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norway arc 
This is an archive of my time in Trondheim, Norway. I am only focusing on the AKJ project here. It includes the stuff I've learned, and also fun anecdotes.
ISAK 
ISAK is absolutely crazy. It is a cultural center with band rooms, studios, dance rooms, art rooms, two stages... I discovered it around the middle of February. Wish I had found it earlier.
Rehearsing in the band room was such a great experience. For the first time, I could actually rehearse at full volume. I think this made me find the sound I wanted, and the one that I feel defines the project better.
I was also able to start playing the drums a bit. I am nowhere near being a drummer, but getting the feel for it is interesting. It kind of connects the drums programming part to the reality of playing the physical instrument.
The band room could be booked for 2 hours. Usually, I would start by playing some drums, then I would get to rehearsing the set. In the end, since my voice was warmed up, I would try to explore vocals for songs that were in the process of being written.
The studios can be booked for periods of 3 hours. They are actually built in an apartment on the second floor, so every studio had the name of a different room ("kjøkken" for kitchen, etc). The equipment is really good, and the people there can offer help with songwriting and producing.
concerts 
This was the first show in a punk venue. Also the first show in Norway! It looks the exact same as la Gueule Noire in Saint-Etienne. I opened for Centrum and Double Cut, two local bands from Trondheim. Their sets were great and these guys are full of energy.
I played 8 songs in 30 minutes. It was a bit tough in the beginning, since I had some trouble with hearing the voice. That's why I put Die Anyway first: it is a good, comfortable first song to adapt to the conditions of the venue and warm up. I feel like at my level, there is a tradeoff between performing well and technically playing well.
The stage was a bit small because of the drums, but I was able to move around enough. I'm happy that 3 songs were filmed. There is an old lady who always records concerts there, and I really admire what she does to keep archives of the scene.
I wanted to make people do a wall of death for Sardened, so I got people to split in two sides. Though, I don't think anyone really understood the instruction of "start moshing when the song starts", as I had to say it quite fast in order not to go overtime. So it was a bit awkward (but funny) in the beginning when no one started moving.
That one was a bit unlucky despite the cool place. We had a technical problem that caused the right speaker to have less volume. Luckily, it did not have much impact in the end.
I hadn't realized that the week of the gig was a holiday week in Norway. There weren't as many people as in UFFA, but there were friends and that's what counted.
Probably the first time I tried playing with untied hair for the entire set. It went well, I could see what I was doing but the expressions on my face were less visible.
The set was quite long, about 50-60 minutes. I got to do two more songs, DWGMLA and whatever Basketbaurgh is.
In the middle of the set, I got a bit demotivated because I expected more people to come. I looked at my few friends who came to support me, and realized they were enjoying it. It didn't matter if there weren't many people, I thought that I should be playing for them first. Right away, I obtained way more energy in my movements and vocals.
This was organized by Legend Trondheim. I opened for Malabari, a melodic hard rock band. Great people making great music, heavily suggest you to check them out. I genuinely like their stuff and they did an awesome set.
One thing I realized when they were playing, is that the singer was performing like he was in front of 3000 people in a huge venue. And when I turned around, we were barely even 15 in the room.
This made me understand that as a spectator, the show feels huge when the band makes you feel like it is huge. Before that, I thought that it would be "showing off" to play as if I was in a stadium, that it would feel out of place, awkward... Especially as someone alone. It turns out that it doesn't matter... I will focus on doing that in the future.
I played for 45 minutes. I'm wouldn't say that I am entirely satisfied with the performance... Longer sets are especially about endurance, so I didn't want to lose my voice halfway through. Though, I didn't push it enough, same with the movements.
I tried moving a lot in the beginning, but the carpet under the drums started slipping and there wasn't that much space on the stage with all the pedals. So I decided to focus on head movement instead. Still, I feel like I could have given more energy, like I did at Ray's Bar.
This was the first time that Lucky was played live. Sardened was fun too. I knew that I could give everything, since there wasn't any other song after. I should do that from the beginning instead of waiting for the last songs.
A fun fact is that the person in charge of the lights was only 13 years old. I just gave him a list of colors for each song, and he did an amazing job.
finishing two songs 
The original plan was to finish every instrumental and vocal track for Save Me and When You Die, then mix them later to release the songs between January-June. And well.. Let's just say that I will not do that again...
I tried mixing Save Me using a software that lets you control the screen of another computer at a distance. I managed to control the computer that was back in Saint-Étienne.
I guess it would have been fine if I mixed the songs on my laptop. Like this, the sound was not great, and I had to make lots of exports to check the sound on my computer. Basically trying to hit a target in the dark with your eyes closed...
Save Me actually ended up being played on Radio Dio, a radio from Saint-Étienne. It was tough hearing my muddy mix after multiple punk tracks by real bands sweating real sweat and giving incredibly powerful energy...
At this point, I knew how I wanted the songs to sound like. I (finally) wanted to use double tracked guitars, and I was (again) dissatisfied with my vocal takes. I had some from the end of December, but I knew I could do better. So I did them again.
For When You Die, I decided to record the vocals in an ISAK studio. I did the takes over two sessions, warming up in the band room before recording.
I'm really grateful to Osmund from ISAK for helping me with the mixing. I spent 3 to 4 sessions doing it. Mastering was done in Loaded Studio back in Saint-Étienne.
Originally, I planned to release When You Die on June 3rd, the day of the ISAK concert. Unfortunately, there were issues that caused longer delays. The song finally released one week later.
sidequests 
There was a chill lounge place in Trondheim called Loftet, where they would host jam sessions every two fridays.
One evening, it was pretty empty and no one was playing. I decided to start playing and singing the songs with a friend. I think we started with Don't Tell Me. Shortly after, a german drummer joined us and we jammed on 8 more songs. Turns out that he plays in a band called Skamarley! I'm really sad that I didn't record it. The clean guitar tone and the two voices gave an indie vibe that I really liked. Plus, the guy's drumming was super different from my drum parts, and he understood the songs really quickly.
During that jam, I rediscovered Lucky. I had completely forgotten about the song, to the point where my friend knew the lyrics better than I did. This is what made me want to play it live, and record a better version than the one on Made Up.
Another place worth talking about is Antikvariatet. They host open mics every sunday. The overall vibe is very cozy, jazzy and acoustic. I knew one friend who was performing covers there, but I didn't actually go until late April.
I only joined one open mic in late June. We performed an acoustic version of Lucky with the same friend from Loftet, and I did Could It Be on my own.
Perhaps I regret not discovering the place earlier. Maybe I could have joined the open mics more frequently, and actually built a little repertoire of acoustic versions. I know some people with whom it would have been a lot of fun to play together with.
While visiting a friend in Tallinn, we discovered an underground bar that was hosting a jam session on that night. We were alone, except for another guy and his girlfriend. I jammed with him and we both sang solo songs too. I played Thanksgrieving and First Day Of Spring.
Another funny thing happened when I went to a songwriting session at ISAK. I was teamed with a rap duo, and we spent about 4 hours making a song. I recorded bass and some guitars, they produced the overall track and we both did vocals. So... There exists a track where I sing in french with two guys rapping verses in norwegian.
afterthoughts 
Trondheim has such a great punk scene and community, and I wish I had stayed there longer. I will forever be grateful to the people, friends and bands I met. Special thanks to Zofia, Ryan, Bart Hansen, Christian and Osmund from ISAK, Legend Trondheim, Centrum, Double Cut and Malabari.
This was the first time I was completely on my own for the gigs. The setup works fine, and is especially adapted for travelling. It consists of the guitar, laptop, sound card, pedals, cables for everything and the banner. If the venue has a guitar amp, a microphone, two speakers and a mixing board, then it can work out.
Perhaps I wished I had started looking for gigs earlier. But at the same time, I didn't know if it was even going to be possible to rehearse in the first place.
Checking where local bands play is helpful when looking for places to play at. Having to adapt in such a short time is fun.
Though, I really wish that I had more time to connect with the local scene. Centrum and Double Cut were down to organize another event where I could open for them, but my time there was running out.
I also wanted to include a list of other places that could have hosted gigs (and why it didn't work), for possible future reference:
· Lager11: completely booked until June 10th...
· Kafé Larssen: actually got to talk with the owner, but since I was running out of time, I did not put much effort into discussing a possible gig there. The bar is quite small, but it would have been nice to play a 4th time. Maybe I do regret not doing it.
· Good Omens: no reply after 3 emails, and impossible to physically reach anyone in charge of the booking. Sometimes it happens...
· Fru Lundgreen: the bar looked great (metal vibes and all), would have loved playing there but I should have reached out 6 months earlier.
· Loftet: would have been a bit out of place, but it would have been fun and I knew friends there. Also started reaching out too late.
· Studentersamfundet: the big red house that hosts events for students. During the first week, I went to a concert in the basement room. To me, this was already a bit too big of a scene to play at yet. In hindsight, I could have just gone for it and sent a mail.
· Antikvariatet: could have been possible for an acoustic show. Understandably so, the owner was not so sure about the loud punk thing..
· Kafe Skuret, Ila Brainnstasjon: other places where local bands played.