Four Dictators and their Rock Empire [Turkey]

The article begins with mention of how the Rasmus is laughing in the face of those who ever thought that they might have been destined to be a “one-hit-wonder” band. It goes on to say that after the monster hit “In the Shadows”, they’ve gone full ahead with the new album “Hide from the Sun”, soon to be released throughout Europe.

Interviewer: How would you describe the period after “In the Shadows” for the band? Was everything hectic and crazy?
Lauri: Everything was intense and fast-moving for us. And yes, I think it was crazy too. Especially our world tour. During the last year, we were away from home for more than 250 days. We went to places we had never dreamed we would go, and then we did exotic things that we had never imagined we would do. One of these great things is the rock festival we played at in the desert sands of Dubai. After a concert in Mexico City, we went to the Teotihuacan pyramids, and participated in a special ceremony of the Red Indians who were our hosts. The most surrealistic place for us was Taiwan. There we drank a drink made from snake’s blood. So many memories! I’m glad I had my camera with me; I think I took over 1500 photos…When I’m old, or one day when our fame fades, I think I’ll probably sit and look at these photos, and savour the memories.

Interviewer: Right, which places in Istanbul did you take photos of?
Lauri: Yes, we were in Istanbul for the RocknCoke festival (2004). It was a pity, Istanbul was one of the cities that we stayed in really little. We didn’t have chance to see much. I remember that it was really very hot there, and that the audience gave us a fantastic response. Also, I remember 50cent’s private plane. We performed right before 50cent. At the airport, we got into his plane by mistake. Wow! This was a “bling bling” plane. Anyway, I’m sure we’ll come back to Istanbul one day. Our world tour begins in October, and will continue in November and December. We’re definitely planning to fit a stop in Turkey in somewhere during the tour.

Interviewer: It must be difficult to adjust to normal life after touring.
Lauri: It takes quite a while to recover from the pace of the tour, and to return to normal life, and it does take effort. However, we had specific goals during the tour, and so we didn’t have chance to think much about the passing days, really. After spending a little time in Helsinki, we went to Stockholm to begin recording our 6th album.

Interviewer: After the steady success of sure hits like “In the Shadows”, “Guilty” and “First Day Of My Life”, from the album “Dead Letters”, did you feel yourself under a lot of pressure when going into the studios to begin recording the new follow-up album?
Lauri: We felt no pressure at all, because we had written most of the songs while touring. The songs were composed mostly either in the bus, or with the acoustic guitar, backstage. So while recording, there was no feeling that we had to fit things into a time span just to get it done. We gave our last concert of the tour in Japan, in January, and we then had a months holiday and rest. While going to the studio, we had 15 songs prepared, out of 20 that we had composed. Everything went really smoothly. After we listened to it, we felt that we couldn’t have done better than this. Of course, the real jury is the fans, and they’ll judge our new album, very soon.

Interviewer: “In the Shadows” was the last song you recorded for the last album, but it was the first single. From what I’ve heard, “No Fear” was also like this…?
Lauri: Yes.

Interviewer: Is there a reason for this?
Lauri: No, just coincidence.

Interviewer: “Hide from the Sun” has a song called “Night after Night (out of the shadows)”. Is this the continuation of “In the Shadows”?
Lauri: Lyrics wise, definitely yes. The story of “In the Shadows” continues in “Night after Night”. In the song, “In the Shadows”, I was helpless, floundering, asking questions and looking for answers. I have found the answers, and this is what I’m writing about in “Night after Night”.

Interviewer: Could you tell us a bit about your working together with well-known heavy-metal and cello combination Apocalyptica?
Lauri: We’d been planning this for 3-4 years. It finally seemed that the right opportunity had arrived, and so they are our guests for the song “Dead Promises.” This is a typical kind of Finnish collaberation. I had performed vocals for them on their latest album, in “Life Burns”, as well as in the duet with Ville (from HIM) in Bittersweet. So it was really their turn to do something with us. And by the way, some silly people are still asking about the competition between us, Apocalyptica and HIM. I find this quite idiotic, why would we be rivals? We were the support group for HIM in their 2001 Scandinavia Tour; and during the entire tour we had a fantastic time. Surely from our working together, it is very clear that there is no rivalry between us.

Interviewer: Is there anything you’d like to add about “Hide from the Sun”?
Lauri: Let me think….We worked with producers Mikael Nord and Martin Hansen once again; we had worked with them previously on the albums “Into” and “Dead Letters”. We work really well with them, so it would have been foolish to look around for different producers. It was also a good thing that we did the recording in Stockholm instead of Helsinki, as in Stockholm there was nothing to distract us. We were away from home, and after working in the studio, we didn’t go off separately, but stayed in the same apartment together for the duration of the recording. Also, on this album we added some string instruments and piano. My opinion is that the composition on the new album is much more daring and courageous than on “Dead Letters”.Also, a dominant feature of our music is the creation and feeling of opposites. If the melody is gentle, the lyrics and vocals are harsh,aggressive, or the opposite; strong guitar with fragile and innocent lyrics. I think of it as “Beauty and the Beast.”

Interviewer: Do you see the Rasmus as a classic rock group?
Lauri: I’d say part-classic. From some aspects our sound is fresh and new, while from some aspects has traces of the 80′s. There are traces of Skid Row, GunsNRoses, Rainbow and even Foreigner. This isn’t really surprising. I went to a concert for the first time when I was 12. It was a joint concert of Skid Row and Motley Crue, in Helsinki. I was totally enchanted and I still remain under the influence of these groups.

Interviewer: Everyone in the group is a childhood friend. You have shared schooldesks together, and been making music for more than 10 years. Despite this, are there times when it feels like you’ve had enough of each other?
Lauri: Well, no one has actually strangled anyone yet…of course we have some arguments from time to time, like would happen in any group. Even so, I think this is something healthy. Sometimes we come up with opposing views, but it isn’t a war; not even a conflict, really. I’m not even sure how it happens, and how we manage it; but always after our arguments we end up understanding each other so much better. However, from this don’t be misled into thinking that we are a democracy; we’re really like 4 different dictators coming together.

Interviewer: Previously you’ve been the support group of famous bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Garbage. I bet you’ve got some interesting things to tell us about them…?
Lauri: I wish….We’re actually victims of our own shyness We were far too shy to approach the members of both those bands. And this is in spite of actually being the support group for Red Hot Chilli Peppers twice! We really liked them. They’ve got incredible energy, a great team and they thoroughly enjoy what they are doing. Once while walking around backstage, I passed in front of their dressing room. The door was a little ajar, and I tried to look from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t see anyone, but I saw a red carpet, and candles and sticks of incense burning. I thought that they were possibly meditating. It would have been very disrespectful to have interrupted.

Interviewer: Have you ever had singing lessons?
Lauri: You must be kidding…of course not. And this is depite being told by lots of people that I really absolutely should. Also, I get told to reduce my smoking, and advised to take care of my voice. Do you know, sometimes while singing I feel really ragged and hoarse. I realise that if I carry on like this, I’ll ruin my vocal chords within 5 years. My feeling about this is that eveything in life gets used, worn out. And if the voice is an instrument, it will eventually wear out, just like other intruments. I hope I am right about my way of looking at this issue…otherwise I’m going to be hitting my head on the wall in the future.

Interviewer: Before this awful fate catches up with you, who would you like to share the microphone with?
Lauri: I’d love to work with Tarja Turunen. She is the vocalist of the Finnish symphony metal group, Nightwish. We’ve met at several festivals. She is both a wonderful artist, and a wonderful person. Besides Tarja, I’d like to work with Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, though it wouldn’t necessarily have to be a duet. It would be great if Trent could do a remix of one of our songs.

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