Get ready for a lot of new Music and Videos!

Dear Hivers!

We’re 4 days into the new year and already we have started with a bang! This NYE was one of the first times in the past decade that we did not have a performance and we decided to use the opportunity to have a nice dinner with friends in Berlin. It was a lovely evening and we spent the evening hanging out with Olly and many others who have been supportive of us since the beginning. As you can imagine, we spend a lot of time away from “home”, so it is ever important that we take time to keep in touch with friends and family. It was great to have that time and now we start the year refreshed and excited.

Yesterday we drove back down to Dresden for what is set to be a busy few days as we prepare ourselves for a transformative 2024! In many ways, 2023 was the busiest year we’ve ever had. We had spent months in 2022 recording and preparing so that we could take 2023 by force; and for obvious reasons, not everything went according to plan. Here we are again at an exciting moment, a decade of learning experiences under our belts, and an opportunity to build on a strong foundation! In just our First Day back in the studio, we already feel excited about what lies ahead.

Last year we didn’t spend as much time writing new music as we had hoped, but what we did write, we feel is very strong! Songs like “Sariette” and “Storm Searching” have huge potential and we will spend the next days recording and preparing the projects to be sent to Julz in Australia so that he can record his Drum parts in the next weeks from his studio in Sydney! During our tour in the Summer and in North America last year, we felt like those two songs were new favorites from a lot of Troublemakers at the shows, so it feels only right that they are the first things we get recorded and ready for release in the spring. But while those two are already quite polished, there are A LOT of fresh ideas that we left to the side most of last year because of our rigorous tour schedule. Florian and I will be in full writing mode over the next 2 months as we prepare what is certain to be enough material for an entire new Album!

Part of the reason we moved down to Saxony from Berlin was to work closer with Centre Films on our video content, producing stronger images and a much higher quality sound. Before the Christmas break last year, we had a dinner together and were both a bit disappointed that we didn’t work on many collaborations in 2023 as we had hoped, and so that is certain to change over the next months. Already we have sat together talking about locations and concepts for new videos that will be of cinematic quality and will elevate our image to the highest echelons of professionalism. This includes collaborative projects with The Saxonz on our “Break the Folk” show, which will finally get the attention it needs and will likely have an extended run of shows at different moments this year. This is something truly exciting and is a return to the Goals that we set out for ourselves at the start of last year! There are strong tailwinds behind us this year – we are starting this year in a very different place from where we were in 2023!

Florian and I have been playing together as The Trouble Notes for nearly a decade now, and it’s the first time that we will be spending so much time focused on writing as a duo. When I started The Trouble Notes back in October 2012, the band began as a Guitar/Violin duo. We were a very different group, but the spirit is the same. And while I have always loved the direction in which we moved from that point, there is something romantic about a return to the essence of how this group started for me – after 11 years with a completely different mindset. No longer a young, wide-eyed adult thirsting for adventure. More mature, more sure in who I (we) are and where I want to go. It’s for this reason that I feel so confident and excited about this time together. About building on top of a strong foundation and refocusing on the quality of our performance and compositions.

One thing is for sure, there is about to be A LOT of new music from us. Things you would expect, and some that might take you by surprise.

Thanks for being on this journey with us Troublemakers.

Love,

Bennet, Flo and Stefanie