Depressed....Should I be happy today?
I'm depressed... well, just a little... It's hard to stay happy all the time (and as a "public person" it is kind of expected of me to be positive and constructive in what I say and do on the internet... well not today dear... I just don't feel like it.)
I was trying to think of something cheerfull to blog because the sun is shining a little tiny bit today, It's almost june and I'm happy that the temperature just rose above 10 degrees centigrade (for those of you unfamiliar with the climate in holland/germany the daily temperature is about 10 to 20 degrees BELOW what it should normally be at this time of year)... so maybe when me and my stupid tree-hugging hippie/punk buddies started shouting about "Global Climate Change" back in the eigthies somebody might have had the decency to take notice instead of just ridiculing us? But even now, the monkeys still don't seem to care much... it's like the pompeyans living on mount vesuvius saying: " dangerous?!! Naah!..that thing has been smoking for years now!... no problem! it's all perfectly safe!" yeah, sure pal...
Politicians and heads of state are too busy corrupting, stealing and backstabbing each other , while grabbing as much loot off the peasants as their scrawny little claws can carry...
(but what do you expect from a world in which a government can simply blow up a couple of buildings full of it's own people, then blaming it on some arabs, to justify a war of conquest while the rest of the so-called civilised world thinks this is "just fine"?... and no, it's not just a fucking theory!)
The main monotheisitic religions are cashing-in on the whole "apocalypse/end of the world" card to get as many souls with bank-accounts connected to their own particular brand of enlightenment, not giving a toss about the living planet..
(but what do you expect from Power-Mad Religions ..that forbid the use of contraception on an overcrowded planet full of conflict, disease and famine... That speak of the holyness of it's priests who rape little kids and get away with it....Religions that speak of peace and love while starting wars, imprisoning and persecuting entire populations of "unbelievers"... Religions that see this beautifull world of ours as merely a throw away "testing ground for souls" ... eternal souls who will live the "real thing" in heaven or hell after they have died in this life... yeah right...
Fuck!... I hate these monkey people... there has never been such a species of selfish , ignorant, blind, destructive, mother-raping ,mutant monkey as ours... and I am deeply ashamed to be a part of this cancerous growth called "humanity"... I love my life, I love my wife, I love my kids and I love my friends... but I really really want this human infestation to end (and so does mother earth). Hopefully, it will all be over soon, because this race does not deserve a future... we have gone to far (physically) as a species... we have learned too little (mentally and spiritually) to be allowed survival... we is going down! and somehow, that thought is comforting to me... moan moan... humbug! and bollocks!... and grr... and ...erm... well... yes...
(Jenny just danced around infront of me, while being only half dressed and looking very pretty and smiling... erm...it's hard to stay depressed like this... and all the birds are singing so beautifully in the trees despite the cold weather... Damn! how am I supposed to be sad like this!?) So er... forget everything I just said, life is wonderfull, the world of humans will end, but so fucking what? who cares? everything has a beginning and an end... let's just enjoy the time that we have been given to the full!
I wish YOU a great day while it lasts... Greenthingz on Demonwings! XXX Shaman SteveSic (pope of non-dogmatic Paganism, and official spokesperson for the living Planet) picture by Sic Vicious)
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Fuck the Profits!... this is ART for the sake of ART!
The new Saltatio Mortis Single... (Is now also a little OMNIA single!!)
Today we are finishing-up the production of our "re-mix" of the new Saltatio Mortis single which will be released on the 12th of July 2013. Sa-Mo is a very anarchist german Mittelalter/Metal band of freaks who are fast becoming very dear friends of ours. (we met at the awesome travelling MPS festivals of Gisi and it was like we'd known each other for a long time already... you know the feeling?) Their music is different to our own, but it's real and honest (no bullshit, no playback, no fake. etc.) they have a great respect for their fans , they really make music from the heart and there is a definate "core" which we share...
(it so happens that like us, they too have refused a lucrative record deal with a certain evil music multinational because it would have compromised their music and dissappointed their faithfull fans... that is soooo rare! I really thought we were the only ones who preferred ART to MONEY when given the choice, and who could actually sacrifice EASY FAME for HARD PRINCIPLES!... respect!)
So when these groovy guys asked us if we wanted to make an OMNIA re-mix/re-work of their latest single which deals with some controversial issues regarding the evil stupidity of greed and blind-commercialism and which even has a controversial tune!... we ofcourse said YES PLEASE! ... and... BRING IT ON!!! (I love the smell of controversy in the morning... smells like...Anarchy!)
This is officially the first OMNIA release EVER to be recorded in the "STENNY STUDIO" and let me tell you it's a real "goosebumps" piece! This was also the first time that we got to work with our sweet friend Fieke (Orchus.nl) as recording technician. She came to our forest home to be our live-in microphone-mistress for the duration of the recordings, thus giving the whole production a very intimate and warm feel, which you can really hear in the finished song. (I just heard the final mix and I'm still tingly all over).
The original song by Saltatio Mortis is very METAL and ofcourse in German, and we have made an atmospheric OMNIA version out of it with ofcourse english lyrics (so all you non-german speakers can understand it too!)
The original german lyrics by Timo/Lasterbalk really touched my heart and it was sooo easy to rework them into my own language... it all just went by itself :-)
Now all we have to do is wait patiently for this cool single project to be released in a couple of months time...
Greenthingz and ART before MONEY!
XXX Stenny et OMNIA
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Pagans in the forest...
What a weekend... what stages! What a crowd! First we rocked belgium BIGTIME!! and then Last weekend the trees formed our cathedral and together with the wonderfull MPS people we celebrated the Pagan- mass! Love in the Forest and peace among the trees!!! XXX Omnia
Picture by: http://www.mps-fotos.de/4images/categories.php?cat_id=625
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Tonight we Rock Belgium!!! (wanna buy a stage Banner?)
We're off to Belgium today to do our first gig there in years! and we're really looking forward to seeing our belgium friends again tonight! (eh Ju?)
We've also decided to sell our new stage banner... so if you're interested in owning a HUGE watertight , thick vinyl, Omnia poster (3x2 metres) that looks like this picture... which has had us dancing around infront of it on stage.... then you can buy one tonight in the Wieke in Deerlijke ,Belgium, or on Sunday on the MPS at Hohenwestedt, Germany. Were selling it for cost price (€ 200,-) If we don't sell it this weekend we'll put it online in our webshop next week, so you can buy the OMNIA stage banner wherever you live in the world OK?
Greenz and PAGANFOLKMUSICK!!!!
XXX OMNIA
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Mixing and Editing in bed...
This is Fieke... the first recording engineer ever to start editing and mixing new OMNIA trax in bed!! ... while still wearing her sexy pyamas! This will surely make the new songs sound extra special! (doesn't she look absolutely adorable with her Jenny made wooly hat and headphones on?) anyway... we are finished with the recordings of two of our new songs... now the mixing process starts ... But for the moment OMNIA will be busy touring first to Belgium where we play tomorrow in the Wieke... and then on to Germany where we will Rock the MPS festival in Hohenwestedt... Grrreeenz! OMNIA
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update from the Stenny Forest studio... with Cloggs on!
So what do you do when the microphone in your forest studio is too high for your beautifull Dutch vocalist?... well that's easy!... she runs off to her windmill in the tulipfields and comes back wearing her cloggs! (handmade in holland)
Now Jenny has suddenly grown 1 1/2 inches she is just the right hight to reach the sensitive membranes of the Neumann mic for another brilliant set of vocals... hey @Saltatio Mortis!, we're doing the vocals for your single-remix today! ... and it sounds like: FUCK YEAH!... goosebumps... :-)
more updates will follow soon... Greenz and recording machines XXX Stenny and Fieke
(picture by that Dutch mouse.. you know the one? lives in a windmill , goes clippety clop a lot?)
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New Recordings in the Stenny studio!
Today we are recording, recording and recording new OMNIA musick in the Stenny Studio deep in the forest!! yeah! recordings!!... Outside, the trees are green , the birds are busy and the squirrels are doing branch to branch acrobatics... inside, we are laying down tracks of strings and things for a couple of great songs we have been working on. This is Jenny doing what she does best on the Celtic Harp while sexy soundtechnician Fieke is working the mics and the digital faders . This is gonna be great! It's the first time ever we have recorded in our own home instead of a big professional studio , so it's really relaxed and I get to make salads and spinach "love pie" in between takes! The remake of the new Saltatio Mortis single is going GREAT! (and the other song we're doing is still top secret)... tomorrow the other instruments go on.. Daphyd's didgeszsz... uh... I just sang a whole lead vocal part while drinking lots of whiskey.. (it was part of the song..) ... hips!... an... it was great!.. erm.. I write enough now... my glass is calling! bye bye ... nite nite... (or whatever time it is where YOU are reading this)
but remember, we are creating art for YOU... and it's FUN! (thanx for giving us an excuse to misbehave creatively everyday!... you're a great Boss!) XX Greenz
Shaman Steve Hic!, Jennennenny and Fieke! (picture by errr.. well would you believe Johnny Cash's ghost?)
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When the going get's Tough... the Tough get going!
We had an absolutely awesome yet scary, sharing and caring gig with a very brave and beautifull audience of (slightly wet) Pirates, Pagans and Mittelalter heros last weekend on the MPS festival in Rastede (Germany)!! I have to admit we were kind of nervous all during the day because it was going to be the very first time that we played with just Jenny, Rob, Daphyd and me on the stage (hence to be known as the "the fab four" ;-)... And it Rocked! ... Thanx for all the extra help in singing and energy that YOU the audience gave us there!! It was sooo cool to hear all of you singing and screaming along to the new songs (even though none of them are on an album yet!) And the Spirits were as high as a kite , despite the occasional rain and wind that passed by sporadically. Thankfully the weather gods kept the festival dry for most of the time on saturday... we weren't there for the other days though...
I have so much respect for all our wild and weird friends in the bands that were there... Hammering on! , playing their Mittelalter, their Folk, their Pirate tunes... most of them doing 3 or 4 gigs a day for days on end ... with hardly any sleep in between... It's easy for a band to seem happy and energetic when everything is going well and the sun shines... but when the Stormwinds blow on the golden Barley, and the un-seasonal cold bites you in your playing-fingers THAT is when the true warriors of music show what they are made of! and on Chief Gisi's excellent MPS last weekend there were only HEROES as far as I'm concerned!
Like our Scottish buddies from Saor Patrol who showed everybody what REAL "BraveHearts" look and sound like! Or the PaganPirate gang of the Dolmen rocking from the foggy dew all the way to the stormy night... the "German Tenacious D" Das Niveau! many many mittelalter bands great and small and ofcourse our dear anarchic friends of Saltatio Mortis who (despite their high charts ratings and indisputable grand German fame) are there on the MPS like real troopers ... morning, noon and night giving their all for their loyal fans! Rocking like demons on stage and always taking the time to talk to their fans after every show! You might have noticed that I mention the Mittelalter rebels of "Sa-Mo" a lot lately, but that is because we have found some real "blood brothers" in this crazy gang of black-clad outlaw musicians... their music style may differ from ours , but their world view and bushido-ethos is very much the same as OMNIA's... We agree that as real, free musicians , we have the long standing , traditional duty to always speak our minds and to keep on questioning "the authorities", educating people and bringing news as we see it wherever we go ... (when I say "REAL" musicians I obviously do NOT mean the "Justin Biebers of this world" and all other performing monkeys who produce commercial empty crap just for fame and cash). OMNIA (and Sa-Mo) share the opinion that if you have been given the HONOUR to stand upon a stage and talk to a crowd of people who will actually listen to you.. then you are duty-bound to SAY SOMETHING USEFULL!
That is the reason why we will be joining with Saltatio Mortis on their upcoming music project. It will be an awesome kick -ass METALalter single with some "very interesting" and deeply meaningfull lyrics and music (especially for a band in the jaded mittelalter scene). ...AND...They have given OMNIA the honour to make a reworked "remix" of their great song!! ... but then in 100% "OMNIA-PaganFolk-style" ofcourse! we're working on it this week... (I'll be posting more details soon about this exiting new single)... wow.. long blog... sorry Rob and all my other non-literary, smartphone tapping friends... (are you still reading?)
anyway... I see more and more musicians nowadays trying to do some GOOD in this crazy and suicidal world of fakers and moneymakers... this warms my cynical old shamanic heart, because let's face it people... the earth is not getting any healthier, governments and businesses are not getting any friendly-er... life is starting to get really tough... but ... We are Warriors .. we are the Crazy ones!
and when the going get's TOUGH ...the TOUGH GET GOING!!
Peace to the peacefull , Bloody war to the rest!... HokaHey!!
Shaman SteveSic pope of non-dogmatic Paganism ('cause DOGMA's a BITCH ;-)
... picture of Daphyd and Alea wielding their weapons of mass-destruction" during MORRIGAN made by home of impression (or should that be "weapons of mass-instruction!? ;-)
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Beer, rubber gloves, washing up and a really ugly picture
This is an ugly picture of OMNIA doing the washing up after a great day of practice on the live-arrangements of our PganFolk musick… well … Jenny and Rob are washing up and I was playing sweeny todd on daphyd's hair… we are not drunk at all…because tomorrow we are playing a really unique fecking set on the MPS in Rastede… so to get in the mood I'm drinking good gewrmann weissen beer (The lads are from Brabant so they have this really weird concept about wanting to drink dutch beer all the time… yeah? weird isn't it?) anyway… Jenny has not been drinking wine in large quantities and as I have mentioned before we are definately not drunk…erm…so we won't have a hang-over on stage tomorrow at all ata all… hihihi… anyway dear friends! Sláinte!! OMNIA
really ugly picture by S.Todd
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANS!!
It's Ans' birthday! Today Jenny's Mum celebrates her 66th birthday! (the number of the feast! ;-)
Ans has always been the one and only “Mother of OMNIA” and her good advice, loving care and great food have sustained us and nurtured us through the long years of our life as a PaganFolkRock band! We're here in her beautifull garden to help her eat the cake and celebrate in style!
Now YOU can wish her a happy birthday too by singing a birthday song in your own style and language in front of your computer/smart phone and thinking of this great and sweet woman who gave life to Jenny.. and who helps to keeps us sane and alive!
XXX Peace and coolness! OMNIA
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