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THE RASMUS
Böblingen 2006

About strange city names and the fear of getting lost

Suiciderock: You just finished the videoclip for the upcoming single „Shot“. Where did you shoot the clip and what’s the story behind the whole video?
Lauri: Yes, we went to Spain, to Fuerteventura to shoot the video, but there was such a huge sandstorm coming up and we couldn’t shoot the video, so we were there just waiting.
Suiciderock: Oh you didn’t shoot the video?
Lauri: No, we didn`t but we will fly back after this tour to do it.

Suiciderock: Is there a special story behind the whole thing?
Lauri: No, it’s basically about the place, we have this lava rocks there and the mountains. It’s supposed to look like we would be on a strange planet or something. That’s the idea about it.

Suiciderock: Now you are on tour with Negative and HIM. Could you tell us how this idea came up and what it is like for you?
Lauri: The idea came some time ago, when we did „Bittersweet“ together with Apocalyptica and Ville Valo from HIM and me. We were just talking that, we should do something together and so we did. I think it was about 2 years ago when we got the idea.
Aki: Yesterday we played the first show in Essen and we have 9 more shows and I think we will be having a good time.

Suiciderock: Do you have a favourite city in Germany?
Aki: In general touring is pretty good for us. We mostly like Berlin.
Eero: Baden-Baden.
Suiciderock: How comes?
Eero: and Recklinghausen.
Aki: Böblingen. It`s such a strange name.
Eero: And there is also another favourite city of us, Horst, a very tiny city in the middle of Germany.
Aki: And it’s also a guy name in Germany.

Suiciderock: You already played in Japan. I heard that the audience is more reserved there. What are your expieriences with Japanese Fans, is there a big difference between them and the European audience?
Lauri: Yeah.
Eero: They have their ways to behave. Everything is a bit more official there. The people who come to our concerts don’t know what to do sometimes. And it really feels like that people are listening to everything what you say.
Lauri: Also when a song ends, they clap their hands for three seconds and then they are quiet. It’s like okay, we are playing the next song and they are just watching and waiting. In Europe the people are more enthusiastic.

Suiciderock: Isn’t that strange in some situations?
Lauri: Yes, it is sometimes.

Suiciderock: If you get around in so many countries, do you collect souvenirs?
Lauri (points to Eero): You buy most of the stuff.
Eero: I send postcards.
Aki: When I have time, I buy something nice for my home, that reminds me of some city. I hate those little souvenirs like for example the Eifeltower.
Lauri: We get so much from the fans. So usually at the end of the tour our bus is full of stuff.
Suiciderock: And you keep that stuff?
Lauri: You can’t throw it away.

Suiciderock: What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Eero: Finland is quite small. There are not so many people. You have a bigger chance to become famous, if you are a talented musician, but in Germany there are so many bands. But if you want to start a career in Finland, you have to be very successful as otherwise you can`t live and it won`t work out.

Suiciderock: So you would say, it is easier in Finland?
Lauri: Yep, maybe. You still have to be original and there is a lot of work behind. Before we had the success in Germany, we had to do a lot of work in Finland already.

Suiciderock: You wrote the new album while being on tour. Is it easier for you to write when you are on the road and which criteria influences your songwriting?
Lauri: Usually I get the ideas while being on the road and then I go back home and work on it. Where do I get the inspiration from? I think just from every different day and the different things, that happen.

Suiciderock: I read that you had twenty songs for the new record, but only 11 made it to „Hide from the sun“. Which components made you choose this 11 songs?
Eero: Sometimes when you are in the studio, it occures that you have better success with some certain songs. Some songs sound good when you start to play them, but for some reasons it just turns out, that the song doesn’t fit that well. You just have to find out, which songs are best. We also don`t want to make an album, which is too long. Some bands have like 80 minutes on their cd and that’s quite much. I mean it’s enough when you have an album with about 45 to 50 minutes length.

Suiciderock: What are you doing with the songs, that doesn`t fit so well for the album. Do you play them live or do you skip them on stage as well?
Lauri: It depends. We have some accoustic stuff of some songs, that we play live. Sometimes we are also playing the B-sides.

Suiciderock: Your first single of the new record was „No Fear“. What are you afraid about in your life?
Pauli: Getting lost.
Lauri: Maybe flying is also bad. It’s so absurd to be up there.

Suiciderock: „Hide from the sun“ was produced by Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen, the same producers you had for your last albums „Dead Letters“ and „Into“. You said never change a winning team, but wouldn’t it be interesting to work with different producers?
Lauri: It would, but I think it’s like you have chapters. We did the first three albums with the same setup and now we are doing the next three ones with another setup. It’s time to move on and to do the next step. Maybe we totally change but that’s a future thing. It’s life, we just finnish this tour and maybe release another single.

Suiciderock: So you don’t have a special wish for a special producer?
Lauri: Well, I know so many producers and they have big names, but maybe it`s better to find some producers, who are more young and hungry to do their work. There are so many ways to go.

Suiciderock: You quitted school to go on tour... Did your family support you or have they been against it?
Eero: Lauri and Pauli did.
Lauri: Our family didn’t like it too much but it was my choice and they had to accept it.

Suiciderock: How would you react if your son or daughter comes up to you to tell you her or she wants to quit school to become a musician?
Lauri: You stay at school and finnish it! (laughing)

Suiciderock: Have you ever commited a crime or have you ever been involved in a crime?
Lauri: Eero...
Everybody was laughing...
Aki: No, when you are young and stupid you do some strange things. There are some small things.
Lauri: Nothing bad. Nothing major.

Suiciderock: Which show was the worst you have ever played and which one the best? Why?
Eero: Sometimes you play a bad show because of technical difficulties and that’s something you cannot avoid. We just played in Moscow. That was a great show. We played in front of 8000 people, exited fans and a lot of enthusiasm. It was just great. You cannot really say if this is going to be a good show or not. Every day can be a good day for a show.

Suiciderock: Do you have a funny tourstory to tell?
Lauri: Eero...
Everybody was laughing
Lauri: we are having funny stories all the time, but it is difficult to name one right now.
Eero: We are very funny guys, we have a lot of funny stories.
Aki: Say one...
Suiciderock: Maybe the latest one...
Aki: Laughs Let’s go on.

Suiciderock: Your future plans for „The Rasmus“?
Aki: Böblingen.
Suiciderock: Survive Böblingen.
Lauri: Yes, play here tonight and than we have a lot of shows coming up.
Aki: We go to Japan, South America and we also go to Africa to play a festival. That’s interesting.
Lauri: With Metallica.
Aki: Some Finnish Festival and hopefully some festivals in Germany, too.

Suiciderock: Okay that’s it. Thank you very much.
The Rasmus: Thank you.

We also made some screenshots of this interview. To view those check out the Gallery.