Press Review

Articles of 2008

Eyes towards the sun

Suosikki {Finland} - October 2008

Last years of The Rasmus have been like a rollercoaster: burnouts and faded selling numbers - and huge gigs, massive world tours and great yearly salaries. Now it's the defining moment: The Rasmus breaks to the top of the music world for good - or falls fast down from the enge of being a super star.

"Brian May of Queen started to blaze our guitar riffs. It felt like it raised the hair up."

Living the jubilee of the midsummer 2008. The Rasmus's gigbus is moving towards Pori where RMJ-midsummer festival is going to take place. The sun is shining from the sky with fair weather clouds and the feeling is high. The members of the band are feeling great,they have just finished their expected album Black Roses.
- In the end of May I travelled to Berlin with Pauli and our producer Desmond Child and we wrote the one last song. It got the name Livin' In A World Without You and it got selected to be the first single of the album, the singer Lauri Ylönen tells proudly.
Yeah, Desmon Child. This American man is modestly describing one of the most noted hit-makers whose merit list includes Alice Cooper's "Poison", Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and KISS' "I was Made For Lovin' You" among the others.
- Desmond got excited about our Dead Letters-album ans started to dream about cooperation. Specifically he was the one who was mooning over the cooperation with us, Lauri shakes his head.
- We met Desmond and decided to do the album together. Well sometimes he could say things like "Nickelback had an idea like this..." but we shaked our heads. We are The Rasmus and the Scandinavian melancholy must be heard in our music.

Pretty notable fans
Others than Desmond Child got excited about Dead Letters, too. By different links has turned out that for example Marilyn Manson, U2's Bono and Metallica's James Hetfield sign up to be friend of The Rasmus. Not bad.
- I've heard the stories about Bono and Manson. And I also know that Oasis' singer Liam Gallagher doesn't like us at all, Ylönen laughs.
- Queen's guitarist Brian May came to ask if he could sit down with us in a lounge of a hotel once. Oh man, yeah, totally! Then May started to blaze our guitar riffs. It felt like it raised the hair up.
Dead Letters that has sold 1,5 million copies raised the Finnish band to one of the biggest names in Europe. That costs something.
- I remember some moments when we have been in some radio station doing an interview and suddenly it starts blur in my head. Soon I couldn't say anything else. There I was, hinting to the guys in Finnish that "you finish this thing, I'm gonna pass out now." Those thing happened because the over stressing and too little resting, Lauri recalls.
- you can see it from the eyes when the blood is running out. Then it's good to run for exemple to the parents. There, in the child hood room it's good to spend a couple of days in silence.

It's hard sometimes
When there's four relatively new dads in the band, for exemple the conversations in the gig bus are written beforehand. The subject makes Lauri laugh.
- It hasn't been interesting before, if someone has told stories about the colour of the poop of his own baby. Now I can understand that side so much better too!
The Rasmus's tour bus goes ashore in the back area of the midsummer festival and the next hours are excited waiting. Finally the band gets on the stage as the main performer of the opening day. Pori's RMJ isn't a big crowd success but Ylönen and his mates make every guest in the area to come in front of the huge main stage for sure. The Rasmus loads an enormous amount of energy (page 2) - the stress of the previous world tour certainly doesn't feel anymore.
- Hide From The Sun-tour visited like 40 countries. Is wasn't always the coolest thing in the world. Sometimes there was some serious vomits on the couch of the back stage and a couple of moldy bread on the table. But that side has forgotten again and now we are going (touring) with a huge enthusiasm, Lauri says.
- It would be nice to do some more touring for exemple in the USA. There's this romantic idea of "concuering the America". The Rasmus isn't that big thing there but it's just healthy to take a few steps backwards sometimes. It makes lazier if you get too much good things.

Feet off the ground?
From the polar night we are moving to the beginning of September. Helsinki's cultur complex "Andorra" is The Rasmus's kingdom tonight. The cinema connected to the place is showing Eero's documentary about making of Black Roses.
- Sometimes it pissed off when Eero rushed to explain that "could you say that and that again to the camera". But it was worth it because it was interesting to watch the documentary, Ylönen said after the show.
Some pictures from years ago can also be seen in the documentary. The Rasmus has undergone many makeovers during it's career of 15 years and the old pics do bring many old memories up.
- Around Playboys -album we the so called Heal the World - tour. We also used to wet the audience with the big water gun. My first speech was usually "Moi, fats". "Fat" was our inside coddling word, but of course people didn't knew that. Some even got mad. Unquestionably our, little dudes', feet were off the ground back then!
The Rasmus, back then only Rasmus, was a crowd of over enthusiasticcheeky guys.
- When I've watched some of our old TV-interviews I've felt like we were very irritating, giggly guys telling inside jokes then. Or then we just went confident and thought that we do whatever we want and the fats in the record company give us money.

A rock dad or an oldster rocking?
Happily speaking Lauri turns to be a little thoughtful when the conversation turns to connecting being a dad and being a musician. His and PMMP's Paula Vesala's firstborn was born in last April.
- When I'm doing the band stuff, I do them at full. After that I run home. And when I'm home I play with my son and concentrate on that life at full. If Paula is playing wit PMMP, I might be there too. Last summer, I was sleeping in the hotel room with the boy when PMMP played in the club downstairs, Lauri describes.
- Luckily I've had time to spend with my child - and I will in the future too - because our world tour doesn't start until next year. During a long tour it's hard to keep up the family life. That's a bad thing to a child, and I've been thinking that it's a hard thing if the little dude doesn't recognize his dad when he comes home from some tour. Like "mom, who is that silly guy with tangled hair", Lauri thinks.
This was the first summer for many, many years when you were able to take a little break too, wasn't it.
- There was some free time here and there, even though there were enough work to do too. I bought a little boat and it was cool to drive to Suomenlinna to eat some fish soup. I also tried to take care of some friendships, 'cos I haven't seen my friends too much lately. I practiced some gardening work too. It is strange how it resets the mind when you strike your hands to dirt. And after all I was able to collect the crop in the end of the summer. One apple!

Fading embers or an eternal flame?
The world tour of Black Roses doesn't start until next year but the band is already looking over it too.
- We already have ideas for new songs. It doesn't necessarily take three years till the next album like it was now, Lauri thinks.
- I'm not afraid of the fading of the band. This is so comprehensive thing to us. I'm turnin 30 soon and it will be 15 years for the band. When Ive been in the same band for the half of my life, it's almost impossible to imagine a life without The Rasmus. A prisoner who has porridged for a long time can't necessarily live normaly when the freedom comes, either.
Hide From The Sun didn't reach the selling numbers of Dead Letters. Lauri has an opinion about the album.
- Afterwards Hide From The Sun felt too safe album. This time we wanted to do something else.
And then the singer smiles. Probably wider than any time before during the interview.
- Eero was thinking aloud that "guys, now it feels like with the new album some really big things can happen to us!"

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