We know you’ve read that part before. You may have noticed there is no mention of how we made this music – what studio did we use? When did we go there? Who did we work with?

Well, today comes the answer: we didn’t have to leave Simon’s apartment to record, and we didn’t work with anyone but Blänk. Klas and Lina brought a microphone, laptop and audio interface from Sweden, while Simon had a keyboard for Klas to use. We bought a couple other used pieces of equipment from a local music store and then we were on our way.

Since Simon’s apartment didn’t have that much furniture was so baller, there was plenty of empty space for us to set up our studio. After trying out a bunch of different spaces, we decided the corner of the living room provided the best acoustics. Next, we did our best to soundproof the space with three pieces of foam (that’s all we could afford, they were expensive!), and then it was recording time! 

Though modest, our recording setup was better than anything we could have imagined. Artists have to be in their element to be at their best creatively, and what’s a better way to be in your element than being at home with friends? The accessibility was also a very important piece of the puzzle, since we could go from “Nu fan kom jag på något fett!“ (I have an idea) to “Ja, då kör vi!” (let’s record) in a matter of minutes. We would record while watching the NBA Playoffs, while cooking breakfast, in the middle of the day, or late at night (but not too late on weeknights, since Simon had neighbors to worry about).

We’ve all traveled across the world and recorded in studios worth millions of dollars, but nothing could quite duplicate the feeling of falling asleep while music is being created a few feet away, or being woken up at odd hours because true creativity doesn’t have a volume dial or set schedule. There’s something to be said about the organic process of creating art – no filters, no time limits, no structure, no whiny executive producers looking for “that sound,” no record label pressure to stay in the box people are accustomed to – just three friends hanging out and feeding off of each other’s vastly differing personalities to facilitate true self expression.

And what’s the result, you ask? Music. Specifically, Aurinko Rising In The North: i ATL.

Enjoy (Check out more photos here)

/BLÄNK

Today is the day – Aurinko Rising in The North: i ATL’s official release on Spotify and iTunes (Check us out on Spotify here). It feels FANTASTIC to get this project out to the masses, because we had a lot of fun creating it a couple years ago in Atlanta, as well as fine-tuning it through the wonders of the digital age since then. This involved  some re-recording, sending files from Klas and Lina in Sweden to Simon in Atlanta and vice versa, countless emails and plenty of Skype meetings. The result is our magnificent new EP Aurinko Rising in The North: i ATL. We are planning on releasing three Aurinko Rising EPs this year, and this is our first installment.

Of course, the shorter story may be known by now – We all piled into Simon’s tiny apartment on the north side and drank, partied, laughed, cried, argued and poured our hearts out while making music and enjoying a few adventures. But there is so much more, and we want to let you in on all of it. We can’t tell the whole story just now, but we can give you a small idea of what it was like to give future stories some context:

Simon had just been promoted to an Account Executive at his day job in Marketing, so he worked long days while Klas and Lina stayed in his apartment writing new songs and arranging ones we had just recorded. Once Simon came home, he would give feedback or write and record his sections. The work was hard and the hours we grueling, but the music was beautiful and every now and then we got to sit down and just relax as three friends. While you enjoy our new EP on Spotify here, check out one of the times when we were fortunate enough to take a break and enjoy a nice ATL spring shower. More to come!

Rainy Day With Blank

It’s the dawn of a new day in music, but perhaps the sun doesn’t rise in the East this time.

It’s rising in the North.