Only two days ago I wrote about my co-writing research trip to Los Angeles, Nashville, New York that took place in February last year. The great news is that from these fruitful sessions a bunch of NEW songs for my FUTURE SECOND ALBUM was written!!! And what’s even better – the recordings have begun!!! In Nashville! With the one and only Brad Jones as producer! In one of the eight video blogs I linked to in my last post I talked about what he has meant to me over the years. Below you can enjoy eleven more video blogs that I put on my artist Facebook page from the Nashville sessions. As well as some photos from the studio, with co-writer Bill DeMain, from social activities with old and new friends including Javier Piñol, Wyatt Funderburk, and The Wellingtons.
Here’s a video from the flight between Stockholm and Chicago on Aug 28 with me and famous Swedish reputable drummer Andreas Dahlbäck who I was fortunate enough to have with me on the first part of the trip. (He also played drums on my solo debut album Soundshine).
Once we got the Brad Jones’ studio Alex the Great Recording we started to fool around with the various instruments that were lying around:
Once we had slept off our jet-lag we had the first producer’s meeting with Brad at his home kitchen table:
Time for tuning up the instruments. Here I’m singing ”Nobody’s child” (once recorded by the Traveling Wilburys):
While setting up in the studio we put on a kettle of coffe and I was warming up the voice and getting in the the country vibe of Nasvhille by singing ”Country Dreamer” by Wings:
Later the same day we had laid our first track down. A song co-written with Linus of Hollywood called ”Lovebug”. Producer Brad Jones’ evaluation of the take is ”time for lunch”:
A little later into the recordings I finally got to pick up Brad Jones’ wonderful 1970 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top with mini humbuckers. I was in jingle-jangle guitar power pop heaven!!!
Between takes there’s always time for more goofing around. Here with hired gun, and famous Nasvhille session musician, Pat Buchanan. Too much fun!
Here’s from one of many so called ”playbacks” in the studio. Here of a song I’ve co-written with my hero from the area of academic research within songwriting, and my assistant supervisor as well, Professor Joe Bennett. The song is called ”Egyptian Blue”.
During the weekend when Brad had to go on a tour to Colorado. As Brad put it: ”Zookeeper’s away, Monkeys will play…..”. Here’s Andreas trying out an idea on his Theremin on the iPad. With us during the weekend was my good friend Javier Piñol:
After Andreas had gone back to Sweden I was sometimes left all alone in the studio at night-time. So I took the opportuinty to try out some background vocals. Here with my new TG2 pre-amp that I had bought from Vintage King Audio:
I’m really excited with the result from these recordings and I look forward to finishing everything off during the next days, weeks, months, years…? Time will tell! Stay tuned!
I am very pleased to be able to announce that my “upcoming” album Soundshine ACTUALLY is “coming”, finally!!! The first country that will have the album in stores is Japan and the release date is Dec 7, 2011. The album will be released by the fine label Thistime Records.
As some of you may know my former band The Merrymakers had some success in Japan in the late 90’s when we sold more than 100,000 copies of our albums and our song “Monument of me” was a huge radio hit. I had the fortune of going there five times with the band during that period until things calmed down. We made promotional tours doing radio interviews, and in-store performances, signed CD’s, played a showcase gig (with ex-Jellyfish Andy Sturmer on drums!), and so on… I developed a long term love affair with the country and Japan has a very special place in my heart. Through the years I have found so many wonderful people there and things don’t get worse by the fact that I have had the luxury of having a few of my songs released by Japanese artists like Puffy, Miku Kakoi, Sarasa IFU, Yuko Yamaguchi, and Tokio.
As everybody know 2011 has been a year of terrible catastrophes for Japan and my thoughts and deepest concerns have since then been with its people and my heart goes out for all of those who have lost their loved ones.
After such an enormous tragedy the event of releasing my album suddenly can feel even smaller and more unimportant than before when looking at things in a big perspective, but nonetheless it’s a long-awaited (at least for me personally) “comeback” on the Japanese scene as an artist. Way too many years have passed since the release of the Merrymakers last album Bubblegun. I’m looking very much forward to trying to spread some “soundshine” and joy in Japan and I will also be going there for a promotional tour to support the album in the very beginning of January 2012.
The Japanese version of the album will have of two bonus tracks. Both are songs that I originally wrote for the phenomenal and famous Japanese artist duo called Puffy (a.k.a. PuffyAmiYumi). The first one is an exclusive “for Japan only” song called “Boom Boom Beat”.
Feel free to check out Puffy’s version as well (that was produced by former co-Merrymaker Anders Hellgren and me) in this live performance:
The second bonus track is called “Record Collection” and it’s a song I’ve written together with the extremely talented and succesful Swedish songwriter Peter Kvint who I had the pleasure to get to know during a songwriting camp in Tokyo a couple of years ago. Puffy released it earlier this year as their 15th anniversary song which was kind of logical since in their version it was called “Happy Birthday”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYEhpqY_65g
So in some funny way my new versions will by “covers” of my own songs. Confusing indeed! I had a lot of fun returning to the songs again, and recording them in my own way and the best thing is that Ami and Yumi from Puffy were kind enough to lend their vocal services adding some background vocals to these versions so the two bonus tracks will be “David Myhr feat. Puffy”.
For those in the rest of the world who are very eager to hear the album, or are in desperate need for the ultimate Christimas gift – please feel free to investigate the possibilities of international orders either from Thistime Records Onlinestore or here at CD Japan. But rest assured that there will be a European release in the spring of 2012. To stay tuned for updates, just subscribe to this blog and “like” my Facebook page.
Dear followers of the development of my solo debut album Soundshine scheduled for release in the fall of 2011. Today May 27 is a somewhat historic day – at least for me and for my album! I am very happy to announce that the album will be finished later today! Exactly one year and three days after the initial recordings took place in Stockholm. As I’m writing this I’m sitting back in a sofa enjoying the finished recordings in a mastering room at nothing less than ABBEY ROAD studios! Together with Steve Rooke, senior mastering engineer here at Abbey Road and my mixing engineer Marcus Black we’re going through all the songs on the album one by one giving them the last final touch. Later we will be joined by my wife Paula who is so far the only honorary (or should I say just only?) member of my fan club.
For me as a die-hard follower of the Beatles since childhood it’s of course a very special feeling to be on the actual inside the world’s most famous studio complex. The studio where all the Beatles albums were recorded! I’ve been outside a few times before in my life. Doing the famous walk over the zebra crossing of course – but was never before allowed to actually enter until today when I am here as a client. But as always – the building is one thing – the equipment another – but in the end it’s the ears of people who has been around that you’re paying for. And to say Steve Rooke has been around is an understatement. He has been working here since 1983 and was part of the team doing the Beatles remasters that was released in 2009 and has re-mastered albums by all the four Beatles solo catalogues and has also mastered albums by many other artists from David Bowie to the Cure. So I figured – if it worked for the Beatles it should work for me as well!
Steve is tapping his foot and seem to be enjoying his working day and is giving thumbs up to both the songs and the mixes which of course is making me and Marcus proud and happy!
Abbey Road studios is still a very active commercially functioning studio and for instance today there’s going to be strings recorded for the last Harry Potter movie down in the enormous Studio 1. The same studio where the Beatles recorded “All you need is love” which was broadcasted to the world back in 1967. Marcus and I got here early today so we could enjoy a proper English breakfast in the canteen and just “by accident” we managed to sneak into both Studio 1 and Studio 2 which was the main studio for the Beatles all the way from 1962-1970. A memory that will definitely last a lunchtime!
I hope to be able to make a small video blog from this visit later that will be up on my YouTube channel but for now please enjoy a picture from the inside of mastering room no 7 at Abbey Road Studios.
Don’t forget to check back on June 1st for the premiere of my new single and video “Looking for a life”.