JYVÄSKYLÄ

Jyväskylä. Not tired. Not tired at all!!?!3f9¤=(

I am super buzy all the time and haven't got the time to update anything recently, so I'll settle with just posting pics for now, sorry!

ON THE ROAD

..Speeding much? Nooooo...


Coffee consumption of 2 people in 2 hrs minus the morning coffees at the hotel. 4,5hours of night sleep is plenty..!!


Gotta love my amp.


Seen "a few" gas stations so far..


I love Tampere.


After a couple of gigs (=sleepless nights) I'm back in Tampere and off to work.

GIGGIN'

@Lahti


@Vaasa


@Oulu, round 2


@Oulu, round 1

I'M NOT A VAMPIRE

... but I sure do feel like one.

I feel like I'm currently living only during the nights. At daytime, I just drag around, dead tired, with a blank stare in my eyes. Haha well I guess I'm really not that bad but it sure does feel like it at times.

Today Hyvinkää and tomorrow Lahti. I should probably get to the train station. I want more coffee.

Yesterday all my clothes were dirty, so I bought new ones. :D Also found some bad-ass shades! Groovey I'd say.

HIGHWAY TO HELL

Hit the road jack 'cause we're on a highway to hell.. This pic was taken in Mikkeli. Kristian walked by and commented: good thing there's not that many gigs left. Rrriigghht.


Joensuu. Such a nice weather to drive.. 28.1.2012.


Hanging out at backstage


Afterpartay at the hotel corridors, guys looking incredibly smart, haha

"Ei vitsi nyt mulla jäi joku pandoran biisi päähän soimaan"
"Arvaa mikä mulla soi?"
"No?"
"Ismo Alangon Vittu ku vituttaa"

I WAS BORN GLITTER ON MY FACE / MY BABY CLOTHES MADE OF LEATHER AND LACE

.. Oh well, except the glitter part ;)

A couple of hours to go and then we're off! First stop: Oulu. Last minute practice, and without our kb-player, since she is still in Asia.. Tomorrow: Kauhava. I've heard quite a lot ab that city, but we'll see how it turns out, I bet they know how to let loose and have fun. The day after tomorrow: Turku. Going in a cruiser boat between Stockholm and Turku, for 7 days, 5 sets to play/day. So 8 days in a row, "touring". Some of my friends from Tampere are coming to see us on 4th of Jan, it's gonna be awesome! Feeling excited but bit gloomy at the same time since I have to leave Tornio, and this was my last holiday (or even day-off) in four moths. Sigh, I'm probably gonna have a burnout.

Oh yeah, and I went to the hairdresser a couple of days ago. I am only mentioning this 'cause this is probably the first time ever when I feel 100% satisfied with the outcome. It's nearly perfect, everything I ever wanted. I'll try to get a pic!

AND A FEW MORE

20.04.12 Apollo / Turku
21.04.12 Apollo / Turku
26.04.12 Viking Line Isabella
27.04.12 Viking Line Isabella
28.04.12 Viking Line Isabella

ARE U GONNA BE MY

Some gigs confirmed. More to come!

31.12.11 Tiikeri / Kauhava
01.01.12 Viking Line Isabella
02.01.12 Viking Line Isabella
03.01.12 Viking Line Isabella
04.01.12 Viking Line Isabella
05.01.12 Viking Line Isabella
06.01.12 Viking Line Isabella
07.01.12 Viking Line Isabella
13.01.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Helsinki
14.01.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Vuokatti
20.01.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Kotka
27.01.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Joensuu
28.01.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Mikkeli
03.02.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Hyvinkää
04.02.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Lahti
10.02.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Oulu
11.02.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Rovaniemi
17.02.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Pori
18.02.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Kouvola
25.02.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Vaasa
02.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Espoo
03.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Porvoo
09.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Flamingo, Vantaa
10.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Seinäjoki
16.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Ilves, Tampere
17.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Jyväskylä
23.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Kuopio
24.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Tikkurila
30.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Kokkola
31.03.12 Pirulliset Bileet, Amarillo / Turku

Be there or be square!

MAYHEM

The amount of work just seems never ending.. I wish it was Christmas already. I'd have 5 days on my hands just to chill and be w/ my family. This week I have been not able to do much since I had two of my wisdom teeth removed on Monday morning. I look like a chipmunk atm and I have two meetings tomorrow, which I have to attend, can't skip them. Oh the pain. Same thing again next month, can't wait...

So I have 2 days to rehearse 62 songs for the weekend, from which 11 are completely new. I'm screwed. Normally that wouldn't be a problem at all, but with this amount of pain... Dunno. We'll see. I'm going to Oulu once again for the weekend, band rehearsals that is.

RAISED BY WOLVES

Here's a little treat; a sneak peek from the photo shoot we had last weekend! The tour's gonna be 22 gigs total and the theme is "Pedro's Airlines".. that's why we were dressed as flight attendants w/ a pin up -twist.


Teh singer, Heidi


Drummer Suvi and Satu, our keyboard-player

The rehearsals went well, got 23 new songs for the gigs!

Also my friend asked whether I was interested coming to play a few songs in a charity event next Saturday.. What can I say? No payment of course since it's for charity but free meal and drinks, and for a good cause.. of course I'm doing it, what friends are for. It's only a small event, only ab 200 people, but it's outside! November in Finland that is. This ought to be interesting..
Freakin' out a little over here. I never tend to get nervous when playing "normal" gigs, even if there's hundreds or thousands of people, but when I'm doing it on my own, alone...that's another story. I guess sometimes you just have to challenge yourself... ...I feel like throwing up.

Btw, the drive from Tampere to Oulu turned out to be a little more exciting than I expected it to be..

GIMME LOVE

Packing. Going to Oulu for the weekend, having a promo shoot for the upcoming tour and gonna rehearse some new songs.. or 20 actually. 8) It's gonna be busy but I'm so glad something's finally happening. The tour is gonna have 15-20 gigs around Finland, more details coming later. Also had some gigs coming up on cruisers!! Can't wait :) The first one is 7 days in January and the second one 3 days in April. Random gigs coming to Oulu, Kauhava and Turku.

ALLIGATOR BLOOD

Can't wrap myself around the fact that these guys were playing a gig just few blocks from my apartment. ;_____; And I didn't make it. Costed 43€, a bit too much for a student who hadn't got her salary for the last two gigs she had.. Goddamn!! So good.. So near but so far away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWmNsHDdWFU&ob=av2n

REPENT REPENT THE END IS NIGH

I'm so pissed off right now. What is wrong with people?? Among the things I hate most is probably people, who don't even know you, and then they come up to you and start acting like they know everything about you. I'm Finnish, that means that if I don't smile all the time and jump around the walls with joy, that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with me. I have bumped into a couple of dudes living in the same building as me and every time they fuckin ask how I'm doing and I tell them I'm fine or things are looking up or that my life is fuckin absolutely, utterly perfect right now, they just shake their heads and you can see PITY in their eyes. Both of them tell me every time they don't believe me. WTF?!? I understand there might be some cultural differences but aagghh! Why would I need to apologize to some random dudes?? They also complain about me wearing a cap. A cap. If I am at home, got no plans and I go outside to drink my coffee on the porch, I should every time do my hair and wear makeup. I am so sick of this, just leave me be!! No matter what I say or do there's always the answer "No, you're not fine. And why are you wearing that cap again?" I know I should probably just ignore them, but easier said than done. The other one tried to drag me to his apartment one night and the other has made up his mind that I want to hang out with him. Thank god I'm moving out in a year... A year..

Had a blast on Friday! Went to grab a few beers with Anne and Tomi, and accidentally bumped into this guy called Jarkko I met after Sparzanza/Doom Unit-gig a few weeks back. He was the light effect guy for Doom Unit back then and I know for a fact that he does sound for a lot of bands, specially here in Tampere. (Dunno what the actual terms are in English, but anyways.) There I was, sitting with Jarkko at "Dog's Home", when Mikko the drummer steps in and greets us. And we both say hi at him. *A moment of confusion* "You guys already know each other?" He asks. And we're both like ??? Turns out that Jarkko is the guitarist Mikko had been talking about (for the band we discussed last spring)! I had no idea. Neither did Jarkko, who remembered that Mikko had been telling him about a female guitarist, but he just didn't put the pieces together. It was so funny! And Mikko had found a bass player who could be interested. We made a deal I would ask one of my friends about a rehearsal studio and we would continue from there. I bet it's gonna be sweet playing with them, something totally different from IIRIS..and the music also. Can't wait!

I have a job interview on Monday for Jack the Rooster! Wish me luck.

ENEMY IN ME

Went to see Vains of Jenna w/ Satu and Elisa to Jack The Rooster yesterday. I was super excited 'cause this was their first gig in Finland ever, and they came here, to Tampere! They have been touring in the US for so long I thought I'd never get to see them. Superb, so stoked. Had a blast and even exchanged a few words with the guys!

Me w/ JP White:


Also bumped into Krista and Antti during the evening and talked ab meeting someday, havin drinks or something :) They're such nice people, they made me smile like a "hangon keksi" as we say here in Finland.

PLUS THE THRILL OF EVERY SUGAR, THE PILL

I finally found new shoes for the winter! I've always had trouble finding the perfect shoes, that would have some heel, but not too much so that I can function in them (like do the soundcheck or run or carry heavy stuff etc) and these are practically perfect. So comfy but still rockin'. Yay.



I also had the solo gig I told ab a while ago the day before yesterday. I wasn't nervous at all at first but when I started singing I realized that there were ab 20 friends/dudes from school, and suddenly I started shaking :DD it took one song to relax. Didn't really matter that there were people I didn't knew, that's not an issue for me, but the 20 people I did know made all the difference..
Did my best and I guess it went okay.

PUSH IT REAL GOOD

Arrgghh I'm never EVER going to that "dance instructors" classes again!! I can't understand how is it that it's so freaking hard to count to four?!! And there I was, jumping around 'cause she was just all over the place w/ her counting, and I'm like, whoa, this goes to seven u say?? Sounds pretty basic to me but okay I guess we can do that.. WHAT now we're going to three?! aaagghhh!

But happy happy entry as I promised. I finally found a "fox tail" - thing, that I'd been looking for almost a year now! (Yeah great to have one now that everyone else has theirs, too.. but WE content still!) And a new shirt which was awesome, sophisticated and rockin' at the same time ;( Took a pic and you can also see a glimpse of my latest ink! (I want a new one pretty bad..)


It's the little things that u should be able to be happy about. I am atm whee :3 But not just ab the new things.

Been running around all day, got errands once again and now I'm pretty worn out. AND I ought to get packing - bought also a train ticket today. I'm leaving to Tornevalley tomorrow at noon. Gonna chill w/ my family, rehearse for the gig coming up next week, and I also have a hairdresser appointment. Which I'm scared of, I know she wants to cut my hair ;-; aaggh maybe I'll post a pic after that. But that probably depends on the outcome..

ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

This has been such a boring day.. Got up in the morning and did some Swedish presentation w/ Sanna and Riikka. Felt awful the whole time, so when we got the thing done, I grabbed some chinese food and headed back home. After I ate, I fell asleep w/ kitty. And slept the whole day, woke up 7:30 in the evening whaat. Feeling a bit bummed 'cause I didn't go to the gym, apparently, but I guess that was actually a good thing since I'm really sore from yesterday.. Started the group-assignment we're making tomorrow w/ Satu, Laura and Riikka. We agreed to gather at Satu's place and probably cook something while making the assignment. Which is a definitive upside, since I don't have any food at my place.. Glamorous, I know, but hey, that's the way students roll around here. Well, not exactly I'm going to the store tomorrow.

Feeling stressed ab the internship I ought to do.. Or internshipS, in plural. 600 hours, working, and most likely without getting paid for it. Gah, I should get that thing going, no replies yet to my work application. Maybe I'll just go and visit the place some day when the boss is around. Crap.

...

Had a little evening workout here and redecorated my flat. All because the kitty didn't seem to like the idea of her in her carriage thing. She's been all quiet and nice all these past few days, but oh boy did she run for it and started talking now! Nice, really nice. Definitely gave me a run for my money there, and a few battle scars.. But I succeeded, after a 20 minutes of hunting. Broke my heart to give her away and to depart like this. I really love cats, one of my friends even started calling me "the crazy cat lady" :D Would be cool to own one, but at this point of my life it wouldn't work out since I travel so much.

Gonna have some new songs w/ my band for the next gig we have in Oulu, Saturday 1.st of October. Total 5-7 new songs.. We go to Oulu the day before the gig and rehearse the next morning, a few hours before the gig that is. Crazy, I think, I would prefer we'd play together alot more than we do now, and with that amount of rehearsing together before the show... is always exciting. But it's worked out before and thank god everyone knows what they're doind, so it's cool.

That's why I would like to have another band besides IIRIS, since I don't get to play together as much as I would like to. Ever since we all moved far away from each other, it's been now what, over two years, I felt like dying. It sucks ass when u don't get to do the thing u love absolutely most in this world. Luckily Heidi's back from France so we get to have gigs now, but still. It isn't enough. Even though we'd have gigs every weekend it would still not be enough. I want to play different kind of music, I guess that's the problem. The party-music sure is fun, but I dunno.. Something's changed. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that practically everyone else in that group is talking about getting married, having kids, buying a house blablablaBLEH. U're all so young, what is wrong with you?! I try so hard not to think about it, and everyone keeps telling me it's all gonna work out, but I doubt it. I wonder whether will I ever be okay. I can't get this thing out of my head, this little voice that keeps saying.. there's got to be more than this. I am so frustrated. Something's missing and I can't get around it. I don't mean to sound desperate, but I can't lie it hasn't had an effect on me. I just feel like shouting out loud.


Love my gurls to bits, but I gotta say one thing that I've learned here: I am never ever going to join all-female-band again. :D


Taking a small trip down the memory lane. Me and Satu at RaaheFestivals this summer -11. Sun, beer, gig as the last act - that's what I'm talking about.


This one's from Midsummer Day -10. We were in Levi and had a huuuge apartment all to ourselves. This is one of the things I love most doing this: Everyone's getting ready, the sound system guy's making lame-ass-jokes, someone's arguing about the set list, everyone's having a drink.. The best.


Alright, 'till next time! Something more positive maybe.

HALLELUJAH

Yeah, it has been quite a while since I last updated something, it's about time I guess.. Summer went by so rapidly it felt like a blink of an eye. Just selling booze - work work work. Got the time to swim only two times, although that's a hellofalot more than I can say for the past few years :D Since I bought a new bikini before went to Lithuania I was able to get half-naked in public. Yay. Otherwise these past few moths have not been kind to me. Not at all. Brutal, one could say. But that's another story and doesn't belong to the internet.

Spent the summer in Tornevalley and got back to Tampere about a week ago. Haven't been at home for just a couple of nights, I mean evenings. Been out w/ friends and looking for a new job.. *Sigh* Another one ends, another one must begin.

Ordered a new bag and a wallet, Guess Alexis Tote -awesomeness! I have never bought any accessories as expensive as those were! But still pretty cheap compared to if I had bought them from a "proper" store here, only 120€! :3 Love.


I gotta say, I LOVE Tampere. "I love this city, it's so good to be back in Finlands LA. Doing what I do best." Not really doing what I do best, just some studying and practicing for the acoustic gig I have coming up in October. Solo, that is. I'm literally terrified, petrified and even the pure thought scares the hell outta me. First gig ever I have all by myself to perform. Alone. Thank god it's only a couple of songs.. This is my set list:

Anna Puu - C´est la vie
Apocalyptica - Not Strong Enough
Happoradio - Puhu äänellä jonka kuulen
Kate Voegele - Hallelujah

(I know the hallelujah song is not originally hers, I just love the version she made. Actually I don't know whose it is.. Anyways, I've always loved that song and now I finally got a good reason to learn it. AND if it's good enough for Bon Jovi, it's good enough for me. Period.)

I've also been playing Skid Row's Monkey Business, 'cause we might get together with some friends at a jam session @ Jack The Rooster, 18.9, and play it. Well see how that turns out, quite frankly I'm terrified of that too :D Though I know it will be fun.

So here I was, sippin' my red wine and playing Monkey Business (with an amplifier and all), when there was a knock on the door. My neighbour, apparently from the next door, came all like "Are you the one playing guitar over here???" and I'm like, "yeaahh.. Am I being too loud..?" (My first thought. Am I interrupting everyone's peace?? Has he come to tell me to tone it down??). And what he said next, got me off guard. "Oh that's fine, no problem dude! I've been listening u play so many times, u're really good!" .... "What? Really??" "Sure! Good job! It's nice to hear someone play who can actually do it. I play guitar myself." And I just stood there and smiled, awestruck. Then he went, and I felt happy.