I had yesterday a nice evening at Tammerfest in Tampere. I visited the backstage to make an interview with Lovex, and ended up hanging around with the guys around the city until late at night (finally I felt tired to continue the after party and headed to my bed at 5 a.m…).
Lovex bass player Jason is a very friendly guy and we had interesting talks while enjoying some drinks together. I also had the chance to salute shortly Toni Wirtanen, the singer of Apulanta, because we had met for an interview last year in Helsinki.
During the past time, working as journalist and meeting many Finnish and international musicians, what you discover is that they are easy going people and very down to earth. Even a couple of days ago, meeting Jonne Aaron, the singer of Negative, I was surprised when he tells small details about his life like that he enjoys cleaning his house and washing his dishes, or that he was feeling jealous not to be able to go to Bruce Springsteen´s concert as I did because he had to record on studio that evening. {mosimage}
Maybe it has to do also with the features of Finnish people in general. They have a strong working class philosophy running through their veins, and they are in general humble to recognize their own successes. Also being foreigner can help to break the ice. During the time living in Finland and Estonia, the citizens are always curious and interested to hear what people from other countries who are living here think about them. It is always refreshing to see that after the stereotype we have of rock stars having a crazy life, they are in the end just human beings who feel curious about things around them and are eager for a nice conversation sharing some beers if you approach them with respect.
I am by nature a curious person, interested in getting to know all kind of people, so it helps when you forget their roles as public figures on stage, and just approach them with a honest attitude and respect for their personal lives. I just can say that I take my hat out for people like Lovex or Jonne Aaron, who made me feel so comfortable during the festival and have a good time there with them. In the end, they are just a group of young guys, like many of the readers of FREE!, who just enjoy sitting in a park taking advantage of the nice weather, sipping a cold drink and having a nice chat in a good company.