finnbands: This is your second tour in Germany....
Olli: Well, the second time in Germany.
Captain: The first tour was one gig!
Olli: You can't call that a tour, I'd say.
Marko: Yeah, we went to Berlin and we played a show there, you know. Now we are back and this is actually the first tour.
finnbands: Oh, ok! Well, I think there are still people here in Germany who don't know you.
Olli and Captain: Really? *laughing* Oh, that's strange!
Marko: Oh, how come? Yeah. This is our new album. *shows album into the camera* This is us *shows flyer*. That's Olli, that's me and that's Captain *shows the flyer's backside* and this is something that I drew for you guys here in Germany. That is something I did last night. It says Cherry Pie. So don't ask me what it is. But ähm, we are Poets of the Fall. So now you know!
finnbands: Your second album "Carnival of Rust" will be released in Germany in April. Why would you say people should buy it?
Marko: Oh. Well, because it is a great album! It's one of those things like, you know. It's a soundtrack of your life. You know, we have kids, like five years old are listening to that in Finland and they are going to grow up with that. That's gonna be the memories they will have. We have people who are in the teens, we have the twentysomethings and so on. Everybody seems to find something really, you know, unique out of that album. It's just something you don't want people to miss out of. You know, if you have something great, it's natural, that you wanna share it. That's how come.
finnbands: What is your personal favourite song on the CD?
Marko: My personal favourite is *thinks* I don't know. What is yours? I think I like "Fire" myself as the first tune on the album. And I like "Carnival of Rust" a lot as well.
Captain: I'd probably go with "Carnival of Rust".
Olli: I'd say the same and especially "Fire" because I love it *laughs* when songs have really nice guitar solos.
Captain: Yes, that's one of those songs.
Marko: And yes. That's one of those cool things when the people start jumping up and down on the gigs when the chorus heads, you know, it breaks out and everybody goes jumping up and down. That's really amazing. But also I do like the sort of softer songs that we have. "Roses" is really great as well. People have loved that very much.
finnbands: Does your record deal in Germany change your life in any way?
Marko: Oh well, we don't have a record deal in Germany.
finnbands: No? *oops!*
Marko: No. We have a record company of our own. You know. We are an indie lable. So we are comin' here and we are publishing our albums ourselves. So ....
finnbands: Ok! I thought so because I talked on the telephone with a German record company.
Marko: They are doing the distribution. The people that we are giving the albums to that they can take it to the shops that people can go there and buy the album. So they are like the distributor.
Captain: .....
Marko: Ja. Indie rock band! *smiles*
finnbands: Your first single "Late Goodbye" was the soundtrack for a computer game. Did you ever expect to start so successfull with your first single?
Marko: Ah, definitely not! It was something that we... . We knew we had a good idea putting the song on a game because we were nobodys at that time - you know, famewise speaking. And we didn't have any money for marketing and we didn't have a major label behind us - we just had ourselves.
Captain: ...
Marko: Well, that's just because we have choosen to work like this. Anyways. But at that time that was pretty much the only thing that we could do. And it was a new idea because nobody had done that before. And we were lucky enough to get the song on the game and than the game came out and you know, went up in all the tableaus and all the charts and it sold millions in just a few weeks or something. And in all of a sudden we started to get emails from all of the world what is like 82 countries or something. And people where suddenly writing us emails. Yeah. So that was a good start. *smiles*
finnbands: Since you did music for a pc game, could you also imagine to write music for a film?
Captain: Yeah, that's actually something that we....
Marko: There have been different film groups that asked music from us for differnent movies. Actually one major movie in Finland that we already have. Carnival of Rust is on that. It's called "The year of the wolf". It's a big movie in Finland. So we did that. And there is an Australian group that is doing a movie and we are writing music for that and some talk of a Hollywood movie that we might be in. These things are pretty far of by now for the moment. So we will see what happens. You will never know. But definitely that is something we really like to do as well.
Captain: We like movies and movie soundtracks!
Marko: Yeah, movie soundtracks are great.
finnbands: I read that you are working on the third album now. And you are on tour over here now and on tour in Finland. How do you manage all this at the same time?
Marko: I don't know! *everybody´s laughing* To be honest, we don't know how to manage this thing. It's ... writing the songs and writing the material and you know. Having the plans for the future so it's a long going process. You know, you might be on tour for the second album you might be on tour promoting "Carnival of Rust" for this year and maybe partly even next year. Before we even get to go for the studio and start recording the third album. But the idea is keep coming so we have to do something about it.
Olli: Every time we have free moments here and there we have to use them very carefully to get something done. So any time we have chance to do it, we will do it. It's quite easy cause we have our own studio. So every time we have extra five minutes we can go there and work on the record some more.
finnbands: When you are writing new songs: How does a song develop from the first idea to the final song?
Marko: Oh, through a lot of fighting and discussing and all that. Usually it comes up with... you know... someone has an idea and that sort of awakes this music in any of the three of us. Well, and mainly me because I am ... I do the singing melodies and I write the lyrics and stuff, you know. I am usually the guy who works most at the beginning ages of the song. And then we have Olli. Olli plays the guitar and I start singing something and we sort of develop it from there until we have the song that has a structure and we know where to go with it and then we go to Captain's place - his living room which is our studio. And we start working on the songs together. So that we arrange it together and then we give it over to Captain. He has a lot of ideas by that time if he likes the song and he adds his own sort of spices there and you know ... mixes it up and does a lot of production work and we listen to it together. If there is something we don't like we will redo that and this goes on for a while until we really know what we want from the song. We just work on it until we, you know, we tweak it until we get there. It's pretty much straight forward like that. You know, you have some itzy bitzy tiny moment of revelation and you have an idea from a song and then you start sort of listening to yourself until you know how the song is gonna sound. And then you just find it. You know, you plug it out the instrument. That's it. Sounding easy but sometimes it takes months doing just one song.
finnbands: What are you musical roots? And what are maybe your idols?
Marko: My musicial roots? My mum used to sing to me when I was a child. She rocks! *everybody´s laughing*
Olli: My mother used to listen to Shostakovits during the time I was in her stomach. And she always keeps telling me this story when I .... there is always a very silent face in the song where... Well the sinfonies about war time story where you know, Moscow has been attacked and there was this silent moment where everybody's waiting for the big explosion, you could say. And when the explosion came it's a really powerful face in the song. So every time that came I used to kick her stomach. So that's my musical root. *everybody´s laughing*
finnbands: Heh, that's a great story!
Olli: Yeah!
Captain: Well, my parents have always been listening to classical and rock and all kinds of music, jazz... So that's probaly what I like also. *smiles*
Marko: So that's I mean... you can gather from this that we have been little children when we have been influenced by music. Later on we grew up... like Olli grew up with a lot of jazz and a lot of guitars. Captain has a lot about Pink Floyd and Depeche Mode, dance and trance music, industrial sound stuff. And I have the metal. I have classical training as well. You know, I listen to stuff like Metallica and we all listen to grunge music, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and things like this. So this are like the greates influences. And I have to name one: U2. I used to play in a band and everyone else in the band were really big fans of U2 and I didn't really know U2 by that time. So they opened my eyes to them and it was a revelation.
finnbands: And what are your musical goals?
Marko: To be good. As good as we can. Some people say I am a great singer but you know I know where I stand when I see a really great singer. You know I wanna strike for that. So I am gonna study singing my whole life probably. Never gonna stop.
finnbands: What do you think is the sence of being a musician? Does it lay in many record sellings and awards or are you of the opinion that success isn´t everything and all that counts is a life for music?
Marko: It's more life for music. You know we don't do this for the awards. And there are a lot of ceremonies and you know we won a lot of awards which are really great. And it is good to work with because you can say that you won this award and that award and all that. But originally we don't do this for awards. Then we would be doing this for the wrong reasons. We are doing this because we have been doing this all our lifes and there isn't anything else what we could do. I mean sure I could do any work. I could be whatever. But you know I wouldn't be satisfied with that. At least for now I think. If I hadn't music I'd probably you know pretty badly, bad off in a bad way. I probably - I don't know- I'd be dead or something. *smiles*
finnbands: What would be your job - well you said you would be dead, but if you won't. So what would be your job if your weren't a successful musician?
Marko: Something to do with healing! It would have to be. Because that's something that we do when we do our music. We consider that is a part of you know some kind of wider conscience you give something to people. It's not just taking something. I mean naturally you get something from people as well. But you have to give you know what ever you can. So it probably would have something to do with healing. I studied accupuncture, so it might be that! *looking into camera* Are you afraid of needles? *everybody´s laughing*
finnbands: What do you think is the biggest prejudice about musicians?
Marko: The genres! The genres are the biggest prejudices. Because people... everyone has to categorize everything and I know I realized that it's only natural. People have to have a word for everything that they can see how the world is for them. So we are a rock group but we don't really ever categorize our music. We just do what we do. Some songs we do may go to other artists because they are not Poets of the Fall music but we still do anything and everything we can do with music. So that's what the major sort of labels want to get out of peoples head. It's just really limiting you know. I don't wanna say that I am a funked punk new grunge artist and I could only write songs from this very narrow spectre. It would be really stupid. I just want to do music. And music is music and it's nothing more. Yeah, I think that's the major thing.
finnbands: Yeah! We think so too!
finnbands: At the moment bands from Finland are very popular all over the world. Do you have any idea what could be the reason?
Marko: Well, I think everything has it's time. Finland has not bringing out it's bands for more then a few years. Maybe a decade or so. Because ... One thing is that we took some time to realize that we have the talent to go out and now that we have started doing that it's going ok. It's going good for Finland and people have seen that Finnish people actually have this really strong powerful emotional background which they can sort of rely on and fall back on and take their strength from there and it produces really good music and really good bands. But it's taken a long time for Finland to bring something out.
finnbands: Do you think there is a difference between Finnish and German culture?
Marko: Well I think they are pretty similar. Now that I have seen a little bit of it. I am not an expert in the field. So I can't really tell you. But what I have seen is that the German people are a little bit more open and relaxed. You know, when they come to the shows they are really ... You know, we are here for the first time and all the shows have been the same as in Finland. And we are really big in Finland, you know. So we have really good gigs there. But when we come over here people are already like *throwing his arms into the air* They don't know the songs but they are putting their hands up and they are screaming and they are jumping around and they are wild, so you know.
Captain: This is a huge difference to Finland, yeah.
finnbands: Yeah, and in Finland even big fans are standing there and look!
Marko: Yeah. That's right!
*everybody´s laughing*
finnbands: Do you know German music?
Marko: Ah, well we know Rammstein. They are really good! I like them. *smiles*
Olli: Scooter.
*everybody´s laughing*
Olli: Oh really, really.
Marko: Yeah, he likes them!
Captain: He actually likes Scooter.
Olli: He is cool! No, really!
Marko: I used to listen to The Scorpions a lot when I was younger.
Olli: Oh yeah! Scorpions were maybe my first rock band.
Marko: I always wanted to have a voice like Klaus Meine.
Olli: And they make really good rock songs. Really good. Cause I had like five albums from them. And all of them are really good!
Marko: I think that's also part of the reason why we have rock ballads as well on our albums. You know we do a lot of ballads because we use to listen to Scorpion's ballads a lot. Like you know "When the smoke is going down" and "Still loving you" and all that stuff. They are awesome songs.
Captain: They are classics!
finnbands: Is there anything you really miss while being on tour?
Olli: Home!
Marko: Sleep!
I nearly fell asleep just before you guys came. I was in the backstage and there was a couch and I thought 'Oh, a sofa'. And I sat on it and like....
*everybody`s laughing*
Niina: Oh, we are sorry!
Marko: Na, that's ok! Sami,our manager, came in and told you guys where here so I wake up and maybe I can open my voice afterwards before we go on stage.
Olli: Yeah, of course we miss home and things in home. And every time we are outside of Finland we miss the Finnish food and Finnish Salmiakki.
Captain: Really? Finnish food?
Marko: Finnish Food? What? Laskisausi?
Olli: No! I cook myself so I miss my own food.
Marko: So you miss your kitchen?
Olli: Oh yes, I miss my kitchen!
Captain: I have to say that the food has been really good!
Olli: Yeah, it has been excellent! I think that's one of the similarities in Finland and Germany. The food is quite the same.
Marko: We have a lot of Italian food in Finland. A lot of pizza. So you can really say that Finnish food is actually Italian food.
Captain: Pretty much!
finnbands: How does an "average day on tour" look like? And what would be the "perfect day on tour"?
Marko: Perfect day... Average day you wake up some time like 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning. Especially if you are driving in the bus during night that we sleep on the bus and get of about 10 / 11 o'clock and if it's a new place or what ever... Like we came to Hamburg we went to walk around a little bit while our technicians took care of our stuff. You know, they loaded it in and out and put it up. And then we have the soundcheck and we eat and then we have interviews and then we eat again and then we go on stage and do the show and the perfect day ends when we have a really good show. This is really the major thing that all this like 24 hours work which this is it culminates with the live show. If that goes well it's all been worth it.
finnbands: When you think about all your gigs you ever had, which was the best and which the worst ever and why?
Marko: You can't ever say that! You know you have a lot of really good experiences, a lot of really good memories. And you have like... last year you know, we had a great year. We had loads of people and we had gigs sold out and everything so that just leaves you with a good feeling that role the thing. And even if things go sour like something breaks up. Like one time when Olli jumped, he hit his head in a lamp and then one time he broke his guitar so he couldn't play. But you know those things are now in the past and this are now things you laugh about. Well, at the moment you just take care of it. You know it doesn't matter if something's wrong on stage you just keep on doing it. And you make the best of it. And if you manage the difficult situation you only get better.
finnbands: Is there any question you really hate to be asked?
Captain: Yeah, that one!
*everybody´s laughing*
Marko: Yeah, the superlatives. You know. What's your favorite, what's the best... you know. This is one of those things you can't answer very quickly because we don't really have a best or a favourite thing so... But no, there is not really a question that you hate to be asked.
I mean you are asked a lot of the same questions over and over again. You know. So you sort of get used to that and it doesn't bother you any more.
finnbands: Is there any questions you ever wanted to be asked and nobody asked you before?
Captain: Oh, that's a good one! Oh... Which software do you use to produce the song?
*everybody laughs*
Marko: That's exactelly why you are not doing the interviews!
Captain: No one is ever interested in all the technical details which I know best. But that's ok!
Marko: But I've been asked those questions as well and I don't know the technical details of the programms and stuff we use. So I am usually sort of direct them to Captain.
But, hm, I don't know. We've been asked a lot of questions and a lot of good ones as well because that ones are usually about the message that we have to people. Like you know if we have a motto or what you gonna tell people so that you actually can tell people something worth. But sometimes you get asked a very good question like "what do you wanna tell people", "what's a good thing about this and the bad thing about that" and then nothing comes to mind. It's just like *looking in the air* ah hm äh
finnbands: Who was the person you would have liked to marry when you were a child?
Marko: When I was a child, who I wanted to marry? Ähm, ... this is one of those *uh* I probably didn't want to get married at all when I was a kid. You know. I wanted to be Peter Pan but I didn't wanna marry him. I wanted to be him. So maybe ...
Captain: I wasn't old enough for things like that! *laughs*
Marko: That's probably right!
finnbands: So ok, we are done! Any last words to your fans? Something in German maybe?
Olli: Wie geht's?
Marko: I wish we could speak more German cause we have never actually studied the language.
Olli: Oh, I have studied!
Marko: You did?
Olli: Yeah, for five years!
Marko: Oh, I did French for five years!
Olli: It's just... you got to speak it too little. So you forget it. So every time or let's say every day we have been here I learned a bit more and I managed to get some more words from the back of my memories.
Marko: Well, I got something wicked that I wanna say! Our album "Carnival of Rust" comes out on the 20th of April. So you know: go in the stores, preorder your's now. Ok? Cool! And I really want to see you on our tour next time we are here.
Marko: Cool! Thanks! That was great!
finnbands: Thank YOU!
www.poetsofthefall.com
Hamburg, 26. April 2007
Interview by Niina and scandia © finnbands.com