Milano

The train ride to Milan is probably the most beautiful. Sprawling vineyards lay tucked in-between the green mountain landscape. Along the way I get a notification that my track with mus.hiba has been released via Japanese label Bunkai-Kei records for his forthcoming EP release “Lycorsis”. What a great moment. Traveling Europe on tour and having a simultaneous song release in Japan. 

I was supposed to meet up with Peekaboo in Milan, a producer I've worked with on a number of different tracks including “Suddenly” off my first EP, but he wasn’t very good at communicating. Months would go by without a response to my messages about planning and in the days leading up to my travel to Milan I got absolutely no response. I find it kind of crazy that someone would tell me to come and visit them in a foreign country, offer up their house, give me their phone number, and then drop off the face of the earth after travel arrangements have been made. But, whatever, life goes on and the tour continues. 

I book my first Airbnb. I messaged the owners first asking if they would be ok with me using the room as a performance space for my show on tinychat.com/ecchiparty. They didn't entirely understand wtf I was talking about, but were glad to have me! Not only are they gracious hosts, they’re photographers as well and help me capture the moment on film.  

Tinychat shows are one of my favorite things of 2014, they and the bed squeak sample...XD. Earlier this spring, Choongum invited me login to his performance on SPF420 where he was premiering our collab track, “Skin.” There were hundreds of people in the chatroom hyping on bedroom producers. What was this world? Amaze? Seeing instant interaction and response to our track was like nothing I've experienced before and I’ve been hooked ever since. SPF420 and Dripfest have been two of my favorite online venues on tinychat. Tonight in Milan it’s tinychat.com/ecchiparty.

Ending my WAVY European Tour online at Ecchiparty is perfect. My tour was all about meeting up with my Internet collaborators IRL, so what better way than to end the tour URL where it all began? Not only that, but anyone can login and watch from anywhere in the world. The other artists performing in the line-up include Falls, Kid HNRK, Maxo, and Et Aliae, among other great people with great sounds. Not only are there great producers in the line-up, there are great producers in the chat. Even though I'm alone in Milan, I feel as though I'm surrounded by friends. I love performing for friends <3

Words can’t fully describe how I feel now that the WAVY Tour is at an end. How wonderful it all was! I met people that I will have connections with for the rest of my life. I shared my music with hundreds of new people. I traveled to places I had never seen before. I feel so proud of what I’ve accomplished. What was a dream became reality and I can’t thank you enough. 

Photo by Kris Jones

Definitely sad to end the tour, but I have something wonderful waiting for me - NYC. I just moved there two months ago! I'm inspired. So much new lies ahead. The adventure is only just beginning.

XOXO

// 

Levice, Slovakia

I get the same question over and over - why Levice? My answer is easy - Melodica Netlabel, the creation of Andrej Ammo and Tomas Kaizels. My first internet release with Melodica 'drifting dawn' garnered over 35,000 downloads and planted the seed for this European tour. Everyone seems so surprised that I chose Levice, but it really feels like Levice chose me.

This is my last live performance on the tour. The next one will be in an online chat room from Milan, so I'm gonna give this show all I've got. From the very beginning of my set I have a whole crowd of people grinning up at me, dancing, loving the beats and the vibes. This is why I do this. Soaking this up every bit of this. Everyone wants a signed CD! I do my best to write all their names correctly, my hands still shaking from all the energy from the show. I'm blown away by these people. SO MUCH LOVE LEVICE. 

Tomas gets back on the turntables and starts playing some 1920s electronic house. We dance the Charleston and move like flappers; as fast as our feet will allow. I have a dancing partner and we're moving in and out in time with the beat, spinning. Slovakia, the Charleston, amazing people - I am loving this.

You can see the stars here, so bright, blanketing the sky with luminescence. Levice is small, yes, but beautiful.

The next day Andrej and his family take me to a traditional Slovak restaurant. It's a beautiful old cottage with goats and geese in the back. I'm loving every minute of this. I walk out into a field and see Bambi and his mom hopping away. Take in a deep breath of this nature because you won't find this in NYC Abigail. Deep breath.

Later on we go to the Levice's castle ruins. Apparently some Hungarians took the better part of this castle a few hundred years back, but even the one wall that still stands is beautiful. I look around, we're the only ones here. It's a refreshing feeling. Imagining this same view but in Prague, the place would be crawling with tourists. It is only me and the castle in this frame.

We climb to the highest point in the city, in the distance you can see their nuclear power plant giving resonance to the time in which we stand. We take some time to chill out at 'Holland Bar' and eat Gypsy burgers. The joke is that they're actually made out of Gypsies...

When we get back to Andrej's flat his parents are there to greet us and they have presents for me! Seriously the sweetest people. They give me a Levice magnet and a little stuffed animal to help me sleep on the train. Their hospitality is incredible. They really made me feel at home. So much love for Levice. 

// 

Prague

Walking through Berlin Hauptbahnhof toward my train to Prague. A guy sees the 10 yr. old child/travel bag I'm carrying on my back and asks me in German how many kilos I'm carrying. He starts repeating over and over again how a woman shouldn't have to carry that much. I tell him women can too. He laughs and keeps walking. It's kind of funny to me that I came in direct contact with a guy that thinks I can't/shouldn't. It usually never crosses my mind that some people might have this attitude about women's abilities, I just do. Don't worry kid, I got this.

Now on my way to Prague, languages filter in and out, a constant transition of nationality with more and more Slovak fading in as we head East. 

Prague's cityscape is beautiful, the romantic edges in the architecture are harmonious alongside the modern additions. There is something undeniably harmonious about this city. Tomas Balaz and I are playing a show tonight in this city.

I'm pretty hungry from the train ride, so I stop to get some of that traditional Czech food and Czech beer. Take a load off. What I didn't notice before I ordered was the table of Americans right next to me blabbing about their 'international lifestyle'. Their exaggerated conversation is constant rich life bragging and harrowing stories about failed forced engagements and elite status groups. I try to focus on my goulash and knödeln and block them out. 

Tomas is waiting for me at a metro station near the club so I head underground, looking forward to experiencing a new subway system. There's something quite grounding about public transpiration. Even though me and my 40 lb bag stick out like a sore thumb, it's still a more inclusive feeling than walking the streets above, dodging in and out of destination weddings and stumbling walking tour groups. 

After many emails and broken up text messages, Tomas and I finally meet! He's booked a hostel/bed-and-breakfast type place just a block away from the club. We're in a student area. I show Tomas some of the music that I've been producing. He gets amped up on it right away and starts firing off suggestions in the mixing. Welcome suggestions and knowledge. 

Klubovna is exactly my vibe, small but comfortable and compact with lots of color on the walls and colorful people inside. There are two bands playing before I go on - both have a surf rock feel, droning a feeling out toward the crowd who soaks it in right away. 

My friend Jessica Lyness is in the city! She was the PR manager for the Portland International Film Festival when I was interning there as a senior in college. It's so good to see a friendly familiar face. So random and awesome! It's amazing to have her here for my show on the other side of the world.

After the two bands are finished playing I set up. They have a projector which is great because I don't have to mess with finding a place to set up mine. Test the mic, test the Korg, test the video projection, it's all looking good. The sound seems a little muddled, but the sound guys reassure me that it sounds great from out there. I start and the first few songs go well, but then when I start moving around the mic has a huge amount of feedback. I look up at the sound-booth, no one there. They left and didn't come back the entire set. The video projector stops working. I have to press a button to get it to wake up. Do this about eight times during the set until I don't care anymore. One of the Czech guys in the crowd gets up on stage right next to me while I'm singing and makes a gesture to turn me down. He makes faces, asks for the mic. I honestly don't know what to do, I'm so thrown off with everything. I play along and add him into my set as a prop until someone grabs him off stage, but he persists. He comes back a second time and I ask him to leave. He doesn't get it. I can't help but believe that the vast majority of these people don't get it. I'm thankful for those that stay.  

Getting off stage I feel defeated. The people who came to watch me insist that I did a great job, but I can't hear them. Maybe the lack of sleep is getting to me. I put it behind me and enjoy the rest of the night with Tomas and his friends. I use my last drink ticket to barter for some peanut butter cheetos. God those things are good.

The next morning Tomas and I have a great breakfast and talk about his work at LEGO before I take off to Slovakia. A taxi picks me up and when we arrive at the bus station I tip well, probably more than I should have, but what the hell. He insists that he help me with my bag. "Man's weight, not women's weight" he says as he places it on my shoulders. "Women can too." I reply. I've come full circle. 

//

Soundcloud HQ - Berlin

Today is Wednesday. Today is Soundcloud. My cab driver is friendly and inquisitive about my travels as he drives toward the Amsterdam Centraal Station. I tell him that I'm headed to Soundcloud HQ today. He hasn't heard of the name and asks if it's a normal thing to do. I tell him no, it's not, not at all. No, this is something special.

It's not every day that a Soundcloud artist gets to meet the very people who made all of their musical endeavors and collaborations possible. It's hard to describe what I'm feeling. Nervous yes, but I also a sense of calm, a feeling that I'm headed home to friends. On the train I run through my set silently; mentally. 

Soundcloud HQ. I arrive and am instantly greeted by several people milling around at reception. Dominik is my engineer for the day and he greets me with a smile and offers me a coffee. Thank goodness. I had seen videos of what the space looked like and imagined a start-up environment of open floor plans and clever nuances, but actually being here has a completely different feel. Essentially anything you could ever want. Crates of beers line the walls. Several fridges and a juicer, an espresso machine, cafe type feel all around on the kitchen floor. The building is directly on the site of where the Berlin Wall used to stand. Out the window you see a memorial and student groups milling about. On my way in I saw the famous image of the soldier jumping over barbed wire memorialized as a statue on the side of a house. This is Berlin.

As I earnestly guzzle down my latte, Dominik shows me to the stage. It's a super cute little wooden stage on the other side of the kitchen. He says that it's the first time it will be used. Wait. Yes that's right. I am premiering a stage at Soundcloud HQ! 

Lisa takes me on a tour of the building. They had just moved into the space in June. So new, everything fresh, and you could feel it in the vibe of the office. Changes were happening very quickly at Soundcloud, changes that resonated beyond the move to a new building. 

Four + floors of open spaces, comfortable seating, plants, installations, random games, nooks, and crannies. It's hard for me to imagine myself here, it all seems like such a dream. My mind reverts back to the cubicle I left behind in NYC, a different world. Lisa talks about her music, she sings and plays bass in a band. Girl bass players are so cool. It's great to know that a huge majority of people who work at Soundcloud have musical passions as well. It makes sense.

Lisa leads me to the playroom which includes a small garden, ping pong table, and photo booth. I take some funny looking pictures and she adds them to the wall of monochromatic faces. As we walk through to another room I notice my face on a screen, it's me! 

David introduces me before my performance and talks about my tour and the events that led up to this moment. He knows the exact date that I signed up for Soundcloud. It's a strange feeling, performing for Soundcloud, the makers and creators of the platform that has transformed my music. I am the creation? Kinda feel like I'm inside an interface; a heightened sense of being digital. 

After being awakened from our mutual audience/performer dreamworld states, we grab some beers and share smiles. It's definitely rewarding to have positive feedback from the source. I feel a little sad as I leave the building, just having a glimpse into their world wasn't enough. I wonder if I'll have more experiences with them and their team. It seems likely.

I head to the northern part of Berlin to meet up with my high school German teacher, Kristin Kuchenbecher. She was my first portal into the German language and it stuck with me, translating into a German Studies major from Lewis and Clark College. She just moved to Berlin six weeks ago and was nice enough to allow me to be her first guest from the states. One of many I'm sure. It's comforting and refreshing to speak German again, especially with my first German teacher, someone I really couldn't speak German with at the beginning. We get some Döner Kebab and I remember how much I've missed them. One of my only plans for my free day in Berlin tomorrow is to head into Kreuzberg and get the best Döner I've ever had in my life at Mustafas. Even in the middle of eating Döner, I can't wait for the next one. Guess that's how I am with a lot of things. Onto the next.

// 

Red Bull Studios Amsterdam

Our driver is a comedian and the passengers a funny mix including a couple quarreling over lost beverages and a balding man who is growing out his waist-length ponytail to compensate, constantly touching it like it might disappear any moment. Weird what one fixates on with hours of road ahead. 12 hours to be exact. The bus ride from Leeds to Amsterdam. 

The free wifi connection on board is also known as 'no internet', a hack. I'm trying to download the finished collab track that Mus.hiba just sent me, but I can't even pull up gmail. Annoyed, I sit and focus on the tasks ahead. Red Bull Studios in the morning, I better get to writing this song..

Our bus boards a ferry to France around midnight. Passengers are passed out everywhere on deck and still the place feels eerily empty. Like sitting in a lonely diner with some lonely locals. It's 1am and I get a flashback to Gameboy Pokemon battles on ships. Where is my Squirtle to keep me company? Sigh. The constant sway of the ferry affects me a little more than I thought it might. Moving back and forth like a metronome trying to find time to an echo bouncing off the walls of a cave. No cantor to follow. Those waves.

...

Oh god I made it, the sun is shining again, and hello Amsterdam: 9am. Red Bull Studios session starts in an hour so I better wake up from these three hours of lumpy bus seat sleep and get lively. 

I walk into Red Bull Studios and am immediately home. Can this be my always? I throw my 40 lb. bag down onto the sofa and have the wonderful realization: I have eight hours of time in this beautiful place to make music. Yes! We also have two engineers on site with us all day to help us with mixing, recording, laughing, anything.

Still dazed from my overnight journey I down a coffee and a Redbull; the wing-effect. Frank Los a.k.a. Frenquency and I have actually never worked on a track together before. We met online through Niek Kulpers who is part owner of Swtch, a music agency, label, and blog based out of Amsterdam. Niek and I actually became acquainted through STYLSS, a label based out of Portland and he put me in touch with Frank when I told him I was coming to Amsterdam. What a tangled web the internet weaves, eh? And now we are here with a track and full day of professional recording ahead of us.

Frank had sketched out a song a couple weeks ago and sent it to me, a footwork track called '5 years'. I ask if it had any meaning and it does. His dad passed away five years ago and that was the time that really pushed him through a transformation to make music as more than a hobby, to really go after what he wanted to do in life. I tell him my dad passed away six years ago. The looks on our faces have a similar sense of shock, reflecting how coincidental it all seems. We work five and a half hours and have a finished product, gleaming, beaming. It all came together so well.

During the end of the session I see a twitter notification from Mat Randol, our music video just dropped! I show the room. Such a great feeling to share a collaboration from PDX to a room full of musicians in Amsterdam. 

Music encompassing every part of my every given moment. I could get used to this. 

Next stop Soundcloud HQ - Berlin.

// 

Leeds.

Traversing the British countryside by train as rain falls into the blanket of fog that surrounds everything. I'm on my way to Leeds! 

Jamie and Rosie meet me at the train station, new friends. We hop into a cab and head to their 300 year old apartment building. Once there we get right to it and start opening up music files. I get caught up on what's been happening with the Yusin tracks since we last spoke. 

The bar where the performance was originally planned had detrimental electricity issues and was shut down for the weekend. What timing! No worries though, we just move the show to the lower studio level of Jamie's apartment. Setting up rearranging, completely transforming the place into a space fit to be its own venue. People start piling in and the vibe is hot - room filled with cig smoke and conversation. 

House shows have an intimacy that you can't find in a venue. Everyone is so approachable. As I move into my performance I see heads bobbing and moving along with me. They're getting it, I feel it, and I thrive off the energy bringing it with me as I move along into the waves. Afterwards everyone came up to me and was so ecstatic about my music. What a great start to my tour!  

We wrap it up around 5am. Cigarette butts line the floor in a weird mosaic of empty beers and bottle caps. We'll clean it up in the morning.

Wake up. 1:15 pm. Wait, 1:15! We were supposed to be on location for the music video at 1! Guhhhh! In a panic we run up and down stairs collecting our things, trying desperately to get our shit together in a jiffy. It's closer to 2:30 in the afternoon by the time we actually arrive to Wire, an underground club in the heart of Leeds. Christy the director and the 1st AD Mikey are already running through camera movements and takes.

We join in. 

The room fills with smoke and a spotlight falls on my mark. I'm in a dream. We're set up for a one-take shot, taking care to hit each spotlight in the room at just the right moment. Sean and Jamie dart in and out in holographic animal masks with a powerful glow. 

Everyone is on their jobs and moving quickly; we work at a fast pace making up for the time we lost in the morning. There is such a clear imagery here. The vision translated to film is nothing like anything I've ever created. 5 hours and we know that we  have something special. Applause after the final take. 

Back home, Chinese take-out ordered in, and another job well done.

//

London.

Sleepy crumbs in my eyes it's broad daylight and the tube is bringing me to the center. I brought my friends' music along for the journey in a 'waves for the waves' playlist. Playing it now and I'm getting pumped, occasional small smiles with the remembrance that I am here.

Photo by Kris Jones

Waves in my vision from three hours of sleep; everything I'm seeing seems like a trip. I stop to get some bubble tea and end up making friends with a Vietnamese girl and her poisonous pet snake/rhinestoned piece of ribbon. 

Kris Jones a.k.a. Languedoc stops by the flat and makes an impression with his knowledge of music and the people involved in it. We walked around the block looking at the different ways London had been shaped by graffiti and street art and shot some photos. A welcome companion to the rustle and bustle of the streets; giving dimension.

Then to box park, a collective shipping crate/boxcar arrangement of different shops and tonight, Marathon DJs.

It's only 8pm and by this time my jet lag is merely a travel companion there along for the ride of the night. D/C joins me. Such a good feeling to see him after 2 years still at it and killing the game. Sh?m arrives. We laugh.

Meeting URL friends IRL seems to have become a past time, but each time I still get such a rush. No different when meeting Sh?m who lights up the place with his gaze. He and the Flow - Fi collective and record label are a huge influence and really push into the future with their beats, that tomorrow sound.  

Next day. Now heading off from Kings Cross in my Hogwarts train toward Leeds. Today I meet the boys of Yusin, tonight I perform. 

// 

W A V Y is happening.

Today is the day. It’s officially happening. BIG THINGS ARE HAPPENING!

W A V Y is happening.

Unreal is the word that could sum up what I’m feeling right now. This whirlwind itinerary and momentum of intention has already brought me to places that leave me breathless. Where will I go from here? First tour ever. Europe. Hard to believe seven months ago this was a dream that I put out into the universe. My current reality is one that I manifested, but it wasn't without your help.

Before I take-off I want to say a specific thank you to Triibe Movement and Anthony Taylor who helped create the visual representation of WAVY which successfully kick-started my dream into a reality. I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who donated to my Kickstarter and to everyone who supports me and my music. It means the world.

Stay tuned. I’ll be posting updates on my website during my tour to share all my adventures. Here I go!

XOXO

- Abigail Press