On my own today, heading up Snowmass.

Steven & Seal.jpg, originally uploaded by sealsong.

Heading up Ajax.

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Thierry, Shaun and I having a great day of riding. I feel so lucky.

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At the base of ‘Buttermilk’, Shaun took time to sign for people who were happy to see him. He made them feel like he was their own hero. My great friend Thierry and his girlfriend Margaux are also here visiting from Switzerland. We all had a great day together, doing the thing that brought us all together in the first place…. snowboarding.

Hello everyone.

I’d like to start by apologizing for not posting this last week. Between paying attention to my family and having just a bit too much fun over the Xmas/New Year week, there hasn’t been much time to spend on the computer but better late than never right?

Well, I hope that all of you had a great Xmas and that the beginning to your New Year has been a smooth one thus far. I am still in the mountains and as I look out of the window, there is at least 1 ft of new snow so the ‘winter wonderland’ is still in major effect.

Lots of you have posted questions which I hope to get to as time permits but let me start by telling you my plans for this year and perhaps that will help answer some of the questions.

First on the Agenda is the record of course. Work on the new album is going really well and I’m in the lyric finalizing stages. Bill Bottrell (producer) is hard at work and so far the album has a definite dance feel to it. This has been my intention and I plan to follow it through because that is where my heart is right now. We are hoping for a release in time for summer so please bare with us as we try to do the very best possible.

It looks as though we will be doing some shows in South America this month, I will let you know by posting the dates to the website as soon as they are confirmed.
Without saying too much at this point, I hope to get back to South Africa to realize a reoccurring dream but more on that when the right time comes.
With regards to ‘Togetherland’, I will try and locate it and make it available for listening or at least the sections of it that I feel are worthy enough. I will never release it as an album to buy because my feeling is that it really isn’t that good. Sure there are moments in it that are definitively ‘seal’ but it is however wrought with inconsistency and this is the main reason why it wasn’t officially released in the first place.

I want to share with you a personal experience I had this Xmas that will remain as one of the highlights of my very fortunate life.
I had the good fortune to ride with someone who is widely regarded as the best snowboader in the world. Whilst we have been friends ever since he came to my last birthday party fresh from his gold medal Olympic run, I had never had the opportunity to actually go riding with Shaun White until this last week. Well after a few runs it becomes pretty obvious why this young man draws all the accolades that we’re used to hearing. He is in a word….A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

To follow him on simple runs is like an education not only in snowboarding but also in God given balance and coordination. You quickly get the impression that he is more comfortable on a board than you are on two feet. He is to this sport what ‘Roger Federer’ is to tennis in that they are both operating on a different stratosphere when it comes to playing and are both consummate professionals. But what is probably the most amazing thing about Shaun is the way in which he carries himself as a role model and an ambassador for all of sport. You cannot imagine how many times he was asked for his autograph on yet another young kids board or sleeve not to mention the numerous adults and parents that asked for autographs for their kids at home, quite often the same parent coming back more than once. He never once denied a single person and seemed to have time for everyone. Its clear why the whole world, (myself included), is enamored by this young man, he gets it, the complete package, the whole kit and caboodle, he’s
the perfect Rock star!

• In the summer, I like to mountain bike.
• I love American football and my team is the 49rs
• One thing I’d like to do is win an Oscar someday. I haven’t done it yet maybe because I haven’t written anything worthy of being nominated
• I would definitely do meet n greets on future tours
• I feel special knowing that you took me with you when you started your new job. Thank you Maggie
• I call my wife ‘HK’ because it is her nick name
• My favorite movies are Godfather 1 & 2. My favorite books are ‘The Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran & ‘Letters to a young poet’ by Rainer Maria Rilke.
• I love Japan and wish for the opportunity to spend more time there
• I use an iPod nano 8Gig. I never have more than four playlists on it plus tracks that I’m working on
• I can’t really comment on your question about “ bypassing the record company and offering downloads straight from my website”. I will say though that I feel artists and the record buying public have had the short end of the stick for many years and that the digital revolution and copyright violation, although dishonest, have brought about a much needed change in the way that business has been conducted. I am pro change and I also think that the Internet promotes freedom among artist to express themselves.
• I do arrange my backing vocals, sometimes with the help of the producer but I pretty much have a general idea of how I want them to sound
• Hallo Dean, thanks for liking my songs
• I loved working with Mark Batson. He was great at coming up with parts. I feel that he’s an extremely talented musician. I learned a great deal from him
• I would really love to come back to Australia and I’m working hard on this next album to allow me to do just that as well as pretty much every country I haven’t yet visited
• I’ve often been asked to do a video for the song ‘touch’ however I feel that the time has now passed and I must concentrate no the new record but you never know. Perhaps sometime in the future when compiling a ‘Best of’ this may be an option
• Happy belated birthday Pamora.
• I will hopefully get to Atlanta on the next US tour. There was some talk of Sade and I touring at one point but for some reason it just didn’t happen
• The camera I use for the blog pictures is a ‘Sony DSC T10’. The one’s I use for the slide shows are A Nikon D200 and a Leica M8. For the blog I sometimes use an HTC Excalibur camera phone

I must really sign off now but I want to once again thank everyone for being patient and contributing to what is becoming a great place to meet and communicate. Happy New Year,

S.

Brett Kaplan & I, originally uploaded by sealsong.

After a great day on Buttermilk. It was great hanging with you buddy.

S.