Pleasure in the darkness [Mexico]

Hatred the butterflies, mainly those that hide in dark and moist corners, escaping from the lukewarm caress of the sun. Terrified to think about their digusting hairy blackish brown wings, that aint made to be touched by the king star. But this in its nature to become one with the shades.
For that reason when I saw the cover of Hide From The Sun, the most recent delivery from the Finnish quartet The Rasmus, a chill crossed my back. Nevertheless, after about an hour of attenting listening, I understood that to shelter itself in the dark, to let itself touch by the wings of the fallen angels and be arranged to die by love, are also passions that can live far away from the day light.
The Rasmus have caused commotion in this changer and very segmented rock world with its previous production Dead Letters. Of being a band respected in its birthday – and Finland frost, they infected with its sound and lirics to a youth that, without a doubt it prefers to amuse themselves in the penumbrae and to share an uncertain future in this lunatic world.
Hide from the Sun outcome to be a very direct discographic material, scratch, heavy and less poetic than Dead Letters. That was made even with the fury of a band that it wants to be made notice, but that does not have the pressure to maintain a name. This was done with the rigor of the tours and, although they do not confess it openly, with the responsibility to demonstrate that they continue having the talent and the melancholic vision that will turn the Auditorio Nacional of the City of Mexico fills next the 6 of April.
“I believe that for us Dead Letters was a massive album”, explains by telephone, from Germany, Lauri Ylönen, vocalist and creative motor of The Rasmus. “This new disc this somehow undergoing the success of the previous album; but is natural that happens, like small a crude one after tremendous success that we had. I believe that the new disc is very pure; it is not as much the previous phenomenon, because now our music is speaking, this going well “.

In which forms are you undergoing the crude of popularity?
“Perhaps it is cos many things have changed since the last disc. Before we only played music in Finland and, suddenly, everything turned bigger with Dead Letters. There is too much information arriving at us. it took us sometime to understand it. Well its not exactly what I mean… dont know how to express it right , but it was a great change in our lives.”

Would be that you are facing an international fame for the first time?
“That can desordenarte a little the head, although against your will. In fact you must take care of yourself. We took care of ourselves well between the band. We have a very hard brotherhood. If somebody goes very fast or is going crazy, then we arrived and say or do something to him. It is good being in this band. You can turn somehow crazy, but you know that others they will be supporting to you.”

The Rasmus is not a new group.
This, is their sixth album – a very success for young band -, it begins to separate of its previous deliveries. The pressure of the tours, just a short time of rest and the excess of parties gives as result a disc with opresivs guitars, more lacerants riffs, but without losing that delicate balance with melodies of Lauri.

We asked to the singer if this proposal were planned or is an obvious evolution.
“I believe that outcome very natural”, responds. “Many of the songs were written during the tour and the only opportunity that we had to rehearse’em was in the sound tests. It was good, touching them live. And then we included them in the concerts. If we liked in the test of sound or the concert, then we included in the disc. For that reason this a little t heavier, because they were listened well there “.
Although to be dark, melancholic or netly funeral isnt new in the European rock, we found that Lauri has developed a unique style to approach universal subjects that in the pen and voice of others they could sound trivial or already very well-known. Thats how Hide from the Sun concept begins to become present.
Ylönen takes feelings, daily experiences and everyday moments, drowns them in the dark of his creative talent and returns them in lyrics images that go from poetic (“Girl, you’ve lived your life as a sleeping swan”) to brutally direct (“I’ll take the shoot, I’ll give my life for you”), without losing the melancholic enchantment so characteristic of The Rasmus.

For Lauri transform the light into shade is something innate: “I believe that is very simple to write thus. It is only tried to be based on the experience and to be honest. I believe that I say things in my songs that I would’nt dare to nobody face to face. I’m quiet shy and reserved, and I believe that I have a shield that is very difficult to pass throu. So I write my feelings in my letters. I’m not looking for difficult forms or very intelligent way to say things. I rather say them as directly as I can. I think is effective for the audience “.

THERE ARE SONGS THAT BOND the PAIN to review with calm, as if we walked in a corridor without windows, with the doors closed and the dull light.
“No Fear” its a sticky track, attractive and with a inspirator message, surrounded by a veil of risk and uncertainty, accentuated by a lofty vocal work and a keyboard.
The song “No fear” is excellent. The choir is beautiful.

But, where this that dark?
“Basically it deals with which the future, my own future, is ain’t clear. I dont know what is going to happen next year or about 10 years. Just I go that way, as fast I can, without thinking about which could happen.

Being the successful that you four have, perhaps your managers or your disc-company would like to know where are you going to be, because now, you want it or not, you are already a business.
“It doesn’t have to do nothing with managers or disc-company. If I want to stop, I can do just here and right now. It is our decision, it is my decision. It is what we want to do. We have like a secret pact and un-known whom says that no longer we will do this if left to be amused. Hatred to see bands that are together because business forces them, but the singer and the guitarist not speak to each other. This must be amused. I believe that there are other many things to do, in addition to music. Clearly I love music, but I have plans. When I turn grandfather, I want to have my small book store. A small bookstore, to sell really rare books, there in Finland.”

I know that when you came to Mexico, you went to Teotihuacan. How was the experience to face another culture? It had impact in you?
“Yeah. It had a big impact in us. Was very impressionant, in a positive form. We had an excellent guide nicknamed “Gorila”. He took us there, we did something of meditation. He was very given; that was what we felt from Mexico. The habitants of the zone can be very poor, but they cooked for us. When I returned they took me to a place where they had found a sacred stone. It was stone with a carved face on it that was been lost during 300 years. They told us something like “no white man has seen this stone, but we wanted to show you “. I felt very special. We spoke about the nature, and how are the life for them. Was very peculiar to see how they lived, as they coexist with the nature, the respectful that they are with She”.

Do you find the same feeling with your devoted Mexican fans, those that go to your concerts?
“Think that we were like five days in Mexico. We knew much people and we felt great. Perhaps people not speak a good english, but their vibrates was quite good, very opened”.

THE RASMUS IS ONE MORE POINT OF SPEAR of the rock from century XXI, doesn’t comes from the traditional musical industrial centers (the United States and the United Kingdom), but that consolidates the rocker tradition from a small and iced country that has bathed to the world with something more than just vodka.

Many Finnish groups that are loved in Mexico, like Nightwish and Apocalyptica, share patterns. Why do you think that you all have that dark and sad average seal?
“That is the question that always made us and I don’t have the answer. I believe that each band is different, like Apocalyptica, Nightwish and many others. It’s graceful that many bands came up from this so small country. Is surprise. I think that all the groups have that melancholic and Scandinavian sound. Perhaps that satisfies people. Somehow it is related to the folk music that is played in Finland and also it has to do with these old melodies that we used on a rocker way, always it leaves something beautiful. It’s something like beautiful and the beast.”
Scandinavia not always has had fame to produce beautifully dark nor poetically tetrics bands. There was a moment in which the rock from that geography meant murders, burned churches, cannibalism and other perversions made with the pretext to make music: black metal.

At the beginning of the Nineties, Scandinavia had a quite dark fame, due to the movement of black metal Mafia. What you can say to us on the matter? Were you into that?
“Well, I have never liked black metal, and it was very big in some time. The first time that I bought a guitar I was like like 12 years old and was when all this roll of black metal was in apogee. I liked King Diamond. It is as opera rock, very teatral, and I loved that; but in fact I was more into Metallica and Guns N´Roses. More in hard rock than in black metal.”

But, why it never likes you, because of the philosophy or the music?
“Although there were good bands, it felt that the movement was like false. Guys like King Diamond o Mercyful Fate were the best. That shows that you can have fun and were heavy metal songs. That test that you can enjoy making music and not necessarily be angered and try to cause fear with it.”

Which is your opinion of the present rocker scene, where the good bands no longer are from the United States or England?
“I think is good to have a change. There’s no longer good things coming from the United States; best is coming from Europe. Basically everything that I hear is European. The musical scene is good and I like they mix seventy and the eighty stuffs with new sounds. Now my favorite band is The MUSE, from England. I think it has a perfect balance, because it can be very beautiful, powerful and good at the same time. Nowadays there are good bands doing excellent things, but the biggest stadiums, the greatest stages keeps filling with the legendary bands, like The Rolling Stones and U2.”

Why do you think this happens?
“Yes, thats true. Perhaps because there are so many bands at the same time. I have no idea of how do these great monsters, like U2 or Springsteen, but its hearing is very ample. They do not have only adolescent, also have 55 years old people. For that reason they fill bigger stadiums. At the moment there is much music. We have traveled with many groups and there is as much from where to choose, that it is difficult. But I have faith because people can go to those concerts. But the important fact is that the rock isn not dead, its far from that.”

Would you like to be part of this kind of bands that fills stadiums?
“Sure that would be good, but I’m happy and satisfied with which we have now. We have been in Mexico with two shows and they have been sold totally. It has been wonderful and is thanks to our music that we have been able to travel all over the world. Thanks to that we have had as much experience. In Germany, some police men invited us to shoot with their real arms, and just because they like our music. Every day is absolutelly different and exciting. This can be finished in a year or tomorrow but i’d better not to think about that. I live as fast as I can.”

If you could name a single negative thing to be in a rock band, What would it be?
“Maybe the fact that everything is available now. And that is very difficult to control sometimes; that almost is never healthy. All this plenty of drinks and parties after parties. It’s very easy to become lost and you must be very strong to survive, because all is full of temptations. I have weeks of being totally fucked around; and I think: “I am going very fast”. I cannot clarify my mind nor alleviate my body. I am living very fast and is dangerous. That is negative”.
Hiding From The Sun, The Rasmus this finding an artistic and musical way full of chiaroscuros, of metaphors and ideas concrete. In April we will have them in Mexico. In front of people of the sun, as some time ago Range against the Machine called us. Let us see if the power of the butterfly that lives in the darknesses returns to charm our ears hungry of melancholy. And, like the light at the end of the tunnel, The Rasmus will return do it.

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