Black Roses - Interia.pl

This is the interview made in Poland when Aki and Lauri were in Warsaw (13.11). I find it really interesting. It's dubbed in Polish, so if you can't hear something properly, here's the translation:

First question: Black Roses - how do they smell?

L: Black Roses?

Yes. Are they dark and frozen?

L Yes. if a red symbolize love, so maybe a black rose symbolize deformed love. But also the reason that we called our album Black Roses was that we have a lot of black roses from our fans. they give them to us at the gigs, throw them at the stage. we thought it will be nice thing to do give them back in the shape of music.

The first song on the album has a title "Livin' in a world without you". Without what kind of feeling you don't feel you're really alive?

A: There are many feelings. It wouldn't be possible to live without love, but also without hate.

L. I think all the feelings are beautiful, like today I feel very happy. I woke up, I was happy, I'm still happy, I hope I'll be happy for the rest of the day, but I know myself and tomorrow I can wake up and be really sad. My mood is changing every day but I don't mind, it's nice to play with your own feelings. If I'm sad and I miss someone from my family or something, I'm sitting in the tourbus, listening to sad music, I like to get even deeper in the sadness, it's also beautiful feeling.

A: You should control your feelings with music, at least we think so. We talked about it and we think it's good to maximize your feelings with music, movie or something.

If we talk about feelings... it's cruel and thoughtless - ghost of love. Are you scared of the ghost of love and what is love?

L: I don't think it's kind of a scary song, it's about everything you do in your life, leaves a mark in the karma and all the memories from the past will haunt you like a ghosts and this song is about it. Basically it's about love but it can be taken in different ways.

I'd like to ask about Justify, what does it mean for you "living under the gun"?

L: In a Justify it means a pressure that I've been living in. It's very personal to me, maybe the most personal song in the whole album.

I felt it.

L: Great. Maybe in this song I wanna give myself a lesson, that i should try to be a better person, there's a verse that means a lot to me: "I should go and find myself before i go and ruin someone else", it means that I have to get to know myself well before I make a mess in other people's lives. I feel I've been maybe too selfish and childish sometimes, always concentrated at my career, my band, myself and I'm really sorry about that, but it's kinda tricky: when I meet my friends after the tour, of course we'll be talking "how's the band? you had a long tour, 3 months! tell me about it" and I say "no, I don't wanna talk about my band, let's talk about you", I feel kinda guilty and that was the inspiration for many songs i wrote.

How does the meditation influence your music and yourself?

L: We don't practice meditations, our bassist Eero does. He practices Sahaja yoga, everyday he wakes up around 7 and has a half of an hour for meditation, he clears his mind, also when he goes to bed. It's really spiritual guy. I am meditating in other ways, I have a little boat, I go on the sea, float there and I feel like time stops there, I enjoy the beauty of the nature, because there are many forests near. These peaceful moments are good balance for our lives, it's hectic - travelling, everyday in a new city, still meeting new people, so you need a private moment, it's important.

A: yeah, also after these long days, I mean we wake up at 6 in Helsinki and then we have a plain to Warsaw, many meetings, interviews and so on. it's a long day and we must find something to do for the evening, we decided to go in the town and taste a local beer, maybe see some band live or just see how the nightlife in Warsaw looks like. it will be creative, if you know something interesting, let us know.

Ok, after the interview. If we talk about balance, i have a feeling that your songs balance on the borderline of reality and hope. What's the most important for you, reality or imagination?

L: Good question. reality is very important to me if I write songs, every song has to have a true base, connected with something I've experienced or I want to experience in the future. but also imagination is a great thing that people lose when they grow up, I envy children who can live in a world of imagination, and I try to cherish it as much as I can. I just watched Pan's Labyrinth, it's a beautiful movie that tells about how children can escape from the bad world to their own. people should try to don't lose it when they grow up.

This child that is in you... are you afraid of something?

L: maybe children are afraid of darkness but they are so innocent that they don't have to.

But you're an artist, you have to be a little bit like a child.

L: yeah, when we formed a band in 1994 we were like 15,16 and I think some part of me is still the same. it's me, the same as I've been before, of course I'm getting older and I can't avoid it but somehow something stayed on the same level. When you're in a band, you feel like living under the globe, but I wanna keep it that way, feel invincible, under the shield. maybe it's because of the music and friendship between us, many times we've been in situations when we felt we don't belong as a band, as when we went to nashville to record the album. we were among all these cowboys, Hillie Billie and all those crazy things, everyone had a hat and boots, and we were like this, there, I had a make up and when I went to men's toilet, one guy came to me and said "are you sure you're not a woman, boy?" but then again when we went to studio with our people we felt strong, we are all against the whole world, I think we got lot of out of that situation and feeling.


I'd like to ask about In the shadow song, what kind of feeling is worth to keep it in a shadow, to hide it? I know it can be hiding from the sun, but..

L: I think everyone has his own secrets, I feel a little naked when I write about my personal life, it's an emotional striptease. but I can use metaphors, I know what is the true meaning but people have only a little feeling, they can relate things to their own experiences, as you said before the interview - this music mean something for you and it's great, cause actually I wrote all the songs about you, only for you!

Thanks! You said before "we against the world" and I have a feeling that black roses lay on the grave of your latest anger, am I right or wrong?

L: wow, that's poetic.

Thank you!

L: can Ii write that in my song?

Ok!

A: You'll find it in our next song.

L: yeah, it's very visual thing, I like that. many times when I write a song, I search in my mind for a some picture to get started. like a photo. in this album we had a story before we had the music. that was very interesting way to create the album, usually we tried to concentrate at one song, finish it and make a next one but this time we wrote all songs in the same time, we had a map of associations on the table, many lyrics and skeleton of the whole album, we worked on it like: ok, today we write this part of the story, what kind of music does it need? which riffs, drumming? it was like making a picture and a concept and then writing a music.

I have a feeling when I listen to your album, like I'm in the journey, I pass bus stops, landscapes..

L: yes, in the album we have 4 main chapters, I read a book for film scriptwriters in Holywood, in many movies there is used a concept of dividing a story in 4 pieces, like Titanic, Star Wars, E.T, Million Dollar Baby and many more, usually the first part is the orphan when the main character is an orphan but it can mean many things, depends of the history. like in Star Wars there's an orphan - Luke Skywalker. and then he becomes a wanderer, that's the 2nd part when he is looking for himself, sense of his life, then he is the warrior, he is standing face to face with his fate and destiny. and the last part is the martyr, in this case Luke kills his own father. in this chapter the character must give up everything he wants to get something that he needs. that's the whole base for Black Roses.

Yes, I can feel it. So, Black Roses - very good album, very good book, very good chapters. is there something you wanna say to interia's watchers?

A&L: well, we go to concerts, we have plans to go there maybe in february, so see you soon, bye bye!

View here the: interview with lauri and aki !!!

awesome...ive just watched Pan's Labyrinth too. hehe... like the interview