Sweets from the questions [Finland]

Boats made of wood, men are iron, The Rasmus is platinum!
Aki and Lauri from The Rasmus flew from Portugal to Finland to answer questions sent by the readers.

I have just thought that how your topband got its name? (Taru Torkkeli, Otanmäki)
Boys: Before Rasmus we have some other name alternative too. Anttila was otherwise good but it reminded too much of some chain store. Then was Sputnik but it was somehow too Russian. Rasmus sounded Skandianavian. You can pronounce that in English, Finnish or actually in every languages. We listened Primus that time and Rasmus sounded good in the same way than Primus.

Lauri said in Rasmus – The Dokumentti that it’s very irritating when in every interview interviewer intrudes into yours personal life and your love life etc. and then the aswers are twisted in the magazines. They never ask for example how previus gig gone. That’s why I’m asking now where were your latest gig, how it gone and what gig is stick in your mind by the best gig ever? (Julia Haataja, Mikkeli)
Lauri: Our latest gig was in Portugal, in some student festifal in which were about 6000 people. Students can really party so there were awesome vibes.
Aki: It was our first gig outside on this summer. There was awfully cold because we played so late.
Lauri: Our gig started halv past one that means halv past tre in Finland, so we were pretty tired. Back in Finland we were last night about two o’clock. Our best gig ever was maybe in Eskiltuna in Blå.
Aki: It was pretty rough. In the audience were two people who were paid and one Finnish journalist who was making article about that how we captivate the world. In the stage were only two lights which you can put on and off from the switch.
Lauri: We thought when we should start to play! “Hey you guys are you ready?!”
Aki: “Or is our cafe trinking still incomplete?”

Describe yourself with one word? (Noora Pitkänen, Oulu)
Aki: Lauri is devoted to his work.
Lauri: Aki is enthusiastic bull.
Aki: Eero is peaceful yoga man.
Lauri: Pauli is producer.
Aki: Producer bull.

What is your the worst of all slip-up in the gig? (Jenni Välikangas, Soini)
Aki: People see slip-ups very negative things but I think that they are fine. Of course we have lots of these in our “chest of experience”.
Lauri: Sometimes when you have been out far into the night and that’s why puke during gig. It has been awfylly stupid.

Are so-called better fans in Finland or abroad? (Jenni Mäntynen, Palokka)
Lauri: There are at least I think so the most patient fans in Finland. Here we are older band than abroad. We see that kind of person in our gigs who were there 12 years ago in Oranssi or Lepakko clubs. You can nothing else than respect that.

By the side of current
Big city or countryside? (Laura and Terhi Miettinen, Tervo)
Aki: Small city – Helsinki. I think it’s the best city I’ve ever been.
Lauri: Both if necessary. Countryside is celebration. We have a cottage hundred kilometer away from Helsinki and every time when I’m there it feels like the time would stop. In the cottage you can put your brain to the cloakroom and in a one night get your batteries full.

Have you thrown your winter coat away yet? [= Have you swom on a lake after winter?] (Elisa Kinnunen, Pyhäjärvi)
Aki: We have swum but it was in a some warm country. Of course we have to get to swim soon in Finland too. It would be so great to go to a boat picnic, anchor to somewhere and after that dive to swim.
Lauri: I haven’t yet eather. In front of us is still four festival gigs in Finland so I’m sure we’ll stop the buss by a some lake, put the barbecue on and run to the lake to swim.
Aki: Lake-Finland is probably the most beautiful and pure area in the world. Every summer it is as great as always to go and swim there.

If your reputation vanished and become the opposite of Scrooge McDuck what would happen to you? (Jenna Kejonen, Vantaa)
Lauri: I would call… ouh but then I wouldn’t have even a phone so I would send message in a bottle to mum and ask if I could go back home.

What is the secret of your success? (Eeva Ruotsalainen, Kannonkoski)
Lauri: Friendship!
Aki: I was going to answer in a totally same way!

Lauri is behind all
Lauri, were’ve you got those feathers that are always on your hair? (Mimmi Peltola, Savonlinna)
Lauri: As also now… The idea for feathers came 8 years ago. Then I had fair hair and fair feathers. Feathers symbolize freedom. Now I get feathers quite often from fans too.

Have you ever thought of coloring your hair pink? (Mira Toivonen, Helsinki)
Lauri: I’ve once had pink hair and once anilinred. First time I colored my hair when I was on the 7th grade and after that I’ve tried green, blue, pink, yellow, lila, black and white hair.

Lauri, how did you get to know Eero then once upon a time? (Anni Tykkyläinen, Joensuu)
Lauri: At school at the 3rd grade. We were at the musicclass and almost immidietly after meeting we made a band and started to play together for example Status Quo’s and Neuman’s songs. I played drums and Eero bass.

When did you last time phone to your mother? (Anna Kujala, Kuusjoki)
Lauri: At the mothers’ day, few days ago.
Aki: Yeah, I called my mom at that day too. We had moved the mothers’ day’s celebation a little earlier, becouse we were at the festivalgigs in Europe at the mothers’ day. Mom is really important!

In witch one of the musicvideos you have had funnest? (Kati Ottola, Tampere)
Boys: Funnest was in Funeral Song’s shots where they threw water on Lauri for 18 hours in very cold weather. The rest of us were next to the filming place in the local Indian’s where we enjoyd the food that the owner of the place gave us wearing the filmingmakeup.
Lauri: Yeah, and in the video they doesn’t show anything but me, except Pauli’s foot. For me thet was the most horrible filmingexpirience ever.
Aki: The result was great anyway!
Lauri: I think the funnest filmingtrip has been in Cuba, when we filmed the video In My Life. It was very fysical video to make, when we boanced in the jungle and the river, but a little over week’s filmingtrip was really great expirience.

Tell something about Ufolaulu’s history and where could you here that song? (Sonja Kekäläinen, Ahkiolahti)
Lauri: That is the another song made in Finnish with the Rakkauslaulu whitch you can find from the Ice-single’s another side. It has made quite same time as our 2nd CD, and as the Rakkauslaulu, that has also made in some homepartys. It’s a psycedelic song where we’re singing for example “Ufos want to take us to their planet and crush us!” Now it might be a rare collection-thing, so I don’t know, where you could hear that song. We have by the way seen a couple of strange moments for example in Japan, where the local fans, who don’t speak a word Finnish, have sung our Rakkauslaulu-song by a perfectly pronounced Finnish.

If there would start to play only a one song in the whole world, what would it be? Remember, that some people would wake up to it, some people would be partying, some people were poor, some rich, some would feel hot, some cold. (Jenni Karhu, Kouvola)
Lauri: Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”.
Aki: Sepi Kumpulainen’s “Armotonta menoa”! (“Going without mercy”)

If you could change one thing in your life, what would you change? (Pauliina Herrala, Tuusula)
Aki: I should be more patient.
Lauri: I’ve got the same problem. It’s both, good and bad thing. Usually that, that you have no patient tells also, that you’re excited for some things. I for example have by greetingtext in my phone “Kaikki tänne ja heti” ( “Everything here and now” in English). That pushes you forward when you open the phone. It’s a good motto.
Aki: It’s a good style for life, if you really want something. In other way it can take you far, but if you go to your goal without watching to your sides too, you don’t propably see anything else, so that way that style has a distructive other side.

What is the best breed of dogs? (Viivi Lundberg, Jyväskylä)
Aki: A cat! But if I must choose then lenient, not loud, good-smelling golden retriever.
Lauri: I hate dogs…

Which were the favourite toys of your childhood? (Minna Jauho, Kouvola)
Lauri: From He-man-figures the cat. I don’t remember its name any more but it is still my favourite.
Aki: When I was 6-7 years old I got my first moped which was very very small but you could drive with the moped almost 40 kilometres per hour. Grandmother and grandfather lived then in a house and there was a little forrest in the yard where I was allowed to drive. It was pretty nice toy. Enthusiastically about that I gone and drove on the tracks when I was older. My good driving-friend was Jani Taskanen who played once upon a time in a band called Juustopäät. (cheese heads)

Who clean your houses? (Riikka Sorsa, Savonlinna)
Lauri: We do it ourselves. It is good for brain. Just a moment ago I said that after this interview and photographing I’ll go to home and clean, and then I’ll go to sleep.
Aki: Yeah, you take pleasure in cleaning when you came home after hectic tour. It’s the best way to feel that you are home.
Lauri: You make mashed potatoes and start vacuum-cleaning. It is in fact sooooo rock!
Aki: Yeah and put the home trousers on. On the other hand you have to use home trousers in the tour bus too.
Lauri: Actually we have that kind of long-term dream that we would like to buy air suit/uniform. Doesn’t matter how tired you would be. Our band and whole crew would sit on a airplane with same kind of elegant suits.

Do you remember that hymn…
What is the best Finnish band for your opinion? (Terhi Väliaho, Seinäjoki)
Lauri: Right now we both have listened a lot of Lemonator. It is my intention to buy their new album.

What kind of musik do you listen on your free time? (Anna Kujala, Kuusjoki)
Aki: Almost everything. Now it has been a little harder period. I have listened for example System of a Down and older Metalica. Enthusiasm for Metalica is probably due to the fact that we played tre gigs on a same festival with them in South-Africa.
Lauri: For my part I have listened lighter musik like Jack Johnson. Good and carefree surf-musik that works also in background music.

What is your personal favourite song from your own works and why?
Lauri: I have two favourites: Funeral Song and Immortal. There are a lot of vibes with both of them and everytime when I sing these songs there are pretty passionate vibes. They came from the bottom of my heart.
Aki: Right now my favourite song is melancholy Keep Your Heart Broken which feels ideal for that kind of person who is a lot of away from home and away from people you love.

In The Shadows, Hide From The Sun
What did happen when your musik changed from cheerful and lively to gloomy? What happen to the sun which was formerly always with you on the gigs? (Emilia Nousiainen, Kokkola)
Lauri: Beetween we have stolen the sun from Stockman’s decorate place. I don’t know where the sun is hiding now. It looks like it disappeared behind the coulds. We would like to create different feelings. It is more enjoyable to sing melancholy and sad songs. Them are more emotional. That kind of musik has hit me. Because of Radiohead and Kent my musik taste has developed to that direction where it has developed and is still developing. I like more minor music. In the other hand during the last few days I have listened a lot good-humoured music. Nobody knows in which vibes we’ll make our next album. It is possible that the sun will come out behind the clouds. Our new songs are at this point more rhythmic, there is more vitality and them are more “go-getter” as far as vibes are concerned.
Aki: It is actually pretty cool thing that we aren’t stick to any musik genre. Our two latest albums are pretty gloomy and there might be some cothic style in lyric but we have always the opportunity to make all kinds of music. I thinks Rasmus has always been that kind of band which has surprised with new albums. In my opinion it has been one strength of this band before I joined. It is only positive if surprises come and music click into some new rails.

Are you Goths? (Ville Mäkelä, Tampere)
Lauri: No!
Aki: No!

Why do you sing about Batman in your Postman-song? (Niina, Ylämaa)
Lauri: The lyrics of the Postman-song are pure stream of thinking!

Do you ever do sudokus? (Mailis Niemi, Tampere)
Aki: I just made one yesterday in a plane. I’ve got in fact one sudoku-book too.
Lauri: Aki is our band’s puzzleman.
Aki: Yeah, I’m puzzlemaker.
Lauri: And good too!
Aki: I’m just incredible fast. Sometimes, when it’s hard to calm down my thoughts if I have had a gig or hectic day. Then puzzles or sudokus help to get thoughts away.

What is your opinion about song contests? For Example: Idols ? (Toni Rautiainen, Pori)
Aki: For some people it may be the only possibility to become known.
Lauri: Good entertainment but at the same time it is rude utilising. Some have nicely got to move on with their career. For example Antti Tuisku, all the respect for him. But you will not get the best deals from those competitions. Even when the competition gives you a chance to get to magazines, almost every other is taken away right under your nose. It is pretty evil.

Have you ever voted your own music video into the charts? (Anu Lahdenperä, Rovaniemi)
Lauri: When our first video was once sent for the first time to MTV to be the Challenger, we voted very much and sent text messages to all the friends like go and vote for our video. Then it was there some 19 weeks as number one, after which it got to video heaven as invincible.
Aki: That is thing which many people would not admit themselves but of course you sometimes vote for your own stuff..
Lauri: At least from my opinion it was just so cool to see your own video from the TV when there was MTV’s logo on it.

Aki is the king!
Aki, what are the names of your cats? Did you name the other one as Nöyhtä (“fluff”) like you once said you would? (Jenica Peltonen, Pori)
Aki: Their names are Kleo and Nero (“genious”) but like you know, a loved kid has got many names. Tuhnu and Nöyhtä were the names how we called them before actually getting them until they came to us when we christened them really. I came home from Portugal yesterday after 2AM and already at 5AM they woke me up, so they are pretty lovely, aren’t they.

Are you romantic? What is the most romantic thing you have once done to some girl? (Linda Åhman, Lahti)
Aki: We are more romantic guys than what the average says.
Lauri: I was once diving and as deep as 20 meters I danced on the deck of a wreck.

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