Looking back: Making of the Collective Displacement album.
A couple of years ago, I released an album called Collective Displacement. I wanted to take you down memory lane and share some behind-the-scenes moments.
The original album cover photo by artist Katriina Haikala
During the lockdown, I wrote a trend report on ongoing social phenomena, changing values, and anxiety, which unexpectedly became a generational experience. (On the side, I work as a futurist and designer) It was a dark and very lonely time with all the pandemic restrictions. I had just separated from my partner a week before the lockdown started. Alone in my new, empty apartment, in high fever, and in the world's shutdown, I started looking inwards and writing songs. Nobody knew how long the new and stressful period globally would last; there was a lot of uncertainty in the air. The songs started to take shape.
I always compose with a piano. During my lonely days of isolation at home, I started experimenting with a Christmas tree. I recorded its biological processes until it dried and died, and used the signal on the track "The Grove," which was about how the forest protects us when people are violent instead. Have you heard a joke that its ok to talk to plants as long as they don´t talk back? Well, the tree did speak, and it was very concrete. It was crying out with the scent and signals that it was dying in my apartment. I recorded 10 days in a row, every day at the same time and with the same signal length, until it was silent. That moment later led me to pivot my career toward sustainable design and forest meditations.
The work progressed, and while people around got COVID, we moved to the recording studio with mixing engineer Oona Kapari, who also co-produced the artistic side of the album. In addition to the live recordings, we worked remotely with Joa Korhonen (Sara, ATSTTTS), with whom we wrote and performed a duet "Afterglow" for the album.
Pictures: Recording live instruments at the Finnvox studios in Helsinki, photos by Kiril Antinranta
Musically, the songs on the album range from cinematic instrumentals (Prologue, I'm Still Here) to dark pop songs (for example, The Grove and the singles New Narratives, which have made it onto Spotify's indie charts. When I wrote the songs, I recorded an initial demo album. In the studio, we replaced most of my demo tracks with performances by percussionist Oskari Lehtonen, bassist Kalle Ylitalo, and cellist Iida Sinivala. I played pianos, did vocals, and Oona Kapari recorded and mixed the album. We also did backing vocals with Oona and Sakari Vänttinen & Nestori Kumpulainen from Finnvox Studios. Alho Audio mastering did the album master.
For the first single, New Narratives, we also shot a video featuring a dancer, Pie Kär, directed by Michael Bleu. During the pandemic, I participated in Pie Kär's dance class, where, with a group of students, we practised movement while wearing masks (due to pandemic restrictions), so I never saw my classmates' faces - only eyes. That made the whole experience magical and bizarre. We practised a method in which we gave a "gift" in the form of a dance, and the gaze was a big part of the experience (only seeing the eyes).
Pictures: New Narratives music video shoot, photos by Kiril Antinranta
The idea of giving a gift, as well as the gaze, lives in New Narratives' music video. We did the video with a small group: joining forces with Tatu Rouvinen (muah), Jatuli (costumes), and Irina Pirilä (hair). Pie is incredible at improvising movement, so it was a huge honour to have him perform on the video.
So, summarising my thoughts: Collective Displacement is a picture of everything a lonely human felt during pandemics - that strange period in our lives when we only sat indoors, were banned from seeing each other, and did not know when it would end. AND at the same time, there was a hidden world - people meeting in secret, people loving each other in secret, people facing the unknown alone and together. Strong feelings that were only valid during pandemics and made no sense when the world got back on its track. Dancing in secret, when dancing was forbidden ... well, not entirely banned, but you get the point.
And why do I look back at this now? Well, Christmas is coming, and Black Friday is around the corner. Friends and people abroad: There are 15 copies left at Record Shop Äx; they ship worldwide, so if you enjoy my music, it would make me very happy if you order one for yourself or a friend who likes vinyl. Collective Displacement is made with love, sweat, and a couple of tears, as you can hear from the epic songs.
I also have a box of 100 copies at home. I will be launching a small campaign for those soon (only in Finland) - stay tuned.
Antinranta: Collective Displacement