October 10, 2020
Notes on ‘Burnt My Fingers’
Bang! Been waiting for this moment with growing anticipation. Our new single ‘Burnt My Fingers’ has just been released. Out of all the tracks and music videos we’ve shared so far, this is certainly in the category that we are most proud of.
‘Burnt My Fingers’ is about the art of screwing up and dealing with it. As we are well trained professionals in that field of expertise (both musically and individually), we think we have a mandate to sing about the subject.
The song was recorded and mixed by Sebastian Muxfeldt at Clouds Hill and mastered by Flo Siller at Soundgarden Mastering. Sebastian really took the song to the next level in the mixing, as our demos tend to be quite messy and during the recording session we had some doubts to trust in such a minimalistic instrumentation. But when we heard the mix… Bang!
The music video is done by amazing Appu Jasu. The video was filmed in the spirit of social distancing and minimalism: we spent a day in our rehearsal room with just one spot light, had take-away pizzas and took a quick walk in a nature reserve park just a stone’s throw away. Appu has rare talent to create complete works with a sense of mystery out of random everyday elements, which is very inspiring. Special thanks to Rokki and Louis for being available despite their busy calendars.
Hope you enjoy the song and the video. Keep safe, see you soon!
xx
Anssi & Samuli
August 28, 2020
Notes on ‘Marathon’
‘Marathon’, the first single from our upcoming album ‘Picture of a Good Life’, is out today. We recorded the song with Sebastian Muxfeldt at Clouds Hill in Hamburg just before the pandemic broke out. The cinematic music video is made by Appu Jasu.
On the song, you hear us re-visiting our musical roots: having fun and enjoying the loudness of electric guitar and drum set, yet creating something epic and melancholic out of that energy flow. ‘Marathon’ is our almost eight minutes long record-opener, dealing with album’s core theme: the paradox of good life. We’re more than happy to be able to share the song with you during these challenging times when the world seems to be calibrating itself!
June 26, 2019
Notes on ‘Volant’
‘Volant’ has been out for four months. In a way, every album has its own importance on artist’s path, and it’s hard, if impossible, to compare them. What’s special in ’Volant’ for us? The making of it included, for the first time, us doing all the recordings by ourselves (in our minimalist studios). It was time-consuming, learn-by-doing craftwork, but we needed that experience. If something as big as the album process doesn’t produce a feeling of entering Terra Incognita (and a sensation of unsureness in the stomach), is the album worth doing?
For me, songwriting seems to be a way to feel and reflect the world around me, and by doing this, to experience a thrill of creating something that hasn’t existed before (at least for me). This being said, the ingredients of ‘Volant’ were everyday occurrences and some more significant life events: things like getting surprised by an involuntary movement in the face when seeing a childhood friend, drinking colored water, watching something happening too soon (or too late), being hung up on messing around with instruments and gear (or just staring at the roof while trying not to think about it); and life events such as letting go of something that was forced and pretentious, not recognising the person in the mirror, or purchasing Ableton Live and a pair of Genelecs. I think most of the songwriting and album making was simply being tired of getting to the studio at 7:45 in the dark October rain (October rain that lasted more than a year), but knowing that once I get there and open my laptop, some kind of an urge will soon wake me up – I guess it’s an urge to try to understand what the hell am I doing here. After all, music is the sun!
So, very happy to hold this vinyl. Thank you all for listening and joining the flight!
Ps. Enjoy the summer! I guess we’re spending it mostly offline, writing new stuff.
Anssi
April 11, 2019
Thank you, Central Europe!
Dear Followers,
After 11 shows and 6000 kilometres, we’re back in snowy Finland from our first proper Central European tour. We want to express our gratitude to everyone who was part of the tour, especially YOU in the audience. For years, we’d been attached to the image of touring in Europe, and most specifically in springtime, when cherry trees bloom and the sun is slowly going behind the hills, while we’re on a motorway driving to the next city. We had to wait for a couple of years for this tour, because we were stuck in the studio for so long, and we also wanted to find the right team to be there with us. We can’t tell you, how good it feels to finally make this all happen. Thank you.
The pic was taken somewhere near Czech Republic–Germany border.
Stay tuned for news.
Peace,
Anssi, Ari, Samuli
February 22, 2019
Notes on ‘Brothers’
For several years, I was drawn to the idea of writing a song about brotherhood. Because of the heaviness of the subject, it didn’t happen until now.
The relationship between Samuli and I has been, for a long time, also a musical relationship, as have been most of my closest friendships. That has added something unique to the relationships, but there’s also a sense of loss in it. How to find “normal” human connection when the musical pressure grows?
I feel that in the emotional space between brothers, and also between “brothers”, the distance from up to down is longer than usually – everything is more extreme and intense. And because of that, there’s a special sadness singing “all the things we say but never do”.
But hey, there’s still time!
Anssi
January 31, 2019
Notes on ‘Lost In Time’
Time has a lot of power. We can’t touch or see it, but we can feel it.
It’s too easy to hold on to something that has been gone for a long time. Sometimes it’s beneficial, sometimes it’s the opposite. I regard myself as an expert of being lost in time, and usually in a bad way.
Time is one of the key themes of our new album, and the song ‘Lost In Time’ deals with the feelings of being stuck. Writing and performing music has the power to lift me up from there, but only momentarily. Still it’s always worth it.
Anssi
December 26, 2018
Happy Holidays & 2019!
The past year treated us well. What happened?
A long period of crafting a hang glider came to its end, while we unplugged the studio cables and finished our third album. Then, after quite a break, it was time to jump with closed eyes and hope that it will glide… We played our first shows as a trio and watched the glow of the city lights in a couple of beautiful locations: Berlin, Tallinn, Hamburg, Tampere… Moreover, it felt just wonderful to release two new singles, ’Elysion’ and ’Person I Used To Be’. Thank you everyone for attending our shows, listening to our music, or supporting us in any other way!
Special thanks go to people close to us. Such an exciting new page was turned when we signed with Clouds Hill. Thanks for believing in us! Found new friends Stabil und Grazil (thanks for the videos!) and Max Hartmann (thanks for the photos!), and called to an old friend Appu Jasu (thanks for the cover art!). Thanks to Dominik (Grand Hotel van Cleef), Mikko (Hög), Nik (Glad We Met), Backseat and Hei Hei Media, plus everyone who works with us! Not to forget our families and friends. You all make this possible!
Our new album ’Volant’ is out on February 1st. We’re celebrating the release with a European tour.
See you soon,
Anssi, Ari, Samuli
November 31, 2018
A note on ‘Person I Used To Be’
In ‘Person I Used To Be’, and in its music video, one travels from dusk to daylight and then back to dusk again. That’s just like being a human and having conversations with persons we used to be, are going to be – and maybe wished to be but can’t.
Anssi
September 4, 2018
About ‘Elysion’
‘Elysion’ is an escape song. Not away from reality, but into reality. And that’s because, just like many people, I’ve always been fascinated by something other than what’s going on right now. May it be some kind of a utopia, nostalgia, or whatever which is “out there” and not here. ‘Elysion’ is a prayer for taking me to “the other side”, to here and now.
The music video for ’Elysion’ was shot in our favorite dreamy locations in Eastern Finland. We visited an abandoned holiday village and some vast views to look close, and took a flight to see from afar. The performance scenes were filmed in an old ironworks milieu in Juankoski, just a stone’s throw away from where me and Samuli lived as kids.
Anssi
NEØV 