What’s happening with Akelei in 2019

Hello! Misha here. It’s been a while since this blog’s last update. Well, it’s about time then.

Something’s in the works here at Akelei HQ and that something is a three-song EP. It will feature two songs that we’ve performed live a few times and one that’s never been played outside of the rehearsal room. The EP will be titled Een van ons which translates to ‘one of us’ in English. Drums, guitars and piano have so far been recorded and the next step will be laying down violin and viola parts. Arranging Akelei material with classical instruments has been an ambition for many years so it’s exciting to have that finally happen.

We’re halfway through in the recording process which is a step-by-step affair. In this case that means sessions take place in various locations and we’re recording one instrument at a time. The good thing about this approach is that there is ample time to adjust and even rewrite parts for optimisation. There is no deadline, no need to hurry or to compromise.

Here are some photos of Aline behind the grand piano at Studio Moskou and with recording engineer Silvia at the control desk:

To anyone reading this and wondering what has been going on in the band since 2015… What happened is that in the spring of that year I was unable to commit to playing a couple of gigs. I needed to instead focus my energies on completing a course I was taking. The others in the band wanted to go ahead and play the gigs as planned and rightfully so. We worked out a temporary solution where other people took my place on the stage. Also, these two gigs were Harm’s last performances with Akelei as he lacked the time for further rehearsals and gigs.

In the fall of 2015 we played a gig at the Little Devil in Tilburg again, this time with me back on vocals and guitar. Also on stage with us that night were Cátia and Vic, both from Faal, on vocals and bass respectively. Cátia had stood in for me during my absence and we decided it would be nice to mix our voices on some new songs. There’s a video of the performance on Youtube.

We had been working on new material for a follow-up to our 2010 debut album for a while by then, even making demos of most of the songs, but there wasn’t any progress with regards to planning actual studio time. I knew the songs were good but I wasn’t sure they’d make a good album. However, when you’re in a band there are certain expectations (make albums, tour) and it’s absolutely fair to say that our musical output was lacking. I guess the one thing that I want to avoid at all cost is making a record I don’t feel 100% sure about, and so my hesitation put everything on hold in the band.

The only way that Akelei could move forward, for me, was to rid the band of any expectations concerning future releases or touring. I’ve not been a reliable factor when it comes to these things. We had a meeting and agreed that our collaborations would from then on be project-based. So Akelei has effectively been a one-man band since, though still depending on the instrumental skills of others for purposes of recording or the eventual return to stage. To illustrate: Remco’s drumming is featured on the upcoming EP and Aline (who also sang on the Dwaaluur-single) helped out on piano.

With that said, I hope you’ll follow Akelei’s studio developments right here on this blog (and Twitter) as we get nearer to completing the recording sessions. It’s too early still but I hope to give out a release date in a month or so. Fingers crossed 🙂

Misha

Listening to: Kiesza – Sweet Love