Taking music into a new direction.

Hey everyone,

A lot has been going on since I last wrote.
I am focusing on my new strictly techno project - Alex Wulf.
Here is a video of the first Estonian live I played with it.
Enjoy!




 See you

Being stupid around Tartu

Do something stupid

Hey you,
We spent this weekend in Tartu. Hadn't been there since last year.

Somekind of kawaii animal.

We went to Genialistide club to hear Dj Studious, Dj Raadž and Dj Moose play there.

I ventured to the smoking room also.

There wasn't much room on the left side, by the Dj and not that many people on the right by the bar, so the crowd wasn't equally distributed.

Always a pleasure to see Lawri.

Raadž was playing and absolutely refused to be on photos. It was the same with a chubby blond girl, who started yelling at me.

The awesome barmaid at Kivi.

There was also a guy looking for action, mostly people and things he could hit. I hope he found something in the end. Like a post to bash with his head.

Kissing by the records.

We went on to Kivi to see what was going on there. The other bars were already closed by then.

Nice piercing.

As the photos looked a bit dull, I asked people to do something stupid for the photos. Most of the girls thought sticking out their tongue was enough. So take a second and think what you would do in that situation.

An unique touch.

The night ended at 5 am. As I was heading home and spotted Zuks in front of me. We swung by Zavood to see if something was going down there. We were too tired to try to elbow through Zavood so we continued on home.

Zuks rocking it at Zavood.

See you soon!
Barthol

Shooting around Tartu

What the hell is this horse song? The Röövel Ööbik stuff, it's damn good horsemode

Hey, hey!
I've spent most of my week in my Tartu studio, working on the tracks for the coming EP. At the moment there's also a track with vocals that I'm working on. For some of you it's the end of a long wait for some vocals. Apart from producing I went to a shoot of a TV show and played a sad set on Friday. More on that.

Kiwa, Mihkel Raud, my knee and the girls.

On Wednesday we went to Kink Konk, as Kuukulgur was filming a Tartu scene there. Such local celebrities as Rain Tolk, Andres Maimik and Mihkel Raud were present. The scene was something about a bunch of writers hanging with honnies in Tartu. The most interesting part was when Mihkel Raud had to be kissed by 3 girls in a row.

A shot they kept doing over and over again.

The sucky part was that we were supposed to be quiet, but act like we were talking and interacting at a bar. Ain't nobody got time for that! I got in a closer shot as well so you might keep your eyes opened for it when the show comes out.

Transformer Santa Claus with overeager children.

On Friday there was a masked night at Genialistide Club. It was fun because I wore a full mask and no one could recognize me and it got them real confused. Some how I didn't get many decent photos from that night. But the night was decent with interesting act including a humorous electro producer who is blind.

The sad part was the equipment once I got to play. The video gives quite a good sample of the horrific pops and crackles that it shot. Not to mention the lack of bpm count and what not. I squeezed what I could out of it and I got a message this morning saying that it was decent. I'd have to send mad props to the people on the dance floor as they took the half an hour of horrific noise and shit that the machine generated. Most of crowds would have left, but not these party people.

Only good photo I got from the party is of this girl feeling bad.

That's what we did with the weekend which isn't even over yet. I'm going to get working on the EP tracks and see you soon at Tallinn.
Barthol

Music filling up Tartu

I was told your live in Tartu was awesome

Tartu Music Week was inspiring.
The days started with the panels where different topics about being a band were discussed. I attended all the panels and (not so) strangely all the discussions led to the same points. I was a bit disappointed to see so many musicians missing out on the opportunity as the panelists made valid points about the local scene and it's opportunities.

The panel about Tallinn Music Week with Aivar Tõnso, Helen Sildna and Toomas Oljum.

I hadn't played a live in Tartu for about two years, but that drought ended with Tartu Music Week, as I got to play two lives in one day. That's the first time I've done a thing like that, but it was great in a way that I got to warm up decently for the live at Gen Club.

Berk Vaher, the moderator of the panels was dressed for the part

I played in a bizarre line up which I like to call Barthol and the two elephants, as the bands before me were Galvanic Elephants and Elephants from Neptune. The biggest band of the night was Elephants from Neptune whom I also saw warm for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They have great energy and good stage presence, but some say their tracks are too alike to each other. It' decent Rock'n'Roll with all it's goods and flaws.

The frontman of Galvanic Elephants - Taavi-Peeter Liiv

Different stages were spread around Tartu during the day time. I saw Argo Vals at Cafe Noir and Multiphonic Rodent at Y-gallery. The latter managed to jam even with the sound guy as he hadn't shown up for sound check and they had to set up the booth monitor for him in the middle of the set. The absurdity of the situation was amusing.

Listening to Argo Vals aka Pastacas on Prozac and testing the smile trigger on my camera.

The set at Nälg was okay, as it was at 7pm and without anyone playing before me. The people were sitting down and listening to my stuff. It's been years since I've played to such a lounging audience. I used the beats and the smoke machine to get them on their feet. The night in Gen club was a totally different deal.

Unfortunately there are no photos of my live at Gen Club. To make things worse (or maybe better) it made my top three of all time performances with 2010 in Von Krahl and I would leave the first place open. The special part of the live was the improvisation with a coffee grinder. With beats in the background I rocked the electric coffee grinder through the mixer using various effects. I might do it again for some live because it was really cool so bring a mug with you for next time.

Ending the set with people on their feet.

I plan to take a break from playing as I have achieved my goal for the year and I need to work on the music for the next release, which might actually be on a disc.

See you soon
Barthol

Theatrical live

What a hangover.
Saturdays live was really crazy. Partly because I started drinking and partying before my live. Me and Uku combined our forces and came up with a plan. He would Dj before and after me and my live would be the core(hardcore). He would dance and pogo around the stage while I played.

As we got to the venue things started changing. Soundcheck was supposed to happen at 20, but finally it happened at 21:30. Instead of the promised 80-90 minutes we were told shortly before that we could only play for 60 and some other issues. Now you see why it was crucial to start drinking before ;)

The look for this live was Hipster. A little goatee, wayfarers and a tracksuit(matching with Uku). We got on the stage right after the belorussian indieband (who had had a soundcheck for 1,5h) had put down their guitars. Of course if you check your stuff in the soundcheck, it won't be like that when you get back. There will always be an overeager musician moving your stuff around.

That hairball is Zuks

Once we got the live rolling the crowd came along real fast. Uku was in front of the crowd making his body do incredible things. I also managed to get my good friend TK on the stage, as she has the bad habit of asking me for something to drink while I am on the stage.

In the end it was Uku and TK dancing like crazy on the stage, me playing and pogoing in the background and the people partying along in the blue light. For the last track even the organizer came on the stage and we finished the live holding hands all sweaty and sweet. The next act was a hip-hop thing.

I finished the remix for Kassidele Iirised and it should be available soon. Also atm I am working on a remix for mimicry (Kene Vernik on the vocals) which is going to be Sick. There are still some things to figure out regarding the shirts.

Photos by Alan Proosa

Dancing in the Dark

I spent this weekend in Viljandi. I was there working on a dance project for this spring. I have a feeling that it's going to be good. I rather like experimenting with my body and movement. Maybe more on the dance act as it develops.
After that we used some of the equipment to shoot some sequences that could be used in a possible future video.

The other reason was to establish contacts with a local club to see if it was possible to play there.

In other news there are two new videos of my Lives. Rather short ones but nonetheless here they are. My next live will be this Saturday in Genklubi and I will probably have a surprise dancer on the stage. But it's a secret ;) Also I finished the design for my shirt, with some help from a couple of designers. If everything goes well, I will wear it this Saturday and soon fans can get it as well. Yes, both of them ;)
I promise it's awesome!


The first one is the NWL

The other one is from the airport bday party.