Replika

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Interview : Tommi from Replika

When and how was your band created?
In January 2000. We had been friends since kids and playing English language rock in a garage together earlier so it was quite natural to form a band. After that the line-up has gone through a few guitar player changes but still there are 4 original members in our band.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
I don't recall it very well, but I guess we had some suggestions by the members of the band and Replika seemed to be somehow suitable name.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
There are hundreds of bands and artists that the boys in our band like so it's hard to name some certain bands. First common major musical influence for Replika must have been Kent from Sweden, sometimes we were named as a Finnish Kent J Since then we have changed quite much.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
+ Definitely open air gigs on nice and warm summer days. The band and the audience are at their best then.
- Small markets, geographically long distances, low salaries for semi-unknown band like us. Luckily this is only part-time job for us so we don't feed us with the band.

How could you define your style of music?
Stylish pop/rock with Finnish lyrics and catchy tunes. We have also been told several times that we are probably the most Swedish sounding band in Finland..

During the years how has your musical style changed?
The basics are the same, but of course we have become more skilful musicians so it's easier to sound what you are willing to sound..

How do explain these changes?
It must be the development as musicians and the influence of the new bands we are listening to. And we are getting old and tired, too.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
The topics vary but mostly they are stories about the girls.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
"Tulenarkaa" from our forthcoming EP. It's a Franz Ferdinand-like modern pop sing-a-long with a killer guitar hook.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Live, no doubt about it. Playing live is mostly fun while the recording days in a studio are hard work, even though you usually sound better in a studio environment.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
It's the moment when the new song is played through nicely and with no bigger mistakes for the first time in our training room.

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
Bobby Womack's Across 110th street. Not our style but should be considered as a perfect song..

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
We have maintained often-updated web pages since the beginning because it's the easiest way to share and promote music for the band at our level. With the help of the internet we have also made contacts to different bands that we have later played gigs with. At the moment we are creating new pages, so our pages www.replika.fi are very simplified now.

What are your projects?
Currently we are arranging and training new songs and in September we are going to release the first official EP followed by a tiny tour.

What "image" do you have of French music?
I'm a huge fan of Serge Gainsbourg, especially his works from the late 60s to mid-seventies. I'm a bit unfamiliar with the French music apart from my favorites Gainsbourg, Air and Joe Dassin.

Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
Bonnie and Clyde by Serge Gainsbourg.

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2006