Huba

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Interview : Tuomas from "Huba"

When and how was your band created?
Our band was formed in the summer 2001. I started up with the pianist Tuomo Prättälä and saxophonist Janne Huttunen, with whom I had been working earlier. Rests of the people to join were mainly their musician friends and colleagues. First I wanted to have a little combo, but we ended up with a nonet or sometimes even a tentet (the wonderful percussionist Zarkus Poussa often plays on our gigs).

Where is the name of the band coming from?
'Huba' means fun, and it's a very corny name. I wanted a very corny and short name to make it easy to remember.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
In the genre we are involved with (soul-funk) my greatest idols are Sly Stone and Curtis Mayfield. In the broader area of Afro-American music I love Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Muddy Waters, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Leon Thomas and many others. Outside the Afro-American genre I've been influenced by a lot of stuff, maybe not always as far as making music is concerned, but when you slowly start understanding something new, it always fills you with the feeling of wonder and inspiration. Indian classical music was such a revelation to me, also the music of the great American modern composer Steve Reich. It also took a long time for me to understand the beauty of a 'simple song' (there's a Sly Stone hit called Sing a Simple Song.) For a long time I always wanted to hear something very original, but now days I can appreciate the beauty of simplicity. My wife recently introduced me to the music of Cat Stevens; his stuff is a great example of crystallized simplicity.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
I don't consider myself a professional musician, so I might not be the right person to answer this. There are lots of wonderful musicians in Finland, and I'm proud that there are such musicians playing in Huba. There's a vibrant musical scene going on (positive) but it's quite small (negative).

How could you qualify your style of music?
It is modern soul with a strong retro-influence.

During the years how has your musical style evolved?
It's a constant search for simplicity while introducing some original idea.

How do explain these changes?
Well, it's an ongoing process, feels like the right way to go to.

What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
The themes are either spiritual (Natural High, Whose Got the Nerve, Midwife) lamentations of the present state of affairs around us (Mary, Brave & Strong) and plain let's dance sort of songs (Vagabond Jive, My Sweet Beef is my Song).

Have you ever considered the possibility to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
No, I don't think we would go that far, but it would be fun to do some Finnish tangos with the band some day... There's a possibility that we could start taking more modern black music influences in our music, though, hip-hop mainly. But to me jazz, soul and hip-hop are pretty much the same stuff.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
I'm quite happy with the song 'Mary', because it sounds a bit like Curtis Mayfield, but the words are from the poet William Blake and as far as the composition goes, I haven't taken anything from him, it's an original composition, just kind of homage to his style. I really don't understand the kind of attitude, that when you have a band who digs Bob Marley for example, that they will in cold blood just steal some bass lines from his songs. That's lazy!

Do you tour regularly? Do you prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
We've had some really nice gigs lately, the Funky Elephant-festival and Kerava-jazz the other Friday. Live performance is ideal for our kind of music, in the studio it's a challenge to get that live feeling.

During the process of making a song or an album, what is the moment that you prefer?
When you've just finished a song and you're satisfied with it. That lasts for about a week and afterwards it starts to sound worse and worse... 'Why did I do it like this, why didn't I...?'

What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
As I said earlier my wife just introduced me to the music of Cat Stevens. Wonderful stuff. Otherwise the play list in our house is as follows: Bob Marley's greatest hits, Sly & the Family Stone: There's a riot going on & Fresh, Aretha Franklin: Amazing Grace, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Indian devotional music, Vesa-Matti Loiri (Finnish actor and singer).

A stupid question but... what is, among all the songs you've been listening in your life, the BEST song?
Aargh! Hard... the best song... it has to be a song that has moved me more than any other song, all other things (melody, harmony, lyrics etc...) are irrelevant at the end of the day. I can't name one, I have to do a top 5. And still, world is flooding with fantastic songs.

1) Mr. Bojangles (especially when sang by Nina Simone) - I get cold shivers just writing the name of this song.

2) Silent Night, Holy Night - it's a Song with a HUGE S. The melody is so simple, yet there's no other melody like this one, it's a very moving melody, not even corrupted by all the abuse of commercials and such.

3) Bob Marley: No Woman No Cry. This is a song that everybody seems to understand somehow. (Though some think it means that no woman equals no crying).

4) Sly Stone: Sing a Simple Song. They use the word genius very lightly, but I think Sly Stone if anybody was a genius. This is pure vitality and mirth.

5) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Allah Hu - This song means God Is. One gets quite convinced.

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
Well, it's a great source of information for one thing. As for downloading music without paying anything to the artists and composers, well, it's not really fair, is it?

What are your actual and future projects?
We'll start to work on a CD with 10 songs this fall, with 4 from our Vinyl EP and 6 new ones. Of the 4 songs you can get a sample at www.hubamusic.com
Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2004