Blog from Piotrek

Blog from Piotrek about summer. Nice reading in this wonderfull sommer weather (ironic, it's raining all the time)

Read it after the cut or at dunesite.com

SUMMER AND WHAT FOLLOWS…
For many people it is the time of sun, warmth and free time. Time of vacation, traveling and re-charging batteries for the next season of work, school or university. For some people, it is the busiest time of the year, for example if you happen to live in an attractive travel destination, which lives from the visiting tourists. For most bands and musicians it is also a busy time, because of the summer festivals. All in all, whether you celebrate the good weather and freedom, or if you celebrate the sun and hard work, we are all happy for the arrival of summer.

I guess, we all have different thoughts, feelings, memories and moods associated with summer. So if somebody asked me this question -”If I say summer, what do you say?” – my answer would be…

Weather, sun and warmth.
When the early months of the year passes and I start feeling the breeze of spring, it is the indication and a promise of  warmer days. I always very much look forward to spending more time outside in a comfortable temperature. I like the days when I can just wear shorts, a tank top and a pair of sun glasses and hang out in a park or a café until it gets dark. Or when it gets really hot and I can take a long ride on my bike to a lake to enjoy a swim and some sun-bathing.

I am not a big fan of the ”heavy” days when I almost cannot breathe. On such days I am looking forward to the unavoidable thunder & rain, which bring back the freshness. I actually like to sit at home and just stare out my window when the heaven is ”falling down” on the earth. And the smell of freshly fallen rain is great.

Summer festivals.
Because I love music and it is such a big part of my life, I automatically associate the summer with the festivals. I like playing concerts at the festivals, as well as being a guest. What is better than enjoying a cold beer and watching a great band play live? Or enjoying a cold beer, while playing bass in front of a big audience?
If I had all the time, money and energy, I would visit these festivals in one season:

• Skive Festival, because it is in my hometown and I have a lot of great memories from there both as a musician and a guest.
• Spot Festival, because it is so compact and there are a lot of great newcoming bands. Furthermore, there is almost everybody from the Danish music business, which means good times with a lot of great people and musician-friends.
• Roskilde Festival, because it is one of the big ones. There are hundreds of great bands playing and the atmosphere is very uniqe.
• NorthSide Festival, because of it’s size, bands and close distance to Århus. A perfect recipe for some great days with close friends.
• Melt! Festival & Dockville, because of their electronic profile.
• Rock am Ring, because it’s pure ROCK!
• Heineken Open Air in Poland, because I am curious how the festival culture developed in my home country and I always find some of my favorite bands in the line-up.
• Skanderborg Festival aka. Danmarks Smukkeste Festival. It means: Denmark’s most beautiful festival. The best thing about it is, that it IS the most beautiful setting for a festival with the forest and the lakes.

Alright. I will stop now, because I could continue with many other fesivals and I am already getting a litte bit frustrated, that I am not going to visit them all.

My summer 2012.
This year, my summer is a bit different than the last two years. Primarily, it is because of the weather. Just two years ago, it was much more ”stable”. This year, in the middle of June I experienced only 10 degrees during NorthSide festival. Today, just three weeks after, the temperatures in Berlin are reaching 30 degrees in the shade, which causes some crazy thunderstorms almost every day. The pressure is jumping up and down like a rubber ball, which seems to be affecting everyone’s moods. Well…at least it is not boring!
Secondary, it is the work. During last two summers I have been mainly busy with playing a lot of festivals. This year is different, because most of my time goes into preparing the release of the new album. It is a very intensive and intimidating process. If you have read Ole Bjórn’s and Danny’s last blogs, you know what I mean. If not, let me explain shortly. It has almost been 3 years since we released ”Enter Metropolis”. A lot has changed in the band and in me personally. As you might know, we are no longer 7 members in the band, but 4. We have spent more than half a year making an album, which we are very proud of. The ambitions are higher than ever. So yes, I am a little petrified when I imagine the day it is going to be released.

Luckily, despite all the work and concerts I will be able to go on vacation. When you are reading this, I am probably on my way to Poland, where I am going to visit some family and spend 3 days in Poland’s wind&kitesurfing mekka.

I wish you all the greatest summer!

Piotrek
PS. What are your thoughts about the summer?