The Guitar Universe Tour 2014, with Marty Friedman and Gus G ended in Nuneaton two days ago. My last destination on that tour was London, the day before.

It hasn’t even been as intense for me this time as it was two years ago when I did one date after another for two weeks in a row. This time, I chose to pick a few shows here and there. But now that it’s over – there’s an empty feeling.

It’s ALWAYS like that. It sounds strange, I’m sure, cause this is something that you hear from the musicians usually. That it’s a weird feeling coming home after being out for weeks. But it’s the same for me.
The only difference is that I choose other ways of transportation and I’m on the OTHER side of the stage (as opposed to being ON it) but other than that, I’d say that my reality is pretty similar to theirs.

And I often feel that my life is divided in different realities. A total Twilight Zone.

There is what I think of as my REAL life – which is the music. Just all the situations where I’m in an environment where there are musicians, fans, crews….Simply people who share a passion for music. THAT is my home and my true reality, the place where I belong.

Then, there’s that other reality, the life we all have to live, surrounded by people who don’t understand this at all. And I suddenly feel like a stranger.

When I came back to Copenhagen and Malmo after the London “Metal God trip”, people asked me who I went to see. And I was still like an enthusiastic teenager wanting to share that amazing feeling of having met Rob Halford again (doesn’t matter it’s been many times, EVERY time is special to me).

But that enthusiasm just dies instantly when somebody goes: “Oh okay. Well, I don’t know who that IS but I’m sure you had a good time.” It’s not their fault, they want to hear about my trip and they are genuinely curious, but it always reminds me that there are places where I feel right at home, and there are places where I feel like an alien sometimes.

When I come back from a tour, my head is spinning, it’s filled with memories, I’m processing all the faces, places, feelings, experiences… It just makes me feel so alive…!

And it’s not even necessarily the musicians that I remember the most, it can be anything or anyone. I remember specific faces/people that left an impression, maybe at the front desk in some hotel, or maybe a cool cab driver, or someone I met outside the venue or whatever…. So many different people, different countries, yet so similar.

It just makes me more aware of my own place in this world. It gives me the right perspective on life.

Music is what’s running through my veins, I couldn’t live without it. So, for me, staying at home is like taking away my oxygen.

A friend of mine asked me a while ago, how I could even keep up with the constant travelling and then going straight back to work after landing at the airport, only to go work late and go back to being “a slave to the grind”.  Don’t you get tired?

The thing is, I would get tired if I WASN’T doing this. :) This is my energy, my passion, my love in life. I would be extremely unhappy if my life was spent in front of a TV watching other people live their lives. I want to live my OWN – my way. And this is it.

Next up is Sweden Rock Festival – my second home. It even helped me getting through the shock and the grief after losing my father last year. As weird as it was at first, to be there so soon after his passing, it was the only right place to be, and it really gave me the comfort I needed.

After that, Rob Zombie in Rome, Italy. I had been looking forward to seeing Megadeth as well, as those two bands were touring together but they just cancelled all their June-dates so I don’t know who’s filling in.

Either way, I can’t wait.

Being back from a tour is good for five minutes, cause I get to catch up on my sleep and with my friends. But it also feels empty somehow. I’m not into being “static”. I hope that some band or artist that I like, announces a tour soon so I can start planning. Life is just way too short to be doing nothing…!

New post coming up, from the Guitar Universe gig in London!