'Trainbient II' (first half)

15/03/13 Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria @ TAM

w/ DreamOde

The beginning of every single travel I've started the last few years was either marked by me running late for trains/cars/buses/whatever or/and the thought why the hell I didn't stay in bed. TRAINBIENT II was surely not an exception as it started with both. I missed the first train to Veliko Tarnovo and after the second one I pretty much had to ran with backpacks as heavy as me. However getting inside was just the beginning of a damn long ride. Most of the time I slept, and barely played music as I kinda felt I have to be listening to the damn ambience more, as it's a damn ambient tour. In the beginning everything was fine, actually it ended quite fine except for the almost two hour delay because of the insane weather which the day before destroyed a region in the northern part of Bulgaria, oh yea and a 15 year old dude with blood pressure issues (hi Misho, you're not alone). Anyhow, at 19 o'. I was already climbing the stairs of Veliko Tarnovo with my host Tsvetan (DreamOde). We quickly got in the venue which was super cosy and warm, we set up the gear and between the talks about the blooming lesbian community in the city we even played. First solo sets, then a short, but cool collab. Afterwards there were people sharing it was quite a depressive performance, which is one of the best things you can tell Angel after a show, it makes me feel accomplished wohoo. We rapidly packed the equipment, stayed for few Abba tunes and wicked dance movies from the 50s, and with Tsvetan and Ro on the lead went for a quick night snack. Then for a quick stop at a reggae party and a longer stop at a Nirvana tribute. Then we landed home for rejuvenation. The morning was easy, because the way to the train station is down the endless stairs of Veliko Tarnovo. Big ups to everyone who I met and successfully depressed, big ups for the lesbian community and the Nirvana tribute band.

the day souded like: Locust Of The Dead Earth, Olafur Arnalds

16/03/13 Rousse, Bulgaria @ Mazeto

w/ Portable Elephant, Skylined

No chanting through virtual amps = no fun

Twenty five damn years on this world I turned that day, and the best way to celebrate it is by spending some another 4, 5 hours in the train, then playing a show with cool mates. I reached Rousse some twenty minutes before 2 o'. Then went for a cup of coffee with my name mate Angel (Polygon Ring, Portable Elephant). The weather here was cool, especially if you didn't really spend too much time outside. After a thorough and a bit eclectic conversation about pretty much everything we stopped at his place to charge batteries, enhance the sound set ups for the night, and then we went to a meeting with quite an unexpected guest namely Ivo from the cult BG netlabel Mahorka and the experimental act Skylined. He not only came from Pleven for the show, but even joined us for an improvised set. After this awesome surprise we got to Mazeto, which is always awesome. We terrorized the first visitors with a soundcheck, then with a selection of crazy music from Mahorka's catalogue, and then I started the show. Speakers were cracking under my mindless low frequency abuse, stereo channels were coming and going due to crazy cables, but it was a cool, short and intense set. Then Portable Elephant with Angel and Kaloyan on board slammed a mighty and detailed improvisation with Monotribe, field recordings and heavily processed guitars, which at points sounded almost as rough as Ben Frost, and sometimes reached the epic heights of orchestral strings. Then we ended the live part of the night with a huge improv collaboration, which sadly none of us was smart enough to record from the mixer, cool ha? The conclusion? Well, next time come to the show, cus we'll probably forget to record it again. Right after the show someone played Nirvana, I guess it had become kinda tradition hah. Then we pretty much closed Mazeto with tons of electronic tunes of all genres, then went for a quick bite at a place who was in a total decline of the public smoking ban and the rest was bed, blankets and the weirdest party dream. The coolest birthday ever.

the day sounded like: John Coltrane, The Smiths

17/03/13 Shoumen, Bulgaria @ Delphina

w/ the poetry of Ралица Красимирова, Тони Теллалов, Кольо Колев, Владимир Диловски, Красимир Вардиев, Антоний Петров

I played for like 30 minutes so we can see the credits, no I didn't just took a photo

The morning started promising with a hot shower, oath meal punch and again jumping on the train in the last minute. As it was Sunday both trains I switched were pretty packed. At about 17 o' I reached Shoumen. After a walk in zig-zag to avoid the massive crow shitting in the park I reached the center, which is signature for its endless amount of free public wi-fi. I stood like a creep in front of a local cafe to catch up on some mails and messages until my Ipod stated battery low, then few quick phone calls to Ralica and Antonii and half an hour later we were all gathered at Delphina, which has become a traditional point for our music/poetry symbiosis. The people at the place know us already so everything was set up really fast, this time we even had multimedia so George's visuals were added to my solo set. However before that all five authors read awesome stuff that I haven't heard before, during and between them I was improvising with a crazy digital set up of field recordings, random synths, noise generators even the simple nanoloop app on my Ipod. After the live part ended people showed up saying this time we were perfectly balanced, synchronized and the music was awesome. I guess we did our job well. After that I packed, got a cool book from one of the poets and ate all Mentos candy that Ralica had. I'm finishing this story from Ivan's place. He's a cool dude, living a free and modest life just the way he wants, and it's great that on this tour all people I've met are actually doing the same. And the coolest thing about that is you can pretty much do the same if you want. Now I bury myself under layers of droning blankets, cus I have a date with the sea tomorrow.

the day sounded like: Anemone Tube, Julianna Barwick, Black Table

Shoumen says 'Don't Shower', but it was Sunday sorry :(

Mytrip - TRAINBIENT II mini tour

It's been quite a silent year for Mytrip so far and I guess it's high time I changed this. After last year's short travels DRONE THE BALKANS and TRAINBIENT I'll be hitting the road again. This time the shows are 6 and they are only in Bulgaria, which for me is a great thing. I hope it will be a successful experiment that will prove the fact ambient exists and is appreciated everywhere. Here are the details, event links, dates, everything. TRAINBIENT II starting tomorrow, see you somewhere. I'll be travelling only by train so see you somewhere in/between the wagons. 

 

MYTRIP // TRAINBIENT II

15.03 Велико Търново @ ТАМ // + Dreamode
http://www.facebook.com/events/426328217461484/

16.03 Русе @ бар Мазето // + Portable Elephant
http://www.facebook.com/events/534968936543522/

17.03 Шумен @ кафе Делфина //
+ поезия oт Ралица Красимирова, Тони Теллалов, Кольо Колев, Владимир Диловски, Красимир Вардиев, Антоний Петров
http://www.facebook.com/events/295494327245701/

18.03 Варна @ бар Bolla // + Swamp Fire b2b r3s corporales
http://www.facebook.com/events/342369995867518/

19.03 Пловдив @ клуб Gramophone // + Deflax
http://www.facebook.com/events/247782932025005/

21.03 София @клуб Studio (DJ set) // + Еnvironments, Valerinne, Trysth, Torah
http://www.facebook.com/events/254688581329123/

http://facebook.com/mytripx
http://facebook.com/amekcollective

повечето постери са по фотографии на Георги Челебиев

Two pieces for an exhibition

So 2013 has finally started looking better, few shows already booked, some of them announced, some of them not. And here's something new I've been working on for the past two weeks. It's not the usual Mytrip material, nor it's my usual type of sound, however I found it really amusing and challenging to work so now I share it, even if it's not really in its most polished and perfect shape.

„ДОЛУ-ГОРЕ“ / 'DOWN-UP' is an exhibition/art installation combining paintings, poetry and sound. It was open on Feb 8th in Shumen, Bulgaria. It features the artworks of various Shumen based artists plus music by Nikolai Mitev (Abandonment Label) and yours truly.

A small premiere for those who care

'Botev Is an Idiot' / "Ботев е идиот" is a short movie, featuring my music. Actually it's quite a minimalist soundtrack for quite a minimalist movie, still provocative enough for it is discussing the really significant topic of our (Bulgarian) educational system. The (short) movie won this year's Duka Fest (Serbia) award for best feature film, and still got declined by two Bulgarian festivals. On February 4, kinematograf.bg are setting up an exclusive premiere for it in Sofia's Studio 5 Club. RCVP here, and yeah feedback is welcome.

Awards:
Best Feature Film (Duka Fest '13)
Best Bulgarian Fiction (In The Palace '13)
+ Euroshots Special Mention

No longer available for streaming.

Zero degrees and a book

Originally posted on DIY Conspiracy / columns.

I guess it's about zero degrees celsius. It has been snowing for the last two days even though the week before actually felt pretty closer to a spring. After grabbing a Saturday cup of double coffee with some mates I'm on my way home. I walk my daily route, I cross the small bridge like I do everyday and just like that I toss a short glimpse at the stone handrail on my right, where in drier and warmer days the local bibliopoles sell old books.

For my surprise even in this cold afternoon there are still few books lined there. I get closer, excited that I'll fulfill my beloved ritual despite the weather and look through the titles. I find an old textbook - 'History of Music' pt. 3. I look around and see a man standing a meter from me, obviously he's the one selling the books. I remember faces, but this one I've never seen before. I ask him about the price, he replies it's 2€. After the coffee, I'm left with only 1.50, and it happens to be enough for the book. “I don't like to bargain with my first client for the day, it brings me bad luck and now it's really, really cold”, he says. I take the book and rapidly jump into the tram. It will take me home in 5 minutes, instead in 10if I decide to walk. But suddenly it has become colder. Because that man won't catch a tram home at least for few more hours.

There are people who are selling old books in their fancy and warm antiquarian bookstores. There you can find great stuff, that's for sure. But you will probably won't be able to buy anything, because antiquaries will probably do their best to cheat you and sell you overpriced stuff only because they can. At least that's how they mostly roll here in Bulgaria. It seems they have long forgotten that books are to be read, and not to be left rotting on the dusty shelves of greed.

I know it was already 2 pm when the man told me I was his first customer. I know it was probably because he had just got up with a crazy hangover and went to sell some stuff on the bridge so he can cure himself with my 1.50€. I know he may choose to buy booze instead of food for himself or his family. And still he didn't want to cheat me. In the next snowy afternoon I'll meet another person, I'll give him my last 1.50€, cus when it's about zero degrees it's cool to get back home, especially with a book. Books are cool.

Start

This is how the year began. First shows and releases for 2013 to be announced soon. January only looks dead, it was actually pretty cool in terms of planning stuff.

Bits of history: ODP (2005-2010)

Few nights ago I came across at quite a sad piece of news, namely that Feedback Loop Label is preparing its very last release before it's shut down. If you are not familiar this project, it was/still is a netlabel currated by Leonardo Rosado, one of the most active and dedicated artists I've come across in the last few years. If you are also unfamiliar with the concept of netlabels I highly encourage you to do some research, and then finish reading this post. In short and by default netlabels are mostly non-profit initiatives, and as such they are very likely to end up like this. In the case with Feedback Loop, this is surely a loss, because Leonardo is really passionate about music and FBL had always meant quality despite its short life. And quality is not a usual thing when we're talking about putting music online, as it's a process that pretty much anyone could do. 

the first handmade logo I did for odp in 2005, fun times

However, this whole thing reminded, that me few years ago I was also involved in a netlabel. If you're somehow familiar with me, my work or surrounding you probably have heard about ODP. It was started when I was only 17. The concept of ODP was to promote mainly Bulgarian underground music (predominantly electronic) in harsher genres such as dark ambient, noise, power noise, gabber etc. This experience introduced me to a big number of local and foreign artists (I am pretty certain I got to know Leonardo because of what I was trying to do with ODP back in the day). But at a point I felt my efforts became worthless. Nowadays all music can be found online and for free, especially when it's put out only digitally. That's why I felt I was no longer needed as the medium between an artist and its eventual listeners. That's why after printing ODP's first and only physical release, the CDr compilation 'hear / share' in 50 copies, I put out only one more digital release (also one of the best) and decided to call it a day. Since then, from time to time I've been considering getting back to releasing other people's music in a similar form, but I haven't yet really figured out how to make it more special, because nowadays no one needs 'more of the same' as it is more of a 'do your best' age that we're living in.

Our official page is long closed and gone, but if you are interested in what we were doing back in 2005-2010 you can check the best stuff from the ODP catalog in Archive.org, or just browse our blog. The coolest thing is that some of the releases we put back in the day are still being played, if we are to trust the Last.fm stats. By the way, I'm pretty sure that Abandonment have at least one copy of our last release, so if you are feeling sentimental you can grab it.

By the way Leonardo is still running heart and soul publisher, a physical label whose releases are always a great mixture of arts. And I, being a part of Amek, am still self-releasing music (for now mostly solo works or collaborations, but this may change in the future). Anyhow, there's always more to come.