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Finally Heading To Australia With LAURI YLONEN From THE RASMUS · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Guys, this is louded from the Erasmus. Greetings from Finland.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: We're coming over to Australia for the first time at
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the end of January. We hope to see you guys.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Then, fantasty brother, thanks for joining us today.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: How you been good? Good? I just woke up.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Hi, you look you look fantastic for someone I just
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: wake up mate, So as you say, rather, the rasmushit
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Australia for the first time ever later this month for
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: three select shows, starting in Bridgsbourne on January the thirtieth,
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: before eading to Sydney the following night and finishing in
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Melbourne on February the first. So are you packed and
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: ready to go yet?
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: And I always packed like one hour before I leave,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: so I'm pretty used to doing that. But yeah, it's exciting,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: you know, the first time. It can always happen once,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: and now after a couple of decades already be known
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: in Australia we come over to play there, which is
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: kind of sad that it didn't happen before, but you know,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: it's happening now and we're happy we get to play
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: quite intimate shows in this rather small clubs. So I'm
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: expecting that to be really good because you know, we've
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: been just playing this tour with this album for three
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: months now, and you know, band is in a really
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: good shape and we're having a credible feeling within the band,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and now hitting a small club like that, you know,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: it's going to be really intense and it's going to
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: be really interesting to finally, you know, meet these fans
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: that you know, have been writing and social media for us,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: like for years and years, and like, you know, it's
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: going to be so emotional.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: So you mentioned the Rest must have been a band
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: for thirty years this year, mate, which makes it even
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: harder to believe that this is your first time coming
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: over here. So I know logistics for life and all
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: those things are a factoring it, but I just started
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: to see more people from this side of the world
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: getting into the band.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Is that why are you're coming over?
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: I think it was just like you know, like, well,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: we signed a deal with company, a record label called
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Better Noise Music and they have their food in Australia,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: and I think that's the reason it started to sort
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: of happen now, And you know, usually it goes like that.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: So we get a phone call from someone like, hey,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: why did you come over here and play? So it
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: just didn't happen before. It can't. We can't push ourselves
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: too much and if if someone wants us will come,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Oh nice.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: When you try the country for the first time like this,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: like do you do your research on what do you expect?
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Like you talk to other bands and ask what you're
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: in for? Or would rather just come in cold and
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: feel like an experience.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: No. In fact, just before this little chat with you,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: I was I was googling stuff about Australia, like, oh,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: you know, it's it's getting closer and you know, what
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: what do I want to see and what you know,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: like like I think it's as you know, about a
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: week we spent there, which is nice, you know, three
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: gigs in a week, so we we have some time
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: off as well, so hopefully see some of the sights.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: But I mean, hopefully we can also find a local
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: guide to take us around, because you know, time is
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: limited and and like that. But I have a feeling
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: that this is just the beginning of something like this
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: is the first time and and hopefully you know we
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: come every year. Ever ever after you know.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: I guess what are you put that pietistrited.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Well, I think, you know, it's the people who make
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: the show. It's like that connection, that magic that happens
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: in that room. It's not only us making the show happen.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: It's really about everything who attends the show. And I
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: like to think more and more like that, Like it's
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: all our fans who are part of our band in
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: that way that you know, they've been listening to music,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: they've been living their lives somewhere else, you know, on
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: the other side of the planet. But it's the music
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: that has been that connection between us. And now finally
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: we get into the same room and get to scream
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: our lungs out together. You know that That is of
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: course the stuff that I'm waiting for most because I
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: know it's gonna be full of emotion, like it's gonna
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: be nostalgic to some people who've discovered us like years ago.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: But also we've made so many new fans and so
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: many new followers with this new album that has been
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: you know, quite popular among the younger people for some reason,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: which is awesome, Like, you know, because obviously, you know,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: we've been around forever and we're like, you know, dinosaurs
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: in a way. But so it's very scattering that you know,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: people in their twenties or even younger find us and
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: start to listen to our music. And you know, music
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: kind of never gets old unless you're following the trends
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: too much. So I've always like just like tried to
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: be very honest with my songwriting and like writing songs
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: about like, you know, being not fitting in the society,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: being the weirdo, for example, that never gets old no
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: matter what. It's always been the case, like you can
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: always feel like that. And so that whole concept of
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: this album Weirdo has actually resonated a lot in a
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: lot of people. And it was something that's not very
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: new for me because when I was fifteen, we started
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: the band and I wrote my first song. It was
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: called Myself, and I was writing in that song the
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: whole chorus went like only like this line, I can't
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: be myself. I can't be myself. I can't be myself.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: And then I was in the verses I was saying,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: like when I go to school and blah blah blah,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you know I could believe the world. So basically the
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: same idea as in the song Weirdo. On this latest album,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: you know, thirty years after it's kind of I have
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: not been able to come up with something new in
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: thirty years.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: But that's.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: True, and it's I still feel like that I'm still
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: that same guy, even though I'm just getting older. But
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: you know, like world changes and we're living in dangerous
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: and exciting times. I mean, it's it's it's a sad
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: world right now. We have to really you know, it's
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: it's not easy. So it wasn't easy when I was young,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: but it's not easy now. It's like just different time
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: for the future.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So you're raise a good point, like coming out
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: you for the first time, how are you going to
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: approach your setlist like you're going to play something from
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: your whole career? Are you going to focus on your
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: newer stuff because that's where you feel people are getting
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: into it more.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Well, we kind of nailed the songs that fit this
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: moment perfectly on this tour. Like I said before, we've
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: played three months in last year on this Weirdo tour,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: and so I think we're gonna sort of do the
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: same thing, like because it has songs from the past,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: we are playing a little medley like like like a
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: combination of songs from like which are more rare like
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: not like the singles, uh, songs from the past, from
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: the very early albums. And then also obviously we're going
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: to play the hit songs in the Shadows and No
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Fear and these songs that you know, like early two
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: thousand and then and then we also want to show
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: the Rasmus in two thousand and twenty six. You know,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: it's it's a new band in a way, like we
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: have a new guitarist and she joined our band already
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: like three four years ago, but we feel that still
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: feel that effect of her being part of the group
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: and kind of renewing and refreshing the whole game. And
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: it was such a good thing that happened, you know,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: because we had issues with the previous guy and we
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: just didn't really do anything about it. Like it's just
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: like an old relationship, like you just tried to keep it,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: you know, alive and no matter what. But sometimes it's
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: better to let go and just like split up. And
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: that's what happened, and it was painful, but then there
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: was a new beginning and we still feel like, you know,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: we're surfing this ride, this wave of new energy and
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: new something and kind of to the towards unknown. And
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: this is really great thing because we feel a lot
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: of positive energy within the band and that's the best thing.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: That's the best possible, like a starting point for anything good,
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: like for new songs and for good shows and like
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: all that.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, Now anyone who's saying the Rasmus will
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: a test to the fact that you are a really
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: good live band. If you read anything about the band,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: the first thing that cross up is average, You're alive.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: But there's a quint in the press release that says
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: a Rasmus concert is not just a great rock show.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: It's a celebration of individuality, a quarter of arms for
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: every misfit hiding in the shadows.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Can you elaborate on that a bit?
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Well, I don't know who wrote that, but it's it's
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: pretty well said. It's like we feel, like I said, like,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: the weirdo concept of this album has been resonating in
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: the fans a lot, and people have like turn it
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: a Nutch louder, like how they look. They dress up
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: for the show like crazy, you know, makeup stuff and
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: like styles and and they have adopted the colors of
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: the new album like Purple and like Feathers, and they
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: look really cool. Like even the fans like dress up
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: for the show sometimes more than we do. So I
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: feel like, oh, I'm kind of undressed, you know. The
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: fans look more like rock stars than we do. But
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: it's it's amazing. Like I said before, it's like the
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: fans are part of the show and they feel that
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: you know their voices. They they sing the songs with us.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: They are in that moment, and so I think it's
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: much more than just like just like music. There's a message.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: There is this united, uniting feeling, you know, like they
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: are our people, we are the same, and that's a
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: good vibe.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Bet Now it's faked about this a little bit, but
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: you're turn on the back of your last album, Widow,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: which came out last September. So how was that received?
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Like I know you had a high hopes of album.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: Was it received as well as you thought it would be?
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the reception has been great. I don't
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: ever look at the numbers and all that, like I
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: think it's bad, but what I feel and what I
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: hear from people, it's been really good. Good stuff. Like
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: people like when it's heavier, it's a bit darker, more
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: even towards towards metal or something that. So I think
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: it's for us. It's kind of going back to the roots,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: you know, in the sound world, and that that feeling
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: like it's a bit more bitter and you know like that.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: So I think that's kind of working well in this
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: time in the world, because, like I said, we are
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: living scary times and and the music has to match that.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: You know, we are living next to Russia. Finland has
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: like three hundred kilometers order shared with Russia, and like
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: you never know, like what's going to happen, And obviously
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: these things are reflected in our music. We think about
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: it daily unfortunately, you know.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: And so.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I think whatever is happening with in the album, it's
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: we're telling our story, o our feelings about this present moment,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: and that's like how you should make music. I think
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: you have to be really honest and like just like
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: open yourself up and have real stories, have real emotions
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: in your songs. Then it's going to cross over to people.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Definitely, right, definitely. And we spoke about the album a
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: long before it came out, and the one thing that
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: you were really happy with was that the message of
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: that album was the same as a message for your
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: very first release. So can you run us through that
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: message and why it's so important you're still thirty years later.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Well, when I was young, it was not easy to
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: sort of be myself, Like I was going to school obviously,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: and you know, looking different, thinking different was harder than now.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Because now I can choose my company, I can choose
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the places where I go. I don't have to face that,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: you know, that negativity as much as I did when
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: I was young. But I mean, I've always felt like
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I don't really fit in the social form and I'm
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: still like at this age, I'm always this kind of weirdo,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: this freaky guy in that sense, like you know, like
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe it's better for someone else to
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: describe it, but I feel it that I don't fit in.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: But I'm not I'm not feeling bad about it, Like
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: I'm actually really proud of it, and like I've had
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: a great life, you know, even though I've done things differently,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: I've achieved so much and I've made my music all
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: through these years and that's pretty much all I wanted.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Like I don't want these grand things I just want
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: like something I really love and I something I really
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: am passionate for, and you know, it's anyway kind of
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: simple things. So this weirdo concept sums up the message
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: of the Rasmus pretty well because it was there from
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the very beginning, and now after thirty years, we bring
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: it back, but more in the positive light. Like I
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: want to hear that word weirdo sounding a compliment. Be Allen.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: There's a little whisper around that there might be some
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: more new music from the Rasmus coming this year, can
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: you confirm or deny that?
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: All right? Well, in fact, we're hitting the studio right
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: after Australia, all right. Yeah. So I'm always feeling like
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: I'm always telling the band and the label like let's
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: just keep going and release more and more because like
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: I like to think of think in album, you know,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: terms and concepts. Album is a great thing to have
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: because then you can sort of like that's like a
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: bigger chap of your diary whatever, and you can make
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: it look like something and that's like kind of wrap
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: up the those couple of years in your life. But
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: also I think it's nice to be spontaneous, and you know,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: I've been writing songs here in this room a lot recently,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Just like a lot of new ideas come, especially now
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: when we're in this touring mode and I get to
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: meet all the fans and like being right there, hands
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: on to this thing, and and a lot of new
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: ideas come all the time. So I'm thinking this is
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: a good thing to do. Just hit the studio, you know,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: if something good comes up, and when it will, we
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: just put it out there, push enter. Really, it's like
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: that easy. And I know that, you know, the fans
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: are craving always for new stuff, and and we have
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: some really interesting things planned musically, so it's it's gonna
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: be fun to see their reactions. You know. It's maybe
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: something we haven't done before.