The Flaming Sideburns

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Music
Interview : Jay from The Flaming Sideburns

When and how was your band created?
"You want an exact answer? Weeeell, I believe it was in front of Tavastia club here in Helsinki sometime in the summer of 1994. That's when me and Ski started to talk about forming a band together. Unfortunately I was just about to move out of the country so it took almost one year before we had the line-up together and really started rehearsing. The first show was in the end of 1995."

Where is the name of the band coming from?
"At first we were planning to call ourselves Los Cyclones but then our guitar player at the time, Vilunki 3000, came up with this logo for us. It's a photo of Elvis with his sideburns flamin'. We had to name ourselves in order to fit the name with our logo!"

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
"I could probably namedrop something like 17 000 names so I better try to make this short. Let me think... yeah, Little Richard. He's the originator, the original rock'n'roll madman. That's where it really began. He's been an influence to everyone, they just don't realise it!"

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
"Well, it's easier to get a top ten hit! But making it to top ten doesn't make you a millionaire, far from it. Y'know, it's such a small country only a few artists will be financially successful. A lot of bands play because of their love to the music, not because they wanna get rich. And that's good. That's a big difference compared to, let's say, America. Over there a lot of bands are just aiming for that billion dollar record deal."

How could you define your style of music?
"We play rock'n'roll, we play punk, we play garage, we play soul, we play country and you know, lot's of other stuff. Most of the times we try to combine it all. You can call it whatever you want."

During the years how has your musical style changed?
"Not too drastically but naturally it has. In the beginning we were more directly influenced by the Sonics and all that 60's garage rock. Now we try create something more of our own."

How do explain these changes?
"You have to keep movin' forward. We wouldn't be here if we would have kept on repeating only one trick, y'know we've been around for more than ten years. Our line-up still includes four of the original members but we have also had four different guitar players during the years. They've all been pretty different so that has had a natural impact to the sound."

What are topics you treat in your songs?
"Usually they are drawn from our own experiences. Life, love and leavin'! That's the only way of doing lyrics I know of."

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
"There's no one right answer to this one. It changes all the time. Quite often the favorites tend to be the brand new songs... until you get tired of them, that is! So, at the moment I'd say it's a tune called "You Can Count Me Out". Or I don't even know whether it's gonna be called that! Those are the lyrics I wrote for it, we'll see if they stick. The song's like a trainwreck of Motown and AC/DC and the Stooges."

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
"Me personally like playing live and I think I share the opinion with most of my band mates, if not them all. Anyway, that's how we started, as a live band and that's what we do the best. Studio came into the picture later on and we are still trying to get adjusted to working there."

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
"Once it's finished, in the can and it sounds like the best piece of music ever done. Up until that point it's more or less hard work... but it can be rewarding in the end."

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
"Today I say, let me think... Roky Erickson's Starry Eyes. Ask me again tomorrow and I'll give you a different answer... but it's very likely that it's one of Roky's songs.

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
"Yeah well... the people are worried about illegal downloading and to some degree I'm sure there's some reason to be worried. But that's really a bigger problem for the record labels. For a band in our situation internet is just a good way to spread the disease. I think of it more as a radio, a radio with a lot of good music available. When I was a kid I was taping songs from the radio and if I really liked them I ended up buying the record once I got money. And then went to concert and bought a t-shirt! I believe internet is working the same way."

What are your projects?
"There'll be a new compilation called Back to the Grave coming out in May and in June we are gonna get back to the studio to record a brand new album. That should come out next Fall and after that we'll head for a tour."

What "image" do you have of French music?
"Well, it's not a rock'n'roll country. There's not too many rock bands coming from there... The Dogs, Little Bob Story, Les Thugs, Fixed Up. Philippe Marcade in the Senders. These are all old ones... There's couple of good ones we've played with, Jerry Spider Gang and The Holy Curse. But that's not too much from a big country like France. Anyhow, there's been comin' a lot of other stuff I really like, like all that yeh yeh stuff from the 60's, y'know, Jacques Dutronc, Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot, Nino Ferrer, Jacqueline Taieb... the whole lot of 'em. I also dig some of the modern stuff like Air, Daft Punk and Villeneuve. My current favorite is a band called Rinocerose, their latest album is a killer. It's pretty far from what we do but my tastes go far and out."

Is there one French song that you prefer?
"Again, you ask me tomorrow and you'll get a different answer. Right now I say Bitch by the Rinocerose."
Web site :
www.theflamingsideburns.com

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2006