A profoundly jet-lagged Mikko was already in the studio around 7 am. So after Jeff was done filming, and Miss Isabel and I had completed the numerous packages you ordered from my online store, we quickly had our traditional Sunday brunch together.

We were excited to jump back into what we had left the day before, which is a new focused rendition of the song “Up Til Dawn” I already talked about in a previous studio post. We usually go back to listen to the rough mix Mikko has done of the previous day’s work before we all head to the rehearsal room. Even if it was still a stripped-down and barebone form, I could feel the soul slowly imprinting what we were collectively assembling. I was both happy about the foundation and intrigued with what we were about to discover. I never know if we will give birth to a healthy creative entity that will blossom on its own or if we will choke the whole process into a stillbirth ambition. Only time can tell, and that’s always difficult for me to accept at the early stage of any project I’m a part of. If you can fake “life” out of yourself, you can’t cheat life out of any art form when it’s a living spark you are digging for. That’s the process, you can’t ChatGPT that even if you try or pretend as by nature, life will create life.

Once we got in the rehearsal room, I could feel everybody was tired and therefore “flat” and lifeless, as we were playing the song again and again. It was great to have Momoka with us though, she is now an important part of my musical universe. But her presence didn’t change much on the overall lack of intention and personal commitment that was collectively going on, so I cheered everything up followed by Mikko who joined us to remind us how fantastic the song already was. Ben, who’s got too much on his shoulders, started to groove on the drums… we all tagged along. “LET’S GO!!!” We spent the rest of the afternoon finding the proper balance between rage and let go, which is always a bit of a… how can I say… of a challenge for me, as for the lyrical intent associated with the potentiality of seeing “Up Til Dawn” being the opening album track, I had to restrain myself.