The Ramus, the bittersweet taste of success [Netherlands]

Since their worldwide break-through the Finnish guys of The Rasmus have a very busy life.And they are going to be more busy, because Lauri Ylönen and the other guys made a new record.

You guys have written the songs of your new record “Hide from the sun”, when you were on tour. Did you had the time for that?
Yes, we did. The tour was 2,5 years! Every free moment we’ve tried some new ideas on the acoustic guitar. Between the soundchecks and the shows we got a lot of inspiration.You can feel the presence of the people in the venue. Sometimes I putted on a cowl and a walked through the audience to get a taste of the atmosphere. I rather be amongst the people than have another sleepless night in a big cold hotelroom in Tokyo or some other big city. Then you feel so miserable, even when you are succesfull. I rarely sleep in hotels, I’d rather sleep in the tourbus.

Are you serious about that?
Oh, yes! The tourbus feels more like home, because I spend a lot of time in there. The thing that I was worried about during the tour was if I could write some good songs. Because our way of life was really wierd in that period: aftre the concerts we were partying untill the next morning, after that we were sleeping ’till noon. But eventually I’m very satisfied with the new songs. We recorded the new album in the same studio as were we recorded Dead Letters, with the same producers. At first we thought: now that we are so succesfull we can work with some kind of superproducer from The States. But that also could go wrong and with this procers we now what we get. When I’m walking with my eyes closed though the studio I know where the coffee and cookies are.

Did you think it was hard to make a good follower of such a succesfull album?
Of course, but it’s also a chance to do something great. I really felt the pressure when we recorded all of the vocals. I was in the studio listening to all of the songs and I thuoht; I really did the best I could, so this is it. Now it’s the audiences turn. After the recording I really had a breakdown, the hangover of hard working.

Is this album also as personal as the last album, when you were writing some kind of open letters to people you know?
The lyrics of this album are more poetic, the people can use more of their own imagination. But there are enough personal things in it. For example I wrote a song about the movie Dancer in the dark, because I feel really connected with the main character of that movie. It’s about a women (played by Björk) that gets blind, but keeps it a secret. She doesn’t want to bother other people with her problem and I really recognize that.

Aren’t you affraid to be so vulnerable?
Well, I’m also just a human being. I have those days when I’m feeling really good, but that also can be different in just a moment. It has its ups and downs. I’m a really emotional person, but at least that gives me the feeling that I’m alive. You know, I wanted to play in a band to be someone, to get more self-confidence. I thought that my life was kind of meaningless and now I’m a lot stronger. But off course it’s weird to be in the centre of attention. I’m singing about myself, I’m talking about myself in interviews and I also see myself in all kind of magazines. And than the fans…. some of them dress exactly the same as I do, with feathers in their hair and everything. Some of them look more like me than I do!!!

Isn’t their also made some kind of cult for you in Germany? “Lauriisme” or something like that…..
Yes! And that’s really freaking me out. I really don’t want to know what kind of rituals they are doing. But secretly I’m a bit curious off course… Fortunately we are a very down to earth band. I won’t call any names, but in the past we have toured with some bands. That are actually not a band anymore. Guys that couldn’t play together anymore, who hated eachother. My heart really breakes when I see things like that. They’re only together because of the money or because they don’t dare to go solo. We are having a lot of discussions, and we also talk a lot with eachother. There is one holy rule in The Rasmus: be honest and talk about it when something is bothering you. Sometimes we yell a lot to eachother, but always for a good reason. If we would ever split up, then it would be pleasant dead, without negativity. We are together for eleven years: four total different personalitys, but with the same feeling about music.

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