Interview with Light by the sea (NL/HU)

 Hello there 👋! 

In June we had the pleasure to interview this amazing Dutch/Hungarian band called Light by the sea. We talked about their single Elenor, debut album, live gigs and so many other things. Keep scrolling for the whole interview ;). 

Hey there guys! How are you doing?

We are quite busy at the moment, we are in the middle of the recording of our debut album, two days and we are going back in the studio to finish the last three songs. We have been recording since January this year, it has been a very intensive months although there was no much happening in the music industry because of the pandemic, we kept ourselves really busy with writing and recording. 

Would you like guys to introduce yourself to our listeners?

Sure! We are Light by the sea, I’m Anna, I’m Hungarian but lived in the Netherlands for a long time. And he is my partner in crime Davy from Breda, the Netherlands. We came together because we both have our own bands and we were living together of course and during the pandemic we were staying at home, so we were like “okay we are two musicians sitting on a couch” what should we do? Should we write music together, didn’t even come up to us, and then eventually we started writing music together, and now we are here in the full process. Light by the Sea is us, we work with amazing musicians who work with us in the studio, and some will be touring with us live, but basically this is a duo project. 

Light By The sea started as a lockdown project? 

Yea. This wasn’t planned, we just ended up playing music tougher, this is one of the things we can thank to the pandemic, not so many things but this is definitely one of them, if not the best one, that we started to write and play music together 

Recently you released two singles, one called “Eleanor” and “Crimson sugar” would you like to tell us something out them.

Sure! The first single which is elenor, there is kind of a special story, not even lyric ones, but that song was truly the first song we created together. I was writing the demos at home, because I was bored and I said “okay then write something”;  eventually Anna said “I have some ideas” that was the first point of Light By the sea; then I came home and found a demo she made the vocals over and it was truly the first time we said “we should do something with this” and that was Eleanor  We released it in April, including the video clip. Is about a fictional woman, but I was truly hearing her story on how she was committing suicide by jumping off the cliff of the sea in England in the 20s after she heard the news her son was dead, it is a real sad story, that’s why if you listen to the full length song it is very long and there are so many emotions in it. We shot a very nice music video here in Breda, we had very limited opportunities since at the time there was also a curfew, and we had to work really quickly and it was also the coldest day of the year -you can see the goosebumps in the music video- but truly fitted very nice with the story. 

Crimson Sugar is totally different and we were a little bit sceptical about releasing the second singe, because of the contrast with Elenor, but we did because we wanted to show that in our debut album, which is coming out in October we have a wide musical spectrum with the genre and moods. Elenor is the most left you can get and Crimson Sugar is the most right you can get and in the album in between those two songs. 

With Crimson Sugar we are trying to get into that soviet disco thing, we took a lot of inspiration from the German artist Sandra with the Maria Magdalena song, and Romina Power and some Hungarian disco artists, we wanted the make it as cringe it as possible. Truly this is the funniest thing we ever created. 

What is your musical inspirations? 

Of course we both have inspiration from our childhood, but since the pandemic we were just stuck to the couch and we were watching live concerts, kind of a mixtures of the 70s-90s bands; and we are really into the 90s. 

You already have some gigs planned would you like to share the dates? 

We would really love to play in Hungary or in the UK once the Covid situation get better. But for now we have a bunch of gigs through out The Netherlands. 

This are the dates and the places where you can go see Light by the sea live, and where you can grab your tickets.

16-10 | GEBR. DENOBEL
Leiden - W/ Vive La Féte

22-10 | DE PUL - UDEN
Uden - The Place Where We Fell In Love Show

https://www.livepul.com/agenda/impuls-light-by-the-sea-uden/

23-10 | GEBOUW-T
Bergen Op Zoom - W/ Vive La Féte

24-10 | MEZZ - BREDA
Breda - Hometown Show + Official Release Show

https://www.mezz.nl/tickets/light-by-the-sea/13484/

29-10 | ESTRADO - HARDERWIJK
Harderwijk - W/ Kaspar Baum

https://estrado.nl/programma/

02-12 | METROPOOL - HENGELO
Hengelo - W/ Platon Karataev
https://www.ticketmaster.nl/event/268319?CAMEFROM=METROPOOL&brand=nl_metropool&_ga=2.142545842.1272168372.1631000130-1350381100.1610015188

05-12 | NOORDERKERK - SNEEK
Sneek [Het Bolwerk] - W/ Platon Karataev

https://hetbolwerk.nl/voorstelling/platon-karataev/

Your debut album is gonna come out in October, will you have any new releases in between?

For sure we will have some music video coming out. Our music is very visual, there are always satire s and would like to make it with a big production visual. But also the album is a big work, since we will be also releasing on vynils and will start the promotion of the album in the summer. It is a very busy times. 

You can follow Light by the sea on spotify => here and make sure to grab your tickets ;). 

Steven Sedalia Interview

 

Here we are family for a brand new interview with an old friend of ours : Steven Sedalia,

 for the release of his new EP ''The Original Giver''

We have been following Steven since the beginning and we're amazed of the great work he has done, growing constantly yet remaining true to himself. We highly recommend Steven music, and if you never had the chance to listen to him, well this is the right moment !

• Hi Steven ! we met the last time on october 2019 when Mauna was released. At that time very little we knew of what it would soon be happening in the world. Our collective and personal lives have been shaken from this global sanitary emergency. How have you coped with all of this ?

Music. Creating. The way that I remedy chaos is to create in it, to be inside the storm and sing my way through it. To continue to explore and push myself creatively is the best solution for my mental health.

• You have just released a new EP  'The original Giver'. Tell us something about it.

It's a cosmology, poetically speaking. What I mean is there are hundreds and thousands of creation stories and all of them contain truths. The Original Giver is the name that I gave to a personification of the force of creation expressed via sound. It's all connected to the mystical ecosystem I've shared through my previous work Mauna. That record was about a journey FROM silence and TO silence, that space of reverence in fullness and wholeness. The OQ, known as The Original Quiet is equivalent to what is known in the religious traditions as the formless void, and the Original Giver is the Being who delivered the First Sound. I'm using terms and images that are interchangeable, meaning the first sound is another name for The Word, Aum, or the Big Bang. The Original Giver is a name for that creative force that made the universe and is within you and me and all of us and is also called Love.

• 'The Original Giver' seems to be a further step ahead in your growth as a musician. We can recognize you and your style in it, but we can see something more and different from the previous releases, isn't it ?
  
  I've been exploring with soundscapes and really paying attention to the flavor of the canvas upon which the lyrics can rest and be supported. Sound textures and learning new layers of ways that songs can express themselves has definitely been a focus. That aspect feels like the most concrete sonic difference, but there's always the drive to dig deeper into new voices of expression and that exploration is part of what makes songwriting so invigorating. It's akin to an adventurer in the unknown on a quest to discover new lands of psychic territory. Songs are like guides to new spaces of feeling, so finding them in the depths of the heart and riding them to places beyond is extremely exciting and renewing.
  

•  What do you wish to pass to your listeners and supporters through this EP ?

That the same power that hung the stars in the sky and shaped the land and filled the seas is within you. We are all endowed with the essence of The Original Giver in us. It's illustrated in the opening line of the record "In the beginning, when sound birthed the earth, there we were listening, do you remember? A voice was singing creating the world, so what is this now that comes through our lungs?" As well as the lines in "O Creator" that say, "now I know where I came from, now I know Creator LIVES THROUGH MY LOVE." The idea is that the Creator with a capital C is incarnated within every moment of our loving intention and action.  

•  Which is the song more dear to your heart in ' The Original Giver' ?
  
  All of them, but the favorite is changing as it tends to do, currently O Creator is up there, it mixes natural imagery with agency, what I mean is it declares there is intelligence behind the patterns of creation, and you are part of that intelligence. It then asks the question what would you do about it? "If a word spelled the universe what would you speak?... If the verses filled the oceans what would you say?" It's a call to action to that part of us that accepts the responsibility of carrying on creation. It all comes to gratitude for The Original Giver, in the end, that's what it's about, is giving appreciation for the way that divinity moves in our lives. We're all waves on the ocean of Her beautiful face. The cosmology goes as follows: 
  1) The Original Giver tells of the first breath that sparked the stars and through the voice lit up the void. (2) The Potter tells of the Creatress who made matter tangible and designed the earth by mixing the elements and molding the shapes. (3) Footprints honors the ancestral line of life that gave birth to us from the beginning to now that is always guiding us. (4) O Creator emphatically declares that the creative instinct that called forth the entire world is within us and the act of creation continues through our loving action. (5) Constellations weaves the web that connects it all together, the human family aligned with the sound, the stars, and the creed “the love inside of you is the love inside of me.

 

 

 

 

You can find The Original Giver here: general link or here: Spotify

Interview with Cold

 Hey there, 

long time no see. We are happy to be back, and happy to be creating and working on new content for you all. We are starting this new chapter with an interview with Cold, an Italian rapper from Ostia -Rome-. 

Enjoy the interview! 😌

Hey there Cold, how are you, how is this last period going?

Hi! I'm good! We are finally starting again to live. Now that we are freer and back to a semi-normal life everything is better for my writing process and life in general. 

Would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners?

Sure! I am Cold, I’m from Ostia and I’m a rapper. I started with listening to punk and rock music. When I was 14 I then discovered Tupac and my life completely changed; because in his songs he was exactly telling about the anger and difficulties of the youth. Then is when my path as a rapper started. My first album came out last year’s July and is called “Ho visto” which sees a lot of collaboration with the Milan scene. Including Biggie Paul, Nerone, Mastermaind, and much more. In that album, I spoke about the problems that we -youth-  have and everything that my life was. 

At the end of march “Botti” your new single came out which talks about the suburbs where you grew up.

"Botti" is sort of a follow-up to “Ho visto”. Last year’s November my single “Totale” came out which is a very chill song. With Botti I wanted to go back to my feet to share that all the problems I used to see when I was young are still there if not worse. Seeing 14-year-olds on the streets, doing the same thing we used to do, is not nice you sort of realizing that in the suburbs some things never change. I wrote Botti to enforce the relationship I have with my home. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations because of a situation we are living in but no one told us to do this. We did it because we choose to do it because we needed it what I always try to say with my music is: if you have another choice choose that. 

How important is music for you?

I live for music. I have lost jobs, friends, a girlfriend, I have lost so many things but without music, I wouldn’t be me, I wouldn’t be Fabio, I wouldn’t be Cold. I don’t care about profit or success. I need writing, my lyrics are like a personal journal, I just can’t write about things I don’t live on my skin. 

So in all of your lyrics, we can hear 100% Cold? 

Yes in all my lyrics, albums, and future works you will only hear me, of course, there are some things I had to change for the tranquility of the song; but all the things I see, hear, or feel I always put them into music. 

Do you have any plans for the future? 

Of course! We are working on some projects, which will be a bit different. I always have a bit of anxiety because it is a bit away from the “street” style but we are working on something innovative regarding the sounds and the lyrics. 

You can follow Cold on his instagram page, ColdOneShot, on Spotify, Cold.

Listen to Cold's latest single "Mamma esco", here ;). 

Blind Channel on the road for Eurovision Song Contest

On the night of the 20th of February, Blind Channel won the Uuden Musiikki Kilpailu, with their latest single "Dark Side" . UMK is also known as the Finnish national selections for the Eurovision song contest 2021. The band will now be competing against 40 other acts in the Eurovision contest which will be held in Rotterdam (Netherlands) in May.

For those who might not be familiar with the band, Blind Channel is a Finnish violent pop band formed in 2013, by Joel Hokka (vocals and guitar), Niko Vilhelm (vocals), Joonas Porko (guitar), Olli Matela (bass), Tommi Lalli (drums) and the recent addition Aleksi Kaunisvesi (keyboards).

We got to see Blind Channel perform for the first time in 2016 when they opened for Simple Plan's gig in Helsinki, since then we have been following their journey, from the release of their first album through the third, various singles and performances, both in Finland and abroad. Somehow it fills my heart with so much joy to see these 5, now 6, young boys growing up (musically and not), working hard and achieving so much, and unconsciously being a huge inspiration for whoever is out there working hard towards their dreams.

I guess that back in 2016 when I said they were going to take over the world, I wasn't completely wrong ;). 

See you (probably virtually XD) in Rotterdam guys! 

Save The Earth - OQK

(English follows)

Sostenere Ostia ? "Se lo puo´fare un Ostiense qualunque, lo puoi fare anche tu"
Con una minima conoscenza dei programmi per comporre musica ma con una app per creare basi musicali, senza essere un musicista professionale ma con una conoscenza minima per suonare la chitarra , senza essere un rapper ma con una enorme passione per la musica , senza una band ma con la voglia di descrivere la storia e la gente del suo quartiere...Ostiense qualunKe fa´nascere la sua canzone "Ostia Lido Rap"!

Efo & Awa Onlus e’ la prima a credere nel suo testo ed inizia così una collaborazione per raccogliere fondi e sostenere i progetti per il sociale della stessa Onlus.

Come una pioggia a dirotto piomba nelle reti sociali il video musicale "Ostia Lido Rap" arricchito dal link dei progetti di Efo & Awa Onlus e dalle foto delle diverse associazioni ed attivita´commerciali locali che , in cambio di visibilita´on-line e con la volontà di sostenere il proprio territorio, apportano donazioni ed aiutano a diffondere il video.

Rilanciare l´immagine della Gente di Ostia attraverso una azione solidale e collettiva: diffondere e sostenere la raccolta fondi di una Onlus del territorio!
La canzone dice :"L´unica diga della dignita´...e´ La Gente di questa città...privata del senso di comunità...lotta per vivere con normalità”.

Questa e´una canzone sui problemi e sulla capacità di superarli:
Con la bonifica dei Ravennati Ostia riemerge dalla palude ! Con la manifestazione contro la mafia e la corruzione del Municipio Ostia chiede un nuovo consiglio municipale e nuove politiche per il quartiere !

Grazie al grande cuore di DJ Chicco! la canzone viene passata per la prima volta nell’ unica radio web libera del litorale...con la dedica: “Ostia Siamo Noi !”.

Con un incontro casuale nelle reti sociali Ostiense qualunKe ed i NOT (una band Torinese) si conoscono e subito nasce una collaborazione. I NOT ( NoteOltreTempo ) , oltre che con le loro grandi capacità tecniche ed artistiche , ci mettono tutto il loro cuore e creano una nuova versione della canzone.

Ostia Lido Rap sarà per sempre dedicata alla Gente di Ostia e siccome , “ per ricevere bisogna dare “, e´ possibile scaricare gratuitamente la canzone ed allo stesso tempo accompagnare questo gesto con una libera donazione on-line a favore dei progetti di Efo & Awa Onlus.

Tutte le associazioni e le attività commerciali che compaiono nel video, RQL WebRadio , Efo & Awa Onlus ed i NOT vi invitano a diffondere questa canzone per sostenere Ostia !!!

Iniziamo dal 25.11.2020 , anniversario della bonifica dei Ravennati e nascita della Ostia moderna! “Se un Ostiense qualunKe lo può fare , lo puoi fare anche tu”.

VUOI FARE UNA DONAZIONE LIBERA ON-LINE ? TI REGALIAMO LA CANZONE :

1-Link dei progetti di Efo & Awa onlus: http://www.efoeawaonlus.org/en/progetti

2-Link per la Donazione Libera : https://paypal.me/efoeawaonlus?locale.x=it_IT

3-Link per Scaricare Gratis Ostia Lido Rap : https://soundcloud.com/user-612643582/ostia-lido

Supporting Ostia Lido City ? “If an ordinary citizen of Ostia can do it , you can do it as well “.
With a minimum knowledge of music composing programs but with an app to create a beat , not being a professional musician but with a minimum knowledge of how to play a guitar, without being a rapper but with a big passion for music, without a band but with a strong desire to tell the  history of Ostia Lido (Rome) and of its people...Ostiense qualunKe creats his song “Ostia Lido Rap”!

Efo & Awa NGO believes in the song lyrics, so a collaboration with Ostiense qualunKe starts with a fundraising aim to support the NGO social projects.

Like an heavy rain the Ostia Lido Rap videoclip is often spread in the social networks with the Efo & Awa NGO social projects link and with the pictures of all the organizations (enterprises , shops, associations) that support the fundraising, help the video sharing and receive in exchange more visibility on-line.

Giving Ostia people a new positive reputation through a collective and supportive action: spreading a fundraising campaign and funding a local NGO!
In the song lyrics we can find these phrase: ” The last dignity dam of this city is made by the local people that are deprived of a se se of community and are used to fight to live a normal life “

This is a song about problems and the ability to overcome them :
With the reclamation of the swamp area made by Ravennati workers , Ostia rises up again!
With a manifestation against Mafia and local Government corruption, Ostia citizens demand a new local government and new government policies for their city.

Thanks to Mr Dj Chicco who has a big heart...the only free web radio of Ostia broadcasts the song...with this dedication: “We are Ostia!”.

By chance Ostiense qualunKe and NOT (a band from Torino) meet on a social network and immediately start a collaboration. NOT ( NoteOltreTempo ) decide to help this project creating their best possible song version using their great technical artistic skills and all their heart.

Ostia Lido Rap will be always dedicated to Ostia People, as “If you want to receive before you have to give “, so it´s possible to download it for free and at the same time to give a free on-line donation to Efo & Awa NGO.

All the organizations shown in the videoclip , RQL WebRadio, Efo & Awa NGO and NOT invite you to share this song to support Ostia !

Let´s start from 25.11.2020 ! anniversary of reclamation of the swamp area made by Ravennati workers and birth date of the modern Ostia City.
”If Ostiense qualunke ( wich means: ordinary citizen of Ostia) can do it! You can do it as well !”  

VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

Tuska utopia finds a way to combine a travel show with metal music

While music and travel industries are suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic, and people around the globe have fewer opportunities to enjoy concerts and fulfil their wanderlust. Tuska Utopia offers a new way of experiencing both. 

The concept of Tuska Utopia is created and produced by the team behind Tuska Festival. Tuska Festival is the biggest metal festival in the Nordic region, and it takes audiences on a journey to some of the most exceptional landscapes in Finland. 

Each hour-long episode includes a concert, an interview with the artist and a tour of the location in the spirit of a travel show.

The first season comprises of three episodes. Industrial metal powerhouse Turmion Kätilöt who performed at the Suvilahti gasometer in Helsinki on November 13th (last Friday), power metal band Battle Beast at a secret stone castle on 20 November (tomorrow!!!), and cello metal sensations Apocalyptica at the church ruins in Pälkäne on 27 November. 

Tuska Utopia is hosted by Samy Elbanna from the thrash metal band Lost Society and directed by Taku Kaskela, a household name behind many music videos and TV productions.

“The series takes the visuality of gigs to a whole new level. It was a real dream for a director like me to get the opportunity to create new utopian worlds through music and light design for soulscapes that are so familiar to us Finns,” Kaskela says.

“The power of Tuska Utopia stems from the curating between the artists and locations, which creates a story, a tension and a theme that connects all the concerts in the series. The name of the series itself acts as a kind of reading guide, as each episode reveals an actual existing place in the Finnish landscape, as well as a fantasy world created especially for the series,” adds Jenni Kääriäinen, Artistic Director of Tuska Utopia.

Tuska Utopia aims to offer unique experiences, as well as to create new opportunities between the fields of music and travel. While both industries are suffering from a worldwide lockdown, Tuska Utopia enables people to enjoy both activities in a new way.

“This is not just a way to replace live concerts now that so many events are on hold. We hope to succeed in creating a new crossover culture that I can easily see continuing along its own path also after the crisis is over,” says Eeka Mäkynen, Executive Producer of Tuska Utopia.

The artists featured in the programme all have well-established global fan bases, so the English-language series is expected to attract interest around the world".

The episodes are available on SemiLive’s platform. The price of each stream is €14.90, which includes viewing rights for 48 hours. 

Here you can enjoy a glance of what each episode will be about, and remember to grab your tickets! :)

Stay safe.