Terho

[ WWW.FINPOP.NET ]

THE FINNISH POP CULTURE PORTAL

Music
Interview : Kai from Terho

When and how was your band created?
Terho was founded in December 1998. I had just finished my military service when we, a bunch of friends, decided to play together again, first time with this line-up. We wrote five songs very fast and after five or six days we recorded them in our rehearsal place. We sent four of them as a demo to a Finnish radio station called Radiomafia and three weeks after Terho was born, it got air play in a demo-show. After that we decided to continue making music and have continued ever since.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
I guess I'm the one to blame for the name 'Terho'. It is a finnish boy's name, but it also means 'acorn'. I have always liked words with several meanings and somehow I thought that 'Terho' would be an ideal name for a pop band, short and catchy, not too serious, as we didn't want to take ourselves too seriously.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
Well, we all went to high school in the 90's, so naturally music from that decade still plays a big role in our lives. First it was Guns N' Roses, Nirvana and grunge, later came along finnish rock music like Ismo Alanko, Yup and CMX and brit-pop bands like Suede, Oasis and Radiohead. Some of us were even listening to Iron Maiden and Metallica and most horrifying stories tell, that some madmen even enjoyed some Slayer. But that's something I don't even dare to remember. Later on, we discovered older stuff as well: Beatles, Doors, Bowie etc. I guess we are a bunch of music lovers with wide spectre of musical influences. Latest BIG discovery in the field of music has been swedish The Soundtrack of Our Lives, which simply is one of the greatest bands on earth.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
I think that music is a very nice hobby in Finland. If we had to make a living out of it, for, let's say, 30 years, I think that we simply wouldn't have the guts.

How could you define your style of music?
Ambitious rock music with a loving attitude towards songs. We also love different sounds of different electric guitars! We are quite guitar maniacs, but we still put melody in front of the skill.

During the years how has your musical style changed?
I think that our songs have become more mature. During the first years we had many quite funny songs in our repertoire. Nowadays, we still have kept a certain humouristic aspect, but it is maybe more hidden. It is more in the music, the arrangements and, in some cases, in the lyrics. Sometimes our humour has not reached the people as we had wished, so we have described ourselves as "a band with the worst sense of humour in the world."

How do explain these changes?
I think it's the natural development, that you can't fight against. Growing older, become more boring.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
Lately we have been thinking that there should be no forbidden topic in our songs. I think that skilled writer can write a pop song on about nearly everything in the universe. I think that's a thought to hold on to.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
Right now it might be our "space song", which might get the name "Solaris". The song isn't completely ready yet, but it is very convincing nevertheless. It's different, and it has a certain sputnik-feeling, despite quite dark lyrics.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
We prefer live. No album in the world could compete to a fantastic live show. The feeling is so much stronger live.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
For me it is the initial inspiration, when the lock to the song opens. Often it is a good chord progression, or a good line in the lyrics, a feeling that you can do almost everything with the song (even if you couldn't).

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
It is impossible to name just one. It has so much to do with the mood and, for example, the time of the year. It might be something from The Beatles, Bowie or The doors, but it might as well be "Smells like teen spirit" or "Animal Nitrate" because they happened to shake my world in my wildest youth. I simply can't name one song.

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
I think that it's best that could have happened to a music lover. Radios and TV have nowadays lost their status as a channel for new interesting music. They try to play music that sells and doesn't annoy anybody and the result is some kind of 24-hour commercial break. I've been waiting for the time, when people are sick to death of this mumbo jumbo. I guess I have to wait quite a long time, although there are few signs of things getting better.

What are your projects?
With Terho we are right now finishing our gigantic debut album project. After that we are going to play some gigs. We all also have at least thoughts of musical side projects, but Terho is still the main thing. Our drummer plays drums in a pop band that performs songs in english. Our singer plays bass in a 80's orientated party band and our bass-player plays rock n' roll in english in other band, they are also making an album. Our guitarist has his own prog-project and I myself have lately thought of playing simpler indie-rock as a side project.

What "image" do you have of French music?
Quite a good one. I especially like French music from the 60's and the 70's. Serge Gainsbourg is definitely the biggest favourite. Usually it is the drama I like in French songs. Many french classics have a strong cinematic-feel, they are well composed and dramatically arranged. I have also listened to artists like Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, France Gall, Francoise Hardy, Jacqueline Taieb and even Mylene Farmer. Current bands we know well are for example Air and Phoenix. In fact our singer thinks that Phoenix is one of the best bands in the world. I have an image of French music as very stylish music. French language also works very well in music.

Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
It is not fair to name just one, but if I say that "Je t'aime moi non plus" is far beyond, I wouldn't have too wrong. It simply is a song that disarms.

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2006