The Forfey Festival / Fashion Police Studio - An Update
It’s the third day here at the Fashion Police Studio in Stockholm. You walk downhill in a corridor through some doors and into the office you go. About three meters under ground. Deeper lies the studio. About eight meters under ground. The studio control room is quite small. Not too small but cozy. In the other room there are about 15 to 20 vintage synthesizers, keyboards, amps and mics. I’ve just been adding a really irritating synthesizer melody that got me confused all the time and made me think that being born with my umbilical cord around my neck may have caused a sufficient amount of oxygen loss to my brain therefore causing these difficulties in concentrating………… You know – standing in the studio - feeling pretty Neanderthal…
Forfey Festival RULED! I’ll have to say that I have NEVER in my entire life met sooo many wonderful, professional, hospitable, fun and warm hearted people within three days as I did in Northern Ireland. BIG THANKS to everyone!!! Matt, Lee and Dave – Awesome job, guys! Everyone at the farm – thank you for being! The farm was in the NI countryside and looking out our bedroom window we saw “Hobbiton”. Green, green and luscious hills, trees and fields – You just expected to see round doors and windows at any time. Hugs to everyone I met during this journey! You made me want to move to NI…
The gig was my first gig and I thought I was going to be so nervous that I’d throw up but I wasn’t. The audience was great! Tank you sooo much for being there. Some of you had come a long way to the festival and some of you had come a long way to actually see me – how flattering is that! You were all amazing!
The gig went great anyhow – some small mistakes but hey – who’s perfect?
Here is the setlist:
Close To Heart
Wicked Autumn Kiss
It Shouldn’t Be This Bad
Leave a Blank Sheet
Jupiter and I
At Least Like Melissa
Wolflike They Are
I Bleed You Tonight
Once again – HUGS TO EVERYONE I MET IN NORTERN IRELAND – You’ve always got a place to stay or a person to call!!!
Sincerely,
Sara
For the first time in a studio!!!
As if debuting live isn't enough... I'll be travelling directly from Ireland to Stockholm to record some of MY OWN songs in a REAL studio! My own songs! For the first time in a studio! We are starting with four days of recording but I'll be going back and forth to Stockholm a couple of times this fall. The end result - the final product of the recording will have to be the next surprise in this long growing row of chain effects… Thank you Little Animal ;O)!!!
If you are someone with the interest in releasing my songs or in any other business way needing to get in contact with me please go about it this way.
Yours truly,
Sara Culler
Ireland here I come!
I'm at the rehearsal space now almost EVERY day. David has learned the bass lines and also refreshed the drums. The porta studio backtracking me is of course flawless… There is one problem though - my voice. I think it's got to do with a cold, wet, damp and beer filled Emmaboda Festival… I don't really know what to do other than sip hot tea and eat apples, which reminds me - gotta go buy some more tea and apples…
The set is almost in place. I will be directing you through the passages of my latest demo "Wolflike They Are" and also through the hazy shade of three new songs - which I really hope you (the audience) will like.
It'll be an early morning. David and I'll be leaving with the 6.11 train to Gothenburg where the flight departs at Gothenburg City Airport. We play with David & the Citizens on the big stage at the Malmö Festival the night before - but there will be NO PARTYING afterwards - straight to bed…
I have the feeling that Ireland is going to be great! Since this whole thing first got started I haven't talked to ANYONE who hasn't been awesomely, incredibly and magnificently nice! Thank you guys!
/Sara
Oppenheimer
Brace yourselves 'cause here comes one of the greatest bands of all time - OPPENHEIMER!!!
A duo from Belfast making great guitar pop/electronic music! And they are the nicest fellows too!
In short. It started with a friend request on MySpace - One of them really liked my music - What can one do in return but spread the news about them!
I just received their album - It's only out in the US but I bet it won't take long until all of Europe loves them too... Go ahead - Go love them you too!!!
Please visit their MySpace page HERE
You all living in the US - LUCKY you! They just started their tour there (more info on their MySpace...)!!!
/Sara totally psyched
Listen to wolflike they are - Help me get back up!
Maybe some of you were on vacation and maybe some of you weren't. The thing is that I was on Swedish Public Radio P3 on the show P3 Lab.
I became "most wanted" (in a positive way) two weeks ago but now I've slipped down a few steps.
Help me get back up by visiting:
P3 Lab's list of most wanted (mest efterfrågade - in Swedish) the second list on the page and click on the preferred player after my name Sara Culler - Real or Win.
Thank you tons for helping,
Sara
With birthday comes wishes
I've survived the horrid year of death - the infamous year when all the post life geniuses end their lives.
Tomorrow I'll be beating the heat and the street, going down to the south of Germany to sing with David & the Citizens (they are having a major heatwave down there...).
I wish:
- our love will last forever.
- health will last forever.
- that I had a record label.
- that i had a lot of new, fun and interesting comments on my MySpace and my "home blog" when I get home.
Hope you all are fine and that you stay so ;o)
Take care for now,
Sara
New Biography on my MySpace
I just wanted you all to know that I just finished my new biography and it's posted on my MySpace. It contains a swift survey of me and my previous work and also some very nice and interesting quotes from people on the net and on the air! One quote is from the P3 Lab radio show that I wrote about a couple of days ago. It's translated into English so that all my wonderful English speaking readers can take part of what was said about me and "wolflike they are" - the song and the demo!
Hope you find it interesting!
Love,
Sara
Airtime!!!
Well - It sure was great hearing Pelle Gustafsson play "wolflike they are" and put SUCH lovely words to it! I'll translate the words and post them next week.
Airtime was short but you can listen to it (in Swedish) here or just make your own mix tape with different songs from the show - Of Course including "wolflike they are" - You cant hear it on my MySpace and you cant hear it here on my "home blog". Hop on over to:
Digfi and P3 Lab's forum for young and new music in any stile or genre!
Help me out and spread the news!
Lots of love,
Sara
News of the Week!
Here it is!
Swedish Public Radio P3 will be playing "wolflike they are"!
The radio show P3-Lab is a show for "unsigned" or "smaller" acts that deserve airtime! Pelle Gustafsson, host of the show, wrote me a couple of questions and I wrote him back. Therefore there will be some very fresh news on the show as well!
So if you don't have anything to do on Saturday evening (July 8th) tune in!
Otherwise - you'll be able to listen to the show post broadcast if you surf:
http://sr.se/p3/lab
then click the link to the right under "lyssna på senaste programmet" which means "listen to the latest show".
Okie! Take care in the summer heat and be careful in the sun!
Sincerely,
Sara
What's going on? And other stuff...
It's summer and I get psyched and cozy every day that the temperature lands somewhere around 30 degrees Celsius (about 86 degrees Fahrenheit). I get sentimental (in a good way) and dream of going back to Dallas. 
But there are a couple of questions left unanswered... Like important e-mails for instance. Aren't they getting the e-mail? Are they on summer vacation? If you read this and feel pin pointed - contact me if you feel that you should be getting e-mail.
I wrote another song a couple of days ago and recorded it. The name?
"Close to Heart"
Actually. I might be finishing off what may become my forth demo. I have the songs, the cover work and the title. Another question though. Could it be too close to "wolflike they are" - the best demo I've made thus far? Oh - The title of the new one?
"The summer of fallen Miss Takes"
The songs are, sound wise, pretty summer sounding. Soft tunes - doubled vocals - a bit poppier - melodica - acoustic guitar - new drum loops and programming - fallen angels - razors - hatchets - big sleep - leaving - cherubs - misunderstood understandings - sampled horns blowing deranged and backwards - older goes distorted with feedback - repeated chorus.
Actually - At summertime I would rather keep to not analyzing. My head is mostly comfortable with staring into the sun and letting the steady stream of consciousness take a hold of the brain activity. If it gets too vivid - I go for a swim in the ocean.
Next week there will be some pretty exciting stuff coming up. Inspiration at the Accelerator Festival with Hot Chip, Death Cab for Cutie and oops! flashback! - Silver Jews amongst others. David and I will go to the Danish island of Samsö for a three-day vacation. We will also start planning the recording of David's second solo album (speaking of poppier!!!). The Biggest and greatest news of the week though is for the 8th of July but as I said - next week. I'll post it next week. So make sure you check back! I may even do a mail out!
Next week!!!
Ta Ta,
Sara
A Strange World...
A world on it's own - living it's own life - CREATING it's own life.
A year ago or two - I was browsing around the internet for radio stuff and interviews with Lisa Germano. I found WNYC's Spinning on Air with the host and the owner of one of the greatest radio voices of all time David Garland. I also found a GREAT two hour interview and a scanning of her, at that time, new album - Lullaby for Liquid Pig. Super!
Last night - unwilling to face the pillow and restless sleep - I found that this show had played April & May, David's song from his solo album Amaterasu. We were both VERY intrigued, or let me rephrase that - PSYCHED!!!
The internet is therefore not only a strange world but also a small world - So small that you rarely need a map to navigate…
This restless, sleepless night I also found a blog with some VERY interesting writing. I enjoyed it although I didn't really and fully understand if it was prose or autobiographical. The thing that touched me the most was the effort and soul the person had poured into involving my song "At Least Like Melissa" in the text. It was the perfect example of how a listener can set ones lyrics into his or her own life or context. At the end there was a little review of my song:
"This song took me by surprise. The instrumentation sparing and quiet, allowing way for the voice to float in with venom disguised as a platitude; a whisper in your lover's ear. Escape and freedom resonate from the ending chapter of the song where words are ditched in favour of ad-libbed vocals cascading along tributaries. It's the voice of a fallen Angel; still angelic and beautiful, but further from Heaven than any of us could ever know. And at the end of the song, as a deep breath is taken and then coughed back out, you accept your sadness. Because it's your sadness; no one elses. You embrace it with open arms; you look at yourself in the mirror and see it staring back at you - your one, true, reliable friend".
Read the whole text at the blog - Say Anything Syndrome.
Thank You to the one who wrote it.
XO
/Sara
More New Stuff...
- Leave a Blank Sheet
- Untitled
- A cover - therefore a secret...
Just so you all know...
"wolflike they are" is a great demo and I'm glad that even I find pleasure in listening to it... I'm always my biggest critic... I'm also very happy that so many of you have bought it and that you like it as well :-)
Summer is here and I got to get outside before it's too late.
By the way. I friend requested (on MySpace) one of my all time favorite artists yesterday. It was a fan site but I thought what the heck... I've been listening to this person since 1994-95 something and I still get blown away by her presence. Like a spear through my heart but in a good way and if I where younger I would have said that we where soul mates or best friends in a parallel universe... Listen and - just listen... Lisa Germano. Oh, and she's releasing a new CD soon (Yeeaahh!) in July. Sounds great from what I've heard.
Take care y'all.
/Sara
Recording new songs
- But Are You Sleeping
- It Shouldn't Be This Bad
- Seppuku (Working Title: To Die By Your Own Hand)
- A retake/remake of one of my oldest songs "Once Again, Someone Else" is to be fully recorded and rearranged. It's a good song but it needs a new life... Like a lot of other things as well...
Don't forget:
No Injustice!
Be Kind To One And Other...
I Love you David and thank you for supporting me...
XO,
Sara
Spam
Do not post more than one link / post or you will automatically be deleted...
I hope the "spammers" don't read blogs... Does anyone know how it all works? I felt that I had to warn you in some way...
/Sara
Raul
Words to few - feelings to many.
You are missed...
RIP
The Interview
/Sara
Spotlight!!!
- To ask for a new CD
- TO INVITE ME TO AN INTERVIEW!!!
Lisa said she would try to force the webmaster to make an exception and link the interview to their web page. Unfortunately the interview is in Swedish so to all of you non Swedes out there - I'm so sorry…
I'll be back with the link as soon as it shows up!
THANK YOU LISA!
/Sara
Touching
"I was listening to your music one night, and got the urge to draw so I doodled with artpad ...unfortunately it was bugging on me and wouldn't save the link. The picture attached is my screenie of the final picture (on the program you can see it drawing it, which I think is amusing ;)). It's just a doodle, but thought you might like to see :)".
So. It's REALLY touching to find that there are people out there being inspired by ones music.
Petra: Thank you for being there!
My deepest thanx to all of you,
Sara
For All You Germans Out There
So. As I posted before, I'll be on tour with my dear David Fridlund in Germany all next week. But please - do go ahead and order!
For all of you living in Germany and about to attend any of the David Fridlund shows:
I'll be selling the ordinary version of "wolflike they are" on the tour! This means that you'll be able to get a great show, great David Fridlund CD's and t-shirts but also the very magnificent demo "wolflike they are"!!!
What I've forgot to mention before is that the "limited edition" version is only sold over the net. So if you live in Germany and want to order that one instead I'll keep a list at the shows where you can put down your names and addresses or go click the link to the right that says "Buy My Music" and follow the instructions there. "wolflike they are" costs 50 SEK and as I've written before:
If you are outside Sweden - don't fear!
I'll calculate the cost depending on the day's currency.
Hoping to see ya at the shows!!!
/Sara
Important
I'll be on tour in Germany with David Fridlund (solo band) next week.
This is what happens:
- I will most certainly not be able to read my e-mail until the week after. That is the 15th of May.
- You should still order though! But this is so you know why I'm not answering right away…
If you are outside Sweden - don't fear!
I'll calculate the cost depending on the day's currency.
Lots of love,
Sara