X-(TRAORDINARY) MEN
Das finnische Trio 22 Pistepirkko gehört noch immer zu den originellsten und vielseitigsten Popkünstlern überhaupt. Lange musste man seit dem letzten Studioalbum ("Rally Of Love", 2001) warten, doch nun melden sich die Brüder P-K (Gesang, Gitarre) und Asko (Bass, Keyboards) Keränen sowie Espe Haverinen (Schlagzeug, Gesang) gleich mit einem brillanten Album ("Drops & Kicks"), fulminanten Live-Konzerten ("Tours & Gigs") und einer umfangreichen DVD-Dokumentation ("Sleep Good - Rock Well") zurück. Und auch nach fast 25 Jahren gemeinsamer Bandgeschichte sorgen sie noch für Überraschungen. Mit den neuen Songs gehen sie zurück zu ihren Wurzeln: Statt den elektronischen Experimenten und dem Synthie-Pop der letzten Alben spielen sie wieder Blues, Country und Garagenrock. Entscheidend für das äußerst gelungene Gesamtpaket sind aber auch einige Ohrwürmer und Pop-Perlen, nicht zu vergessen der besondere Charme von P-Ks unverwechselbarem Gesang mit finnischem Akzent. B-Side traf ihn zu einem ausführlichen Gespräch zwischen zwei Konzerten.
You change your setlist quite a lot during a tour, which is pretty rare.
Perhaps it is rare because people are asking why we are doing so. The thing is we don't have any setlists when we go on stage. Usually we decide two or three first songs, and then hopefully after these songs, we'll know what would be the right direction for tonight.
How do you know which will be the next song?
Usually it's Asko who is saying what is the next song, or it can be me or Espe. But usually you just know what is the suitable next song. I like it because you have to be awake. You can't just go there and play your regular setlist. Instead you have to catch the vibe of the night and the place. I think it is good for us and in the long run for the audience as well, because they know that "Yesterday they were like this, today we don't know how they are". I would like to think that it makes things more interesting.
You played "You're Mine Blues" live with Espe singing, although you sing that song on the album ("Bare Bone Nest"). You sometimes swap the singing on the same song?
That's true, on "You're Mine Blues", the recorded version, I am doing the singing. It has been always so that when we are playing the song in our concerts, Espe is taking care of the singing. So that is the only song where originally it was written by Espe and for some reason I was singing on the recording. Espe usually sings his own songs.
Your new album is a bit different from your last records soundwise, especially the last one. There's less electronica and a return to a rawer sound. Why did you make the decision to go back to the roots?
Because we had a meeting after the tours we did after the "Rally Of Love" album. We were asking: "What is the nicest thing to do in a band, what do you like most?" And everyone was saying: "I like to play live. I like to play as a band." Since everybody was saying so, it was natural to compose that kind of songs, where the band is taking care of the playing instead of rhythm boxes or computers. We started to rehearse as a band and it was enjoyable. Most of the songs were composed by jamming. It somehow worked and it felt good and the songs came out nicely as well. So we decided to go in that direction for a change. But I want to point out that we don't have anything against electronica stuff.
That would be surprising, listening to your last albums.
That's true. But at the moment it feels more natural and nice for us to play just as a trio.
Did it also have to do with the success of bands like The White Stripes or The Hives?
No, as a matter of fact we were thinking that now people are saying: "22 Pistepirkko is trying to jump on the carriage wagon three years too late" (laughs). No, not really, even though we are aware of those bands. I saw The Hives two summers ago in Finland and it was okay. I saw White Stripes three years ago in Helsinki and that was also okay. But those bands weren't the reason why we started to play as a trio. It just felt cool.
You do lots of different styles, which is quite rare as well.
Yeah, that's true.
Do you know the Super Furry Animals from Wales?
I know them by name, but that's all.
You should check them out, because they're excellent. They've got the same attitude towards different musical styles, they do everything from techno, folk and country to pop, punk and prog rock. They do everything but it sounds like them.
That's good.
They have been going for twelve years now, the same five people.
Aha!
This musical diversity is very rare.
But perhaps that might be the secret for their long lasting band life. You don't have to stick to one line of music-style. And if you are surrounded by the right kind of persons who are music maniacs and who like to discover and try out different kinds of music, then it is easier to be in a band and it is more challenging and more fun. And that is the case with us as well. The older you get the more you are just interested about the music and you are feeling happy and almost privileged to be able to be a musician and to try out different kinds of music styles. More and more, we are not thinking about the styles even though we are aware of that. We are trying to learn, because it is so rewarding and nice to be able to discover different kinds of music styles. It is like reading different kinds of books.
Why did you release a special double album version of "Drops & Kicks" with seven extra songs on vinyl?
When we started to plan the vinyl release we were thinking: "Would it be convenient to put the same songs to the vinyl version or would it be more nice and interesting, for the people as well, if they are basically having two different kind of albums?" And since we had some songs which never made it to the CD and we thought they were good, we decided we should have two different versions: a CD version and a vinyl version. We even decided to change the song order to make it sound more different. I was sceptical first. When I got the final vinyl version and I played it, I was happily surprised because it was working, at least for me. Basically, that is the story. And of course there should be some extra value. It's not enough if you're having just the vinyl version with the same songs. We were thinking that it feels like we are ripping people off and we should offer them something more. So then we have a right to ask the price.
Now to some of the songs on the album. How would you pronounce the title "X-(wo)men"?
X-women, x-men.
I really like that song, also the idea of the lyrics. Did Espe, who sings it, come up with that?
I think it was Asko, Mr. Bass player. Because he's been going through the divorce. The idea for the song came from Asko. I like it too, because there are plenty of people who have been divorced.
There's also the clever wordplay with the super-heroes X-men in the lines "X-men and women/X-women and men/No super powers/Just trying to make their days".
Yeah, yeah, you have got it (laughs).
First it's gimmicky in a way, but it's also a very serious song.
Yeah, that's true. There are two different levels. Yeah, good. It's a typical Asko streak. He likes to have double or triple meanings on basically whatever.
How did you decide who sings the song? Asko generally doesn't sing?
No, he's taking care of the backing vocals. In the early stage of composing it is clear that some of the songs are more suitable for my voice and my kind of singing, and some are more suitable for Espe's. You just know. We have been trying to change the vocals before, Espe singing some of my songs and I'm singing some of his songs. But usually it's not working. Of course, it's a matter of the key of the song because my voice is working in certain keys, Espe's in others. So that also helps us to make the decision who is going to sing.
"Space Riding" has a very interesting contrast between loud rock music and thought-provoking lyrics. Sad but comforting at the same time.
Yeah.
Is the story a completely invented scenario?
The basic idea of the song comes from the real life. As a matter of fact, it comes from our parents' lives. Luckily, the situation wasn't that serious. My father is not going to die. I mean, of course he's going to die, but not of his illness. But we got the idea for the song because we got to know that he was seriously ill. Then we started to think about the situation: In this song there's a couple who are driving motorcycles. Okay, we have a motorcycle song which sounds a little bit like Steppenwolf, hopefully. And then, instead of raving how great it is to drive a motorcycle and "Born To Be Wild" kind of stuff, we should add this idea that the second part of the couple knows he's going to go away, he's going to die. How he can tell that to his wife, and how he can be sure that his wife will continue. So it is kind of a serious and sad story. But on the other hand it's optimistic because in a way he's demanding from his wife that she shouldn't give up: "Even if I'm gone, you should ride on". So I like that. It is easy to relate and it is nice to play when you think about the story line and at the same time you think about the music, a simple rock and roll song together with the serious story line. I think it's a nice combination.
After Asko told the story last night, I heard the song today and I realised how nice the words really were...
Yes, that's true, almost touching.
Because normally these kinds of songs are carefree.
Yeah, normally it's riding, riding, riding…
Is there a particular reason why Seattle is mentioned?
No - well, I was asking the same thing because I am not responsible for that line. So I was asking why the fuck this Seattle was in. We have not been there, why is it in our song? And all of a sudden both Asko and the guy who was helping us with the lyrics were saying: "Hey, it is perfect" because in a way for us it was sort of a hometown for grunge music, second it is not one of those super hip cities from the USA - for some reason that was a thing for them (laughs) - and since as a word it suits to the line. So those were the reasons why Seattle is there and as soon as I heard those three reasons - OK, I did leave it there, now I understand.
So who is this guy who helped you with the lyrics on that album?
J.K. "Stone" Niemelä. He's one of our old friends. He used to live in a city called Pori, which is 250 kms from Helsinki. So we have known him for at least 10 years and he used to be part of the music scene there in Pori, then he moved to Helsinki and he has been having kind of a hard time in his life as well - that is the side story. And for some years he was not interested about rock music at all because he was willing to escape that kind of life. Anyway, Asko met him in Helsinki and they started to talk about our new songs. Asko was saying: "It would be nice to have someone to make lyrics with" and Mr. Stone said: "Hey, I'm the one, I'm good." Asko said: "OK, if you are that good and if you are willing, let's give it a try." And then it was so nice for a change - he has been in a band and he has been making lyrics, so basically he knows what it takes to make good, working lyrics. What I mean is that one of the reasons why those lyrics are so suitable to sing is that he knows how they should be to make them smooth.
The lyrics' flow, not the contents but the flow.
Yes, exactly. So as soon as we realised that he was the man we started to make a cooperation and it has been fruitful and we will continue. So basically, that is the story. Because usually when I'm composing songs I sing whatever, for example I have a working manual on my desk, the manual of the synthesizer, and I'm singing "bla bla bla" and take the words from there without thinking anything, it's a free flow. From there you get the rhyme and perhaps the sound of the key words to the chorus. Then I will present that piece of music to Asko, Espe and Stone and since they know what I'm after - this line should be this long and the melody goes like this - this piece of lyric suits to this place. So that's why having that kind of guy around like Mr. Stone is really nice, because he is so fast and he knows how to make the lyrics fit.
On "Soul Free", another favourite on the new album, there is a lot of talking in the background - in French I think.
Yes, French, German, there is even this one guy from Iraq …
Probably the CIA will tap your telephone now because you got a guy from Iraq …
Well, yes, that's true. But fuck them, they can listen because they do it anyway… Then we have one lady from Mexico, one from Libya or something, and one guy from Espana. The whole idea is that the song is happening in a discotheque. In that discotheque are people from all around the world and the band or the DJ is playing a song at the same time when the people are dancing and talking. So that was the idea why we wanted to have these speaking voices. And talking about the song - I like it as well, especially the chorus, it's perhaps one of the best choruses that we've ever made.
The reworked live version yesterday was really good, too.
I'm happy if you liked it.
The studio version is difficult to translate live, I think.
Yes, that's true. But it will be good - I'm talking about the live version. And the main vocal line is so nice to sing because basically you can scream out your few lyrics - you don't have to care about the singing. And I think, once again it is easy to relate if you sing "I want my soul free", because who doesn't?
Going back to the people talking. Did you tell them what to talk about?
There was only one rule. We said: "We don't want you to speak any kind of a racist bullshit. That is the only thing that is not allowed. Otherwise, free flow." Some people were reading books, some people were just free-styling - whatever…
Can you actually make out the words? I couldn't really.
It is not by purpose. It is a matter of mixing. Perhaps we were thinking they should not be too loud. It should be part of the background.
OK, for "Mr. Twister" and "I Knew" you used strings. For the first time?
It's the first time we have been using a string quartet. Before that we have been using sampled strings. Since we have this one guy - once again we have a good connection in Finland - who can write classical music, art stuff. He's a conductor so he was doing that. It was fascinating to see. We introduced the songs for him and said it would be nice to have some strings. He said: "Yes, you're going to have it." So first he made the arrangement with his keyboards, and as soon as we were happy with it, he organised the recordings with the string players. I was watching while they were playing, it was nice and it also sounded good. Why we were using strings? Well, why not? Because they sound good and I think they were suitable for the songs.
They're not too overblown.
That's true as well.
Could you tell us about the documentary that's been shown on TV in Scandinavia and that's going to be released on DVD?
Yeah, the main story of the documentary is from the last long tour, the "Rally Of Love" tour. In that tour we made 50 shows in 53 days.
Quite a schedule. On this tour, too, you play six or seven dates in a row without a day off.
That's true. But the long tour, oh boy, that was demanding. But anyway, the documentary is based on that trip. The guy who made it is Andreas Haaning Christiansen from Denmark and we have known him the last ten years. It was just his crazy idea to say: "I'm going to join you and do the filming." He was filming the whole time. When the tour was over he had about 75 hours of recorded material. He had several hard disks full of it. So he's been working really hard with this one. Finally, it is ready. It is a document about 22 Pistepirkko being on the road plus there's a section where we are composing the songs for the "Drops & Kicks" album, and then there is this final section where we are doing the recordings in one old house in Helsinki. So it covers almost three and a half years.
Will there be complete live songs as well?
As far as I know, there will be. I haven't seen the final version. There will be some sections on the DVD where you can listen to the song from start to end.
Tell us about your record label, Bone Voyage Recording Company, and the first signing, the Goodnight Monsters.
Yeah, we formed a label. The first reason for that was: Since we own the rights for our back catalogue and since back then when they were released for example in Germany, perhaps the release wasn't so good or there are still people who don't know we have those records, we were thinking: Hey, we release our records at least in some parts. So that those people who are willing to buy them have a chance to do so. That was the basic idea for the label. Pretty soon we started to think: Okay, if we are able and have a small set-up for the label we should find bands as well. We got CDs from Quintus, our manager in Germany, because the Goodnight Monsters sent CDs to him and he sent them to us and said: "Please, check this out." And I did, and it was nice. So all of a sudden we had a band in our label.
So Quintus introduced them to you? Because they are from Finland, I would have thought that you would have heard from them first.
Yeah, strange world.
I was pleasantly surprised by their album.
So was I.
Their songs really stick to the ears.
Exactly that was the reason why I started to like the Goodnight Monsters: they are able to write catchy and nice pop songs. I was happily surprised about the quality of the song writing.
Have you got other bands coming up?
There will be a second release by another Finnish band called Kytäjä. They are playing instrumental music.
What type?
Different kinds of music styles mixed together. One song can be like Mexican movie music and all of a sudden it will turn out to be progressive pop or rock and everything in-between. At first I was sceptical because I'm not a big fan of progressive rock. But I had to admit that this is good. So that will be the second release. I haven't seen them live, so that will be interesting as well (laughs). How they are going to translate this stuff to the live performances.
The Goodnight Monsters join you for two shows in Berlin and Hamburg?
Yeah.
They have an original name as well.
Yeah, it's suitable for them (laughs).
Can I ask you about the origin of your band's name? You've probably been asked this a lot.
Yeah, fucking hell. But I'm not the one to explain. It's Mr. Keyboard Player and Mr. Drummer, they went to the library and Asko wanted to find a difficult name for the band. And that kind of name which contains numbers. They started to check up the animal books and found a yellow ladybird with the Finnish name "22 Pistepirkko". And they thought: "What a nice name for the band." Then they came from the library: "Hey P-K, we have a name for the band. It's 22 Pistepirkko." "Fucking hell, over my dead body!" But we are still having that name and you are not the only one who's asking about the story.
I think it's brilliant.
I hope so (laughs).
It's a bit difficult to explain to non-Finns but as an idea it's brilliant because it's so un-rock'n'roll.
Yeah, that was one of the main reasons why Asko was so keen on that name. Because he wanted to have an anti-macho and anti-rock'n'roll name for the band. And he managed (laughs). He really did.
Why did they pick the 22-dot variety?
I don't know. But that's the official name for the yellow one even though it is not really having 22 spots.
I read it's the only vegetarian ladybird because they don't eat plant-lice.
Aha! Okay, that's good.
Why did you decide to pronounce the number 22 in English instead of Finnish?
Well, in each country there is a different word for a number, that's why we used "22 Pistepirkko", because numbers are not letters. It's a number and not a name. And that is the reason why we say "Twenty-two Pistepirkko" instead of the number in Finnish, which is "Kaksikymmentäkaksi Pistepirkko".
Pistepirkko is hard enough.
Exactly.
There's also a new biography on your band, unfortunately for us it's in Finnish. Will it be translated?
It will be translated to English. It is happening already now, the plan is it should be ready early next spring.
Who wrote it? Was it somebody following you around as well?
There was one guy who was interviewing people. He did a lot of interviews. Then there was a group of people: Asko, Asko's wife and this guy who was doing the interviews. They made several versions out of the material, really many versions. Finally it turned out to be as it is at the moment, but it was a long process. It was a typical 22 Pistepirkko thing, it took three or four years to make it ready. But now it is ready. And I like it.
On your homepage there are links to websites on other musicians you like. Among them, Kate Bush.
Yeah, she was brilliant. I don't know what she is doing nowadays.
Do you know she's going to release her first album in twelve years…
Wow.
in November…
Wow.
a double album?
Wow. That's good. Because I heard a rumour somewhere that she is mentally disorientated at the moment.
No, she's had a child and been a mother for seven years, and she's been working on that record for ages.
Okay, good, good. Nice. I'm happy.
I didn't really like the last album too much but "Hounds Of Love" and "The Dreaming" are excellent.
Yeah, not to mention the first one, that's superb.
Yeah, true. So what can we expect next from you. Do we have to wait another four years?
Hopefully not. Every time we have said the next album should come earlier than after four years. The plan is that we will start to write new songs early next year. So the first three months we should have a break from the road at least. There are different kind of plans: I have been planning that I should make a solo album, only me and acoustic and electric guitar. Cover songs or whatever kind of songs. Then there's this second project of our cover band, The Others, where we have already been doing some recordings. There might be a first EP release for The Others, meaning we are playing our favourite cover songs. Then, what else? Asko is planning to form an art band with his wife. So there will be a groovebox and an electric guitar and they're going to do some arty stuff. That's fine. Espe is doing singing for one Danish band, for their album. So those are the things that we are planning, but of course all the time the main focus is on the song writing for the next 22 Pistepirkko album. And when it will be ready, I don't know, but hopefully it won't take four years.
Aktuelles Album: "Drops & Kicks" (Bone Voyage Recording Company)
Aktuelle DVD: "Sleep Good - Rock Well" (Bone Voyage Recording Company)
Robin Jeganathan, Susanne Müller