Lou and I arrived in Stockholm at 11:30am on Friday, and instead of going right into the city we stopped over at the Arlanda airport fire station where Elias works (friend from Piteå…helped me get my bike a few weeks ago). We had lunch at the station with all of the squad, got a personal tour of the station, went down the slide on the stairway, and even got to ride around and shoot water from the fire truck! It was a blast! Not many people can say they’ve done that!
After spending a few hours hanging out with Elias, we headed into the city. I went to the studio to help Anders load the marimba and vibes into the truck and take them to the church while Lou went to the hostel to check in and hang out. I met up with Lou after we were finished moving the instruments. We stayed in a boat hostel! It was so cool! The room had 4 beds, some lockers, a little table and chair, and a sink. It was quite clean and nice for a hostel…plus, it’s a boat!
I only had an hour to spare before rehearsing with Anders and the choir that night, so Lou and I ran up to T.G.I.Fridays for dinner. I know, I know…it’s pretty bad to go to an American chain while in Stockholm, but we were in a hurry and wanted to know what kind of food we’d be getting. We literally inhaled our food and parted ways once again.
Rehearsing and playing with the choir was a really new musical experience for me. Swedish choirs sound much different than the groups in the States. The tone is very pure and clear, and they don’t use any vibrato. The acoustics in the church were incredible, and the sound was really powerful.
The rehearsal ended around 10pm, and I met up with Lou again. We decided to walk around and try to find a quiet place to have a glass of wine, but ended up strolling into a café for tea and a chocolate ball instead. It was actually the perfect ending to our first night in Stockholm…Lou had to have a final late night fika before leaving Sweden for good.
Whilst out having tea, Lou told me that someone else checked into our room in the boat (it was for 4 people). It was a guy named Marcel from Switzerland. I thought it was odd to share a small space with a guy we didn’t know, but she said he was cool…and he was! The three of us had a funny evening making jokes and chatting before falling asleep, it felt like a really weird sleepover, in a boat.
On Saturday we got up around 8:30am to grab some breakfast and walk around Gamla Stan before my rehearsal at 11:30am. Marcel joined us for a relaxing morning. Lou continued to go sight seeing while I rehearsed at the church, then had lunch with Anne, Anders, and Emma, and got ready for the concert at 3pm.
The concert went really well! I played doumbeck and marimba on a few pieces that Anders wrote, and we improvised in-between a few of the pieces. It was such a treat to be able to play with Anders. I felt that although I was always following him, I could still use my ideas during the more free portions. Plus, the choir and the collective sound was just sooooo incredible! I’ll have to post a video soon.
So...now I have officially made my Stockholm and choir accompaniment debut! The concert was even more fun because Anne, Emma, Lou, Sebastian (friend from Piteå who recorded my last concert and used to sing in this choir), and Arvid (the airplane guy! We met on my way back from the States in January and have kept in touch) all came to the concert. It was actually a much bigger audience than I anticipated, and the feedback was really nice.
After the show Anders and I had to take down the equipment and move it back to the studio, and then pack some cymbals for the roadtrip. Lou went home with Anne and Emma, and we all met back at the apartment for a fantastic dinner by Tove! It was great to have 5 of my favorite people in Sweden at the same place. Not to mention, the dinner was scrumptious!
Since it was Lou’s last night, we wanted to go out and grab some drinks. We met up with boat hostel guy and airplane guy (haha, that sounds funny, but they were really cool!) in Södermalm. It was the most random group of four people of coincidental meeting, and it was great! We went to a pub and chatting for the whole evening. It was a very easy group of people to hang out with, and I hope that we can all get together again.
I had to say goodbye to Lou this morning, and we both got a little teary eyed…which just means I’ve made a friend for life. I can’t wait to see where/when we meet up again!
----now it’s 2am, and I’m in a swanky hotel in Venlo, Netherlands---
16 hours later…the first leg of the Zildjian marketing roadtrip is over! Anders and I had a really great time, and the time went by surprisingly fast. We took a lot of stops, and just talked as much as possible. We met up with a distributer, Christian, in Malmö to pick up some more cymbals. He was extremely friendly and had a beautiful house. We had a proper fika and talked business. I think he will be a great contact!
After a few more hours, we took a ferry from Denmark to Germany which doubled as a dinner break. After that I couldn’t tell what country I was in for the entirety of the evening, and at times forgot we were in Europe…it just felt as easy as driving through the USA.
I stayed awake until about 12:45...which is pretty impressive for me. Now, it’s time for bed it my awesome hotel room! Tomorrow we are going to the Pearl headquarters to pick up the big box of cymbals and heading to Innsbruck! I hope it’s sunny because it should be a beautiful drive!
