Back home

Finally back home! I had never been this excited to return to Armenia before. Spending almost 3 months in Toronto was way too long for me. I missed living alone, I missed friends, I missed the studio, and most of all I didn't witness and enjoy the taking off of the first Armenian song I produced. It's still out there though. I hear people blasting it in their Nivas, I hear cell phones going off with the song as their ringtones, I hear kids out there singing it, and so on.

I've been back for 2 days, and I haven't even had a chance to unpack and get over jetlag. I've been constantly meeting the group HAYQ, potential investors, and acting as a volunteer manager for the guys while they are constantly being contacted to do shows and interviews. (I never thought the Armenian entertainment scene could actually be exciting.)

We've already started focussing on the next single, but it will definitely be difficult to top the success of Qami Pchi. We're hoping to get the album done by the time the third single comes out, but a lot depends on finding someone to invest in this group. The numerous mafiosos that are interested are not really the type of investors we are looking for.

Leaving Yerevan in the winter and returning three months later you feel as though you came to a totally different city. Swan Lake is no longer a skating rink but a "lake" again, the first Northern Avenue buildings are almost done and look nice (not outstanding in architecture, not an eyesore either), and a bunch of new stores/restaurants.

A nice big cd/dvd store has just opened up on Abovyan Street, just north of Sayat Nova, called Star City. Besides selling music and movies, the store also throws events for artists, such as album and website launches and autograph sessions, which are quite new to Armenia.

The first two floors of Astafyan Hotel, across from Hotel Yerevan, have been demolished, and will soon be transformed into the Italian clothing franchise TerraNova. Another Italian clothing franchise has also opened on Mashtots, Ermenegildo Zegna.

A new Shushi restaurant has opened up on Baghramyan close to Moskovyan, a so-called "In and Out" burger restaurant on Tumanyan Street across from the Shawarma place (not to be confused with THE American burger franchise "In-N-Out".)

I got news today that the social awareness clips I've been producing have been distributed to over 20 television stations throughout Armenia, and we now have all the regions covered. So far we've covered littering, language and the use of slang, and three clips dealing with respect for one another. The new ones will hopefully be done within a few weeks. I wonder if these clips are actually making a difference in people's behaviours.