{mosimage}Lauri
Tähkä and Elonkerjuu
are definitely a fresh band with a very personal style, rooted deeply in their
native South Ostrobothnia region, different from most of the others that wander
the Finnish rock and roll music scene. On the 19th of September they release
their new album, Tuhannen Riemua. With the first single, Hetkeksi
ei Sulle Rupia, scoring very high in the radio charts, Lauri kindly found
some moments to introduce his projects to the readers of FREE!
Tell
us more about who is Lauri Tähkä. About your past, and how you started to get
involved in music business until nowadays.
Lauri
Tähkä is a singer and songwriter in a band called Elonkerjuu. I love being out
on a gig and making music. I was born in Finland, South Ostrobothnia, in Teuva,
which has about 6,500 inhabitants.
Do
you have any special singer or band that you admire?
I don’t
have any specific singers or bands that I actually admire. I respect them
rather than admire.
Your
music style is a bit different from other pop/rock bands, with more roots into
Finnish traditional music. Tell us why that approach to this music style and
what features can make the music of your band different from other Finnish
bands.
We are an
ethnicfuturisticrock’n’roll band that uses the dialect of South Ostrobothnia in
its lyrics.
Introduce
us a bit to your band Elonkerjuu. How did you started to play together?
Us boys
have played together for fifteen years and when we started to do
ethnicfuturisticrock’n’roll we wanted to take Johanna along. There just weren’t
any other players in Teuva than us at that time. We have been playing with this
composition for about seven years. We have released five albums and been on
about 500 gigs.
I
know that you also play “solo” just with your guitar. Actually I saw you in one
show for one private company last year in Manala in Helsinki. Do you play alone
often?
There was
a very nice gang of people in Manala and the atmosphere was great. I go
out on about 3 to 5 solo gigs per year. The gigs with the band take up so much
time that there just isn’t time for any more.
Talking
about you playing solo, you participated last year in this album with other
many notorious Finnish artists, Soolot, with people there like Jonna
Tervomaa or even Ville Valo. You had this song: Synkkien laulujen maa.
How did you get involved in the project?
The
producer Riku Mattila asked me in on it. It was a great project!
It
seems also that you are quite popular with the female public. Your image is
warmer than most of other Finnish singers, even you look more “latino”. How do
you assume the contact with the public?
Hehehe…
Being a performer and going out on gigs is my job, which I love and enjoy. I
don’t think it’s stressing at all! Latino comparison was quite surprising. I
guess The South Ostrobothnians are the Finnish Latinos, hehehe… I have not
consciously created a Latino image.
Maailma
on Renki,
your first album with Universal, was a kind of breakthrough in your career,
becoming a platinum album. Does this cause pressure on you now that you ´ll
release a new one: Tuhannen Riemua?
It’s true
that Maailma on Renki has sold over 45000 copies and it’s been a real
surprise. I just can say that we have enjoyed making Tuhannen Riemua.
The songs came easily.
Please,
tell us more about the new album. In which ways is different (or similar) to
the previous works. Do you have any special songs from the album you like most?
I love
our album and even though it might sound like a cliché, I think it’s our best
album yet. It’s dynamic! We worked with this album longer than with the others,
which made the project quite hard but rewarding and interesting as well. My
favourite song is Susipihan portilla.
What
Lauri Tähkä want to achieve in the future?
A long
career in the music business as a songwriter.
Any
message for the readers?
Keep The Baltic Sea clean!