2 weeks since I came back from the Sicily tour. How quickly time flies by. I had to work a lot of hours doing tech support to make up for the time away. I’m also working on new songs and a plan on how to get to tour more. Lots of new things in the pipeline already. Anyway, here’s my overdue post about the first tour.
I took a taxi to the airport as I couldn’t take all my luggage by public transport. At the check-in desk I was told I had 8 kg more luggage than allowed. That made 80€ (yikes) extra one way for bringing my array mbira. Altogether I had 40 kg and my clothes made up the smallest part. Nicoleugenia picked me up from the airport in Catania and so we drove to Palermo. She’s the one who booked the gigs for me and who also made a great tour manager and driver – or handler, as she liked to call it.
Ballarò, Palermo
The first gig was the next day. A good thing since I was overtired from getting everything ready. The venue was less than 5 minutes away from the B&B we stayed at, both in Ballarò. The rest of the day we spent wandering around Palermo. An impression through cotton wool for me in my sleep-deprived state. Italians are noisy people with their shouting, vespas and honking. I had brought earplugs and so managed to get a good long sleep.
We had a look at the venue PalaB on Friday afternoon before it was time for soundcheck in the evening. I was rather excited about playing there. Then there was only the owner to do the sound and he didn’t know the mixer or what to do. When I tried my headset mic I got feedback. He tried different things, even wanted to give me another one made only for talks. Finally I went behind the mixer and found the gain to be the culprit. Soundcheck done after ages. By then I was extremely nervous again. When I started playing I noticed that the mixer settings didn’t work on my laptop. I had set them up to be recalled for each song with one button press. So I scrambled to get the mixing done on top of all the looping, playing and singing. The audience enjoyed it anyway, but I found it difficult. Grin and bear it and through with it. People came up to me afterwards saying “Complimenti” or “Brava”. Not many Italians speak English actually. The chef even bought my album and was blasting it to the whole neighbourhood the next day. Sweet!
Marsala view while sipping a Mojito
The next concert in Caltagirone was a week later so there was time for taking in Palermo. We also went to Marsala for a day to enjoy the view of the salt pools and windmills. Then it was time to head to Caltagirone where I had to work some hours in the tech support inbox each day and took it slow otherwise. I stayed at the same B&B as in December and it almost felt like home. One with an incredible view.
View over Caltagirone from the B&B
The concert in Caltagirone was open air and it was unusually chilly for the season. We set up behind Villa Patti with plenty of time for soundcheck. This time I was going to have an opening act – Daiquiri Fantomas. I even got to play their Theremin.
The later it got, the chillier and windier it became. Because of the technical issue at my last gig my stage fright was back at its worst. I was ready to sell all my live gear and never do it again. The two guys – Dario and Marco – did a great job with their debut gig while I anxiously awaited my turn. Then it was time for me to start. At first I was still nervous, especially with the wind being picked by my mic in every loop. Luckily it was only loud in my in ear monitoring. The crowd enjoyed it and apart from a few people with kids they stuck it out till the end despite the cold. Daiquiri Fantomas and I even did a little improv together. It made me realise how much I miss jamming with others.
Live @ Villa Patti, Caltagirone
The third and final concert was in Catania at La Lomax, a 45 minutes drive from Caltagirone. This is the place where I was supposed to already play last December. Back then the police shut off the power to find squatters leeching electricity from the streetlights. No power, no gig. I knew that the venue is very nice with helpful and knowledgable sound engineers. When we arrived there was a puppet theatre – pupi in Sicilian – still on.
When they were finished they left the whole setup where it was as the stage is big. I loved the soundcheck. I only had to sort out my own setup, everything else they took care of. Subsequently I was hardly nervous about the gig. I even had a backstage area that I could hang out in and prepare. The concert went really well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, it was so much fun I just wanted to keep touring. Play every night.
Not yet, but hopefully soon. I’ve got a plan and am working out the details at the moment. More on that in a few weeks.
Those of you who follow this blog already know about Mingle – the Minutia Remix Project. The first 6 remixes are fantastic and waiting to be downloaded for free at bandcamp. About as many are still in the making and I can’t wait to hear them. I’m well chuffed how an @reply from Twitter sparked such a wonderful virtual collaboration.
The whole thing didn’t go unnoticed and I was asked today if an online store could carry Mingle – meaning – sell it. For you who follow my doings Mingle would stay available for free at bandcamp where so far I’ve only set it up that donations can be made. In addition Mingle could be sold at this online store for those who just happen to stumble upon it there.
Now, the remixers gave me their contributions for free so the thought of monetising their work makes me queasy. Then again, I’ve barely recouped the production expenses for Minutia not counting any equipment bought.
I meant to write this post months ago, but then so many things happened and needed to be done, I felt the urge to work on new songs etc. Alas, here it comes at last.
(Step 0: Make a prototype and figure out what works and what doesn’t. Make changes in the design.)
Tools of the Trade
Step 1: Make DIY screens for all motifs.
For each of the three yo u need an embroidery hoop, a pair of tights and the motifs printed out in black. Stretch out the tights and secure them in the hoops, then trace the motifs with a pencil on the screen with the fabric facing down. Next all the negative spaces have to be covered in waterproof glue. A great tutorial can be found at Instructables.
Step 2: Cut out cardboard into squares of the right size. 2 for each.
Step 3: Cut out paper into squares a bit bigger than the cardboard squares and glue them on the latter.
Step 4: Print out the CD sleeves, the inside pockets and the pages for the booklet until the printer runs hot. Then cut all out along the crop marks with a cutter knife and a ruler and fold them appropriately.
Step 5: Get needle and thread and bind the booklet pages with the easiest bookbinding technique. Cut off the overlaying bits of the booklet pages with cutter knife and ruler.
Step 6: Glue a piece of paper on the back of each of the covered cardboard squares and then carefully glue on the folded pockets.
Step 7: Get out the sewing machine and do a zigzag stitch along the separate open sides on top first, then around the other sides of the CD sleeves.
Step 8: Mix the acrylic colours with the screen printing solution, then print. The artwork for the cover of the special edition was designed by the talented elwoood.
Step 9: After putting the sleeve including the CD and the booklet into the pockets cut the right length of self-adhesive bookbinder linen and join both halves together.
Voilà! That’s it.
Making each special edition takes at least one hour. That’s not counting the design process, making the prototype, the screens or drying time. There’s a lot of love in every detail.
Want one now? You can order them at bandcamp. Until all 100 are sold, that is.
Since a lot of you seem to have questions about the special edition etc. here’s all explained in detail. Also check out the Making of the Special Edition if you want to see pictures (will blog after sleep).
When ordering a CD from my webshop you’ll get a free download that includes the album and a 17 page digital booklet so you might have to wait a bit for the CD but not the music. If you only want to get the album as a download check out my webshop as well.
Standard Edition 10€
Digipak / free download of the album / 17 page digital booklet with lyrics / first 100 signed
Special Edition 25€
12 instrumental versions as a high quality download / custom cut carton digipak / three-colour handmade screen-print / printed and bound booklet with full lyrics / limited run of 100 handnumbered copies / signed with dedication as desired /free download of the album / 17 page digital booklet with lyrics
I’ve tried testing it, but I can’t buy my own album from the same account. If there are any glitches I apologise. Contact me at info (a) madeleinebloom (dot)com and we’ll sort things out. So far it seems you have to pay shipping twice if you wanted to buy both editions. This is not supposed to be this way and I’ve written to bandcamp about the issue. If that happens I’ll have to send you the money back somehow. In case there is a field for comments please state who you want the dedication to be for if you’ve ordered a special edition. Otherwise send me an email with it stating also your full name so I can match it up with the order.
The countdown is running. Just a couple more days. This Friday, November 27, my debut album will finally be out. It’s been quite a journey and in a way it’s just the beginning. You’d probably like to listen the album right now and not wait any longer. So here it is:
When they were finished they left the whole setup where it was as the stage is big. I loved the soundcheck. I only had to sort out my own setup, everything else they took care of. Subsequently I was hardly nervous about the gig. I even had a backstage area that I could hang out in and prepare. The concert went really well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, it was so much fun I just wanted to keep touring. Play every night.
