Categories
Interviews Music

Another shot on the rocks

The second coming of rockers Hanoi Rocks has lasted already six years. That’s as long as the classic period of the band lasted in the eighties. Obviously, these last six years haven’t been as intense, but the new Hanoi Rocks almost has their third album ready since its rebirth to be release in September.

Like Jagger and Richards, The Muddy Twins are two very different characters: in a colourful pink jacket, Monroe speaks and moves fast and loud, whilst McCoy breathes deeply and mutters. One is the diva, the other, the gypsy. But both sound positive about the upcoming album: “it’s going to be a very strong record”, the singer says. “Now the band is perfectly balanced, which it was not before when we were still searching around”, the guitarist adds.

Former Electric Boys members, Swedes Conny Bloom (guitar) and Andy (AC) Christell (bass), brought the needed stability to the band in 2005. “It took until now to make the band into a strong unit”. This unity will be reflected on the new album. “For this record we have worked as a band from the start”, Monroe explains. “On the previous album we started recording just Andy, our drummer Lacu and me. It took a long time and there were lots of overdubs, so it was difficult to mix. Now we have the basics: drums, guitars, bass, vocals and some overdubs, but not much: just a few solos, some sax and percussion. And everybody has contributed to the song writing, even Lacu!”

"We haven’t changed! Only the ones with enough identity survive" – Andy McCoy

{mosimage}No matter what, every new step of Hanoi Rocks will be compared to its past. “We haven’t changed! Only the ones with enough identity survive”, says McCoy. For Mike Monroe, that’s the only way to go: “Trends come and go. We don’t try to follow anything and we do not compromise ourselves for money or anything. It’s essential to survive, even to sleep and look at yourself in the mirror. Some of those bands in the 80s took the easy way out. They made a lot of money then, but now they are worn out and miserable. They are stuck in the eighties and they look like parodies of themselves. That’s what happens when you sell your soul!”

After so many years in show business, the blonde singer knows that it is difficult to trust anyone: “More than 90% of the people in this business are crooks. In the first three years of the reunion we had a lot of people that were supposed to be managing the band but they were actually damaging the band. Big money was wasted. It was totally out of control. It’s not enough to have the greatest band in the world; one also needs a great team behind it. Now we are lucky and we have it”.

Hanoi N’ Roses

Hanoi Rocks was a great influence on Guns N’ Roses. Some even say that if they wouldn’t have split up 1985, the Finns would have been a stadium band as big as Guns N’ Roses was later on. Both bands collaborated with each other and Michael Monroe appeared on the epic Use Your Illusion albums playing sax and harmonica on one song, and also adding some vocals to Ain’t It Fun on The Spaghetti Incident?

But does Michael know when Chinese Democracy will be released? “No. Perhaps by the time there’s democracy in China. Axl Rose has always been nice to me and I wish him good luck, but I wish he had the old band today. Those guys had a great chemistry. It’s what happens when big money gets in the way. It’s what destroys bands. People start talking to each other through lawyers. I don’t envy Axl’s situation. Doing the same record for ten years is not normal anymore”.

The single Fashion is out now.

You can watch the video at
www.myspace.com/hanoirocksofficial

Categories
Features Music

Sounds good! Get your earplugs in!

Appropriately in this metal-mad country, the first events are loud and proud of it.

Sauna Open Air Metal (7-9 June) in Tampere’s Eteläpuisto kicks the season off with a big bang – if you don’t find Megadeth, Heaven and Hell, Type O Negative scary. Promoter Jussi Santalahti comments “This year’s will be the best ever (12,000/day) as I got the bands I wanted at this time, so next year we may need a new venue.”  

Provinssirock (15-17 June) is held in woods outside Seinäjoki in outback Pohjanmaa. This is for youngsters to expend energy, make and lose mates. As there’s nowhere near enough accommodation, most tent it. Very social, each one touching cloth with the next. Minimal privacy. 

The site is split between five stages, crowds troop from one to another via a stream. With an average age of 20, everything’s over-indulged. Mature people (25+) may think twice unless they have a safe nest. Camping areas resemble refugee camps after a war with bodies scattered around. First Aid does brisk business. 

Despite its location, Provinssirock attracts eclectic artistes: Marilyn Manson, Manic Street Preachers, Faith No More, Suede, REM and Black Sabbath. So this year’s Scissor Sisters, Patti Smith, Amy Winehouse and MUCC may not seem a theme, but there’s something for everyone whose still compos mentus – or not. Promoter Juha Koivisto informs “We’re now a stopover between Sweden and Russia while for others, Scandinavia is a big market.” 

Tuska Open Air Metal Festival at Helsinki’s central Kaisaniemi Park. A triple treat (29 June-1 July) for the jet black set with music that splits ears and atoms. But that matters not to the 11,000 inside. Although a guaranteed sell-out, fear not – join the throng outside where you’ll be able to hear the ‘lyrics’ clearly growled.  

Tuska 2007 is the 10th and features subtle masters of the dark arts as W.A.S.P., Pain, Hatesphere, and Children of Bodom (a local band whose name derives from a bloody unsolved triple murder 50 years ago). Power, doom, goth, thrash are all here for this must-see metal bash. And don’t be cowed by the fans, as Promoter Jouni Markkanen says “They’re much nicer than they look!”  

Simultaneously, Puistoblues on Saturday (30 June) is a picnic on pasture by a lake for ‘mature’ types. 2007 is the festival’s pearl anniversary. It’s volunteer-organised by blues lovers in quaint Järvenpää, but no worries – it’s a train ride from Helsinki with transport at the station to ferry fans to the venue at a set rate. 

Puistoblues’s legends over 30 years lists John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, George Thorogood, BB King, Jeff Healy, Santana. But recent lack of star names and wet weather mean it’s on a financial tightrope. If it’s sunny, 14,000 can relax comfortably on the gentle slope and appreciate Johnny Winter, Keb Mo and supports for 49 euro. 

After Tuska moshers head for Ruisrock in Ruissalo park outside Turku – so no decibel difficulties here. The mid-July weekend (6th-8th) has a bigger capacity (30,000) with a 3-day pass at €90 great value – if your eardrums don’t implode. 

Europe’s second-oldest festival (Holland’s Pinkpop was first) celebrates its 38th with bands on five stages, two inside a tent! As a trial, in addition to the small one for 800 people, Promoter Juhani Merimaa will erect a 10,000-capacity big top. Why? 

“It’s for bands wanting to use their lightshows. Here the sun sets at 11pm and after 3 hours twilight it’s up again. For foreign acts that’s strange, Mew and Tool played late last year to get the best effects. If more want to do it this year, we don’t have the slots.” 

Ruisrock’s music mix comprises The Flaming Lips, The Ark (fresh from Eurovision success?), Mastodon and The Hives. Look out for the Stockholm ferries behind the main stage around 8 and 9 pm. A sight which caused Oasis’ Liam Gallagher to mouth “What the ****!” 

Ilosaarirock (14-15 July) is on an island in the river that flows through Joensuu and will claim its 10th consecutive sell-out. Mainly for local yokels as accommodation is sparse unless a mosquito symphony in a tent appeals. This year’s not-so-magnetic acts are heavyish: Anthony B, The Business, CunninLynguists, HIM and Opeth. 

{mosimage}For old-timer Pori Jazz (14-22 July) it’s the last 4 days where famous names perform in Kirjurinluoto Park across from the city on the river Aura’s far bank. This is the 42nd edition of the festival and its age shows. Artistic Director-Founder Jyrki Kangas admits “We regenerate the festival every 10 years and now we must attract new audiences too.” 

As most jazzmen have blown their last note, that audience has shrivelled apace, so Pori Jazz became an all-round festival. There’s a gamut of venues and the Jazz Street, but the big guns perform at Kirjurin Arena where Sting attracted a record 36,000 last summer. Warning: Pori is small with limited facilities. 

So schools, homes, practically anywhere will let you lie on a mattress (bring your own sleeping bag) for money. It may feel unusual staying in a stranger’s home (if they’re away it costs more), but you’re only supposed to sleep there…. It’s a very Finnish egalitarian thing, which may not suit those from class-structured societies. Snoozing in vehicles is popular too. 

Prices vary but it’s the festival where you can usually buy a ticket at the door. Thursday and Friday see Natalie Cole and Sly and the Family Stone top the bill, Saturday has Steely Dan and maybe Elvis Costello, who is a serial late-canceller á la eight years ago, thus the uncertainty. Pray hard Elvis fans. 

Sunday is ‘picnic day’ though Pori Jazz’s hallmark is fans flopped on the grass at KA with bottles and snacks on blankets. 2007’s finale is strong: veterans Blood, Sweat and Tears, John Scofield and Medeski as the festival closes with reggae legend Bob Marley’s son Ziggy. Jazz? 

Ankkarock’s timing (5-6 August) pushes meteorological luck. As Promoter Merimaa said after a muddy weekend “It was more like a duck pond than Duck Rock (its English name)”. Heavy again: Nine Inch Nails, Japanese rock Dir En Grey and The Ark are familiar names as you may have noticed. Look up the website for further details.  

But these all depend on the ‘fan in the sky’ blessing them with good weather for a memorable occasion. Amen, hallelujah and amaze the horde. 


Categories
Misc News

Samantha Marie José Sayegh wins Ourvision

Categories
Features Music

It’s our song!


The contest started in January. Depending on their roots, participates were divided in four different groups: Afrovision, Arabvision, Latinvision and Asiavision. The winners of each group went to the final which will be held this Saturday.


The lucky finalists are:

 

 

Afrovision
Prince Levy (Ivory Coast)
Sofy Kapepula (Kongo)

Arabvision
Aida Murad (Irak)
Samantha Marie José Sayegh (Lebanon)

Asiavision
Eva Wong (Malaysia)
Anfisa Proskuryakova (Ulan-Ude, Siberia)

Latinvision
Tatiana Pereira (Brazil)
Fabiane Laube (Brazil)

The grand finale is hosted by Aria Arai and Jani Toivola. The winner will received 2,000 euro and cola products for a whole year.

Read more about this contest: Ourvision, (Y)our Music! by Silvia Costantini

Ourvision Song Contest Grand Finale

Saturday 5.5. 8-11 p.m.
Savoy-teatteri,
Kasarmikatu 46-48, Helsinki

Tickets: 8 euro (half price for students, pensioners and unemployed people)

Categories
Cover story Misc

Participating youth – A risk or an opportunity?

Annantalo Arts Centre is a member of the European Network of Art Organisations for Children and Young People (EUnetART) and will be hosting the event in Finland, along with EUnetART and Finnish Aladdin’s Lamp network, which enhances children's art education in Finland. This year’s festival will be held in partnership with the City of Helsinki, Passion2 seminar organized by Annantalo Arts Centre with Pedaali Association and various art institutions from the Capital region.

The conference will be preceded by the SpringLab. This is highlighted by the participation of ISH group from Holland, who will work with groups of Finnish children from Vantaa Mikkola School and have presentations for the results of their project on Saturday, 5th May in Tikkurila lukio hosted by the Cultural Services of Vantaa City.

While it might be true to say that the youth culture today lacks a steady footing, particularly in relation to art, listening to the director of Annantalo Arts Centre, Johanna Lindstedt, during an interview last Friday gave a broader overview of the reality of art and creativity even among children and youth in Helsinki region. It also paved way to recognise other creative activities that are taking place in other towns around Finland.

The Aladdin’s Lamp (Taikalamppu in Finnish) was launched six years ago and has managed to touch upon many aspects of children and art in Finland, and also forms a network that offers funding to pilot projects that target children and youth. So far there are many towns that have inaugurated the Aladdin’s Lamp, among which are Helsinki, Vantaa, Pori, and Hämeenlinna. These form a network that shares and implements ideas that strengthen the growth of children and youth art work in Finland.

My interest had been growing over the weeks regarding arts participation of young people in Helsinki region. Living in Helsinki metropolitan and being witness to the idleness of many youth gives one thoughts of what is not being done to occupy these youths, and what can be done to indulge them in something worthwhile, even useful for their future. This year's EUnetART festival offers an opportunity for participants, personnel of culture and education, along with teachers of children and people, to learn the success of others, adapt new ways of involving youth and children in art and cultural activities and also motivate them into new endeavours of their choice.

Categories
Art Exhibitions

The Siida Museum

 

{mosimage}The Triangle of Life

Theoretically, at least, Sami artist Tuula-Maija Magga-Hetta’s exhibition is thought-provoking. Almost all of the exhibits in the Sami Museum’s gallery are based around the triangle: the shape of the traditional Sami tent, a shape associated with unrequited love, but also the strongest of shapes. But this is, perhaps, as far as the originality goes.

Despite all the arty verbosity in the press release (“The triangle of life is reflected on our moments in the form of a triangle of destiny. We meet our triangle in the fells…”), there is very little that is original or distinctive in this exhibition. In essence, it is typical Sami handicraft: twigs, Sami colours, reindeer-related stuff, colourful textiles, carefully displayed and occasionally given interesting titles.

The triangle dimension is a nice touch but it hardly compensates for the fact that there are scores of places in Lapland –both in Finland and Norway– where you can see handicraft just like this, indeed possibly more original than this. If you merely want to look at Sami handicraft, it may well be worth waiting until July when Inari will be populated with tents from which Sami will sell their various creations… and it will be free to look around those.

At a time when Lapland has become extremely touristy –and saturated with Sami handicraft– a Sami artist needs to approach the tradition in a strikingly original and fresh way. Although the triangle metaphor is interesting, I don’t think Magga-Hetta’s exhibition is fresh and striking enough.

Until the 6th May 2007

 

{mosimage}“Rewind!” Arctic Russia in Archival Films

Some exhibitions are so breathtakingly bizarre that they are worth seeing simply for that reason. ‘Rewind!’ definitely falls into that category. The exhibition’s blurb seems pretty boring: it is archive footage of life in Soviet Arctic Russia. But when you actually get to the exhibition you can do things like watch Russian TV from decades ago in a typical forty-year-old Russian front-room and change the channel by moving around on the sofa.

You can be filmed against an age-old Arctic Russian backdrop of reindeer herders as if you are there with them and, most peculiarly of all, you have the chance to mix different examples of Russian archive footage with various examples of old Russian music to create the appropriate mood for the film. But the exhibition also reflects a more serious purpose. Much of the archive footage involved, which is at any rate very rare, has been painstakingly restored and rescued from unsuitable and damaging conditions.

So the whole project aims to ‘protect the cultural heritage’ of northern Finland and Russia. But an exhibition of Soviet archive footage, no matter how rare and significant, could sound mind-numbingly dull to many people. However, this really is entertaining, original and… well… just plain bizarre. Whatever the exhibition is, it is great fun and worth having a look at.

Until the 20th May 2007

 

Both exhibitions are at the Siida Museum, Inari, Lapland.

The Siida Museum also houses permanent exhibitions about Sami life, nature in Lapland, the Northern Lights and an open air museum recreating traditional Sami houses and traps. All of them are highly recommended.

Prices: Adults (€8), Children (€4), Students/Pensioners (€6.50)

Categories
Books Features

The demon crush – Interview with Kristian Huitula

In 1999 you moved to Japan, why did you choose this country?

I've always been interested in Japan. I started training ninjutsu in 1990 and since then it has had a very important meaning in my whole life. In 1999 I had the opportunity to move to Tokyo and study the animation process in the studios responsible for Ghost in the Shell. It was a turning point in my life because I even met my wife there!

Oni Kudaki is a collaboration with your wife and that makes it the first Finnish-Japanese comic production. How was it?

Of course, she was a very good assistant. She helped me be very precise with details. I wanted to do a historical story, but the plot is fiction and the details are accurate, just like the real 16th century Japan. It's not only fantasy, as I did a lot of background research since 2000.The idea had already been in my mind for quite some time. The time spent in Japan gave the final kick: all the experiences about Japanese culture, people, nature, training… I think all of that has had a strong impact, that without it Oni Kudaki wouldn't have been possible.

Music is a big part of your life. You studied classical guitar for more than ten years. How would the soundtrack of Oni Kudaki be?

Oni Kudaki

It wouldn't be too modern. There would be lot of ambience to get a mysterious feeling. It would be a bit spooky music, indeed.

A couple of years ago Kristian Huitula received great acclaim because of his adaptation of the legendary Kalevala. It is the first and only comic adaptation of the Finnish national epic and it has been translated to English and Russian.

How was this idea developed?

It's hard to say. When I read it at school I didn't hate it. I didn't have any traumas as most of the children at the time, although I didn't become a Kalevala freak. Some parts got stuck in my mind.

What was the most difficult part of adapting this epic?

It is such a long story that I wasn't sure if it would work as a comic. Editing was the hardest part: how to tell the 50 runes of the Kalevala in less than 200 pages.

Do you find any similarities between Finnish and Japanese legends and myths?

Sure. For example, there is a certain mystic sense of nature that strongly links both. The shamanism that has obviously a specific importance in Kalevala, is very closely connected with nature and all the different “gods and spirits” inhabiting the nature and the forests. On the other hand, the Japanese Shinto religion and its gods and spirits (Kami) which are present in all Japanese legends, is also related to natural elements, sacred trees and mountains, for example. Those nature spirits have quite an important role in the stories of both Kalevala and the old Japanese legends. They are important characters that get involved with the people's activities, and also make the story move on.

Oni Kudaki – The Magician and the Ghost Boy is published in the English language.

More information: www.huitula.com

Categories
Cover story Misc

Dance, dance, dance

Since the late-eighties an association of artists have worked for the production of modern dance performances and activities. In 1997 that association was established in a permanent place at Kaapeli (Cable Factory) with the aim of supporting the production of contemporary dance. Now Zodiak is doing better than ever. The second annual Z-In-Motion festival takes places in May and about 15-20 productions are presented every year. How is this done? Let's take a small tour behind the scenes.

Are you a dancer? Do you want to produce a piece? Send your application! Dancer-choreographer Vera Nevanlinna is part of the board of the Zodiak Presents Association. Every year the board decides the performances to be produce from all the received applications. “It is a really hard selection process because every year there is 70 or 80 applicants and we only produce 15 or 20 of them.” Don't give up if your application is not approved, “Production will be harder then and to rent a performance space will be more expensive,” Vera acknowledges, “but I think people should try to do it.”

Vera has danced since she was three. “Someone told my mother that I wasn't walking, but that I was dancing,” she tells. Since 1998 she has been involved with Zodiak and currently she is premiering the solo piece News, a 20-minute piece that she learned from the Deborah Hay performance commissioning project in Scotland last September. I agreed to practice the piece at least for three months before the first public performance,” Vera explains, “and that means that I do the piece in its entirety five times a week during those three months.”

 

 {mosimage}

 

As in any production, someone needs to take care of managing the money. This spring, choreographer Hanna Pajala-Assefa is taking care of that part of the productions. “I don't get the money but I just coordinate the budget. It's quite nice to be able to help the production because as a choreographer I know that when the premiere is getting closer your mind is getting more and more focused with the artist work, so it's hard to get involved with the practical problems.”

Those practical problems can be very diverse, “I was working in a production some weeks ago and in the performance they were using lots of toilet paper,” Hanna explains. “When I saw the rehearsal and I saw that they were using 15 or 20 rolls per show, it was obvious that they should get them free from someone. It that sense, it's nice to help. Fortunately, it didn't happen during the paper workers strike.”

An important aspect of the show is the technical requirements of every performance. Tuukka Törneblom has worked for one year at Zodiak as technical director. “My task here is to make the light and sound design possible. Sometimes people want to have something fancy and I have to say that it's not possible,” he clarifies. “There are lots of tricks to learn here because it's not the typical stage. We miss a backstage, there are windows. Many of those are still new for me.”

 

Education and workshops

Apart of the performances and the productions, Zodiak is devoted to spread the knowledge about contemporary dance. The center organizes different workshops and lectures. Choreographer Anu Rajala has been in charge of the workshop Dance as an Experience in Body and Mind this spring. This workshop was “open to anyone interested in learning and experiencing more about their own movement” and it was “focus on encountering, sensing and bodily communication within the group”. The workshop results in a public performance.

Katja Kirsi is in charge of Education and Outreach at Zodiak. She plans different ways for artists and audience to communicate. Pre and after performance talks are organized which allow audiences to learn about the artists' work. Zodiak is trying to reach the widest audiences possible, so even if Finnish is not your best language, every now and then workshops in other languages, such as English, French and German, are organized.

In addition, big efforts are done to integrate dance into schools and get the young into modern dance apart from the hip hop artists' MTV choreographies. “Feedback youngsters usually give is that modern dance is odd, but at the same time they say they enjoy it,” Katja points out. “One thing I try to say is that it can be good to challenge your mind. I try to give them hints and tips to understand the performance: Why are they feeling like this? Why are they reacting like that? They have new questions for themselves.”

Don't be afraid if you haven't seen contemporary dance. The dozens of performances during the Z-In-Motion festival are a good opportunity to discover this art, “Come and see many pieces. There are so many variations of modern dance that you need to see several performances to see the whole picture,” suggest Vera Nevanlinna suggests, but the best advice she gives is, “Don't trust what you saw on TV!”

Categories
Cinema Interviews

Commander Zero

Around the streets of Manugua, Edén Pastora carries a gun while driving a car brought from Mexico and speaks to the camera. It is the first sequence of the documentary Edén Pastora – Commander Zero (Eden Pastora – Komentaja Nolla). The film portrays one of the most intriguing characters of the revolution in Nicaragua and follows him in the municipal elections for mayor of Manuagua in 2006.

The documentary was made by Spanish filmmaker Álvaro Pardo, who has been living and working in Finland since 1979 when he decided to moved from Madrid to study cinema at the School of Motion Picture, Television and Production Design in Helsinki. “I didn't mean to stay this long in Finland. I was just a visiting student, trying to learn editing and cinema,” he remembers, “but then I started working, I got married and well, I'm still here.”

 

Why did you decide to make a documentary about Edén Pastora?

The idea came to my mind when I read an article that said that Edén Pastora was selling all his possessions because he didn't have any money to live. I was shocked because he had been such a great personality. We all also know that all the Sandinsta leaders are millionaires now, so I wanted to know why he was so poor.

How is possible that he didn't have the money?

He was considered a traitor, and a CIA agent, but he was only a guy who disagreed with the Sandinista regime. He received money from the CIA just to do something in which he believed, like he could have taken the money from any other source. He didn't have anything to do with the counter-revolution in Honduras.

{mosimage}Was it easy to get in touch with Edén?

Actually, it was. I got lucky. I didn't know much about Nicaragua and I didn't know anybody there. I contacted the author of an article I read that told good things about Edén. I contacted the journalist and he got me in touch with Edén. When I arrived there, Edén was in Mexico to get a car and nobody knew when he was coming back. After five or six days, he appeared. He's always very keen to be interviewed and I started the pre-production.

How was the filming?

It got a bit complicated because Edén never tells what he's planning to do the next day. It's a custom from his guerrilla days. Many people hate him there and would like to see him dead. I made two trips to Nicaragua. The first lasted around twenty days and then he decided to run for major, so I came back for another twenty days.

Is Managua a dangerous place?

Yes, it is. There's a lot of poverty and people have nothing to lose. Anything you have is more than they have.

What is your opinion about Edén now that you spent such a long time with him?

I always thought that many things he said in media were not true, but after spending time with him, everything he says is true. He is very optimistic and charismatic. One tends to like him so much that one is willing to do anything for him. On a bigger scale one might be able to fight and die for him.

Edén Pastora – Commander Zero will be show on YLE 2 on 8th May 2200

Categories
Interviews Music

Tender melodies

Sister Flo released their first album in 2001, through their own label. Since then the band has been one of Finland's pop secrets, continuously praised by critics. Their new album, The Healer, hits the note and will make people hum the melody of the first single "Hyvinkää". Sister Flo's music has a warm and tender quality, like coming from small Finnish village without making much noise. As humble and even shy, bassist Mikko Salonen and keyboard player Janne Lastumäki explain the secrets of Sister Flo.

How does it feel one week before your album comes out?

Mikko Salonen: Anxious at least! It's taken a long time. We started with the first demos almost two years ago.

Janne Lastumäki: So far there have been two good reviews of it. We're happy then.

Why did it take so long?

JL: It took a bit longer because Sama the singer made a solo album. I played in his solo live band and we played some shows in spring and summer, so that delayed working on the album. We didn't have any strict timeline. Nobody put on any pressure.

How different is it from your previous works?

MS: We're very happy with it. The songs are a natural development from our earlier albums. They are very diverse.

JL: On this album there are much faster songs, more similar to our live shows. Our previous works had a soft general sound and then our shows were much more direct and energetic. On The Healer there is a bit more of that rock side.

{mosimage}You seemed to work hard on the mood and the melodies of the songs? How is the mood of this album?

MS: I think it's a bit darker and a bit more mystical or fantasy like.

While recording and composing, do you pay attention to someone other band's music?

JL: Sometimes, yes. For example, in The Healer there is this song, "Spirit of Christmas". We talked about getting a dark atmosphere, like Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper".

Now you have a pretty intense tour ahead of you during May. What do you expect of it?

JL: Our first gig will be on the April 28th in Tavastia with Rubik and Matti Johannes Koivu. Starting in Tavastia is a luxurious start.

MS: This tour will be special. We are excited to play in new cities where we have never played, such as Vaasa and Rovaniemi.

Are you afraid of playing in small cities?

JL: It will be interesting to see how it goes. We've heard stories that in places like in Vaasa there might be only five people in the audience.

MS: We trust our music and ourselves, so even if there are only five people we won't feel depressed.

Sister Flo is different playing live on stage. The band is much more direct. Why is there this different?

JL: I thought about this and I came to the conclusion that in studio we can build these huge sound walls that it's very hard to replicate on stage. It feels natural to concentrate on the energy. It's rejoicing.

You have had some gigs abroad in cities such as Stockholm and London. Were they positive experiences?

JL: Absolutely. All the trips abroad have been very great and brought us together as a band and friends.

Where does the band's name come from?

MS: First we thought about being just Flo, because of the Norwegian football player, Tore André Flo. I don't know why. We just thought about it. Then we found out that there was a band with this band, so we had to find something else.

JL: Adding “sister” was a bit like a tribute to The Velvet Underground's song Sister Ray. Then we even noticed that there is a David Bowie song, "Queen Bitch", with the line, "He's down on the street / And he's trying hard /to pull sister Flo".


The Healer is available in all good record stores now.

Sister Flo's first out of print album, Boys of Cat, can be downloaded from the band's website: www.hansoovoice.com/sisterflo

 

 

 

Categories
Cover story Misc

The circus is in town

The Eurovision Song Contest enjoys a healthy popularity and it is more kitsch than ever. Last year there were more than eight million votes (either by phone call or SMS) and the contest is followed by large audiences, even in non-participant countries like India, Korea and New Zealand. Drag queens, monsters, boy bands and the usual melodic singers compete for being the big stars for one year (or day).This year is no exception. 
 
Verka Serdyuchka, the Ukrainian participant is a controversial drag queen who has raised a great deal of protest in her own country. Angry Ukrainian nationalists held demonstrations across the country against Verka, who was chosen as Ukraine’s entry by an overwhelming majority. The nationalists claim that Serdyuchka is a grotesque stereotype of a stupid Ukrainian villager.

No less controversial is the song by Israel’s candidate. The group is Teapacks and the song is Push the Button. It refers to “crazy rulers” and says that “he’s gonna blow us up to biddy, biddy kingdom come”. Did someone mention Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? The band denies it, but some weeks ago Eurovision spokesman Kjell Ekholm hinted that the song could be banned. Any publicity is good to pull out some votes.

{mosimage}Post-Lordi Finland
After last year's nightmare, Finland decided to choose a more conventional performer in the form of Idols-tailored singer Hanna Pakarinen. She will be the entry for the host country and her song has some strong rock guitars, but the melody is cheesy as only a Eurovision song can be. As host country, Hanna Pakarinen already qualifies to the finals and she will sing the fifth performance of the night.

But Finland does not only face the challenge of delivering a good musical performance. The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) is in charge of organizing the event, which will be held at Finland’s largest ice hockey hall the Hartwall Areena in Pasila, just a few kilometers from the city center – although YLE wants to name the hall the 'Helsinki Areena' for the event to avoid extra and free advertising. More than forty people in YLE have worked for months in the production of the event that has a budget of around 13 million euros. In spite of all the efforts, there have been some critiques already towards YLE’s work. The promised webcast of the contest draw failed and recently Estonia protested because of the lack of information from YLE about the technical aspects of the stage, the lighting and the sound.

Finnish polarities
The theme for this year’s contest will be “True Fantasy”, which “will embrace Finland and Finnishness in terms of the polarities associated with the country: light vs. darkness, northern fells vs. islands in the south, our strong bond to nature vs. fast technological development, taciturnity against inner strength and creative madness, as showcased by Lordi in an original way,” defines YLE’s Executive Producer Heikki Seppälä.Old national rivalries and friendships will arise again. Cyprus will give 12 points to Greece and Greece will do the same with Cyprus. One more time place your bets! And if you cannot stand the contest, put your earplugs in for the next few weeks.

Categories
Cover story Misc

Play your part!

Making films inside videogames has been a growing trend since the advent of 3D games in the '90s. Quake was the first videogame to give freedom and powerful resources to creators bringing hour long movies with custom built sets, special effects, graphics, real voices, sound effects and music could be created.

As the game engines, tools and 3D hardware improved and better and more diverse games were released, the popularity of making movies with games increased. Today, this trend is known as machinima, a term that defines both a production technique and a film genre. Machinima (pronounced: muh-sheen-eh-mah) is a combination of filmmaking, animation and game development. It is movies made within a real-time, 3D virtual environment, often using 3D video-game technologies.

Machinima takes the basics of real world filmmaking into the virtual world of the game. Pre-production is needed to prepare the screenplay, the storyboard, the sets, the characters and camera positions. Once everything is ready, filming can start.

Ready! Action! Go! The game starts when the players with the game controllers, instead of playing it, perform their role in the movie, as any other actor. The shooting of the movie can be through network playing. Machinima makers can also produce the movie on their own by using automated script and other tools, usually provided by the developers of the game. After the shooting, a period of post-production is needed for editing, adding special effects, music and sound.

This technique is much faster and cheaper to produce than traditional CGI animation. Sets and characters can easily be changed and there is no need for expensive hardware and software tools. The films are quickly spread over the Internet and community forums. Machinima fans created the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences, where one can watch, create and share a variety of films.

 

{mosimage}Popular series

The most popular 3D games provide the scenarios for machinima works. Rooster Teeth is one of the most popular machinima community websites. They are the creators of The Strangerhood, a sit-com based on The Sims 2, where a bunch a Sims is gathered in an apartment for unknown reasons. Based in the game Halo, Burns has created Red vs. Blue. In this series nine intergalactic soldiers are stuck in a non-descript landscape. They are supposed to fight each other, but they wonder why they are there in the first place and joke about profound matters.

Grand Theft Auto, Second Life, Unreal Tournament and almost any 3D game can be the environment for a machinima work. As computers get more powerful, more people join the community and this goes mainstream. Several producers are already selling DVD of their films and series. If you play it, film it!

Machinima films can be watch at www.machinima.com

 

Categories
Articles Misc

One big family!

But we are animals after all and have a strong need to belong to a group. Luckily there’s a solution to this. The communities and families have been replaced by the celebrities! They make us feel the safe sense of belonging! They are all ours to share!

In the good old days we used to peek from behind the net curtains to see what the neighbours were up to. Nowadays we peek into the media. Oh, how we yearn to know what the prime minister likes to cook for his beauty or with whom a TV-presenter went on holiday. The celebrities have become the family we all share. We love to hate them and simply can’t live without them. But unlike with family we can choose them. We can elect whom we want and whom we don’t want as our nearest and dearest. Ah – such freedom!

Kimi Räikkönen is the village boy done well. We are all happy for his successes as long as he doesn’t forget his humble roots. Susan Kuronen (does anybody remember her?) has become the equivalent to the outrageous aunt who dances on the tables at the family weddings and snogs anyone she can lay her hands on. The Idols contestants are those cute kids who perform at the county hall and we admire in them the innocence and courage we once all had. We also have Britney, the wild girl of the town. She was such a nice girl but don’t know what’s happened to her lately. And hasn’t Victoria lost an awful lot of weight? I don’t think all is well between her and David, oh no…

A couple of summers ago I decided not to read any yellow press ever again. All went really well at first. I felt pure and elevated above all things common and base. But soon I was to notice that I could not take part in an idle chit chat as I was not up to scratch with my media gossip. So I’ve resorted to taking an occasional look at the mags when at the hairdressers and I read the headlines spread out in the windows of every shop.

But now I’ve taken a step even further though. I’m entertaining the idea of moving to the country and returning back to the small community of my childhood. As I gaze into the eyes of my beloved underneath an apple tree outside of the farmhouse we could one day live in, I’m quite sure I could be happy to view the world through my net curtains and gossiping and being gossiped about in the market square. I’d happily leave the Britneys and Susans to the city dwellers with freedom and individuality. I’d be content at being blissfully ignorant. Or would I?

Categories
Cover story Misc

A postindustrial fairytale

By the end of the eighties the industrial production had moved out of the area. Ruoholahti was rebuilt into a residential area and City of Helsinki planned to demolish the charismatic building. Artists and architects, who had rented the space there in search of a quiet working place and cheap rents, persuaded the City of Helsinki to keep the building in its original form. Nowadays it is a distinguished cultural centre that hosts around 800 events annually and is the working place of 100 artist and 70 bands.

 

Since last summer, the Cable Factory has a new landlord. Born in 1972, Tuomas “Stuba” Nikula is the new Managing Director of Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo, the company behind the Cable Factory building whose turnover in 2005 was 3.5 million euros. As any other landlord in the world, the current duties concerning Kaapeli are to “fix the building and rent the space”, as Stuba himself explains. Kaapeli itself is not devoted to cultural production, “That is left to our tenants,” continues the director.

{mosimage}From his position Stuba Nikula gets a good overview of today's Finnish culture. "It seems that for anything to be good it has to be exported, but to achieve that goal more work is needed and more spaces for the youngsters and newcomers.” In a world where influences travel within one second, for Scuba a challenge for the future is “to keep the Finnish touch in our cultural production and, for that, public money is needed.”Meanwhile, the Cable Factory is “fully booked” for long time agreements. “Contracts are permanent and only two or three tenants out of 100 moved out every year. The population here is getting as old as the building,” Stuba jokes. For the short term rentals the calendar is already opened for 2009. If you plan an exhibition or a fair, hurry up. The space and dates are booked on a first come, first served basis.

Categories
Interviews Music

Ambassador of the Blues

First of all, what influence did Robert Johnson have on you as a musician?

I think the Robert Johnson influence on me has taken on the aspect that it made me more of an acoustic guitar player. I still think of myself as primarily an electric guitar player who plays acoustic guitar. You know, when you're a kid learning, everybody wants to be the lead player. Everybody wants to solo.

You played a show with HoneyBoy Edwards and Robert Lockwood JR, two musicians who actually knew and played with Robert Johnson in the 1930s. How important was it to you to earn their respect?

Incredibly!!! I can't tell you how important it was to earn their respect. Until Mr. Lockwood's untimely death, Mr. Lockwood and Mr. Edwards were as close as you could get to Robert Johnson being alive. They both knew and played with Robert Johnson. Mr. Lockwood received his first guitar from Robert Johnson for his 11th birthday. He lived in the same house as Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson was dating Mr. Lockwood's mother. After getting compliments from Mr. Edwards and Mr. Lockwood I thought I could retire and get a straight job. I had taken this as far as I could. The night of the show at The Fairfield Theatre in Connecticut, Mr. Lockwood said, "In all my 91 years, I've never seen anybody look or sound more like Robert Johnson than you. I'm about to adopt you!" My heart soared! It can't get any better for me.

{mosimage}Lay’sPotato Chips used your photoon the bags of their Memphis Barbecue flavoured potato chips.

They printed over one million bags! They were on the market for six months. It made me the first Black American blues musician to be on a national product in the history of America!! I'm very proud of that!

Any plans on performing in Finland in the future?

I'd love to play Finland. Anybody want me to come play Finland? Just call or e-mail me and I'll be on my way! I want to play every country that will have me. We all have the blues.

Photo by Erik Remec

 

Rocky Lawrence

Blues Guitar Player

New Haven, CT, USA

www.rockylawrence.com