Interview with The Rasmus [UK]

It’s been quite a while since Finnish rock outfit The Rasmus last ventured onto these shores but with their Black Roses album finally getting a UK release date, the band announced a one-off show in London prior to a full return later this Spring. Planet Loud caught up with frontman Lauri just prior to their show.

Planet Loud – So Lauri, how’s things?
The Rasmus – Things are good, the fire alarm went off at the venue just as we got here so we had to get out apart from that things have been really good. We’ve just come from Poland which was a great place to play but it was a two-day journey on the tour bus to get here. Still, we had a great party on the bus to pass the time.

Planet Loud – Excellent. How was Poland?
The Rasmus – Poland was great, it was a good concert. We’ve been on tour for five weeks now doing six shows a week. We’ve played some places that we have never been to before like Macedonia and Bratislava. The crowds have been good as well as the venues have been a bit smaller so we’ve been able to connect with them. Sometimes it is hard to connect when the venues are a lot bigger. We’re glad to be back in the UK though and the show here has been sold-out for nearly six weeks now.

Planet Loud – You must have been surprised with that considering it’s been a while since you guys have been over here?
The Rasmus – Oh definitely. The new album hasn’t come out over here yet, there have been no songs on the radio and we haven’t done any interviews so for the show to sell-out that quickly is really pleasing. I think here in the UK our fans are a bit older and things don’t drop out of fashion as quickly as they do in other countries.

Planet Loud – You were massive over here after the success of In The Shadows…
The Rasmus – Yes, In The Shadows was a huge hit for us and, to an extent, I think we became driven by that song to the point where it took control of the band. Everything started to happen so fast and it became too hard to control what was happening. The thing is that we don’t hate that song and I love to play it live but it is the audience that really complete that song for us.

Planet Loud – Did it feel like things were out of control at the time?
The Rasmus – Not so much out of control but it felt like everything was happening at the same time all over the world. We couldn’t focus on one area as everything was happening all over the place. I think we became a little bit greedy as well but, you learn. From that point on we decided to release things at different times in different places. It gives you more time to concentrate on specific areas and you can spend time doing things like meeting fans and stuff like that.

Planet Loud – Any regrets?
The Rasmus – I wouldn’t say regrets because everything is important for a reason and, whether it is good or bad, it leads to something. I think you learn from your mistakes and that time helped us put things into perspective. I feel like my eyes are open to more things now.

Planet Loud – How would you say you’ve changed as a person over the last few years?
The Rasmus – I think I became more fragile as a person and more emotional. For my art this can only be a good thing as whether I’m happy or sad I’m inspired by how I’m feeling. I’ve learned how to feel.

Planet Loud – Okay, onto the new record then, what can you tell us about it?
The Rasmus – It was an interesting record to make because we made this record differently to all our other albums. We took the process of writing the record and reversed it as there was a story to go with all the songs. I started by writing all the lyrics to the songs then we wrote the music to fit around the songs. I think that, because we did it this way, this record took a lot longer to write but, at the same time, we had more fun with this record and maybe that is the way we will do our records in the future?

Planet Loud – You mentioned there was a story to go with this record?
The Rasmus – Yeah, it’s one guys life story – the songs are about his personal experiences – it’s quite tragic in place. I’d been reading a book that was used by Hollywood script writers which explains the method for writing movies. It’s called the four-chapter format and this format was used on all the great movies like Titanic, Star Wars, ET .. Basically, what you do is break the script up into four sections – orphan, wanderer, warrior and martyr. All those movies I mentioned did this and this was something I tried on the Black Roses album.

Planet Loud – How much of a challenge was it writing like this?
The Rasmus – It was a huge challenge but, at the same time, there wasn’t a day when I didn’t know what I was going to be doing. By using the new method I came up with so much material that there was too much. When we were putting it together we had a mind-map which we put onto paper and spread it out on the floor in the studio. You could see how each part of the story fitted together then and you could focus on linking it all in so there woulc be a question in one song and the answer in another.

Planet Loud – You worked with Desmond Childs on this album. How did that come about?
The Rasmus – I was a huge fan of the bands he worked with when I was growing up – Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi and so on. He sent me an email asking if he could work with us and I didn’t know what to say. This is a man who has sold over 300 million records so it felt a bit like a Mentour/Student thing, kind of like Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. We were playing a gig in the Dominican Republic and he came out to see us play. After the gig we spent a few days drinking rum and smoking fat cigars. He was such a humble person.

Planet Loud – What did you learn from him?
The Rasmus – I thought I’d seen and read and experienced a lot but I felt tiny next to him. It was good having someone see us from the outside and we spent so much time just talking but what I didn’t realise was that he was organising our band. He’s a very artistic and creative guy and even told me I reminded him of a Peter Pan kind of character. I was sat there listening thinking ‘what the fuck?’

Planet Loud – Okay Lauri, we’re running out of time now, is there anything you want to say to your UK fans?
The Rasmus – Yeah, we’ve missed you. If you can’t make the show in London don’t worry, we’re coming back in April with the Backyard Babies so we hope to see you all then. Come to Finland though, we’ll have a barbeque at my house!

Planet Loud – Awesome, well, thanks for your time Lauri, have a good show tonight.
The Rasmus – No problem, thanks for the support.

Interact – http://www.myspace.com/therasmus
Interviewer Graham Finney

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