Do Not Lay Waste To Homes Where You Must Rest Your Weary Bones

Heck, I woke up tonight and realised that I had not posted about my second album (which is in fact a double-album. Or double-EP. The oppinions differ abit) on the blog eventhough it has been out for, what, two weeks?
Anyways, it was slow-released April 17th (my birthday BTW) and a few days after it landed on iTunes as well. No spotify avaliable yet for those of you who prefer that. Dont know why they are so exeptionally slow in this matter. But that doesnt really matter much.

What matters much is where you CAN find it (them):

iTunes

BandCamp

This seemingly lazy attitude from my part is purely accidental. I´ve just recently moved into a brand new ateljeux (I think I mentioned this in the last post, not completely sure, it was indeed written in abit uva daze) and well, such a mean feat comes with some more mean logistic doings that has to be done as well. Like getting internet. And buying new paint since I lost all of me olde ones while flying with Ryan Air (but thats another story all together). And yeah, being generally stoked about having a large space to paint. Ofcourse!

But here you go. Better late than never. And this is pure. Let me quote what I wrote on facebook:
“Anyway, these albums are not as sweet as the previous one. As I have stated before, the music is a slice of my life and I cannot rule over how it will come out. Life is a beast of its own. It cannot be tainted of domesticated.

It is darker, yes. But know that you will have heard the truth and nothing else. Taste is simply something completely different.”

And it is true. Alot just happened last year which threw me a little off guard into a small oblivionesque situation for the better part of the first six months. I just had to process that shit, man. Without darkness there is no light and so on and so forth. The records really speak for themselves alot better than I do so I suggest you give them a chance if any of all o´this (that being the ol´blog here) has given you anything of any interest in the last two years at all.

The title suggest that you should think hard before fucking with things you dont know if you have sense enough to fuck with. But you can never really be sure of that, can you? So then it is better to try and be nice thowards those you think you like and love. Even if you are not a 100% sure of it.
Otherwise it might go a little like this song from Part1 here:

Bones

Do not lay waste to homes
Where you must rest your weary bones
For then you might well rise again
And be greeted by the world
With great disdain 

Kärlek och ensamhet

So it has been a while. I was talking to my pal and professional gunbrother Erik Svedäng (he is not Russian) and he was a wee complaining about that he never got to see the new pictures I´ve painted in Photoshop lately (well, they are not actually pictures as much they are sketches, and I really want to stress this fact so there will be no mistakes in the future for anyone ((mainly myself since I might think drawing them in Photoshop will be enough in a spontaneous moment of sloth)) regarding this matter) since I only post them on facebook nowadays. I do this because I am
1) Partly a lazy bastard in a…well I dont own a suit as of yet, dont think I ever will but I really do like it when Leonard Cohen sings that line. Not much fond of him in other aspects though since I grew up with english musicals and his music is a little too….well dull really, there I said it, dull dull dull, in comparison to, oh I dont know, Starlight Express for example and
2) Not totally clear on what they are representing. I am not sure if I ever will be for that matter but I know it is what has come out of my head and my hands during a period in Paris when I had no studio to paint in (wich I do now, more on that later, sorry, I too hate it when someone writes “more on that later”). Hence they are sketches, waiting eagerly for me to drag them thowards a canvas of cloth and reanimate them in oil. I believe it will come clear when I have initiated that process and know it is truly going forward and bla bla and bla.

I do know this so far:

What I created in the beginning ( I mean that in the biblical sense since there was truly a something new that was given birth inside that which had not been before) played out almost like a phase of teenage youth. You know, when you rebel thowards all that has been before since you all uva sudden realise that you can make up your own mind about things, so you do just that to the extent of overdoing it really. Without nuance.
It was all symbols and very much in your face. Without nuance.
Stiff and uncompromising. Without nuance.
SO what the fuck do I care! I found that true light! This is me! You all motherfuckers who dont understand can go FUCK YOURSELVES!

Without nuance.

I had no trust in my surroundings and felt I was the one who had it all figured out and I guess I should have felt that sometime before (as a younger boy) but lots of different stuff just kinda came in the way and it just became a little…prolonged.
But it was a period of emotion. Though ´twas perhaps very narrowly directed thowards one single goal. My own.

I lost interest in that, maybe because I started to understand what it was and the magic kinda got lost. In truth there is still some magic left there and I can still tap into that universe to get some balls (girls got balls too, just so we are clear on that and in case you did not know, but until there is a word that encompasses balls without the balls I´ll continue to refer to balls) and courage in the everlasting tumble that this world/life has turned out to be. Alas, I wanted to look further. Put some faith in love. Put some faith in like hope, man.
Started to regard my surroundings and just watch it some more. What were those people around me? Those fellow companions that inhabit our world as well as our race more commonly known as man? I found that there is love and solitude. Not love and hate. If this is true and what it means is what I want to look deeper into. And the best way (heck, the only way) for me to look deeper, ponder and meditate on stuff is to paint.

So I bought a big studio (yeah I put everything on the line again only this tyme the stakes are much higher, yipes) so that I could get this all sorted out. It needs to be big. I want to capture small and subtle emotions and make them grand. For that is truly what they are. We go through our everyday lives experiencing all these fleeting moments of such beauty (oh my god its a cliché) without realising there is something profoundly priceless about it all. That we have evolved into such extraordinary creatures who interact with eachother in such powerful ways (no im not talking about a barside brawl, that is not powerful at all although you might feel that way when that 200 pound bar stol comes crashing down over your head, it is the moment before the brawl that is the most powerful one. The rest is just a vomit) without really putting up an effort.

I´ve talked enough. There are some other themes creeping in there and the presence of computers is still abit unclear to me but I would guess it has something to do with me working on else.HeartBreak alongside everything else. Well, I started to think about all this whilst drawing concepts for for the game and that is why some of those will be a part of this thing I´ve come to call Love And Solitude.

Here is what I´ve come up with so far, although you´ll find more of those I´ve already posted related to this project in its rightful place: Love And Solitude. More sketches to come. And best of all. More paintings to come.

Support for the Wiser

El Huervo is on Kickstarter through the Nubuwo Debut Bundle: adventures in videogame audio. If you have friends who like this sorta thing or if you do yourself, please dont hesitate to back the project. There are a lot of talented artists in this bundle who needs your support (me being one of them).

Nubuwo Debut Bundle: adventures in videogame audio
http://kck.st/ycmNpI

I love the idea of Kickstarter, and eventhough everything does not get funded, it sure helps alot of people who are trying to do something but perhaps cannot gather together the proper funds needed for whatever project they´re trying to nurture into reality.

Most great artists who go their own way are poor. I dont know why this is the case. Maybe it has something to do with the whole “if we dont understand it, we dont like it” thing. That being said, I am not such a great fan of the other part of that argument wich goes a little bit like this: “NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!”. Yeah, some chum might not get what you´re trying to do but instead of chugging it down like bitter spirits let it evaporate against your persona like water pouring over the feathery carcass of a duck. Then it becomes productive. Might even give you the strength of the underdog for all I know. Some people like to hit from beneath. Nevertheless, support is always a big boost. Not just monetary support but most of the times a good pat on the back is worth a whole great deal more in the long run.

So, support the artists you like.

And.

Spread your fancies!

Carry On, Else Heart Break

I just felt that I should share some of what I´ve been working with lately. The game, that is. That I´ve been working on for some time now (Erik stated the bold fact on his blog a couple o´ days ago that we have apparently been in “production” (that word gives a sore taste in my mouth; its not a production, its…what we do. We do not just only and singularily produce The Game else { Heart.break() }, we kinda have to live, breath, eat and fecal it too. At least thats what I do (I think about it when I take a crap, yes. And yes, this is the second bracket inside the bracket, I am aware of that and if you think I was not its probably because you are a linguistical bessewisser and should consider doing something more productive with your time than dragging progressions in writing in the mud. My spelling and grammar, though, you are free to frown upon.).) and it becons on me; two years on one single piece is a long time. You really have to hang in there to not loose perspective and gain a dangerous sense of speed blindness in the process. I know, Michelangelo painted that chapel in 4 years but he also had a few youngins doing most of the tedious stuff for him. We got nothing but ourselves (4) and I must say that I am prowd of how much we have accomplished thus far. And scared of if, and how, we will knot the sack together in the end (its a swedish sayin that roughly translates into: wrap it up with grace).

So far. It looks pretty good. And soon I shall paint again. Until that time consider this one of my paintings. Its just been made in 3D and you cant smell, touch nor fell its presence without turning on the computer. Wich is the sole reason why I miss painting with my oils so much.

No time. But all the time left in the world.

Was, And is, And out of it…

Currently in Paris. Been here for…since September 2011. Various reasons why I am here. Love being one of ´em.
I´m telling ya, its been really good to me. New perspectives been commin into my mind and…

Aw fuck it. Who am I kiddin. I cant paint. No space to put everything up to hit the zone and its killing me. I feel it slipping a little bit actually. Or its getting better since I am keeping me alive by doing sketches in Photoshop. Or I´ve just been working like hell on getting my next album ready while building a massive amount of content for TheGameFormerlyKnownAsMiman (Miman always was a project name really since the name is too closely associated with Harry Martinssons epos Aniara. That, and all anglo saxons might think Miman means My Man and that would kinda make the whole seriousness we are trying to put in the game come off as…well, tacky. The Game is not tacky, I can tell you that much.).

So what will the name of the game be? We decided to call it else { Heart.break()} as a hommage to everything the game stands for. What that is I wont dabble into much further at the moment since its late and to be honest I´m not perfectly sure myself either. These things seem to work themselves out as we go about our bussiness. The emotions of a set goal  is totally there alright, but our process when crafting together (me, Erik and the other daring dear dudes) is a pretty delicate matter that has a life of its own. We like to stretch the rubber band, so to speak.

I´m really just writing this to show you guys WhoComeHereWhenAllElseFails that I havent forgotten you, nor have I forgotten the blog. Its just been a time out of sorts. A time out that will probably last for another one or two months more if my calculations dont fail me (if there is even a possibility to calculate such a thing). The album will soon be released also. I´ll surely blog about that. I am very proud of the album and it is a cauldron cooked up with lots of emotions of my past turbulent year. Those of you who listened last time and felt that Lovers was a key beacon of light in the requiem that was, and still is, ToStopYouMustDie and are longing for more of that sort might come out a wee dissapointed on the other end of the tunnel as my musical explorations have taken a new turn. It is not a turn that has been calculated by yours truly. It takes its own path. I just follow. Without a map or a compass I might add.

And when I start painting again I´ll post and bleed as ever before.

Here is a picture from else { Heart.break()} to keep it warm.

Dont get me wrong though. ´tis very interesting to build a world like this and I do love working on our game, but there is a time for everything and I´ve been away from my canvases for, what?, five months now. But I guess that is as it should be. As I´ve stated once before (way back. Trusty readers will know what I speak of): I had to forget, so that I could remember.

Paris is a town of towns. A city among cities not to quarrel with. Yesterday, just ´round the corner, I saw a lady (a lack of words is forcing me to label a woman wearing fancy clothes as “lady”) who squatted down on her knees, stroking the cheek of a bum and giving him a kiss in the cheek. Never have I seen such a thing in Gothenburg. You gotta hold on to that. We are in this boat together ladies and gentlemen. Wether you like it or not. Monetary assets and mucky smells are relativey small boundaries to conquer if you dream of a better world. You can recycle your god damn cans as much as you want. A true environmental hero spends a moment of compassion with a homeless person.

I will miss Paris. And I long for home.

Now he will leave his troubled world
And he will take off our timeless race
Leave us in a daze
For we are amazed
By the world´s displace.

Here Be Monsters.

Oh yes. Everywhere. Even if you grow up the monsters wont go away. They just moved out from under your bed and into/onto governmental authorities, hijacked jockeys, everyday-Joes and Jovelinas, dark back alleys and even, yes even, friends.

I am not that scared of the dark in particular. I am scared of change. Why this has come to be a curse (yeah well perhaps not a curse as much as a fobia, eventhough I feel that the word “fobia” is perhaps a little bit to steep a word for such a description) of mine I dont know. But that is, as they say (whoever they are), as it is. It also seems it cannot be helped since I have constantly, throughout my life, put myself in positions where change is inevitably the only prefered outcome of a situation. But still change scares the beejeezes out of me.

This has posed as a little bit of a problem for me in my past relationships thoward fellow companions and friends. You see, I dont want them to change. Well, ofcourse I dont want them to stagnate in progression or not evolve. I just do not want them to…change into grownups, or whatever you might wanna call it. To mature is, in my opinion, not to grow up. I know that I am comming off as a little bit uva Peter Pan complex here but bare with me for a spell will ya.

So, they grow up, and as they do the freedom of youth seem to wither away in their hearts. They let their lives, once again, become compromised by the monsters under the bed. Only this time, as I stated above, the monsters dont live under the bed. They live in money. Or in fear of not having/loosing. They live in the fear of not being enough in the eyes of their spectators. We impose ur monsters on our surroundings and it is a fucking sad thing.
All of those things matter none.

But we think they do. So we loose ourselves in the pursuit of understanding the things around us that seem so abstract that we take them for pure thruths. Instead of trying to understand ourselves. The only thing we actually have a shot at truly understanding.

The saddest thing is loosing someone dear through their incompetence of not realising what is real and true: themselves.

Anyway my life has changed drastically the last month since I moved from Gothenburg to Paris. I have alot of agendas with this epic change in the life of me and I might share those further on. Be it by Art or more pretentious blog-ranting.

Still working on hard on different projects though: new El Huervo record, a small iPad game, paintings and Miman.
Miman even got its own section so I suggest you check it out if you wanna know more about what that is about.

Cant paint in my flat though so I am currently looking for a place to do that before I loose my joints. But perhaps this absence of painting has been good for me since a new big, I dont know what to call it but lets call it mission, mission (yeah its supposed to be that way, I did not write two times like that just for kicks. If it does not make sense to ya just read the sentence again) has started to take form in the corners of my mind. Some of the ArtWork for Miman actually spurred this notion and they will serve as the start of a lot of elaborate sketches for this new artistic path.

Cant wait til I find a place to paint…

I´ll enclose two of the sketches below so you can have a looksee at what is to come.

Call The Tune.

Clandestine Emotions.

So if my ranting did not make any sense to you it will all become clear in due time.
If not, well then I guess you must have bumped into the wrong website.

Lost Promise

Okey for some of you out there this might seem a little low brow and even far-fetched I believe but even still; a lot of my ideas derive from simple pleasures, contradictive as it may seem.

Some time ago I watched the movie HellBoy 2: The Golden Army and the main conflict in that movie is derived from a mutual agreement that to attain peace between the world of magic and the world of men as well as preventing further future warfare since recent named army had more or less, in total cold blood as the army itself consisted of indestructible golden clad robots/golems, run the opposing forces over (the World of Men) with little effort and the sheer brutality of this feat brought some repentance into the heart of its creator and his employer (The Elven King, Rule of the World of Magic).

The Elven Prince finds this agreement a farse and an unfavourable outcome for the inhabitants of the World of Magic as he questions why his people has to crawl in the dark while Man flourishes in light, not treating her part of the truce with its proper grace, laying waste to Mother Nature. So he consequently sets out to destroy humanity for her treason. Claimig the world would be a better place without its presence.

Yeah. I mean, we do ravage the earth. Without some lack of respect for what it has given us during our insignificant time here. If such a bargain or truce had taken place in times of Olde I too could bring myself to feel that we might not always deserve our place upon the Earth. We did once live in junction with nature and its other inhabitants (animals and such) in a way that was more respectful than it is today.

Stories such as the ones found in HellBoy spures a thought in my mind. We are perhaps here at natures grace. There should have been a promise made long ago, a pact if you will, that “Ok. You men do what you gotta do with yer illusions of grandeur. Evolve and become the peak of our food chain. But please promise not to forget that we live here too.”

And I wonder. How long will we be able to keep our current path before we reach a dead end? What will we do then, when the forrests are on fire and our cities start to fall? Are we just gonna say “Hey uhm…we´re really sorry it turned out this way and all. Cant we just let bygones be bygones and let us have some of that meat and milk of yours?”

Treat what we have been given with more respect. I am not saying that a cabin in the woods for everyone and all is the right solution but rather that just as we people demand respect the same should go for everything around us too. Just because it cant speak does not mean it wants us to pour oil and asbestos up its ass and what not.

But perhaps I am just being a bit hippie about all this.

Oh, by the way this painting here is a commission for my Morfar (thats GrandDad to you) and he was awesome enough to, aside from the fee for the painting, give me a little extra on the side. Wich is very much appreciated not only because the gesture itself is nice enough but because I will really need it on my move to Paris. Props for that. He is a cool guy. And so is his wife (my GrandMother, eventhough she is not a guy).

Oil on Canvas. Measurements unknown since I forgot to take care of that before I let it go. SOLD!