Interview with Henry, Björn and Jarkko / Sonic Roots

finnbands: You are the second time on tour in Germany now...
Henry: Yeah, second time with Sonic Roots.
finnbands: ...but I think, there are still people out there that don't know you, so would you please introduce your band to these people?
Henry: Ja! Hello, this is Henry Lee Roots from Sonic Roots and we are a rockband from Helsinki. Now we are here at Wild at Heart and we have our second show in Berlin now with Sonic Roots tonight. And we are very exited. Yes.

finnbands: Do you like your time in Germany? And did you like yesterdays gig?
Henry: Yeah, yeah. It was a great gig in Hannover. And we really enjoyed it there.

finnbands: Your last gig in Berlin was very great. What do you expect today?
Björn: Even better!
Henry: Even better! The soundcheck went very well and yeah. We are really looking forward for tonight.
Jarkko: You know, we've got some friends from Helsinki coming here and some fans and friends and...
Henry: You know, we already have bumped into some people today earlier...
Björn: I hope we don't have any enemies coming to the show. We don't have any enemies.
Henry: Yeah, that was so bad. I am really exited. It's looking good so far.

finnbands: You have been in studio in January.
How long have you been there? And is there anything you could tell us about?
Henry: We recorded three new songs and we are starting to make an album this year. And three first songs we recorded now.
Jarkko: We are recording new stuff, you know, whenever there is time to built the album. But
Björn: We got along very well with the engineer in the studio. It was really easy to work with this guy. Jukka Varmo from Jive Studio. And we are looking forward to continue this record there as well.

finnbands: Are there any funny or strange stories from studio you would like to share with us?
Björn: Everything broke down when we went there. But to your first question. We had Jyrki, Jyrki69 from The 69 Eyes, coming to give some backing vocal help and also Krister Orre and Suho Superstar from Jericho Fuzz, another band from Helsinki and very good friends of ours. So we had some nice friends to come to give some, you know, more flavour to the music. And when we record more songs than we will have some more friends joining the party.
Well, no funny stories I feel. *looks at Henry* Maybe you remember.
Henry: This time it was more to work than just party. *laughs*
Jarkko: *laughs* Last time it was just party and not about recording. But this time was about recording.
Björn: Yeah, that's about it.

finnbands: What do you think, when will the CD be done and when and where will it be out?
Björn: Oh I hope it will be out in autumn 2007. August / September. Let's see what happens. You know. Now we are recording music and maybe try to find a suitable lable for our music. Or maybe.. Let's see what happens. It's difficult to say. Of course we want to have it out anywhere but .. you know... there is a place like myspace for example where we can share our music all over the world. So I don't know where it will be released. I hope we will get it released to all rockfans around the whole world.
Henry: That's a good answer! *laughs*

finnbands: When you are working on new songs: How does a song develop from the beginning to the final song?
Henry: What you mean?
finnbands: From the first idea...
Björn: Ah, from the start... Sometimes it comes up with... Henry comes up with the melodie and vocals and Tero starts to built up the guitar from there and ....
Henry: Sometimes I have the lyrics first and then we start to make it work and ...
Björn: Yeah, there are different ways! And Jarkko has also some ideas.
Henry: Yeah he is opening his black book and we have a lot of lyrics and ...
Jarkko: ... yeah, a lot of lyrics. And I am writing now.
Björn: It's totally different. You know, every song we do is totally different how it becomes a final song. Sometimes our guitar player Sonic Warland comes up with the guitar riffs and he has some basic structure and we start and continue it from there. And... every song has his own kind of identity so there is no formula how to write a song. They are just done. You know, when the feeling is right then we know that the song is ready.

finnbands: If you could wish to go on tour with a special band, which band would that be?
Henry: A lot of bands.
Henry and Björn disordered: Guns'n'Roses, Hanoi Rocks, The 69 Eyes, ....
Björn: There are many bands we'd like to....
Jarkko: Rolling Stones, KISS
Henry: Yeah, there are a lot of cool bands.
Jarkko: Misfits....
Henry: Motorhead would be my....
Björn: Black Sabbath!
Henry: Yeah! With Ozzy! Those are our big heros!

finnbands: When you think about your first concert ever: what did you feel while being on stage finally? And how did you spent the last minutes before? Cool or nervous?
Henry: *smiles* Nervous!
Björn: Was this about Sonic Roots or the first concert ever?
finnbands: The first ever...
Henry: Ah, oh yeah. With Sonic...
Björn: Nono, not with Sonic, your first concert ever.
*It becomes louder and louder inside the bar and dinner was served - I don't understand anything. :(*
finnbands: And how was your feeling when you were on stage in front of the audience?
Henry: Very much alive, very much alive. The interaction with the audience is one of the best things, you know. When you are really alive the audience is here too and clapping their hands and that's a great feeling.

finnbands: At the moment bands from Finland are very popular all over the world. Do you have any idea what could be the reason?
Henry: Hard work and good songs are maybe the main things that ...
Jarkko: Communication and love for the music....
Björn: Yeah. A lot of hard work...
Henry: A lot of hard work, a lot of shows, a lot of promotion and everything...
Björn: There are many bands...
Henry: .... but it pays off then.
Björn: There are many bands, you know, if they don't get successful immediately they get bored and then they quit and they go back to the normal jobs. But I think many bands in Finland, because we come from a far away area in the world. You know, a bit isolated. We never give up, but continue making music through thick and thin, because it's in our blood to struggle for victory.This is like....
Jarkko: Yeah, with strong winters....
Björn: Yeah, you know, hard work and we have to continue and built it from there and it's the love for the music.
Jarkko: Yeah, and six month of darkness. I think it sounds of most of Finnish metal groups to me. And hard rock bands.
Henry: We are more into rock'n'roll and you know, we live at night, of course but you know, six month of darkness is pretty heavy.
Björn: You know, there is nothing else to do as to play music or to become an alcohlic or kill yourself. The suicide statistics in Finland still is the highest in the world. But we don't want to kill ourselves. We write and make music and try to make our living with for people.
So, people around the world: get away from the darkness to the light!

finnbands: Not long ago we had a discussion, if Finnish music is influenced by American music or by Finnish mythology.
Jarkko: I think it depends on the band. Maybe not so much from America.
Henry: I don't know. It's hard to say because we pick up in pleasure from all over the world with rock music which are popular. But then because of our Finnish heritage there is like very obscure Finnish tradition is that artist are only popular or only known in Finland and there are some influences that come into the music from their, from, you know, from your mother's mike, I'd say. Maybe that's the reason why Finnish bands sound a bit different to bands from the rest of the world. Because we have our mucial heritage somewhere deep - the melancolic music and tango and all kinds of strange music. You know the Finnish gipsy music - Hurriganes .... *he names some more, but I don't get the names at all (too lound and too Finnish)*

finnbands: What do you think about German music? Do you know any bands from Germany?
Henry: Yeah, I know some of the old and now I know The Pleasures, of course. We play with them tonight. And I know Scorpions and ...
Björn: I know Rammstein and Die Toten Hosen.
Henry: Yeah, Rammstein and Die Toten Hosen and Nina Hagen and Ninetynine Luftballons.
Björn: Nena! Nena! Nena! Neunundneunzig Luftballons!
Jarkko: Oh, I was in love with Nena when I was 10 years old!
Henry: Yeah?
Jarkko: Yeah!
Henry: Alright, cool!
Jarkko: I'd like to know more German music because in Finland you only hear the big things like Rammstein. And you have good stuff so I'd like to learn more and new German music.
You got some great CD stores in Kreuzberg here and you can just walk around and you find some new music.
Björn: There is good music everywhere you just keep your ears and eyes and all your instinkts open. That's important!

finnbands: Do you think that a site like finnbands.com really could help to promote Finnish bands in Germany?
Henry: It's awesome, it's great!
Björn: We love it!
Jarkko: Yeah, we love it! It's great! Keep up the good work!
Björn: Definitley.
Jarkko: Thank you very much for supporting Sonic Roots as well!

finnbands: While talking about the internet: do you think the internet in general is a good way to promote a band? We talked about myspace before...
Henry: Yeah, it's a great channel.
Björn: It helped us a lot!
Henry: Yeah. It's a great channel. Just now it's a great spot on myspace and all the internet. And myspace is very big. Yeah, there are people from all around the world and ...
Björn: A lot of new friends have been there and you know... when you know people just because of myspace so and we try to take care of all our friends - in myspace and everywhere.

finnbands: The usual question: could you please describe each other?
Henry: What?
finnbands: Could you please describe each other?
Björn: Henry is the crazy guy, the mad man on the band.
Henry: Nono, you are!
Björn: No! I am the mad professor!
Henry: Yeah, you are the naughty professor!
Jarkko: Tero, our guitar player, he is the warrior, definitely.
Henry: Yeah, he is the celtic warrior.
Jarkko: You know, you can hear it on stage when he is playing he is like on fire.
Henry: We've got sometimes the same energy on stage while playing music. Now it's ... that brings us together and that is one of the things I can't explain it but you know, it just is there.
Björn: Henry is... he is the voice and the soul of the band. Sonic Warland is maybe the heart of the band. And I am maybe the... god of the band.
Henry: Yeah, he is a great organizer.
Björn: And Jarkko....
Henry: He has very good connection and
Björn: And Jarkko is what brings us all together. He is the connecting power.

finnbands: Ok, that's it. *we would have had some more questions but because it was so loud in the bar (thanks friends!) we shortened the interview - it was sometimes very difficult to understand each other while talking*
Henry: Thank you!
Jarkko: And hello to all the people in finnbands: We love you, Sonic Roots love you!
Björn: Vielen Dank!

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