Hello.
This is going to be a long one, and chances are if you're reading this then you've been following my social media, so you've seen most of these updates or been part of them! Still, I've been urged to update this more often, so I will begin again.
The highlights:
-November: China tour with FirstBourne (photos)
-December: Recording in Germany with Mr. Kosto and Sascha Paeth and my family, Christmas
-January: NAMM, I turned 22
-February: USA tour with Winds of Plague (photos)
-March: Came home to MY DEGREE! And Breath of the Wild! + More Spires and FirstBourne shows and a REALLY cold photoshoot
-April: Announced the new Spires record "Solveig", announced Metal Days performance in July, played the International Portuguese Music Awards with FirstBourne, more Spires and FirstBourne shows/radio appearances. Recorded an acoustic EP with FirstBourne. Yes, really.
-May: In Revolver magazine, released the new Seven Spires music video for "The Cabaret of Dreams". Marco from Light & Shade is also chatting with me about our next album. New YouTube cover "Ghost Love Score" by Nightwish!
January in photos:
I screamed internally. Per Nilsson is one of my favourites.
FEBRUARY
How on earth did I end up playing keys for Winds of Plague? Hilariously, Art (the drummer) found me on Instagram via #metalkeyboardist and messaged me right before I went to NAMM. It was a very professional "We are looking for someone, can you be ready in three weeks?" and after a little back and forth about my previous engagements, it was settled.
I also saw a lot of gross toilets, and got to spend two nights in a hotel bed <3
Yes, those are bloodstains. Ladies. Really?
Hooray for hotel-sized mirrors and cleanliness!
March
I FINALLY RECEIVED MY ACTUAL, TANGIBLE DEGREE.
And played Breath of the Wild.
Wow this game is so pretty - WHAT IS THAT?!
Hung out with Trudy. At 15, I am thankful for every day she is with us.
Our photo editor had to take quite a bit of redness out of our faces in the actual shots.
We were worried about frostbite. The wind chill was brutal but the photos came out great!
Did some laundry
Cleaned my room haha
Played some Spires shows
Went too hard and hurt myself. Stairs sucked for a couple of weeks.
APRIL
I got sick. Like, really sick, sick-in-bed-for-two-weeks, cancelled-shows-due-to-poor-health sick.
AND THEN WENT BACK TO BOSTON FOR THE IPMAS, MORE SHOWS, AND ANNOUNCED THE NEW SPIRES ALBUM
Attended a performance of Howards Shore's works from "The Lord of the Rings" with Mr. Kosto. It was a truly beautiful experience. We dressed up, of course.
FirstBourne!
Ha...
Neither Chris nor I speak much Portuguese. We took funny pictures when we didn't know what was going on.
My mother ensured I ate well at least while she and my dad were in town.
And then, I went back home and immediately got sick again - vomit, fever, oversleeping, not sleeping, headcold, the whole shebang. I am still coughing up phlegm every morning.
MAY
Flu for way too long. Filming videos like a madman. Sleep is back to its normal crap self :D
Three generations of food comas on Mothers Day <3
Trudy has figured out that I get munchies around 10pm. Usually it means ice cream for her, too.
I am often astounded by her energy - in human years, she is over 100. Now and then, I catch glimpses of the puppy we adopted 15 years ago in her face :)
Like a true Texan.
My non-work life has included a mess of increasingly negative self-talk. I don’t know where it is coming from, but I definitely miss exhaustedly going to sleep in an RV after playing in a new city every night. I suppose the good is that I am writing proper songs that mean something again, instead of emotionless fluff/angry black metal. I try to remember in these times to treat myself like I would a small child - you would never tell a five-year-old, "you don't deserve to be happy," or "you are a burden". You would put a sad child to bed with a warm drink and a nice blanket :')
Funny – everything else is going super great though, and I try to keep a smile on my face and focus on the good. Like always, it’s the wolf you feed that wins. Still, the travel and chaos has already begun to take a serious toll, and the amount of stress makes noticeable changes in and on my body, particularly in my appetite.
On that note – I STARTED EATING MEAT again in December ’16, and it has taken me this long to be able to eat a decent portion of steak without enduring any repercussions. I was tired of not enjoying food (how many days can you really eat a black bean burrito/burger or assorted nuts and sautéed veggies in a row?) and a lot of people had begun commenting on how skinny I was getting. Plus, it makes things much easier when your whole band wants to go for BBQ and therefore your options are a salad or a salad AGAIN. Damn, I sure missed chicken fried steak. :D
I love you for reading this. Thank you. Be good to yourself.
Back soon,
Cap
PS – I went into a Barnes & Noble for the first time in forever and picked up a collection of HP Lovecraft’s works. 1) I forgot how much I FUCKING LOVE BOOKSTORES. 2) Why has it taken me this long to read Lovecraft?