PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Lara Kisel with Olli Herman Vocalist, Pepe Guitarist, Jalle Verne Bassist, Hessu Maxx Drummer.
Olli- I am Olli the vocalist and here is Pepe… The wall haha.
Pepe- I am Pepe…The wall haha.
Lara- The wall aye…So what’s the story behind that nickname.
Olli- haha…It’s just tour talk.
LK- Sounds interesting care to explain…
Jalle- It is a Finnish joke so if were to translate it, it just wouldn’t make any sense.
LK- Fair enough…So you have two amazing debut albums ‘Reckless Love’ and ‘Animal Attraction’ both have received outstanding feedback, but what differs between them both? Have you developed lyrically and musically from your first album?
Olli- yeah it’s great…
Pepe- I would definite say we stepped it up with musicianship.
Olli- yes…lyrically as well I think…
LK- So where would you say your inspiration comes from when writing songs and what would be your writing process?
Pepe- Inside my head it is like a radio, the music, the tune just starts to play…I don’t know how to explain it; my inspiration could come any place, any time, any moment.
Olli- A lot of my lyrics come from personal life experiences and I express deep within the songs and well what can I say I am party animal!
LK- So where would you say your biggest fan base is and how do they differ from your home country fans?
Jalle- Little girls…haha!
Olli- haha straight to the point Jalle…well back home our audience is mainly based upon little screaming teenage girls, so when coming to England it’s like nostalgia; English fans appreciate the music a lot more. Just before we played download we did a gig in our home town and it was mostly young teenage girls, there was around 80-100 people, then we played in the tent at download that holds around 8,000 people. After the gig we got told there were around 10,000. Wow what an experience that was… I have confessed and I will confess again these fans knew the lyrics more than I did. The whole atmosphere of them singing the lyrics with you is an experience you just can’t describe… the feeling is that good. When we played in London beginning of this tour it was fantastic… as around 60% were women!
LK- So what are your expectations for this tour and what do you want to get out of it?
Pepe- Well we are a lot more nervous I guess than the last,
Jalle- Yeah as you know we haven’t played here for over a year now…
Olli- so we were like are they going to remember us, we just weren’t sure what to expect but as you know we had a sold out show last night at Rock City…
Jalle- The boys are back in town!!!
LK- Haha yeah I know a lot of people that were excited about this tour…What are your plans then when finishing the ‘Animal Attraction’ tour?
Olli- We aren’t sure, as you know by the T-shirts there are no dates of the tour just because dates just keep getting added. We don’t actually know when we will be finishing the tour. We have also upgraded venues, which is a great bonus like with London last year we played at Borderline and this year we played at Islington. We will be getting new management as well so when that is all finalized we will know what we will be doing from there.
LK- We can clearly see your influences are 80’s hair metal and melodic rock but what other genre of music are you guys passionate about?
Jalle- Good music!
Olli- Awesome answer man….Good music YEAH! haha. Pepe is the guy speak to him, his house is like a music museum; there must be around 20,000 CD’s.
Pepe- Well you know passionate about the 60’s with the Beatles, 70’s Led Zeppelin and 80’s Van Halen! Of course, anything as long its good haha.
Olli- Like with 80’s music it’s pop music in the form of metal that fits in the rock culture. Like a lot of our music highlights some of the pop music we have today in the 21st century like Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and even Katy Perry.
LK- haha cool so which one would you say you represent in the rock society?
Olli- Oh I would most certainly say I was the Lady Gaga! You know I love myself, I can honestly say I am obsessed haha.
Pepe- Definitely the quirkiest…So I would agree with Lady Gaga haha!
LK- What’s the most surreal experience you have had as Reckless Love?
Olli- erm…Well I would say all of it, as when we started this group as Reckless Life and we did cover songs of Guns and Roses, we did it for the pure enjoyment that we have for this genre of music, because we love to perform and be on stage, living the moments of rock and roll and how it should be. We never really thought it would get to this stage and we absolutely love it! So as I said all of it is a surreal experience for us.
LK- So Olli back when you were lead vocalist for Crashdiet what made the decision for you to choose Reckless Love in the end?
Olli- Well the obvious thing is that Crashdiet focus on the gloom and doom subjects and that’s just not who I am. So when I would be performing these songs all I wanted to do was smile and enjoy myself but you can’t really be smiling when singing about depressing subjects, wouldn’t do so well for the image haha. Reckless Love was the first band I put together so there would be no question in the matter, I stuck with Reckless Love and it will stay like that through time.
LK- Europe and Finland especially are known for the dark, doom and death metal, how have you managed to compete against that?
Pepe- There is just no competition haha.
Olli- haha… we don’t really need to compete, our fans like us for who we are and what we represent.
Pepe- as our music is obviously the better choice…haha but erm enough said really…
LK- Okay a lot of the people in the rock society go on about how some bands are stuck within the 80’s and we should all move on…how have you managed to keep the essence of what made the 80’s amazing into the 21st century?
Olli- I would definitely like to think we have brought it into the 21st century. We want to bring back the 80s as it was a time when people took pleasure in rock and roll….We want to bring back the real meaning. For fans to dance, party and express themselves. That is what rock and roll is all about and I think after the 80’s over time that started to get lost and we hopefully have succeeded in bringing it back.
LK- I would say you most certainly have! Okay I have to ask this question as your album is based on ‘animal attraction.’ What animal would you be haha and why?
Olli- A Parrot!
LK- Interesting not what I was expecting and why would that be?
Olli- A parrot is so colorful and a parrot mimics others and when I started singing I learnt by following and copying others, also when a parrot gets no attention they start to pull out their feathers…attention seekers…that’s me for sure a attention seeker! It’s a good think I don’t actually have feathers as I am allergic to them so errr… that wouldn’t be such a good thing haha.
LK- Haha so you would end up doing the Britney Spears thing then for attention shaving your hair off hehe!
Olli- Haha yeah I probably would…
Pepe- I would be a COCK!…hahaha…
LK- Haha I wonder why that would be then..
Jalle- I would be a dog…
Hasse- (joins the interview at the very end) I would be an eagle, a panther, a lion erm…
LK- Haha I was waiting for someone to say lion.
Olli- What would be the one animal you wouldn’t want to be?
LK- Erm I would have to say a rat!
Olli- Really but they can survive anything…what a crazy life they lead.
Hasse- I know and they have these huge butts and still go through a hole that is the size of their heads… you look at them and think your butt is not going to fit through but it does they just sort of squash it all in haha amazing.
LK- Still no, if I were to be animal I think I would be a hyena as I have a very odd sense of humor and pretty much laugh at anything!
Olli- hmmm I wonder if any other animal can laugh…
Hasse- Haha good point…
LK- Haha well I haven’t got a clue but I’m sure they do in their own animal way maybe haha erm…well thank you guys for your time and cannot wait for the show…have a good one!
Pictures courtesy of John McGibbon Photography.
