Back in Stockholm after a recording session. Its been a wonderful week in beautiful, but rainy Ångermanland. And working with a solo project is a magic thing. Or in other words - you need to try to keep up the magic when you work with a solo project! When working together with other musicians, in the meeting, with the music, in the space between you - magic sometimes appear, and that is usually more easy because it multiplies.

In this recording - trying to capture my solo performance ”ReBoot/OmStart” on CD - it’s been my main focus to try to imagine you, the audience, even if I’m solo. Because this is music that is very much about timing, communication and a music that really needs the meeting, an audience. The music is all about the small variations in the music that occure when communicating with the audience.

We’ve been trying to capture some of this feeling in the recording by making it in one suite - just like the performance, fifty minutes. With only minor cuts that has to been done because of a distant tractor disturbing the silence. After the first suite recording – listning with ”big ears” and then - rerecording some songs that needed to be recorded again, sometimes because the feeling wasn’t ritght or for some irritating hicups that easaly CAN appear in this kind of situation. We, my excellent sound engineer Martin von Schmalensee at Mahogny Studios, have been working this way and slowly, slowly recorded the whole perfomance, both as a whole piece but at the same time as separate tracks on a CD.

In february or maybe a bit later the CD will be ready for release and at the same time hopefully some performances in Stockholm and elsewhere will follow .

The silent autumn, the moist weather, the cosy and warm feeling at Martin and Ulrikas home (where the studio is situated), some good food, focused working climate... For me, all that felt like it was working in the right direction for a good recording – hopefully I’m right about my feeling!

They way you work with developing your music differs all the time: Sometimes you want to be on your own and do a soloproject, and sometimes you like to be a part of something bigger together with others and sometimes you really want to play just with one other person.

The best is to have all theese kind of collaborations working, so that you can alternate between, and when you need to be on your own, with others, or with just one other person you can easaly do that.

For sometime now I’ve been longing for the ”duo-thing”. I have my solo-performance. ReBoot, I have my big ensemble ”Out of Time and Country” and I’m very happy for thoose two settings, but I have been longing for the ”duo-thing” because it gives so much joy to work with just on other person in a duo.

But its been very hard to find the time to make that phonecall, too speak with the person in question. Why is it so hard to get the time for this very important thing that could leed to a perfect duo I don’t know?

Today I decided that there is no perfect time for this, so instead of waiting for the perfect time I should grab my phone - call my very good friend Mats Olofsson who played the cello so beautiful and ask him if he wants to play chorales togehter with me in a duo. We have both tried to reach each other for over a year, leaving messeges on each others answering maschines, but never got in contact.

(mobil signal ring, ring, ring)
Mats: Yes it Mats
Me: Hi Mats its Susanne
Mats: Hi - how are you doing?
Me: I’m fine, and how are you?
Mats: I’m fine.... Whats on your mind?
Me: I wonder if you and me could form a duo and play some old traditional chorales togehter, like we used to. I really like to play with you. What do you say!
Mats: I would really love that, perfect! I’m happy you asked!
Me. Great, and maybe do some concerts next summer?
Mats: Yes, absolutly, and maybe record a CD as well, while we are at it...?
Me: Great - I would love that! How do we start?
Mats: Maybe you and Sven can come to dinner on xxxxx and we can talk more, and play.
Me: great, perfect, lets decide that, bye-bye
Mats: Bye bye -see you soon then.

And 3 minutes later we have formed a duo, decided to play together, when to play, what to play, that we should record a CD and when we should eat dinner together.

It was so easy, so I wonder - maybe it was important to wait until this very minute that felt as it was the right moment to make this important call?
And maybe it couldn’t have been possible to do it until this very moment? Well, I will never know.

But happy as a lark I will start to tell the world that we have a new duo - Duo Koral - that will start play some wonderful music together.
And that’s the important thing!

Tags: music

Sometimes it feels really good coming home after being on a tour. I'm a person who likes travelling, and I think that one of the reasons for me being a musician is the travelling part, and sometimes I feel that I could go on travelling for ever; Seeing new places, meeting new people, playing good music, learning new ways of doing things, learning new music, eating good food from different places and most of all getting your brain working from meeting all these new impressions. Go with the flow, reflecting, thinking new thoughts I didn’t know I had.

My mother (who probably has travellers in her family), have been moving all her life, she has been moving so many times that she has lost track of the numbers of apartments and houses she lived in. But me - I like travelling, not moving, and I like to live at the same place, one place, not moving. Leaving this solid spot for touring and working and then have that same place to return to, coming back.

So even if I really like travelling nothing can beat the feeling of coming home after being away for a while; taking of your shoes, putting on a big sweater, sit at the kitchen table with your legs crossed, reading the morning paper and drink your own coffee, while listening to the sounds around you that is so familiar and makes you feel at home.

Hoping the summer is good - Playing the fiddle, cooking good food, making sourdoug bread, and home pages has been my summer so far!