colleen

Slowly catching up on things now I am finally home for a 4 week stretch before the last 2 shows of the year, Barcelona at L’Auditori on 14 December and Lisbon at Galeria Ze Dos Bois on 16 December.

SLETTEBAKEN KIRKE, BERGEN, EKKO FESTIVAL XX @ekkobergen 5 NOVEMBER 2023, AND THE 1991 CAMPER VAN TRIP. 
When I first saw pictures of Slettebaken Kirke, a brutalist church in the outskirts of Bergen, I immediately thought this would be a special show. Entering the church, which feels unexpectedly intimate and faces a beautiful expanse of water, my impression was immediately confirmed. I hadn’t been told though that there would be a special light and shadows show created by a top light designer, Silje Grimstad, and when I saw the photos and videos after the show, I was floored. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cFt7su_lczE%3Fsi%3DidfSgVcDm5Ml3daF

Months before I had thought of asking for this show to be documented on film properly, but the grind of touring coupled with “real life” also still happening, and my uncertainty as to how so much concrete would sound, meant I got discouraged and didn’t even enquire as to the possibility. I really regret it, as I think this was a unique experience that won’t be repeated. 
It felt strong and bittersweet to be back in Bergen at this exact point in my life: it isn’t just the place I’ve played the most in Scandinavia (4 times), it was also part of the farthest trip we did in the camper van with my parents and brother when I was 15, in 1991. I have very distinct memories of being in town, and now that my dad is extremely ill, I could not help but think of him, how much he was once able to do, and his complete helplessness now. 
It was also on that trip that we stopped in Copenhagen on the way back: I saw two musicians doing Beatles covers on acoustic guitars, which led me to ask my parents if they could buy me one. They agreed, and that’s how this whole music-making journey started.
🙏🙏🙏❤❤❤ the audience, the amazing team @ekkobergen , especially Asle for inviting me back and choosing me to close the festival, and @martheserck for being the sweetest driver, and Slettebaken Kirke.
Big thank you too to @freyaphotos for taking me birdwatching on Herdla – I can still see the grey seal staring at us!!! – and Petri @blankblank_studio and Henrik @henriksvanevik for the reconnection walk 😍
📷 @martheserck @ekkobergen @petriblank @ssekkingstad Pernille Grondal @__persnille @katarina_kierulf

AMULETOS PODCAST EN ESPAÑOL

Barcelona-based Ana Banana DJ already invited me to her radio programme Amuletos last year for a retrospective of my work, in Spanish. I finally recorded the *real* Amuletos podcast last month, at my studio: Ana asks her guests to choose music and an object that function as “amulets” for them, and I had a great time choosing these, you can listen to the program here.

Here are a couple of related photos she took at my place, and the text I wrote in Spanish.

“Ha sido un placer poder hacer una selección bastante diferente de lo que suelo elegir para mixes y demás programas de radio: la propuesta de Ana de elegir “músicas amuletos” me ha permitido dejar de lado la preocupación de ser “original” en mis elecciones musicales, y resonó inmediatamente con el momento muy peculiar en el que me encuentro ahora, un periodo en el que a menudo me encuentro revisitando momentos de mi infancia y adolescencia, lo que me ha permitido reconectar con muchos recuerdos musicales hasta ahora bastante olvidados e incluso infravalorados. 

He ido eligiendo cada tema de manera cronológica, cada uno coincidiendo a la vez con lugares muy concretos de mi vida de aquel entonces y tambien con formatos y equipos de reproducción muy específicos. Tuvé que dejar de lado un par de momentos importantes, pero casi todos han cabido en esa selección de 7 temas. Espero que los disfrutarais, y tambien el hecho que la charla sea en mi idioma adoptivo, el que hablo cada dia y en el que pienso y sueño. Mil gracias Ana!”

ANIMAL SHELTER AND RESCUE UPDATE

Last but least, I am copying here the text I sent to my Bandcamp followers on 8th November, for those of you who have been following my animal shelter initiative linked to my song “Conditional”.

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