Mad Season.

April means open season for gigs. In our book, at least. The first one is now done. As per usual, many things went wrong, but no one outside the inner circle felt it. We messed up hotel check-ins, didn't know who'd travel when and how until the very last minute, but the highlight was one of the speakers falling and a cable being teared apart in the process. Twenty minutes before the gig. Luckily, the local soundman had welding equipment in the car nearby. The cable was fixed with ten minutes to spare. That's one thing we haven't done before, but now know we can. Thinking of adding a welder to our gig equipment checklist.

Another drama was developing throughout the day as the lighting equipment on the spot differed from what was originally promised. So, Kamen and Yana (the latest addition to the House of ALI) spent the entire day fixing what they could with limited resources. We owe them one. Also, they drove the van to and from Blagoevgrad. What I would underline, though, is that they are amazingly kind and hard-working folks. I don't want to hear anyone saying anything bad about the next generation. That's just your insecurity speaking - the kids are alright, and then some.

It was a late, dark and cold April evening, but we were greeted by a friendly audience who endured the elements to witness a lot of firsts. Many heard us for the first time. Several songs were played for the first time in their post-demo shape. More than anything, it was the first gig for Milenski (described by a few audience members as the next Heisenberg). It didn't feel like we had someone new joining us - only hoping that it felt the same way for him. I'd like to think that we've successfully onboarded him, but let's wait until the end of the Sofia gig to officially consider it a christening.

We're finally able to announce our stage partners for the Sofia gig next Wednesday, April 29th - Mono & The Stereos. They'd warmed up for a larger name recently which prevented us from announcing it earlier. One of the things we love is supporting new acts, although given that their base is mostly Gen Z - it feels like in certain moments, like we're the ones being introduced. The generation gap caused by Algorithm-driven segregation is palpable. The good news is that people of all ages enjoy good music, so we're believing that with the right effort, moves and quality melodies - audiences will find the right music for them, and good music will find its audience. In any case our friends out at the link above.

Production process for completing Happiness is under way. We're the ones late with providing all the tracks, but trying to catch up. Given that quite some time had passed since we put it on ice it's no wonder that new ideas are now flowing. We're in no hurry and plan to give fire enough air to breath. We're even rethinking the live performance which in some parts feels somewhat empty, given that in the studio a lot of richness exists in the soundscape. Most notably the back vocals. We'll figure it out, but it's an interesting process to be a part of - giving birth to a song's release.

Oh, the speaker fell again. And the same cable needs welding... This time in the Red Room. The stand I used to hold it is now equipment-non-grata and up for replacement. Optimism doesn't fix things, turns out.

The battle for attention on social media continues. We'll write about that more probably in the coming weeks, but it's not getting any better. A friendly band released a video recently. In the first 24 hours they'd usually get views in the thousands. This time, it's 200. This is with touring and actively promoting. Talking to other bands, the gig ticket sales are flat at best. It's a complex equation with a plethora of variables, but the bottom line remains - it was never easy, but it's getting progressively harder.