Mäläskä @ Radio Haarlem 105

This Sunday, November 25, 22:00-24:00, Petter and I are guests in "Jazz or No", on radio Haarlem 105, hosted by Harry Schoonewelle.

We will talk about Mäläskä, and the program features various jazz tracks chosen by us.

Also some of our music will be featured, including recent yet unreleased live material.

Be sure to tune in on http://www.haarlem105.nl/jazz-or-no/radiogids/programma?1088

to listen to the broadcast.

Mäläskä live at Pletterij and Patronaat

Mäläskä @ Pletterij (Photo by Albert Laanbroek).

Last week we experienced some really great vibes during our Mäläskä concerts.
The inspiring artistic collaboration of some lovely fellow-musicians resulted into an exciting output which we could never have predicted. And that is exactly what I like so much about Mäläskä!
Both evenings were a real blast sharing our musical journey with a lot of you. And it felt good to receive so much positive response.

Monday we kicked off with our full show at the Pletterij. In first instance intended as try-out for our performance at the Patronaat the day after, but as we had the whole evening, we also planned to do a full session for a second part.
The try-out part was Mäläskä featuring Tristan 'Lama Waaien' on bass guitar. This also was the line-up we intended for the Patronaat.

After having finished our threesome of 40 minutes, a break followed.
For the session, also Bas Broekhuis (percussion) and Joost Verhagen (vocals) joined us on stage.
We played around 35 minutes, and took another short break before doing an encore of 10 minutes.
I can try to describe the performances' content, but why not watching the entire (live streamed) concert yourself?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNsfPRsScNY

Mäläskä @ Patronaat (Photo by Nausikaä de Blaauw).

Tuesday we entered the stage at the Patronaat. Performing half an hour as support for the main act, Acid Mothers Temple.
The approach was slightly different, as we now really had to stop playing at the 30 minutes mark, instead of playing and seeing where it should end. Besides, we wanted to anticipate musically on the main act. Which was another challenge.
After the fruitful collaboration at the Pletterij, we decided to also invite Joost Verhagen for this gig.
For both evenings Petter prepared some different loops. None of the musicians heard these loops in advance, so we had to fully rely on the moment.
And to be honest, I think it worked out quite well on both evenings.

This Patronaat gig was also filmed. The material is being edited right now, so this will soon be shared with you too!

Many thanks to everyone at the Pletterij and Patronaat, crew, musicians, Acid Mothers Temple, and indeed everyone who attended the concerts and was part of the experience.

Coming time we are planning to bring more Mäläskä to you. So stay tuned!
If you have suggestions for us to perform, don't hesitate to share it with us.

Upcoming Mäläskä concerts

I am excited to announce some upcoming Mäläskä concerts.

Although we seem to have not been very active recently, Petter and I haven't done nothing in the last months.
A little while ago we did a private gig in Rotterdam, and most of the times we did sessions together in my studio.
Many, many hours of material has been recorded, so it is be likely that we will do something with parts of it in near future.

For upcoming concerts we invited some friends / fellow musicians. Both gigs will be completely different from each other, so if you consider to come to see us, please think twice before making your decision which one you will attend. Or maybe combine both!

Acid Mothers Temple.

The performance we are 'working towards to' is the one at the Patronaat in Haarlem, Tuesday October 23rd.
We will be playing as support act for Japanese space-gaze band Acid Mothers Temple.
For this opportunity we invited Tristan, aka Lama Waaien.
Tristan and I already played together a couple of years ago during one of the first editions of "Pletterij Impro Sessies".
Petter and I wanted to add some more low (by means of frequencies) to our music.
So, when thinking about an improvising bass player, I instantly came up with Tristan.

When we talked about a try-out for this show, we were warmly welcomed by Arno to perform at the Pletterij again.
Mäläskä also performed here with the "Uncle Jim's Cidney Factory" album presentation, back in 2016.
Because we will do a full show at the Pletterij on Monday October 22nd, we decided to do this as following:
Petter, Tristan and I will kick off with a try-out for the Patronaat gig. This first part is aimed to take approximately 30-40 minutes.
Then, after a break and some stage adjustments, we will come back with a second part.
Also inviting Bas Broekhuis (Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder) on percussion and vocalist Joost Verhagen (Grey Lotus) on stage.
We have never rehearsed or played together with this line-up, so on the day of the concert we are trying to find out if this is going to work. Really exciting.
In the case things work out positively, it might theoretically affect the Patronaat's line-up.


For information, tickets and reservations, please visit the links below:

22-10 Pletterij, Haarlem (try-out + session with guest musicians)
https://www.pletterij.nl/event/22-oktober-malaska-try-out/
https://www.facebook.com/events/247992502732564/

23-10 Patronaat, Haarlem (support act for Acid Mothers Temple)
https://www.patronaat.nl/23-10-2018/acid-mothers-temple-jpn-
https://www.facebook.com/events/1813872398704126/

Mäläskä live in Rotterdam and Haarlem

One week ago Petter and I did a private Mäläskä concert at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam.
Our gig was part of festivities and performances at the medical centre, where we played in a nice and intimate barrack on the central square.

Petter kicked off with some poetry, after which we started improvising for the next 45 minutes.
Unfortunately our music seemed not to be attractive for most party people.
With the exception of a couple of attendees who stayed the whole performance, people walked in and out continuously. So in the end quite some guests took at least notice of our music.


After all we felt we did a proper set, which could eventually be used as guideline for our future concerts.
Our next concert will again be attendable for everyone!
It will be a special one we are looking forward to really a lot, as opening act for the Japanese psychedelic space gaze band, Acid Mothers Temple, at the Patronaat Haarlem, October 23rd.

To add some extra power and depth to our music, we will invite one or more fellow-musicians on stage. To be continued, as we are currently working things out.

Information and tickets: https://www.patronaat.nl/23-10-2018/acid-mothers-temple-jpn-

Pokémon Go

Some of you may already know I am also a fanatic (retro) computer gamer.

Recently there has been quite some buzz in the Pokémon Go (yes, I am STILL playing) community around the so-called EX-raids.
During regular raids you can battle strong Pokémon, most of the times together with a group of other players. Some of these Pokémon can't be caught in the wild.
In special occasions there could be obtained so-called EX-raid passes, where a limited amount of invited players get the opportunity to defeat and eventually catch a very rare Pokémon: Mewtwo.

One week ago I was lucky to receive a pass to join an EX-raid, and today was the day I got the opportunity to defeat this very sought after creature and add it to my Pokédex (collection of all Pokémon I caught).

Around 11:30 this morning approximately 40 Pokémon trainers gathered at the location of the Ex-raid. The next 45 minutes became the stage for a nice meeting where a large part of the local Pokémon community gave their best shots to finally get that virtual creature, which caused a couple of sleepless nights in advance for many.

To keep it short: We all defeated and (except for one guy, as far as I am concerned) caught Mewtwo, so I am as lucky as a little child!

A weekend in the life of Mäläskä

Last weekend Petter and I rented a house to focus on our Mäläskä project, by means of creating new music and adjusting our setup / equipment.

We travelled to the province of Drenthe, in an environment with a lot of agriculture, and in the middle of an area where some serious Dutch music history was established.
And because we were a couple of kilometres away from the nearest big city, it was the perfect location to gaze to the very bright starry sky.

Our intention in fact was to get inspired and work unforced on new material when being in a different environment than where we normally make music. Fact is that we have to be productive once we are in my studio, within the limited couple of hours we have once in a while. Last weekend we didn't have to cope with that, which resulted in more than eight hours of newly recorded improvised music.

Friday and Saturday afternoon Petter and I adjusted some of our equipment, programmed a bit, and did a couple of jams together.

Saturday evening Wouter Bessels visited us and critisized the two sessions we did during his presence.

Sunday we got accompanied by Bas Broekhuis, who brought a drumpad and his very cool Oval electronic hangdrums. During the day and evening we did a couple of sessions together. At the moment of the jams we experienced some great vibes.
When Bas left the building, Petter and I did another session, after which we already had to unwire our equipment.

The next morning we headed back home again. In the meanwhile I listened back to a large part of the recordings of all sessions, which sound at least as satisfying as on the moment of creation. These very inspiring couple of days generated many new ideas and insights. And I have a strong feeling that the beginning of Mäläskä's next chapter started here.

To be continued soon!