Praise Unit

Praise Unit Christmas CD will be out for Christmas 2012

2011-11-08T22:51:00.000+01:00

On Facebook and this blog you have been able to follow some of the recordings we are doing on a new Christmas CD. But we have not been promoting it or announcing the release date. The reason is that a lot of things were uncertain as far as the contract with the record company. What we know now is that the contract is signed, but we don't have enough time to release the CD this year. Instead the CD will be out for Christmas 2012.

Eight songs are recorded so far, and we are very proud of being able to give the Praise Unit sound to the Christmas classics. It is sad to have so many songs recorded, but still have to wait. But if it's good enough it's worth waiting for, like all good Christmas presents, right?

Recording vocals in the studio

2011-10-05T09:30:00.000+02:00

Last weekend we were in the studio laying down some vocals for the forthcoming Christmas album. We did seven classics and one new song. Everything went well and we really had a great time singing the songs!

A good life.

No sweeter place.

The shortest prayer.

I trust you.

You will be alright.

Pictures from the GMWA

2011-09-19T00:41:00.000+02:00

Simon already started blogging about our next Praise Unit adventure. But before I leave last month behind me I want to share some pictures of great people I met at the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Tampa, Florida.

This is Naimi (to the right) who I met in Sweden last spring. She and her friend Stephanie took a two hour drive to Tampa to share their hospitality with me. God puts great people all over the world and it never stops amazing me!

Walt Whitman is known to many europeans. We had time to sit down and chat at some kind of Harley Davidsson hang out.

This is Avis Graves who used to do workshops in Sweden at the time when I did not yet know what gospel music was about. We had some time to chat in Florida, and next year we will work together in Torino, Italy.

I know you can't see it, but this is Kirk Franklin. This concert was great because it was very casual and Kirk was doing whatever songs the audience asked for. My friends Isaac Carree and Myron Butler were singing with Kirk, and Isaac's new CD (which is great) was promoted this evening.

This is a cockroach crawling into my friend's can of coke. You see about 30% of the cockroach in this picture. I know this is not relevant to anything, but I have only seen big bugs like this in cartoons, so I had to share this picture.

Day 4 - Christmas drums are finished!

2011-09-15T23:08:00.002+02:00

Hello everybody!Now I'm sitting here, back in my apartment in Sthlm, after 3 hours cardriving. I will now try to describe the 4th and last day of the drum session.

When I woke up this mornin' I was really tired 'cause I couldn't sleep last night due to the late drum session the day before.

After the breakfast, me, Kristian and Joakim went to the studio to meet up Tobias and start the last day.
We started to structure up the last songs and then the recording started. It wasn't that much work. Some hihat and cymbals. That's it.
So now I'm done for this time and I look forward to here the results!

Keep looking for updates on the blog!!

Marys Boy Child - Ending

Day 3 - Christmas drums are hammering!

2011-09-15T01:54:00.000+02:00

Today has been a loooong but very funny day!! We've recorded 5 songs and I'm very satisfied with the results. 2 of the songs that I recorded I had never heard before so that was an interesting experience for me and I've worked so hard that I have a blister on my thumb! hehe!
In the afternoon Joakim came to visit us. That was great so we could record the songs that wasn't ready yet.

Now I only have 2 songs left to record. I feel a little sad 'cause it has been a great week! I thank God that he put me here in Praise unit, I just love it!!

Here's a clip from today:
Marys boy child

Day 2 - Christmas drums are ringing

2011-09-13T23:13:00.002+02:00

Good evening!
Now I'm sitting here with Kristian, at Johannes place, trying to sum up the day.
The day has been long and fun. We started 'bout 9.00 with the recording and we did 2 songs before lunch and 1 after. We decided to do 3 songs today so that Tobias and Kristian had a little time for some producing on the rest of the songs.

Now I'm really tired and I will go to bed. Here you have a clip from todays session:
Tomrecordings on "Joy to the world"

Day 1 - Christmasdrums are ringing!

2011-09-12T22:45:00.002+02:00

Tobias

Simon

This is the first report from our christmasproject.

Me(simon), Tobias, Kristian and Johannes is having a session in Jönköping and recording some drums and here's day 1 of the week.

8.10 "Good Morning" and Breakfast time.

9.10 We're heading for the studio and Kristian and I began to change the drum-skins.

10.30 Anders Köllerfors(drumtechnician) arrived and started to tune my drums and gave me some tuning tip.

14.00 Lunch at a local Pizzeria

ca 15.30-18.30 Recording started

19.30 We decide to stop for the day.

It's been a great today and I look forward to continue recording!

Keep you updated!!

USA vs Europe

2011-08-23T10:52:00.001+02:00

So I am back in Sweden now, and trying to get back into everyday stuff here. It is great to meet my wife and daughters again, of course! No matter where you go in the world -family is the most important!

I don't have time to write about all the impressions after the Gospel Music Workshop of America, but I can't help comparing it to the different gospel festivals we have in Europe. The GMWA is much older than anything we have over here, and we have so much to learn from them when it comes to singing and making music. The different teachers and instructors I met in Florida humbled me in many ways, and I realize that there are still so many things for me to learn!

But I also see clearly that we can teach our american friends a lot of things. The GMWA is struggling with decreasing number of participants, and there is a lot of criticism towards the organization of it. Here in Europe there are so many young gospel festivals where the organization works very well, and each year more people attend the festivals. Maybe the board of the GMWA should send some people over here to check out why these kind of festivals pop up all over Europe and increase in popularity constantly?

Storm

2011-08-20T23:50:00.000+02:00

I am stuck at Tampa airport because of a storm. Waiting I boring. There are some other people from the gospel festival here, so we try to enjoy ourselves, but everybody is very tired. The GMWA has music and seminars from 7.30 in the morning until 3 the next morning. So it is hard to stay awake now.

I am hoping to meet my friend Walt in Chicago tonight, but all flights are delayed. We will see how it goes.

Birthday in Norway

2011-08-20T16:35:00.000+02:00

Today I miss a birthday party for two of my best friends in Norway. I just want to shout "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" across the Atlantic ocean!

James Cleveland songs

2011-08-20T16:33:00.002+02:00

Last night was the last official night of the GMWA. It was not the usual final service, but instead a James Cleveland memorial service, which meant that the mass choir was singing only songs written by James Cleveland. In my opinion it was the best evening of the week, because even though I am a swedish person I could feel history in the air as the whole auditorium was singing along with the choir. If you know my music, you know that I usually prefer modern gospel, but I never stopped loving the old songs, and when they are sung like they were yesterday it is a beautiful feeling! I heard some songs that my old choir, Joybells, recorded in the 70's.

Kirk Franklin and the others

2011-08-19T08:17:00.003+02:00

Last night was the concert with big names here at the festival. It was supposed to start at 23.00, or 11PM as they say over here, but it started after midnight. I was very tired and some of the artists that were singing made me more tired. Not because they were bad or boring, but because they screaming to a singback tape. I am swedish and swedish people usually don't appreciate singback artists. But not all evening was like that. James Hall was there with his church choir, and he was crazy and energetic as usual. What really reached me was a performance with Jessica Ready. She's new to this scene, but had a great voice and great personality. My friend Myron Butler did great, but Kirk Franklin was the best as usual. He finished the whole concert around 2.30 in the night, together with the young adult choir from GMWA. He had not prepared anything, except "Smile", so he did the songs that we requested from the audience. It was pretty cool!

Teaching my song

2011-08-19T08:05:00.000+02:00

I have had some Internet problems, so I could not blog yesterday. But now I have taught my song "We pray" to the GMWA mass choir, and today we recorded it for the CD. It was of course a very special experience to teach this to one of the biggest african-american gospel music festivals. Since I was at GMWA in 2008 I had an idea about how to prepare myself, and I think I made it work. The choir seemed to like it and they sounded great. But I've got a message to all of you who sang "We pray" in Hannover 2008 -you did better! ;)

A bonus for me was to hang out with Mrs Avis Graves from Charlotte, NC. She used to come to Stockholm Gospel festival, before I knew that gospel would be my life. Next year we will work together in Italy. So many exciting things happen when you work for the Lord!

Nervous?

2011-08-17T14:58:00.000+02:00

Today I will meet the mass choir for the first time as a director. I will teach my song "We pray". On monday and tuesday it seemed like the singers were tired off and on. I don't know if it was because of the heat, or because they did not like the songs. So I wonder if I will make them fall asleep with my song, or if I hit the nerve that makes them tick. Either way I am going to do my best, and have fun with it!

Why am I here?

2011-08-17T08:21:00.002+02:00

I have been to some seminars here at the GMWA and I always end up talking to a lot of people when the seminar is over. To me it's getting clear that my purpose for being at GMWA this year is to be a part of the bridge building between cultures and continents. The class I attended this morning addressed these things and I hope they will let me add my knowledge from Europe as the class continues tomorrow and thursday.

Peace

Birthday

2011-08-15T14:29:00.002+02:00

It is monday morning in Florida, and today is the day when the GMWA really kicks off. Many seminars to choose from and lots of concerts to attend. Today is also my birthday, and I think the artists that come here to perform this week are a birthday gift to me. How about names like Kirk Franklin, John P. Kee, Dorinda Clark-Dole, James Fortune, Rance Allen Group, James Hall, the Chosen Aggregation, Norman Hutchins and many more. I think it will be a good week!

Yesterday I met only one friend from the past, but I made some new friends. The program was a little slow in my opinion, probably because many people consider today the first day of "action".

The best birthday gift was a gift from my daughter Stella that she had hidden in my bag without my knowledge. Two drawings that I now have on the wall in my hotel room. One is a drawing of "I (heart) U" and the other is a drawing of Hello Kitty, where the kitty flirts with one eye and gives me a thumbs up. It's so good to be reminded that the most important thing in life is not to succeed at GMWA, it's to be the father and husband I want and need to be. GMWA is great, but family is life!

GMWA in Tampa, Florida

2011-08-14T18:47:00.002+02:00

It is Sunday in Tampa, Florida. I have just decided to blog about this week on the Praise Unit blog, because I think there will be some experiences here worth sharing with other people. The reason for my presence here is the GMWA, Gospel Music Workshop of America. They invited me to teach one of my songs, "We pray", to the mass choir. Yesterday I just a day of registration and a very nice evening service. Today I sleep past the morning service, but there will be more to come after lunch.

I think my preparations for this week was possibly the worst ever. First I spent half of the night between wednesday and thursday packing. On the night between thursday and friday I had a concert at Frizon with Praise Unit. The concert started at 1 in the morning, and when I got back home it was time to head for the airport and leave for Florida. On the flight I was unfortunate with the seating, because I got the middle seat, and you know what that means? If you want to sleep you have to choose between resting your head on the Anthony Hopkins look-alike to your left, or the computer game obsessed kid to your right, or your own chest. Neither is good for sleeping.

But now I have slept two nights here, and I actually feel pretty good. I have to leave now, but I will write again tomorrow.

Thoughts on the concert on Saturday

2011-02-28T20:30:00.000+01:00

We are really looking forward to the concert in Stockholm on Saturday! It will be our third concert EVER in our city! The concert will be at a renowned jazz club here in town and it's not a place where the gospel of Jesus is preached very often and it's going to be a challange to present God in a way that is both true and that makes people curios of Him! But it's awesome to be out on the mission field!

Promikon!

2011-02-06T10:09:00.000+01:00

Hello everybody!
Now I'm sitting in a bed i Kapellen, outside Moers in Germany, waiting for Kristian to finish his shower.

Yesterday we were at Promikon and played. It was a lot of fun, great audience and we met Chris Lass and his crew again! They're awesome!
During the day we went to a clinic for V-Drums, that was cool, a little too much for my taste, but still cool.

In about 1h we're heading back to sweden again.

bye!

Myspace updates

2011-01-10T00:31:00.000+01:00

Hi!
Now you can check out some new pictures from the Tour in Germany last autumn!

Hope you like it!
Follow the link below

MYSPACE

2010 -in the eyes of Praise Unit

2010-12-30T19:51:00.000+01:00

One year ago we had just finished working with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra for the concert series known as “Classical Gospel”. There was no time to follow up on that during 2010, but we have hopes for more Classical Gospel in the future. Also a year ago we were joined by Simon Jonsson as our new drummer. Andreas wanted to move on to other things, and we were fortunate to be friends with Simon who was willing to give his time and talent to Praise Unit.

Another memeber who has not been part of most Praise Unit things during 2010 is Sara Björlemyr who gave birth to her son Filip in the beginning of the year. We keep Sara and her family in our prayers and hope she will be able to join us again soon!

Last summer was pretty busy for some of us, as we spent the hot season preparing the products that were released in September. The songbook, including easy versions, for “The Mission Field” was released. A singback CD, or Karaoke version if you prefer to call it that, was released so that it’s now possible to perform, alone or with your friends, backed up by the Praise Unit musicians.

We have only good memories from the concerts we did in 2010. There were Praise Unit concerts in different parts of Scandinavia, and of course the tour in

Germany

a few months ago. One thing we love about our concerts is that the audience always challenges us to try and do our own songs in new ways. It’s fun and fresh! We also made a lot of new friends and we hope hope to meet again soon!

After the release of “The Mission Field” CD last year we have not blogged so much, until we started preparing for “The Mission Field Tour” in October. In the beginning of 2011 there will not be so much blogging again. But as we come closer to more concerts or other projects we will keep you updated here. More clips, pics and messages from all Praise Unit members.

God kept us during 2010, and we already know that He is preparing some new exciting things for us in 2011. We will anounce the news pretty soon, and we hope you will be as thrilled as we are!

He is the reason for the season!

2010-12-20T23:11:00.002+01:00

Greatest man in History: Jesus, had no servants, yet they called Him Master; had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher; had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer; had no army, yet kings feared Him; won no military battles, yet He conquered the world; committed no crime, yet they crucified Him... He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today!

Agnus Dei

2010-12-05T22:17:00.001+01:00

Here's a link to a beautiful song by Rufus Wainwright called Agnus Dei ("God's lamb"). Rufus Wainwright – Agnus Dei
The song is quite different to a lot of other songs we here today, but I love how he combines the harmoniesof western and eastern music.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace

Get together

2010-11-29T18:28:00.000+01:00

Tonight we'll meet to eat and talk here at My place in Sthlm. I brought Some gingerbread and coffe from the store and i'll hope it meets the expectations of the croud:) off course it Will!

HI!!!

2010-11-28T16:09:00.000+01:00

Hello!
Way to long since I was here...
Hope everyone is doing good! I couldn´t join the German tour, but I´ve been following my friends in PU anyway, watching the videos and reading the blog. Right now Sweden is all white and full of snow, beautiful but cold. My new warm jacket is a blessing =) Take care of you all and don´t forget the real meaning of christmas. We have all the reason to celebrate the birth of our Savior, without him we would be lost.

Love from Josefine

Hello from a winter wonderland!

2010-11-25T21:55:00.000+01:00

Hi!

Today it's really snowy here in Stockholm and that really gets me in the mood for Christmas! Only one month to go - crazy!

I've got no grand thought or epiphany to share with you, but I just want to say hello and let you know that I still think about the Germany tour every other day and I miss being out on the road! We've got some really exciting things coming up next year so hopefully there'll be plenty of opportunities to meet you all soon enough!

Who´s side are you jumping on?

2010-11-23T22:45:00.000+01:00

We´re jumping on the Lord´s side!

Do swedish christians need a music fight?

2010-11-23T22:03:00.000+01:00

My home church has a very welcoming attitude to new styles of music. Maybe it's because all the arguments and sometimes upset discussions that went on when Joybells, our youth choir, started singing with drums and bass back in the 60's. I am proud of the tolerance that my church shows singers and musicians who like gospel, pop, disco, heavy metal, country, hymns and so on. In Sweden today there is a general tolerance for new music styles in the church. But the strange thing is that many swedish christians still show very little interest in making music in church. You still hear comments like "boring", "oldfashioned" and "lame" about church music. Why? How can we live in a country where many churches tolerate almost any style of music, and still be bored? Could it be that we need the kind of fight that Joybells had when they started? The kind of fight that makes you think about what you believe in? Personally I don't like to use the word "fight", but I do believe that fascinating ideas can come from the kind of fights where you don't aim to proove that the other guy is wrong, and instead aim to clarify why you think you are right. You understand the difference? The music battle between generations that we see everywhere can be inspiring, even fun, if you are able to show and receive love as you discuss your different opinions. Could I be right about this?

Early Morning

2010-11-22T19:30:00.001+01:00

I'm of to work at 5.30 am and quite tired, realizing that it's a blessing that I'm part of Praise Unit and that I can travel around the world, play drums and praise God, it really is a blessing.

Men only

2010-11-20T11:31:00.000+01:00

Praise Unit - men only.

2011

2010-11-20T10:33:00.000+01:00

Last week I was in some meetings, and I also got some interesting requests for Praise Unit projects. Very soon a new year starts and it is time to focus on what to do. Write new songs? Make another CD? Do more concerts? Go to a new country? Make a Christmas CD? Do more Classical Gospel? Move to another country? Stay at home and pray?

The really great things about asking these questions is that I don't feel stress, I don't feel pressure and I don't worry. All my life it has always been awesome and exciting when I let God decide what to do, and I think that is what Praise Unit is planning for 2011!

Different opinions

2010-11-17T20:27:00.000+01:00

When I was a teenager I thought that Jesus wanted me make everybody a follower of Christ as fast as possible, so I wasted no time with small talk or asking questions. Today I still believe that Jesus is alive and wants followers, but I know that I can not force anybody to believe what I believe. There are several Praise Unit songs about why we (Praise Unit) follow Christ and why somebody else should do the same thing. But we are very humble to the fact Jesus said "follow me" to the people who wish to spend eternity in paradise. If you search for paradise in another way, then we will not stop you, but we will not stop saying that we believe Jesus is the only way!

Autumn in Vellmar

2010-11-16T12:52:00.000+01:00

We went for a walk and thought we were in Kassel. But we were actually in a suburb called Vellmar.

Early morning madness...

2010-11-14T05:18:00.000+01:00

Right now, Im sitting in a car going to the airport Skavsta. Me and Edvin (oh yes, he is my boyfriend) are going to London were we are stayng for 3 days. I really like traveling but mornings.
When I think about the last weeks and our tour to Germany, I feel very happy. Its always a blessing for us in PU to visit you and your country.

Best wishes! Emilia

Bass and drums

2010-11-13T15:46:00.000+01:00

Last night I was attending a really nice concert with Swedish singer Jonas Sandwall. Guess who played the bass and drums?! I can say they were, as always, very good! :)

The perfect sound!

2010-11-13T11:25:00.000+01:00

A Praise Unit concert is sometimes a pretty big project for the sound engineer. The singers love to move all over the stage, three of the musicians have their own laptops connected to the sound system, we have a lot of extra small mixer boards on the stage, and we need three solo mics on top of all the other vocal mics. So there are a lot of things to coordinate to get the Praise Unit sound. And still, sometimes, it is too loud or too edgy or too blurry or whatever, for some people's ears. So sometimes I get the question "can you make it simpler?", and of course we can. There are always ways to make things simpler, and I love simplicity too! I love it when my singers sing accapella without microphones, I love it when Kristian is jamming on the piano in the hallway and I love it when we practice our songs in the tour bus. But for me it is also important to praise God in the best way I can, and I can do that together with the rest of Praise Unit. We try our best when we rehearse the music, when we do our dance moves, when we select clothes and we work with the techniques for the sound. So that everything together becomes a statement of worship -the Praise Unit way to praise God! It IS the perfect sound, because it glorifies God, but it is not better than the simple ways to praise Him! It is just how we love to do it!

Having fun in Düsseldorf

2010-11-10T20:59:00.000+01:00

It's such a blessing to be on tour with Praise Unit! We get to meet so many interesting people, see beautiful cities and towns, try new food, have tons of fun together and we get to introduce God to people. I am truly thankful that I get to be a part of it all! On this tour we had a short stop in Düsseldorf, during which almost all of us went into a music store. The store turned into a playground for young adults and everywhere you looked there was a PU-member singing or trying out an instrument. I can only guess what the rest of the costumers must have thought, but I think that you can tell from this little video how much we all love music. And hopefully we didn't disturb anyone...!

Five pics

2010-11-09T12:49:00.000+01:00

Der busfahrer!!! The man, the myth, the legend! All stories you have heard about him are true! Thomas is not only "der busfahrer", but also one of the tenors on stage. The tenors were called "the cute one, the funny one, and the mad one". Guess which one Thomas was?

This is Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. On the more trivial side Lotta and Felicia both ordered coffee with milk this day, drank almost the whole thing, and finally realized "hey, this is just milk, no coffee!!!" In this picture Lotta is holding her cup and the others are tasting it to see if there is any coffee taste at all in there.

We did not do much sight-seeing in Berlin, but we passed Brandenburger Tor.

Germany

has such a turbulent history, and many parts are scary, but maybe all the things that happened in the past are a reason why Germans today are so nice and easy to be with?

Gospel Swingers of Bremen. Great singers and very nice people! This picture is from the after party.

We spent one night in Hamburg. No concert there, but we had time to pray, sleep, play games and just have a good time. Our good friend Rainer got the place for us.

Praise Unit influences

2010-11-08T15:55:00.000+01:00

While driving on the autobahn Praise Unit had a music quiz in the bus. Everybody selected five songs from their phones or mp3-players, played them in the bus speakers and asked one question for each song. As it turned out it was all kinds of songs and the questions were very tricky. At the end of the tour I was thinking about how diverse our taste in music was. It was so many styles, and all of us come together in one group under the name Praise Unit to praise God. Does it work? Not only does it work, but it's the whole point of our group. We have no wish to limit our music to one style, whether it be gospel, soul, funk, rock, r'n'b, pop or whatever else. We simply wish to be honest and completely dedicated in every song we minister through. And it feels good!

My father

2010-11-06T17:03:00.000+01:00

One of the songs we did at almost every venue on the last tour was "My father", a song about the relationship between me and God as father and child. Since my wife is in Cambodia right now I am a single parent for a week and a half, and I have many opportunities to reflect upon the parent/child relationship. Yesterday my youngest daughter got in an accident when she was in a playground, and we had to wait four hours at the hospital before the doctor finally put a cask on her arm. During those four hours she was sometimes just crying, but sometimes blaming me for all the pain she felt (since I was the one who brought her to the playground). but I could not stop caring for her, loving her and wanting the best for her.

"When she runs from me I don't let go
She needs me more than she pretends to know
'Cause she is still my child!"
(Paraphrasing "My father" from "The mission field" CD)

Live from Kassel: Can't Get You Out Of My Mind

2010-11-05T08:59:00.001+01:00

Live from Husby: Time To Celebrate

2010-11-04T08:52:00.000+01:00

Praise Unit on tour in Germany

2010-11-03T17:42:00.000+01:00

How we made time pass in the bus

2010-11-02T19:57:00.000+01:00

Here's a video shot in the bus on our way to Lübeck. This little melody gives you the opportunity to sing whatever lyric you want to sing. It all started with "telefonkatalogen" ("the phone book") and ended with all kinds of tongue twisters. Or wait, it never ended; we kept on singing this melody for the rest of the tour, even in our dreams! What we're singing in the video? "Praise Unit är på turné i Tyskland!" ("Praise Unit is on tour in Germany!")

2010-11-01T23:11:00.000+01:00

Now we are in Sweden after an amazing tour in Germany. We love you!

Now we are sitting in the bus and is about to leave Johannes and Lina in Jönköping.

Next stop is in Örebro.

Auf wiedersehen

2010-11-01T20:59:00.002+01:00

We're still in the tour bus driving homewards and we probably won't reach Örebro until approximately 1.30 tonight so it's gonna be a long evening... We've all got some funny photos and videos on our cameras and iphones and we'll try to post some of that material on the blog as soon as we've had a few hours sleep!

Thanks to all of you who have come to our concerts, cooked food for us, organised our accommodation, etc etc!

Time to turn experiences into memories

2010-11-01T20:53:00.000+01:00

We just crossed the borders to our home country. It's still about six hours in the bus until we are home and everybody is very tired. But we still have a great atmosphere in the bus. One good thing with being in Sweden is that we got connected with the internet through our phone operators again. So I am writing this blog and many of the others check their emails.

Before connecting to the internet we made sure to finish the music quiz we had on the bus through the whole tour. Every member of Praise Unit played five songs from their phones and asked a question for each song. Also Kristoffer made a quiz with questions about everything that happened to us during the tour. Very nice and lots of laughs. But now it's time to watch a movie.

One of us got a sad message on the phone just a couple of hours ago, which affects us all of course. It is hard to mix pain with laughter and I certainly don't have the answer to how you do it. But we pray together and I know nothing stronger than praying together with friends to a God who cares.

More to come here in the next days.

Hello Sweden

2010-11-01T19:28:00.000+01:00

Goodbye Germany.

It happened again!

2010-10-31T16:41:00.000+01:00

When Praise Unit did "The Whole Tour" in 2007 we did a concert in Husby, which is in Germany but very close to Denmark. We were surprised by how a small village could have so much interest for our music and have such a big crowd in our concert. Also their hospitality was wonderful. Yesterday we were there again, and again it was a wonderful concert. I think we could have done five or six more songs if we had voices for it. And again the hospitality was fantastic. We had a lot laughs, good food and we praised the Lord together with "Colours if gospel", the local choir.

Good morning, Kassel

2010-10-30T07:41:00.000+02:00

Yes, it is a very good morning indeed. Despite the very early morning, after yesterdays great concert, how can a morning like this morning possibly be bad? There are just one word that is, at least a good try, to sum yesterdays evening up: Crazy!!!

Now we have almost six hours in the bus ahead of us, up to Husby. But because of all the entertainment on board, I am sure the trip will feel more like two hours...maybe three. Of course, we will watch, at least, one good movie, most likely 2012!
And then we have Praise Units own music quiz challenge, to find out which man or woman in the group who knows best! Every member gets to make up five questions, based on five songs with artists you often listen to. And the other one gets to answer them. In this way, it also becomes a great opportunity to find out who is listening to what music (was that the correct sentence to say...?)

Well well!
Husby, here we come! =) =)

God is good

2010-10-30T01:53:00.000+02:00

We've had a wonderful tour this far.
All this great people we've met. It's truly a blessing!
Tonight we had an amazing night together with two local choirs from Kassel. The churh where ausverkauft! Es war sehr fantastisch. Welch ein freund ist unser Jesus. Vielen dank fur ein gutes abend! Now I must go to sleep so I can drive the bus again tomorrow. God bless U all!

Consert in Kassel

2010-10-30T01:42:00.000+02:00

We just get back from our consert in Kassel! It was a wonderful evening. We sang together with the choirs "Get out" and "Open arms". The holy spirit was in the house!
Now it's late and we have to get some sleep before next stop in Husby. We look forward to it.

Good night Kassel!

Hello Kassel!

2010-10-30T01:33:00.000+02:00

It has been a wonderful evening in Kassel.
Right now im sitting in my hotellroom with Julia. Im tired but happy after this concert this evening! Bleessings from Emilia

Good night Kassel.

2010-10-30T01:32:00.002+02:00

Thanks Kassel, or Vellmar, for a great evening! We had a lot of fun, and would love to come back soon! Many thanks to "Get Up" and "Open Arms"! You were great!

Concert in Kassel tonight

2010-10-29T18:19:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone!

I just got back to our Hotel after the sound check in the church in Kassel, where we have a concert tonight. It was a wonderful church and the sound was great! I'm very excited about playing there tonight. And they told us the tickets were sold out! This is going to be a very great night I think. God is good...

I hope I'll see you there!

Blessings

Praise Time

2010-10-29T18:09:00.000+02:00

Inofficially we met with a new youth choir yesterday. They are in Erkrath, close to Düsseldorf, and have only existed for a few weeks. They have two songs in their repertoire, "Give my praise" and "My father", and we got the opportunity to sing together with them at their rehearsal. They are called Praise Time, and we hope to hear more from them in the future!

The concert tonight in Kassel is sold out. Great for us, but sad for the people who will not be able to come in because they don't have a ticket.

Review from Lübeck

2010-10-28T22:39:00.002+02:00

http://www.unser-luebeck.de/content/view/2613/284/

Zugabe in Bremen

2010-10-28T10:52:00.000+02:00

Grabbing the sun in Lübeck

2010-10-28T10:43:00.000+02:00

Here is a clip from the Lübeck concert.

The Bremen experience

2010-10-28T02:22:00.000+02:00

It's late at night now and Praise unit is about to go to bed. Again we had a wonderful evening, and we continued until it was very late.

At first we were a little discouraged at the church, because we had some sound problems, and a few people left our concert because the music was too loud. But those who were still in the room did a wonderful concert celebration with us. We also listened to Gospel Swingers, a great choir, and we sang "Be that someone" together with Chris Lass. Afterwards we had a nice after party together with gospel swingers, where we enjoyed singing, eating and getting to know each other.

Thanks to all of you who made this evening unforgetable!

A city with beautiful buildings and beautiful people

2010-10-27T01:09:00.000+02:00

We just had our concert in Lübeck. In this city we played for a very large audience in one of the beautiful churches. It was great to feel the atmosphere and afterwards we were still singing in the bus. We started a silly singing game in the bus, and some of us have not stopped singing, even though it is one o'clock in the morning.

We also had a great prayer and worship time this morning, so that's probably another reason for feeling so happy and uplifted today.

Tomorrow is Bremen!

Day off in Berlin

2010-10-25T09:55:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was a great concert in one of the nightclubs of Berlin. The crowd was not so big, but we had a very good time together! Our concert was a little longer than usual and it seemed like everybody was happy with that. We tried a few new things musically, but always kept focus on that we are here for the message!

Thank you all the great people of Berlin and surroundings who came to the concert! And thanks to gospelradio.de, the organizer!

This is where we perform tonight:

2010-10-24T17:32:00.000+02:00

http://www.fritzclub.com/index/kernwert/willkommen

On the road again

2010-10-24T08:19:00.000+02:00

Pretty soon we're on the bridge to Denmark. Then a short boat trip and we are in Germany. Almost everyone in the bus is asleep, except for me. And the busdriver Thomas of course. Berlin, here we come!

First we take Hässleholm, then we take Berlin!

2010-10-23T23:21:00.001+02:00

The first concert is just over and all of us hope to fall asleep quickly, because tomorrow we have to rise early in the morning. We have a ferry to catch and a gig at Club Fritz in Berlin tomorrow night.

We got a good start here in Hässleholm. Musically it was not our best performance, because we were a little rusty, and we did not nail all the new things we planned for this tour. But we had a great time on the stage and the audience inspired us to give our best.

I testified about the message of the songs "Thy will be done" and "I trust you", and I presented the vision of Praise Unit. Since I lived close to Hässleholm as a child it felt special to be here. But I don't remember the dialect anymore.

There were some people here who had been at our concert in Öland last summer. It was great to feel their support and to see that they brought more people to listen to us.

Now I hope I fall asleep, and tomorrow I will give my best in Berlin!

Day before the Big Tour!

2010-10-22T14:03:00.000+02:00

Now it's the day before the big day when we're heading towards Germany! We're so excited to meet all of you and it's gonna be a lot of fun playing and travelling! Soon i'm going to be picked up by the musicians for our first little trip to Örebro, we're we will meet up with the rest of the gang.

So see you in a few days!!

a video from one of our rehearsals for facebookfans, enjoy:

REHEARSAL

No Germany Tour.....

2010-10-21T18:31:00.000+02:00

......for me this time. It's only two days before Praise Unit leaves for Germany and sad enough for me I won't be able to go with them. I've recently started studying and I can't skip school for that long. I've known from the time we started planning the tour that I probably not gonna be able to go so I've been preparing. But from time to time I've forgotten that, like when we've been rehearsing , it's been so much fun working on the songs, new arrangements, new dance moves and just a lot of singing. And then I've realized that I won't be there to perform them, at least not this time. Sad but true.

Well I count on all of you German friends to take good care of my friends in Praise Unit. And I'm sure that you will. If you'll be half as nice as everybody were the last time we toured Germany, it will be more than enough.

Actually I will be joining the first part of the tour starting tomorrow. I will give the musicians a ride from Stockholm to Örebro where the bus is leaving from on saturday morning. So technically I will join the tour....sort of...a little. I guess I won't see much of Germany though.....

Well I hope to see all of our German friends soon, and all of you others reading this blog.

Bless you all!

Two days left...

2010-10-21T16:45:00.000+02:00

Soon, very soon, we're on the road and heading towards Germany. Our first stop will be in Hässleholm (still in Sweden) and on Sunday we're playing in Berlin. We're so excited!

This is some pictures from our last rehearsal.

Die Musiker

Die Sänger

und Kristian

Bald werden wir... Bis bald!

Fingerprints -from "The Whole Tour (2007)", Joakim Arenius & Praise Unit

2010-10-21T11:19:00.000+02:00

Concerts with a history and a future

2010-10-20T11:44:00.000+02:00

As I look at the schedule for the tour that starts on Saturday I realize that the concerts we do this time are not just concerts. We are part of a bigger picture. In some cases we already have history together with the city we visit, and something firm to build on. Like Husby, where I have been several times before (once with Praise Unit), and we have a relationship with the local choir. Kassel, where we will perform with the choir that we met the last time in their church, but did not get the chance to sing together that time. Witten, where we will witness the birth of Witten Soul Children, which I have been excited about for a long time.

Some cities we go to for the first time, but see the things we are a part of. Like Berlin, where we will play at Club Fritz. We have been praying to reach people in the clubs, because our music works very well in that environment, and this club in Berlin is an answer to prayers. Lübeck, where we will meet some people for the first time, that we so far have only been building Internet relations with. Bremen, where I have started working together with Chris Lass and his friends.

So this tour is not just full of drop in/drop out concerts. It is concerts with a purpose and we will do our best to fulfill our part of the experience! Hope to see YOU there!

2010-10-19T22:20:00.000+02:00

Keep your eyes open, this is our bus, a brand new Iveco Rapido

We pray that God will take care of us during the tour and keep us and the bus in His arms. Just like He sees the little sparrow He will watch over us.

I´m glad for the opportunity to be a part of this tour, as the singing busdriver. I´m looking forward to meet you all. May God bless You and keep You in His arms.

Praise Unit working their dancemoves...

2010-10-17T22:39:00.000+02:00

Drum Fill In Finnish

2010-10-16T09:42:00.000+02:00

For all you music lovers out there, here is a drum fill in Finnish.

Joakim Arenius & Praise Unit "A Good Life" opening for Kirk Franklin

2010-10-14T17:15:00.000+02:00

Early morning

2010-10-13T20:59:00.000+02:00

We have a nice tradition in the Praise Unit band. Once every week we meet at 8:00 in the morning to rehearse with the musicians. A very nice way to start the day!

This morning we worked on a medley that is written especially for the upcoming tour in Germany. The medley contains five of the songs from our first CD "Whole", but in new arrangements. And I must say that we had some nice ideas this morning. At the end of the medley we go from a powerful ballad into a slow gospel groove. Today we tried some really interesting things on that part. I hope you'll enjoy it if you manage to get to one of our concerts. We would love to meet you!

Here are some pictures from today:

The world's largest bass guitar

Kristian (and a glimpse of his new Mac Book...)

Simon and Kristoffer

Simon can play VERY fast...

Blessings!

Deutschland ist nicht weit von Dänemark

2010-10-13T00:55:00.000+02:00

Gibt es nur wenige Tage, bis wir nach Deutschland gehen!
Gut, dass Sie uns gefunden haben! Ihr Tag war Hope gut. Ich selbst habe in meiner schönsten Kleider gesessen und fertig geschrieben eine Lektion. Es dauerte den ganzen Tag. Aber heute Abend habe ich ins Kino gewesen und sah einen fantastischen Film, der aus Dänemark, Rache war. Ich nur sagen: Siehe es!

Ich habe in Deutschland gewesen. Ich erinnere mich mit Vergnügen der Tour haben wir März 2008 tat. Dann erinnerte ich mich den herzlichen Empfang erhielten wir, wenn wir an den verschiedenen Standorten angekommen. Ich muss erwähnen Husby, die unser erstes Ziel war und diejenigen, die später am Abend hielt eine riesige Party mit allen Arten von Gerichten. Ich erinnere mich auch alle Familien, die wir mit übernachtet haben. Immer lagen die beiden Süßigkeiten auf dem Kissen, wenn Sie schliefen. Freundlich und einladend! Ich freue mich sehr auf diese Reise, und ich hoffe, dass ich zu erfüllen Sie alle ich das letzte Mal getroffen haben!

Bis dahin, Gott segne heiß!

Music brings us together

2010-10-11T19:17:00.000+02:00

This weekend has been a lot of fun for me. Johannes and I have been in my hometown working with a choir. The church had invited people from town to be a part of the choir. Friday night, Saturday and Sunday we rehearsed a few gospel songs and had a lot of fun. On Sunday evening we had a concert in the church with a lot of people in the audience.

When this weekend was over I realized that it's less than two weeks left 'til Praise Unit's going on tour in Germany. This means that I am going to sing gospel again in less than two weeks! :) I am so grateful for being a part of Praise Unit! Singing in a gospel choir has given me so much and I tell everybody how great it is to be a part of a gospel choir. My experience is that God really touches our hearts when we share our faith and praise his name while singing. So when we come to Germany we will be happy to meet a lot of old and new friends. Music really brings us together! God bless you!

Inspiration from the south

2010-10-09T23:37:00.002+02:00

Some days ago i was out eating lunch with Jakob and Amos. Amos is from Madrid and is here visiting and singing. We had a typical swedish chinese buffé and we ate til we couldn't stand up. And during we spoke almost constantly about music of some kind. It's so great to have this thing in common with a guy i've never met before and to hear him speak so passionate about something i love as much as he does.

And so today I got to meet with Amos and Jakob again, this time at Jakobs and his wife Annas place here in Stockholm where we had dinner with a bunch of other friends. We ate and we sang! Great! You know it's not a very Swedish thing to do at a dinner, to sing. We have this weird thing here that means you shouldn't show off and you shouldn't brag about your talent or wathever.
But I meen, why not? If you love it, do it! And if you believe in it, let people know!

That's what music is about, and I guess that's what beliveing is about too.
Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. I made a new friend out of it.
Thanks Amos!

Praise Unit Live!

2010-10-08T14:22:00.000+02:00

15 days left!

2010-10-08T12:41:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone! Today it's 15 days left to our october tour in Germany! It's going to be so much fun and I'm really looking forward to it! We've been working on the concert program and I hope that you all will like the new show=) You still have time to listen and learn all our songs so that you can sing along and dance with us!

I hope to see you all soon!
Hugs Maria

New stories to tell

2010-10-07T15:46:00.000+02:00

Hi!

This is the percussionist speaking…writing…typing? It’s my first time bloging here in the Praise Unit blog. I have my own though, www.toffesrevival.blogspot.com. In swedish, but maybe you can google-translate it? =) It’s not that interesting really, just a lot of sportstalk. And for the moment not at all updated. Anyway…

A short presentation of myself:

--I am the one in Praise Unit (besides Jocke) that has done the most number of PU-gigs.

--I once accidently booked a trip to Greece with my girlfriend on the same dates as we were suppose to go to Cologne with PU.

With the Germany tour soon coming up, a few memories from the last tour in 2008 is beginning to pop up again, featuring the band. How we all (except Andreas) shaved our heads during the tour. Or how we kept all of Dettingen awake during our late night jam session in the church. Or how we got lost in Kassel by night and couldn’t find our hotel. And this i just a little taste of it all. Maybe I can reveal more stories later on here!

I am really looking forward to new great stories to tell. We have already been talking about saving beards before the tour, but I guess it’s a little to late for that now...

Singing together!

2010-10-07T10:05:00.000+02:00

One of the great things on our upcoming tour in Germany is that we will get the chance to sing together with a lot of singers from the different cities we meet. In Husby, Kassel and Witten we will do music together with others. It's a privilige for us and we know that a lot of great things can happen when we let God use music to get people together!

Jesus wants everyone

2010-10-06T22:35:00.002+02:00

As I'm writing this I'm watching the news on the television and in one of the features they report about a woman who is fighting for her right to recieve sickness benefit from the Swedish government. She used to work as an economist but after being involved in some kind of accident she's no longer able to work. However, she hopes to one day regain her ability to work but she's unsure about in what field that could possibly be. The last thing that was said in the feature was said by the woman herself and her words were, "But who would want me? Not even I want myself."

O. My heart broke, and I could help but saying the one thing on my mind out loud: Jesus!

Jesus wants her. Jesus wants me and he wants you too. It doens't matter what you look like, what you've done, what you're thinking and whether you call yourself a Christian or not. Let us remind each other, and ourselves, that Jesus wants everyone.

Tour preparations

2010-10-05T16:24:00.002+02:00

It's three weeks to go before we leave our homes and go for a funky gospel party on the mission field in Germany. We decided to open this blog again, since we want to share our preparations with those of you will come to concerts or wish that you could come to the concerts. There will be new things to read everyday!

New member of Praise Unit!

2010-09-30T11:49:00.004+02:00

Hi!
Just a quick note to let you know that everything is well with my wonderful son Filip who's soon to be 6 months old! Thank you everyone in "Colours of Gospel" for your lovely card and congrats! We were so happy to receive it!
Lots of love
Sara & Filip

To believers and non-believers

2010-09-14T11:39:00.004+02:00

September 11th 2010 has just passed, and in Florida there was a pastor who tried to pull off "burn a quran-day" (the quran has different spellings in different languages, but it's meaning is similar to what the bible is for a christian). It seems like everybody, including the pastor himself, finally realised that this is not how you communicate the love of Jesus Christ. I don't wish to make a big deal out of it, but since me and my friends in Praise Unit have not been blogging for some months, I felt a need to reopen this blog by sending a message to everyone who believes that Mohammed was God's prophet, or that Buddha knew the way salvation, or that money can make you happy, or that "Sex and the city" is the best you can get on a tuesday evening, or whatever else you believe which does not match what I believe.

These are the lyrics to the Praise Unit song "No better than you" from our CD "The Mission Field". If you wish to argue or support this message you can find me and Praise Unit on Facebook or you can email me via my website, http://www.joakimarenius.com/.

No Better Than You
From “The Mission Field” by Joakim Arenius & Praise Unit

Why do we think that we are strong when we tell others they are wrong?
Do we understand why God had to become a man and die for me and you?

I don’t like to hold back when I share my testimony
But sometimes I hold back when I look at my history
I’m sorry for forgetting why God so loved the world
I’m sorry

I believe I’ve got the right to say:
“I believe Christ is the only way!”
I believe that what I believe is true
But I don’t believe I’m better than you

We’re in this together!

When I look closer I am ashamed I see ugly deeds in Jesus name
Is it not enough that Jesus died for you? How many others have to do it too?

I’m sorry for confusing testifying and lecturing
I’m sorry for confusing free will and my will
I’m sorry for forgetting why God so loved the world
I’m sorry

I believe I’ve got the right to say:
“I believe Christ is the only way!”
I believe that what I believe is true
But I don’t believe I’m better than you

We’re in this together!

Download the song from iTunes

2010-03-04T06:58:00.004+01:00

Hi!
The last couple of months some things has changed in my life and this is what I look like nowadays (plus 14 more weeks though =)):

Yes, I'm having a baby!!!
I now have less then four weeks left to duedate and I just wanted to give a quick note on me going on maternity leave from Praise Unit.
I will miss joining them in the fellowship, the concerts and trips all over the world but I will keep all the guys in PU in my prayers and I know that they will bless many of you, our old and new friends, with their music and love for Christ!

God is good, all the time!
Lots of love

Finally!

2010-02-28T18:55:00.004+01:00

Hello everyone!
Sometime before christmas I said I would put a small video from our releaseconcert on this blog but it took me all this time to do it :/
Sorry 'bout that...
Finally, here it comes, a couple of sequences from our concert here in Stockholm. I hope you enjoy it!
God Bless

xmas

2009-12-29T00:22:00.000+01:00

Hope you all had a very merry christmas!!

Our boys singing

2009-12-10T21:40:00.004+01:00

Check out or boys singing in the concert hall in Örebro.
A pretty nice bunch of men, uh? =)

Click here to see the video!

Buisy week

2009-12-09T21:38:00.003+01:00

This week is really buisy for us Praise Unit singers. As you may know we´re doing the Classical Gospel concerts with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra this weekend. We rehearsed monday and tuesday and today we´ve had the first two concerts for school kids. I´t feels quite good actually. It´s very different for us singers to be backed up by a big orchestra and no drums....a few problems with the timing but we worked it out quite well.

The orchestra is so awesome and it really feels like such a privilege to do this with them. I hope you all have got your tickets ´cause I know there´s not many left, so hurry..... Tomorrow we´re having two more school concerts before the real deal on friday. Exciting!

God bless you all!

Classical gospel

2009-12-01T18:22:00.002+01:00

Next week it´s time for our "Classical Gospel" concerts in Örebro together with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Joakim has been working day and night to get the arrangements done in time, and he has done a great job. We got the sheet music last sunday and now it´s up to us to learn the stuff. There will be both Praise Unit songs and other new and traditional gospel songs, all with a classical flavor. I´m excited. If you still havn´t bought your ticket, you can find it at www.ticnet.se, search for classical gospel.

If you don´t know what to get for your friends and loved ones for christmas I have a tip. Get the new Praise Unit album, The Mission Field, on www.joakimarenius.com.

Have a nice december night, and I hope to see you next week in Örebro Concert Hall.

Tack Norge!

2009-11-26T21:34:00.004+01:00

Takk Norge - thank you Norway!
We had a good trip to Oslo yesterday, though very long. For us living in Stockholm it took about 7 hours each way, for the ppl in Örebro a few hours less and for Johannes driving alone from Jönköping you have to add another hour to the 7 hours from Stockholm... But it was worth it, although we're pretty nacked today after a long night in the cars...!
It was great fun to do our thing and also see what the other choirs/artists (safari, isaac carree, oslo soul teens) did and we were really impressed by them all! We also got to sing a song together with Swedish gospel legend Per-Erik Hallin which we all really enjoyed! But most of all, it felt like a truly blessed night, which we are so happy to have been a part of.

Joakim and Ragnhild Hiis-Ånestad, leader of Oslo soul children/teens.

Some of the Praise Unit singers weren't able to come along due to other assignments, but we were fortunate to bring some other friends to join us on stage... Emma was one of them.

Magdalena was another one who we brought along!

Hanging out backstage.

Simon, yet another friend who contributed on the Oslo show (But this one behind the drums!), and Jacob in the backseat of the car.

Time to go to Oslo

2009-11-25T09:55:00.003+01:00

In a few hours we´re leaving for Oslo, Norway. We´re playing at a big concert with some other artists/groups, Safari, Oslo Soul Teens, Per-Erik Hallin and Isaac Carree (Kirk Franklins backup singer). It´s gonna be great hearing all of them.

We´re all looking forward to it....it´s been a while since we played together....

Don´t forget to get the Mission Field CD for all your friends and loved ones for christmas....you can buy it at www.joakimarenius.com.

See you

...and a couple more =)

2009-11-18T22:59:00.002+01:00

Good evening!

2009-11-18T22:38:00.005+01:00

Here's some more photos from the releaseconcert, taken by our dear friend Susanne from Husby in Germany! Thank you, Susanne!
Next week we will perform in Oslo together with Oslo Soul Teens, Per-Erik Hallin and Isaac Carree! It looks like it's gonna be a great night! If you're in Oslo on the 25th of November, come and join the party!

A good review

2009-11-18T13:51:00.004+01:00

Another good review of The Mission Field... Yey!
For those of you who read Swedish: http://www.crossnet.se/portal/article.do?oid=275188

Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

Missing out on the gig

2009-10-24T21:27:00.003+02:00

Tonight's gig night! I'm in London though so I'm missing out! This is the first show I miss since my Praise Unit debut in the spring of 2007 and it feels a bit sad. But I know the guys are gonna do an amazing job spreading the gospel tonight!

I hope you're enojying the new album and for those of you who still haven't got it - go to www.joakimarenius.com and get your copy!

Long time, no....

2009-10-22T16:47:00.006+02:00

Hi everyone. It´s been a while since last time I wrote something here. But now I feel like it´s time to post something, and share a few pictures from our release concert that my wife, Anna, took. So enjoy.

This saturday we will play in Örebro concert hall, you´re all very welcome to be there.

God Bless!

/ Jakob

Hi!

2009-10-20T10:07:00.003+02:00

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came to our releaseconcert! We had so much fun and I hope you did too! A special thanks to 3 devoted ladies from Germany, so nice to see friends from abroad in the crowd! I hope you had a lovely stay in Stockholm and thanks for dropping by my work for a quick chat =)
Hopefully I will be able to put up a short video from the concert here soon, unfortunately with bad sound, but anyway.

Take care friends and foes!
God bless