Philling Good.


Not sure about yours, but a recap of our summer tour is certainly necessary for our shortened memories and attention spans. Particles of the energy we got from the audience and the venues' staff are still with us. Let's start with that. Every place we play brings its own vibes: Kabana felt like a family affair, Barabar was getting close to nature and the underground scene surviving against the odds, Menthol was about the beach and overcoming logistics-slash-human challenges for the sake of bringing our best, and PhillGood was massive, exhilarating and being dangerously close to the giants (Cure, Gorillaz, etc.) With the cleanest of hearts we claim that we hear and feel you. At PhillGood we probably played in front of the biggest crowd ever and it may be the first time that I felt the sound wave of a thousand voices physically tilt me backwards. I wish and prescribe experiencing this at least once for every human.

A few quick retrospectives:

- We didn't hang out much with the other bands. There's too many things to do and carry. Apart from making availability an issue, it's also always a matter if the other person is in the right state of mind. Still, could we have done more - probably. Will we do so next time - maybe.

- Kalo joining us on stage again was a definite emotional highlight. For very valid reasons we didn't have time to celebrate it properly, but the performance itself may count as a celebration. Hopefully we can do this again.

- Having Stefo and Mitko with his small army to help us with the non-music stuff made a huge difference. Carrying heavy gear has it's romantic moments, but it also makes the jump from reality to the alter ego that we all need on stage a little more difficult.

- The mood among us was pretty much constant and very much positive. We felt ready not just to play things right, but to play them wrong, too. This makes a huge difference.

- The guys from Rio Tone who provided us with d&b audio gear in Burgas and Varna left a scar in our minds that will itch every time we organize a gig, because the quality of the sound - on and off the stage - really was next level. Moreover, it's absolutely possible to bring it along anywhere with us. We even resurrected the idea of a mobile stage truck complete with lighting and sound equipment which we could set up anywhere where the local authorities would agree to plug us into the power grid and make some noise...

After the emotional period (which in no small part was emphasized by some epic performances of the aforementioned giants), it was time for a break. Relaxing away from the heat and the noise is crucial. The return was bumpy, but re-entering Earth's atmosphere always is. Using the opportunity for a public service announcement to remind everyone to take at least one two-week vacation every year. Anything else is cheating yourself into burnout territory.

This wouldn't be a build-in-the-open type of blog if we didn't mention finances here and there. The approximate total revenue (fees + merch) for the gigs was around 10K euro, of which the band gets to keep around 50% after all the expenses are paid. This includes a mountain of voluntary work. The rest, be assured, will be out of the replenished coffers and invested into audio and video production. And so the wheel keeps on turning. Again, we thank you for each ticket and piece of merch bought, each online interaction, each shoutout. 

In insider/personal section, we're sending Moni, our marketing fairy, off to Berkeley this week. And, as we mentioned in the last post, we welcome Dimana. Also, with a short two-month delay we finally found, purchased and delivered what we think is a perfect birthday gift for Orli - Pearl Export Steel Snare 14x6.5. We heard it during the recording session with Gogo who enlightened us about its existence and it was love at first sight. Now Orli has one. Well, we have one.

Two days ago was the deadline to apply for a competition jointly organized by Bulgaria's National Radio and Musicautor. The title is "Musical Seasons" and the goal is to select and sponsor a local act to take part in musical festivals abroad. The process helped us refresh some of our marketing collateral, including rewriting what is now 5+ years of the band's history. Looking back is a sobering mental exercise. It helps to be able to read it proudly. I speak for all of The House of ALI members without whom we wouldn't have much history to write. Part of it was also providing proof of our live portfolio, so we added a little extra - a 360 video of some performances at the PhillGood Festival stage. As a bonus, we share one with you here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uEpRetEsdk. Keep your fingers crossed for the competition as we hope to finally row our way over and behind the breakwater of country borders and get to experience playing live to a 100% foreign audience.

Finally, there's two pieces of media content where we are feature. One is all our band's members recommendation for summer listening here: https://lifestyle.bg/stories/5-lyubimi-pesni-za-lyatoto-na-ali.html

The other is possibly our first mention in a major international music media channel, namely The Clash, albeit with a modest set of lines and not in the musical context, but for our safe inner circle that is reading this it counts for something: https://www.clashmusic.com/live/live-report-phillgood-festival-2026/ 

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