Stay Klassy.
Busy week and weekend. Jumping straight to the updates...
The new "home studio" is set up. Anyone who's ever set up anything similar knows this is a never-ending project. At this point though, what we have is enough hardware and software to record our demos: mixer (Zoom LiveTrak L12), MIDI (Akai MPK Mini Plus), JBL monitors, Cubase/Reaper w/ minimal plugins, laptop, cables, and a surplus of guitars and guitar stands. Even before this we'd already started sharing vox/instrument tracks on a shared drive and chat channels dedicated for each of song. The goal is to complete demos for 5-6 songs 3-4 of which we will send to Gogo (our new producer at the House of ALI) to listen and critique. Based on which we will determine our next steps. Getting to any milestone evokes a dopamine rush building up an appetite for more. Glad to know we're in this loop. Wondering, though, should we be sharing the early versions here...? Will anyone respond?
We've also started a conversation with Kalo to invoke his production prowess for completing "Happiness". With some luck, we'll have it released in April/May.
Planning of the 2026 gigs has also started. So far, only focusing on dates in Bulgaria for the Spring/Summer season of 2026. Considering some cities we haven't played before. We will definitely give it our best, but also need to make sure we remain productive in the studio. Plus, the hopes of stepping on stages across Europe are still alive. The considerations for the gig planning are of course being fair to the audience and the clubs we've built relationships with, but gigs are also the key means for filling up the war chests enabling future releases. We're committed to making the band's endeavors a break-even operation. We need to be able to build a model not just for us, but for other bands coming after us. There's romance in being a struggling musician, but as they say "money makes the world go around, but art makes it worth spinning".
Thanks to your support, "Toaster" is now #2 on ZRock Radio's chart with fingers crossed we get our 6th #1 on as many attempts. We also reached #3 on the national radio's chart, but now seem to be dropping (currently at #8). Your help is very much appreciated!
Legends of the Bulgarian new wave from the '80s, KLAS, organized an event and we were honored to be invited as guests (to listen, not play). With an upcoming 40th (!!!) anniversary they made some big announcements. New single (check out the carefully crafted audio and video), re-release of their first two albums on vinyl, potential new album and their participation at the PhillGood Festival alongside The Cure. I can only imagine what it must be like for them given that The Cure were one of the main inspirations for them to form KLAS in the first place. When the time comes for our 40th anniversary some of us will be 85 years old. Perhaps fate will grant us a dying wish and we'll get to play alongside QOTSA? Sounds like a plan.
Fire swallowed up a rehearsal room in Sofia. Not ours. But the photo circulated the social media and got us to revive the discussion of gear insurance. It's not a straightforward calculation figuring out what the damage of our gear collection catching fire would be. The financial component alone would probably get us a small apartment at the outskirts of Sofia. If you're an insurance salesmen, getting in touch with us now would get you a decent deal.
What we will learn this week and the next is just how much a broken pinky can hinder guitar playing. Basketball is a passion, so this is a hit we'll need to be willing to take.

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