Deep Blue Sea
This mini musical began on a cold fall day in 2015 in Estonia. I had just released Meeting the Wolf and was trying to figure out what direction to take next.
Rob Montes and I were listening to different samples, searching for inspiration. The whole writing process feels like a lifetime ago—some parts are a blur—but I clearly remember the moment we wrote the first song.
I told Rob I wanted to create a collection of music about mermaids. He never tried to talk me out of it. He could have said, “One song on that subject is probably enough,” but instead, he just let me run with the idea. Together, we watched this beautiful mermaid–human love story unfold in music.
Once we had the song ideas together, we wanted to record live instruments. When Rob was in Vancouver, I flew there and we recorded percussions most of my vocals, along with bass and harp.
The harp was probably the most magical and challenging instrument to capture. The harpist—who looked like a real-life fairy—had trouble even getting the instrument into the studio; it was twice her size. Watching her roll that enormous harp in and then recording it live was unforgettable.
For the violins, I found an affordable recording service in Greece. Still, after putting so much effort into these songs, something felt missing. I decided to put the project on hold.
Around 2016, I met T-Bone. At the time, he was Lenny Kravitz’s sound engineer, but his résumé also included legends like The Isley Brothers, Meat Loaf etc. Despite our age difference, we shared a deep love for music. I picked his brain constantly, and he enjoyed guiding me. He started calling himself “Uncle Bone,” and I quickly adopted it.
We began working on the mermaid project together. I sent him all the files, and he started mixing. One day, he suggested adding electric guitars. At first, I wasn’t open to the idea, but I didn’t want to argue. I agreed—and I’m glad I did. Arti Funaro guitars took the songs, especially Deep Blue Sea and Son of the Ocean, to a whole new level, giving them an almost rock–musical energy.
I encouraged Bone to put more of himself into the tracks, and he did. When we met, he had just beaten cancer for the second time and told me it had mellowed him out a lot. Later, I learned he’d lived a wild, almost pirate-like life. Then one day, he called and told me the cancer had returned, and he was dying. It broke my heart. You feel so helpless when you want to take someone’s pain away but can’t.
Deep Blue Sea was one of the last projects he worked on. He told me many times how much joy it brought him and how proud he was of it. Knowing that moved me deeply. It’s been six years since he passed, and I couldn’t bring myself to listen to these songs—until now.
I thought I’d keep them for myself, but when I listened again, I realized I can't do that. One reason I never released them before was that I didn’t have the budget to create the visuals I imagined.
To truly understand the love story between a merman and a woman, it needed some animation—an underwater world just as I saw it when writing the music. Now, with AI, I have been able to create that underwater world. That’s what made me feel that it’s time to put this music out.
Releasing this makes me a little nervous. Listening to it again has been an emotional rollercoaster. The energy that went into it is impossible to recreate.
Deep Blue Sea musical is dedicated to the loving memory of Uncle Bone.
Coming soon..
With Love
Janne
