Out of voice… and motivation

In the beginning of this year something happened to my voice, when we were supposed to start rehearsing with the PM Saari Band after Christmas/new years break I discovered that about half an octave of my voice didn’t work, like at all. Just couldn't get this group of tones from my higher register out and of course it was the tones that I use the most. I tried various solutions to get it into action but realised after a month that this ain’t going to get solved anyway soon. We had some gig proposals but had to turn them down and we were also supposed to start rehearsing with Järntrean as well but we had to call that off.

PM Saari Band (me, Moey and Pata) at rehearsals
at our Beyond Dimensions Bunker.

Now it seems to be slowly getting back to normal, slowly. I’m definitely not able to do the Paul DiAnno stuff that Järntrean demands yet so that’s put on hold for a while, but when it comes to my own stuff it’s starting to work little by little, and with my own material I feel I can move a few vocal lines into another register in case some of the problem remains for longer. So it feels pretty safe that we finally have some live dates with the new PM Saari Band live line-up booked in May. More on that later.

I've been doing some voice exercises
with a phonation tube/straw. I don't
know if that's working or not but my
voice is getting better... I think.

Not only did this put a halt to all the live plans but all of my plans were thoroughly shaken, I mean I didn’t know what had happened or even if it would ever be ok again, actually still don’t. Such a heavy halt sure affects ones motivation as well, at least it did for me, and due to this I haven’t been too productive until recently when I've somewhat got back in track working on all the studio stuff I’ve got going on again.

The next release should’ve been out a while ago, it has been mastered and ready just waiting for quite some while, but even that was affected by this halt, but it’s now on its way. It’ll be out in three weeks, April 21st, it’s called “Dried” and is two songs that will be released under the Inagone banner, because they are Inagone songs, even though they probably are as much mine as all the PM Saari songs. More on that closer.

See you soon.

/ PM

The Lockdown Sessions

So finally (seems I’m using that word quite a lot, but can’t help feeling like that quite a lot) the release of new music is around the corner and it’s the single “The Lockdown Sessions” that will be out on Friday January 20th. It’s two songs that were recorded more or less live at Studio A6sound in Stockholm during the pandemic lockdowns, with additional tracking at my Beyond Dimensions Studio. It’s the first release featuring a new heavier direction in which we’ll be going live with the PM Saari Band.

It features two not that new songs, one of them is called “Where’s My Bones?” and has lived through many reincarnations through the years, in a number of bands like Inagone and B.L.O.W (I believe I wrote it originally for B.L.O.W). It’s all written by me and the cool thing is that through the 3-4 bands that’s been playing it live the arrangement and the structure of the song has remained pretty much, if not exactly the same, even though each band has arranged it from scratch at rehearsals - so I guess this must be the perfect arrangement for it. The other song is also written by me and has its history in the band Straight Eight Diablo (S8D).

On this one I have Mr Patric Idman on the drums (who was with me in Straight Eight Diablo) and Andreas Mallander on fretless bass (who was with me in Inagone), so tying it all together here. The guitars and vocals are performed by me and it’s produced and mixed by me. The recording was engineered by Arvid and Felix at A6sound and additional recording by me and it was mastered through Abbey Road Red/CloudBounce. 

It sure was loads of fun in the studio doing it all the old (real?) way, but of course I’ve been running the new way for so long by now that it was inevitable to finish it up in that manner. Original cover photo by Robin Idman and the cover design and photo treatment by me.

Enjoy.

/ PM

Back in the saddle again

PM at rehearsals at the
Beyond Dimensions Bunker.

Along with all the studio work that I’m pretty deep into right now we’re spending all the time we can get down rehearsing in the bunker, testing and rearranging songs for a new liveset featuring the heavier material. When it comes to playing live I want to stick with the format of the three-piece band, or powertrio if you will, I want to keep the lineup uncomplicated, keep plenty of room for improvisation. Beside getting the chops and the grooves together, and me playing guitar and singing at the same time, there’s also some amount of work involved in rearranging the recorded material to work in a three-piece situation. Then put into the equation that time is a very exclusive thing in all of our lives, which is also one of the reasons I prefer going for as few personnel involved in the live band as is possibly possible (or very close to impossible).

PM and Moey back in
the Burnitude days.

Then some news, some personnel changes, Andreas “Drake” Mallander has stepped away from the PM Saari Band (my live band), so he’s out and in is my way back bass compadre Mats “Moey” Öström adding new dimensions to the low end in our new heavier sound. We’ve rehearsed some and it all fits in very well and we’re all very excited and looking forward to bringing it all out live on stage in 2023. Mr Mallander and I will however continue to work together in other parts of my music projects and endeavours, as for instance Järntrean, with whom we’ll be out gigging again in 2023 after a two year hiatus.

So there’s been some pushbacks in the Saari Camp, but it feels like we’re back in the saddle again after a little restart. We also missed the christmas train and the early release deadlines now before the holidays but the next release, the single “The Lockdown Sessions”, will be out in mid january 2023. It will be shortly followed by a single featuring two old Inagone songs that I’ve finished up and mixed, it will however be released as Inagone. Then later in the spring there will be an EP, a “Slight Return”-release, a sort of part two of the “Club For Internal Admiration”-release, but heavier.

See ya.

/ PM

The pipes full of new stuff

As oh so often plans have changed and there’s been some changes in the Saari camp. The main one would be that we’re steering the live setlist into a heavier direction, it's been discussed and jammed and this is what we, my live band, feel feels right. I write different styles of music and my ambition is to record it all at some point but as things are now our ambition is to make the released material to go along, to be synchronised, with the material we play live, which obviously is the common way to go. So you can expect some heavier releases from me in the near future.

I’ve also been thinking whether it would be better to release singles and EPs instead of full length albums in the future, just to get things finished and out, but I was born an album-person so the album format is deep rooted in me. Nevertheless things have to get finished and the work of making an album feels way, way heavier than dividing it into a couple of smaller releases, which would also be much more suited for the music scene 2022. Then I did a reality check and realised I’ve got 17 (!) songs, that will be divided into six singles and EPs, that I’m working on right now, simultaneously. Now taking that into the equation it shouldn't really be a problem for me to do a full length album after this. So that’s probably what we’ll start working on next after I've finished up some of these singles and EPs, regardless of what the market or anyone says, I mean I never cared to follow trends and markets anyway.

Apart from these 17 songs I’m working on right now I have two full length albums in the pipes with all the drums recorded just waiting to get finished, all very strong and cool stuff but doesn’t fit the direction we’re heading for right now so they just have to be put on hold in favour of the material that we’ll be playing live. 

There are two two-song singles waiting to be mastered as we speak, one will be called “The Lockdown Sessions” which was recorded more or less live in the studio some while ago and the other is two songs from an old Inagone recording that I’ve brought back to life and mixed, that will be called “Dried” and will be release under the Inagone banner, so a new release shouldn’t be too far away in time. Then it might be that I'll manage to finish yet one more single at the end of 2022, or otherwise early next year and we are planning to start recording the new PM Saari full length album in the first half of 2023.

Peace.

/ PM

New EP “The Club Of Internal Admiration (A Slight Return)”

I’m proud to officially announce that my new release called “The Club For Internal Admiration (A Slight Return)” will be out on Friday April 29th. It’s a four song EP with three originals that are more or less revisited material with origins in the past, hence the “(A Sight Return)” and the fourth song being my first ever recorded cover. The music style this time around is hard rock very heavily influenced by 1980's heavy metal, into which the cover song also fits in nicely.

The first two songs “1982” and “The Club For Internal Admiration” (yes I like to abbreviate it as “CIA”) are kicking, early 1980’s heavy metal rockers with some splashes of punk and plenty of attitude. Song three called “A U” is a melodic and maybe a bit more progressive little beautiful thing.

As you might have understood I never make it easy for myself and this time I might have gone way over the top, but I chose to record a cover, my own version of a song from my absolute favourite band and from my absolute favourite and my all time most influential and important album - so no pressure here - the song I’m talking about is “Total Eclipse” (a B-side to Run To The Hills, but was supposed to be on, and should have and later also was added to, the album “The Number Of The Beast”). Above all I didn’t want to make a version similar to the original but make my own version of the song, change some of its character. I mean, what would be the point of trying to make a copy of the original, which would be destined to totally fail anyway? Certainly the hardest thing I’ve ever done, on many levels but mainly reproducing/rearranging a, according to me, perfect song and also performing it. Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy my humble celebration and tribute to the best band and album in the world.

All the songs are recorded, arranged, produced and mixed by me. I perform all the guitars and vocals, Andreas Mallander performs the fretless bass and Patrik Idman the drums. All songs except “Total Eclipse” are written by me, “Total Eclipse” is written by Steve Harris, Dave Murray and Clive Burr. All artwork and visual design is made by me and as you might have noticed this whole EP is somewhat paying homage to the legacy of my former band Burnitude.

I put loads of time and energy into trying to get everything as I wanted on this release, even more than before, trying to get that 1970-80’s feeling with digital in the box recording and mixing and I believe I pushed my abilities and my chops in all areas even further with this one.

You'll find it everywhere on Friday 29th, some direct links are found at my new official portal at: https://www.saari.net .

Enjoy.
/ PM