Firevision

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Interview : Mikko Tamminen & Arttu Peljo from "Firevision"

When and how was your band created?
Firevision was created about two years ago when Mikko and I (Arttu) decided to start making music together. We found that our co-operation went well and was very successful, and since then we've worked with the Firevision-album, which is now ready.

Was the choice to become professional difficult to make? Why?
The choice wasn't in any ways a difficult one to make, because right from the start we had the best imaginable associates to start building Firevision with. The record company has done it's job very well, also our manager (Maurice Hawkesworth), and because of these interactions we've received and accepted several work offers of all kind regarding remixing, recording, production, etc.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
We both have a long history with music, and we've played in different bands before nobody even had a clue of Firevision. Music has been a great part of our lives from early teenage years. In the Firevision- sound you can hear a lot of 80's influence, which we combine with our own vision of music to make great songs. That's why it's quite hard to point out major influences, because there are just so many great bands, that have helped us to discover our musical identity.

How could you qualify your style of music?
Our style of music can be described as synth-pop with influences of electro and 80's pop. Personally I'm not a fan of qualifying music in different categories, I just listen to whatever bands and songs I like. We're both very open-minded when it comes to listening records.

Have you ever considered the possibilty to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
At least not yet we have not considered to choose differently, because we simply love the stuff we're doing now. But we've been planning to make a metal track for old times sake and just for fun! So maybe something in that direction might be the answer if we'd ever decide to switch styles…

What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
Most of our songs and lyrics speak about love in different ways. You know, broken hearts, wild romances and those things that love makes you do. But in some songs we've tried to find a different view on things, for example the song "Music Lover" tells about love towards music.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
They all are. But if I'd have to point out one song, it would be "On My Own" because it has a special smooth feel to it and is amazing to do live.

Do you tour regularly? Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
We've done gigs in Finland during the summer and we're planning to throw a tour in here after the album has been released later this year. Both performing music live and being in studio are great fun. Making music should be fun, we always try not to take things too seriously. But still we're very dedicated and work hard, because we believe that without hard work it's almost impossible to achieve anything at all.

During the process of making an album, what is the moment that you prefer? Why?
I'd say it's the actual making of the songs. Usually it happens like this: Mikko comes to our studio with a massive idea and we start developing it to a finished song (which usually takes all night, because we're too excited to quit). But I also very much preferred our mixing sessions at Petrax studio, which is one of the leading studios here in Finland, because it just was so nice to work in a fully professional studio with truly professional people.

What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
As already mentioned earlier we both like to listen to music of all kind. For example I know that Mikko went crazy for The Strokes and is listening their latest album all the time…

Internet is something interesting for musicians because it gives them the opportunity to touch a larger audience but it is also a threat for them (regarding the copyrights). What is your opinion regarding this medium?
In my opinion there are both good and bad things with music in the internet. It's great to be able to get your music out in the open, so that everyone's free to listen to it. And it's also very useful to be able to find information about new and interesting bands. It is also nice to be able to listen album previews before making the actual decision whether to buy or not. But for the more famous artists I think it can be very frustrating that your songs are spreading in the internet for free. If you download an album you like and don't bother to buy it, it's in way like stealing from the artist you love. I think the least you can do, is that if you prefer an artist then go buy his/her record. By doing so you're supporting the artist and giving him/her a kind compliment of the work he/she has done.

Do you use computers or home studios during the process of making an album or a song?
Yes, very much. We have our own studio here in our hometown, Vaasa, where we have put together the whole album. Only the final mixing of the album and mastering process we're done elsewhere. Computers we're involved in the process from the beginning to the end. Computers form a great deal of the process of making our record, and I think nowadays they are, or at least should be, every musicians helpful associate.

What are your actual and future projects?
We're now working hard with Firevision, we're shooting a video for our third single during this month and at the same time trying to throw as many gigs as possible. So there really isn't that much time left for any other projects. But we've got some nice things going on outside Firevision too. But I'll keep those as mystery for now…
Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2002