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Albums Music

Noheva – Pikatie

{mosimage}Debut album by the band from Oulu leaded by Jarkko Somero.

Coming from northern Oulu, Noheva lets the coldness aside and introduce us a more than recommendable warm debut album. With Jarkko Somero in the vocals, Jarno Nyman in the guitar, Mika Heiskanen as bassist and Arto Ek as drummer, Pikatie offers a good dosis of rock and roll and good stories in Finnish languages for those eager to listen to honest music. As the good wines that must be tasted step by step. The beginning of the album is quite calm with Panttilainaamossa, but when advancing in the tracklist, the guitar riffs acquire a bigger dimension and Somero starts to unveil some good vocal skills in front of the micro in songs like Kaipaan Sua, the catchy Miksen mä mee or the track that puts an excellent end to the album, the homonymous  Pikatie.

Songwriting, as it is traditional with the Finnish bands, is of an excellent quality. Songs about problems and feelings that soon or later we all have passed through. The melancholic Finnish spirit mixed with a warm feeling, with some compositions that could transport you into past summer days and old missed friendships; Pikatie reminds us that there is always a path to follow and the one Noheva has chosen is the correct one. Great work from the Oululaiset!

Rating 4/5

Categories
Albums Music

Shamrain – Goodbye to All That

{mosimage}Third album for the Finnish Shamrain. Quite an unknown band that deserves better luck due to the high quality of their compositions.

Apart from heavy metal bands, the Finnish market has received a flood of bands trying to imitate with better or worse luck the brit-pop mainsteam groups, especially because of the action of one of the most popular independent music brands in the country.  In the overwhelmed market of pop-rock Finnish bands singing in English, it is a fresh and unusual experience  to find a band like Shamrain.

Maybe it is because of that “melancholic touch” that all good Finnish band must have to succeed, maybe the inspiration of the lyrics written mostly by bassist Matti Reinola and guitarist Kalle Pyyhtinen, or just due to the transparent voice of Mika Tauriainen (who is also the lead singer in Entwine, where he can explode harder registers). Clear influences from bands like Placebo or Radiohead, a very high level composition and songwriting in tracks like Shallow Delusion or Evangeline, with a Tauriainen that just for some seconds can remind you of Ville Valo like during the first part of  Stars Will Fall.

We wish the best of lucks to Shamrain and hope that their new collaboration with Spikefarm Records will materialize in the success that this Goodbye to All That deserves.

Rating 4/5

Categories
Albums Music

Värttinä – 25

{mosimage}25 years as a band deserves a celebration. Värttinä was created in 1983, and now SonyBMG thought that there could be no better moment to offer a compilation to the fans.

Obviously, after 25 years, Värttinä does not need to show anything new to the public. The ones who like the bands peculiar style, rooted in Finnish folk traditions, know perfectly what to expect.  The album is offered in digipack version, and acquires the status of a big celebration. 22 tracks extracted from their 11 albums and an unreleased song as an extra: Vipinäveet. 24 page-booklet with pictures of all the band’s career and a tour of their evolution, from those pre-teen female voices of the beginning to the more mature ones of Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Johanna Virtanen, the remaining and present singers.  Good time to take advantage of the opportunity that the album represents, since you must know that 25 has only been released so far in Finland, so if you don’t live in this Nordic country, do not expect to find it in the music shops.

At the same time of the appearance of this compilation, Värttinä is offering several shows in central Europe, around Germany and Switzerland, and it was recently announced as well the departure of their drummer “Jaska”  Lukkarinen.

Värttinä will not leave you indifferent. If you want to discover something unique in Finnish music scene, a band that adds to their vocal harmonies old Finnish poems (runo poetry) and takes influence from the Finno-Ugric tribes tradition, this is your album. But if you prefer other kind of music and get annoyed by the constant repetitiveness in the lyrics, maybe this album is not for you. Mostly recommended for those who want to explore one step farther on Finnish music than only HIM, The Rasmus or Lordi.

Rating: 3/5

Categories
Interviews Music

Interview with Pintandwefall

What can a girl band do with a name about alcohol tolerance, lyrics about game consoles and a stage image full of masks and costumes? Well, just becoming the most popular band of the moment. With a funny mix of rock, garage and crazy lyrics Pintandwefall will surprise you. Guitar player and vocalist Dumb Pint tells about the band and its first album: Wow! What Was That, Baby?

Pintandwefall

What is the story of the band? How did you come up with such a name?

In the spring of 2006 after another rock band’s rehearsals, I was in a bar and I had the idea of starting a girl band which would play one gig in an school competition. The idea was that everybody would play an instrument which one would have never played.

Next day at school I was asking my friends to join me. We took the name of the band from a poor joke which was about bad tolerance of alcohol and we learned two songs in three weeks. To our wonder everybody liked us! The original plan was that we would have broken up because of musical disagreements, but because of getting extra gigs we couldn’t stop and we had to write more songs.

What about your looks and style: the masks and the names?

Image has always been important to us! Already in the first rehearsals we were planning what type of nail polish and shade of lip stick we should use. The costumes were supposed to match with each other.

In the beginning instead of masks we had huge sunglasses, but then before one gig we went to a joke shop to buy a diabolo for Cute Pint, who plays percussion and sings. At the same time we found these great disguises. We had an idea to wear them to the night’s gig and finally they kind of came our dominating element on the stage by accident. Nowadays audience would complain if we didn’t wear our masks.

We wanted also very stupid Spice Girls -type of artistic names. We should have thought them a bit better if we had known that this will go this far…

You have pretty original and funny lyrics? How do you find inspiration for them or topics like X-Box?

We don’t have any limits, so we write songs about almost any kinds of topics which inspire us. X-box had a bit different story though; the song had originally really dirty lyrics which we had to change to be called as a “family version”.

Your album is becoming very popular, how do you feel with these sudden success?

It feels really absurd! Even though since the beginning there has been small fuss around the band which has grown into new potential during the time. It’s wonderful that people like us so much!

Tell me a bit about your influences.

Since there are four song writers in the band, we are mixing everybody’s personal favorites that can be anything from Toto to The Hives. We haven’t found any great influence yet, though the reporters have invented things to compare to us.

Pintandwefall

For someone who hasn’t listened to your album or seen your shows, how would you describe your music?

It’s direct, spontaneous, dangerously sticking, wild and conquering. Even if our playing skills are not like diamond sharp, we compensate the lack of virtuosity with an intensive atmosphere and good stage show.

What is your favourite places / bars to play and to hang around in Helsinki?

So far we like as costumer and as players, places like Belly and Kuudes Linja. And we go to sing karaoke in Sweng!

www.pintandwefall.com

www.myspace.com/pawf

Categories
Interviews Music

A man with a past

{mosimage}Marko Haavisto had very clear that he wanted to
become a singer and songwriter since he was 9, when he got his first guitar.
This same determination gained the sympathy of the most famous Finnish cinema
director, Aki Kaurismäki, who has included songs and even an appearance
of Marko and his band in some of his most famous movies.

Marko, you were
a member of the Badding Rockers that was quite a popular band in Finland
a couple of decades ago. Why the decision to separate from them and start with
Poutahaukat?

Badding Rockers just came to the end in 1993. It
was my first recording group. And name of the band made honor to great Finnish
singer: Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki. After Badding
Rockers, I had another band called Geronimo,
but it didn’t got success and recorded just one cd-single (three songs). But
one of those songs, Jäätynyt sade, is
in latest Aki Kaurismäki´s film: Laitakaupungin
valot (Lights in the Dusk).

After Geronimo I worked in
traditional dance-bands, which played evergreens. I got good paid in that job,
but two years was enough for my head. I came again very hungry to write a song
and play them with my own band. So in 1997 I founded Poutahaukat.

The name
“Poutahaukat”, is it true that comes from an Aleksis Kivi´s book?

Yes, Aleksis Kivi has been the first one who has used that word to
picturing a man in a book named Nummisuutarit
(The Heath Shoemakers). But I learnt
the word “Poutahaukka” from my grandmother.

How did you get
in contact with Aki Kaurismäki, and how the collaboration to score music for
his films (and even appearing performing) happened?

I met Aki in 1990 at the film festival in Sodankylä. He had invited Badding Rockers to play there. He
collected a song from us for his film Tulitikkutehtaan
tyttö (The Match Factory Girl). There
in Sodankylä, Lapland, we shook hands for the
first time. From there our friendship began

Are you
planning to continue this collaboration with the director in the future?

I don’t know anything about that. If somebody knows, is Aki, and he won’t
tell until he is pretty sure about what he will make next. And that could be
something else than a new collaboration with me and Poutahaukat. Aki is the one who makes those decisions, not me.

Aren’t you
afraid that people can feel more curious for your band appearing in those
movies than for your music itself, or do you feel proud to collaborate with
Aki?

I am proud and thankful that Aki has chosen my songs to his films. I have
also seen that for example radio stations could say: “we can’t play your music;
it does not fit in our style.”  But when
somebody like Aki takes a song for his film, those stations “start” to love the
song and suddenly it’s ok for them. It makes me sad, but I guess that it is just
the way it goes. Anyway, collaboration with Aki has brought only good things
for me and the band. There are fans who wouldn’t know anything about us without
those films.

{sidebar id=36}What can you
tell us about your new released album Hollolasta Teksasiin?

We made it in the countryside of Finland, in a small village named Sysmä, at my father’s summer place. We
took all the equipment into that cottage and recording there was nice and easy
most of the time. We played, but we also had grilling, sauna and swimming. We made
several sessions there during 2006-2007. 
I was very satisfied when the album was finished.

The title, that
literally means “from Hollola to Texas”,
is it a figurative trip or did it really take place?

It’s figurative. It’s picturing our music and influences; from old Finnish
traditional music (Hollola) to American rock ‘n’ roll-, blues- and country
music (Texas), a mixture of them.

Do you have any
idols in music, Finnish or international artists?

There are many important characters for me. Here are some of my favourites:
Teddy and the Tigers, Elvis Presley, Black Sabbath, Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Kauko Röyhkä, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash …

You have
played quite outside Finland
also, like in Germany.
And how happened that you played also in Japan? How was the experience
there?

Those all have been exciting adventures for us, something that we
couldn’t even had dreamt about it, because our songs are in Finnish. I have
only good memories, the best are from Japan. Part of the success on those
tours has been because appearing on the film Mies vailla menneisyyttä  (The man without a past), but we have
been bloody good special guests for it! Our music has found many new friends.

When listening
to the album or even seeing the design of the cover and back cover, Marko Haavisto and Poutahaukat gives me
a (bit romantic) feeling of a road band, a band that spends a lot of time on
the road, traveling from bar to bar and always on the road. Does that really
happen with you, guys?

Some of the stories are just product of imagination; some are straight
from true life. But I won’t tell you which one is true and what’s just
fairytale, because that could spoil the whole thing, you know.

Photos by Nauska

www.markohaavisto.com

www.myspace.com/markohaavistopoutahaukat

Categories
Concerts Music

Massive Rush

{mosimage}Last Monday
was an important day for rock fans in Finland. It was a day marked on the
calendar for many months. The Canadian prog rock trio Rush played in the
country for the first time in more than 30 years of career. The band didn’t
disappoint and it offered an extraordinary show at a sold out Hartwall Areena.
More than 12,000 people were happy.

Three years
ago, many Finns traveled to Stockholm. It was their only opportunity to see the
band’s 30th anniversary tour. It was a unique chance to see a band that does
not tour Europe very often. This year Rush were back and this time they didn’t
forget about those Finnish fans. “We didn’t know that we had so many fans
here”, says bassist Geddy Lee during the press conference before the show. “On
that show in Sweden, we realized that we needed to come and play here.”

Guitarist
Alex Lifeson admits that they are having a lot of fun on this tour. “After
Neil’s [drummer Neil Peart] tragedy, we didn’t play for long. But that period
of absence made us realize how fragile life is. We love playing so as long as
we can plan well the tour and keep healthy, we’ll tour”.

The tragedy
Lifeson’s refers to dates back ten years. Within a few months, Neil Peart’s
only daughter and his wife died. He retired for four years. Peart was not
present at the press conference, but Geddy Lee said that “he hasn’t been
happier on a tour”. The drummer wrote a road book about his experiences and
feelings after that tragedy. He has written some more books about being on the
road with a car, a bike or a motorbike. He is planning to drive around Finland
after the tour. “We are not worried about him”, Lee says. “He is a very a safe
driver”.

The press
conference soon transforms into a friendly talk in which the musicians share
their memories and experiences. Both remember the first gig together. “We knew
only six or seven songs, so we played them over and over in front of 40 people.
We made 10 dollars”, tells Alex. “After the show we went to a diner nearby and
had french fries. We planned our future as musicians. It was so exciting”, adds
Geedy. “But of, course, it was very important our first show with Neil. We
opened for Uriah Heep and we had just 26 minutes to play”.

{sidebar id=35}Those 26
minutes are much different than the nearly three hours that a Rush gig lasts
nowadays. There was  a great atmosphere at
the ice hockey hall minutes before the show started. The merchandise stands
were crowded with hundreds of people buying t-shits, posters, pins, Neil
Peart’s books… Cash flow big time. A bit after 8pm, lights out and the intro
video was displayed

And the
trio started. They played loud, but crystal clear, although perhaps the guitar
was a bit too loud and drowned the vocals and the bass at some point. Audience
got excited and stood up. However, most of the people sat down for most of the
concert, the audience was pretty responsive and warm, at least for a typically
cold audience as the Finnish is.

Neil Peart,
Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are superb musicians. Even when they used the
support of prerecorded midi samples, their playing is top class, almost
perfect. Their music is complex. Songs travel through many places and create
many textures. It’s a massive sound.

As Lee had
confirmed, the show is pretty different from the previous tour. It started with
a set of songs from the early  eighties, including Limelight, Digital Man and
Entre Nous. It took some minutes for the band to warm up, but soon the trio
works like a clockwork machine. “There’s not much room for improvising and
jamming on our set”, Lee explains. “It has a precise choreography”. Lifeson
adds that “we usually improvise in the rehearsals or the sound check and if we
hit some nice notes or arragement, we’ll add them to the show”.

Indeed, the stage production is part of the
magic of the Rush show. Lights, sound and video are perfectly synchronized. The
green lasers all over the venue created a great sci-fi atmosphere that fits so
well with the music and the synths parts of the songs. The videos add superb
animations and funny sketches (with Finnish subtitles) like the one with the
South Park kids introducing the hit Tom Sawyer.

But at the beginning of the second set,
something not on the script happened. Alex Lifeson blew up the amps and, Far
Cry, the single of the latest album Snakes & Arrows, was finished with just
drums and bass. That felt kind of awkward as it took some minutes to fix the
problem.

The second set continued with four more
songs of Snakes & Arrows. That could be a bit too much for the fans waiting
to hear the classic. But this is the best release from Rush in many years.
Songs like Workin’ Them Angels, Armor and Sword or The Way the Wind Blows
proofed that it is possible to sound fresh and relevant after 30 years of career.

“This album was a lot of fun to record”,
tells Geddy Lee. “We felt like we could have continued composing and record for
a double album. It was a pity to stop that momentum”. Snakes & Arrows, as
previous albums, is not based on electronic sounds. “We intentionally decided
to write songs on acoustic guitar and bass”, continues Lee. “Electronics were
not involved. It’s something we used to do many years. We did a full circle
back”.

The three members seem to enjoy the time on
stage. Lifeson is an extraordinary guitarist and Neil Peart gave a clinic of
how to play drums and Geddy Lee, with a t-shirt from the museum that read "kunnon kansalainen" (decent citizen, jumped and
sang beautifully. He keeps his voice in a very good shape, maybe thanks to the
soup he takes before every concert. “

There’s nothing much plan for the band
after this tour. As the guitarist confirms, they have recorded a couple of
shows in Rotterdam for a dvd released. “It is format that suits us very well and
it gives us the chance to see the show”, he laughs.

The press conference is over and reporters we
hurry to get some photos and autographs. We are a bunch of crazy fans, anyway.

Categories
Features Music

The finest abnormality

{mosimage}With more
than 1,5 million albums sold, Eppu Normaali is one of Finland’s rock
institutions. It is already 30 years since the band, formed by the brothers Syrjä,
took the name of one of the characters in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein: Abby
Normal, translated into Finnish as Eppu Normaali (epänormaali, abnormal). Last
Friday, Eppu Normaali played at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki and they
presented their new album.

Like it
happens with many other Finnish brothers, Eppu Normaali is a band of brothers.
Two brothers and cousin. Martti Syrjä (vocals), Pantse Syrjä (guitar) and their
cousin Aku Syrjä (drums), along with guitarist Juha Torvinen and bassist Mikko
Saarela formed the group in 1976 in Ylöjärvi, very near Tampere. They started
playing a basic punk rock, following the trend of that time marked by Ramones.
But they did it in Finnish!

The first
performance of the band was in 1977 as part of a national rock competition held
in Tampere. Progressive rock was still very popular and Finland was not ready
for Martti’s sarcastic lyrics. Martti’s writing has always been outstanding and
has become one of the most reputed Finnish lyricists, a skill inherited from
his parents, writers Kirsi Kunnas and Jarkko Syrjä.

Of course,
Eppu Normaali didn’t win that competition, but they gained the attention of one
of the judges. Rock legend Juice Leskinen recognized the band’s talent. Soon
after that, the legendary Poko Records signed Eppu Normaali. Their first album,
Aknepop, was released in 1978. It wasn’t a great success and at the time only
2,000 copies were sold.

Since then,
the group has released 14 studio albums and 2 live ones and the records sales
have obviously increased much. As a matter of fact, Eppu Normaali must be one
of best selling Finnish bands. A greatest hits collection sold over 200,000
copies in 1996. A great number indeed for a small country.

{mosimage}In spite of
releasing a new album every year, the band’s breakthrough didn’t happened until
1984 with the release of Rupisia riimejä,
karmeita tarinoita, that includes hits like Nyt
reppuni jupiset, riimisi rupiset, Taivaassa
perseet tervataan ja Pimeyden tango. Mikko Nevalainen had replaced Mikko Saarela on bass in 1979 and the
band was getting close to more eighties sounds and AOR, almost like Finland’s
Dire Straits.

Rock fans
will soon recognize the inspiration of some of the Eppu Normaali’s album cover.
Their second album is a tribute to The Who and their Maximum R&B, in this
case translated to Maximum Jee & Jee. Even funnier are the adaptations of
the Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Cosmo’s Factory and Willie and The Poor Boys.
For the Finns, they were Akun tehdas (Aku’s Factory, 1980) and Aku ja köyhät
pöjat (Aku and the Poor Boys, 1983).

{mosimage}A second line
up change happened in 1989. Mikko Nevalainen left the band and Sami Ruusukallio
took the bass and still holds it. However, it wasn’t the happiest times. The
band toured less and less each year and lack of inspiration was present in the
recordings while Martti Syrjä suffered problems with alcohol. It seemed the end
of Eppu Normaali when the band decided to take a break in 1994. That break
lasted 11 years.

In 2004, the
group reunited and recorded Sadan vuoden päästäkin. It was a great success,
achieving platinum on its release. It didn’t take that long to have new album
out. Last September Syvään päähän was released and again, the album has sold
great. It is a good album, a collection of rock tunes with intelligent lyrics.
This time the artwork was done by the duck artist Kaj Stenwall and the trivia
says that Juha Torvinen played a couple of songs with a one of Ron Wood’s picks
and Aku Syrjä played with one of Charlie Watts’ drumsticks.

{mosimage}Thirty
years have gone already, but it is not too late to discover, live or on record,
one of Finland’s finest bands. Don’t let the Finnish lyrics scare you!

Categories
Albums Music

Malummeh – Revival

{mosimage}Here’s another group of frustrated youngsters that vent their anger through aggressive metal music. Malummeh’s sound is highly influenced by Swedish melodic death metal and American metalcore, which certainly isn’t the most unique combination nowadays.

Malummeh may be rightly angered, but they haven’t really found an interesting way to put their anger into music. Everything is done by the book: tightly played thrash riffs, occasional guitar melodies, singer screaming his lungs out – and so on. It’s just hard to figure out why anybody should pick up Revival and not one of the dozens of other similar records.

he band certainly have some strengths, I am not saying that. Unfortunately, song writing is not one of them. No matter how many times you listen to Revival, it is quite difficult to remember anything of it, save the seemingly endless metalcore onslaught everybody into this kind of music has heard a million times before. Malummeh is a band who can name one of their tracks Open Your Eyes and sincerely believe the idea is not already overused.

Malummeh is one of those bands that do all the right things. The sad thing for them is, that in rock music that doesn’t really mean that the music would work. Quite the contrary, actually: you can do many wrong things and still make it work, whereas doing everything right often paints a picture of a band unable to come up with anything genuinely new.

2/5 

Categories
Albums Music

Samettivallankumous – Täällä mies, kuuleeko nainen?

{mosimage}Samettivallankumous (”velvet revolution” in English) is essentially, as far as the line-up and the style of music go, Ville Härkönen & Velvet with a new name. They make alternative country in Finnish, which – as a concept – is quite refreshing in a way. Too bad the concept doesn’t really work the way it should.


It is quite difficult to point one’s finger why it doesn’t feel so good. The track En voi särkeä sun sydäntä vielä is a case in point: with its audible heartache it sounds like a real alt. country song should sound (minus the out-of-tune-guitar solo), but the emotion it awakens on the listener is lukewarm at best.

Of course, country music is by its nature a very American thing, but I cannot see why a Finnish version of alt. country could not work. Maybe it’s just that it would take a little more to localize a style of music than just use use all of its essential elements without questioning anything.

The album’s lyrics are penned by a variety of writers. Samettivallankumous front man and main composer Ville Härkönen has himself written only one lyric, and the band has had contributions from such people as notable Finnish indie rock musicians Janne Laurila and Ville Leinonen, and even the movie director Markku Pölönen. Therefore it’s understandable that lyrically the album is quite a disjointed, although at times successful affair.

Despite some interesting moments, Täällä mies, kuuleeko nainen? is a mediocre record.

Rating 2/5 

Categories
Albums Music

Serj Tankian – Elect the Dead

{mosimage}Singer Serj Tankian launches his solo debut album, free of System of a Down's guitarist's Daron Malakian's influences. He is also touring and promoting the album with a new backing band that he calls the FCC: Flying Cunt of Chaos.

Many fans of System of a Down were not much happy with Malakian´s late attitude of taking a bigger role in the vocals parts of System of a Down. Now they can feel happy with Tankian's first solo album, introducing again in plenitude the unique Serj's vocal talents. Do not expect in any case bigger changes from SOAD´s style. The album is similar in many aspects to works like Mesmerize, but obviously with a more personal touch by Tankian. Furious, politically involved and combative and with Tankian´s elastic and expressive vocals flooding the album in every song.

The album enjoys some glorious moments like in Saving us or the final track Elect the Dead, but part of the magic that you could find in SOAD is lost here. It seems that Tankian wanted to satisfy the old fans while trying to create something a bit different, but at the end got disoriented in the middle of the crossroad and the result gets overcooked; his shouts can turn from dynamic into annoying. Not a bad effort though, since the songwriting is brilliant and the rebellious attitude continues at its top.

Tankian shows why he has more balls than most of the people in the American  musical industry, with a praising  balance of quality and dignity. While SOAD takes a break, Elect the Dead is a good choice to await until Malakian and Tankian will rejoin forces.

Rating 3/5

Categories
Albums Music

Pooma – Persuader

{mosimage}Pooma are definitely an interesting band, quite unlike any other band in Finland at the moment. Their lush, atmospheric and ethereal pop music could be compared to such bands as Sigur Rós, Portishead or Radiohead, with also influences from all the quintessential shoegazing bands (Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and so on).


Persuader is a record that demands serious attention from its listener. There are no catchy choruses or other pop elements to be found, and the band’s sound is somehow very unassuming. However, in the right mindset it sounds actually quite fabulous. The mood of the record is almost like of a fairytale – a somewhat twisted fairytale – or a dream. It really sounds like a carefully constructed piece of work.

Persuader’s appeal is still a bit limited. It would be hard to pick favourite tracks, since none of them really stand out. Nothing really grabs the listener’s attention. Vocalist Tuire Lukka has a seductive voice and the musicians are experienced. They really can create an interesting atmosphere, but too often it feels like that’s all they can do.

Anyway, Persuader is a promising debut. They still have some way to go before they’ll be able to reach the worldwide top of their genre – whatever that genre may be – but they are quite a welcome addition to the Finnish musical climate nevertheless.

3/5 

Categories
Interviews Music

H.O.G. is in the game

{mosimage}There is heavy metal at the other side of
the Baltic Sea! House of Games has many
bonds with Finland:
they have toured with The Rasmus, recorded with famous producer Hiili
Hiilesmaa and are visiting Helsinki
to unload their music for 2 consecutive gigs.

Erik Meremaa,
the singer and main composer of the Estonian band, kindly attended the
questions of FREE! Magazine about their first steps, the new album
recently released and the incoming concerts that will include touring again
with WASP in United
Kingdom.

For some of our readers you can be quite
an unknown band. Can you explain a bit the origins and roots of the band?

The roots of HOG go back to the year 1993,
when young musicians hoped to make the band that enables them to satisfy the
hunger to make music. Of course we all wanted to make it right and in “very
special way”. Thinking now back to these years and to the skills we had at that
time – well, it makes me smile. Now we know how to analyze better the music we
did. But every brave start is positive, a developing experience.

Finland is living a golden era in rock and heavy metal bands with
international projection. Why in Estonia things are so different,
being geographically so near? Do you think that Estonian bands will begin to
break out in the international rock scene in the near future?

First of all there are 4 to 5 times more
inhabitants in Finland
as there are in Estonia
(we have only around 1, 4 million).

Secondly, Estonia regained independence on
1991 – up to that time we were occupied by Russians and the life was more (very
much) complicated. The borders were closed, there was an iron curtain hanging
over us. Now, as we have been only 16 years free and we live in very (!!)
liberal society, the situation is different. Finland declared its independence in 1917 – so
there is a huge difference.

About the very
strong  metal and rock bands in Finland – well,
the soil seems to be very fertile for this genre. This suits them very well.
And when comparing them to the rest of the music scene around, Finland seems to
be the most powerful rock and metal empires in the world. I am sure that there
will be internationally very strong Estonian rock and metal bands. It is only
very hard to predict when it all will happen.

How would you define the musical style of your band?

In general it is possible to classify House
of Games as melodic rock band, but we don’t like this classification, the
“framing” system. And we definitely don’t know what will look like and sound of
our next album. Music means us the movement of sound – without boundaries and
limits.

The lineup of the band changed last
spring, and you added a new bass player and a drummer. Why those changes?

Evidently sometimes somebody ‘s strength
will end and the everyday life generates some kind of void – that happened to
our ex-bass player and ex- drummer. It is very sad, as it all happened just
before the more positive and progressive changes we faced in our career (the
European release etc). We grew up and tight together creatively,
as we played music together for 7 last years.Yes, it is all sad, but that ´s life and
there is nothing we can do about it. For sure we remained friends.

How
was the experience of recording some songs in USA with Kevin (Caveman) Shirley?
How did you get in contact with him?

All these experiences are very tutorial and
instructive when you have possibility to work with the producer from such a
league as Kevin is from.

But in general it is very hard business to
find the producer – the “outsider”, who is able to adjust to the band and to
take and change etc ones “child” – as music is very delicate matter and the
concerned parties’ views can be very different. 
Sometimes band can ´t accept the changes the producer makes.

Fortunately that was not the case with us
and Kevin. The co-operation with Mr. Caveman 
 was positive and we hoped to
mould and form HOG songs with him some day in future.

We get acquainted with Kevin in classical
way – HOG wanted to work with him, Kevin listened to our songs, he liked them,
we agreed the timelines – he had just ended the album producing for John Petrucci
(Suspended Animation), the guitarist from Dream Theater and there
was the possible recording period for us before he went to UK to produce Iron
Maiden.

What the listeners can expect from your
recently released album, Rise and Shine?

I hope – we all do – that people get
positive load from our songs. They are ALL made from the deep of our hearts. It
is worth mentioning, that there are actually tracks from the period of 6-7
years time. There are plenty of different musical and creative movements.

As Spanish, I could not be less than curious
when I listened the song Spanish man, about Cortés, the conqueror. Is it
a trend you want to continue, similar to other bands like Iron Maiden, where
historical events have always a strong role in the songwriting?

Probably it is interesting for you to
observe the song like Spanish Man, as it speaks about Spaniards. I
really hope that we didn’t insult anybody’s feelings. Spanish Man is the
song that dates back some years ago and doesn’t have any contact and connection
with other songs. The message of this song is somehow important for me – as the
history itself. Thos particular track is one of a kind on our album Rise and
Shine. This is no trend for us.

You seem to have quite many links with Finland. You
have recorded the album at Suomenlinna with the famous producer Hiili
Hiilesmaa. How this collaboration came out?

As you definitely know, Estonia and Finland are
very close to each other. Connections arise very easily and smoothly. And it is
the same story with Seawolf Studio. We have recorded there many times
and we are always very satisfied with the results and as well with the
atmosphere there. With Hiili Hiilesmaa we met years ago in Finland and we
spoke about the co-operation. But at that time nothing specific. Then later
when we started to record Rise and Shine, we wanted to see and hear his
hand on our songs.  Unfortunately he was
very busy (he is always) and booked with many projects ahead. Luckily he
contacted us later and he managed to make the arrangements in his working
schedule and it suited with our schedule ideally. We are very and very
satisfied with his work – and definitely we’ll work together in future.

 

And you have also shared tour with The
Rasmus a couple of years ago. Was it a nice experience?

We all remember the tour as very pleasant
one. The guys and their team are all very friendly and pleasant people. As well
their manager, Seppo Vesterinen. We definitely look forward to meet with
them on the road again. 

Last year you toured with the legendary
band WASP, and it seems that they must be very happy with the experience, since
you are going to repeat tour with them in the following months during Crimson
Idol tour. What are your feelings about it?

 It seems yes, that our co-operation was good and smooth. And now in October – November we tour
together on the stages of UK.
We wait for this trip, as UK
is very good place to go be around. Very pleasant country with warm people. We
hope that audience and we all will get positive emotions from that tour.

What can the Finnish audience expect for
your incoming gigs in Helsinki?

What we always wish they’ll get: good music
and good emotions.
 

23.10 – London Pub, Helsinki – 10pm
24.10 – Semifinal, Helsinki – 10pm

www.houseofgames.org

Categories
Albums Music

Viikate – Marraskuun Lauluja

{mosimage}If Marraskuun lauluja I was released on last January, it was normal that the second part would not find any other better month to hit the market than November.

Viikate's fans have not had to wait very long for getting the second studio album of the band during 2007. Arvo, Ervo, Simeoni and  Kaarle  deliver more of the same formula that have made the band achieve a personal and idiosyncratic style in the Finnish music system: melancholic lyrics and poetry turned into music with constant references to the past and the loneliness. Great instrumentation work in the songs and the always particular voice of Kaarle turns this into another album 100% Viikate.

An excellent album if you want to go deeper into the melancholic spirit in Finnish music and Finnish society in general when November comes and the light turns to be a precious luxury to enjoy for only few hours a day. Understanding Finnish language can be a great help for capturing the essence of the band, although not essential, nevertheless music and feelings are universal. Hallamaat or Ensimmäinen runo (a great cover from Amorphis) are some of the highlighted songs of an album not made for those used just to easy listening music.

If winter makes you feel depressed, maybe wait for a better occasion to discover Viikate's work; but if on the other hand, coldness provides you with an exceptional occasion to work harder at home, enjoy a good glass of wine and listen some good Finnish music in the background, do not think it twice and get both volumes of Marraskuun lauluja.

Rating: 3/5

Categories
Albums Music

McQueen – Break the Silence

{mosimage}The female rockers from Brighton release their debut studio; a good dose of punk/grunge/rock.

Named after their idol, actor Steve McQueen, the British McQueen can feel proud of having toured, since their formation in 2003, with bands such as Foo Fighters, Juliette & the Licks, (my particularly beloved) Aerosmith, WASP or The Almighty. Do not expect to find much place for softness here, because these four young girls really mean the title of their album: Break the Silence. Songs that go from grunge in the introductory Neurotic, to garage rock in Dirt or more classic hard rock guitar riffs in Numb. Leah Duorsin, the vocalist, shows that she can explode many vocal registers, for some moments tender and melodic while reaching at same other points in the album really hardcore levels that could remind you of an enraged Phil Anselmo, in tracks like Break the Silence or Bitch.

Maybe the first time you listen to the album you can feel surprised by the rawness of their rock, but give you some time to appreciate that there is a real big musical spirit rocking behind this debut album. Aggressive vocals, aggressive riffs and aggressive lyrics for a band that is not afraid to carry the torch previously lighted by Vixen or The Donnas. I cannot wait to see them on live, since I have the impression that the songs will work even better with the four girls on stage.

Rating: 4/5

Categories
Albums Music

José González – In Our Nature

{mosimage}For all those who still don’t know, José González is not from Spain or South America and he’s music is nothing similar to the typical Latin pop star. As a matter of fact, José Gonzalez is an intimate singer and songwriter from Sweden.

Born in Gothenburg to Argentine parents, González has slowly built international popularity with his first album, Veneer, released in 2003 in Sweden, but which didn’t make it to the UK and US markets until 2005. Since then, his career has been a success with his songs reaching the top of the charts and even getting into the popular television series The O.C.

This success can be considered quite unexpected for a collection of acoustic folk songs. But José González seems to ride on the same wave that is taking to popularity to other singer songwriters like Devendra Banhart. Hippie folk is hype again.

After this success, it could be expected that the follow up to Veneer could compromise the songwriting of the young Swedish singer and force him to be more commercial. But little has changed and In Our Nature shows the same characteristics: a minimalistic intimate sound built around the acoustic guitar and vocal melody, with the occasional addition of mild percussion and synthesizer.

The sound will remember classic folk singers like Crosby, Still and Nash, Tim Buckley or Leonard Cohen while the lyrics tend to refer to nature, love and certain doctrine that seems to denounce the selfish nature of human being “How long are you willing to go before you reach all your selfish goals”, the singer asks in the first verse of the album.

Surprisingly, José González decided to include in this album a cover of Massive Attack’s hit Teardrop. That seems to be a wise choice because the song really fits in the context of the album.

With In Our Nature, José González will overcome the always-difficult second album. But it will not be groundbreaking because of its many similarities to the first album. In the future, he will need to expand to sounds to avoid repeating himself. Before that happens, In Our Nature is a very enjoyable album and people will love it as it shows the already sold out show at Tavastia next December.

Rating 3/5