#and the last time we had a big performance was before COVID

[toastlover21]

THERE IS A 25% CHANCE MY CRUSH MISSES ME!!!

that is all

[katyatalks]

Otomedia Autumn 2022 - Mob Psycho 100 III Interviews [Translation]

Otomedia Autumn 2022 contains three interviews with Mob Psycho 100 staff - one with Character Designer Kameda Yoshimichi, one with the voice actors of Mob and Reigen (Itou Setsuo & Sakurai Takahiro), and one with the new director Hasui Takahiro. The interviews contain information regarding season 3 and what we should look forward to seeing.

Translation below!

Short interview with Character Designer Kameda Yoshimichi

Q: The key visual for season 3 is quite drastically different to those of seasons past, isn’t it.

“The order I received was, ‘just Mob-kun this time around.’ I wanted to make it a piece filled with the vibe of season 3’s climax… as a result there’s meaning to be found throughout it (laughs).”

The focus point of the piece is that flipping it 180 tells another story.

Plenty for people who have already read the manga to read into.

Q: How do you feel the response to season 3 will be?

“It’s a serious story, I feel like the atmosphere is a little different to what we’ve seen up to this point. We’ll be revisiting some of the deeper themes touched upon earlier, so I implore those of you new to the world of Mob Psycho 100 to watch seasons 1 and 2 before getting into this season! Season 3 is less about ‘fighting with the enemy’, and more about the relationships between characters, ie. ‘How have the people around me changed and how will they continue to?’ I think it’s the kind of story that will impact just about anyone.”

“A review thus far of Shishou and Deshi” Itou Setsuo (Mob) x Sakurai Takahiro (Reigen)

Q: After 3.5 years, Mob Psycho 100 is back! Please tell us how you felt when you knew the third season was greenlit.

Itou; “For me it felt like ‘thank you for waiting!’, even though I was waiting too (laughs)”

Returning for season 3 felt completely natural to both Itou and Sakurai. It didn’t feel like years had passed, and since there was no huge change in who was primarily working on the show, the atmosphere was as if they had just recorded last week.

Q: Did you feel any change when you were recording your lines?

A big change for season 3 was that the cast were not able to record together thanks to COVID. Since the cast were unable to play off one another’s performances in a natural way, Sakurai worried about what this would do to the quality of the voicework.

Q: In season 3, Serizawa is added to the ‘Spirits & Such’ team.

Sakurai considers that Serizawa has become a bit of a mascot for Spirits & Such, alongside Mob. He then states they’re all kind of mascots.

He states how difficult a thing it is for someone to now be the boss of two people instead of one, and though you might have to squint, you can definitely see this as a visible culmination of Reigen’s growth. “He’s changed a bit. It’s difficult for me to put into words.”

Regarding Serizawa, Mob gets to experience exorcism ‘together’ thanks to him in season 3. In an upcoming scene where the two of them do perform an exorcism together, it’s a nice way to give tangible evidence that Mob’s group of allies has grown.

Itou describes season 2’s Serizawa as having “a low centre of gravity”, and follows this up by saying season 3’s Serizawa has lightened up.

With Serizawa’s arrival, Spirit’s & Such is now home to the strongest espers in the story (Mob and Serizawa given as the visual example).

Q: Please tell us more about the changes that the characters go through in season 3.

The changes the characters go through is said to be subtle, and this is where the story sources drama from this time around. On a total rewatch it’ll be clearer.

Q: Tell us what we should look forward to seeing in season 3 (mid-way only).

Season 3 will begin with a ‘slice of life’ vibe for Mob before delving into something deeper. Season 3’s overall atmosphere is described as “incredibly intense”.

A particular back and forth that Mob and Dimple have in season 3 is Sakurai’s favourite part of the series. “ONE-sensei really knows how to pierce you.”

Hasui Takahiro’s Directorial Recipe

Q: You’re the director now for season 3, how was this for you in practice?

More difficult than he thought it would be - lots of back and forths with Tachikawa Yuzuru.

One idea that Tachikawa came up with regards Serizawa. “At the start of the season there are some episodes that feature Serizawa and some action scenes that the manga isn’t explicit in showing us, so Tachikawa-san came up with the idea that Serizawa should utilise a particular item from the OVA in these scenes. This became a key item, and is Serizawa’s new ‘weapon’.”

Q: Tell us what we should look forward to seeing in episode 1.

“As it’s been a while since season 2, episode 1 of the new season acts as a kind of refresher/reintroduction to the world of Mob Psycho 100. [...] As in, an evil spirit appears, it gets exorcised, Reigen gets in a scuffle, then there’s the appeal of the crazy strong characters (laughs). Tachikawa-san is very good at understanding these crazy strong characters and making them even stronger.”

Q: Please tell us something you were picky about with season 3.

Seasons 1 & 2 are very important for season 3, so callbacks were necessary. You see it with the OP, and you’ll see it with the ED which is very reminiscent of season 1’s ED.

“Up until now huge-scale action scenes have been a selling point of the show, but season 3’s focus is on ‘Kageyama Shigeo’. Season 3 progresses with Mob as a person.”

“As the season progresses you’ll see that Mob hasn’t decided what path exactly he wants to take. How will he choose his path, and finally what perspective will he have? It’s the kind of story that’ll show you this.”

(A huge thank you to @noloryno for being so quick with the magazine scans <3)

[wildpeachfarm]

Hi! I hope you’re doing good

I’ve seen a few anons mention how it’s okay to only be here for Dream/dteam. And how a lot of the other Minecraft-based CCs are seemingly jealous of all the success Dteam have had, and think that deplatforming them will make way for us to move to their content. And I want to say I agree.

I became a fan of (dream first, then SNF) them in 2020 when it was peak Covid time. I was a sophomore in college, and my brother was in kindergarten; I was trying to find things to relate with him, and stumbled into the Minecraft sphere, cause he likes Minecraft. I was hoping to find someone current and semi-child friendly, and I stumbled upon dreams videos. I watched them first before showing them to my little brother, and after deciding I liked them, we now watch dreams videos together.

As someone who had limited access to the internet as a kid, and knows like next to nothing about Minecraft, I’m really only here for Dteam. Cause I enjoy their content and it brought my brother and I closer. If I stop being a fan of Dteam, I’m honestly probably going to just leave the Minecraft sphere altogether, considering Dteam are what’s keeping me here (not that I haven’t met some amazing people, but you get what I mean).

It’s very telling the agenda of these CCs the more I become offline and take a look at the bigger picture. I said this earlier, but their content is based on a fleeting hatred for the internets current punching bag. If they ever stop expressing hatred or, god forbid, Dteam get deplatformed, all the “fans” they think they had will be gone. Because with no common perceived enemy, there’s nothing keeping them tied to those creators. And so they’ll go back to whatever they were doing before-hand.

I wanted to extend some semblance of sympathy to these CCs, cause it’s really hard to make a career out of this, but they’re also going about it the wrong way, and my sympathy doesn’t exist anymore. If the only content you have is performative activism, then maybe you should consider a different career path.

Adding on to that, let’s say I do stop watching Dteam, or the “behind the scenes” stuff wasn’t just petty grievances. Why would I then go watch the people that have been harassing, bullying, threatening the same people I was just a fan of the entire time I was their fan? If dteams morals are so bad, what makes theirs any better? And why would I support theirs, when I wouldn’t support someone else’s bad morals? (Again, hypothetical, cause I’m still a fan and all the “bts” stuff ARE petty grievances).

They’re so blinded by their hatred and jealousy that they cannot see they’re destroying their own careers with this. There’s a reason outside of Twitter, a lot of people don’t know who these creators are, and the only reason they do is because they stick their noses everywhere.

It’s become apparent the last few weeks that outside of Twitter- where their core fanbase IS NOT- people are seeing these CCs for what they are and it’s driving them away from any content they might produce. They’re driving away potential fans acting like this, and they can’t even see it, cause they’re so focused on dteam (mainly dream). Maybe focus on your own career, before trying to take down someone else’s, especially when you have nothing career-ending over them.

So again, why would I stop being a fan of people I liked for so long, and stuck around for the good, bad, ugly, and sometimes dangerous (gotta love doxxing /sar), to immediately go be a fan of people that contributed to the absolute onslaught of horrid treatment of the people I was a fan of? It doesn’t make sense.

Unlike them, I’m not going to compromise my morals and make a big public spectacle to then privately do the opposite. I dropped Wilbur after Shelby came out with her story. I was more than willing to drop Dream if his allegations were proven correct, and the same goes for George. That’s what these CCs don’t understand. I’m a human first before I’m a fan. And that humanity stays with me wherever my interests take me.

Sorry it’s so long; I know you probably have a lot of asks. But still appreciate you taking the time to read this anyway.

Have a good day, my favorite source of tea!

-L :)

Thank you for sharing L ! I think you bring up some very good points about consuming content/CCs and just Being A Person

[felassan]

Electronic Arts Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call (August 1st)

This happened today and Dragon Age was mentioned in the opening Prepared Remarks section of the call (emphasis mine):

"To do more extraordinary things for our people, players and communities, our teams are building the strongest pipeline in the history of EA to drive multi-year growth. Over the next few years, we will launch numerous experiences that grow and deepen the fandom of our legendary IP. Our multi-year targeted investments toward our biggest opportunities include global titles like blockbuster storytelling from Dragon Age, incredible skateboarding gameplay and social connection from skate, and a revival of EA SPORTS College Football that celebrates the action, culture and tradition of the sport like never before. We’re also hard at work on a new experience from The Sims that will transform what players can do with creativity, a sprawling action adventure Iron Man game, a reimagination of Battlefield as a truly connected ecosystem, and the expansion of the Apex Legends universe across platforms, geographies, and modalities of play. The most recent reveal of our Black Panther project — set in a massive, explorable universe — marks the latest chapter in EA’s collaboration with The Walt Disney Company and the Marvel Games team."

[source and full Prepared Remarks transcript]

Dragon Age was then mentioned during the Q&A section of the call (emphasis mine):

Q: "Last quarter it was noted that players were concentrating their spend on major franchises. Just wanted to see first if there was any update to that? And then, Andrew, in your commentary you highlighted a goal for Apex as an experience across platforms, I'm assuming that includes mobile as well, so can you speak to how you envision potentially relaunching that title on phones and how the approach could differ to the prior game? Thank you." A: "Yeah, so let me touch on the first part. I do think we continue to see big titles getting bigger, and live services getting bigger, and certainly as a company with a broad portfolio of large-scale IP and large-scale live services, we believe that we will be long-term beneficiaries of that trend. You know, that doesn't mean that we won't build smaller titles over the course of time. There are these incredible stories that we believe should be told in the context of entertainment. We are focusing our investment so that we can build a cost-base around those that's appropriate, but we're also really getting behind our biggest opportunities, and as we've talked about, our strategy and building these experiences that entertain massive online communities. Our expectation is that will be a large scale growth driver for us. But, you know, when thought about the right way, games like, you know, Dragon Age, and Jedi, can tell truly blockbuster stories and really break into that top category of games. I think what we see today is the mid-tier and lower games that, you know, maybe did pretty well through Covid because people had a lot of spare time - they're the part of the industry that really aren't doing and performing as well. And as we think about our future, you should expect that we'll continue to focus our investments and our energy and our resources against these big opportunities because we do believe that is where the industry is trending."

[source: call audio webcast]

There were no further mentions of Dragon Age, Mass Effect or BioWare during the call.

Here is the latest Existing Live Services & FY24 Title Slate (announced titles), from the call's supporting documents -

[source]

The next EA earnings conference call - for Q2 2024 - is on November 1st 2023 at 2pm PT.

[source]

lastly, when the full transcript of this call becomes available I'll post the link/add it to this post. ^^

Edit: Here is a transcript of the full call.

[aizawasbrattyprincess]

l o v e d  a n d  l o s t

Hello! Thanks for requesting, but I only write full fics, so I’ve chosen Luffy for maximum angst. Hope you’re okay with it (unfortunately I can’t write for Kid, but I hc that Mihawk and maybe Law will be able to rescue us in no time with their abilities)!

pregnant f!reader x monkey d. luffy (op)

tw: very much angst + death

word count: 1.2k

a/n: Contains spoilers from Impel Down and Marineford arc, also known as the two arcs that broke my heart into pieces, which I will never recover from. And yes, the Toji stories are coming!!! Give me some time, I just caught covid and it fucking sucks please send help and save me from my misery :(

buy me a ko-fi?

゜。+。゜゜。*。゜゜。＋。゜*゜。゜。+。゜゜。*。゜゜。＋

No, no, no. It can’t happen again.

Luffy couldn’t stop his lips from trembling as he paced back and forth on the Thousand Sunny, the newspaper now abandoned on the deck, and the words of his worried crewmates left unheard. Luffy wanted to blame everything on the Marines, but he knew he was responsible for his carelessness and your abduction. If anything had happened to you and your unborn child, there was no way Luffy would ever forgive himself. He had been trying to find you, relentlessly hunting down anyone and anything, who had any information on your whereabouts, only to discover your photo on the first page of the newspaper, with the glaring headline: ‘STRAWHAT MEMBER IMPRISONED AND SET FOR EXECUTION’.

Luffy’s heart sank. It had been two whole years since he last left Impel Down, the undersea prison that he never wanted to go back to. The nightmares never stopped — the trauma and screams of agony kept haunting him everywhere he went, harshly reminding him of his failure.

You didn’t save me.

The hollow voice made Luffy stop abruptly in his tracks. Horrified, he slowly looked down at his shaky hands, the numerous red beads slipping from his palms now stained with thick blood. The smell hit him, suffocating him, and he felt the need to throw up. His knees buckled, no longer able to support him or the grief weighing on his shoulders.

You left me to die, Luffy. How could you?

Luffy quickly covered his ears and shut his eyes, begging for the voice to stop. His crewmates could only stand around unsure, watching helplessly as their captain suffered. All, except one. The Knight of the Sea had witnessed everything from start to finish, sharing the same pain and regrets as his captain. There was no guarantee that they could infiltrate the prison and perform another rescue mission now that security had been strengthened. Miracles don’t happen twice. They could only try. Try and hope that everything will work out in their favour without losing anyone’s life. Jinbei took a deep breath before approaching Luffy, a gentle hand resting on his shoulder. Luffy slowly looked up at the towering figure with bloodshot eyes and cheeks dampened with tears.

“We know where she is now. We will get her back, Luffy,” Jinbei assured, his voice determined and confident.

The rest quickly agreed with Jinbei and offered their heartfelt support. Luffy could only nod in acknowledgement, still choking with sobs. Nami didn’t waste any time, handing out orders to the rest to set sail immediately for Impel Down. With her expert navigation and the crew’s swift teamwork, they successfully hijacked a Seastone lined Marine warship en route to the Calm Belt and arrived at the prison without fuss. The plan was simple: Luffy, Zoro and Sanji would blend in with the Marines and rescue you while Nami, Jinbei, Usopp, Robin and Chopper would remain on the stolen Marine warship as back-up. Brook and Franky would be left on the Thousand Sunny, waiting for everyone’s return and ready to make a hasty escape. Knowing her crewmates and especially her captain, Nami reminded everyone not to create a big scene and stick to the plan as closely as possible. Getting discovered was out of the question; after all, your safety was the main priority.

Now disguised as a Marine officer, Luffy took a brief moment to reflect and calm himself down. You were undoubtedly assigned to the lowest level where Jinbei was previously held. Just the thought of going through all 6 levels and facing Magellan (if he were to ever cross paths) again was daunting, and he didn’t have anyone like Crocodile, Ivankov or even Buggy to help him this time. However, he wasn't alone either, knowing his crew had his back no matter the circumstances.

“Wait for me just a little longer,” Luffy mumbled, like a silent prayer, before following behind his two trusted right-hand men and descending into the eternal depths of hell.

Cold. Void. Desolate.

The grey walls that go on forever on Level 6 could barely contain a person’s sanity or spirit — it didn’t help that you were claustrophobic, although that was the least of your problems. Occasionally, you would hear the ear-piercing screams of prisoners from the upper floors, either being tortured or mangled to death by the ferocious beasts prowling around. You didn’t know how long you had been chained to the wall of your prison cell since your capture. It was hard to tell how much time had passed or if it was day or night. You couldn’t move your arms or legs anymore, your strength lost from the lack of nutrition and harsh prison treatment. Neither could you feel your baby kicking, which worried you the most. You cursed bitterly, fighting to keep your eyes open, but you knew you didn’t have much time left with your weakened body.

Alarms suddenly went off, and panicked screams from the guards caught your attention. It was hard to make out the hurried words amidst the chaos, but hearing ‘Strawhat Luffy’, ‘Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro’ and ‘Black Leg Sanji’ were enough to put you at ease. Perhaps, you could stay awake a little longer to see their faces before darkness overtook you.

Gum-Gum Gatling!

Three Sword Style: Dragon Twister!

Diable Jambe: Flambage Shot!

Moves after moves were called out, clearing the guards and everyone else that stood in the trio’s way as they descended the steps towards Level 6. Things were going smoothly until their lift was jammed and filled with sleeping gas, forcing them to use another route. Luffy couldn’t calm his erratic beating heart, unable to get rid of his hurricane of thoughts from being too anxious and impatient. It felt like he had been running forever until he finally reached the end of the staircase. Luffy immediately shouted your name, over and over, subconsciously heading towards the prison cell where he had first met Jinbei.

When Luffy rounded the corner, he was ashen. He had opened his mouth to speak, but his voice trailed off, barely a whisper, as if his words were unwilling to take flight. Behind the rusty bars, your body was slumped over. You were unmoving and barely breathing, looking worse for wear and almost unrecognisable behind the loose strands of hair covering your features. By then, Zoro and Sanji had caught up, hurrying Luffy to make a move before more persistent guards came barrelling. The bars were destroyed easily using Armament Haki, and the chains around your wrists were slashed with Zoro’s sword, finally freeing you. Luffy remained silent as he carefully carried your fragile body, your arms dangling at the edge like a broken doll. He wasn’t a medical expert, but he didn’t need Chopper to tell him that your baby, his baby, was no longer in this world. Where had he gone wrong? What had he done to deserve something so cruel, not once but twice?

Slowly, then all at once, Luffy felt a surge of rage and sorrow consuming him, eating him alive. He yelled, cursing the heavens for being stuck in a goddamn time loop and taking another beloved from him.

You didn’t save me, little brother. And you couldn’t save your child either.

゜。+。゜゜。*。゜゜。＋。゜*゜。゜。+。゜゜。*。゜゜。＋

[catb-fics]

Hello love, when the guys played their last show together before breaking up (which I’m assuming was R&L) did you or the fans in general notice a different vibe or energy between them? Because I’m guessing it must have been hard on all of them to give it their all and be excited and all that, while knowing there won’t really be CATB like it used to be.

Hello lovely, Reading was the first of their last 4 shows (they did Reading, Leeds, Singleton Park then NBHD Weekender). So Reading was the first one back after around 18 months after covid etc.

We noticed something was off straight away, Van didn’t seem his usual self, he had his eyes closed for most of the set, he stumbled over the lyrics (he always does this but it was more than usual). Bondy looked like he didn’t want to be there 😢 there was no interaction between him and Van. We thought nerves played a big part but we knew there was stuff going on behind the scenes but we had no idea really.

Looking back it must have been so tough for all of them. Bob and Bondy had left the band 5 months ago and were standing in and obviously there was a huge rift between Bondy and presumably Van. I can’t even begin to imagine the tensions between them and having to go and headline one of the biggest festivals in the uk (which had been Van’s dream for years). It’s really hard to watch back now 😭 Obviously Bob and Bondy knew these shows would be their last playing as catb but Van and Benji likely didn’t as they’d agreed at the time to play Cardiff with the Stereophonics which they later pulled out of. It’s such a shame they couldn’t all just enjoy it after they’d got to such an amazing point of their career. At some points in between songs the crowd were chanting “don’t break up!”

When you compare it to any of their other performances it really shows. Things did pick up for the other 3 shows but it just wasn’t the same 😭

[beccalendsahand]

Toho Elisabeth 2022: Der Tod Comparision Analysis

After years of being a fan, I finally had the opportunity to see Elisabeth live for the first time this autumn. Me and a friend managed to defeat the odds and nab tickets for not just one but two dates, each with a different Der Tod (It's customary for most Toho musicals to have double, triple, or sometimes quadruple casts of its principal characters in their musicals). It was such a fantastic opportunity to see different actors' interpretations of such an iconic character, and seeing as the last Toho-beth was not filmed and previous recordings have not included every cast member, I thought I'd write up a report here for those curious!

Both Tods, Furukawa Yuta (Silver Tod) and Yamazaki Ikusaburo (Purple Tod) brought new and interesting things to the character that I’m really excited to discuss!

Here we go!

What is Toho-beth?

Toho is a big musical theatre company in Japan who are best known for bringing Broadway, Westend, and other foreign musicals to the country. They have been performing Elisabeth for 22 years now! Their production came off the back of the popularity the musical had with Japanese audiences thanks to the Takarazuka version which was first staged in 1996. The show is directed and translated by Koike Shuuichiro, the same writer and director for the Takarazuka version, but with many changes. The Toho production is praised by fans as striking the right balance between the gothic romance of the Takarazuka version, and the darkness and serious themes of the original Vienna production, whilst still managing to keep Elisabeth the main character of her story.

Disclaimers before we begin:

I have not watched every Elisabeth so my knowledge of previous versions is: Takarazuka: 1996, 2014 and 2018, Toho: 2016, Vienna: 1992 and 2006.

Each of the days I saw Der Tod was starring alongside Manaki Reika as Elisabeth, I do not know how their performances differed if at all when they costarred with Hanafusa Mari

This production had stage kisses instead of real kisses which may have influenced the actor's portrayal of the famous Rudolf x Der Tod kiss scene. I think this must have been a covid related choice, however, it's hard to tell as other Toho productions I've seen recently have had real kisses and Der Tod still walks through the audience in act one… But Lucheni does not walk into the audience or interact with them during Kitsch, so make of that what you will, I guess we won't know for sure till future productions!

Day 1: Furukawa Yuta as Der Tod

My first performance was with Furukawa Yuta. Furukawa's Tod is the most soft, gentle, human Tod I've ever seen. I wasn't sure what to think at first of his portrayal as its so different from other versions, but as the show went on I really became captured by his performance. I left the theatre with so many thoughts, trying to analyze the motivations and psyche of his character, it really made me think about Der Tod in a new way, and just made me more obsessed with the show. I'll try and put my thoughts into words here.

From his gentleness, its very clear that Furukawa plays him as genuinely in love with Elisabeth, however this does not mean that his Tod is not without his dark sides. I think what makes his Tod so good is he lulls you into a false sense of security. He speaks to Elisabeth as a pleading lover and baby Rudolf as a caring adult, but every now and again a flash darkness or anger will appear, reminding you that underneath his human appearance is Death himself.

Furukawa Tod and Elisabeth

His love for Elisabeth is perhaps the first time I've fully understood their relationship. Despite being a big Takarazuka fan I've always found the ending very jarring, as one scene ago Elisabeth says she doesn't love Tod and then suddenly she's running into his arms at the end and singing about their love for each other. Even in previous Toho and the Vienna versions despite the lyrics for the song being different, I've still found it a strange ending, but Furukawa and Manaki did it incredibly. I think as Furukawa's Tod is more gentle, already it is easier to understand why Elisabeth is drawn to him. Elisabeth is seeking independence and comfort, so why would she fall for a Der Tod who is literally pushing her around? When Furukawa comes to her it is always like an infatuated man hoping for his love to be returned, but because he is Death he doesn't know how to express his feelings, and things become muddled for him. I got the impression that he wanted to give Elisabeth his love but sadly he couldn't help who he was, and that part of him that is Death manifested itself still in his actions. Like creating chaos amongst the people, and killing baby Sophie and Rudolph. My favourite scene between the two of them was the doctor scene in Act 2. When Elisabeth says she wants to die, Furukawa says the line “おお、エリザベート、待っていた！” “Oh, Elisabeth! I’ve been waiting (to hear those words/for this moment)!” he says it with such happiness and almost child-like excitement it’s both creepy and sweet at the same time. His happiness in dark contrast to the reality of what he will do to her. Also, this is the first scene where we have Tod do more than just hold Elisabeth in his arms, as he runs his hands up and down her body, a very bold move for Furukawa Tod who until this moment has been relatively reserved around Elisabeth. This really added to the unsettling feeling of the scene, Tod is so carried away in this moment, running about the stage excited to take his bride back to the underworld, all the while Elisabeth is just stood there rigid in shock. Such an interesting moment in the show. I really liked how Tod’s emotions toward Elisabeth felt very consistent throughout the show, it was refreshing to see such a genuine feeling of love from Death towards Elisabeth, even if he did not act on his love in the right ways. The song before Elisabeth’s death again really gave us this message. When Franz Joseph says that Elisabeth is his, I feel that usually, Tod's reply that no, it's in fact him that she loves, is very confident, he knows he has the upper hand over Franz, but Furukawa sings it like a human cry, like he's trying to convince himself. There's this uncertainty in his mind but he is willing it to be true. When he and Elisabeth are together finally it is not a big romantic gesture, it's a very small moment and he gently kisses her and sets her onto the coffin and looks on sadly. He finally got her, but only for the briefest moment.

Furukawa Tod and Rudolf

The Rudolf arc has always been my favourite part of Elisabeth, so I was excited to see how it was performed in this version. This was definitely the part where I fully got on board with Furukawa's Tod and started theorising in my head about what his interpretations meant. As said above, Furukawa Tod talks to baby Rudolf like a caring adult, there isn't the usual sinister undertones that you feel with most other Tods in this scene. Furukawa stretches out on the stairs, propping his head up with his arm, and listens intently to Rudolf when no one else does. A part that I found particularly interesting is how when Tod takes the gun from baby Rudolf and Rudolf faces away from him, standing at the front of the stage looking at the audience, Tod looks on at him, with his arm outstretched, gun laid on his palm as an offering. This is in stark contrast to Shirota and Yoshio in the 2016 version who both pointed the gun at him as if about to shoot him.(something else I just wanna mention is his hilarious reaction to the "I killed the cat" line, Furukawa first raises his eyebrows in shock, then narrows them in confusion and then smiles and nods like a proud dad, brilliant) When we get to “yami ga hirogaru/Fie schatten werden langer”, and the famous kiss scene, it's a very interesting moment. Usually, at least in the takarazuka and Vienna versions i've seen, the kiss is a very aggressive and/or possessive move from Tod. In the 2016 Toho version, it is Rudolf that kisses Tod after Tod gives him the gun. This time Tod kisses Rudolf, but it is, like everything Furukawa does, a gentle kiss. As said in the disclaimer stage kisses are used this time so perhaps that contributed to this direction, but what makes it even more striking is that after he kisses him, he slowly steps back and watches on with a sad, almost regretful look on his face as Rudolf turns to the audience and slowly raises the gun to his head. A moment that is usually interpreted by previous Tods as a victory moment, is painted as one tinged with sorrow by Furukawa. As I said before I get this impression that his Tod is fighting with his duty as Death and this human emotion he's feeling for Elisabeth. And this scene really made me think that. Perhaps he came to care for Rudolph too, but he befriended him for a reason and now he has to see it through. Or maybe in this version Tod isn't even doing these things to get Elisabeth, perhaps Rudolph's death was always his fate and Tod is just doing his duty.

It’s questions like these that really made me fall in love with his Tod. Well done Furukawa!

Day 2: Yamazaki Ikusaburo Der Tod

2 weeks later I was back in the theatre for Yamazaki Tod! Ever since Yamazaki got cast as Der Tod back in 2020 I have been so intrigued as to how he would play him. I consider his Lucheni as my favourite out of all the ones I’ve seen so I was wondering if his Der Tod could live up to his Lucheni... AND IT DID!

Yamazaki put David Bowie back into Der Tod, he had so much command over the stage, strutted around like a rock star and went full commitment to the glam rock androgynous style. The long purple hair, eyeliner, and amazing costumes (black mesh billowy shirt HELLO???!!!!) a bi-icon. I think whilst Furukawa made a completely new version of Der Tod I feel that Yamazaki took us back to the origins of role but added in the Japanese influence. My first impression was a man playing Der Tod like a Takarazuka actress, but as it went on a realised that wasn't quite it. If I was to compare him to any other Tod I’d probably mention Kim Junsu from the Korean production, whilst I haven’t the full show, from the few clips of it I’ve seen I instantly thought “this is the KPOP der Tod”, I feel like Yamazaki did a similar thing, but instead of KPOP it was JRock. He was really reminding me of Visual Kei Rock bands like The Gazzette and SID with his performance. His vocals were out of this world, merging visual-kei sound with undertones of musical theatre training creating this ethereal and at times sinister sound. I think this was so cool to see as originally Der Tod was inspired by David Bowie and Glam Rock which Japanese Visual Kei music was inspired by. This influence has been absent from the Toho and Takarazuka versions with more of a focus on the fantastical elements so it was nice to see that added back in. I must say when watching the show before I had found Furukawa and Kuroba Mario's pop/rock style high notes endearing (affectionate), like they were trying but couldn't quite get there, so it really was amazing hearing Yamazaki sing them like a true rock star would. In terms of acting, his take on the role is a lot more classical, in that this is definitely a Tod that loves chaos, someone who takes pleasure in toying with people's lives.

Yamazaki Tod and Elisabeth

Unfortunately, Yamazaki’s Tod does fall back into my problem with Tod’s I’d seen before, where at the end of the show I was left thinking “yeah but why is Elisabeth with him?”. Yamazaki’s Tod is definitely more obsessed with her on a surface level rather than being in love with her. His take on Tod is much darker in comparison to Furukawa’s, he has much more of an eerie presence and quite vacant expressions that make you wonder what he is thinking. Whilst Furukawa's darkness is hidden by his gentle exterior, Yamazaki’s is all there for you to see. He is very in control of his movements, everything feels very precise, whilst Shirota gave us an in-human Der Tod by playing him with animal-like gestures to make him seem almost like some kind of "creature", Yamazaki achieves this in-human Der Tod by being completely devoid of feeling. There was just something incredibly unnerving about him like you could tell something was not quite right behind the eyes. I think this feeling is best described by this Twitter user who did these beautiful Der Tod illustrated head cannons saying “I feel like he sleeps upright in a coffin…I’m not sure if he actually sleeps though”.

A moment I particularly liked was when he appears to Elisabeth in her chambers and pops up from behind her chair. Whilst most Tods seem to play this as a quick jump scare before stepping out from the shadows straight after, Yamazaki just stays there, arms draped over the top of the chair like “oh you poor thing”. It reminded me of a cat toying with its pray. I think that moment sums his Tod up very well. 

To compare his Tod to the moments I liked from Furukawa, the doctor scene also feels very different, Yamazaki’s Tod feels very confident, he isn’t running around the stage with glee, and he surprisingly isn’t as heavy handed as Furukawa was. Though he stilll runs his hands over Elisabeth it’s a much more subtle moment, perhaps in his eyes, he’s had her from the start so doesn’t feel like he needs to act so desperately.

The song with Franz Joseph is again more classic Tod, he sounds very confident that he has her. I don’t have any analytical things to say about this scene but I think it's worth mentioning that he licks the knife before giving it to Lucheni, make of that what you will...

Yamazaki Tod and Rudolf

So after seeing Furukawa’s interpretation I was so intrigued to find out if this was unique to Furukawa or if it was a new direction the Toho production was taking Der Tod's character, and I'm excited to say, both actors had completely different interpretations! So let's start with baby Rudolf. Yamazaki sits beside Rudolf and intently listens to his story, the “I killed a cat” moment did not get any laughs from the audience this time as Yamazaki played it completely straight, continuing to listen, nodding along as if it's the most normal thing in the world to hear from a young boy. When Rudolf goes to and faces the audience, from behind him Yamazaki Tod puts the gun to his own head whilst watching Rudolph. His Tod is not subtle with where this story is going. The kiss scene was gentle like Furukawas but it felt much more sinister and instead of looking sad and watching him kill himself like Furukawa did, Yamazaki is cold and unfeeling, he turns his back on Rudolph and leaves him to kill himself, alone in his final moments. I re-watched the same scene in the 2016 production to see how it compared and it was very interesting to see that whilst both Yoshio and Shirota turned their back to Rudolf too, they were still stood beside him. Yamazaki turns his back and walks up centre stage and pauses with his black angles flanking him in 2 lines on either side as Rudolf slowly realises what he's about to do and shoots himself. I can't remember what the black angels did with Furukawa but it was definitely different as Furukawa chose to stay beside Rudolf in that scene. It's so fascinating to me how these interpretations weren't just individually chosen by the actor but were actually worked on to involve the ensemble cast as well, creating differently choreographed scenes depending on which cast you saw. Any similarities between them? I think I would have to see the show again to notice more similarities, but sadly that won't be happening unless we get a recording (please Toho we are BEGGING YOU) but the one thing that did stick out to me was they both do this same gesture. I don't know how to describe it. They do this thing where, -again I wish I could see the show again so I could work out if there's a pattern of when they do this gesture- they like take their hand and starting from wrist at their lips run their hand down, fingers caressing their lips, and they kind of have this fascinated/spark in their eyes? I have no idea if that makes any sense...actually that artist I mentioned earlier, drew it on Furukawa here. It's quite a creepy in-human gesture, I like to think maybe he's feeding on human emotions when he does it...Whatever it was I find it so intriguing that that's the one link between them. I'd also really like to know if either of them were inspired by any particular Takarazuka actresses. Yamazaki has a scar-like tattoo on his hand that makes me think of Mizu Tod and Furukawa's whole look with the wig and costumes and even some of his acting choices reminded me a lot of Asumi Tod at times.

Closing thoughts It’s so hard to know who was my favourite as they both had such completely different interpretations, it felt like I was watching two completely different characters. I think for me personally what one lacked the other made up for. For example, as a long-time fan going to see Elisabeth live for the first time Furukawa took me a while to get on board with as his human portrayal meant that he didn’t have the big bombastic stage presence that you expect from Der Tod (his singing is gorgeous by the way, I mean this more in the nature of his character choices mean his performance is overall much more subtle), so going back and seeing Yamazaki gave me that big showman performance that I had been wanting to see. However, Yamazaki didn’t give me the full satisfying gothic romance feelings that I've always felt missing from Elisabeth that Furukawa managed to really pull off. And his new interpretation left me with my mind buzzing. What they both did though was prove that there is still so much to explore with this character and this show and I love how Toho is still letting Der Tod be an androgynous fantastical being when it seems the Vienna productions have been trying to pull away from that in their recent productions. I really hope this production gets filmed so that everyone can see the talents of not just these men but the entire cast, seeing this show was a dream come true and I know it will give everyone so many new thoughts and theories about this wonderful musical!

[lucygold95]

Letters of appreciation from Korean Phantom actors after their first performances. (* I add English translations.)

This is musical actor 전동석.

I sincerely thank to you who were with me on the day my dream came true.

It was such an honor and I hope my heart reaches all the audiences.

I want to be(=will be) an angel of music for all of you until the end (of the performance).

(* 전동석 did Yeston & Kopit's Phantom several times before. And when COVID-19 was around the world, he said smiliar thing to musical Phantom(Yeston & Kopit) audiences: "At this moment when the world collapsed, we(Phantom actors) will be(=want to be) Your Music.")

– 전동석 –

(* 전동석 is a famous musical actor in Korea(He did Dracula(Wildhorn's Dracula), Tod(Elisabeth), Rudolf(Both Elisabeth and The Last Kiss), Roméo, 이훤, Hedwig, Mozart, 준, Gringoire, Jekyll & Hyde, Count Axel von Fersen, Phantom and many other roles).

Also he majored opera as a baritone at the 한국예술종합대학(Korea National University of Arts. This university' vocal department is considered one of the best vocal departments in Korea, along with 서울 대학교(Seoul National University)'s vocal department).

From auditions to practice to previews... The time that doesn't seem to come has finally come.

I had many feelings after my first musical debut.

(* Baritone 김주택(His stage name is 'Julian Kim') graduated from the 'Conservatorio di Musicica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano' with a unanimous highest score by the judges and he did many operas in Italy, Korea, China and Peru(Especially in Italy). But POTO is his first musical.)

Thank you to those who worked hard until the first performance.

Thank you for allowing me – who is still lacking – to be on stage and giving me a big round of applause.

I'll continue to prepare hard and come back with the best performances!

Thank you!

– 김주택 –

I was afraid and sometimes I wanted to run away. (I thought like this:) 'I don't think this is fit for me... It's too big thing to me...'.

I was tired of fighting against many prejudices and stereo types alone.

(* 조승우 is considered one of the best actors in Korea(He is very famous movie/drama/musical actor in Korea. Almost all Koreans know him),

but there have been mixed reviews about his singing.)

But many people, including our team, gave me courage.

Finally, the show started and I took my first step on the stage with a earnest heart. I trembled a lot and made mistakes, but as I said before, I think I kept my promise to do my best on stage.

(* According to articles, 조승우 studied opera and took vocal lessons right after he was selected for the role of Phantom.)

Thank you to those who support and applaud to me even though I lack; Thanks to you, it was a day full of gratitude.

I'll more sincerely do my best. Thank you.

– 조승우 –

+

최재림 did not participate in Busan production, but he will participate in Seoul production.

* 최재림 is a famous musical actor in Korea.

He played Rent(Tom Collins), Hairspray, 남한산성, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, Assassins, 가야십이지곡, Jesus Christ Superstar(Both Jesus and Judas), Next to Normal, Kinky boots, Notre-Dame de Paris, (Musical) Aida, Chicago, Hadestown, Matilda and more. And as far as I know he did at least one opera too.

Because he majored in opera(He began his studies as a baritone, but soon he turned to tenor) at the university.(He graduated with top honors at 경원 University 성악과(Department of Vocal Music).)

Also, he studied acting at the 한국예술종합대학(Korea National University of Arts) and earned a master's degree in a thesis on musical vocalization.

[a-silent-symphony]

Nightwish's Floor Jansen: "Life is short. Time is not endless"

Floor Jansen opens up on her battle with breast cancer, going solo and what we can expect from the next Nightwish album

It’s Friday April 22, 2022 at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland. Fifteen thousand Nightwish fans await a much-delayed live taste of their heroes’ ninth album, Human. :II: Nature., released as the world shut down in 2020. Anticipation is high. The stage will soon be engulfed in enough fire to obliterate a small village. Aside from a handful of dates in Finland in 2021, this is Nightwish’s first full-scale show in more than three years.

Backstage, Floor Jansen feels like death. In her stage armour she looks fearsome – a tattooed Boudica for the modern age. Such a gig wouldn’t normally faze her. Floor, 41,has been fronting metal bands since she was 16. But just now she’s come down with a virulent stomach flu at the worst possible time, and she’s wondering how the hell she’ll get through the next two hours onstage.

“It was unlike anything I’ve ever done,” she says of the stomach flu that almost derailed that post-Covid comeback. “I mean, you get sick now and then, but this was brutal. I don’t know what kind of virus I picked up, but it was a very violent one. I was up all night, and then I still had to travel from Berlin to Tampere. It was horrible.” She shrugs. “But yeah, what can you do?”

It’s not hard to see why Floor gets called a ‘powerhouse’. Part opera singer, several parts rock star – with the dynamism of both – she exudes indestructibility. If Bruce Dickinson had a daughter with Xena: Warrior Princess, it would have been Floor. But there are other sides to her: different personas that reveal a more complex, interesting picture of a ‘powerhouse’ lead singer.

There’s the animal-loving homebody. The thrillseeker. The proud vegetarian. The whiskey drinker. The metal icon with a solo pop album on the way. The Highly Sensitive Person, whose hyper-stimulated sense of the world shines through her performances. The person who, just three weeks before headlining Wembley Arena with Nightwish, underwent surgery for breast cancer.

“I’m always myself,” she summarises, simply. “So whether I run around in jeans fixing a fence, or ride my horse, or go onstage in warrior outfits… it’s all the same. It’s just a different side, as you can see.”

We meet Floor over Zoom in December, as she wrestles with dodgy wi-fi backstage in Milan. “Is it noisy for you, in the background?” she asks in perturbed Dutch tones. “It’s basically one big open box here…” Dark-eyed and slightly frazzled in a grey hoodie, Floor has a business-like streak that softens as talk turns to things like her solo music, her bandmates and the cigars she enjoys with her husband, Sabaton drummer Hannes Van Dahl.

On another day she might have come in from feeding the horses at her rural property on Sweden’s west coast. You wouldn’t fuck with her, but you’d gladly go for a drink with her. Out on the road with Nightwish, there’s a decent amount of the latter. The band “wobble” around Christmas markets drinking glühwein. They rate vegetarian food in Indian restaurants as part of a longstanding curry club. The shows themselves have been jubilant affairs.

“Last night we were surprised with some bottles of champagne,” she grins, “which we then drank, and became very happy…”

It’s all so far removed from lingering notions of Nightwish as some sort of dictatorship or soap opera, with singers driven away by its founder’s maniacal demands. They seem like friends – as in, actual friends.

“It’s absolute genuine fun,” she nods. “We’ve always had that. And there are always ups and downs; it’s like a big marriage. But we’ve been longing for this tour a lot. Especially after the pandemic, we don’t take it for granted at all.”

For Floor, the isolation of lockdown reinforced her ties to the band, but it also kickstarted her solo work. She’d begun to think of it in 2019, following an appearance on Dutch TV show Beste Zangers (‘Best Singers’), but she was still very much a band person, with a new Nightwish album cycle around the corner. Come March 2020, for the first time in her career, she found herself separated from that group mentality.

She spent time with her husband and daughter, now five. She grew vegetables and looked after her horses, cats and enormous Irish wolfhound. She worked on her online profile, communicating with her fans on a regular, down-to-earth level. At the same time, she began working with collaborators on solo material. An alternative, poppier sound started to brew.

In spring 2022 she appeared on Germany’s Beste Zangers equivalent, Sing Meinen Song, for which she sang in German (one of the four languages she speaks in addition to Dutch, English and Swedish). Gradually, a standalone Floor Jansen was evolving.

“My desire from the get-go was to find a sound that fits with me, not something created around me. But how do you do that? So I used up a large part of the pandemic in a trial-and-error search for this sound.”

It wasn’t easy. Ten years of bringing Tuomas Holopainen’s visions to life had left her with phenomenal vocal skills, but limited songwriting practice. Her first ideas, she says, “weren’t that great”.

“I’ve done it [songwriting], but I haven’t been doing much in the last 10 years,” she admits. “Plus I’m in a band with someone like Tuomas. It makes me feel very small, like, ‘What do I have to add to a world full of music?’ So from that insecurity I had to find my way and accept that I am more limited, and that I have different ideas.”

Teaming up with Dutch producer Gordon Groothedde (Snoop Dogg; Katie Melua; Floor’s previous band, After Forever) was a turning point. The first song they wrote together was Fire. A darkly atmospheric, orchestral swirl of intelligent modern pop, with the grandeur of Florence & The Machine’s cover of 1986 dance hit You’ve Got The Love, it ignited Floor’s confidence as a creator in her own right.

“I have a really hard time with love songs,” she says. “I know the majority of pop music is about love songs, and that’s also why I find it boring to listen to. So I wanted to create something that still has a message.”

Accordingly, her solo album, Paragon, shuns frothy clichés in favour of meatier subjects. Fire is about returning to life after lockdown. One song, Invincible, was written for the injured war veterans at Prince Harry’s Invictus Games – originally planned to take place in 2020 in the Hague until the pandemic got in the way.

“It’s inspired by the idea of being physically or mentally wounded, after you’ve just given everything you have,” she explains, “and something that’s left of you has to pick up life, and recover from something that you never really wanted to recover from. I want to raise awareness of the fact that this happens so incredibly often, but also to empower them. Like, ‘You already went through Hell, now you’re on your way back, you are invincible.’”

It’s hard to hear this story now without thinking of Floor’s recent health issues. Diagnosed in October 2022 at a routine mammogram screening, her breast cancer came as a total shock – two weeks before Nightwish were due to fly to South America.

“They [the doctors] said, ‘We want you to come back.’ And the thing I thought, in my naïve brain, was, ‘Oh, they fucked up something with the pictures.’ Never, ‘Oh, they found something.’” She shakes her head. “Not a single moment. Until I was there.”

Surgery was planned for the day after they came home. Until then, she says, the intense business of touring Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico proved a good distraction. The pace of it all was brutal but helpful, and reading similar stories from her fans made her feel less alone – “But at the same time, it’s an overwhelming awareness of how many people actually got this fucking disease."

“I put my emotions into the music,” she reasons, “and also had really wonderful conversations within the band, crew, management, everyone has really been there for me. It’s very tough to do it all that fast, but at the same time it helped because I didn’t have to walk around with thoughts of it too long. Because as soon as you know you have a tumour in your body, the only thing you can think of is ‘get it out’. The whole mental aspect of a cancer diagnosis is shit.”

Back at home, she had three weeks after her operation before heading out in Europe and the UK. Scarred, bruised and exhausted, she was grateful for the support of her family.

“Jesus, how I underestimated it,” she half-laughs, of the recovery process. “I was jet-lagged, I barely slept for nights after the surgery because my system was completely upside-down, you get morphine… So everyone’s been really having my back in this.”

Just a couple of days before the Wembley gig, she learned that the operation was successful. It was both a relief and a wake-up call. In Sweden, mammogram screenings start for women at the age of 40. In the Netherlands, her birthplace –and in the UK – it’s 50. Now looked up to by many, as a public figure as well as a musician, she’s determined to persuade more women to go for their scans.

“On a purely personal level it’s a bit weird, because I’m just me,” she says, of her role-model status. “But from this position, I have the power to make a difference every now and then. I wanted to make sure it has this function by saying, ‘Go and get your mammogram done.’ If I had stayed in the Netherlands, this entire thing would have gone undetected. It was so small when they took it out, but it was growing, you know? I’m very lucky.”

Cancer casts a pervasive shadow, even when it’s caught quickly. For Floor, who (when we speak to her) still has three weeks of radiation therapy to complete, it’s realigned her priorities. “It’s not like I think ‘I’m gonna die’ all the time,” she explains, “but I realise how life is short. Time is not endless. We have it now.”

To that end, Floor is making the most of 2023. After her radiotherapy is finally over, she’ll join Nightwish for 70000Tons Of Metal in the Bahamas. Festival shows will follow. In the summer the band will head to the Röskö campsite in Kitee, Finland, to record the next Nightwish album (which will be released at some point in 2024).

Part three of a trilogy that began with Endless Forms Most Beautiful and continued through Human. :II: Nature., the new album will return to themes concerning our planet and our mortality. Sonically, Floor suggests, we can expect aheavy palette.

“I would say it’s a pretty heavy album,” she muses, “but once again, it’s the multicolour diversity that is Nightwish. It’s all there. It’s going to once again take you by the hand through beautiful stories – whether they are stories from this Earth or stories about this Earth. They’re beautiful.”

Creatively, Nightwish is still Tuomas’s brainchild, though there’s a sense of collaboration around this record. Armed with his demos, the band have been working up different parts and exchanging ideas on tour – in hotel rooms and dressing rooms across the world. For Floor, this has been a happy arrangement.

“I think Tuomas has a unique view on the world and has a unique way of putting that into words,” she says, “and I think he’s outdone himself on that end once again. And also visually, the ideas that are bubbling are going to be of a next level. So yeah, there’s lots to look forward to.”

Meanwhile, along with the release of Paragon, she has solo gigs planned in Europe. “And of course it would be wonderful to go to the UK,” she adds, “we are working on that as well.”

If all goes to plan, Floor Jansen could be a name that reaches well beyond metal circles – paving the way for a new kind of pop star with a darker heart. Once again the ‘powerhouse’ label feels apt, with all the truths and misconceptions that come with it.

“Power is often connected to, especially women…” she searches for the words, “…it’s like, ‘powerful women are bitches’, you know? Maybe that’s the misconception of the century. But a powerful woman is also a woman who is intouch withher emotions, and one who can have absolute soft sides and embrace them. The idea that high sensitivity would be a weakness? That is actually the absolute misperception.

“And that goes for men, too: for men to be in touch with their feelings and to be able to communicate them… that is a bigger strength than [makes growling, macho noise]. That’s going to bring us a whole lot further.”

Between travels, Floor will recharge at home in the Swedish countryside. On cold evenings, she and Hannes sometimes retreat to their grillhouse, light the fire and relax over single malts and a cigar – things that bonded them when they first met on tour with Iced Earth. Small connections between worlds.

“I can say that my happiest place is home, but that’s not true because after half a year I’ll claw up the walls,” she laughs. “I can say it’s on tour, but after a month I really want to go home. I can say it’s onstage, but then putting my daughter to bed is equally amazing at times. The ultimate thing is to have the luxury of both.”

[sunskate]

CPom on Polina Edmunds's podcast pt 2:

Choreo from last year- what did it feel like to have the newness in choreography and those names inspiring you C: they're the best choreographers in the world - they produce good programs after good programs - it was a dream to work with them, they bring such a creative energy every day, from Marie-France, Madi, Sam- they have such a vision and a genius about skating. it's a dream to work with A: last year I was coming from an injury and a shortened off season, so everyone came together to strategize what the best music was and how to connect everything together. We're really happy to have had the team we had, because it made my comeback very good

Last season was a breath of fresh air after a couple challenging seasons- missing Nationals in 2020 because of covid, then 2021 finishing 7th at Nationals, Anthony's injury, though you finished the season strong at 4CC with a bronze medal- You came back brilliantly this season- you went to your first Worlds - talk about the impact-

They were in contact with someone who had covid and found out 3 days before they left, didn't have covid but couldn't go to Nationals. C: i wish my test came back positive because at least then would be missing because i was sick. perfectly healthy but had to sit at home. was crying all the time A: pretty devastating - felt like they were in the best shape they could be in. wanted to redeem themselves from not the best performance at Skate America that year. so having that opportunity taken away was devastating. that was when we made the decision to move on from Igor. hard times make better people, but it was hard. also wouldn't have my dog George if it wasn't for that. C: when they got the call [that they couldn't go, Anthony] didn't say anything, but stood up, said I'm getting a dog, and left my house A: i stayed off social media that week [of Nationals], and as soon as it was over, i drove to Ohio to get my dog, George

Support systems- what was it like to move to Michigan without your parents at a young age- how has that impacted your life? C: when I moved, I didn't really speak English (!!!) was really hard communicating with people, i missed my parents so much. now I'm grateful for the experience- I'm super independent, I can easily live by myself, it's taught me a lot, but back then it was hard A: for me I lived with a host family for 2 years. so it was definitely different but it wasn't a big shock. once i moved away around the age of 15/16, it got difficult quickly, because I missed that family dynamic. I missed my parents, my brother - I took it for granted before. time difference [to California where his parents live] made it difficult. learned a lot of valuable lessons. learned independence earlier

Anthony's injury, what was your mental state through surgery -- A: ankle - 2015 a bad sprain early in their career. neglected it. were finally getting international competitions, didn't want to take valuable time away - fought through the pain, some days it was really bad. got worse year after year. got opinion after opinion saying get surgery. then finding time to do it. figured the end of the olympic quad was the best time. and it was a great decision because able to do things now he wouldn't be able otherwise. [about mental space] - we just had had a pretty rocky season. it was a really difficult 3 months of recovery- really was unsure where the partnership was going, if I even wanted to continue skating. took a lot of evaluation of my life, where I wanted to go. beneficial to take a step back and look because i established clear goals for myself and my life To Christina, what was your mental space then- how did you approach the following season after-- C: the transition season from changing coaches was really difficult. the approach to training was so different from what we were used to. before we did it to please other people or out of fear (!!!) and then once we moved, we didn't have that aspect any more. you kind of have to do it for yourself because you like doing it and because you want to get better yourself. and learning that transition was really hard, and you saw that struggle in most competitions. and getting to Nationals, that was a really hard Nationals, The offseason was hard for me as well - there were a few shaky moments, and I was training by myself, long and sometimes it's boring, but once we made clear goals for the following season and got together, we approached training with a completely different mindset, we dove into what the coaches were saying, of trusting their process, trusting their training and really giving everything we have, and it's really paid off. I'm happy we had that rocky season because it's taught us so much, and now our mindset for training and competition is so different than before

What were the goals you set out- C: we had some results goals, but we mostly focused on trusting the process. trusting what we were given that day, if we were tired, that's ok, it's normal, just trusting what our coaches wanted. that was one of our main goals. approaching competition differently -doing it for ourselves, whatever the outcome with judges, points - as long as we're happy with what we did, that was enough. Results- make the world team. we always told ourselves, if we don't make it but we skated our best then that's ok, and it just didn't work out, we'll try harder next season. those were our goals

And you guys did it, congratulations, high five

[lsdunesarchive]

L.S. Dunes On A Year Of Collaboration, Community, And Venturing Beyond The Realms Of A ‘Supergroup’

Words by Maddy Howell Photo by Kevin Estrada August 8, 2023

Frank Iero and Travis Stever reflect on the genesis of the project, the creative lifeline it provided and the current honeymoon period that suggests the best is yet to come.

With the entire live music industry shut down in the midst of a global pandemic, starting a band may not have sounded like the best idea back in 2020.

As all touring plans ground to a halt and inspiration became limited to the confines of four walls, for many creatives it would have taken something truly special to defy the stagnation that thrived in such darkness – but as luck would have it, that’s exactly how the story of L.S. Dunes begins.

Starting out life as a group chat between long-term friends during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, L.S. Dunes was born from a sheer desire to create and a refusal to succumb to nature’s obstacles. Over the last year three years though, it’s blossomed into something much more powerful than any of its members could have imagined.

“In the beginning, it was a big lifeline,” guitarist Frank Iero starts.

“Our industry was one of the first ones to go and the last to come back, but this band gave us hope. It gave me the ability to be creative in a world that was virtually void of all creativity, and at a time that we were all struggling. Most of us had tours booked, and we were ready to go when the pandemic happened, so when we came home the darkness began creeping in. This gave us a light at the end of that tunnel.”

Creatively starved and writing remotely with no expectations, it wasn’t long before the five-piece realised this was more than just a lockdown project to stave off their boredom, and by the time the first demo was finished – they knew they had something special. 

Embracing a healthy competitive spirit and challenging one another to step outside their comfort zones whilst adding their own unique mark to each track, the creative freedom saw them venturing into new realms of prog-rock, post-hardcore, and emo. As more and more ideas came together, it wasn’t long before a debut album had formed, and with ‘Past Lives’ – L.S. Dunes was truly born.

“I was so excited for people to hear the record because I loved it so much. However, there were those thoughts creeping in before the release like, ‘Are we crazy? Have we been locked up for too long?’,” Frank laughs.

“I had moments where I’d be tearing up listening to the record because I was so proud, but then I’d stop and be like, ‘Wait a minute, this is insane!’,” guitarist Travis Stever adds.

“We had to remember not to put too much weight on how people would perceive it. If you’re making art, it’s hard not to do that, but we were very lucky in that sense.”

With a star-studded line up also featuring Anthony Green (Circa Survive, Saosin) along with Tucker Rule and Tim Payne (Thursday), after the surprise single drop of ‘Permanent Rebellion’ ignited the internet in late August 2022, anticipation for a debut show was at an all-time high. 

Having only practiced in the same room as one another on two occasions prior, a performance at Chicago’s Riot Fest was a bold move for show number one – especially with Frank pulling double duty with My Chemical Romance headlining the night – but at Douglass Park on September 16th, L.S. Dunes took to the stage for the first time.

“It was beyond what any of us expected. We were getting ready to go out there thinking, ‘If there are a few hundred people out there, that’s cool!’,” Travis laughs.

“All of a sudden, we got on stage, and even though we only had one song out – people knew every fucking word to that song. It was exciting to watch them hang onto every other melody we were playing too. It was pretty mind blowing.”

“It’s certainly the biggest first show I’ve ever played with a band!” Frank smirks.

A mammoth debut show that could arguably have gone one of two ways, L.S. Dunes’ landmark set filled up the tank and left its five members itching for more, rounding out the year with further shows across the US and Canada before hopping across the Atlantic for their first shows in the UK and Europe to celebrate the new year.

A busy schedule triggered by the triumphant return of the live music industry, the last twelve months has seen L.S. Dunes balancing their duties with the responsibilities of their other respective projects, as well as fulfilling their family roles outside of music, a feat that has seemed remarkably natural for the five-piece. 

“When real life came back, and we were able to go back to our respective bands and do other things… that served as testament to how much we love L.S. Dunes. It’s easy to focus your energy and creativity on something when nothing else exists, but when everything else came back we still wanted to be a part of this.” Frank explains.

“It’s like being a dad. You’re never truly prepared to have a kid, or another kid, but somehow you find a way. You find the extra love in your heart, and you find the extra time to dedicate to something that you truly care about, and that’s how it felt with this band. Schedules are difficult, but they’re not insurmountable. Anything worth doing is a little hard to do.”

Touring across the US throughout the summer, they’ve come to realise that whilst they have a deep love for this band and the journey it’s taking them on – there are thousands of strangers who love it too. 

With people across the world connecting to the songs on ‘Past Lives’, as they’ve witnessed people showing up at venue doors hours before they open and shared the artwork sent to them online by talented fans, L.S. Dunes have begun fostering a passionate community of their own unique creation. 

“As artists we often wonder if we’re the only ones who like what we do,” Frank explains.

“When people go out of their way to show their support, it’s a wonderful feeling, but it is a bit shocking. In the beginning, I think there were people who just wanted to see what it was about because they were fans of our other projects, but we’re treading into the territory of people just being L.S. Dunes fans. That’s an incredibly fulfilling feeling.”

It’s how L.S. Dunes have been able to shed the ‘supergroup’ label first plastered on them upon their line-up reveal, having proved the project worthy of its own merit through the spirit of their live shows. 

A constantly growing entity, new ideas have been explored within every rehearsal and practice they’ve had, and whilst finding time to record and release those ideas may be a little harder to schedule – when it happens, it’s magic.

Most recently, they headed to the desert to record two new tracks at the legendary Rancho de la Luna studio in Joshua Tree, California, with producer Alex Newport (At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta). With filmmakers Pat and Nick Demarais capturing the recording process for a documentary titled ‘Limitless Sky’, it was the first time the five of them had been able to record music whilst in the same room.

“You need to be in the room with one another to be able to hear things and respond immediately. That immediacy is lost when you’re recording remotely, and to be able to react, evolve, and change on a dime is so fun,” Frank recalls.

“The stars aligned for us with that opportunity, and it was such a fun thing to do within a group of friends. When something like that happens, it becomes a milestone within your band. It’s proof of what you can do if you set your mind to it, and I can’t wait for people to hear the other song that we did out in the desert. It’s a night and day scene – ‘Benadryl Subreddit’ is the days in the desert, and ‘Old Wounds’ is the nights spent out there.”

As the first year of L.S. Dunes draws to a close, the five-piece find themselves in a unique position. 

The product of five extraordinary musicians with extraordinary ambitions, the special qualities of each member can be heard in everything the band creates. Funnelling their individual creative inspirations into a project defined by infinite possibilities, every voice is equal, every idea is valued, and experimentation is the key to forward motion. 

From the passion of their live shows to the sheer joy that radiates when they speak of their future, it’s clear that L.S. Dunes is the favourite band of everyone within its ranks. Proving that greatness can be achieved with the help of hard work, friendship, and a healthy dose of fun, with a second LP already well underway – largely written whilst on the road together – they’re showing no signs of slowing down. 

“We’re working on all this new material, but the other side of it is showing that we’re taking it seriously,” Travis explains.

“You have to consistently be out doing shows and touring, and luckily, we love doing that.

“With all due respect to our other projects, this is one of the funnest bands I’ve ever been in,” Frank finishes. 

“I love the camaraderie within the band, and we’re still in our honeymoon period! You can put in a lot of work with other bands, and although it’s fun, sometimes you need a little vacation – this is a vacation band for me.”

[hellomynameisbisexual]

The 23rd September marks Bi Visibility Day. I’m bisexual, and I’d like to talk about what bisexuality, visibility and inclusion mean to me.

A word on language to start with. Language is dynamic, and dictionaries are descriptive of usage rather than directive. In my case I use bisexual to indicate that I can be attracted to more than one gender (or sex). It doesn’t mean that this attraction is always the same, or that it’s equal. My bisexuality, however, is trans, non binary and intersex inclusive. Pansexual is another word which is often used to describe people like me. There are many (many!) nuanced definitions of both words and anyone who tells you they can tell you what any of these words absolutely mean is, well, at it!

You only need to leaf through the pages of any national newspaper to see why trans, non binary and intersex rights and inclusion is something I will never tire of shouting from the rooftops. But I’m not trans, intersex or non-binary so I would suggest reading Codi’s blog to find out about their experiences as a really good starting point.

Back to my sexuality. As a bisexual, cis (i.e. ‘not trans’) man, married to a woman, my sexuality is not immediately obvious. To the casual observer we are look like a cisgender, heterosexual nuclear family, with a dog: in many ways normal, but that all depends on what normal is for the observer.

Why is that an issue? Well, I’ve spent most of my career (and unless I live to a ripe old age, most of my life) never quite being ‘out’. It’s not that I’m ashamed or secretive about my sexuality – it’s just that I’ve just been in more relationships with women than men, so many people assume that I’m heterosexual. Most of these assumptions are silent, though. I can correct what I know, but if the assumption is in someone else’s head, it stays there uncorrected and unchallenged.

I like to think of it as being Schrödinger’s Bisexual. If I’m observed in a relationship with a man, the observer thinks I’m gay. If I’m observed in a relationship with a woman, the observer thinks I’m straight. This analogy breaks down a little if I’m observed in a relationship with someone who isn’t a man or a woman, but the point stands, that what the observer sees leads them to draw a conclusion which isn’t correct. I don’t blame them – they may not have (knowingly) met many bisexuals before, and they’re very unlikely to have ever really discussed it. I’ve been guilty of making similar assumptions – being part of the LGBT+ community doesn’t make you any less susceptible to this kind of thinking.

I first came out to friends in the mid 1990s. I knew at that time I wasn’t ready to tell my parents, but I didn’t think that nearly 30 years later I’d still be in the process of coming out. A good example of this is the fact I only recently got round to coming out to my parents last year. Between their increasing age, and COVID’s increasing spread, I became aware of their mortality and mine, and I didn’t want to leave things to be the fodder for future regrets. I had the real privilege of knowing I wouldn’t be shunned our outcast (a comfort many LGBT+ youth don’t have, even now). If anything, my sibling coming out as queer years ago stole my thunder! My mum was lovely, as expected, but my dad’s reaction was mostly confusion – why this big announcement now after so many years of marriage? He was fine – in his own way – just perplexed. I decided that I could probably leave enlightening him about non-monogamy for another day.

While I don’t make a big secret of my sexuality these days, many people assume my wearing of the Scottish LGBT+ Police Association lanyard and badge is me trying to performatively show how ‘woke’ I am. I am happy to talk about it if it ever comes up, and I can’t deny that there is little bit of fun in collecting confused looks when I confound expectations in conversations about the attractiveness or otherwise of celebrities (Dan Levy, I’m looking at you!). That approach is limited though – while joining in a conversation about the various reasons why Schitt’s Creek was the best lockdown discovery ever... constantly engineering conversations where to go on about people you find attractive would get very creepy very fast. I’m just fed up with feeling I must come out. I can’t drop my boyfriend or my husband into the conversation as subtle indicators. It’s not that I want a bigger fuss – there’s no need for a full-page ad in press. It would just be nice if people didn’t always assume that I am their version of normal.

To be able to come out in a safe and secure environment is something that too many people in the world today cannot take for granted. For too many people this decision would expose them to violence, to abuse or to homelessness. In some jurisdictions it would place them on the wrong side of the law – risking state-sanctioned violence, imprisonment and even death. I know I’m very lucky in my suburban straight-passing relationship to have the choice to come out safely.

Bisexual erasure (the opposite of bi visibility) is real too though. Research by Stonewall shows that bisexual (and pansexual) people experience unique challenges – including prejudice from within the wider LGBT+ community. While an encouraging 74% of gay/lesbian people are out to all their friends, that figure shrinks to 36% for bi people. From the same research 57% of gay/lesbian people were out to all their colleagues – only 22% for bi people. I can really understand those figures. Even in our values-driven workplace, being out – being your authentic self – isn’t always an easy choice.

There are simple things you can do to help, though. Firstly, try not to make assumptions – and challenge them when you notice that you have done. Believe people who tell you they’re bisexual – it’s all-too-often written off as being a phase, or indecision. Watch your language too! Prejudice isn’t just about throwing insults and slurs at people. Language can cause harm when it’s not inclusive. Straight/Gay are not the only two options – so be careful not to make it seem that way in the language you use. Finally, remember that a person’s sexuality is unique to them, and private to them. Your words and deeds can help to make your friends, family and colleagues feel more comfortable talking to you about their sexuality, but that’s their choice not your right. Pointed questions aimed at trying to work out someone’s sexuality will rarely be welcomed.

Ultimately while I do want us bisexuals to be more visible, whether the person (colleague or customer) who sees me wearing my rainbow-festooned lanyard assumes I’m gay, I’m bi, I’m trans, intersex or non binary, or if they think I’m a straight ally… what matters is that they know to expect a supportive and understanding response if they speak to me about LGBT+ matters. Whatever your authentic self looks like, make sure that’s your vibe.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

WISH Worrying

I'm seeing some folks wondering where the "marketing" is for WISH, the new Walt Disney Animation Studios film...

A movie that opens Thanksgiving week, quite a few months out from now...

I predict the trailer for this picture, a Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn-directed animated film that celebrates Disney's 100th anniversary, will debut in June. If we're lucky, we hear a little something during Disney's presentation at CinemaCon tomorrow.

Anyways, June... But that's so late, you may say?

Let's go back to 2010... TANGLED.

The teaser for that movie debuted in mid-June of 2010, in time for the release of Pixar's hotly-anticipated TOY STORY 3. Then it got a proper trailer in the early autumn. TANGLED opened pretty well and had excellent legs, and was quite popular at the worldwide box office. Hey, $590m+ is nothing to scoff at!

The same strategy was applied to 2012's WRECK-IT RALPH. That movie made over $470m worldwide.

2013. Did it again. With FROZEN... Do I even need to say more?

They also did the same for BIG HERO 6 in 2014, and MOANA in 2016.

They made an exception for both RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET and FROZEN II, though. Both November releases in their respective years, the teasers for those popped up around February.

Then WDAS circled back to that strategy for ENCANTO. They probably would've done it for RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, if it had remained a Thanksgiving 2020 release as originally planned. Before COVID-19 and other complications with Disney's schedule resulted in it being pushed back to March of 2021. STRANGE WORLD did the same thing, first look in June, movie released in November.

Difference is... TANGLED, WRECK-IT RALPH, FROZEN, BIG HERO 6, and MOANA, by various metrics, performed well at the box office.

ENCANTO dealt with the Delta and - later - Omicron variants of COVID-19, while families - tight on money - saved their dollars for something like SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME or even something like GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE. ENCANTO hit its stride after it came to Disney+, after making a so-so $96m at the domestic box office and little more than $200m worldwide (not great against a $120m+ budget).

STRANGE WORLD altogether failed, right out of the gate and couldn't really leg it up. Went quickly to Disney+ within weeks of release. Far past the Omicron variant and with many families back in the theaters, as evidenced by how amazingly MINIONS Deux did and how PUSS IN BOOTS Dos *really* legged it up, what happened with STRANGE WORLD?

People often say "it had no marketing!"

But it did... Two trailers, quite a few ads, TV spots, some merch, the usual. The problem was, none of that stuff got audiences interested in seeing it. Thus it opened badly, and audiences didn't like it much either, hence the poor CinemaScore grade and subsequently bad legs. (It had to be the homophobia, because the movie - while rushed in my opinion - is really no different from most other animated movies out there. It's not like it was some weirdo niche esoteric movie that was audience-unfriendly. Plus, for whatever reason, most sci-fi animation like this has a hard time connecting.)

WISH looks to be what the public usually associates with a Disney animated feature: A princess, cute animals, songs, apparently a traditional villain who is evil and scary, magical stuff all around. It's about where wishing stars come from, for chrissakes. Apparently it's going to be loaded to the brim with Easter eggs and references to classic Disney animated movies, too. I don't know, I hear conflicting reports from within the trenches on this one. Disney's positioning it as some major origin story for several of the iconic Disney animated movies (when the "wishing star" only really appeared in PINOCCHIO and THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG some 69 years apart from another, and I guess you could count 'Faith is a Bluebird' from THE RESCUERS), but other things tell me that this is not at all the case, and that it's just going to have some fun stuff for us nerds to keep our eyes peeled for.

Anyways, WISH seems like an easy-enough sell. That Disney can easily marathon run from June to November, like they did with TANGLED and FROZEN and MOANA and such.

The real hurdle is always the challenge of... Making audiences like what they see. That's actually easier said than done, and if I have to pull that William Goldman quote out again, I shall!

Whatever was in those trailers for STRANGE WORLD just didn't do it. And with families and audiences choosier than ever before, given how goddamn expensive movie trips are, and other stuff vying for their attention... WISH's teaser, trailer, TV spots, et al. will have to work hard to get their eyeballs. Getting the marketing started earlier doesn't mean anything. If it did, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG would've been a bona fide blockbuster and there'd be at least one sequel to it and several new hand-drawn Disney animated movies. The teaser for that movie debuted in summer 2008, about a year and a half before its December 2009 release... But the movie opened with a meager $24m, and had to rely on strong word-of-mouth to eke it past $100m domestically... With AVATAR and the ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS sequel playing next door, no less.

Again, if WISH "looks good" to audiences, then it'll open fine and leg itself up over the holidays quite nicely. I can see it opening with at least $40m over the 3-day, should audiences not determine that all their hard-earned money goes to something like THE MARVELS, or WONKA, or that HUNGER GAMES prequel, or TROLLS BAND TOGETHER even.

We gotta see how Pixar's ELEMENTAL, their first full-blown theatrical release original movie since COCO... Yes, COCO, way back in 2017... ONWARD doesn't count, it literally opened the week before everything shut down. It only lasted two weeks in theaters, and then went straight to On Demand and Disney+ right after. We gotta see how ELEMENTAL does, first. That's the one to look out for.

Disney arguably baked a lot of folks' brains, sort of training them to say "I'll just wait till it comes to Disney+." I think we're even starting to see that with the once-foolproof Marvel movies, too. Again, trips to the theaters - especially for a family - are expensive, and it's a gamble each time our. Your experience could totally suck, and it might not even be worth the hassle. But ooooh, in a few months, there it is! In our living room, on our pretty high quality HDTV! $100+ saved!

It's gotta have a real hook now, a real "you gotta see this in a THEATER" hook. Like TOP GUN: MAVERICK had last year, like AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER had. I hear-tell that returning CEO Bob Iger is trying to restore that to Disney after the previous CEO's aggressive pivot to streaming. I don't doubt that WISH is a priority now, given that WDAS movies used to make bank before COVID-19. Sometimes more so than even the Marvel and Star Wars movies. Ditto the Pixar films. COCO was Pixar's last original box office biggie, and that made over $810m worldwide. A couple of their latest sequels, like INCREDIBLES 2 and TOY STORY 4, easily crossed the big billion worldwide. WDAS' last original blockbuster was MOANA, which made over $680m, while sequel FROZEN II is the second highest-grossing animated movie for the time being.

So, it would be silly of the rearranged structure of Disney's entertainment division to disregard ELEMENTAL (which is screening at Cannes, that's a *big* deal!) and WISH. They both look very "just as you like 'em" kinda movies, in that ELEMENTAL is yet another exercise in the "what if [insert x thing here] was a big city/factory/world with feelings?" template that is often associated with Pixar, and in that WISH is all the stuff general audiences tend to associate with Disney Animation. Maybe not the most exciting things to some of us, but if they have win back paying moviegoers with these old chestnuts, so be it.

Anyways, I hope both do very, very well. If ELEMENTAL does pretty good, we might have an idea of what kind of numbers Disney-released animated movies are capable of scoring in a post-Disney+, post-outbreak world.

[b-sai-des]

An Interview with Lilith a.k.a nicho santos is dead (pt1)

Earlier this week I had a really in depth and insightful conversation with a good friend of mine from high school, Lilith Santos (they/them), an experimental hip-hop producer studying music production at Berklee College of Music in Boston. They’ve been doing a lot of really interesting work with their solo albums and collaborations with different artists, and I was really grateful to hear from them about a variety of different topics like their collaborations, their personal journey as an artist, elements of their particular approach to production, and their personal philosophy as an artist and a person. 

We started catching up on what we’ve been up to. Lilith said that they’ve been busy with a lot of classes, but they’re doing some upcoming shows in Boston as well.

I’ve gotten to know Lilith pretty well these last few years, and one of the things I’ve always admired about them is their authenticity and sense of community. In our big and close-knit high school friend group I’ve definitely felt this, and Lilith spoke a lot here about the way that they look at things and how that’s shaped and been shaped by their journey with music. 

I know you've been working with a lot of different artists lately, like Annie Elise, Maz, Ghais Guevara, and asoookha. Is there a particular story when you met one of these artists? What was the start of one of those creative collaborations? 

Oh, for sure. I could give you the answer right now. I could do it for all of them, actually. It's not that deep. If we're thinking chronologically, then the oldest person that I know from these two, it has to be Annie, Annie first. Annie is someone that I met online during the peak of the COVID pandemic and all that whole jazz and stuff. And it was a Discord server that I would regularly flock to because I did moderate in that (laughs) as lame as that sounds. Jokes aside, I am very proud of doing my role in the community for that amount of time. And actually, Annie is the person that convinced me to go to Berkeley to begin with. 

Oh, wow. 

Yeah, she was the person that was actually willing to encourage me to audition, do all the stuff that I had to. But it kind of just started off on like a very mutual basis. Like we had friends of friends, she was at Berklee at the time before she dropped out. And, you know, we would talk a lot, but nothing really would suffice until I really got into Boston.

Now, maybe it was like a couple months before I got to Boston. And keep in mind the mindset that I was, I just had gotten out of like an eight-month relationship and she had just gotten out of like a three-year relationship. I told this story to a lot of people because it's really funny how we ended up coming with this idea [their music project, The Heartmenders] to essentially cope with our loss of partners, but also the gain of our fruits of a new life, essentially. And what happened was I was visiting Boston beforehand, just to kind of check out the school, visit Annie and all that. And I remember the first night that I arrived there, I'm driving over to her place, I'm trying to find parking and I get a text and she's like, “Sorry if I seem upset today. I just got broken up with.”

And I'm like, holy shit, that couldn't have been more insane timing than what happened to me. So, you know, being a friend first, I listened to her. We went out to get pizza,  it was like this whole, it was a really nice night. I look back at that night with such fondness and joy, but in retrospect it really was the start of everything. 

Cause I remember she would text me two months later, on and off talking. This was after I got into Berklee. After she helped me with my audition process, the year prior, she was like, “You know, well, since my ex doesn't have the performance privileges to be with me anymore, do you want to perform with me?” Already getting a gig opportunity before school started was crazy to me, and I'm so fucking grateful for this moment in our friendship. I'm very grateful for her in general. I can tell you that I'm grateful for all these people. When I got that opportunity, it was such an easy thing to say yes to, and I'm so glad I did. 

It was at Bill's bar, for a Breaking Sound showcase. And it seemed like the biggest thing in my life. Now it's like, you know, footnote of the past, but it's like one of the biggest things that happened to me. And in that period of time of moving in, getting settled into school and figuring stuff out before the show, we were like, “Hey, let's just make some music together so I don't have to just perform like all your stuff – no offense, I just want to be able to perform some of my stuff as well.” And she’s like “Yeah, sure!”

I feel like we were super lucky in how we caught lightning in the bottle that day when I was making beats over at her house and we were laying down vocals. She was so easy to work with. She really knew her way around the DAW [digital audio workstation], I was still more or less an amateur. I'm still a student in my craft, I'm still learning how to do all of that stuff, but, you know, seeing her work inspired me to figure out a work process on my own, work harder on my stuff. And we would just end up sending a bunch of shit back and forth to each other from the summer before I moved into Boston. 

I think the important thing was that the relationship, the friendship, was already established. So that made the work 500 times easier. Being able to work with her on that, get like devil's advocate on certain inputs, but also just being able to rock out and like have no stress and making shit with was probably one of the biggest blessings I could ever receive, and it definitely did carry into how I treat a lot of my collaborators and like, you know, how much I want to do, see the chemistry, you know, whatever's up with that.

And, you know, Annie and I have been like really close friends since I still keep up with her from time to time on the phone. She's super busy nowadays, but she always makes time to respond and do all this stuff with me, so I find myself grateful.

Annie Elise and Lilith Santos are The Heartmenders.

We're working on a new album right now. We're taking our time with it.

That gets me excited, because the first EP – I was blown away by that.

And that was like, those are really old tracks. Actually, I'll send you the old demos right now, I think it was on a fucking Medium article. I wrote about it in the Medium article. I do talk about the entire story in a lot more depth. I'm really glad I wrote about it. It was a really fun exercise (laughs). Yeah, it was just a fun time. It's really funny looking back at my previous heartbreak, and I don't feel so strongly about it right now. You know, it's just kind of funny knowing a time where like I deadass wrote about it, and it was so cathartic for me for no reason. 

I can give you another collaborator too, which one are you the most interested in? I could do all of them. 

Yeah, whatever you feel most interested in talking about. It sounds like you have a really good repertoire and a good relationships with all these people. It's cool to hear that kind of camaraderie that's there that you have with all the people that you're working with, and it sounds like a really nice community there.

Oh, for sure. For a lot of things, especially in school, the one thing I have to remind myself at the beginning was that I'm here for the school. Obviously, I'm here to make my parents proud. And it was already a crazy journey, becoming a musician, taking it seriously, and then actually going to a school for it. But the more important thing that I'm here for is the community. I mean, I've made some amazing friends. I could like, talk so much about them, you know, just how true to themselves they are, and how much they inspire me to keep working on things and do things a different way or see things a certain way. It's honestly super inspiring. 

One of those people is Maz. Now, Maz is someone I met recently in the whole grand scheme of things. I became very good friends with him like a year ago. He's like one of my closest homies I ever made at the school. And we met off of a beat battle for the Berkeley Hip Hop Club that I was recommended to do when, you know, everyone was still trying to find their friends for college, their roommates, and be like, “oh, like I have this thing in common, too.” I didn't meet him there, but a friend of mine was like, “Yo you should join the beat battle. The guy who runs Berklee Hip Hop right now is judging it, and I think he would be really cool for him to see your work.” I took him up on the offer. He really liked my work! 

And we kind of knew of each other, but it was really when we met in person – a lot of the stuff, especially for all these collaborations, except for one, really blossomed after meeting them in person after they're really getting to know them as a person. I'm a very social person. I try to be at least, and, you know, (laughs) it definitely shows. 

Now, the funny thing is with Soul Snatchers, that whole EP was just tracks made for fun. And we somehow just worked our way into a really nice, concise circle full of ideas and such. it's just really easy to just make something, put down vocals, and then be done with it. The surprising this about this was I exclusively produced it. Another great thing about the collaboration was that I had Maz there helping me with the beat as well. Maz already is like one of the greatest working producers I know at Berklee. Like, he knows how to mix, he knows how to engineer, he knows how to experiment just enough, but also keep it in the realm of like, digestible. You know, for someone like me, that's a bit of a task! So seeing Maz do it and also being a part of his band helps too. It's amazing. And I think the main thing I got from this was that we were just having fun. A lot of the music that we make is never really that deep.

There are certain things in the production that Maz wants to fulfill every time we have a session. And whenever those prerequisites are filled up, I get to do whatever I want. So it's kind of taught me a lot about restraint. He's very set on what to do. He's very clean, thorough, efficient with it. It inspired me for my own production, just kind of honing down my process even more to like almost on a molecular level, especially for just like basic ideas.

It's really nice. I have like a mini Maz in my head sometimes telling me to make split decisions or not, and then just sticking with them until the end of the song. 

It seems like from all your collaborations, you kind of picked up things from them, and you've learned from each of them. I was also wondering, for your most recent album, distant benevolence – I was struck  when you released side B, because I could definitely see how you and asoookha had two distinct styles, but they kind of came together on both side A and side B.

Yeah! Ah, oh, man, ah that collaboration was a lot of fun! So they mentioned this in their YouTube description of the actual tape itself. They literally uploaded it like a day ago. In the comments, he does recall the story of when this first happened. Originally, we were friends of a friend. Shout out to TEYO. If you're reading this, what up? That kid is fucking talented. And amazing.

TEYO! on Spotify

He was the one that brought asoookha and I together. I remember hearing off of one of his tracks. I think it was "the lights dim as I live." It's a good song. The production on that was like, absolutely stellar. And like hearing that come from an 18 year old, right? Fucking wild! Like I was making stuff at like 18, but I don't think I ever sounded like that good. So I was like, okay, I had to see what was up with this guy. 

I get invited to the discord server and I immediately make friends with this dude. Asoookha is awesome. We have a lot of the same interests. We're both into the same, like DJ and HoloLive, VTuber shit. It's a, it's a really funny thing to bond over. But at the same time, like our shared love for these like weird ass interests, like anime and like VTubing and like just weird fucking unplayable video games, it really brought us closer.

Youtube upload of Distant Benevolence Side B by asoookha.

And this guy's in Australia. Now keep in mind, this is not my first rodeo with a long distance friendship– I have this friend named Allanah, crazy voice actor, who I met a couple years ago over the internet and across the sea. So awesome. Like just such an awesome individual– Asoookha lives all the way in Australia, so I know how this shit works already. I know what kind of times to be up at. I know when to hit them up, when to not hit them up type of deal. And it was just really easy for us to get along. 

And one day, I think it was like maybe a couple of months ago, they were like, yo Lilith, do you want to just like make a collab album? That would be really funny. And I was like, as funny as that does sound, I think it would sound pretty good. So I went along with it. And I think for the entire time, asoookha was just not expecting for this to work out. Like, it was just going to be like another, like, “Oh, like, you know, we'll say we'll do it, but we're never actually going to do”, but we, we kind of came in and swept! It was such a crazy display of a two way street I've ever seen, especially from Boston all the way to Australia. We were really on top of our shit.

And that's what was like, so surprising about it. And, you know, our styles are super different. I'm very – I don't think my stuff should be perfect at all. I don't want it to be perfect. That's against my whole being as a producer, my style. Just having the weird dichotomy of like, super clean, nostalgic beats from asoookha and like this dirty but like raw and emotional stuff coming from me, it was like magical to me, hearing everything front to back. We thought about the track order and stuff together. And we just realized like, it would sound good if we just went from one emotion to the other, just like quite literally had two sides of the tape dedicated to each of us. It was kind of easy from then on.

I'm very thankful to call myself his friend. He's probably one of the craziest, talented producers out there in terms of sampling and finding stuff and getting really deep, like deep into that pocket.

I was surprised to hear “X-Wing” being sampled in one of the asoookha tracks on side B.

“video games SUCK?” 

Yeah! The way he utilized Denzel Curry's vocals from X-Wing and kind of just completely flipped it.

The band [CENSORED (sorry, no sample snitching)], I think it’s a flip of them, if I recall correctly. But like, no, they're just, asoookha’s kind of crazy with it. Like they, like a lot of people just kind of slap on rap acapellas onto beats, and they’re the only couple of people that I know that can do that super well. But it surprised me to hear asoookha just threw their thing on that. Like, I mean, I don't do that a lot anymore as much as I used to, but I've been thinking about it more and more now. It's just kind of inspiring. A lot of the people I'm very grateful to. I'm so fucking grateful to be in this position that I'm in. They just kind of proved me wrong in a lot of ways. That's really all I can ask for from people! Like just prove me wrong! Show me I can do something a different way. That's really it.

I could definitely see both of your styles, there's such a beautiful synthesis on the final product. So yeah, I definitely, I definitely see the fruits of that labor.

For sure. Oh man, I'm gonna have this new whole list of shout outs right now. Shout out to Eli. Shout out to VVN. Shout out to Kyle, my boy Kyle. Shout out to Maz. Shout out to fucking Nate, man. Shout out to Quinn. Shout like, I got so many people to shout out. I don't even know if I can fit this shit in. I got so many people to thank for like, in terms of music stuff. Cause you know, it's just you know, this industry is already hard as is, as an artist being solo. Having a community just to kind of back you up and uplift you when you need it, but also being able to give that energy back and uplift that back to them: that is like one of the things I live for. Friends and family are awesome.

As for your upcoming shows, where are you going to be playing at? 

I'm doing something for the Women Producers Showcase at The Loft at Berklee. It's going to be a nice little show, not too much. Then I got like a little thing going on at Bencils Live. It should be on the 18th, if I recall correctly. it's going to be like a whole 30-minute set party kind of vibes. But I'm just going to be doing my thing. I don't know. It's just going to be a bit hectic in terms of preparation. I just go by feeling to be honest (laughs).

One of the things that's clear with Lilith is the sense of gratitude she has for the people she works with and have friendships with and the opportunities she's had. Lilith really values the nature of collaboration, and they've learned from each of their projects with different artists and friends.

After this point, our interview turned more towards Lilith's personal journey and their specific style. Lilith explains the significance of their artist name and their journey of coming out as nonbinary along and their personal philosophy which carries over into their personal style. Go to part two.

[oonajaeadira]

This is one of the most difficult years I’ve had at my job. Not that it’s breaking me, on the contrary, the event is on and going so well.

Coming back to live performance after covid is rough. We only do this big event once a year, so every year it’s trying to remember what we did last year. 

This year, it’s coming back after three years--the last live event was 2019.

There are fires on the backend, but fewer than I was expecting, and we are able to deal with them before the artists and audiences smell any smoke.

Mostly people are very happy to have our beloved institution back. And that warms my heart.

This is all to say, that while I don’t have a lot of time to peek my head in, this fandom is a lovely place to take a break and decompress now and then. Thank you all for being consistently funny and beautiful and wonderful. <3

[lageografiademicamino]

UMK 2023 - review

Gone are the years when Finns were ashamed of their Eurovision selection! 

We saw signs of improvement in the attitude of Finnish artists and music industry towards UMK / Eurovision already in 2020 before the COVID-19 hit us. I would wanna say a game changing factor happened when YleX (radio channel, part of YLE broadcasting company) joined in the production team after ESC 2019. 

Robin’s song Girls like you was elevated by the fun, uplifting and may I say a bit risky staging! (UMK23)

Three years ago Erika Vikman was the moral winner with her Cicciolina even though not winning the actual trophy and ticket to Rotterdam. Her song became a major hit launching her musical career to new hights in Finland. I even dare to say that she did change the competition with her song and performance. 

In 2021 the world saw music shows differently on TV and it was much needed face lift also for UMK. The other songs had no chance against Blind Channel. These were the years when the staging improved overall tremendously even though we had a few misclick (Teflon Brothers 2021, Erika Vikman 2020). 

Lxandra’s Something to lose was one of the most beautiful moments in UMK23! I would have wanted this to reach a much higher climax at one point though..

In 2022-2023 we really saw big Finnish names participating UMK (The Rasmus, Benjamin, Robin Packalen, Kuumaa) and also having some new artists emerging (Bess, Younghearted, Käärijä) and making a name for themselves some even without the UMK trophy. 

In 2023 UMK final gathered 2,1 millions viewers (in 2022 1,9millions), the lyric videos on Youtube were viewed almost 5,5 million times and the songs were listened on Spotify over 14 million times! 

In 2023 we finally have the quality that we need and the people’s interest (abroad and home) that we want! 

Kuumaa’s Ylivoimainen live performance was simple but effective! However, when watching it for the first time it seemed a bit dull and not having enough to keep you interested. (UMK23)

Finns tend to complain about the number of UMK songs and how 6-7 is not enough but if this is the quality they deliver, personally I need no more! I’ve voted 5 UMK songs now in two years in a row and I’m content! This is also a money factor, if we had more songs would the level of quality hold? In music, music videos and in the live statings? I would be doubtful.

I also like the way things are being revealed and when. Mid Jan for artists anouncements is a perfect time just before the ESC national selection kicks off and I love that the songs are being dropped from there without any delay or waiting times. For seven days, there was always something new to look for each day! Late Feb has become a bit a pattern for UMK final but technically this could be later but would it ruin the hype then? 

Keira’s No business on the dancefloor was excellent with catchy coreography and simple stating. However, the fact that she’s a new artist came across a bit. (UM23) 

UMK has received criticism about stagings over the years which we’ve seen improving each year (this year being perfect). Also camera work, angles haven’t been on point (las year Isaac was a bit of a disaster) but last night was a big jump to the right direction! 

What still is left to improve however is the acoustics - every year we complain about the artists vocals sounding shitty when in reality they sound good at the actual venue. The venues have been changing over the years (Tampere’s Mediapolis, Turku’s Logomo etc). Even last night the sounds of the audience singing, clapping were overwhelming the artists vocals which I think damaged the reactions of the people watching the live at home. 

Benjamin’s Hoida Mut was well executed and performed except vocally... However credits for performing ALONE! 

So overall UMK was smash hit with high quality performance and not just the competing ones and with a winner (Käärijä - Cha cha cha) that is definitely taking a risk. The hype has already spread outside of Finland and Cha cha cha is predicted to become a televote winner (juries, you never know). Time will tell us in a few months..