Day in a Life

Here's something about life in general, pre-covid19-situation of course. Right now I'm laid off from work and mostly confined home. But I'll write this anyway, now that there's time, and so you'll know what's going on.

Each morning I wake up, drink my coffee with caffeine, find something for lunch, to wear and then hop on the bus to work... Then I work. But after that I'm free to do what ever tf I want, because I quit my job as a vocal coach! And it pays off. We have made some progress with the up coming album. It won't be out ahead of schedule, but I dare guess, that we will be able to keep our promise. That is, album out next summer.

Now I need to vent. I really thought that I would be able to handle a day job and a side job as a vocal coach. Turns out, I can't. I was just too spent after a day of coaching at the manufacturing place, and besides that, also cutting fabrics and sewing as well. Not to mention being in charge when supervisors were on their paid leave. There was much more social burden in the manufacturing job than I expected and I quickly noticed I had much less energy for teaching, which is also a very social activity. Paying continuous attention, being positive, noting the problems and coming up with solutions for them, being motivational... Yeah it's a lot.

Not to mention preparing. Not to mention all the pop-songs I hated, that stuck in my head afterwards. Not to mention all the schedule changes. A lot of things. The thing is though, that it was sometimes rewarding too. To see real motivation and people ready to do the work it takes to be a better singer. To see and hear the results of that motivation. To see the light come up in their eyes when they suddenly notice something new about their voices. But what I'm sad about as a teacher, is that most of the time this is not the case, even with people who pay.

The real energy eater is a student who expects the teacher to do all the work and nothing really seems to sink in. But then you can't really say much, because the student is also a paying customer. And the customer's always right, right? Towards the end I didn't have those ones around that much anymore, only the quite motivated ones, but they were unfortunately too few to continue. It was just too few customers, but still felt like too much after a day of manufacturing.

Besides paid work there is also the unpaid hours that I put into this band and other music projects. These are something that require time. It takes some quiet time with no other distractions to come up with melodies or write lyrics, or just sit at the computer and go through the ideas to see if anything new pops up in your brain. The best part of the day for me would be mornings, when there's now rush to go anywhere. But now I didn't have that luxury. I even struggled to find enough time to practice my instruments.

So, the situation was that I quickly became exhausted. And I had that nagging feeling that it's not worthwhile. That something has to go and that after all, the most important thing in this situation was my survival. Having had that awful burn out a few times in my life I know how much I can take. And with burn out there's this unlucky side to it, that next time it comes more easily and from less stress than before. So I made that decision. It was financially logical for me to keep the manufacturing job and let go the teaching job. But I also decided this way because the manufacturing doesn't follow me home.

So I arranged my quitting before Christmas and told all my students. Most of them understood me, and I hope they'll find someone to continue with. I believe they will, if they really want to. For me, things have been way easier now. I'm in manufacturing until summer, and after that I might have some related plans. But that is still very unclear.

Right now, during this confinement I hope I'll be able to produce many new songs that we'll get to try with Hateful Chains when we're able to rehearse again. I actually have many in my head, or on paper already. But it will take some time to have them recorded etc. Meanwhile we'll also continue our work to get the album out by the time we have promised.

I hope you are all well and safe. I'll keep you posted, now probably some what more than usual.

Love, Hypnosis

She Smiles Video Shoot Part Two!

This is where we brought in the boys.

One tuesday evening we gathered to our friend's apartment, that is me, the rest of the band, director/shooter, two dancers and the make-up artist, and we shot the band scenes for She Smiles music video. Before that I spent the morning by getting some snacks for everyone and doing my hair in somewhat fifties' style. About noonish the make-up artist showed up and started experimenting with latex and my face...

The idea was to create a mask to cover my mouth, so that I couldn't speak, and it would look like I had no mouth. I would rip it off in the final scene, exposing a smiling mouth. It was supposed to be taken with one shot. First the eyes and lips were done and I ate something before a thin film of latex was glued onto my mouth. We realized the one shot wasn't gonna happen, because the lipstick went off right away... But we decided it could be ripped off, fixed and then take the final smile, and maybe there would be something that could be used in the video. After the latex some scar gel was added and then the pale foundation. The final result actually looked like I had a plaster mask.

Now I couldn't eat or drink for the rest of the evening. But the hardest part was actually keeping a resting face and not to laugh. Everyone laughed of course when they first saw me, and I couldn't but react to that. Throughout the evening the mask was cracking and I was of course sweating underneath it, so it would need to be fixed between takes. But it held together surprisingly well after all.

I wore my grandmothers old dress, a black velvet funeral dress. It didn't quite sit on me, but that was just plus. The nature of these band parts was to be the negative side of life anyway, a gray reality where everything is dull and stagnant. Under the dress I wore a corset. That way I would be forced to sit more straight and move in an overall constricted way, hopefully adding to the idea the director had in mind.

Living Room, scene is set

The band members were all dressed up in suits, like to a funeral or old dance music gig. They had some pale foundation on their faces and dark shadows under their eyes, as did I. Like we hadn't slept for a week. We sat around sadly on the sofas around a coffee table and played out the story the director had in mind. We didn't use the music for these scenes and didn't play our instruments, except for my brief moment at the piano, which maybe is included in the final cut, or not.

Although some of the band members didn't have very much experience with acting, it all came together when we concentrated and were able to focus on the moment. The articulate and calm way the director managed the whole thing was a great help in that too. I must say the band were great playing dead in the end scenes! No reaction at all to my efforts of waking them up.

Later the two dancers came in, one of the "naked" masked ones and the breakdance/dark character. This time they didn't dance, but were present in the scenes as characters from the fantasy world. The dark character was painted black again, while we did some scenes with the other one. And then we realized something had been forgotten again: black gloves for the black character! We used black mittens then, and I'm slightly worried about the takes that show his hands...

We did mostly the same scenes and actions that we did with just the band, now added by the fantasy characters.

Photo by Rotkoarts

Photo by Rotkoarts

After everything else was captured, it was time for the final scene and ripping off the mask. The big moment. I stuck my fingers in it and pulled it apart, trying to be slow. It came off quite good, as a single piece but under it was a red jaw and lips, stained by lipstick and sweat. So I had to sit down for the make-up artist to fix it. No eating yet, and I was so hungry! Fixed and ready, I then held the remnants of the mask close to my face and revealed the final smile. 

I was so relieved when it was all over, and first of all I drank a coffee drink I had reserved for this occasion. Then there was snacks and laughter and thank yous and goodbyes. We got it all taken in a few hours but it was the make-up that took the most time and effort. That's why Rotkoarts deserves my everlasting thanks for dedicating the day for this video project. I'm in your dept!

Also thank you for Teemu for letting us use your apartment, Ville/ Solkigraphy for shooting and directing, the band (love you guys) and dancers, for adding your skill to the mix!

We left and went to the store to get some supper supplies, with our pale foundation and funeral clothes still on. People looked

She Smiles Video Part One

Hello there!

This time I will tell you about the first day of the epic She Smiles music video shoot. It's epic because it's taking so long. And that's because it's surprisingly complex to organize a group of people, who all have different schedules and different kinds of day jobs, to come together for one whole day for a video shoot. But I managed to do that once, so I'm hopeful that day two will eventually happen, too.

We still had no location by the time we had agreed on a date that was possible to everyone and I was starting to get a liiitle anxious about it. But I tried one last straw, and contacted the place where we have arranged numerous concerts of contemporary music. To my relief it was available on weekend, and only for a small rent. It is an old liquor distillery, renovated for cultural use and to be rented for parties and such. It has a nice old vibe to itself, red brick walls and a glass floor, under which old structures have been preserved. So location was now taken care of.

The next thing to be anxious about was the costumes. There was a lot of hassle at work because of pending orders that were all due in December. I was working over time and at home there was another sewing job that I had taken. It also took some time before I found the fabrics that I wanted to use. The directors idea was that there would be dancers naked, or in "naked-like" suits, silhouettes, that give the impression of nakedness. So I was looking for fabrics that skaters and ballet dancers use in their costumes, but finding something for a reasonable price wasn't so easy, at least from on-line special stores. But there was a fabric store in the nearby town, where I heard you could find almost anything... So after the number of dancers had been settled and all the plans made, I took a trip there. 

Next was masks, because I wanted to give the impression of the dancers not being completely human. What better way to avoid natural facial expressions and humanity, than a mask? I could have made the masks myself, but I simply didn't have the time. But, there was a store for just that! Punanaamio, or Red Mask, as it would be in English, offered a wide variety of masks for all occasions, and the best thing was I could just walk in and order them into the shop! So I ordered these beautiful Venice-style white-golden masks, made from paper mache. They were a little more pricey than your average plastic masks but they looked so much better than any cheesy glitter thing, that I though it worth the price, plus everything shows on camera, so quality it should be.

The dancers' costumes took a while to make: I drew the pattern and made it into different sizes at home, which took several evenings. next tow or three days I cut them at my workplace before starting the day's work and then stayed there one day until nightfall to sew them together. One of those time's that the thought "Why am I doing this?" crept into my mind, yes. But at the same time I was stoked to see it all come together.

Two dancers and the hooded character, photo by @Rotkoarts

Then there was another dancer, to whom I had another role in mind. The part we were about to shoot now, was a "fantasy world" or "inner world", where everything is colourful, fluidly moving, strange, beautiful. Then there's the chaos, the un-controllable, which we sometimes are a little afraid of. I wanted that black character in the back of the mind to be there. But it should be somehow different in comparison to the strange masked fluid dancers. So, I asked a vocal student of mine, who is a break dancer, to join. Say what? Yes, that's exactly what I did, I put break dancing into a Rock music video.

Me against the brick wall, photo by @Rotkoarts

Then there was only my costume left. I only had the vague idea that it should be something red, so there would be the symbolical red, white /well, whitish) and black colors. I grabbed something when in thrift store thinking hmmm, maybe... I would have made some tearing and shredding to it but time was running short. In the end though, it worked perfectly with the make up and glitter stuff that was glued onto my face. A red strapless dress with some tulle underneath the hem, just needed to widen it a little and stick some bones into it, so it would hold up somehow. Should have stuck more bones, but yeah, no bones and no time to get them.

I had actually worked over time so much that I could take a day off before the shooting day. That was a real relief! I could sleep in and not worry about looking like a ghost on camera. And I had enough time to make sure that everything was in order. Like, dying my roots red to match the red dress. Then, two messages from the dancers came in, telling that they weren't able to come the next day after all. No! But phew! Luckily there were still three left. Always good to ask more people than you really need, I guess. 

Saturday morning was glorious. We arrived early at the scene with the guitarist to check everything out. There were some furniture around so first we had to move them into storage. Then arrived the make-up artist, the shooter/director and drummer, whose role was to be the handyman. First thing he asked was "Did you make sure we can use the smoke machine?" And to my horror I realized I hadn't! I called the places manager but it turned out the smoke detectors couldn't be turned off. So we had to do what we could with the lights and space without the smoke. Pity, but I think it will turn out fine. And I think it can be added later, if necessary.

Director and Drummer setting up the lights, photo by @Rotkoarts

Guitarist went to get some snacks and coffee for everyone, and I sat on a table to be painted. While sitting there the dancers arrived and started to get into their costumes. Luckily the masks fit their faces quite well and gave just the air of mysticism that I had in mind. My make up took some time, so when the lights were all set up, the dancers went to try the space out and shoot some material without me. The make-up art was all about red, with glittering glue-on gems and a "lizard" pattern, patted with darker red eye shadow through fishnet stockings. There was red on my forehead and neck too, which was good since my scalp was all red from dyeing.

Photo by @Solkigraphy

Everything set, we started shooting the parts with me and the dancers. The director has this knack of articulating his ideas and directions in a calm, clear manner, so that no-one really felt insecure about what they should do. We did all kinds of angles, close-ups and distant, with me and the dancers, and separately. The space turned out to be really diverse, even without the smoke. The brick wall, the glass floor with lights underneath, the iron staircase going up to a balcony with a glass floor, the iron ladder on the wall: Everything was used to get interesting angles and shots.

Taken from the upper level, photo by @Rotkoarts

In the afternoon the break dancer arrived and sat down for make up. His face was to be painted black. He had with him a black shirt and a cool hoodie and I had prepared black pants to go with them. The outcome was nice! Had a little scary air to it, which was my intention all along. We then took the shots where he did the break dance. I noticed there was some trouble and he seemed a bit uncomfortable. Then he asked for water and I realized it was all because the glass floor was too slippery for him to dance with only socks on. Which was because his shoes were white. Should have prepared for that too, but yeah, always something is forgotten. We got him the water and he wet his socks, which made the break dancing much easier.

He's dancing the dance, photo by @Rotkoarts

Photo by @Rotkoarts

We then took different shots with me and the hooded character, him with the dancers and alone, and all of us together. In between we of course took a ton of pictures, especially the make-up artist whose job was now just to watch and see that nobody's make up was running. Me, I'm so bad at taking pictures, let alone posting on Instagram all the time. Something I should correct, I know. But there were a ton of photographs from the shooting day and I luckily got the permission to use them on social media, so I was able to share what we did.

Photo by @Rotkoarts

Photo by @Rotkoarts

Photo by @Rotkoarts

When everything was on camera, we ordered some pizza and cleaned the place up. There wasn't much, except the leftover snacks and all the stuff we brought in. At this point people had befriended each other and were happily chatting, while eating the pizzas and cleaning the make-up. I decided that the dancers could keep the costumes to them selves. They would have much more use of them than my closet, and I had two leftover suits. The masks, however, I kept to myself.

All the masked dancers, Photo by @Rotkoarts

Photo by @Rotkoarts

When all was cleaned up and everyone outside I closed the place up and left to another town to play a gig! Crazy, but there weren't really other options. I was so tired after a whole day of shooting but it also gave me this energy, that you get when you do creative things with other people. Completely different from the low vibes you get after a long day of working and nothing really going forward. This, though, was a huge step forward! We now had almost half of the material that makes She Smiles music video!



And the thanks for that belongs to:

Ville: director,cameraman
Minna: Rotkoarts, make-up
Jani: handyman, lights
Kimmo: snacks, audio
Dancers: Laura, Assi and Saija
Sami: breakdance

also, but not least: Pro Manilla Säätiö, which rented us the spectacular location

Thank you!!!

Next week we'll be shooting the band scenes!!

Flora

Photo by @Rotkoarts

Photo by @Rotkoarts

Photo by @Rotkoarts

After Christmas Party

While on vacation, I'll take the opportunity to tell you guys all about the video shoot, part one, and also what's going on in the band and life in general.

But first things first: We have released our fifth single Good People on December 13th. At last. And I didn't even warn you here, even though I tried to give several warnings on social media. No reviews on that yet, but it took some time with It's All Right as well, so I'm hopeful. Either way, it's a relieve to have gotten it out.

In our media release I described the song as follows:

"Good People, HC:s fifth single is about everyday hypocrisy, describing the lengths we all go to explain to ourselves that we are actually good people, but fail to see the brokenness of our dark hearts. Enjoy the gloom!"

In a way, Good People is a really uncomfortable song. Everybody tells themselves the story that they are good people, and that it's the others who do the bad stuff. Or at least that they're not as bad as that next guy, whose mistakes have taken them down the rabbit hole. In almost biblical terms, there is none that can say that they're truly good people, because we have all made mistakes. We are all somehow broken, either from something done to us or something we have done to others, and ourselves.

But seeing the wounds is difficult. Really seeing the wounds that haven't healed and those that we keep slashing open all over again by repeating our mistakes and harmful patterns. Looking yourself in the mirror and seeing the reality of that warped and cracked image is very hard. And that is the only way to change. Like with addiction: you can't change unless you admit you have a problem.

In Good People I tried to express how we as human beings collectively live in a state of denial. Admitting our mistakes and challenging the way we think and believe is one of the hardest things for us. We all do this, we all think we are good people. And yet, no one can claim they are perfect. In the lyrics is also hidden the fear, that if we as a collective human race don't change our ways, things will go down hill. Which is obvious by now, if you're not in denial of what the researchers are saying about the state of the planet.

The song is old, the lyrics written about four years ago. I recognize now that the worldview I had then was a little more black and white than it is now. Hopefully. At least now I can say that I believe that there is also none that is completely without hope, that there is a spark of light inside the darkest hearts, a memory of something good. And I believe there's hope for us collectively too. There are also good news around the world. Achievements are made in every field. We have all the tools we need to change, for the better. It all comes down to choice, which is a whole another debate in itself. But let's just say that this song, Good People, comes from a bit darker place than where I am now, and maybe I'll write something lighter in the future. Or maybe my lot in life is to mourn for the world. Deal with it.

So, that's quite a lot about the lyrics. What about music?

Well, the working title was "Goth-queen song" but I don't know where that came from. Maybe it's because first there was a bass line, which reminded me of Queen, but could just as well be inspired by Jackson's Billie Jean. Moving, rolling, on top of that very basic guitars and plain song. That's the verse. Then comes something that I would call a "Siouxsie-moment" due to it's heavy influence by none other than Siouxsie and the Banshees. Which is basically O-O-Oooo singing and some kling-klang-kling-instrument, which then expands to chorus, more heavy, more distortion in guitars. But I won't let you rest here. After this comes more O-O-Oooo and acoustic guitars. We actually had some debate within the band about which part is actually the chorus and which is the bridge. I guess it's for the listener to decide, but hopefully we achieved a satisfactory compromise with that...

At the very end of the song, when you think it's all over, in comes the choir. It's a piece of it's own but has been there from the start. The text is basic Kyrie Eleison, which is a basic part of a Mass. Due to the classic background it felt quite natural to put it there. And also suitable was to record it in a church, which I wrote about in the last piece. We also recorded some clips of my singing in there, which kind of formed a bridge, soundwise, between the last bit of the song and the choir piece. As I wrote before, Aino-kuoro from Turku recorded it very professionally.

While mixing and re-recording some guitars our guitarist/producer came up with some great guitar lines for the chorus. In my opinion, the final touch, really gave the song a more goth air to it. The mastering was in the end done by Waudio Mastering, a very experienced and popular sound engineer in Finland. We decided to give some new direction a try, and yes, the result was indeed very good. Oh yes! So good that we actually decided to release it as a single.

So I had to start thinking about the cover. That was a thinking process in itself. There was so much I wanted to say with the cover, let alone the song. It felt impossible to grasp the message within a single image. But then I remembered the photographing experiments I did in Spain the previous summer, when I accidentally broke a wine glass. i took the one with the best light and just slightly adjusted some color balance and contrast. I didn't even have to do much, the picture summarizes the message.

Now, Good People is in the air, on Bandcamp and Spotify, and all major platforms. Go and have a listen. And be good to each other.

https://hatefulchains.bandcamp.com/track/good-people


Next time, I'll write about the video shoot, promise.

Love, Flora