This is the reason why I'm only able to blog on weekends lately – Bombay Sapphire's been keepin' me busy and will continue to for at least another two weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to show some of that stuff as well as some other sketches within a weeks time. It's good to see though that I'm not the only one busting my ass this time of day (night) as the city's workers are out clearing the streets from yet another heavy snowfall...

P.S. I actually planned to go to the Arctic Challenge finals today, but hey, don't I have better things to do :P

I'm sorry guys, it seems that the only things I'm writing about lately are snow and music. But to be honest, those are the only things happening in my life besides work right now. Not to worry though, I'm sure not to turn into one of these music geeks whose sole purpose is to know everything there is about the latest up-and-coming underground talents.

Anyways, at the moment there's a thing called by:larm festival taking place in Oslo. It's basically a music festival with literally hundreds of bands playing at over 30 (!) different locations in the city over the course of three days. In addition there's lectures and seminars, mainly about music and art. The program is so big and my time – due to work and other stuff – very limited, that it's almost impossible to see more than a small fracture of the whole thing.

Yesterday evening Stian, Alex (who sadly is leaving Bleed again, due to some 'details' not working out) and me managed to get out and catch a couple of acts. First off was Svarte Greiner , one of four projects of Stian's close friend Erik. That guy is actually kind of a big shot in his style of music – Dark Ambient – and even created a sort of sub-genre called 'Acoustic Doom' under this particular pseudonym. His other projects are called Deafcenter, Solitaire Albread and Xhale by the way. Did I mention that he also runs his own music label and does some pretty cool illustrations on the side? Anyways, he made some very nice dark, experimental soundscpaes using a violin and all sorts of technical equipment. Quite impressive.

Next up was Manhattan Skyline, a so-called Mathcore band of which one of the guitairst happens to be an ex-Bleed designer. Yupp, Oslo is small. The music was a loud, raging mix of Speed Metal, Screamo and Hardcore. At first kind of disturbing but after while somewhat likeable. Last but not least we watched Masselys (sorry, no link), who played some weird electronic funk pop-rock. Alex and me were wondering why we seemed to be the only two people in the whole place who didn't like it at all, while everybody else was going nuts...

Around 1 Stian, Alex and another friend went on to hit some bars but I just wanted to get home. All week I was wondering where from I'd taken the energy for those long hours at the office. Now I was paying the toll. After one single beer I was already starting to get slightly drunk and just passed out on my bed around 2. Happened again today for two hours smack in the middle of the afternoon.

I need a healthier sleep rhythm. Or maybe just more sleep in general.

Cruisin' the streets Oslo style.

In some sort of frenzy I purchased tickets for six upcoming concerts.
Bloc Party. Squarepusher. Girl Talk. MSTRKRFT. Mono. Buraka.
Cause you always need something to look forward to :)



Especially when big chunks of your new (and very cool) project just got turned down due to corporate policies... :(

I'm lovin' it.



It's been snowing for almost three days straight and we're up to about half a meter by now. I guess it's a fair deal – no sun for over two weeks but this white glory instead.

In other news: It's official – I'm staying in Oslo and will continue working for Bleed until July. Starting March I'll even get paid :) Also the first of my three Hero canvases has been sold! What makes it even better, it's been bought by a 'colleague' – a guy from local product designers Frost. Got a new Mixtape out over at Twisted Nuns too, so check that if you like. Other than that I'm still a bit cranky. Feels like something's wrong with my lungs or I dunno...

Last Friday I joined fellow intern Stian and a couple of his friends for a spontaneous after-work concert marathon. First, two acts at Blå and then two more at the Revolver basement. I've never been to that last place before, at least not to the basement, but it was really really nice. Cozy location, likeable people and ok-priced drinks (but hey, it's still Oslo...). As I really don't wanna write butt long reviews of each gig, I'm just gonna throw a couple of keywords out there in the order I saw them play. Check the links for sound bits.

Mark Francombe – post rock, nerdy, guitar distortion, good
John Wiese – FUCKING EARDRUM BURSTING HELLISH NOISE–WALL!
Pashly – enjoyable, cute, bubblegum electro, overly self-dramatic
Controllar – artsy fartsy, bullshit, not worth the time

Working too much. Sleeping too little. Under pressure. Feeling 'not quite there' 80% of the time. Fucked up dreams. Heimat is crumbling. Trouble with stupid fashion mailorder services. Never ending to-do-lists. Uncertainty. Lots of change. Traces of homesickness. Too many faces. Balancing finances.

It's all a bit much at the moment.

At least there's still snow...

As you could already see in the last post, we're having quite a bit of snow in Oslo at the moment. Last Sunday it poured down 40cm of the stuff. About two thirds already melted away again until yesterday, but since it's been snowing all day today everything is getting covered with the white powdery goodness yet again.

Two things that are really cool about snow in Os-low (droppin' some dope rhymes along the way as always...):

A) During the whole winter so far, I always felt that it was missing. I mean after all, I am in the middle of Scandinavia, and to be honest, I was expecting snow from December all the way to March. But with all the gray skies and rain that we've had here so far, I could've just as well been in any German city. I guess, I just needed the snow to confirm the cliché image of Norway in my head :)

B) It's so good to see snow over a longer period of time! Especially in a big city. I think the last time I had more than 15cm of snow for a week in my hometown is at least five or six years past. And I've really missed it! Deep snow just makes everything nice. It cleans up dirty spots, it makes the nights and days seem lighter, it muffles all sounds. Plus, it's just so grotesque how a big amount of snow in a short time can still slow down an entire city and let it sink into a sort of mellowed down chaos. People don't use their cars anymore (here they just didn't bother to dig them out), sidewalks don't get cleared, people barely go out of their houses at all. I love it! When you go out at night, everything is so quiet and weird looking – it feels like I'm walking through some bizarre ghost town and have the whole place to myself. And there's just nothing like wading through knee deep, crunchy snow where there used to be big inner city streets...

Capturing some deep and meaningful moments during the German invasion. Props to Äl and Jan for their picture contributions.

I'll put more pictures from New Year's up shortly. Until then please enjoy these highly entertaining animations with all their lovable characters – Chris, Leo, Äl, Jan, Falko, Honig and myself.