup with ham in it.
A few coffees later and to my big surprise I fell asleep like a baby when I got back to the hotel room.
I woke up a couple of hours before the Reception party organized by Musex.

A couple of wonderful Japanese girls I met
at the after party.

I met a lot of interesting people within the music industry, not only from Japan but also from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
 Even though my body was longing for some more sleep we went to see some gigs followed by the Houko Music Night after party. The parties are usually what connects people the best.
We had a very interesting taxi experience on the way back. The taxi driver kept on babbling to me in Japanese. First I tried to explain that I didn't understand but after he kept on talking I just replied with "hai" which just made him babble even more.
I heard many Japanese use the word Hai and I think it means something like ok or yes.
Eric filmed the whole thing so I'll post it later.

One fancy bathroom.

Day 3
Sprayed in the face

A jet lag + after party is not the best combination if you wanna feel like a piece of sunshine next morning. I certainly didn't. I guess one reason is because I woke up around 3am. I rolled around in the bed for a couple of hours and when I was finally falling asleep again the toilet suddenly started to make a very loud wheezing noise.
Half asleep I got up to try to do something about it. Next to the toilet seat were a lot of random buttons (in Japanese). I took a shot and pressed one of them, which certainly didn't help.
 What happens is that a plastic stick comes out of the toilet and sprays water right in my face. Good morning Jessica!! I feeling like an idiot but the whole situation was so random I couldn't do anything but laugh. It reminded me of Mr. Bean.
I thought I was done with the whole getting sprayed in the face thing, but believe it or not an hour later the same kind of thing happened but in public.
I went to have breakfast with Eric and with the meal they served me mayonnaise in two small weird plastic boxes attached to each other.
There was an image showing "break it in half". So I did, but the wrong way around so instead of getting it on my meal I got a wonderful mayonnaise mustache. I should have gotten paid for entertaining the restaurant guests. Not only was I the only blonde person but I was also wearing my Onepiece.
They probably thought I was from a different planet. Another good morning laugh.

Other than these two random situations the day went pretty smoothly. I went to see a beautiful Japanese garden in Tokyo before going to the "Metal Attack" show later in the evening. It was a four hour dose of Heavy Metal by both Finnish and Japanese bands. The audience went crazy!
After the show I went to a sushi restaurant with a guy from King Records. It was a great meeting and the sushi was probably the best I ever had. Tomorrow we're meeting again at an music business event.

For some reason some people call Eric
"egg". I'm not sure where the inside joke comes from
but he also has a blog with that name
 http://fmeggblog.blogspot.com/
Long story short, he felt very at home when he found
these eggman signs.

A beautiful park in Tokyo

The audience went crazy

It wouldn't take it's eye off me

Day 4
 Meet the Labels

I met a lot of very interesting people today. I had random meetings for 6 hours. It was quite intense. I came to this place where they have tables for each company and the whole day through people from different labels came to visit and if they were interested they would come to your table for a meeting.
I met a lot of distributors, promoters, labels etc. Looking good!
It also turned out that Chip, the base player from Enuff Znuff who is a good friend with my Eric had suggested that we contact his friend Ryo at King Records. Eric thought it would be good to talk with the guy I met at Midem first since he is also working for King Records and we were meeting up with him anyways. It turned out that it was the same person, I just didn't know his nickname was Ryo. What a small world.
We had a good laugh about it called Chip during our meeting. Except for us waking him up he was very happy to talk with his old friends.
After the meetings we went to an amazing restaurant with Eric friend who happened to be in Tokyo. He has been working as a camera man for Eric when they were filming a documentary about how music can help people get through rough times. For instance they went into the war zone in Burma and lived with the soldiers in the jungle and interviewed them and recorded some of their music.
There were some other people joining us at the restaurant as well and I met a very successful artist from Korea. We exchanged our music and talked about working together in the future.
I got back after 1 am in the morning and had the option to go to sleep or have a beer with the guys from the band called "Swallow the Sun". I chose to go for a beer.

I had a really good time and the guys were great. We got back to the hotel around 3 am and I realized it's no point to go to sleep since I would have to wake up 3 hours later to catch the flight. I took an ice cold shower and drank a lot of coffee and water in order to stay awake.
The weirdest thing is that at some point between 2-4 am there was an earthquake (5,2 on the richter scale) and I didn't notice a thing. I still don't know how it's possible, according to people the whole building was shaking.

After a long trip I finally got back to Finland. That night I slept like a baby.

It looks so much cooler in Japanese

Having some Sake with some guys from "Swallow the Sun"
The bar tender put this weird pearl hat on my head.

Went to a seminar and learn a lot about
the Japanese music market.

Living in the studio

Hi there!
I had an absolutely wonderful trip in Nice. It was very needed for re-charging my batteries. I went there together with three of my girl friends I've known since I was a kid. I also realized it was the first time since I was studying theatre three years ago, that I spent so much time together with a bunch of girls.
Most of my friends and people I work with are men, but the few girl friends I have are really close. Part from the shopping I had a great time.
When I got back I had a lot of work to do. My laptop mouse stopped working while I was in Nice so there was a bunch of stuff I couldn't get done. I could really feel reality biting when I came home.
 I had 24 hours to get everything set before picking up my producer from the airport the day after I got back. Back to business!
We started with a meeting the morning after he arrived and to my big surprise he gave me FM OnePiece. (FM is the charity he created).

Me and Eric Gast going to band practice

Within a minute after I took a picture of it at band practice, Thomas Adams (the guy who came up with the OnePiece concept) contacted Eric and told him he was in Helsinki for a day.
What a weird coincidence.
 Every time Eric has been around we've always randomly met the OnePiece guy. The first time at the launch party in Helsinki. The second time at party in Stockholm and now in Helsinki again.
After the band practice still wearing my Onepiece we went to say hi to Thomas late in the evening and didn't get to bed until late in the night.

 

My new FM OnePiece.

  We had a very early flight to the studio in Stockholm. I had only slept 2 hours but didn't mind since I wasn't supposed to do any vocals. We just had to go through the last adjustments for the up-coming single before mastering it.

Early breakfast at the airport

Straight from the airport I went to see my singing coach before joining the rest in the studio. I got very surprised when they told me that I should re-sing the chorus for another song I thought I was already done with.
When I go to the studio to do vocals I prefer to be prepared, warm up, sleep well, having my mind set etc. My body and voice were completely shut for the traveling and lack of sleep, but shit happens. 

I had to try at least, which turned out to be a good decision. After many takes I managed to find the energy and feeling I needed to nail the chorus.

Outside of the studio with my producers and an awesome
background vocalist.

Eric Gast & Patric Jonsson

                                                      

The next day we got few hours before taking the train to Malmö 4 hours away from Stockholm. Some of my old songs were recorded more than two years ago and in the need of an update in order to fit in with the rest of the songs on the album.

Johan Bejerholm in Worldstudios

 It was really nice coming back to World Studios and see my old producer Johan Bejerholm. He is one funny guy that always makes me laugh.

I thought re-sining some vocals for the old songs would be an easy task since I sang them hundreds of times. It actually turned out to be the opposite.

 Being brainwashed and deaf to your own songs it's hard to find a new spark and feeling in it.

When I'm performing with it's different though, then I can always get the emotions and energy from the audience and the adrenaline kick of being on the stage.

However, nothing is impossible. There's always a way even how stuck you feel with a song. It's just a matter of being stubborn and find the right way to approach it. Sometimes I need to move around a lot, do some boxing, try to go into a character or just have a very clear picture of what and who I'm singing it to.

The chorus that I had to re-sing in Stockholm is a good example. I felt stuck because I didn't have the energy but than I imagine that someone had just stabbed me with a knife and going into that feeling gave me the right vibe for the song. It might sound weird but these kind of "acting tools" effect both the voice and emotions a lot.  If one image doesn't work I just move on to the next one until I find the what feels right. At least it works for me.

Rock on!

Jessica Wolff