posted by Allan Haverholm on Oct 2
A quick note to let you know that the Astoria Sessions is still active, although hibernated during summer. There has been moving of workspaces, financial crises (oh, you noticed?), and general summertime laziness blocking productivity, but we’re getting back in the groove…
posted by Allan Haverholm on Jul 18
There is understandable confusion about the nature of the Astoria project after the first two singles have come out:
Although both Resistansen and Black Sabbath (intro) are based on existing songs, the remaining eleven projected songs will be all original material. I hope this clears things up.
Next single out may be These Fjell Veins or Cerebration, depending on which is completed first. You’ll see it here first!
posted by Allan Haverholm on Jul 14
The Astoria demos (and Mix Tape, too) have been reviewed by Derik Badman over on his Madinkbeard blog. He seems to like them a lot!
EDIT: To wet your apetites a bit more, here’s a few pull quotes from Derik’s piece:
“All in all [Astoria is] a hugely ambitious project, one that will either end in genius or brilliant failure.”
“Haverholm’s success with the watercolors in “Black Sabbath (intro)” and the pencils in “Resistansen” give me confidence that the other Astoria multimedia works will also prove visually evocative.”
Now scoot on over and peruse the analytical beauty that is Madinkbeard!
posted by Allan Haverholm on Jun 12
It’s been a fun few weeks, MoCCA coming and going, the whole NY experience and all.
I managed to have the Black Sabbath single done for the festival, plus a similar-format outline of the entire project. The latter may be up on the site as a PDF in a few days.
Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Allan Haverholm on May 11
I have passed the old railroad hotel by Copenhagen Central more often than I can count, but not until I was well into my work on the Astoria sessions did I notice that it was an Astoria hotel.
The signs are beautiful, late Art Deco (-influenced?) rising against the usually drab Danish sky, and the winged wheel that was the logo of then-national Danish railways balances one end of the roof like a 12 feet, concrete hood ornament.
It goes without saying that I went right past those and photographed the tacky secondfloor neon sign instead 
posted by Allan Haverholm on Mar 17
I am negotiating a possible demo release of Astoria to be published in time for MoCCA. No details as yet about format.
Will return with more announcements here!
posted by Allan Haverholm on Feb 3
I dare think we have established the concept of Astoria by now (and for those who came in late, see the “About” page) but there’s still one important part of the project we haven’t touched upon yet. As a further twist on the music-translated-into-comics concept, there is now being made a soundtrack to the book!
Astoria will be put into music by one of the most gifted young musicians I know, singer of up and coming Danish thrashcore band Angrified, my own brother Martin “Martincore” Haverholm. The family tie is really just a convenient means of extortion (“If you don’t finish that demo on time, I’ll tell mom!”), I don’t think it would be possible to find a more fitting collaboration outside my family
Martin is as committed to rock as I am to visual narrative, and about as prone to experimentation in his chosen medium. Also, we share much of the same tastes in music, which is why he has been given free reins in converting Astoria into sound.
Like the graphic album, Astoria: the Soundtrack will consist of thirteen songs that closely correspond to the comic counterparts. The musical material is intended to be pressed in vinyl and ship as an integrated part of the book, stressing again the close relationship between music and visuals in this project.
Martin is now officially a co-author of the production blog, and will soon post demos and news about his work progress and inspirations. Unless he’s out touring with his little band …
Mo-o-om!!
Photos: Jesper Bolo Petersen
posted by Allan Haverholm on Jan 26
As you can see from recent posts, I am trying to elaborate on the basic descriptions of songs in “abstracts” that should give a more in-depth sense of the individual concepts.
Without making excuses for myself or my general pace, I’m finding it very hard to put into words what I’m working on. Currently, I am in the middle of evolving the visuals and semantics of several installments at a time; Engine City is still a little unrefined, whereas Cerebration is more or less good to go, and Passion is more or less a shambles.
When I first started developing the Astoria project, I was taking almost entirely written notes, researching and conceptualizing as much as I could beforehand, as I wanted a sound basis for the work in advance of what I considered (an consider) the actual work. Over the last six months, the bucket has turned.
Since I started drafting on Astoria in September, I have gone on to work with thumbnails and sketches alone, adding new elements more intuitively (although based on my thorough conceptual documents) and all the time stretching myself to avoid repetition or derivation.
And often I stretch out of language. And then I sit down and try to write my abstract … So forgive me if I’m slow in typing up these abstracts; I will get through the pile, but I don’t speak words much anymore. It’s an occupational hazard, and one I can fortunately (?) only afford for a brief period while I finish Astoria.
posted by Allan Haverholm on Nov 25
First things first; who am I? what the hell is this? and what for?
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