Silent Call Official Website

2008-07-12T23:14:14Z

Today marked a huge first for Silent Call - our first interview. Intense! I ended up talking to this guy called Christoph, from Germany. I was trying to record the interview for posterity, so I could have something to listen to when I’m home alone and things are slow - but I don’t own a telephone with a speaker phone function. So I ended up wiring up my microphone into my POD; blasting the input gain, putting huge amounts of compression on that - and now, I can barely hear him in there, Christoph, wheezing away amidst all the electromagnetic noise left over from the birth of the Sun, and if You try really, really hard You can discern something while Your mind works in “A Beautiful Mind” decoding mode, but as it’s so quiet You’ve been forced to turn up the volume, so when my unmitigated response comes booming back at You - I tell You, I have sensed the end of the world. And it is no pleasant end.

It was weird talking to someone so far away though - and easy to have little mental images of what the room of the person You’re talking to looks like! All I ever wanted a few years ago was to tell my side of the story. After the Big Breakup, I kept reading interview after interview and getting more and more infused with anger and putrid bitterness - but You know what? I felt none of that yesterday. I was just talking to a really cool guy who listened to our album and wants us to do well.

Thanks for curing me of a real malady, Mr Poeschl. Whatever Your room looks like.

2008-07-12T06:37:04Z

Well, we got in touch with the company hosting the files of our album, and at least managed to temporarily plug the torrent of illegal copies. Fruitlessly, I’m sure, and not for long, but it was important to do something.

And to all our fans, please don’t get us wrong - we don’t want to hide our music from You, or disrespect You, or accuse You of anything. We love each and every one of You and Your support has been invaluable to us from day one. It’s hard to take something away from You all, but trust me, it’s worth the wait. New bands that are just coming out need Your support, to convince the business part of the music business that their investment is viable. We depend on these people as much as we depend on You, and sometimes it’s hard when the blade falls their way. Trust us, it’s worth the wait.

2008-07-11T22:49:18Z

A funny thing just happened. I just did a Google on my band and found out that our album’s available on filesharing. And a funny sort of “punch-in-the-belly” feeling started spreading in me.

The thing is, the album’s not out until August 22nd! Some ‘rock journalist’ took an advanced copy of the album and shared it and is just eats me alive - Give us a damned chance! These days if Your first album doesn’t make a profit You don’t get to make a second one, so for us it’s so vital to make a decent turnaround just to stay alive in the business…

Record companies can’t afford loss leaders anymore, and You need to be making them money from day one unfortunately. I know that for us as a band, the more people that hear our music the better, so from that perspective filesharing is great, since more people show an interest in the band, spread the word and show up at gigs, and that kind of support is invaluable - but none of that, absolutely none of it is worth it if You get terminated by the label for losing money…

And the worst thing is, right now there isn’t even an option to buy it legally since it isn’t out for another month - which means we run the risk of saturating the market before we’ve even set off.

I’m in no denial about the times we live in, I was expecting the CD to show up online eventually, I just didn’t think it would happen this early on - obviously it was someone that received a promo CD, meaning a magazine, radio station or what not, and these are not people out of the business, it’s a guy or girl that should know exactly how broke the music business is these days…

I know it’s inane not to believe Your stuff will end up online, but give us a damned chance.

2008-07-11T09:33:57Z

I’m sitting at home working on some really cool material we’re going to be releasing when our album hits the shelves - it’s a documentary film of sorts, and I harbor hopes to answer some questions that I harbor still more hope someone will want the answers to. Sound cryptical? Well, check it out on our release day and You’ll see

Video editing software is not particularly fun. But hopefully the finished product will be

2008-02-25T17:21:57Z

Hi,

The spring is getting closer, not that dark in the afternoons anymore.
Can be quite depressing, this long, cold and grey winter, can’t wait til’ it’s over.
So, slowly starting to get a spring feeling, which is nice, it’s a strange phenomenon.
Remarkable what a little sunshine can do

I took a trip to the studio yesterday to resume the recordings of my keyboard tracks.
Worked fine for a while until we had some frustrating minutes of disaster
You know, computers live their own lives just like all electronics in this world.
We were about to put my tracks on “tape” when our computer had done some work on it’s own,.. hmm.. easier to blame the dead, right :)
All I can say is that things didn’t go as expected.
But, experienced as we are, (well.. been there, done that) we didn’t even try to figure out what went wrong.
So much easier and less time consuming to just re-record the tracks.
Don’t let the machines rule your world (old Patrik saying)

So, what have we learned from this, eh,.. well, nothing new.
Computers are just what they are,.. computers, can for sure drive you nuts but can also be a wonderful tool.
Use them for there benefits, not the other way around.

Stay tuned,
Patrik

2008-02-21T21:51:02Z

Hi folks,

Back from the woods
It’s quite remarkable how relaxing it can be to just leave the city for a while.
Anyway, 2 new songs on their way and I’m really looking forward to hear the result.
Worked some hours yesterday and finished most of my keyboard tracks.
I can tell you one thing, it’s not that often you hear such a brutal and intense sound come out of a keyboard :).

A funny thing happened today, I actually guided a person (sorry Mikey-Man) in a neighborhood I hardly know myself (to Dannes studio).
It was a tough one but we managed to stay on the road he,he.
The thing is that it’s really dark there in the evenings at this time of the year, really dark and you don’t wanna get lost there.
We had a few laughs then I managed to guide him in the right direction.
Quite important since he’s our drummer and had some work to do
That’s all for now, it’s Valentines day, be nice!

Later,
Patrik

2008-02-15T15:03:40Z

Hi,
Welcome to Silent Call’s studio pre-recording blog.
Here you can follow our progress with the recordings of our new songs that hopefully will be available to you on our next album.

Home again after spending some time in Cold River Studios, Danne’s new studio.
A nice comfortable place with the woods right outside the door if you need some air or to get some new energy.
It’s also quite nice to be able to max the Marshall amp without being afraid to wake up the hole neighborhood as well
Must say that it’s really fun and exciting to be a part of the development of a new song, from a interesting idea to a whole new song.
We started a few days ago to pre-record some new stuff and we have so many great ideas.
Must admit that it can also be a bit frustrating…so many ideas makes you wanna record them all in one take.
But it’s just the way it is, you gotta have some patience.
One thing I’ve learned from being a part of the music industy is that you’ve gotta be really careful and not get sloppy, just let the song take the time it needs.
Keep in mind that makin’ music takes a lot of time, energy and patience but it’s all worth the effort when you hear the final result.
And I’m just where I wanna be right now, with a record on the way and some new stuff that sounds amazing, some a little more progish, some a bit heavier all achived without loosing our touch for strong melodies.
Perhaps one day we can call it the Silent Call sound.

Later,
Patrik

2008-01-04T18:46:45Z

Well, it’s official. I am now officially a Guitar Hero player. Not only that.

A few mornings ago, I woke up early to be standing in front of the local game store sale at opening hour (8 AM), and came fifteen minutes early, only to be put at the back of a two block line! Naturally, by the time I got there, not only was I in desperate need of medical attention from the typically Swedish temperature this time of year, but guess who was al out of what, eh?

Two hours later I showed up at another place, just in time to notice they opened an hour later than I thought. Luckily, this meant I was first in line this time, and hooked myself up with this beauty:

And I can honestly tell all of You Guitar Hero players: You are nowhere near the mark with this game! I was surprised by JUST how un-guitar this game was. Brilliant entertainment, wonderful to watch, awesome for practicing left and right hand coordination, but as a not-so-talentless guitarist I must say it’s nothing at all like playing guitar.

Of course, I’m only saying this, because I was awful at it. But there You go! Happy New Year everyone.

2007-12-20T07:16:32Z

Today marked another ‘first’ for me…

A little less than a year ago I was blessed by the first of what would prove to be very many fan emails. I always take the time to answer every single one, and I truly believe that if another human being took the time to write me, after taking the time to consider writing me - me of all people? - the least I can do, the very least, is to write back, and be as polite and friendly as I possibly can.

But today was a different story. Today marked the emergence of my very first - hate mail. A very unfriendly piece of mail, explaining to me just how unworthy I was of everything I had.

For a person such as myself, who takes pride in always being friendly in my replies to people, such a thing is new. What brings a person to feel so much unrest to write such a thing?

There are a lot of things one fails to understand.

2007-12-14T06:28:42Z

Today we celebrate the feast of St Lucia in Sweden. It’s the start of the true holiday season, as evident by the Santa Claus hat, and Christmas CD present at the time of me writing this.

It’s been an interesting few days. I’m deep into my winter depression, and have rarely felt as useless and crap at everything I try as I do now. The days are dark and short, the nights bitterly cold. I also read lately that December is the month when we put on almost all the weight we end up keeping, due to overeating and stress, and that lesson makes nothing better or easier.

I finished mixing the Zleipner demo today. A great bunch of young guys whose career I hope to have given a small puff in the right direction. There were a few recording technique snafus, but I truly hope that the finished product will be something they will be proud to play with their friends. And so I am magically transported through the looking glass into the shoes of the people mixing OUR album. And realize where they’re coming from.

I also seem to have invented, according to a few emails, a new guitar technique - and I’m pleased about that. It’s important to leave some sort of imprint of ourselves.