#jonisheila

SO much has happened the past month. Good things!

I moved to my new place and I think I finally got used to it. :-) As you all know thanks to your help I can make this album. One of my funders is an independent label based in Sweden. I was invited over to get to know the people behind the label and to record a few songs in the X-Level Studios, formerly known as Abbey Road Studios in Stockholm. It was AWESOME.

I recorded five songs in Stockholm, just guitar and vocals. You can listen to one of them :-)

I haven't seen much of the city, since I've been in the studio for most of the time. But I got a taste of the night life (drinks are expensive! :p), I met really cool people and I will certainly come back to Sweden. Big thanks to Jesper and Willem!

I also recorded a new song (back in Belgium), well actually an old one but I never made a decent recording. It's called Crossover.

In the meantime I have recorded all of my other songs in my bedroom. :-) They can be used as acceptable demos for the musicians I'm working with. Next on the agenda is arranging and rehearsing the songs with band! By the way tomorrow I'll be on television. Thursday 21 November 2013 I'll be in De Beste Singer-songwriter van Vlaanderen at 21h05 on VIER.

*edit* I was quite nervous. I hope you like it!

My and my Ghent homies were in the newspaper (Dutch). :) If you have trouble reading it, click here to read the article on the website.

And that's all for now.

At the moment I'm recording all of the songs at home, just guitar and vocals. Once that's done I'll have a brainstorm with other musicians and sit together with a possible producer. I told you earlier I was nominated for Best Ghent artist at Nacht van Gent. Unfortunately this event has been cancelled. That was the ‘bad’ news BUT there is also good news! Ever heard of Steve Madden? A very popular shoe brand in the USA. Steve Madden is now also active in Europe and I’ve been asked to be ambassador for Steve Madden within the Benelux and EU! All I have to do, is wear Steve Madden shoes on gigs once in a while and post about it. ;-)

A few disturbing events have occurred and because of that I had to cease my plans with the producer I wanted to work with. So I'm looking for other options. But I have to think this through so please give me time. I don't want to make the wrong decisions. And there's no need to rush things, right? I really want to make this work. :-)

And I've got more news. BIG NEWS. De Nacht van Gent is an award night held the 14th of November. Joni Sheila is on the long list for Best Ghent Artist! 

Let's get back to business. :)

Recordings will start the end of August! I was thinking of releasing the album on my birthday (November 17th) but that might be wishful thinking. There's is SO MUCH to do.

At the moment I'm looking for art workers. If you happen to know anyone, let me know.

I've also got a lot of gigs coming up. Click here to find out where and when. Maybe we'll see each other there. OR you can just book me by sending an e-mail to [email protected] :-)

This is so exciting. Aaaah! :D

Awful. Just awful. The journey from Sofia to Istanbul that is. In the middle of the night we had passport control. No problem. But the cabin right next to ours didn’t react to the police shouting and knocking on the door. Even outside the train police started gathering. After half an hour the train conductor used a saw to cut through the chain of the door.

There was only one guy sleeping in the cabin. It’s hard to believe that he was sleeping through all of that noise… A few hours later we were woken up again by Turkish customs. This time we had to get out of the train. We needed a visa so we had to line up for that first. A visa for Belgians costs 15 euro so I wanted to pay with this 50 euro bill.

This bill is PERFECTLY fine, there’s just a little tear but the guy behind the counter didn’t want to take it. They also didn’t take cards and this was my ONLY money. He told us to change it in the shop next door but also there the same excuse. The guy wouldn’t take it because of this stupid little tear!

(The exchange office in Istanbul took this bill without problems...)

I started crying, swearing and shouted out my frustrations. Bob had to borrow money from the train conductor to pay for our visas. Finally we could get in line for passport control. There was only one guy behind the counter to check ALL the passports of EVERY passenger on the train. Very primitive and unprofessional.

When we FINALLY got back on the train the customs came in AGAIN and knocked very hard on every door shouting 'HEY, HEY PASSPORT CONTROL HEY!' What the hell did we just line up for?! Hours delay and a terrible night sleep. A very bad start for my first time in Turkey.

Friday, 12 July 2013

Arrived in Istanbul in the morning, went to bed immediately and slept till 19h. After the nap, we went for a walk along the shore. Stray cats everywhere. :-)

I couldn't help but notice all the (Turkish) people staring at me. Especially men. I felt a little uncomfortable. Was it because I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless top? I checked the internet afterwards: Turkish men interpret eye contact and a smile differently. In other words, if I just look into a man's eyes or give a smile, I'm flirting. It was very hard for me not to do this since it's in my nature. And I ALWAYS smile and make eye contact when busking.

Saturday, 13 July 2013

We visited the Galata tower and we went shopping at Grand Bazaar.

In the evening we were supposed to meet up with our new Colombian friends (met them on the night train) at Taksim Square. Waited for them half an hour but they didn’t show up. (I actually missed their message about postponing our date) So I went looking for a busking spot on Istiklal Avenue. Suddenly I felt this burning sensation in my eyes, nose and mouth. Then all these people came running in our direction. In the distance I could see a big cloud of tear gas.  Adrenaline kick. We were in the middle of a protest. That's why there were swarms of police on and around Taksim square... Sunday, 14 July 2013

No ‪busking‬ in ‪‎Istanbul‬... I don't want to get hurt or arrested during the ‪protests‬. And I certainly don't want the ‪Zabita‬ to smash my guitar... 

So we payed a visit to the Blue Mosque. I wasn't allowed inside the mosque because of the way I was dressed.

In the evening we came accross a hookah lounge and decided to spend our last Lira on Turkish tea and the use of a waterpipe. :-)  I loved the lamp decoration.

A nice ending of an adventurous trip.

July 9th we left for Sofia. I order to do that we had to take a train back to Belgrade and from there a train to Sofia. The journey would take us at least 23 hours + delay. Made some new friends on the night train. :)

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Checked in at Levitt hostel and then we went looking for food. Discovered this awesome noodle bar on Vitosha Boulevard. :D

Met up with Anna and company afterwards. They showed us around town and I gave them a small concert. They're protesting in Bulgaria. Nothing violent though but quite noisy. We went back to the hostel but we had to go through a big crowd armed with flags, whistles and vuvuzelas. :)

In the late evening we met up wit our new Bulgarian friends again to do some karaoke. Anna, Vladi, Kalo and Tanner, I had a great time with you guys!

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Still had to make reservations for the night train to Istanbul so we went back to the station to do so. Unfortunately we had a difficult time to find someone who speaks english.

I speak four friggin' languages and I can't use any of them here... Went to every counter, no english. Not even the information desk... We tried explaining with our hands. Eventually the lady at the desk pointed in the right direction.

Back to the city center. I wanted to go busking underground where I saw someone else play earlier. There was no one else busking there so I sat down with my guitar and started playing. Not even halfway my first song some grumpy woman shouted at me in Bulgarian of course. I didn't understand her growling but it was clear she didn't want me there.

So I went away but I was so pissed I played and sang very loud on my way out. This was a shitty day and now I associate Bulgaria with unfriendly people who hate buskers. (apart from my new Bulgarian friends!)

This sucks. I REALLY wanted to busk . Should've stayed on Vitosha boulevard...

Monday, 24 June 2013

We had a train from Ghent to Liege to Cologne. In Cologne we stopped by the Hard Rock Cafe since we had to wait at least two hours for our night train to Prague.

I'm such a noob traveller. A train is not the most comfortable place to sleep but the time between Cologne and Prague is 12 hours and I was really exhausted. It was quite something else, sleeping on the top shelf...

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

We'd normally arrive in Prague in the morning but due to the water problems in Germany we had a 2h delay.

The first day in Prague I didn't busk at all. The weather sucked so I just played the tourist. Everything is so touristy in Prague (aka expensive) but it really is a beautiful city.

Wednesday, 26 June 2013

On the second day the sky cleared up and I was able to busk in the afternoon. I earned back my hostel costs. A Canadian musician guy named Phillip joined me for a few songs.

This was also my first time staying at a hostel. I shared a room wit seven other people from all over the world. I also went to this bar crawl where you get to drink for free for the first two and a half hours. That was fun. But it was a lot less fun when we had to go to the second bar (and pay for our own drinks :p)

So we (Joni, Bob, Scarlet and Tom) left the bar crawl to continue in a local bar where the prices are more considerable :) Didn't make it that late though, checkout time was at 10 AM the next morning...

Before going to the next destination I bought a postcard to send to mom and dad. I think I'm gonna do this for every city from now on. Off to Vienna!