28/12/2011

What happened in 2011

Welcome back, for the last time this year! Push play before you read on. These are four tracks of my coming Ep. It's been a good year and here's why:


>we completed the video for Frank Call,
>the video was on TV, where I also gave an interview,
>Frank Call got featured as demo of the week on Radio2,
>For play Ep was released,
>shot photos with Gabriela,
>made Blo Me shirts and sold them all,
>Pick Up track was featured on MAP,
>played 11 shows/sets,
>Had a houseshow at my studio,
>around 8000 readers were on Fluon,
>published 58 posts on Fluon,
>three of my prints were on exhibition,
>shot photos for Eazy Jet magazine.

The photo that almost cost me my camera.

I spent this year working on different music skills. I studied further mixing and mastering skills to give you a better quality listening experience. I consulted Ö-stuudio to better understand those techniques.  I also studied composition and classical music theory (chords, keys) to know what is commonly used in music. This was the first time I had studied any music theory. Lots of tracks were made during summer to capture the light and happy beachy mood. Those are the tracks you can hear in the mix, up there. I also put a lot of work into this blog and my Facebook page. I focused more on DJing as it's something that I'm planning to do more in the future. I'll mix it up with some of my bootlegs and mash-ups.
My new year's promise is to get music out to you faster. That might mean that tracks will be just downloads instead of Eps, but I haven't decided yet how to do it exactly.

Artwork for the Ep tracks.


The shows and sets I played this year were enjoyable. The last set at Nälg was a real treat with people dancing from the first song non-stop to the last one. The Errorfests had a strong concentration of great people and good friends. It was also an opportunity to interact with foreign artists, even if the dance floor wasn't packed. Mõisa Karneval was a great festival, which I enjoyed even despite having pneumonia. The most experimental experience was playing a house show at my place, something I would like to do more when the occasion arises.


Best way to live is to be always celebrating.

I went to a Californian guy's housewarming party on Tuesday. 400 invited, 40 attending, 30 came. At the party I was attacked by a crazy bitch when I was taking photos of her. Her assault resulted in damaging my camera. Bitches be crazy! To be discreet, I'll post no face or name, but my camera is barely alive. We also got a visit from the downstairs neighbor thug, who was complaining about music. Except for those incidents nothing much happened. It was a regular Christmas week with pretty much everything closed.

See you next year and leave your new year's promises in the comments!
Barthol

18/12/2011

Pregaming Christmas.

Welcome back!

We were contacted on Thursday and asked if we wanted to play at Nälg on Friday, because the other DJs had cancelled a day before. We accepted the challenge and it was great. Me and Zuks played a 4 hour set. It started with mellow tunes and three dancing foreigners telling me to turn it up. I was prepared to rock the floor as I had schooled myself on advanced use of CDjs and brought the fresh tracks and old classics. I even played two of my own and they worked well. Zuks played with his DJ toy like last time.


My fellow party people.

There was also a very persistent German hippie girl, grabbing my knobs, while I was playing. I almost had to throw her out. At some point, when I was mixing too viciously, I lost one of the knobs. Luckily I recovered it quickly and the flow was uninterrupted. Surprisingly most of the crowd was international students. At the end of the night it was harder to keep track of what I had played already as the drinks kicked in, but my ears and body knew what they were doing. We'll meet at the dance floor soon enough.


We had a Christmas dinner on Saturday. I was urged to sing "Pick up track" before I got my present. I got a bag full of fireworks and glow sticks. It continued with games and ended with magic shots and a pillow fight. The pillow fight master was Marcus, my very distant cousin. It has been his dream to be on Fluon, as most of his friends have been featured already so this is him. Merry Christmas, Marcus!

Marcus. His hobbies include playing with dogs, vodka and DJing.

Some times you go out for a walk and end up somewhere else. On Thursday I ended up at the art school Christmas party. It had a laid back atmosphere. Everyone had a red kitten drawn on their hand. The best part were some old friends I hadn't seen for a while plus the new friends we made. Two girls were wearing white foam hair, but that was about all the artiness I witnessed.

Christmas is the time for fireworks.
Fluon will have it's 3 year birthday on January 7th and it will be synced with post number 100. Make sure you come back for the limited time give away. Also read about my lessons and achievements of 2011.

See you soon!
Barthol

15/12/2011

My first tattoo

Looks like one of my designs. - It probably is your design.

Welcome back!
The quote is about the tattoo down here. I used to draw that girl face here and there and as it turns out the girl on the picture found it and like it so much, that she had it tattooed on her arm. That was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me.

Girl on girl action.

On Tuesday night I was playing around with CDjs at Kink Konk. One of the players was a CDj200 and the other one a CDj1000 it was a world of difference. Some of you came by (thx) and Zuks stayed there for all of the set. On the way back we found a poster advertising a party at the new diner - Kiirsöökla. The poster was full of design and spelling mistakes. We were slightly intrigued by it.

The Dj is playing on the right.

On Wednesday we went to the new Kiirsöökla's club night. There was bad club music and the design was reminiscent of soviet time diners. Dishes were glued to the walls and the toilet ceiling. The floor was still covered with the former casino's logo carpet. There was no room to dance because of the tables and the place has full wall windows facing the street. There was a smoke machine, lights and a strobe. The hostesses kept telling the DJs to turn down the music. I enjoyed myself, as it was a totally out of this world experience. No room for dancing and we were almost the only ones eating their expensive food, everyone else just sat at tables and went out for an occasional smoke. I'm not sure I'll go back, but it was fit for the night.

Drunk girls clubbing at Nälg.

This Friday me and Zuks will surprise you at Nälg. It wasn't too long ago when we last played there. This time it will be a bit different and be sure to wear your dancing shoes. We will wear our's and take turns dancing and playing tunes. It's also an opportunity to get on Fluon, I'll bring my camera with me, so think of some wild stuff to do on the dance floor. Also if you want a temporary tattoo, I'll be more than happy to sketch something on your arm.

Marco the stripper, Margus the artist and a girl.

There was a cool exhibition opening on Friday that I haven't written about (been working on the tracks for my coming Ep). It was Bach's airbrush exhibition. He's one of  Tartu's first graffiti writers and has now moved on to painting nudes with airbrush. The opening was a real party with a fish tank full of punch and Mowka spinning records. There were artists, students, celebrities and models attending. Like at every opening over here the mother son duo of eaters, named the "Food club" were present. Party lasted for several hours before everyone headed to different clubs.

See you tomorrow at Nälg!
Barthol

09/12/2011

Shoot and beat!

I read all of your blog in one day

Welcome back!
Monday and Tuesday Olivier Hess was taking photos of me for Easy Jet's magazine. It's a piece on Tallinn, where I talk about the Patarei prison space and other alternative venues. The best shot was at Biit record store (run by Madis Nestor), but we also shot at F-hoone for example. The Biit store is a great place, if you need music in Tallinn, go check it out at Maakri 19/21. We were listening to LFO and new Mr Oizo.

Get comfortable at Biit.

Frank Call has been selected as the "Demo of the week" at Raadio2. We talked with Heidy Purga about new music, big cities and how I started on Thursday. If you know Estonian you can listen to it at http://r2.err.ee/jarelkuulamine select 8.12, Pleier and skip to around 17:30. I used to tape their electronic shows back in the days when I didn't have internet. So it's great to have been selected.

Some of the selection at Biit.

My computer got fixed thanks to Zuks. He told me he knows a guy who can sort it out. So we rode up to a house on Thursday and called him. He was around 50, had a great mustache and a couple of missing teeth. He invited us into the basement,which was full of dissected computers. Piles of motherboards, wires and 53 empty cases (yes, they were counted). It was like a computer clinic and cemetary at the same time.

Madis Nestor goofing around at Biit.

Too bad I didn't have my camera. He tested my power supply, but as it turned out, his tester was broken. It didn't matter, he dived into a pile, and fetched me another one. Thanks to a new ticker my machine (named Rabbit btw) is running again and I can get back to completing the Ep.

At a Cafe.

I added the photos from Gabriela's exhibition opening to the last post. Also I will play a long experimental set on Tuesday in Tartu. There will be more info on Facebook as the day approaches.

See you soon!
B

04/12/2011

Night of wet fun! - updated photos

Erasmus - orgasmus.

The best part of this week was the pool party on Friday. It was organized by the Erasmus student network. Lately one of the best concepts. You know how wild student parties can get. To get there we had to break through the heavy rain (no snow yet). The Aura center pools were full of international girls in bikinis. There were different saunas, water slides and light therapy, which was our favorite. You get to stare into a lamp for half an hour, that's a priceless experience.

The clearest photo I got.

It was hard to take photos because it was so wet by the pool, everything, even the air, was wet. There was a limbo contest and a ten-man-swim against the stream. All the winners got Red Bull. By the end of the party the mixture of alcohol, light therapy and Red Bull had produced a strange state. Luckily there wasn't water deep enough to drown in.

The goers through the haze.

We went to the exhibition opening of Gabriela Liivamägi on thursday, she's one of Fluon's favorite photographers and my banner up there is one of her photos. The exhibition was in Genklubi and Uebanda was playing afterwards. She had big and even bigger photos up, some of them finished with industrial glaze. It was a great exhibition with strong portrays.

Another photographer at the exhibition.

 I had some photos of the opening, but my computer refuses to turn on. I can't add photos, but I can finish writing this post on my sister's computer. My computer works again so I got to upload some photos. Read about how a mustache saved my computer in the next post.

Gabriela's big portraits.

I've been getting played on Radio2, once or twice per day and sometimes even on prime time. I'll have some great news soon, if everything works out. There might be a secret gig coming up soon, look out for it on my Facebook page. Enjoy this last image from when we were playing with Zuks in Nälg.


See you soon!
Barthol

27/11/2011

Playing with a new toy.

The best of this years Estonian underground electronica

Welcome back!
It's been a busy week full of birthday parties, thanksgiving and other events. The quote is from Radio2 by Koit Raudsepp as he put on "Frank call". Here's some silly fun for a limited time - Pick up track (Songsmith salsa edit)


Zuks playing lounge music to three girls.

Me and Zuks played a back to back set in Nälg yesterday. The setlist included Dorian Concept, Tiga, Mstrkrft and Justice. I also brought an emergency kit with Fatboy Slim, Mylo and other well known classics in case of a dance crisis. The bartender kept us in check when we wanted to go too hardcore. It was another wild Saturday night with girls, occasional celebrity and great music. I can't recall how long we played because Henry Westons was on the house, but we certainly had fun. Zuks brought his special mixing console and it was a bit tricky to use but we created some magical transitions and loops. After finishing the cake of the day we ventured to Kink Konk. I might play there soon by the way.

Kaarel from Popop in his crib with a cat.

While we were playing, a French girl drew a picture of us. I'll post it to Facebook. So if you are not liking my page do it, so we can reach 300 and win the battle. It's on the right in the sidebar.



See you soon!
Barthol

20/11/2011

Lets do it together!

Your video propagates sex. I don't like that!

Welcome back!
Huge thanks for supporting our video! So many people have stopped me during last week to comment on it. So far the reception has been split between good and bad, but all good things are controversial. Most people want to know who is the star of "Frank call".

Girls enjoying drinks in Nälg.

Having a music video has been a dream of mine for a long time. It's really cool that it's on Tv now. In the coming weeks I'd appreciate your help with keeping it on Top7.
Help me by voting at Top7s website (my interview's there also). You can vote around 20 times from one ip. Together we can be number one and stay there for weeks.

Indie Djs pay for what they play at Nälg.

Popop was cool and featured the video. You can help me further by sharing the video on Facebook, Twitter or just make your friends look at it. This is one of those times that every ones contribution counts and is needed. Comment and like it on Youtube as haters are rolling hard there.

All girls like unicorns.

I'm working on the Ep and you'll have a preview soon. "Frank call" will be on it and some other tracks you already met, but also some fresh tracks. Excavator drivers' massive favorite "I dig dirt" will be there. "Pick up track" will be remixed by me or someone else. There are more projects lined up than I have time for.

Kicking it with Micrologue in the backstage of Errorfest.

See you soon!
Barthol

15/11/2011

TV debut tonight [updated w video]

Welcome back!
The time has come! Our Frank call video is ready to be seen. It premiered this Saturday at Errorfest and it battled on Etv2 at 20:45 tonight there's also my interview.



I spent the weekend in Tallinn for the premiere at Errorfest. On Friday I saw Micrologue from Germany and Masha Dabelka from Novosibirsk playing there. They both had cool sets and great personalities. Not too many people at the festival but just the right ones. The place was an old movie theater fit for 1000 person raves. Too bad there won't be too many shows played there anymore.

Fooling around with Eva Vaino

I played my show on Saturday. I enjoyed singing "Pick up track" through the megaphone as it gives the voice a powerful timbre. We have footage of the live thanks to Voltri and we will use it for our next video project. The festival was crazy and I'm still not quite sure what happened there, but it was fun. There be fresh shows coming up soon maybe even a Christmas Ep.

With Henry the dancer and Mihkel the painter.

Friends made this live very special for me. I have more photos from Errorfest. I will post them on Fluon once I have fully recovered. Enjoy the bad ass video, share it with others and help us by voting for it. Thanks for the support.

Derrida+1 liveshow.

See you soon!
Barthol

10/11/2011

Revealing the secret>

Congratulations on the house concert, it was well executed and interesting!

Welcome back!
I played a secret house concert to 20 of close friends and fans in my studio. It was a great show and a change from the usual format. It was more intimate and more for listening than dancing, which was an opportunity to play the calmer tracks. An hour long set with Badass Yuki remix, Deluxe and other unheard tracks. I hadn't played in Tartu for over a year.

Redlip shooting and the regular Fluon girl dancing.

Almost everyone invited came, plus 4 foreigners extra. They couldn't take it for too long, but it's their loss. No cops or neighbors showed up. Otherwise everyone was more or less on time, a great change from the usual "2 hours later" approach.

Playing the concert. The speakers and other equipment remain out of sight.

I want to thank everyone who came and made it possible. It was loads of fun and I plan to organize something similar again asap. Possibly for the EP release and then in Tallinn. Stay tuned not to miss it.

Zuks found the acoustic sweet spot under the table.

Thanks to Badonka Don King and Redlip for lending me the big ass speakers. Redlip also brought her boxer who contributed to the mood and whipped people with his tail. My cat wasn't a fan. We also got some footage from the concert and we'll use it in our next clip, immortalizing the participants.

Kaarel from Popop and his girl reading the Hobbit.

Join us on Facebook to know about the next [secret] show and other action. Watch Estonian Top7 on Tuesday as my video will be shown there and I need your help to help to win it.

Before I went to Paris in 2008 we had a house concert at Kiwas studio,
but it ended with the cops crashing it.

We're going to see real soon as Errorfest is already this weekend and I'm premiering my Frank call video there on saturday. I'll be playing a short and intense live with some fresh bangers. Take a sneak peek at the video>



See you there!
Barthol

30/10/2011

Battling hunger!

Where are you? I can't see you anywhere in Hunger.

Welcome back!
The night started at the battle of the bands where my friends were battling. One in Uebanda and two in Eclectic Empire. The event was like a trip back in time 10 years - awkward teens were posing and beginner bands were playing. The sound was totally messed up and it was painful to listen to.

People hanging out.

The opening of Nälg (hunger) was strange, but in an amusing way. It's run by Kene Vernik from Mimicry and the vibe there's cool. Looking forward to seeing what will become of it. The crowd was divided between smart casual dressed older people and more trashy younger crowd. Musicians, students, designers and photographers all attended. The tables were covered with fruit and cheese; bubbly and sangria and mint liquor was served at the door. I was there for the invite only opening until 10 and then came back when Amiran was playing at around 01. I might have missed the busiest time, but it was crowded still. You had to be Chris Angel to get your coat from beneath the dozen others.

Amiran playing at the opening of Nälg.

The dance floor was constantly full, as it only fits around twenty people. Check out the cool triangular headlight installation on the wall. Zuks had created a circle of respect around him with his erratic dancing. Amirans set was Skrillex-like, but a bit too chaotic and fast (like mine used to be back in 2007).

Happy lucky hipster with bubbly and a fag.

In the other room there was a boombox dragging such classic tapes like "What is love" and "Bailando". It gave the room a special retro feel and I took a time out there at 3 am. There was also a Nintendo with the classic Duck Hunt game waiting for you. I'm waiting for you at my Facebook page with the new logo.


See you soon!
B

28/10/2011

Weekend night adventures #3

Welcome back!
This week has been fun and evolving. On Tuesday we went to a presentation of a new alchemist book. They had swords, shots of pure spirit and bellydancers, what a show it was. I've also been working on the new Ep - choosing, mixing and mastering tracks. I'm still working on the concept as I have three different types of tracks in my selection. I will have friends and fans help me with selecting the right tracks for the Ep. It will be longer than four tracks this time, so stay tuned.

Rushing to Kink Konk where Raadž was supposed to play ten minutes ago.

Last night we went to Kink Konk with dj Raadž and these are the photos, some of them decent, some not. The night out was fun, the music was fit for dancing and the crowd was cool. Raadž dropped the new ZZT - party's over L.A. and killed it in many ways. I prefer Kink Konk to Genialistid, check it out if you haven't, it's really cool.

A friend from Paris using her disguising techniques.

Unfortunately during the party someone kidnapped the badass dinosaur from Kink Konk and they really miss it, so if you know who took it, force them to return it. There was also a goofy red beret lying around there and everyone tried it on. It's better if I don't post those photos.

Raadž finally makes it to the decks.

I've been invited to the opening of Nälg tonight. It's a new shop-cafe-club that's opening in Tartu. I'm excited to go and check it out. I have high expectations and I hope they come through. It's invite only until 23 but from there on, it's open for everyone. I'll let you know how it was.

Zuks, my partner in crime when it comes to dance battles
combining jumpstyle, tectonic and break dance.
There will be lots to talk about soon. Come back for the news about the EP, the video and live shows. I've got to now. There's another battle of the bands and I'm on the list as George Bush.

Karl T, doesn't remember seeing me yesterday.
See you soon!
B

25/10/2011

Frank video - coming out

*ring* Where's that video of yours? Private? Oh well I guess I'll wait.

Welcome back!
It's finally time to talk about my music video. The video is for "Frank call", its basically finished and should premiere on the 12th in Tallinn. I'm still looking for a venue and event in Tartu. It's my first time to direct a video.

Ever gotten dressed at a parking lot?

The video is about a girl called Samantha Baker who wreaks havoc around the city while a boy tries to reach her at the house. She smokes, drinks and dances around the streets and takes an occasional wizz in the back alley. At the same time the boy gets yelled at by her paranoid grandparents. During shooting we were assisted by the police, I wrote about it in this earlier post.

Samantha meeting another boy on the street.

The budget was only 10€ and it consisted of various drinks we bought during shooting. It's possible to create on a tight budget and for that I have to thank my crew, which consisted mostly of Redlip but not only. Our actress  ***** asks you not to reveal her identity even if you recognize her. She was really easy to work with and really enthusiastic about the whole idea, even the police part. The track "Frank call" has been specially remastered for the video and has now lots more lower end.

Also featuring Barthol's fresh "B" logo.
We hope to have the video appear in the media, including television. Any help with it is welcome. Suggest a venue, do an interview or just join us on Facebook.
See you soon!
B

21/10/2011

Two bands, one track

Nice pink voice!! cool vibesss!! big baaaassss!! TotAl Barthol Bag Stylish!§!


Welcome back!
I've went to two concerts this week. The first one was Mimicry at the history museum. It started at 9pm and lasted for an hour or so. It was for the opening of the Student days. The event reminded me of youth centers. Early beginning, awkward venue and over by 11. Nonetheless Mimicry got the people out of their chairs and dancing. Despite the difficult echo I enjoyed their concert. It was enjoyable and professional.

Mimicry concert at history museum.

The other concert was in Genialistide Club. My friends were playing one of their first gigs with their band. They play keys and guitars on electronic beats and sing. They reminded me of such acts as Peaches, Stella and Dirty Princess. It was an interesting parallel . A bit more stage presence and mixing on the beats and it would be great. They are playing at the battle of bands this Friday.

Eclectic Empire concert at Genialistid.

I could go on to compare the two bands and the shows and everything, but I'll just ask you to look at the two  photos and tell us which one you like more. Go to the comments n o w and tell us your opinion. Thanks!


I've been composing on Ableton instead of FL lately and this is one of the newer clips. What do you think? Is it too LMFAO?

See you soon!
B

16/10/2011

Weekend night adventures #2

I'm photoshopping in the cafe and the next table is talking about you.

Welcome back!
Another hard weekend has passed. Met friends from Tallinn on Friday and we went to Kink Konk. I recommend going there, it looks cool and the people who run it, really love music. Art school newbies were having their hipster animal theme party there. My friends band was playing there. The DJs did a good job and we had a dance battle, we both won. Youngsters were making out, some were crying and the toilet walls got a new design. Some people were using one of the free party techniques and drew the "unique" :p mark on their hands themselves. 

Hung over at a Chinese place with friends.

The distributor of Savas Pascalidis had my mash-up recently blocked on Youtube due to copyright. You can still enjoy it here: 

Greetings from the studio.

I've been listening non stop to Major Lazers Original Don this weekend and it's worth sharing with you. It has an interesting jump style kind of rhythm.


Our weekend ended with a 25th birthday in a nature reserve. The party had a hot sauna and the shower was outside in the freezing cold. A long table was full of potato salad, pickles and vodka. People were dancing away outside, surrounded by dark forest. It was 180kms there and we drove back at 5am, listening to Ramstein. We almost hit a fox and a similar animal on the way. Everything went well and at 7 I was home.

Stealing a speaker.

I already did it on Facebook, but I'll do it here as well. I'm sending props to you, the listeners. My tracks are not the easiest ones to listen or dance to, but you are still willing to do it. Thanks for not taking the easy way out and for all your support. It keeps me going and we'll make it together soon.

See you soon!
B