"Time Flies When You’re Flying"

I’ve probably read that somewhere. Did I mention I hate flying? Well, not the act of flying through the skies at 850kmh while letting your mind wander aimlessly through the maze that is your L.I.F.E , but just about anything leading up to that point is a bitch. And yet I do it with increasing frequency. Why? I don't really know sometimes and also, I think I lost my train of thought there. Yes I did. And much like that these days pass on an endless search for that one clear moment when everything is just crystal clear and true.

I hope this blog finds everyone in good form and spirits. Contrary to what it may seem like from the introduction, I am actually getting some things done, believe it or not. Like I wrote in the last blog entry, I have been waiting to get the masters for the movie score I just finished from Nathan James at The Vault Mastering in NY. Nathan used to be an assistant to Scott Hull at Masterdisk and has worked on most of my previous albums with Scott. He is now running his own outfit and this is the first time he has mastered my music by himself and he did a fantastic job with it. It sounds unbelievably good and so it was a pleasure from start to finish to be in the mix theatre in Oslo last week as we finished mixing the sound and music to the locked picture. Me and my partner in crime, Øyvind Jakobsen, spent two days there with director Arild Ommundsen and sound engineer Gisle. What we did was basically to make sure that all the music was coming in at the right times, with the right volume, right fade ins and outs and so forth. When all this is done, they render the project finished and then eventually they put it back on a 35mm reel that the cinemas use to show the movie. At least I think that’s how it’s done. This movie was shot digitally, using RED cameras, so the cinemas that can show it digitally will hopefully do that, as it looks good and fits the digital format. (NERD INFO: the movie was shot at 25 frames per second, but when they show it in the cinemas it will most likely be showed at 24 frames per second because of the conversion from digital to analogue. Which means that all the sound and music will go slower than it was recorded. This will, most likely, make me puke)
I've been back and forth to Oslo a few times the last weeks doing a few different things. I just told you about the mixing of the movie, but I was also fortunate to be asked to sing on Thom Hell's next album. Thom Hell is a Norwegian artist that I respect a lot, so when he asked me to sing on a song of his called "The Feeling", I had no trouble deciding what to do. I think it turned out beautiful, hope Thom was happy. (Or Thomas as he's really called) The same day, we managed to squeeze inn a photo shoot (seems I'm always squeezing them in) with my good friend Johannes Worsøe Berg and graphic designer Snorre Seim. They have both worked on a lot of projects with me before and it will be cool to see what they do for the cover of the Norwegian Best Of CD that's coming out this fall.

No week is complete without a trip across the North Sea these days, it seems, and last week was no exception. I got to see a different side of the UK this time around as I spent my first couple of days in Great Yarmouth, where one side of my wife's family comes from. A quiet seaside town near Norwich, I think Great Yarmouth saw its glory days a few decades ago (it was a bit like the Florida of UK), but we had a great time nonetheless. It was great to meet my wife’s family and to be able to put some faces to the names I keep hearing. Finally, after a longer than necessary, train (and bus) ride we got back to London. I seem to remember writing something kind and romantic about British Rail last time around, but it was premature... I now think they suck. Things are getting hectic in London, as we are getting closer and closer to the release of my album there and I love that feeling. There’s always a special kind of energy leading up to a release. There are a million things to get done in time, lots of decisions to make, people to woe, covers to get done etc. But I love it and it’s a very special day when you get the finished product in your hands.

The first single from the album will probably be sent to radio soon and we’re crossing our fingers. You never know what’s gonna happen with a song, but we all have a good feeling about this. Call and bug your local radio! I’ll see you in London at the Garage June 26th, where I will play with a full band again. We will try to kick ass of course. Have a great week,

all the best,

Thomas Dybdahl