Fillip

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Music
Interview : Chris from Fillip

When and how was your band created?
I met Olli, our bassplayer, in some party four years ago. By the end of the night, we decided to to start a rock band. Quickly, we found the rest of the members and started to work hard and practice daily. Since those days the speed is only accelerating.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
British band called Muse had a song on their debut album called Fillip. This was an awesome song but even better name for a song. Everybody agreed that this would also be a great name for the band.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
Oasis and the other great britrock bands are the greatest influences for me. I started to get into the music quite late, but when Oasis came around, it hit me like ton of bricks, which made me want to start a band of my own.

Tehosekoitin and Zen Cafe have been the most influental Finnish bands, and The Sounds from Sweden and The Killers from U.S are definitely the best bands around right now.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
There's only five million people living in Finland. Therefore, musicians have to work very hard to sell records here. Also, the country is pretty big and the distances are quite long, which makes it a bit harder to reach all the fans around the country. Still, the audience in Finland is very active and loyal, which makes it lot easier to jump into the bus and drive long distances to give them what they want. In Finland, the support for the Finnish bands is great.

How could you define your style of music?
Energetic, Fashionable rock music with catchy choruses sung is Finnish. Our goal is the get the audience dance on tables!

During the years how has your musical style changed?
We've been trying to avoid heavy guitar sounds, and adding more 80's synth sounds, which is a perfect combination to create an unique style. We would like to play Finnish mainstream rock and British indie rock the way no one else is playing here. Our style of playing is now more angular and a bit simpler than it was a couple years ago.

How do explain these changes?
Experience. It takes a while for a young band to get the style together. Everyone in the band has their influences, and it requires hard work to get the ingredients together and find the right combination to make it work as a whole. Right now, I think we got it.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
I think we are singing about being young, having fun, and partying. I don't think that's intentional, but if you look at us, those are the things that keep us fresh and happy. That's the kind of feeling we want the audience to feel after every show. Like us, we've been avoiding safe and "normal" life, and getting the kicks of chasing our dreams. Somehow, we would like everyone to feel that way, at least sometimes.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
"Kesä 2000" is one of my personal favourites. It's catchy and very positive song. When I first heard the song from the album, I couldn't believe that I had actually written the song.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
We are definitely live band. For the debut album, "Kaikki Näyttää Kauniilta" we wanted to capture the same energy and feeling that we have when we are playing live. The whole project took at least four months, and we couldn't wait the album to be done and get on the road again.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
The best moment is the time when you give the song for the band to play. That's the first time I feel the song was made just for Fillip.

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
I still remember when I saw Oasis on TV with "Live Forever". Since that moment, music has been the most important thing in my life. Now, 12 years later, the song still sounds as great as it sounded back then.

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
Internet was a revolution for the whole world of music, and I think that in a good way. Nowdays, people can search information from the bands they like, look for the new bands they might like, and expand their taste of music much easier than back in the days.

What are your projects?
Past couple of years, I have been dedicating my time on Fillip, and developing our record company, Bianca-Pop Music. In the future, publishing and producing other bands would be very interesting. Also, there has been talk about building an own studio.

What "image" do you have of French music?
In Finland, you don't hear too much of French music, but for example band Air has made a lot of great and original music. Patricia Kaas is the other name which most of the Finnish people know. I assume, that French musicians and bands usually sing in french, that might be the reason you don't hear so much of French music in Finland.

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2006