Kemmuru

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Interview : Jodarock and Askim from "Kemmuru"

When and how was your band created?
AKSIM: We're 2 ordinary guys from different corners of Finland. I'm from Tikkakoski (which is near Jyväskylä) and Jodarok from Joensuu. We met few years back in Jyväskylä where I held this open-air hiphop event called Main Ingredient. Jodarok came thru blazing with amazing drunken freestyles !
JODAROK: We kept in touch afterwards and the group was finally formed 2
years ago after both of us had moved to Helsinki.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
AKSIM: Kids can't say "kenguru" (kangaroo), so they say Kemmuru.
JODAROK: it's a funny name and it could be almost any language

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
AKSIM: I remember Hector, Sielun Veljet, Tuula Amberla and Mikko Perkoila from my childhood. Plus various communist ("taistolais") tunes. When I was 7, I listened to pimppi-heavy: KISS, WASP, Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister. After that came 60's rock'n'roll.
The first touch i got in hiphop was in '91 when a friend gave me tapes of Public Enemy, N.W.A., Cube and T. I was 13. Then in few years came others like Dre, The Roots, Gangstarr, Pharcyde, Del, Wu, 2Pac, Jeru. The usual dope ones. Later I played bass in a school band and got some soul & jazz influence from the other guys. Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" to mention a good soul record.
JODAROK: The early nineties hiphop had a big infiluence in my life, and even more so in my music. I was a 12 year old kid, trying to be so "HIPHOP"... my songwriting gets alot of influences ranging from rock or punk thru murder-country to irish music. I have no idea if you can hear that or not, but that's the stuff I like.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician / singer (in Finland)?
AKSIM: U know Finland is nowadays known for it's information technology. Our generation has had a computer home since 80's. So I think that's why Finns have now blown up in electronic music across the Europe. As you might know, our electronic music has been exported a lot since the audience in Finland is too marginal (or the record industry too conservative.) The idea of exporting Finnish rap sounds difficult, because of the language. Haven't tried it yet though !
JODAROK: Finland's music scene being small is good in some ways and, ofcourse, bad in others. It's good, cause it's easy to get recognition for dope music, then again the recognition you get doesn't fill up stadiums or even pay rent . . . but then again it doesn't matter that much cause we got such great social security ! no?haha.

How could you qualify your style of music?
AKSIM: Hip hop with heart and balls.
JODAROK: Plus blood and guts and sweat and tears, couple of tokes, couple of beers!

Have you ever considered the possibilty to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
JODAROK: I've been meddling with different stuff a bit, trying to sing and varying my rap styles alot. My new music would propably be some folkrocksouletc.., and it would sound like shit. Very bad.
AKSIM: I've reached the conclusion that I shouldn't try any other. This is what I do best. I've tried to make instrumental music but everytime I make a beat I start writing to it. I was a rapper first, so rap comes first.

What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
AKSIM: We try hard to find other topics than the usual "im-a-starving-but-independent-artist". Trying to maintain balance between the positive and the negative. But it's so much easier to bitch about everything.
JODAROK: The songs We've made are about everyday life, streetlevel type of
things, then there's the obvious "hiphopboombap, you and your momma can't rap" type of songs and alot of songs about women cause they drive me insane and i love them for it.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
AKSIM: Elämä Laittaa Saiffaa ( free translation: "life puts you to a test").. when we made that one, it was some instant shit.. we made the beat, wrote couple of lines back and forth plus the hook and recorded that shit straight up. Plus the song's simple and honest.
JODAROK: Yeah, that one's great! My other favourite is "Häslää Soolona" (Solo Hustlin'), but it's not mixed yet.

Do you tour regularly?
JODAROCK: We've haven't had too many gigs together yet. I'm sure that every performance will teach us how to be a better performer and how to improvise our set without looking confused. I hate doing the same thing over so that's why improvisation is vital.
JODAROK: We perform as much as we can, hopefully more after our album is out. I do a lot of shows with different collectives cause it's easier for me to travel and perform for no money than Aksim, who's a Family Guy.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
AKSIM: Recording is fun when it's easy and fast. Some vocals sound good
right away, they just fit into the beat. But some need mixing and first you can't tell are they good or not.
JODAROK: I prefer performing live. Recording is a drag, it's fun for a while but I have a very little interest in mixing songs and tweeking sounds. On stage, with a good audience, you don't need to have any energy, you can borrow from them and give back a good show.

During the process of making an album, what is the moment that you prefer?
JODAROK: When a song is finally done! we do everything by ourselves so the point when something is ready and it sounds good, you know hours/days of work was worth it. Other than that writing the lyrics is the best.
AKSIM: I like making the beats, of course. 'Cause I can do anything I wanna do. I just make a lot and some end up to our songs. After that starts the work. I think the best moments are when I have a dope beat made and when we have a whole song made.

What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
AKSIM: I love all kinds of live music events and I think that's where other genres are usually more interesting than hiphop. I listen to all sorts of electronic music and hip-hop from gangsta rap to stupid-but-funky Slum Village. Finnish oldies from Kaseva, Hector and Vesa-Matti Loiri are
beautiful. I've also found some gems from Russian and Estonian 70's music. And Jose Feliciano, cause there's no better voice in the world.
JODAROK: I listen to all types of music from many different genres, The Pogues first 3 albums, Popes, Mike Ness, Waits, Mac Mall, UGK, Too Short, Atmosphere, Sage Francis, Millie Jackson, Minnie Riperton, Janis, King Tubby, Parliament and so on and so on.

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
AKSIM: Hector's 'Ei Mittään (Työttömän arkiviisu)' A song I remember my dad singing when I was a kid. He had a job though.
JODAROK: " Pair of brown eyes" great song, great lyrics, luv itluvit! Oh and it's by the Pogues, ofcourse.

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?
AKSIM: I think it (internet) does good for upcoming artists and forgotten old artists that an average cd consumer would never come across. The cd prices in Finland are too high so I think it should do good for them too. But artists shouldn't pay for it.
JODAROK: if by threat you mean MP3's, that's just greedy overblown companies getting what they've asked for. I don't see how a guy like James Hetfield is going to go bankrupt and has to move under a bridge because of people sharing their songs. It might do harm to the companies, maybe they'll cut expenses from promotion and stop force feeding their music to people!

What are your actual and future projects?
AKSIM: Kemmuru cd is just finished. Now we just hustle.
JODAROK: It's not easy but Somebody's gotta do it! I think I'll release my solo album soon too. It's gonna be small limited edition thing... I'm going to England for a half a year to study a bit. Thanks for the interview and visit www.mikseri.net/kemmuru and www.kemmuru.tk for soundcheck and photos.
Interview by Vincent Lefrançois / 2003