Give This A Chance.


The SoAlive gig went well. We forgot how pleasant Mixtape 5 could be... The format of having interlaced gigs in the small and big hall of the club is quite cool as it allows both the bands and the audience to check out different experiences just a few steps away and take a break if necessary. Less and less people take Friday night for what it used to be several years ago. It could be just our age(d) group. In any case, we loved seeing a 200ish or so crowd despite the less than ideal start time and last minute announcement of the gig. We were enjoying Me And My Devil's performance after ours. They fit so well in the post-midnight hours where conscious and subconscious often collide. Another highlight was that quite a few people saw us for the first time reminding us that it's hard to over-gig a market, even one as small as Sofia's underground. The best part, though - sharing the stage with Kalo who was relaxed and in a great mood, I'm very much looking forward to the remaining two gigs we have left with him. For now.

Speaking of upcoming gigs, the dates and locations are set. We will be announcing them officially shortly (or by the time you read this may already have announced them). We're doing a back-to-back which we promised ourselves we'd try to avoid, but it's not like all the clubs are just waiting for us to call and tell them ALI's in town. The problem with back-to-back gigs is that it can be bad for the... back. Carrying gear takes it's toll, friends. Another problem is that you don't get the chance to fully enjoy soaking up the adrenaline fumes of the previous evening, because your mind is on getting yourself, the band and everything else to the next place on time and in good shape. In any case, we'll be playing a loaded set for you live on Nov 13th in Stroeja (Sofia) and on Nov 14th in Download (Plovdiv). Then we take a break and refocus on the Kalo handover, new songs and strategy/vision for 2026.

We're considering warm-up acts for our upcoming gigs. If you know of any up-and-coming young bands, drop us a message. We'd love to share the stage with them! We feel it's key to include this component whenever possible. We never forgot the bands who blindly gave us a chance when we were still an unknown.

Oh, we got a breakdown of our Merch sales on Rebel Rebel - the largest data sample from a single event of the year. 14 t-shirts, 4 hoodies, 2 vinyls and 14 CDs. Really interested to know if people get the CDs to play them, or just as a memorabilia? Maybe we'll never know. What matters is that people are supporting the band which means to us more than you know. Every hard-earned lev you spend on any independent band doubles (or more) in value, because it helps the band, the music and the culture not just financially, but morally. We appreciate it deeply and never take it for granted. We also hope every piece of memorabilia you get from a gig carries with it the pheromones of the performance's and the crowd's atmosphere. We create those together, remember that.

Did you know that in Ireland as of 2026 all artists will be getting a guaranteed basic income of 1500EUR/month? It's official and in the states budget. Imagine that. There was a pilot project started in 2022 and now it's been proven to work. How long, how loOOOoong will we live before we see this happen anywhere in the Balkans? Is it ever going to be possible? Does culture have a chance in a corrupt, captured state where people have been underserved for so long, they can no longer afford to think beyond tomorrow? Reminds me of a joke where two flute players in a provincial town beat up a boxer, so people started wondering: is culture the problem or is sport development in jeopardy?

Admission of the week: we messed up editing some of the reels for Toaster. One had a misframed shot, one had a parasite frame sneak in during the edit, the others weren't fitting the reel format. Mental note: don't rush creating reels without running it by the director of the video. Hardest part was disappointing someone who's put their heart and soul into a project due to a stupid oversight, but it happens. We apologize, learn, fix the process for the future, and move on... We hurt the ones we love the most.


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