Intervjuade finska sensationerna Räjäyttäjät i samband med deras spelning tillsammans med Bäddat För Trubbel på Härden i början av februari. Då resultatet blev väldigt bra väljer jag att nu publicera den på bloggen i sitt engelska originalutförande. En uppdaterad version på svenska kommer i pappersupplagan av LB IV som förhoppningsvis finns att tillgå innan det står 2014 i kalendern
Finnish rock'n'roll madmen Räjäyttäjät
have exploded like a bomb in the underground. The first shockwaves were felt
through their now sold-out cassettes on TNT Tapes & Records and the debut
EP under the wings of classic etiquette Bad Vaguum. Vodka marinated lunatics
surrounded by sloppy rnr-noise whose gigs were said to be something else -
blood, sweat, and floppy penises in an unholy alliance. I recently witnessed
the Soumi boys live for the first time and got totally destroyed. A half-naked
maniac frizzles, crawls and creeps while not missing a tune on his guitar that
is all over the place. The rhythm section guides the wildman with a steady hand
whereas he detonates as much on stage as out among the perplexed audience. This
scenario might sound like a spectacle and that was exactly what we got pushed
down our sore throats. 60 years of rock'n'roll molested by three eccentric
brains crash-lands in the wilderness of central Finland. Their full-length on
Dead Beat Records are equal parts good times and insanity. Dr Feelgood meets
Stooges meets Carl Panzram. Buy the LP, crank it up, get yourself pissfaced and
wake up puked upon in a shabby alley-way in Jyväskylä.
Interview
and introduction by Marko Gillingsmark
We start off with a very cliché question to kickstart this interview. You were
just out on your first Scandinavian tour with the fabulous Bäddat För Trubbel.
How did it go?
Jukka: It went well, Good trip! We
saw BURGER KING, IKEA, RASTABURGER and also vegetarian food in Göteborg was
GREAT! Oh and that Jönköping burger place too. Want to show the guys TUEN
GRILLI in Lappeenranta if we ever go there with them. Basically we just sat in
the van and drank beer while Hjelle and others took good care of us. I was very
happy to find that BFT guys like EDDIE MEDUZA too but still wondering what they
think about Hank C Burnette aka Melvin L Rockbottom. Alex accidentally smashed
my fingers with the car door when leaving Göteborg and I was crying like a baby
but fortunately I had some Gin for instant help and rest of the day was fine.
Alex: Slight exaggeration by the
(guit)artist there, but fingers are his livelihood, so I think he was more in
shock (I mean, there was no blood or fingernails flapping. As for me, I was
expecting to get more cranky, pissed off etc., but it was really fun and, apart
from a touch of claustrophobia on the boat at the Stockholm gig (as I imagined
it plunging into the icy depths because there were too many people onboard), I
really enjoyed all the different kinds of places we played, the people we met,
and the Bäddat guys themselves. I played on one of their songs, and their
drummer played on one of our songs... it was great!
Silli: It was great. Good gigs, nice
people and Bäddat! Great music and lovely guys...have to get them to Finland at
some point.
We continue with questions designed
after the standard fanzine formula. When, were and how did you start as a band?
Do you play in any other bands than Räjä? Do you love rock'n'roll more than
your girl/boyfriends? Are you on social welfare? Do your gigs attract a lot of
spikey jacket punkrockers?
Alex: I was on a train coming back
from dropping my son off at the airport after New Year in 2011, when I got this
‘emergency call’ from Jukka. It’s usually a slightly weird transitional time of
the year for me when Stirling goes back to Scotland, so this was perfect
timing. Yes, I could play a gig in a couple of days time. At that first gig on
January 6, 2011 there were about 7 people. One of those ‘legendary type gigs’ I
like to think, like the Sex Pistols playing Manchester Civic Hall for the
Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Tony Wilson etc...
Jukka: Yeah, we started together
6.1.2011 when my friends from Oulu (Death By Snoo Snoo and Vene) asked for a
local band to play with them in Ilokivi, Jyväskylä. I had started Räjäyttäjät a
bit before with my friend J on drums (plays nowadays in totally great band
Mustat Kalsarit) but it didn't last longer than one gig and rehearsal demo
recording. Nobody liked that gig, haha, no future for this kind of band!
Silli: The band got started in the
way that there were actually a couple of gigs aready booked but there wasn’t
actually any band! I knew Jukka, and he knew Alex, and so we started to play.
Alex: As for the other questions, I’m
the only guy in this band who doesn’t play in any other bands than Räjä at the
moment, but that’s fine. I love rock’n’roll sure, as much as my wife, I think
not, but we do have arguments about it sometimes along the lines of.... how can
you like any other kind of music but the kind I listen to? (me)... then I realise
how incredibly unrealistic that is, go for a walk, have a reality check. I have
twins, so get a bit of child support welfare but otherwise do not get any for
myself, but I thoroughly approve of it and think it’s a small price to pay for
having a more homogenous society than the fucking ‘United’ Torydom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland... (where I’m from. The guys wanted me to be from
Texas but hey....)
Jukka: ...and well, I don't have a
girlfriend, but maybe someday i'll get an ELK, just like OLLIWER HAWK had in
the 70's!!! And for rock'n'roll..
My aim is to just explode it.. So I guess I don't know about love that much...
And yes I play in Rambling Boys
and Kylmä Banaani 2 too.
Silli: Just rock’n’roll. And yes, of
course I like rock’n’roll, it’s what Räjäyttäjät is all about. I also play in a
band called Talmud Beach too.
Jukka: I'm WORKING FOR THE KELA at
the moment, on a sick leave. and on gigs, think we are more for Popeda fans and
such..
Alex: Ha, ha. Well, I don’t think
so... At our gigs are all kinds of people: hippies, yes punk rockers, but also
older people (this might be the Popeda thing he’s talking about), but there’s
plenty of weirdy beardies and even sometimes mods and skinheads too (luckily
they seem to be the non-nazi kind).
Räjä have a rumour of being a shit
hot live band. What can we expect from you on stage?
Alex: Hot (and cold) shit has been
known to happen on stage (maybe Jukka will one day tell you about his Odobox
effect unit), but basically our name means The Exploders, so that is what we
do. We are lucky that there are many kinds of ‘explosion’ that can happen on a
stage, so hopefully people still come away surprised and happy (or offended).
One woman just couldn’t comprehend the Stockholm gig, it was like her brain was
shorting out between polite and angry mode. On the one hand she wanted to say
how much she loved our gig, on the other ‘but why the nakedness?’ like a
demented robot, and then she looked like she was going to explode and all her
careful make-up melt away in some kind of mental meltdown. It was quite
strange. So maybe it’s the audience that explodes, rather than just us...?
Silli: Shit is hot and our gigs
sometimes too! I don’t know about the audience, but I don’t expect anything,
just really nice to play. There’s always lots of energy involved when we play
live and that’s the way it should be. Räjäyttäjät räjäyttää!
Jukka: Drunk mumbling, falling from
stage, bad playing and loss of control. Some demented Adult Oriented Rocking
too. Usually it takes more time for me to show my ass to the audience than what
happens in the usual Ozzy Osbourne or AC/DC gig but i'm trying my best---NOT.
You recently released your debut LP on
Dead beat Records after one EP and two cassettes. Can you tell us about the
record? Why did you release it on an american record label and not your own TNT
Records and Tapes Service?. Are there exclusively new songs or are some the
same as on the cassettes?
Jukka: We were just stupid, haha?!
There's two songs straight from tapes (Tikkalan Masat from first tape, Piimää
& Carilloo from "Räjä Kevät"), some old songs re-recorded and
some new ones like Keskiyön Jälkeen and Veen Päällä Savuu that is a cover of
Jolly Jumpers song Smoke On The Water. But all in all it's a RÄJÄ & ROLL
CONCEPT ALBUM and in that sense there is much more to it than on those tapes.
Silli: I don’t think there was any
great masterplan behind it, actually we didn’t think anything. He just asked
and we did it. Yes, there’s couple of tracks from the cassettes, but mostly it’s
new recordings and couple of new songs.
Alex: Only a couple of songs are the
same as on the cassettes, yes, but different mixes etc... Dead Beat is from
Cleveland Ohio, and although it’s not Texas it sort of fitted in with this
Americana obsession that is so much part of Ganes etc. Finnish culture (...is
what I think). The first pressing has already sold out so we’re waiting for a
bigger second pressing. It wasn’t the most practical of decisions to release
our first record like this, but when has rock’n’roll, or should I say räjä’n’roll
ever been ‘practical’? Next record is the ‘real LP’ and 100% RÄJÄYTTÄJÄT on TNT
Tapes & Record Services.
A friend of mine described you as
The Flaming Sideburns but totally on the contrary. You are rocknroll in the way
they thought they were but couldnt deliever on stage and on record, at their
behalf it only became lame rawk. Comments on that?
Silli: Heh, I don’t think there’s
any point of comparing the two bands, totally different kind of stuff…
Jukka: Yeah, I've never liked that
band either and I'm totally out of that world they represent on their "we
are the rock'n'roll gods" wank. we are here to destroy all that.
Alex: I’m afraid I don’t really know
anything much about their music, but I met an ex-girlfriend of their lead
singer at one of our gigs once I think!
A question about how you write your
songs. Even if you play rather straight rock I can sense a pretty loose vibe in
your music, it sounds like your material is improvised in the rehearsal
space. Is this conclusion
accurate?
Alex: Yes, in the rehearsal space,
but also one song (Keskiyön jälkeen) was actually played for the first time on
stage, yes. In that sense we are basically free in the best sense of the term,
without being some interminable jam. But Jukka has the main idea for a song
usually, so in that way it’s actually much less improvised and more thought out
than other bands he might play in.
Silli: Of course there’s lots of
improvisation, but there’s allways some kind of (even a vague) idea in the
songs that we do. Usually the ideas come from Jukka or then we do something
together. I think the way we do it might be quite strange to most other rock’n’roll
bands.
Jukka: Yes, not that much
improvisation on the first thought, usually I do the songs, quite strictly
arranged actually, but the bands chemistry always explodes them into unknown
territories. You can never tell what they sound like after few rehearsals and
gigs. Of course there's different ones but songs like A-kaljaa differ quite a
lot every time we play it and it's based on just two different kind of really
basic riffs. First it was just an instrumental jam but then..nowadays it can be
almost anything.
Alex: Yeah, but Jukka certainly
doesn’t inflict any heavy-handed ‘this is the way it should be’ stuff on us
(even if he might think so), as most of the time he welcomes how we might
change the original thing as a group. All of us need a bit of the unexpected to
make it real, energetic and dynamic... and maybe the audience pick up on that. Silli
often says he doesn’t want to have to think when he’s playing for instance. And
we might shout at each other on the stage and stuff or throw instruments
around. But it’s a fine line and sometimes we’re not sure if we’ve overstepped
that line occasionally. Generally, if all else fails we explode.
Which bands and artists made you
realize that raw, primitive punk and rock'n'roll makes your heart beat a little
bit faster. As with many others born in the 70s and 80s maybe Nirvana opened up
doors to the underground or did you discover cool shit through other gateways?
Silli: yes, I liked (and still like)
Nirvana a lot, but for me the older bands were a bigger influence. Hurriganes
of course, but also bands like Stooges, Roky etc. And of course Sleepy Sleepers
from Lahti Finland! Do an article on them in your mag!
Jukka: I've never known that much
nuggets stuff or garage punk or whatever. Hurriganes and songs like Hot Wheels,
Get On, Oh, Baby Doll have done it much more powerful to me than anything else.
One important thing was when I got my first Stooges records and at the same
time listened to Can, track MOTHER SKY sounded actually quite a lot like Hurriganes
and particularly when hearing Stooges song OUT ON THE STREET I realized that
Remu must've heard it when Ganes did KEEP ON MOVIN'! Of course The Sleepy
Sleepers is the most obvious influence and it's quite close to my heart me as
I'm from a little place called Nastola just right next to Lahti. Their fucked
up "concept albums" have just the right spirit. have to say also that
the bands like Radiopuhelimet, Jolly Jumpers, 22 Pistepirkko and all Läjä Äijälä's
bands have made a big influence on me.
Alex: Guess what, I’m not Finnish,
so forgive me for not being that moved by Ganes or Sleepy Sleepers. I was born
on the last day of Woodstock in 1969 (which I see as somehow significant for “raw,
primitive punk and rock’n’roll”). Bands that make my heart beat a little
faster: the Stooges, MC5, Nuggets stuff for me like Wimple Wynch, the
Outsiders, and all that stuff... and then there’s The Fall, at least up until
the early 90s, and Hawkwind (to name a few). Jukka also LOVES the Fall (even
the later stuff). Jukka IS ‘totally
wired’ (and so am I at gigs). I liked Nirvana too, but later, has to be said.
I’ve seen you being compared with Hurriganes
a couple of times, even yours truly are part of this "problem". But
musically I can't see any urgent similarites except that you both play rather
straight rock'n'roll and origins from FInland. Does this comparison feel
ignorant and irritating or do you consider it as a compliment? Or are you even
big fans of Hurriganes? Personally I think they are a cool rock'n'roll band but
a bit overrated in the bigger picture.
Silli: I think there’s no point of
comparing anything to Hurriganes, because nobody can do what they did. Totally
unique band in every way. But of course I take it as a complimentary, but it’s
bit too much…heh!
Alex: Silli’s original first love,
so I think it’s a compliment and I’m not annoyed by that. It was definitely
intentional that those similarities be drawn, as this was a very important band
for Silli and Jukka, perhaps the first band they ever got into, and I respect
them for that. If they need me to be Remu for a bit I can pretend, but I am the
only non-Ganes fan in the band I have to say, and maybe I stop us being too
much like them. Two’s enough!
Jukka: Compliment of course. They
are our heroes and our biggest influence in terms of playing rock'n'roll. Of
course we are not like them in any sense and that is the way it has to be.
I don't know anything about contemporary
finnish punk, rock'n'roll and garagerock. Are there any cool bands you can
recommend to the readers of Levande Begravd?
Alex: Two off the top of my head:
Atom Mouth Gimlies and Transentiset.
Silli: Lots of good bands. Achtungs,
Mikkelin Pamaus, Kari Peitsamo, Mustat Kalsarit, Pää kii, Splits, MODERNI ELÄMÄ,
Hurriganes, Haistelijat etc.
Jukka: Yeah think they both
mentioned the same bands I was about to say, and there are new bands coming up
all the time... and of course bands like Radiopuhelimet are still going strong,
and even Läjä's DEATH TRIP is playing gigs again.
I’ve been told that rock'n'roll has
been dead and buried ever since I was born but even if raw rock music isn't the
musical power it once was, it’s still alive in the underground. Sometimes it
even makes small attacks at the mainstream. Don’t know what I wanna ask with
this, or yes I do! How do you feel about the condition of rock'n'roll in this
day and age?
Alex: It’s fine because we can
access music from any time and place much more easily and rock’n’roll will
never die for me. Long live Little Richard!
Jukka: I'm not interested in that
really. I mostly listen country & western and finnish schlager.
Alex: Hmm... yeah right. It’s true
Jukka loves flea markets, the home of Finnish schlager, and I guess he has to
take some time off the R-word, but he DOES listen to ROCK!! As for Silli, he
hates these kinds of questions about genres. Actually I hate the whole concept
of genres too, drawn up to put us into little boxes I guess.
You do a cover of Roky Ericksons
Bloody Hammer titled Verivasara. It´s basically the first time I’ve heard
anyone interpret The King without me getting red on my cheeks and I feel the
urge to cover my ears. How come you gave Roky a try with your brand of rock'n’roll?
Silli: I don’t think we even thought
about it that much, just did it. We don’t think about these kind of issues, we
just play!
Alex: Yeah, we just did it and
people liked it. Might actually have been the first song we did that I really
felt good about playing. I didn’t know the original when we started playing it.
In my head it was ‘Let’s Build A Car’ by Swell Maps. Roky Erickson, I’d like
you to meet Epic Soundtracks (even if he’s dead and you’re not).
Jukka: I think it was quite obvious
for us to play Roky, and doing that song was Silli's idea. For me the title
VERIVASARA sounded like lost song from some lost finnish JYTÄ band (meaning
70's hard rock) or maybe it’s something Dead End 5 or Kummitus or Colombo
could've done. Strange but it always feels good playing it. We have also played
“I Walked with a Zombie” sometimes too.
Shit! Being from Finland I have to
ask these stoopid questions. Are you drunk a lot and what are your choice of
booze? Are you depressed? Do you like to spend hours in the sauna?
Jukka: I've had mental issues since
my teenage years but I think most Finns have had them... This winter has been
really hard. I actually gave up drinking recently and everything is painful as
hell. Maybe i'll GET back ON soon with my favorite brands KOSKENKORVA (that
song 013 is about that) and the cheapest gin in Alko (finnish drugstore chain)
. I don't understand this culture of tasting expensive beers. I always take the
cheapest, and in bar usually A beer (A-kalja) that is a bit stronger than our
ordinary beer (mellanöl). (actually you had to wait some time to get these
answers from me because few days of good ol' drinking period here… and of
course sauna is always good, I try to have sauna as often as I can. as i really
don't like taking a shower that much. so there might be some good shit-stinking
effect on our shows too..)
Alex: I’m not Finnish, but it is my
home country now and I love getting drunk and spending lots of time in sauna
and occasionally pissing in the shower (thanks for the lesson Moderni Elämä).
If I’m not driving, which I usually am in the band, I’ll drink pretty much
anything (pastis, wine, Belgian and British beers, cachaca, rum, gin etc.) but
just not all the time, I just can’t. Unlike Jukka I like real ale (for the
taste, not the price!!).
Silli: Heh! I think I was more drunk
in Sweden than in Finland, thanks to Bäddat För Trubbel och starköl! (strong
beer) I don’t spend much time in sauna, propably go there once a month…I think
Alex is more saunaman than me!
As conclusion I will give you a number
of finnish bands you maybe can say a few words about.
69 Eyes
Silli: Ei saatana. Kuuskytyhdeksän
perssilmää.
Alex: I have no idea, but it appears
Silli thinks they’re more like ‘69 Arses’
Jukka: Don't know any of their
songs. All I remember is that sometimes you hear on the radio this horrible
"potato in his mouth" mumbling singer and that must be this band.
Nolla Nolla Nolla
Silli: Haven’t really listened to them,
some say they’re a classic?
Jukka: Never really listened to hem
either but I believe i'd like it. Our roadie was asked to sing on their new
incarnation, so I don't know how well they are doing today!
Alex: Heard them on a compilation
once, can’t really say anymore.
Eppu Normaali
Alex: Yeah I really like their first
single “Poliisi pamputtaa taas”
Silli: Manse rocks.
Jukka: FUCKING BEST BAND! I love
both their early punk rock and the later more shlager kind of stuff. First
group i've ever listened too and still love them. Kahdeksas Ihme LP is one of
the most important albums for me personally. On the first edition of our first tape
Räjä & Roll All Night Long is a song called "Ajan sataa kahtakymppiä"
(I'm Driving 120 kilometers on hour") That's a straight rip from Eppu's
"Keskiyön Cowboy" (Midnight Cowboy). Also in "Löysää paskaa"
there's some unintentionally picked lyrics from KALJAA NUORILLE song that is
for me their best punk era song.
Smack
Silli: Suoraan Losiin, Rane
Raitsikka! Great band!
Jukka: Great great band, just played
Run Rabbit Run last weekend over and over! Had a talk with Rane after some of
our gigs. Didn't really understand what he said about me but I took it to my
heart with gratitude.
Liimanariina
Alex: I like Olli Pauke for all his
cantankerousness, love, and tales of Aston.
Silli: One of a kind, great band!
Jukka: Their first 7" MTV-ep
has had really strong impact on me. Really great band, and some songs on
SPERMARKET LP were actually recorded here in Jyväskylä in the building next to
where I live now. Quite a few of my friends have also played in LN recently (if
it's Olli Pauke and your granny on bongos then it's a LN gig!). Closest to that
I’ve got, was breaking their cymbal stand and guitar effects at a Jyväskylä gig
I "organized".
Bombfunk MCs
Silli: I thought that I had
forgotten this band. Apparently not, fuck.
Jukka: Uhh this is something I think
most of the Finns want to forget. I'm glad I'm listening to Jim Pembroke now
and not getting their awful hits on my mind.
Alex: Ha, but yeah, Jim Pembroke is
another English guy (far more prolific than me) who also ended up in Finland
for a long time. I guess he needed ‘room to live’ (as Mark E Smith would say).
All the best,
RÄJÄYTTÄJÄT!!
