For the first session I used a pair of really old PC speakers to hear what I was playing, but I wasn’t too happy with the result. On the second session, which was recorded yesterday, I used my earbuds. The downside of that was that I needed to keep the volume pretty low on both the digital recorder and the Monotron, in order to not damage my ears.

I’ll probably experiment more in getting the perfect volume, both for recording and playing. But in the meantime, listen to, and download, May 2nd and May 8th on SoundCloud.

I’ll most likely end up uploading “old” sessions to some cyberlocker, or even Archive.org, in the future since SoundCloud only allows 2 hours worth of sounds unless you pay.

During the year I’ll post sporadic updates on how the project is progressing. All I can say now is that I have no idea what it will sound like, but the title is Music From Escalators, and my plan is to make it all as one track, over an hour long.

The title is a paraphrase of Brian Eno‘s classic album Music For Airports.

My goal is for this project to be released on CD, most likely on deersound, unless I can find a label that is interested in releasing it.

One album, five EP’s and one gig.

So compared to the past two years I haven’t been that creative. Or well, I haven’t released as much.

The first release was the recording of my gig in Gävle, and in June came Bright Light which was a prelude to Staring Into Strange Eyes. The latter was, as you probably won’t remember, a long time in the making and it relieved a lot of stress.

During summer I spent some days in Ängelholm and recorded a whole bunch of sounds which turned into ÄH. The artwork for the EP was originally meant to consist of bead art and cross stitches, but there were some difficulties with that so I ended up using a map of the city.

On November 8th I curated a gig for which I not only made the poster, but I also made a video piece (and an EP with the same name). And I may or may not have been a part of a group which preformed.

And not too long ago, the birthday tradition lived on as I turned 28.

I managed to complete two projects during the year, but they have yet to be released. The main one being the new Reversed Obesity album (entitled Dirt), which I’ve been told is “damn good noise” and “rather violent”. I also finished a project based on vinyl crackling, the title for it is unknown at this time.

So what did I plan for 2011? What didn’t happen and what did? Let’s recap.

• Release of Staring Into Strange Eyes
  Yeah, in August.
• Hjorten / La Nausée collab
  Nope, but it was almost close.
• Release of a “secret” compilation project
  No, but it’s in the works.
• A full length album based on field recordings
  Not even close.
• A compilation based on vinyl crackling
  Sort of. It turned into an album but hasn’t been released.
• Gig(s)
  Yeah.

And my plans (or hopes I should say) for 2012?

• Release vinyl crackling album
• Release of the Hjort / Zetterberg / Åberg split
• Release of Reversed Obesity – Dirt
• Finish the escalator project
• Complete the “secret” compilation
• Gig(s)

My list is as follows:

• Marilyn Manson – Sweet dreams (are made of this) (Eurythmics)
• Frida Snell – Bullet with butterfly wings (The Smashing Pumpkins)
• Nirvana – Do you love me (Kiss)
• Reel Big Fish – Boys don’t cry (The Cure)
• The Prodigy – Fuel my fire (L7)

However, the list isn’t what this post is supposed to be about, it’s the way I was presented:
“sound collector from Uppsala who, for example, makes music with sounds from toilets, animals and porn.”

At first I wasn’t sure what to think about it. I mean, it’s not generally what I do anymore, but then again I still use “odd” sound sources. At least the noise maker brand appear to be disappearing, which is always a good sign.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with noise (and I have one release in the works), but it’s getting pretty tiring when people keep bringing it up “all the time”.

I don’t mind being in the paper, obviously, but I wish they would’ve asked for a more recent photo. The one they used was taken by them in early 2010 for an interview I did, and back then my beard wasn’t what it is today, and my hair was also way longer at that time.

Still, nice to get recognition.

And here’s the poster I made for the evening. It took me about two hours, while watching Child’s Play 1 and 2. Using two copies of Uppsalatidningen.

My first stop was Uppsala Konsert & Kongress but I was told by a security guard that the place was closed for the public and that I would have to come back tomorrow (so that’s what I’m gonna do). The next stop was the train station; I started recording inside for a good ten-fifteen minutes and I got some good material. Out of three escalators on the outside, only two were working – and they were only going down. So I had to walk up, record, walk up again, record…

I moved onto Forumgallerian and recorded the escalator heading into Akademibokhandeln, after that I recorded an escalator in the middle of the mall itself. With lots and lots of people looking at me, probably having no clue what I was doing. Then I went to Stadium (still in the mall) and asked a cashier if I could record there, she told me to ask someone downstairs, so there I asked the first person but he said I should ask the boss, and she was nearby. At first she didn’t really get what I meant, so I had to be more specific – but then she chuckled and said okay.

Heading out from Stadium and walking towards Åhléns I noticed that SkiTotal also had an escalator, and I couldn’t let it be. Didn’t bother with asking anyone there if it was okay, but they didn’t stop me so I figure it was. The thing I noticed here is that newer escalators doesn’t make as much sound as older ones, which is of course perfectly normal, but also boring.

Åhléns was a bitch to record at, there was people everywhere and I had to walk back and forth a lot. In total I got about four-five trips before I had enough. And I made my merry way to H&M where I went for the top floor and asked a cashier there, his co-worker instantly said “You can’t take pictures” to which I replied that I was just gonna record sounds, the first cashier then asked “Uh, you’re gonna record the escalator“. Obviously I said yes, and he told me that there shouldn’t be a problem.

At H&M I had the same problem as I did at Åhléns, lots of annoying walking and people. But I still got some nice recordings. And here was the first – and only – time someone actually asked me what I was doing. After H&M I went across the street to Indiska and they had no problems with me recording the escalator, but they seemed confused as to why I would want to. But they didn’t say or ask.

Then onwards to Tropez Records where I didn’t spend long, their escalators didn’t sound much at all. The escalator at Clas Ohlson (in S:t Per) is very short, and in order to record it more I would have to go up another escalator and out on the street and back, and I really didn’t wanna do that – so I just recorded it once. There is however, as mentioned, an escalator going up from Clas Ohlson so I spent a few minutes recording it and it will probably be some nice material.

Then into Stadium (in S:t Per) where an old classmate was working, and I think she recognized me (if you read this, did you?), but she said it was okay to record there and they were sounding very nice. After Stadium I walked to New Yorker where I again was allowed to record, but I didn’t stay there for too long, but got some good material.

My last stop was Intersport and some young kid found me (and what I did) very interesting, sadly their escalators weren’t too fun-sounding but probably material worth using anyway.

This adventure started when I left my apartment at 14:30, and I got home at 17:30. The total length of all recordings are 1 hour, 19 minutes and 2 seconds. The filesize is 797MB. Then again, there’s a lot of stuff to remove, which will most likely take quite a while.

Also, I don’t wanna know how many times I used the word escalator in this post. 14 times with the previous one.