January got underway with Miro being away for 2 weeks on his winter holiday in Egypt but the rest of the band kept rehearsing intensively for the spring gigs. The first gig of 2011 was on January 22 in Espoo with 3 other setups, and it proved to be a success with one of the biggest crowds the band had had so far. There was also widespread interest from new listeners, and Radio Rock Prospect - member Jani was there again too to witness the show.

In the turn of February the band signed up for the Emergenza Band Competition, which featured unsigned bands throughout the land and genres. The band was actively trying to brand itself at the time too, with an ad placed for artists to design a mascot for the band, in the tune of "Eddie", "The Guy" and others. A few promising artists were found, and the band decided to go with one of them. Everything was agreed regarding the character, shirt designs and such, but soon it turned out the artist was busy with everything else and the band heard nothing from him in a while.

Vic was moving house in the spring and it was agreed that he could take some time off administering things regarding the band so he could set house in the new place.

The gigs kept coming 2 weeks apart, the next being at the Darkside club in early February. There Payload was joined by Shades of Nowhere and 1Logic, that turned into a fruitful co-operative trio that would see the bands play together in the future too. 2 weeks on and the band was on stage in Musta Härkä with Armed and Alone.

Late in February Jari revealed that his wife was pregnant and they would be having their firstborn in June. The band thus agreed to spend the early summer working on new material and rehearsing less intensively to give Jari the home time he needed. Also gig bookings were delayed so that the band started looking into late summer and early autumn as the next gig dates after April.

In March begun the Emergenza competition with Payload playing in the preliminary round at Bar Loose, going through to the semi-finals with flying colours. There it was also agreed Payload would be playing a gig with a fellow competitor, Sverige no Börje, on April Fools day in Espoo.

The turn of the month saw the international promoter Mama Trash arrange the fourth TrashFest in Helsinki. The 4-day festival started off in the Semifinal club on Wednesday March 30 and went on for 3 days at Gloria. Members of Payload were attending the festival

as much as they could, building relationships and acquiring acquaintances throughout the scene, the only interruption being the gig in Espoo on April 1st. On the last day of the festival Vic got to play on stage as part of the MTFA (Mama Trash Family Artist) All-Star Band, that featured members throughout the roster of bands mixing and matching to play some great cover songs.

April 15th saw the band on stage at On the Rocks club in Helsinki as part of the Emergenza semi-finals. The gig was recorded on video and the band now had its first quality recording on a live appearance, the song "Nails" ending up on the bands website, Youtube and other music media, such as MySpace, ReverbNation etc. Payload didn't make it through to the final though, but the experience was well worth it. This proved to be the last gig of the spring and the band laid low and started looking at what had happened and what needed to be done next.

Soon after it turned out that an email had been missed, and the band had missed the opportunity to make it on stage to one of the major summer festivals in Finland, the Kotkan Meripäivät. This resulted in some heated exchanges within the band, as there were other concerns too regarding duties and responsibilities going on. It was a difficult time for the band all in all, with a lot of tension after the spring that had been probably the busiest ever for the band both musically and in the private lives of the members. Things escalated and a lot was said in anger, but eventually the differences were solved and the band could continue looking forward.

In May the band still hadn't heard anything from the artist chosen to provide the mascot and other art, and the band started rushing him into work too. Promises were made, but it turned out nothing was to be heard once more.

June came and the band was working on new material and invisible work, arranging gigs for the autumn and such. At the end of the month Jari dropped a bomb on the band though, deciding his family was more important to him than the band, and he decided to quit the setup. The band understood the decision though, and wishes Jari all the best in his future endeavours.

Stay tuned for what happened next!