EMI was replaced with a great publisher named Helsinki Music Company (HMC).  This is my current deal and is ongoing.  I felt so strongly that this was the right move that I took a small cut in the amount of money I was getting in my advances in order to make this change.  It’s an advance so you get the money in the end anyway, and I figured that if things were going well it wouldn’t really matter.  Niko Nordstrom is the managing director there and he’s very experienced.  So far I’ve been the happiest with HMC.  They’ve actually done what they said they would do, and it’s led to cuts!  That’s the most important thing. 

Here’s some of the stuff I’ve done during this part of the Tracy Lipp Journey..

Lordi.  The band that lives in infamy!  We’re working on the 5th record now.  This will be produced by a very famous rock producer in Nashville, Michael Wagner.  The third Lordi record made Eurovision history.  Lordi went into the Finnish contest only because of the fact that they had a new record out and wanted the promo.  They won the whole damn thing!!!!  I ended up doing more writing on this one.  Writing Lordi lyrics is really fun.  I’m really proud of a song called “Mr. Killjoy.”  Really funny concept:  He’s the DEATH of every party.

This is a picture from the 4th record’s recording session.  Lordi is singing.  This is an actual Pro Tools session that I’m tracking him with.

I’ve been to Russia – twice! Moscow’s an amazing city.  To my American eye it’s a cross between New York and Las Vegas.  However, if you don’t speak Russian it’s not an easy city to be in.  I’ve traveled a lot so I’m no stranger to being in a foreign country.  This was tough.  Little details like the alphabet and being able to read names in some way end up mattering a lot!  I guess Japan or one of the other civilizations in the orient could be similar.. At least they use the same numbers that we do. 

Trip number 1.  I loved the city, but the first trip was a disaster.  I was there over Christmas, 2006 and was supposed to work with a singer. She was too busy to see me more than twice.  So I spent 6 days there and ended up bored out of my skull.  If you don’t speak Russian in Russia, forget it.  I can get by in three languages, English, Finnish and Spanish and I couldn’t get a cup of coffee and a sandwich in an internet café!  Obviously there are exceptions to this, but this is the general vibe.  They also dub the TV shows and movies.  That’s a pain.  You can sort of hear the original in the background, but not well enough to enjoy a show.  In Finland they put subtitles on the shows.  I think this is one of the reasons Finns speak English so well.  Most of the time I had a translator with me and it was OK, but I didn’t want to go everywhere with a translator.  I was very relieved when I got back.  Read more about it HERE.

Trip number 2.  All the difficulties were still there, but this trip was a lot of fun!  I was WAY busy working with my singers.  It was a TV show about 6 Russian girls singing in English and recording a record in Nashville.  I was hired to coach out their accent.  I was SO busy.  I wasn’t bored at all.  Read more about it HERE

It’s so hard to break this down and know what to say as things are happening..  Lots of great stuff going on, working with great people.  Now it’s 2010, I’m part owner of the studio and for the first time I’m not carrying a balance on my credit card.  I also own and apartment and have small shares in companies like Apple and Nokia.  That’s pretty cool.  Especially considering the fact that when I moved to Finland I didn’t have a firm job, had no money and nothing except the things I put on the plane with me.  Maki says I’m not a leader, not a follower, but a cowboy who does what I want.  I think he’s right.

I think us men try and define ourselves based on our careers.  I do that, but I’m also trying to define myself based on how I think.

So who am I?  I’m a musician, I’m an athlete, I’m a songwriter.  I’m a lyricist (poet?).  I’m busy being me and enjoying it to the fullest I can.