PSYCHOPUNCH-A Shout From The Road #2
Behind the scene blog by Jarmo JM Mäkkeli [lead singer & guitarist]
One thing with being out on the road and on tour is that you get to know a lot of people and that´s really super awesome..if you want or need to find a backside…it´s that in every city you come to…there´s always people you want to party with and who wants to party with you and that can be really hard after like 10 days…hahaha…because you really need to stay in good shape and concentrate on doing your best on stage for the fans and yourself!
The book of lies
We have been on the road with the guys from Nitrogods and MAXXWELL since Friday 25th October when we did the first gig in Oberhausen, Germany. By the time we arrived in Munich on tour day 11 which was our day off, it was really early on the day and we hit the Nightliner parking before the band Eclipse did…hahaha. We knew that they were on the way to Munich to play on our day off. Magnus of Eclipse played lead guitar on our previous album ,,Sweet Baby Octane” and also been on tour with us…so I was really looking forward to see him again…haven´t seen him for a while. I was also looking forward to spend the night in a hotel! When we were on the way to the hotel I met Magnus and we got the time to talk a little….he just woke up and I wanted to go to the hotel…hahahaha! So we decided to meet later on at the show and after. Went to the hotel and spent almost the whole day in bed…went out for some food and then it was just relaxing and watch TV…real nice I must say!
With Magnus [r]
Time to go and see Eclipse play at Backstage. We went there…5 of us and had a few cold ones. Kind of fun when people came up to me and asked what I was doing there…hahaha! Told them I was going to see Eclipse tonight and that we play tomorrow. Time to watch the show and damn it was hot…packed club and a really great show by the guys! Too much people after the show so I decided to go back to the hotel…kind of sad that I didn´t have the time to talk to Magnus.
Around 01:00 I got a message from Magnus asking where I was…hahaha…just got in bed! He asked me to come over and have a few beers with them in their Nightliner…sure no problem…be there in a few minutes…hahaha! Was sooo awesome to see him and the other guys in Eclipse and Junkyard Drive. We spent the night drinking beer, telling stories and since there were 4 singers there…we kind of agreed that drinking Whiskey is not a Rock´n´roll myth…hahaha…no matter what people think…when I lose my voice or having problems singing I usually have a shot of Whiskey…or maybe two before the show and it works for me. Got back to the hotel around 03:30-04:00…so much for a day off…hahaha! Didn´t really matter that much since we had soo much fun.
Goodmorning
Checked out from the hotel after 12:00 and headed for the Nightliner. Get in at Backstage was 14:00. My voice was not the best that morning…but I knew in the back of my head that it would turn out fine.
14:00 Get in and 14:30 load in…everyone at Backstage was soo damn nice and helpful so you got the family feeling and you got really relaxed..love that feeling! We just hanged around Backstage and made jokes and had a really relaxed and fun day getting ready for the show. Stage sound was the best on the tour and I was soo happy about that. A shot of Whiskey and a cigarette and bam…ready for the show! Think we made a real great gig that night…well…all the bands did! We meet friends and fans after the gig and that is always a lot of fun.
Munich
Late night once again in the Nightliner heading for Salzburg, Austria, Rockhouse Bar. Arrived really early in the morning and I was happy that we had a flat where we could take a shower in the morning. Shower and a breakfast in beautiful Austria…a good feeling…just one thing…my voice was gone…hahaha! Well…like I told the guys and TM…”there´s still a lot of hours to go before we play”. It didn´t make it any better by trying to rest in the bunk…when I didn´t talk at all…there was no voice…when I tried to talk it came back…well…not the most beautiful voice but at least something…hahaha! So kind of Catch 22…no matter what I did it didn´t seem to be the right thing. Nevertheless…same procedure as last night…whiskey and cigarettes and it worked! After they closed the club some of us wanted to go for a burger…went to a famous place to grab some burgers and…hahaha…don´t know why…but we were singing and talking about forming a new band…then Henny (Nitrogods) took his phone and started to play ,,I Don´t Need A Broken Heart” on some music program and we just couldn´t hold the laughs back…damn what a fun night!
Salzburg
A late night talking in the Nightliner again heading back to Germany for a gig in Freiburg (Crashclub), day 14 of the tour. Got to the club and as always everyone searches for the WiFi code…hahaha…rock´n´roll! When I was sitting backstage talking with some of the guys I got a friends request on Facebook…first I thought it was a fake one…then checking some of the photos I saw that it was a friend I / we haven´t seen for 12 years! Really cool! We decided to meet up for a coffee after our soundcheck. It was really great to see her again and we talked about this and that. Then time to get back and do the show. Voice was kind of back and we rocked the place…all the bands did! I also jumped on stage to join Nitrogods for one song..that was fun! Just singing the chorus…but still! Then we did what we usually do…meet friends and fans at the merch….really important to meet the fans and show them your love! Without them you are nothing! Turned out to be an after party once again and went damn tired to bed…happy about the day/night!
Freiburg
Time to go to Switzerland, a town called Burgdorf and yeah…everyone who plays music and tours/plays in Switzerland knows all about the border to Switzerland. You have to count all the merch and report everything and pay VAT in advance. That can take some time at the border…depends on who´s standing there… So, we had to get up at 08:00 to get all that done…puhhh…not my thing really when you only slept like 3 hours and have no voice left…hahahaha! Arrived in a rainy Burgdorf around noon…not sure if I already told you that yeah…we have a toilet on the bus but no paper if you know what I mean! So that means…every stop everyone runs to see if they have a toilet…hahahaha! So same procedure when we arrived in Burgdorf and damn…wasn´t easy to find a toilet.
Burgdorf
Since I kind of lost my voice, we went to the city to try and find a pharmacy…since I knew that they had a tablett called Homeovox that works pretty ok if you lost your voice. So…we went out walking in the rain and finally found a pharmacy where I could buy the pills. Happy campers we went back to the club, called Kulturhalle Sägegasse…had dinner and then soundcheck and getting ready for the show. We had for the last gigs finally found the way to play the songs and act on stage…hahaha…better late than never…nahh…to be honest…we had that from day one but we got better and better for each show! We had a lot of fun on stage and the gig was really great and cool crowd! After the gig and when everything was packed in the trailer…we went back to the club and had a few drinks talking about the band we are going to start and came up with some hilarious song titles! This will be something else for sure! Time to go to bed to get up early once again…zzzzzZZZZzzzzz!
Not sure…
Next stop Luzern, also Switzerland! Me and Mats woke up early..surprise…just to see Dirk (The driver) backing up the nightliner with trailer to the club…damn…real nice driving I must say! We were really impressed by the driving…thanks Dirk! So…arrived early means = Breakfast! Hef from MAXXWELL was kind of awake so we got him to take us out for a sightseeing that morning. We ended up in a burger joint…BK…to have some kind of breakfast…and damn…we thought it was expensive in Sweden! But a meal in BK was 14,50 SFR!! We pay maybe half in Sweden for that! Nevertheless…we were hungry…hahaha. Walked back to the club, waited to get in and get the stuff done for the show. I knew friends were coming so I was in a good mood…well..I´m always in a good mood…hahaha!
We have this thing that we truly do everytime we come to a club…say hi to everyone…treat everyone nice…that´s important for us and we know that people appreciate that…they are doing their best to get you feel welcome and have a nice time at their club…so show them respect because they do what they can for you…well…most of the time…there are a few exceptions…not on this tour though!
Luzern
My voice got worse and worse but I knew that I had “only” 2 shows left and I refuse to cancel a show…we came to play and that´s what we do! So…yeah yeah…same procedure as always and during the show I was drinking a little whiskey, also that our TM, Hacksi, gave me a glas…he knew I needed it. I´m not telling people to do that…it works for me.. doesn´t mean it works for everybody and I don´t drink much…just a small glas…remember that folks! Don´t be drunk on stage…people come to see you play…not being drunk on stage!
Was a great show and we had a lot of fun…we also meet some people who came all the way from Barcelona to see us live…WOW…how cool is that! Thing was…not enough sleep…voice almost gone each day…I had to give all every night on stage…so after the show I had to puke…not once…not twice but maybe 3-4 times…the adrenaline and the love for the audience made me do the show! Like I said…I refuse to cancel a show…we are on tour and if I´m not able to play I guess some people will be sad/disappointed and that´s something I don´t want. I love our fans…they are the best!
Fans from Barcelona
Like always on the tour…you meet friends and you party with them…the whole night…but around 03:30 I really felt I needed some sleep…knowing that we were going back to Germany for the last show of the tour and had to cross the border once again…meaning…up early..account for what has been sold and get the rest of the money back…sadly we got an asshole at the border…so it took us around 45 minutes to fix all the stuff that would have taken 5-10 minutes. So…just a few hours of sleep and on our way to Mannheim for the last show of the tour. Time flies when you´re having fun! You started to feel a little bit sad since it´s the last show with all the people you have gotten to know and like….didn´t really want to talk about it…just focused on getting my voice back and give all we had left on the last show! Had some of my best friends in Mannheim at the same time as we were there…but sadly they had a tattoo convention at the same weekend so the chances were pretty slim that we would meet. We had a tight schedule and so did they…well…what to do…not much!
Mannheim
You could feel that everyone was really relaxed and at the same time you could feel the tension that it was time to say goodbye soon. We become a real big happy family and I guess you know how it feels to say goodbye to them. Mats and Wally had been so super awesome to have in the band and we had sooo much fun off and on the stage…love those guys!
Time to hit the stage and do what we came here to do…ROCK! We started the gig with ,,Shut Your Fucking Mouth” and then it was full speed rock´n´roll! Then suddenly when we were going to play ,,The Way She´s Kissing” it got quiet behind the drums…what´s up!? Klaus from Nitrogods jumped behind the drums and played that song with us and at the same time the other guys and Hacksi came up on stage and started to brush and clean the stage…hahaha…totally fucking crazy but fun and a memory for life! At the end of the set I saw some familiar faces from stage! Two of my lovely friends showed up…sooo fucking happy! Dirk ”The Pixeleye” Behlau and his wife Jessie… They packed the shit together at the tattoo convetion real fast so that they could see at least a few songs with us..that´s love! I also meet our old recordlabel boss Achim, that was also lovely to see him…was ages ago and damn…fun and good to see him!
Dirk ”The Pixeleye” Behlau and his wife Jessie.
When Nitrogods played ,,Ace Of Spades” everyone from the tour jumped up on stage and sang..played etc etc…what a party it was! Direclty after Nitrogods show all of us went to the merch to meet friends and fans and have a few cold ones with them. It was fun at the same time as it was sad…but all good things have an end…as they say! Packing up everything in the trailer…stood there for a while taking photos…taking to everyone in the bands and crew…sad moment but still happy..said goodbye to the guys in MAXXWELL and we were heading to the airport.
Time to say goodbye
We got dropped off at the airport around 01:30…and another sad goodbye to the guys in Nitrogods and the crew…flight was 06:40 from Frankfurt to Stockholm. Damn it´s boring at airports when nothing is open and you just sit and wait…and tired as fuck since we only slept a few hours between Saturday and Sunday..and nothing to eat before 03:00 when McDonalds opened…not the most fancy meal but what can you do!? Flight home went really smooth and think I slept like 20 minutes…sooo tired when we arrived in Stockholm just to wait for the bus home to Västerås. We had the time for a coffee and then we went outside to wait for the bus…2 degrees below…brrrr…bus was going to leave around 10:30…we stood there for like 10 minutes…no bus…Mats went inside and asked…bus cancelled…WTF!! Just our luck…hahaha…so…wait for another 1,5 hours before we could take another bus home. Arrived back home in Västerås somewhere around 13:30…it was snowing…not much but still..a friend picked me up and drove me home..went out to get something to eat and then back home…crash landed in the sofa 21:00 just to sleep a few hours before it was time to go back to work…that´s sooooo ROCK`N`ROLL!
Airport
What can I say…it was an awesome and fun tour and I want to thank Nitrogods, MAXXWELL, The crew, Hacksi, Marit, Dirk the driver, Dragon Productions, Massacre Records, all our friends (new and old) and fans who came to see us play and party with us…and last but not least…Mats and Wally who made the tour come true by joining us…you all made our dream come true..so happy to made some new friends for life!
Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!
We are really happy about all the great comments/reactions about our new album…we just can´t wait to get out on the road again!
What´s coming up next…well..on the agenda for us now is a gig in Berlin and Buckeburg 6th and 7th of December together with Bonzai Kitten. Checking out possible dates in France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Spain and hopefully more countries! Booking festivals and maybe just maybe a new video.
Keep your eyes and ears open for more news!
Cheers! Jarmo
#psychopunch #suckerville #tour #tales #nitrogods #maxxwell #headbangerslifestyle #hbls #awayoflife #rocknroll
[All photos provided by Jarmo]
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