Häiriköt

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Interview : Maukka from Häiriköt

When and how was your band created?
The band was formed around 1990. It was put together by our guitarist Erkko. The line-up has changed several times over the years, but the current line-up is the best one. That's: Erkko (guitar & vox), Mikko (bass & backing+lead vox) and MauMau (drums & mayhem). I played drums in the band first time around 92 and then had a break for several years. Now i've in the band like 3 years. The reason behind the band was to play loud and fast punk rock.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
The bands name Häiriköt means hooligans or troublemakers. It's just a cool name for a rock band. When the band was formed, there was a lot of tabloid headlines that had "häiriköt" in them. "Hooligans assaulted the elderies", "Hooligans made a scene in a airplane and passed out" and so on.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
There is lot of of bands that we all like: The Ramones, Rancid, The Clash, The Misfits and so on. I personaly love all kinds of good bands: The Germs, Circle Jerks, first Agnostic Front album, Suicide, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Pagans, Oasis, early Stones, QOTSA, The Smiths, J. Thunders, Death In Vegas, Prml Scrm, MBV, The Velvet Underground etc etc.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Being in a (punk)band in Finland is kinda shitty thing, 'cause when you go to a gig, you have to usually fight for basic things: food, beer and so on. Of course those things depend who's organizator of the gig. But in the punk circles the DIY-attitude is alive and everything usually works out pretty good. You always have a place to crash. And then there's always this "get a real job"-attitude, which comes across sometimes. But fuck 'em, they're just jealous. But the good side is that people are pretty passionate about the bands and music, but you have to be pretty big band to make a living out of it. And there's only 5 million people in Finland, so the markets are very small.

How could you define your style of music?
That's simple: high energy punk rock with some dark humour.

During the years how has your musical style changed?
It hasn't! It's only tighter, faster and the tunes are better. The music style has been the same since day one.

How do explain these changes?
I won't! See the question above.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
The song topics revolve around few things: glue, girls, girls gone bad, relationships gone bad, chainsaws, zombies, having a good time, having a bad time, low lifes, stupid people etc. And all this with some twisted humour.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
I have a quite a few favourite songs. Usually we play like 20-23 songs live, and it's all good.
But for example "Tehkää mulle lobotomia", "Mä haluun ulos tästä universumista", "Magnum 44", and from the new record Ratkaisu(Woimasointu) there's killer tracks like "Tunteeton", "Unohda mut" "Mä en haluu olla mä" and of course the first Häiriköt-track that i've ever written called "Me ollaan Häiriköt" Those are just aggressive songs with cool melodies.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
I love playing live and i love being on the road. Cruising around Finland, drinking beer, meeting people and playing gigs with your mates is just fucking awesome. But then again, being in the studio can be fun too. For me it's kinda boring in the end, 'cause when the drumtracks are recorded, there's not much for me to do. But i like the process, when the songs start to build their form from primitive things.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
The best moment is when you have an idea and you realize it's going to be something special. I'm a drummer so i don't write as much as our guitarist Erkko, but on our new record "Ratkaisu" there's one song by me called "Me ollaan Häiriköt" For me it's very easy to write melodies, but to have lyrics to match, that's a different story.

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
Oh fuck off, that's kinda impossible question to answer! There's so many. Right now i'm listening to The Ramones "Outsider" and that's a hell of a tune. From the same record, "Subterranean Jungle", there's a song called "Somebody Like Me", which pretty much sums me up.

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
I think internet can be a great tool for bands.

What are your projects?
I also play drums in another finnish punk rock band called The Heartburns, which is just fuckin' awesome. Check out the website: www.theheartburns.com Eh, then i have this project band which is more like traditional rock (The Stones, The Who, The Velvets). We just made a record. But my main project is to keep sane!

What "image" do you have of French music?
Well, my image of french music is that it's very crooner-like and there's lot of whispering and husky voices involved. And that it always sounds kinda sexy. I know it's a cliche. I can't remember any rock bands from France.

Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Can't think of one right now.

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2006