 When and how was your band created?
We started out in 1999. We were old friends from upper secondary school.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
I honestly don’t know. We probably couldn’t think of anything else! It’s the most common name for a cow in England!
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
The Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins and the Flaming lips + loads of other pop and rock artists.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Postive things? Not many! For us it’s quite hard as we chose to sing pop music in english. Both the music syle and the language are not very difficult to bring to a large audience. Should done finnish metal!
How could you define your style of music?
Our first record was quite straight forward retropop-rock. Now we broadening
our horizons to something a bit more challenging and broader. More influences and trying out crazier ideas!
How do explain these changes?
Getting bored og playing 4 chords, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle eight-chorus. We wanted to make our music more interesting, something that would bring forth responses from our listeners, either positive or negative!
What are topics you treat in your songs?
Well, alot of our songs are straight forward love songs or songs dealing with situations in relationships. This album we are working on at the moment is a tongue-in-cheak concept album in the 70’s prog-rock album vein about a fictionary band travelling to the future, having problems adapting to the new culture and problems in their love life etc. The funny thing is the band actually travels from ‘71 to ‘83, not from the present to the future. The album is very metathematical, but I’ll leave that to the listener to figure out what that is all about!
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
Most likely a song called Go!. Very energetic and fun live!
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
It goes in cycles. If were doing lots of gigs, I’d rather be in the studio and vice versa. I must say, I prefer the studio more because I’m very scared of performing still. But there are times when I desperatley want to do shows. It’s exciting!
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
Recording guitars and synths. So much new stuff happens at that stage. We like to overdub alot, record lot’s of guitar tracks, sort make our guitar tracks into mini-orchestrations or something similar. Vocals are fun too, but they are not easy.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
Paul McCartney, Maybe I’m Amazed!
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
Very useful. An easy way to gain publicity and distribute demos between band members etc. Piratism doesn’t really raise any opinions, I know it’s impossible to stop so I don’t want to get too bothered about it.
What are your projects?
Daisy
What “image” do you have of French music?
Classy! I like most of the stuff I hear coming from France nowadays. Even some of the rap-music.
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
The whole of Air’s Moon Safari.
January 18th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
- POOL was founded in 1995 by three ambitious young guys living in the city of Joensuu, Finland. The decision was made in a warm summer night in a fishing trip at the lake of Pielinen… Years has passed and now 2002 there’s two of those guys remaining with three newer guys forming together POOL.
Was the choice to become professional difficult to make?
- Professional….hmmm….well semi-professional maybe… We all do have other things in life, two of us still waiting for graduating from university and three of us have got quite proper jobs, but fortunately all in music business. So the “worklife” doesn’t interfere the “pro”-musicianism(?) too much.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
- As a band we couldn’t name many or even one particular influence, but individually the scale of music/bands/artists we listen to varies quite dramatically from “softer” rock like Oasis and Kent(SWE) to much heavier combos like Megadeth. Personally my interest for music and making
music came from the 70’s-80’s monsterrockers Kiss, Iron Maiden and others. But of course, it is as impossible to find even hints of Maiden in our music as it is impossible for me to speak French(bad one, sorry!). But seriously, I could mention one really important band for me and that is the Smashing Pumpkins.
The music is also much closer to ours…
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician / singer (in Finland)?
- Well, first of all we have a GREAT country to tour, beautiful cities, great rock-clubs in almost every bigger city with great audiences everywhere, really passionate ones. No doubt, the audiences are great in any country, but of course we think our own crowds are the best. So the touring is VERY rewarding.
Second, the national radio stations play a lot of domestic material, not just the hit music from the charts, but also upcoming talents too, who wouldn’t get any airplay if there were only these so-called commercial-stations (which we also naturally have quite a few, who play only the chart-shit(sorry… no… I’m not sorry!)) like Britney, Christina…you know what I mean!).
Speaking for ourselves it is good to be a musician in Finland.
How could you qualify your style of music?
- This is always the hardest question, ALWAYS!!! We can’t categorize our own music. For us it is just us and our music. But what others have said and what we have heard, we “ROCK like hell” (so it has gotta be rock). We sound like “Kent(swe) meets HIM(fin)”, that is sad melancholly with tighter and heavier grip (so we gotta be a little bit heavy too, but not too
heavy). So maybe it is just pure rock but a little bit heavier than the
mainstream one.
Our band’s music have been referred to almost 30 (yes, we HAVE counted all of them from our reviews) different artists or bands from Alice in Chains to Bon Jovi and from the Smashin Pumpkins to Kent during these years. Well, everyone can make their own definitions…
Have you ever considered the possibilty to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
- Yeah, sure, of course, why not… how about hip-hop… that would be quite fun(-ny). In fact there’s a rap-project going on that includes two of our guys. Can’t wait to hear that!
What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
- Usually and mostly they are from our real life or from the life of our lyricist. Of course there are these relationshipwrecks, but also from any other life’s aspect that bothers you or is reflecting somehow on that particular day of writing lyrics. Then there are these fictional lyrics, that tells a story, which isn’t true for us but definitely real for many or at least possible. A lot of the lyrics are quite dark and many times maybe too hard to understand(thanks to Hannu, our singer/writer)), but my opinion is that we have to put our listeners to think what could be happening around you and those things are not always easy to handle. Also the lyrics can’t be too “easy” to understand, ’cause I want to leave some things open for different minds to fill those voids with their own imagination and also leave some things behind riddles for those different minds to solve’em.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
- Well, first of all I think we all have our own favorites and let me
say it is incredibly hard to mention just one… But anyways, my favorites
are the new ones that we haven’t been recorded yet and there’s plenty of those diamonds! But so far the favorite one could be….well I dunno, let’s say “When nothing can be saved”. It shows the softer side of our rock, but also has this heavier grip too.
Do you tour regularly? Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
- We tour regularly, yes. And of course mostly then, when we got something new to perform. Next spring we are going to Russia for the first time for a week. Now that’ll be an adventure…
And do we prefer playing live or in the studio???
You’ve gotta to be kidding me…
During the process of making an album, what is the moment that you prefer?
- Maybe the time when those songs we have been rehearsed for so long are getting the form in the tape that was in our heads before the recordings.
That’s the moment when we get together and say to each other “congratulations, we have done it again!” ‘Cause we don’t want to leave anything middle ground.
What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
- Currently in my cd-player is the latest Papa Roach and 51 Koodia, a fresh new Finnish act!
What are your actual and future projects?
- Putting new songs together for upcoming release (whenever it is in
the near future) and waiting for the trip to Russia, with all respect I hope we survive…mostly individually (vodka…).
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song? Why?
- well, I go way back with that Megadeth-stuff, so I would have to say…Symphony Of Destruction by them!
Internet is something interesting for musicians because it gives them the opportunity to touch a larger audience but it is also a threat for them (regarding the copyrights). What is your opinion regarding this medium?
- We`re unsigned right now and we`ve been seriously thinking about releasing an EP on our website www.poko.fi/pool it`s true that our copyrights are not protected properly if do that but…at the end of the day we just want people to hear our music.
Do you use computers or home studios during the process of making an album or a song?
- Our rhythm guitarist Toni “Kölli” Kortelainen is quite a wiz with
that stuff and he regurlary uses computer when he demos his songs. Me
and Ari are sticking to our acoustic guitars.
January 17th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
The band was founded in 1998. I was looking for players just to try out my new songs, just to check out how they would work. First I found Toni, he seemed to have same opinions about music and other stuff, he had another band too then, so I stealed their bassplayer and drummer too. Only in our first rehearsals we found out that the songs worked, and the group worked too.
Since then I have played with Toni and bassplayer Kari, then Antti came to drums and Sami to play rhythmguitar, so I could just focus on singing on stage.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
It´s pretty much an ironic name. If you try to translate it to english, it could be something like “starincorporated”. It can`t be translated to one word, in finnish it`s something like “a group of stars”, and when you see stars on the sky at night, it`s also “Tähtitarha”.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
I`m interested in producing too, in fact we produced our first single by ourselves with Miitri Aaltonen. It´s called “jäljet” and it´s coming out this month via Universal music.
I respect artists that have varied their career and can do many kinds of songs and styles, but you can always hear something in common between the songs. Strong personalities like Bowie and Trent Reznor for example.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician / singer (in Finland)?
Markets are quite small, so you can`t sell millions of records here, or tour for months.
But on our top album lists 50 per cent of the artists are Finnish, so that is good.
Finland is such a small country that if you do good music, you don´t have to promote your band and records so much than maybe elsewhere in order to become known. But there are always same rules in the music-business.. you can never know what people will think , you just have to write songs and hope they`ll like them. It´s positive that so many Finnish band have made international careers these days. There are a lot of good bands here.
How could you qualify your style of music?
Our music includes elements of pop,hardrock, a little bit of metal and goth-music. Good melodies are always important to us.
Have you ever considered the possibilty to change totally your style of music?
Not with this band now, but I like singer/songwriter kind of music too, so maybe a Jeff Buckley -kind of project would be nice someday. But I like also industrial and metal, so maybe that would be nice too, some day.. There are so many music styles that could be nice to work with someday. But at this moment I´m happy with what we are doing.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
I have to answer “Jäljet”, because it´s our first single-release.
Do you tour regularly? Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
We haven`t toured so much yet, only about ten, twenty gigs a year, but we have a short eight gig tour with Nerdee, Beats and styles and Dallas superstars this month, We will tour the biggest cities in Finland. Hopefully we can do more gigs next year.
I like studiowork a lot, but you can vary songs live and different audiences and moods have always different effects on us. So I prefer playing live.
During the process of making an album or a single, what is the moment that you prefer?
We haven´t made an album yet, but we have studio experience with our earlier bands and demo/ singlesessions with Tähtitarha.. Well, maybe the best part is when you`re listening to the song in studio, it`s almost ready, you finish up your work and notice that it sounds just like you thought it should sound.
When you sit at home and a new song is ready, that can be the most exciting feeling too.
What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
I listen to all kinds of music and I have favorites in almost every category, as well blues as metal.. u2 is great, Muse.. depeche mode, radiohead and nineties seattle bands.. finnish bands like Him, Kotiteollisuus… system of a down.. Ask me tomorrow and the list will be different again, there are great bands and songs everywhere.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
Impossible to say, I really can`t . I hope that i haven`t heard it yet:).
Internet is something interesting for musicians because it gives them the opportunity to touch a larger audience but it is also a threat for them (regarding the copyrights). What is your opinion regarding this medium?
Internet is a good medium, but piratism and copyright law questions are big problems. Kids will soon wonder why they should buy a record cause they can always load it somewhere for free. They start to think that music belongs
to everybody for free. People don´t often understand that there´s not so much difference between stealing something from the shop and loading all music for free. But there are also a lot of good sides in new technology.
What are your actual and future projects?
I´m writing new songs, Our schedules for next year are quite open at the moment. Let´s see if we could release our first album next spring or summer.
January 17th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
Ethel Suspense was founded in 1998 by Julle and I for the single purpose of playing good music. Or to be more precise, playing ONE gig of good music and recording ONE demo full of good music.
We accomplished our two goals, and decided to go on hiatus for an undecided period of time. During the break I moved to London for three years to study, and Julle also studied in the UK for a year. When both of us found our way back to Finland and Helsinki, we thought that why not, and decided to regroup with a new line-up and intention of playing a few more good gigs and record some more music.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
It’s taken from a sketch that appeared at Velipuolikuu, a Finnish comedy show. We were having an after-party at my place and thought that it would be a funny name. We’ve had to explain ourselves ever since.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
All of us listen to lots of different music, but three bands have had a big influence on our music; Teenage Fanclub, Jayhawks and Wilco.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
The positive aspect is that everyone seems to be quite down to earth. Big stars don’t fit in in such a small place. The negative side is that indie music or marginal music in general tends to attract small audiences, and there could be a few more clubs that want to have indie-bands playing.
How could you define your style of music?
It’s guitar-driven pop with beautiful melodies and lots of harmonies. Some critics have said that we play alt-country.
During the years how has your musical style changed?
When we first started we were more power-pop but now we’re perhaps more pop than power. We also have a female keyboardist now, and that gives us more opportunities to do different things with the songs.
How do explain these changes?
I think the changes in our own music reflect the changes in the music that we listen to. When I hear a great song, I always want to pick up my guitar.
What are topics you treat in your songs?
I think most of our songs deal with relationships from different angles. But then again, 99 percent of pop songs tend to do so.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
At the moment its probably a new song called Untitled. It’s got a nice feel to it, a good verse and a good chorus and that pretty much makes it for me.
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
When your in a studio, its always a great feeling when you hear a song starting to take shape. You can also do a lot more than you could when playing live, but then again playing live is a lot of fun also. So I really can’t say which I prefer more. Sorry.
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
The moment when everyone manages to get on the same wave-length, and everything falls into place. At that point, all you can do is smile.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
It’s impossible to answer that question, because my favourite song changes all the time. I find a new best song almost every day.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
Internet is a great opportunity for smaller bands like us to get our music heard. One good example is MySpace. We for example have 4-5 songs there for people to download and comment on. And I’ve found a lot of great new bands there, so internet -for me at least- is only a good thing. For Metallica though it might be another issue.
What are your projects?
We are planning to record some new songs, maybe put out a record at some point and play some more gigs.
What “image” do you have of French music?
To be honest, my knowledge of present day French music is quite limited, which is a shame because some bands that I have heard sound very interesting. It would be nice to hear some more french music, so if anyone has a good band in mind, let me know too!
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
For saving Grace by Cheap Star. I heard it on their site at Myspace, and liked it a lot, as well as their other songs.
January 18th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
In 2002 we decided to form a band that would play honest and straight forward type of rock’n'roll. We knew each other from previous band projects so it was pretty easy to know that we would work nicely as a team. We tried out a couple of second guitarist until we realized that we don’t need one - we sound a lot better with a clear trio sound.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
It doesn’t really have story to tell. We just figured out some names that would in somehow sound like our music and in the other hand would not categorize us too much.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
We get a lot of different kind of influences from various artists and music styles, but I think that the main focus is in the history of rock’n'roll. When we started the band we had just realized the greatness of bands like AC/DC or The Ramones or why not Melrose or Hurriganes in Finland. Then there’s the whole 90’s nordic rock’n'roll or actionrock scene with The Hellacopters and Gluecifer and let’s not forget punkrock with Social Distortion and that sort of stuff.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
The positive thing is the freedom of being yourself and being able to express your feelings with your music. The negative side is the fact that we have only 5 million people here so you really don’t have a much of change of making a living out of this kind of marginal music. when you sing in finish I mean. The radio channels are boring as hell with their one-sided playlists because of the marginal audience.
How could you define your style of music?
I think it’s aggressive rock’n'roll. Someone might call it punkrock and that’s true too.
During the years how has your musical style changed?
Sure, I mean when your skills get better, you kind naturally change your songs to be more challenging to your self and have a lot of more options were to go with them. We started to play simple rock’n'roll but today we mix up pieces from rock’n'roll, hardcore, punk or even soul. What ever we think is passionate, honest and sounds good.
How do explain these changes?
First of all, like I said, you get better as a musician. Second of all, you grew up: you start to like music that you didn’t understand when you were younger and so on. It’s all natural and a part of a lifetime learning process.
What are topics you treat in your songs?
First of all individualism - the freedom of being your selves - is one my favorite topics. I also like to sing about the issue of living today and not thinking about the next morning all the time. When we started we kind of decided that Roihu will not do love songs because it’s an issue that has been written out so many times. I mean there’s a lot more to life than all that “I miss you baby” -stuff, even thought of course that’s important too.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
This is a hard one. It’s really difficult to say because my opinion changes all the time. Because I’m the one who composes most of the songs, I kind of have a new favorite every day. That’s why my today’s favorite isn’t even in our live repertoire yet. From our older stuff you should check out songs like “Kruunu” or “Perjantai 13.” - you can actually download them from our website www.roihu.com.
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
We’ll I think that rock’n'roll is all about live performing. It doesn’t ever sound as good, when it’s recorded and it probably never will. I mean the intensity of a band sweating there asses of and giving everything to the music is something that you really can’t get from anywhere else. This doesn’t mean that I don’t like being in the studio - I love it. I think it’s always a great challenge and it’s wonderful to hear your own music from the speakers. I also love producing and recording - I even have my own studio.
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
There really aren’t any particular moments to mention. The songs make them selves - kind of just pop out. So I don’t do songs in that meaning. But when I think of it, of course the greatest moment is when you hear the whole band playing the song.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
Not a stupid question, but a really, really hard one. I can mention one song that really made a difference in my life and that is a Norwegian band Gluecifer performing “I Got a War”. That’s pretty much the song that made us form Roihu and also the song that made me interested of everything about rock’n'roll.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
Well it helps when promoting your band and it makes informing your fans a lot easier. I mean I can still remember the times when you had to listen to the radio or read magazines to find out when your favorite band is coming to perform in your city. In the matter copyright issues or illegal downloading it’s pretty much 50/50 good or bad: It’s bad when I see kids listening to their favorite band from a CD-R (or iPod etc.) and not even thinking about supporting them in any financial way, but it’s also damn good when I hear that people have found new kind music styles to listen - styles that the commercial radios don’t play or you can’t here anywhere else. It’s not a thing that I’m worried about, but of course making music costs a lot of money and I think musicians should be rewarded from that in some way. Buy the albums you like ok?
What are your projects?
Well if we talk about music, besides Roihu I have another band project called the Bloody Mosquitos and we should be recording something shortly. I have also recorded a few demo songs on my own as a solo project - I play all the instruments and even record the stuff myself. We’ll see when I’ll ready to release something with that. I also do some recording to other bands on my studio occasionally and work as a live sound engineer when needed.
What “image” do you have of French music?
I don’t really have one! Which is kind of weird, because I’ve studied the French language for like 8 years or something? So Je parle un peu francais but don’t know nothing about French music.
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
I don’t even know (or remember to know) any French songs so no I don’t have one. Any recommendations? Write them to our guestbook at www.roihu.com
January 18th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
It was founded at the fall of 2004 in Jyväskylä. Few friends decided to put up a project band but soon it became much more important and we quit our main bands.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
It’s an abtract name which sounds good but later we have heard that red number two also means certain color lipstick!
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
We all have our own favourites, but everyone in our band likes Tool, Oceansize, Mew and Faith No More.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Nowadays it is positive that everybody knows that being a musician can be regarded as a “real” job and musicians are more appreciated than before.
Negative aspects is that being so far away from the other world makes it more expensive to make gigs abroad.
How could you define your style of music?
Progressive mainstream alternative rock.
During the years how has your musical style changed?
Towrds bigger and bigger sound. There’s no rules anymore.
How do explain these changes?
We realised how we want to sound and learned some tehniques for that.
What are topics you treat in your songs?
A finnish man in the cosmic eternity =)
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
Few new songs under the working titles of “Makyoh” and “Old Grinder”
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Both have good sides. It has to be a wonderful gig to have such a good vibes that you can get in the studio when you record something new and fantastic.
A good gig still beats up lazy and complicated studio work.
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
At the rehearsal, everybody gives their best shot and finally we create something out of everybodys reach.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
I don’t know the best song, but there was a time when I couldn’t listen Tori Amos’ song called “The Cooling” without crying.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
Excellent tool doing things - good and bad.
Do you have a website?
Yes, http://www.rednumbertwo.com
What are your projects for the band?
Recording the first full-lenght album this year.
What “image” do you have of French music?
Air and Phoenix are excellent…I don’t know any other bands from there…
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Air : Vagabond (excellent, excellent song!)
March 20th, 2007
When and how was your band created?
It was originally started 1999 in Riihimäki - which is a small town about 60 kilometres up north from Helsinki - when our singer-guitarist Okko asked Tomi, guitarist as well, to kick out some jams with him. Okko had previously played in a punk band and wanted to do something different, to create beautiful pop music instead of noisy punk rock
There were some difficulties in finding a right guy to play drums and it wasn’t until late 2002 when the band really came together once the drummer Sampo joined the group. Anyway, the final spice to the soup was added in late 2004 when a tall engineer named Matti Olavi Töyli joined the band to play clarinet, saxophone and a little synth named “Nautilus”.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
It’s a bit boring answer, but it doesn’t really have any special meaning, I suppose it just sounds fascinating. Apparently it was Okko who came up with. There were some bad suggestions before, like “Justin’s Case” and “Purple Sunday” for instance.
As one can imagine, over the years many people have said that it’s too long, but we think that the name actually describes the band’s sound quite well. And who cares about people’s opinions anyway. Look how well Creedence Clearwater Revival has done ! And if you really really like to, you can always use the shorter version of our name (our CCR version) UwSSoc.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life /work?
Apparently there are only three bands that we all like: Pink Floyd, The Flaming Lips and 22-Pistepirkko, but since there’s no easy way to do this, I’ll just name a bunch of good ones that most of us enjoy: The Beatles, Radiohead, The Doors, Sonic Youth, Björk, Deus, Air, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, Primal Scream, Johnny Cash, Talking Heads, Magenta Skycode, Rubik, Kastor, Nirvana, The Velvet Underground, Sigur Ros, David Bowie, The Cure.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Positive: There are not too many bands, at least good ones, in Finland, so it might be comparatively easy to receive attention once things start happening. Another nice thing about the small circle is that you get to know a lot of new cool people easily when you tour with other bands etc.
Negative: There are only very few good places to play gigs. And this is important: people listen way too much heavy music, which means: 1) that there must be something wrong in our collective unconsciousness 2) summer festivals are filled with bands all dressed in black 3) people end up picking the wrong records from the record stores: instead of buying one of ours
How could you define your style of music?
Progressive pop. Art punk. Prog-rock. Folk pop. Ambient heavy indie! Emotional chill-out music. Underwater sleeping sounds. Whatever you like! We’re not indie puritans, we make music for everybody.
During the years how has your musical style changed?
It has changed a lot. I would say there have been at least 4-5 different phases:
1) straight American influenced pop/rock guitar music, a bit melancholy
2) acoustic phase, stripped down folk music
3) prog-rock phase, that’s when the weird c-parts started to appear!
4) indie-rock phase, everything combined
5) NOW, underwater-indie-progressive-folk-ambient-art-punk-pop
How do you explain these changes?
Listening to too much David Bowie can do that I guess.
What are topics you treat in your songs?
That should be a question for Okko to answer, but I remember that a journalist asked this same thing once, very cleverly. He asked Okko that which word would describe his lyrics the best: underwater, sleeping or society. The obvious answer was sleeping. There’s actually a song called “Dream Song” in our first ep.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
My personal favourite is perhaps “-P” at the moment, it’s a long progressive song that evolves very slowly and once it explodes it’s almost like religious experience.
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Definitely live. If you play rock music and you don’t enjoy your presence on the stage, you’re in the wrong business.
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
It’s the first time when everyone gets that kind of “THAT’S IT!” -feeling. It might come after 20 minutes or it might take 4 months. Some songs never get to that phase. But they are the bad ones, so they’re meaningless anyway.
A stupid question but. what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
Life On Mars by David Bowie. Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles. I Was Made To Love Magic by Nick Drake. Those three came to my mind first.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
I absolutely love it. It has helped us a lot. Myspace is the best forum to get to know new, totally unknown bands from all over the world.
Do you have a website?
Sure. It’s www.uwssoc.net
Our Myspace is www.myspace.com/uwssoc
What are your projects for the band?
Do you mean goals? To make good music. Make people happy. See new places.
But first of all, make good and timeless records that sound good even when you’re 80.
What “image” do you have of French music?
It´s a shame to admit, the image I have is kind of stereotypical. It’s sort of like this. “Edith Piaf singing about her unlucky love in the 1950s”. But surely there are many great contemporary French bands as well, Air being the most obvious one to mention. I should get to know Phoenix as well.
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
It has got to be Je Ne Regrette Rien by Edith Piaf.
March 20th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
Zack and I (The Muff) founded the band about 4-5 years ago, but we did’nt get serious about it untill Mr.Tikka, who is my brother joined on drums in 2003.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
Well we wanted a name like KISS, a name that you remember and like, and everyone wants to get naked…right?
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
Here it comes…..aaahhhh: KISS, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Blues Brothers, Van Halen, Black Crows, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Isaac Hayes, Rush, Bon Jovi, Goo Goo Dolls, Thin Lizzy, Billy Joel, Cheap Trick, Stevie Wonder, The Hellacopters, Alice Cooper, Backyard Babies, T.Rex, Queen, Mötley Crüe, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Hanoi Rocks, Sam & Dave, Def Leppard, Police, The Who, DLR, James Brown.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Well…hmmm let me ponder………The crowds are nuts and everyone is crazy, but I guess that’s the case everywere. Ok I’ll try again, It’s great!!! The negative side: narow minded people!
How could you define your style of music?
We call it Broadway rock, and I’m proud to anounce that we are the only Broadwayrock band in the world!!! Big guitars, bigger drums, confetti, a little smoke, ripped t-shirts, lights, sweat, choir robes, megaphones and a positive mind, hip hip hurraaa!!!
During the years how has your musical style changed?
YES! we’ve found the Naked sound with this album(Let’s Get Naked… And Start A Revolution)
How do explain these changes?
Well at a point we stopped sounding Crap! and became something unexplainable!!! Now how’s that for an awnser.DAN WEEKS?
What are topics you treat in your songs?
Life basiclly and everything that comes with it, the good and the ugly.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
Well I like them all obviously, but I have special place in my heart for “High On Blue Love” I wrote it on my sofa when I woke up hung over from beer and viagra:) without a guitar, the melody just popped into my head.It whent to #5 in the single chart in Finland. Then I like doing Revolution live, that’s great. It whent to #4 in the charts.We shot a cool video in london for it and got arrested!
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Live, that’s what a band should do.But I don’t mind the studio!
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
The moment? writing a good song dude! I hate forsing them out of me for hours and hours, the best ones come easily.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
The list is endless and changes all the time but on of the best is bohemian rhapsody by Queen, I like dancing in the moonlight by Thin Lizzy as well:)
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
It’s great! I’m all for it!!! go go go! check out www.nakedonline.net and www.myspace.com/nakedofficial
What are your projects ?
NAKED!!! that’s all I do 
What “image” do you have of French music?
Slim to none, I know that K Maro rapper dude ha haaa. But nothing else comes to mind right now!
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Edit phiaf???? She sounded awsome
January 18th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
We had a group called Maximum Liver Explosion that already included 4/6 Moses. It kinda worked as the Big Bang to creation of the whole new world of Moses Hazy…Well that was pompous.. But anyway the band was formed in Tornio, a smalltown in Northern Finland, `bout two years ago. It just happened to be the place where the brains of this six-headed dog met.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
Well that`s a long & old story. And we actually made a promise that we’d never ever tell it to anybody. But let`s just say that “Moses” alludes to lust we`re creating on our gigs and “Hazy” is for.. I guess it`s for whatever you want it to be for.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
There are plenty of ´em. Just to mention a few of my own..mmphh.. Pink Floyd, the band that made my life, and Neil Young, the man that made my life! You want a list? You got it: Wesley Willis, Roky Erickson, Bruce Springsteen, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Hellacopters, Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, Kingston Wall, Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, MC5, Neil Young, Rolling stones, The Clash, The Doors, The Stooges, the Who, Wigwam……..There`s no end coming for that and doesn`t everything effect on everything..? So forget about it. -The greatest thing in music, from the view of a listener, is that you never stop finding good music..That´s why it`s the best hobby,I mean lifestyle, ever. And Moses Hazy is all about music diggers, Rock&Roll&Blues&Jazz&Soul&Funk&Progressive®gae&Ska&Psychedelic…. ..So let`s just say I/we dig good music.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
I`d like to answer on this one as a musician from NORTHERN Finland.
Positive: You haven`t got many choices, there is nothing to do here but to get high with the music. And you find easily beautiful landscapes and peace & quiet `round here. Well not for long, I think, thanks for Eurocitys, IKEAS and all the others satans little helpers…
Negative: The lack of places to rock. In Northern Finland there ain`t too many bars nor other places to arrange gigs. And it`s quit long way to drive to southern cities and back, expecially for one bloody concert which you don`t even get paid, goddam.
But generally there is a lot of great music in Finland and there are many people with good responsive attitude on all that weird shit there`s made.
How could you define your style of music?
Rock. I usually leave the defining for you journalists.. But it`s a kinda Rock´n´Roll without any limits. You can hear a lot of different styles of music in it..Check out the list above!
During the years how has your musical style changed?
Well we started playing Kiss and when we wrote our first own songs for M.L.E. it was all about actionrock, but it sure has changed a lot. and here we are now.
How do explain these changes?
I usually don`t. No, One reason for sure is the instruments we have, like saxophone, trumpet & piano. The other is that we`re listening so many kinds of music. And I guess we knew from the beginning that you can´t draw any limits for this group of maniacs.
What are topics you treat in your songs?
Life. Stuff. You may find some opinions ´bout things in´em because there are opinions, `bout things. But there are also lots of meaningless stories and from each song you get on the average 15% of your daily humdrum-psychedely needed.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
It changes often depending on the last gig or if we´ve just recorded something. ´Guess right now my favourit song is..mbgh.. Play That Damn Guitar from our soon-to-be-released album The Incredible Flow Of Life Show. And the reason is that I was yesterday in studio with a couple of beauties recording female backing vocals on that one.
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Absolutely Live! I think that rock`and´roll albums should be mostly promotion to invite people to the gigs. And our studiowork haven`t started working as good as the liveperformances.
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
Of course the moment when you for the first time think that the song is done now; And you see that it`s good. It could be alone with guitar as you finish the lyrics or with the whole band when everything just clicks. And when ever the basic form of the song changes to something totally different.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
I really can`t answer seriously to this one.. So I just say Wesley Willis´ Arnold Swartcgchzenegger (how do you spell it anyway?).. Which is actually a great song. And there ain`t no stupid questions, just stupid answers. And you can bet your testicles I`m full of ´em.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
It`s a great thing for young unknown bands like us to spread their music all around the world. Of course in some cases it takes away the support from the artist but it`s the blues of today, isn`t it? `Cause in the end Internet is not half as bad thief compered to what record companies have been and still are. And it`s gigs you should get paid for…And I really can`t feel too bad for Metallica.
What are your projects ?
Like I told we´re now finnishing our debyt album and before the summer we`re about to start recording our next album which is kind of a re-recorded collection from our EP´s. And we´ve been planning a summer holiday by the Kuivajoki (Dry River) after June filled with gigs. The holiday includes the recording sessions of our third album, a country/roots-stylish LP, in an old countryhouse. and for sure, gigs gigs gigs and more gigs. So we`re a bit busy with the “Mo´s Trilogy 2006″, as you see.
What “image” do you have of French music?
Few years ago I was spending some time in some smalltown near Brest and cruising `round western parts of France with my local friends. they had a great reggae-band Makaks Mekaniks, don`t know if I spell it right. And I also heard many great funky ska-bands there, I guess it`s quite popular in France..? Ceux Qui Marchent Debut (?) was also great band live and on record. I saw so many great gigs but remember not as many names of bands.. But of course Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg, Francois Corneloup and Bela Fleck & Flecktones etc..etc.. Also we`ve had one great half frenchman playing with us, Marc “fast finger”
Gondallier De Tugny, who played banjo in one of our EP´s.
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Makas Mekaniks: Aualpe tout la nére (?)
C´est bon, comme ça.
January 18th, 2007
 When and how was your band created?
We started Dive in 2003. We did two demos shortly after that and now we are working on an ep and an album, which will hopefully be released later this year.
Where is the name of the band coming from?
Dive is about looking inside of ourselves, about the things we’re keeping under the surface.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
Joy Division, Depeche Mode, The Smiths and Kate Bush are main influences for myself. The boys are into Ride, Swervedriver and other noisy indie hulabaloo.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
We are in the great position because we have found the right people to work with. They are hard working and they believe in the same things that we do. It took time but now we are mainly happy.
How could you define your style of music?
Today I would call it sophisticated new wave. Tomorrow something else.
During the years how has your musical style changed?
When we starded, our music was more or less punk music. I still love the attitude that punk bands have and it?s good to see them live. But I like to do more melodic stuff and songs that touches our audience. In the beginning it was just rage.
How do explain these changes?
It’s the way we always wanted to go, but we didn?t first know how. Now it’s all here. It feels very nice.
What are topics you treat in your songs?
They are mostly sad love songs. We are now working on new tunes that are much happier. But even in our darkest songs there is a glow of light somewhere.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
Probably some of the new ones; Apart or Shiver. They just work so well. Songs you can dance to.
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
I’ll choose gigs. We are blessed to have such a lovely audience every night. I can’t see doing this without playing gigs to our fans. I love to talk with them after the shows as well.
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
I prefer the beginning and the end. In the beginning I?m alone with the song and it takes me to another places. I’ll always try to cacht a certain mood to each song. Then we try the song with the boys and if and when it starts to work, it is incredibly touching.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
It must be Kate Bush with Hounds Of Love. I love the mood and the intensity on Kate’s vocals.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
As we are an indieband from Finland it?s a nice way to promote our music. That’s why we have fans in the States and UK. And who knows maybe in France too!
What are your projects ?
I’ll try to make Dive as good as I can. That’s my project.
What “image” do you have of French music?
I’ll have to admit that I don?t know french music that much. I read sometime ago the biography of Edith Piaf.
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Any of Edith Piaf’s songs. Perhaps “L’hymne à l’Amour”. We used to listen to it with my father when I was a kid.
January 18th, 2007
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