“We were pushed too much to a certain direction and felt kinda caged. That’s the reason we took a little break…” [Germany]

For a few years it’s been getting harder and harder to distinguish the lots of Gothic bands produced out of a hat, to judge, who’ill disappear after two songs and who could stay for longer in the ears of willing listeners.
Also because of their success – mostly Scandinavian – Goth Rock formations often are being ridiculed as “commercial teenie idols”. But this is not the case of The Rasmus. Already 9 years before their break-through “In The Shadows” the four Finns found each other and dedicated their lives and hearts to the music, succeeded in their home country long before their international fame. Their number-one-hit changed everything, their name wasn’t to get off the media, which brought some day also the negative aspects of being successful.
“The success slowly started to take control over us, we could not do things by our own hands, started to panic. Of course this influenced also our lyrics”, reveals front-man Lauri Ylönen. Now the quartet is to start up again with a new album, that’s titled nice and simple “Black Roses”. “My heart feels a bit less heavy, I concentrate on things that really come from my heart, so in this album there is again very much of ourselves.” The rose is for love, that turns to black, that is not returned and becomes insanity.
Inspiration came also from the fans, that offered The Rasmus often a real rain of black roses on their stages. So which pieces of their new creation are most important for Lauri? “‘Livin’ in a world without you’ belongs to them. I wrote it only a few months ago in Berlin, when I missed my home, my family and friends. Ten Black Roses is my second favourite song. The lyrics are pretty good, they fit with the feeling of the music. Some of its content really happened 10 years ago and haunted me for a very long time. My third favourite would be The Fight, because it is a very fast, a very powerful track. I am looking foreward to playing it live.”
Their latest work was recorded in Helsinki, home of the four, and Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Indeed the city, that is more known for country music, seems to have something, even Helsinki doesn’t: “Our producer has his studio there, so of course we worked also on our album. It was great to get a bit out of Finland, being on a ranch, in the middle of nothing. I was able to concentrate perfectly on the album. At first we were afraid, that the album could become too American, also because of the location it was to be recorded. But our producer loves bands from Scandinavia, let us do what we wanted to and never wanted to change us. That was very important”, tells Lauri.
The 29-years old spent 9 months in Nashville to record the album, a city, where cowboy hats and riding boots are common everywhere. The ideas for the akbum mostly came at night, when the brain starts, to work with the day’s impressions. “You get a certain distance to the things that happened and is able to think about it”, he explains. Helsinki is still the place his roots are. There is Lauri’s home, there he can come back to Earth, spending time on his idepended label and work out new songs. “We built this little record label, to offer other bands the chances, that we got ourselves – to help them finding their way in the world of music business and get their feet on its grounds.”
Pressumably it takes certain skills within a group, to remain true on oneself and follow one’s own sound. Too fast bands are pegged as something, that they can get rid of only by changing very much, usually not without losing many fans. After In The Shadows of course also The Rasmus got pegged: “We worked for a very long time on our new album – until now we released a new one around every second year, after the success of In The Shadows we felt that we were drifting away. That the fame took over control and we couldn’t do anything by ourselves anymore. We were pushed too much to a certain direction and felt kinda caged. That’s the reason we took a little break, looked back on the last 10 years and what we did back then. We want to go back to this point – living for the moment again.”
A few musicans unfortunately don’t own the needed clear sight, to be able to use the handbrake, when it’s getting dangerous. Looking at The Rasmus one soon gets the impression, that they immune against this, but Lauri reveals, that they often cannot elude the temptation: “It’s so alluring… Always somebody has a party, says: ‘C’mon, let’s get drunk! or something like this and you really have to be a strong person to stay away and say No. We used to drink so much, that we sometimes were drunk all the time, it was Make-Or-Break, we never had only one drink.”
Now since Lauri became father in April, the wild times should be over. Changing diapers, going for walks, cooking baby food – this should rule Lauri’s everyday-life. Probably a big change for someone, who’s hardly at home and now has to bear this responsibility. “It tooks a time for me to realize: ‘Hey, you’ve got a son! You are a father!” But this responsibility is good for me; raising a baby and watching it grow up is a lot of fun. My friends are laughing, as if it was something funny, that just I have a child!” Now it’s time to grow up and face the dangers of a family’s everyday-life. But how does a rockstar, who is used to hop around the world a break girlies’ hearts, actually grow up? “Well, I don’t feel too grown up”, Lauri laughes. “It’s one thing to have a baby, but I still feel much younger. It’s wonderful to see your own child grow up, making his own experiences. The only thing I am wondering is, what will happen when the band doesn’t exist anymore? I never had any training for another job, no other plan. We just have to make sure that the band exists also in future.”
After already 14 years the band’s creativity still seems not to run out. It’s nearly a miracle, that after such a long time there are still innovative lyrics and the fans don’t need to listen to the same topics. Lauri says, one is formed by the many people, one meets as an artist every day, by the personal enviroment and last but not least by one’s own experiences and tries to express oneself in the music. The normal life with the band and everything around it brings the inspiration, family and friends hold you and keep you from losing the ground, he says. “It’s kinda like an addiction. We’ve been playing together for more than 14 years now. I live for the band, it’s my everything. You are always ready, always on the move, always hungry for something. One time I nearly slipped off, alcohol, drugs and all this success you cannot handle. When I came home again and my friends told me what was wrong with me, I finally got myself together.”

Even as it often was very hard to stand the pressure and remain true to oneself, even as they sometimes seemed to disappear, they’re still there – the positive aspects of being a musican. The reasons for getting up in the morning and trailing oneself to the studio. Lauri keeps thinking for a while, before he answers the question about those aspects. “It’s nice to make new experiences, new countries and cities, it’s great to be your own boss, to be in a band. I am able to accept somebody’s advices, but I don’t have to, there are no instructions from someone above you, that have to be obeyed. That’s wonderful!”
In The Shadows brought the break-through, the screaming fans, awards and everything else that belongs to being a famous, international group. Still people start to hum the melody of In The Shadows, whenever The Rasmus is topic of a conversation. Another dark side of being famous or rather something funny? “Sometimes it starts to be a bit annoying, but on the other nand this song changed so much. Without it we would still play in Finland only. So that’s the price we have to pay.” But it is not always just about music. Behind the acts there are human beings, making their own experiences like everyone has to do. Theirs are probably a little bit more glamorous, but still not easier to handle. “It’s so good to be able to travel! We learned a lot about different cultures and met so many people! That’s something I never want to miss. There is still something from the recording process, that’s very present in my mind. When I was alone in Nashville – the band was spread all over the world – I often was with our producer and his family. He is a real superstar, worked with superstars and it was great to see how he lives. He told me so many things, about himself and other bands and I realized, that we are just about to start. I remember this stories and took them with me.”
The Rasmus saw a lot of places on Earth, toured through amazing cities and got to know different manners and countries. But there were also shocking things. Among other things, Lauri tells, they stopped near Chernobyl. “It was horrible! The enviroment there was nearly empty, you hardly met any human beings. The water was contaminated by radioactivity, of course you could not drink it, people told horror-stories about the city. Even after 20 years everything is polluted.” But are there any places on Earth without ghosts from the past? Milan impressed Lauri very much, he tells. The beautiful architecture, great parties and good friends always make him look towards the next visit. But still it will never be the whole world, one is allowed to see and explore. “I am crazy about touring in Australia. Or New Zealand, the Lord Of The Rings filmes with their amazing pictures of the nature really got me. I already visited Russia, but still it’s always a new adventure, to be able to go there. The differences between poor and rich seem to be unsuperable huge, the country is still split. It is sad, but very interesting. Thirdly I am very interested in Nigeria. Hardly any band tours there! We have a lot of fans there, who’d probably be glad, if we came there.”
But how is a “normal” day for The Rasmus? “Depending on the jetlag I get up very early or very late. I never eat breakfast. Coffee is enough, but not before noon. I think the other bandmembers have their breakfast some time across the day. Until 6 pm. Very horrible for me is being forced to take a shower in the morning. It makes you feel so awake. I don’t like this. Rather take a bath, that’s much more relaxing.”
Normal days probably are hard to find in the Finns lives. What dreams does a person have, that nearly reached everything? “When I’m really old, I wanna plant some apple trees and care for them. That would be very great and so peaceful.”
www.therasmus.de

Hannah Schneider

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