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Band page - Overhead
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Band Profile
What is your name and your current position in the band?
Alex Keskitalo, Lead singer
How would you categorize the style of the band? And did you ever consider or try
playing other styles of music than the one(s) you are playing now?
We are usually described as playing symphonic rock and progressive rock, but we
are currently deviating towards some kind of alternative rock. We would like to
be called transcendental rock, but hey what can you do.. we have tried multiple
genres from straight-up pop to reggae, but we pretty much always ended up
sounding generic somehow.. go figure ;)
What is your latest album and why should people buy it?
Our latest album is called "And We're Not Here After All" and you should go get
it because it will open up your world like Pink Floyd did for the hippies of
'69. Better yet, get our DVD "Live After All" and you get the visuals on top!
Seriously though, the contemporary prog scene is stale at best, so losing faith
in that genre is understandable, but since when was that a given? Since the
90's? dude that was ages ago. We think things have progressed since then. Pun
intended.
Tell us about the history of the band. More specifically, when was the band
formed, how did you meet, and have there been any particular highlights or low
points in your career, any crucial events that have taken you where you are
today?
10 years ago we had our first rehearsals. That was what, 1999? I was recruited
using the internet, no less. Newsgroups to be precise. As I recall it, the guys
had some songs already, quirky proggy numbers, kinda' awful to be honest, but oh
the potential... we recorded a demo with 10 songs and called it The Snowman
Album, and put some cheesy clip art on the cover. Good times.. anyway, that
album/demo was officially buried years ago, so don't even bother trying to get a hold of it.
Fast forward to 2002, we had just finished our debut album, Zumanthum, and found
ourselves trapped between a drummer that only wanted to polish his kit and play dream
theater, and an Italian record company with alleged connections to the mafia. This is our
lowest point so far. Easy peasy, ditch the company, and as the drummer moved to a silly
place called Turku, ditch him too. Job well done.
Was there ever a time when you wondered if your band would remain just a local
outfit and never make it in the industry?
You have to understand that in the context of living in Finland, being a local
outfit is as high as you can get (Rasmus, HIM, Lordi, Hanoi Rocks
notwithstanding of course), and as you can surely imagine, being top dog would
mean pandering to the masses is no longer a side effect of killer material, but
rather it would become your main concern. And being the biggest fish in such a
small pond does not even mean you would get rich or anything like that. Believe
me, I actually had a hit single at no.1 for 9 consecutive weeks, and I can
honestly say, all I got was this lousy t-shirt. (check out Mikä Kesä by
Valvomo, 2006). With that perspective in mind, I am more enthusiastic than ever
about our upcoming album. There is a feeling in the air.. I can taste it. It
whispers to me: tell them to check us out before everyone else finds out. All
you music snobs know exactly what I mean.
Can you share with us one or two of your favourite moments with the band?
It is late 2006, and we are all crammed into an station wagon with our gear
doing 200 km/h in eastern Germany, all hung over and shit. We are driving like
lunatics because we are running dangerously close to missing our flight back
home after our first European tour, and just when we start to feel like we might
just make it, traffic goes from 200km/h to 0 in a matter of seconds, and it
looks like it is all over. We start calling the airline, and devising strategies
on where to get money for a hotel etc. When after an hour or so of waiting,
traffic picks up again, and we speed like shit out of the constipated polar bear
(old Finnish saying) all the way to the car rental drop off, and grab our gear,
about 30kg of awkward bulky sensitive stuff per weak musician, and run like
spirited crackheads on acid with our fucking Finnish winter clothing on for what
seemed like miles and miles of as-fast-as-you-can-muster obstacle course
acrobatic action. In the end we barely made it, sweating profusely, we sat down
in the plane and the only question in our minds was when will we tour next. This
is fun!
How is the writing process in the band?
We write our music in the usual manner, you know, someone strikes a note, or a
combination of notes, and someone else reacts to it. In the end it is often
difficult, or borderline impossible to say with any certainty, who wrote what.
It is in this spirit that we try to treat each other as geniuses, each of their
own field. 'Nuff said.
What brought you on the path to becoming a musician? Did you ever consider or
take any other paths through life besides music?
First and foremost, if you want/need money, GET A JOB. I cannot stress this
enough. Becoming a musician for the money is like drinking the piss of a polar
bear for its refreshing qualities (old Finnish saying), and will get you
nowhere. On the other hand, if you want/need chicks & fame & stuff, by all
means, become a musician. With any luck it can all work out nicely :) Just don't
play prog rock or you will end up with mostly old men after you.. a joke of
course, but a mean one, granted. Back to the point, I don't believe in any
single path, be it occupational or otherwise, I think the key is to build a nice
zen-ish ying-yangy kind of life, like the proverbial renaissance man, or the
ideal marxist human. Programmer by day, international rock star by night. Or the
other way around, whatever.
Do you have any idols? If yes, who?
No, just this one dude, the great honorable Mr. Syd Barret. He is the one
person who went to the deep end of the pool and was able to communicate the
experience all the way up to the gates of utter insanity, at which point he was
already too far to ever turn back. Sure he did re-appear a few times, but
jumping up and down brushing his teeth etc. just doesn't count. If you're
wondering what the hell am I going on about you obviously haven't got a clue.
Here's a hint: please please check out early Pink Floyd. It goes as deep as you
can follow it, and as an added plus, it works wonderfully on a strictly academic
pop-sensible level too! Unbeatable.
Do you have any regrets looking back at your career? For example any songs or
even full albums that you regret recording? If so, what made you regret it?
Nope, life is good.
Are there particular songs in your catalogue that the fans love but you're not
particular fond of yourself?
Well there is this one song that we keep getting pestered about, for some
reason there is always this certain type of person in the audience who wants to
hear "Butterfly's Cry". For a while it was a problem because I thought we didn't
actually do such a good job interpreting it live, but nowadays it has gained a
hard ecstatic edge so its ok now.
How important do you rate the lyrical side of your albums?
Hello, this is the main lyricist speaking here, as far as I am concerned lyrics
are the tip of the iceberg. err.. by this I mean that for most people lyrics
represent the visible part of a hidden giant, which exists only to keep the tiny
tip afloat. On the other hand the main bulk of the actual musicianship is deep
underwater, and oh so often totally under-appreciated, but without a strong and
large musical bulk of err.. ice under the lyrics, the song can never even reach
visibility. This is where this analogy breaks down. It is so often the case that
the whole song is utterly let down by crap lyrics. For me, the music has to
sound like it is trying to say something important, but cannot put it into
words, and all I have to do is listen and translate it into words and sentences.
In the end it will all make sense and it will appear as if the lyrics are the
centerpiece, with all other elements acting as subtle support, but this is all
just a carefully constructed illusion.
What do you think about the state of the music industry today?
What music industry are you talking about? The one which needs to grow every
year just to make end meet? The one that needs to sell sell sell the same albums
to you multiple times? The one that promotes flavor-of-the-week
grab-the-money-and-run exploit schemes? The one that sues listeners for sharing
music with their peers? Fuck that, that industry has been dead or dying since
1995 (or 1970, whatever). There is a whole new world out there where music is
free, not necessarily free as in free beer but free as in freedom of speech.
The need for the classic record companies that manufacture plastic discs is
over, and banks can loan you the money for recording just the same as record
companies can. There will always be a need for promoters though, and that,
I think, is the beef of the matter. Business opportunities abound for the
adventurous, death to the conservatives!
What do you think is the best way to fight music piracy?
Do what we do, give it away for free! We have had our old album(s) available
for free download for years. Technically we cannot offer free downloads for the
current stuff because of licensing matters, but as soon as those expire, they
will be out there too. Anyway, I have it from the horses mouth that leaking your
new album onto the net prior to the official release date is excellent promotion
practice. But coming back to the question, the best way to fight piracy would be
to enforce a worldwide death penalty for even humming a copyrighted song in the
street without permission from the copyright holders. That would teach everyone.
We are not far off though. That is the scary part. I know, I know, no-one will
punish you for humming Metallica on the street but it is illegal right? These
laws make pirates of us all.
Do you have a life philosophy? If yes, what is it?
Yes. But to properly understand it you would have to be fluent in Finnish. It
is: "Sä vaan teet" which loosely translated is: "Just do it". And yes I am aware
of Nike incorporated using a very similar creed, but dammit, it's good!
Can you describe a typical day in your life?
No.
What do you like to spend your time with besides music?
I would like to dig a hole so deep and wide that it will be there for
millennia. They would call it "Alex's hole".
What's the craziest thing that has ever happened on a tour?
I get the feeling I answered this already, but there was this one time when our
drummer Ville was taken away by the Swedish police for suspected DUI, nothing
dramatic, but they did lecture him on how to cheat a alcohol blood level test. I recall that the key was drinking lots of water and stalling for time. Makes
sense. Then there was the time we spent a night at L'Escala in Spain and our
bass player found the meaning of life as he vomited in the ocean.. I actually
missed this one, as I had strapped myself to the drivers seat with a scarf. To
keep me upright as I slept, you understand.
You're heading off to live on a deserted island for a couple of years with your
portable entertainment system... Which albums, movies or books would you bring?
(Max. 3 of each)
1. The Idiots guide to not getting stranded on a desert island
2. Pirates of the Caribbean, the one where jack explains how he got off the
island
3. Profeetta ja uusi maailmanuskonto: hallusinogenesis - Finnish freakout
music.
What is your favourite joke?
The fisherman caught a whale, and called the police asking what they should do
with it, to which the policeman answered: "put it on the boat, and we'll worry
about it tomorrow".
Apparently only a handful of greenlanders will understand this one, I certainly
don't :)
Can you tell us about any future plans for you and your band?
Difficult question. I will have to tread lightly as I must not divulge too many
details of our master plan. We will try to find our way around Europe possibly
April-may 2010, and by then we should have some shocking new material half
ready, which we will proceed to forge in the hellish fires of live performance,
and return home with some form of mantlepiece (last time we stole the flag of
the E.U) and battle-hardened songs which will materialize on our hard disks by
the end of summer, and if all goes well, we might have a Christmas release on
our hands, how repulsive would that be!
Thanks for answering these questions. Now you are free to write a few lines to
our readers.
Have you noticed that the world tastes different now. There is something in the
air that was not there before now. A taste of subdued panic. The panic of now.
This is not the world we know, or even the world we see. No, this is not a bug
in the matrix, don't be an idiot.
There is no structure in the now, there is only ordered chaos or chaotic order,
can't really tell. Is this where I live? No. Most people live mentally in some
form of what is commonly known as "the past". As you are reading this, consider
for a moment, if only as a mental exercise, that you are not really here, I mean
in the "right now"-moment. And even if you are, do you really feel that this
physical body of matter is you. In the now.
Conversely, if you truly feel that this lump of flesh is the true proper you,
and that you are here now in the now, then for the love of god don't go listen
to our newest album "And We're Not Here After All", it could fuck you up
permanently :)
Oh, and don't forget that a dose of mysticism a day keeps the doctor away.
The eternal battle of the doctor trying to get in.
Uh.. need to go to sleep now, before the frontal lobe begins to cast doubts.
Quickly now.. send.. "click"
Added by Steen - 10/13/2009
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