I guess we’re back

 

Last week we had our first rehearsals in seven months (!) with the PM Saari Band and it all went surprisingly well. We ran through some 20 songs, in the only way we can: All in, like our lives depended on it, a bit rusty but felt fantastic. I mean we’re old men with aching, semi broken, rusty body parts and brains, so yeah we’re putting in quite some pain and sacrifice into this art, but we keep going on.

And yeah, in case you’ve missed it, the absence of rehearsals has been solely due to my left hand fingertip injury that resulted in me not being able to play guitar at all for over half a year. I am not 100% healed after the surgery, the surgeon said it will take about a year for the connective tissue to heal completely, but I’d say the chops are there and my playing is as before, add some hunger for not playing for this long.

We’ll be throwing in some rehearsals up to X-mas break and in the beginning of 2026 we’ll continue where we left off in April - get out and play live and along with that release new music. And speaking of that...

When I some weeks ago started to finally pick up the guitar in small portions, I thought it was best to start with a finger-friendly guitar so I chose the kids’ 3/4 nylon string classical and the thing is that once I picked it up I played two riffs out of the blue and accidentally wrote a little song out of them. The first thing. So I thought, well I’ll finish that one and release it first of all to come, as a mark of the end of this forced break. 

It’s a more bluesy tune called “(Looking For) Sweetest Misery” and is about that sometimes it seems like we’re out looking for trouble and problems, sometimes really big ones, things that some of us, sometimes, are really trying to avoid but unconsciously chase and bring on to bring us down. I don’t know, but it's certainly a direct reflection of me injuring my most important body part by being imprudent, close to the border of destructive. The drums, rhythm guitars and vocals are recorded by now and I’ll be finishing the rest before the holidays for a very early 2026 release.

Happy holidays, days off or whatever to y’all and may y’all have a safe and great transition to the new year. Hope it'll be a great one. See y'all there.

Peace.
/ PM

Back but not back

So summer is through and it sure was a great one, not a very productive one though, but then they rarely are, are they? Now I'm trying to land and get used to its sudden end and throw myself into the depths of work with my music, which pace has been way too slow lately. 

Then there is this..

Four months ago I managed to get something into the flesh of the fingertip of my left hand index finger - yeah, the very worst fkin finger and place to hurt yourself in being a right-handed guitarist. After various visits to the doctors and x-raying a hand surgeon opened it up two months later and picked out something unidentified encapsulated, probably a tiny wood splinter or two. 

So I haven't been able to play guitar, at all, for four months now, and now the finger is in recovery and healing after the surgery and I’m still not able to play, at all. 

We had to put all the PM Saari Band and Järntrean (Fe3) live plans on hold then in April and I still don’t know when I will be back in action again, so though eager to book some live dates, we’ll just have to wait and see.

The motivation to work with music vanished into darkness somewhat in the beginning of all this but now I have been at it again daily for a week or two, just not playing guitar. I already had quite some guitars down on disk before this, even all the guitars on a song or two, and I'm actually mixing one of them as we speak. I will continue to record vocals now and also go through, compile all the so far recorded drums to get those songs ready for some bass recording - all with the aim that I’m able to pick up the guitar and dive in again in a month or three. Or if not, maybe have some guest guitar players to play some lead guitars on some of the tunes?

I must admit I was a bit worried that the lack of being able to play guitar might hit me worse than it did, I mean four fkin months! And fkin counting! but so far I’m pretty OK with it (or maybe rather: I am accepting the fact). The thing is I am able to do basically everything else, just not play the guitar.

Well here we go again, but hey, I love working against the wind (storm?), basically always done that in a way or another - So bring it on!

I'll be back before you fkin know it.

Peace.

/ PM

Sing me a song, you’re a singer

I've always been a great fan of singers, probably more than of guitar players, and on the top of my list you’ll find David Coverdale, Ronnie James Dio, Robert Plant, Geoff Tate, John Bush (Armored Saint, Anthrax), Brent Smith (Shinedown), Ray Gillen, Oni Logan, Mats Levén and of course Bruce Dickinson and Paul Di’Anno of Iron Maiden.

Live on stage.
Photo by Åsa Urberg.

I’ve been blessed to have worked with great singers through the years, and I have enjoyed performing and writing with or for them so much. We have Lars Gudmundsson, Jari Valentino, Per Linzander, Paul Zanichelli, Jimi Roxx, Mats Brodd and, probably the most well known, Dan Dark - all different but all very competent vocalists and frontmen.

So why the hell do I sing when I don't have even nearly the same ability doing that as when I play the guitar? And when my physics and my life obviously aren’t designed for me to sing (referring to me more or less constantly having trouble with my voice and the for singing required body parts), and when I know so many great singers?

I’ve also always had a special thing for the ones of my favourite singers who also are great guitar players, like John Sykes, Dave Meniketti, John Norum, Jerry Cantrell and Pepper Keenan, and great guitar players that maybe aren’t my absolute favourite singers like Gary Moore and Zakk Wylde and great songwriters that are also guitar players/singers like Kai Hansen and Nicke Andersson. Always been drawn to the simplicity, minimalism and the straight deliverance of thoughts and feelings when you perform what you write yourself. And mainly, I like, or rather need, the challenge, I need to push myself, I need to be striving to keep me at it, to go on - and I can assure you I’m working my ass off with my vocals of my solo stuff.

Finally back recording vocals
again after a long absence.

Well, that’s my excuse for singing and now for some news: During Christmas and New Years holidays  some sht hit me, again, I was having a nice time off skiing in the north of Sweden and I got something in my breathing system, again, it knocked me down, got fever for days,  it hit my throat, hoarse voice and so on. So that pulled me back, again, but now it seems like I’ve beaten it, I’ve been able to do my workout the last month and was up skiing again last week with no problems and this week I started to record vocals and it seems to be working. So after months of being off it seems I’m on. 

RnR.
/ PM