On katsomo.fi:

Watch the video on katsomo.fi

Metadata:

• Length: 6:33min

Transcription & Translation available thanks to Dark Side of Light (thank you!):

Interviewer: This is what new Poets Of The Fall sounds like. Good morning Marko and welcome.
Marko: Very good morning.
Interviewer: This song has already piqued the interest of so many people that we’ve been getting a lot of questions. For example, being such a delicate song, does it have a special story that it came from?
Marko: This song? Yes, it has. It’s a rather complicated story. It’s a fun question, but so personal that I don’t necessarily want to talk about it more than that.
Interviewer: But it’s funny how it has struck so many viewers to think that there has to be something behind it.
Marko: Yeah, yeah, I don’t know. Maybe someday in my memoirs…
Interviewer: You will reveal what this song in question was about, what was behind it.
Marko: Yes, where it started from.

Interviewer: Actually we could continue along the same line. How often do the songs come from your own life, or do they come from the lives of people close to you?
Marko: That’s a good question. They come from both. I do take influences from around me and stories that I hear. As a musician my experience is that we all have our own life and it’s best to take from there. That’s where you get the strongest spark from, in a way, and it makes things happen. It may even come across in the music somehow, that feeling.

Interviewer: Have you ever gotten feedback from anyone who has recognized themselves in your song? Like, oh, you used me there.
Marko: Yes, and I’ve received questions about if this part is from this event and that part from that thing. But… They come from so many different things and they go through such a huge mill in that process of song writing that in the end everything affects everything, but it’s not exactly what it looks like. In the end the song is pretty much minced meat, it’s such a salad. Like I take this from here and that from there and then there’s everything that Olli and Captain bring onto the table in addition to the story. And that feeds the musical output and all that so much that in the end the song is pretty much a heap of spices.

Interviewer: Talking about Olli and Captain, you’re the guy who usually seen talking about Poets Of The Fall.
Marko: Mmm.
Interviewer: Are you a dictator-like boss in the band?
Marko: No, completely the opposite. We’re pretty solidary guys and like to talk about things. As a front man of the band it has fallen onto me quite naturally. We’ve tried to have a starting point where each of us gets to do the things that come easily or naturally to us or if someone’s interested in something then that’s what they do. From the start it was just fine for me to do these promotion things and Olli and Captain enjoy working at the studio more or concentrate on other things that I don’t really like to take care of. But those things aren’t as visible as this task is.

Interviewer: An alias Tähkä is asking if a band can be compared to a passionate marriage.
Marko: You can compare anything with anything really, you can compare a band and an Easter egg if you want but…
Interviewer: There’s a surprise inside.
Marko: A surprise, yeah. But if the question is about if those 2 things are at all alike, then I suppose you could say yes. If you think about a relationship and a band, we are in a way married to each other, especially on a tour. Or why not in the studio as well. This is a 24/7 job, you have your antlers out and your wits about all the time. You’re on the lookout for influences and topics to write about and what I’m experiencing in this life or what that person is experiencing, can I write about that person’s stuff, does it touch me somehow. Like so. And all the while our collaboration is so close that we’re together all the time. Sometimes we clear the air and sometimes it’s “happy-happy joy-joy”.
Interviewer: There’s also the financial pressure just like in a real relationship.
Marko: Yes, yes.

Interviewer: Vilma asks that when you’re writing a song, do you know it’s going to be a hit. And someone else asks if any song has ever turned out to be a hit even though you thought the song was close to good for nothing.
Marko: I have to say that a hit has turned out from something I thought didn’t work at all, but…

Interviewer: Which song is such an example?
Marko: Lift.
Interviewer: Oh?
Marko: It was like that for me. We almost left that song out from the first album and now it’s one of our most played and most liked songs ever since it came out. It was quite funny. But you know when you have a good song. You don’t necessarily know if it’s going to be a hit, but when you’re working on a song you know if you like it. But it’s through your own perspective, what you personally like and what affects you in a positive way. It’s a whole another thing if other people are affected by the song in the same way and it turns out to be a hit. You never know beforehand.

Interviewer: If we’re talking about hits, we’re also talking about money. Vicky wants to know how much money rock music like that gets you.
Marko: With this kind of rock music…
Marko laughs.
Marko: Variably. We’ve been doing alright, I can’t complain in that sense. But, well… Each new album and each new gig and all these things, it’s like going to a job interview over and over again. You always have all your money in the line when you’re making the new album. We spent a year creating this one, Temple of Though. During that time you don’t make that much money because you’re in the studio all the time. After that you wonder if the album is going to sell, are the songs going to play on the radio, will you be booked for gigs and all that. It’s always a bit of a risk.

Interviewer: But you still like that kind of lifestyle?
Marko: Absolutely, in a way that… that… We’re been able to achieve a position where we’re the lords of our own time. We do our work when we like and it’s also something we would do even if it wasn’t our job. Even if music was just a hobby for us, we’d still be doing it. To have been able to turn your passion into your profession has been really great.
Interviewer: Thank you for the interview.
Marko: Thank you.

Watch:

On radioaalto.fi:

Watch the video on radioaalto.fi

Metadata:

• Length: 4:58min

Transcription & Translation available thanks to Dark Side of Light (thank you!):

Interviewer: The last time you visited our show, we kept talking for a long time after how much fun it was to have you here. And we last talked about one of your tours to Russia and we got to hear really fun stories. But afterwards it felt like… can we hear some more?
Marko: Of course, if I remember anything else about it, go on and ask.

Interviewer: You don’t have to go back to the same story all over again, but most bands try to break in Germany. You’ve started heading east instead, and you’re going again on the coming weekend.
Marko: Yes, yes we’re going back. We’ve been touring there for so many years already, and every time there are more and more people. It’s rather amazing how the word of mouth moves around there. It’s good to go there, because it grows more and more each time you go. Things work a little differently there, the system is different from what we have. It’s a bit like the U.S. People come to see a show and if they liked it, they tell their friends about it. And the next time those friends come along to see us and tell their friends about it. And the crowd multiplies. It works the same way everywhere, but in some places this has more emphasis.

Interviewer: Back when Robbie Williams was in Finland, he noted that we’re a very unique nation for an audience, like we’re quiet when he speaks. And he was clearly enjoying the situation when people didn’t scream over what he was saying, everything was all quiet instead. What other countries are unique? Not necessarily being quiet, but something in the audience’s behavior.
Marko: Each country really has some kind of a unique trait in the people, how they function. And it also has a lot to do with what kind of a communication you can build to the audience. It can be surprisingly intimate even if there are 20 000 people to see you. If you’re really there and have a presence, it helps the audience to get into it as well. Once you get to that zone, you can communicate with the audience almost as if it’s one creature. And that’s pretty cool.

Interviewer: You seem to be the kind of band that… Correct me if I’m wrong. I’m guessing you party a bit as well but… but… You seem to read people and audiences and countries and it’s an important part of what you do. And having been to India in addition to Russia, what has been the greatest thing you’ve gotten from the tours as a rocker?
Marko: I think it’s the immediate feedback and recognition of the work you’ve done. You’ve written the songs and played the gig and created the whole “empire” with the guys, the whole thing. And then all of a sudden you have 15 000 people coming to see your concert in some very distant country. It’s one huge blast of a feedback in a positive sense. Oh my. Like “welcome, I’d sing this song for you now”. And also what comments come to us from Face Book and all, what people get from our music.

Interviewer: How can you not go crazy because of it all? I mean really, when I close my eyes and think about it, having my concert poster in Uzbekistan and 15 000 people coming to see the concert. I think it would awaken some narcissistic character traits.
Marko: I don’t know, maybe you should try it if that’s how you feel, but…
Interviewer: But there won’t be 15 000 for me.
Marko: … but it doesn’t really go like that, I don’t let it happen. You just want to keep your feet on the ground in a very boring way so that you don’t start floating. Sometimes we take a break and think about what we’ve achieved and we appreciate it. Like “Oh my God, think!” Like what the situation is. And for a while you feel like something amazing but then you move on and continue working and continue being the person that you are. None of our personalities or anything have changed during this whole fuzz, which I think is really fine. I laugh a little at the notion of floating, no matter what band you’re from. If you’re like “I’m a living legend” it just makes me laugh.

Interviewer: This has actually happened a little bit with some other bands. You came close to answering my other question, but how has this all affected you on a personal level?
Marko: On a personal level. Well… let’s just say that it has somewhat opened my eyes about how well or unwell I’m doing in life or how other people are doing in life. You see the things you’ve been lucky with, which feels to be pretty much everything. But still. I think it’s the lessons you’ve learned, the perspective you’ve gotten of this world and this life and this planet and how this work. That’s the most important thing in my opinion.

Watch:

On radioaalto.fi:

Watch the video on radioaalto.fi

Metadata:

• Length: 4:44min

Transcription & Translation available thanks to Dark Side of Light (thank you!):

Interviewer: In the studio Marko Saaresto from Poets Of The Fall, wonderful to have you here.
Marko: Thank you. It’s wonderful to be here.
Marko laughs.
Interviewer: Like I said, an extremely beautiful and delicate song, but quite a challenging choice for a first single.
Marko: Thank you. It was like… we were told that it’s a bit of a risky business to pick that one but we liked the song and wanted that one and that’s what we did. Because we’re an indie label we get to do what we want.
Interviewer: Anything you like.

Marko: It was pretty funny when I was having my apartment remodeled and these hairy guys were working there and when the song came out these hairy guys were like “oh, lovely song, lovely”.
Interviewer: Oh. It’s very tender, and you have to stop to listen.
Marko: Yeah, yeah.
Interviewer: It’s very calming. Actually during some songs we were talking with Marko about Chinese medicine, yin and yang, and calming down. That’s the right song for that, but you really have to listen to it. It doesn’t work if it’s just somewhere in the sidelines and you’re not focused. So it’s meditative almost, you can really calm down.
Marko: Yeah. The way I practice our songs is that I play them in my car and sing and I hear my voice from the windshield, the voice reflects back from it. So when this song plays in the car, it’s like all the outside world disappears. It’s almost dangerous to drive listening to that song because you don’t really pay attention to the traffic around you.

Interviewer: You have the benefit of having a perfect voice…
Marko: Oh, thank you.
Interviewer: … but when a crow like me gets going the only thing that disappears is sanity.
Marko: But perhaps you could start your own sub-genre or something.
Interviewer: Mmm, so you say. You’re a 41-year-old rock star. Have you had an age crisis or are you having it now? Because those things can last for quite a long time.
Marko: Yes, I did. But it happened when I was 38 years old.
Interviewer: Oh, my 30’s crisis started when I was 28, so my 40’s crisis must be right around the corner.
Marko: Yeah, my 40’s crisis happened then, it was like I felt I don’t have a right to do this for work anymore, I’m starting to be too old.
Interviewer: Oh no!

Marko: No, really. Like how can I go in front of people on the stage and I suppose it will all end with the next album back then. (Translator’s note: Twilight Theater.) Like that, you know, I was thinking about all kinds of things then. But at one point you go like “well yawn, take a look at Mick Jagger” and ok, moving on.
Interviewer: And the world has changes, like way back when we were little, a 40-year-old was considered a grandpa.
Marko: I’m just a kid still.
Interviewer: Like 40 was really old, one foot in the grave already.
Marko laughs.
Interviewer: No, I mean it, back in the 50’s and so.
Marko: No, yeah yeah, it’s true. 40 was really old back then, you had lived so much already and got worn out by it…
Interviewer: And life was more consuming back then. Also, I believe it was about attitude, the way these people saw themselves and classified themselves.
Marko: Yeah, yeah.

Interviewer: Do you have any advice for our listeners? I mean, you went through the crisis but didn’t stay to wallow in the bottom of the pit with one leg in the grave. How does one get out of it?
Marko: In many different ways. The way I did it… I’m kind of a student of life type of person and every time I hit a wall and don’t know how to continue, I just ask from people smarter than me how to get through it. So I read some of those… what are they now…

Interviewer: Life skill guide books?
Marko: Life skill guide books. All kinds of stuff about how to overcome crisis and depression and started studying neuro-linguistic programming and took up studying acupuncture again. And I came to a conclusion that I’m not feeling well and I haven’t been taking care of myself. And I thought that I’ll start doing that now, because I think it’s really important. I’ve been talking about it for a long time now, like telling people to take care of each other at concerts. Because if you’re well you have so much more to give to other people. And if you’re not well, you can’t handle anyone, basically. If someone comes to you with their problem, it knocks you down and a heavy carpet falls down on you on top of everything. That’s how I think about it these days.

Interviewer: I want to come to a gig where you tell people those words. When are you guys in Finland?
Marko: We’ll be at Tavastia on March 31st.
Interviewer: And do you promise to say those words then?
Marko: I promise.
Interviewer: Good. I’ll see you there.
Marko: See you.
Interviewer: Wonderful, Marko. Thanks for being our guest.
Marko: Thank you.
Interviewer: Be well and take care of yourself so that you can take care of others.

- Originally aired on Radio City, 12/02/14 with a little interview:

Transcription available thanks to Dark Side of Light (thank you!):

Lauri: You’re listening to Resurrection at 99.4. We have Karhuvaara [Veera’s last name] in the studio, good morning Veera.
Veera laughs.
Veera: Hello.
Lauri: I can tell for everyone who can’t see that Veera is wearing a hat that’s covering her eyes at the moment and she has no idea what’s going on in the studio. But why don’t we get the show rolling, we have… This is for you Veera, from all of us.

Poets Of The Fall Marko and Jaska play You’re Still Here.

Veera: This is so cute, I can’t handle it. Can I take the hat off now?
Pauliina: Yeah, you can.

Lauri: Unbelievably amazing Valentine’s Day, Poets Of The Fall here on the radio, in our studio. And there’s a lot of hugging and kissing going on.
Veera: Thank you! What a lovely surprise, oh my! Can anything be cuter?
Lauri: Why don’t you tell us how a little surprise like this feels?
Veera: Really wonderful, thank you. Thank you. I’m just so overwhelmed now. My heart is full of… white hearts that… no, red ones. No, pink hearts that just flow over.
Marko: [Something about white bunnies and something about having talked about other things, can’t really make it out well enough.]

Lauri: So how are you guys?
Marko: Good. My voice is a little down because it’s morning but Jaska played very well.
Lauri: Yeah.
Marko: It’s a beautiful morning. We parked a little ways from here and tried to come up with enough 20-cent coins to pay for the parking for the duration of this song. We managed to do that in the end.
Veera: Ah, yeah, musicians have so much money that they have large notes instead of change.
Marko: Yeah, yeah. Actually we had to kidnap this old woman on our way here and she had… or the collar of her dog had a small coin pouch and we got some coins from there.
Veera: Everyday occurrence.
Marko: Everyday occurrence.
Lauri: Totally.

Veera: This was really so wonderful, hey!
Lauri: Thanks for the interview.
Marko: Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.
Veera: How’s your Valentine’s Day going to continue from here on?
Marko: I don’t know.
Veera: Anything exciting?
Marko: I think we’ll just go here and there and talk to people and when the evening comes and we’ve woken up we’ll go home and start wondering if we should get around to actually doing something.
Veera sighs.
Lauri: Great.
Veera sighs again.
Marko exaggerates a sigh.
Veera: Thank you!

- Originally aired on The Voice, 12/01/24 with a little interview before-hand:

Transcription available thanks to Dark Side of Light (thank you!):

Radio spoof: Voice First Reaction. Let us know your opinion.
Interviewer: This afternoon on First Reaction we have Poets Of The Fall, Cradled In Love. I’m holding the single in my hand and I have Marko at the other end of the line. Hello.
Marko: Hey.
Interviewer: How’s it going?
Marko: Pretty good. I’m in the middle of adjusting all kinds of things but it’s going pretty good, it’s been a lovely day today, the weather’s fine.

Interviewer: New Poets on the radio in just a moment and it’s surely something that many people have looked forward to for quite a while now.
Marko: We’ve looked forward to it too, after working on it so religiously. That’s the first blast there and I have to say it feels really good.

Interviewer: So tell me, why has it taken you so long to make some new music.
Marko: Well… I think we had a time where we wanted to think about what, how and who with and stuff like that. Sometimes you just have to live a little in between, so you get new themes as a musician and new ideas, inspirations and we’ve gotten those during this time and a lot of things have happened in everyone’s personal lives, so there’s been something to write about.
Interviewer: So what’s going on in Marko’s life? I’ll throw a profound question at you.
Marko: What’s going on in Marko’s life… new winds, I hope. Let’s put it like that.

Interviewer: How is it with… when you think about the musical aspect, has Poets Of The Fall changed during the hiatus?
Marko: Well…
Interviewer: Or can you even call it a hiatus?
Marko: I hope we’ve at least evolved. I don’t think there’s been any hiatus, we just had a phase where we wanted to release our first compilation of the songs we had and at the same time think a little, if we were going to start doing techno or heavy metal. We settled for staying on the similar track as we have been so far. I think it’s somehow, when you live and experience and grow and even learn a little about writing music and stuff. It always makes a small facelift to the music. But you can hear it from behind all that, that it’s clearly the same guys writing this music too. The music is new, but there has to be something familiar in there so that it roots into the things we’ve done before. We have a thought that the next album is in a way a fulfillment to our 2 first albums. So this is the third part of a trilogy. And after that we get to do something else new again.
Interviewer: Wow, that was a whole new concept, a fulfillment of the previous albums.
Marko: Hmm.
Interviewer: It was beautifully said.
Marko: Thank you.

Interviewer: But techno… It’s not there in this first single anyway.
Marko laughs.
Interviewer: But are there going to be any “let loose” songs on the new album. The kinds that make you think “oh, this kind of stuff from Poets Of The Fall…”?
Marko: Heheh. Yes there will be.
Marko laughs.
Marko: Yes.

Interviewer: Tell more.
Marko: Tell more. You’ll hear it eventually. You’ll see and you’ll hear. Of course everyone will interpret in their own way but I claim, looking at the list of songs on our wall, the lyrics and the song titles, there are some things where we’ve gotten a little more experimental. It’s actually pretty fun for us as well, to tread new paths for a change.

Interviewer: Cradled In Love is playing next, tell us about the song before we play it.
Marko: Well, it’s a story based on very personal experiences about love and its many dimensions. And even when you get struck down sometimes, it’s still good to take a look around and see all the good things around you, find support in them and to find that they actually carry you on rather well.

Interviewer: Thank you for this.
Marko: Alright. Thank you.

Hello fans!

The playlist URL for the Poets of the Fall performing at the Great Indian Oktoberfest in Bangalore, India on Nov-13-2011. :)

These videos are both from a normal Canon digicam as well as a couple of iPhone video recordings, quality isn’t great, but what-the-hey, real fans will enjoy it anyway! :)

Apologies for the delay in uploading as well as the camera shakes and what-not, but we obviously were quite high, illusions and dreams. ;) :P

The song order is like how it was at the concert. Couple of songs not recorded.

Cheers all PotF fans! \m/

Playlist:

1. Dreaming Wide Awake
2. The Ultimate Fling
3. No End, No Beginning
4. Can You Hear Me (Missing)
5. Stay
6. Sleep
7. Locking Up The Sun
8. Desire (Unplugged)
9. You’re Still Here (Unplugged)
10. Sorry Go ‘Round (Unplugged)
11. War
12. Diamonds For Tears
13. Illusion & Dream
14. Late Goodbye
15. Carnival Of Rust
16. Lift

Metadata:

• Length: 1:15:39
• View the Playlist on YouTube

Playlist:

1. Dreaming Wide Awake
2. The Ultimate Fling
3. No End, No Beginning
4. Can You Hear Me
5. Stay
6. Sleep
7. Locking Up The Sun
8. Desire (Unplugged)
9. You’re Still Here (Unplugged)
10. Sorry Go ‘Round (Unplugged)
11. War
12. Roses
13. Given And Denied
14. Diamonds For Tears
15. Illusion & Dream
16. Late Goodbye
17. Carnival Of Rust

Metadata:

• Length: 1:10:11
• View the Playlist on YouTube

Thanks again to the popular Cat!

Thrilled to see Captain in an interview?

Metadata:

• Size: 55.1MB
• Length: 15:21min

You can also download the video on poetcountyjail.com!

Translated into English text by Dark Side of Light. Thank you!
[Everything in brackets like these are translator’s comments or clarifications.]

At the studio

Female host: Hey, if you feel like you want to give us feedback or some kind of requests you can do it at our website pretty neatly. Www.voice.fi and click on a host’s picture. For example Ville Toivonen, if you want him to go to different places where stuff is happening, and he will go even if he’s not asked or wanted. For example music video shoots. You can give him feedback, like I like this and this band so much, could you go and get an interview.

Male host: That’s a brilliant idea because Ville does so many interviews that we always need new ideas on what bands to choose for either interviews or music video shoots. Today we have one of these in line, we just invited ourselves. Poets Of The Fall was making their new music video and Ville Toivonen decided to be there with his camera.

Female host: You’re not wanted here. Don’t come here.

Male host: But Ville went and the end result can be seen here. First we’re going to see how this video came to be and after that we’re going to show you the brand new Poets Of The Fall music video.

——————————————————————————–

At the video shoot location

Interviewer: We’re at the shoot for a music video for Poets Of The Fall. Hey Marko.

Marko: Hey Ville.

Interviewer: Locking Up The Sun is the name of your video and this is the second video for the Carnival of Rust album.

Marko: Yes, we started to make plans in July and now it’s… what is it? End of September. October first today, actually.

Interviewer: Mmmmh.

Marko: Yeah. So, it’s taken quite a bit to plan, but we finally get to shoot some stuff and as you can see our set is full of all kinds of things. There are so many of these suits. This one has some shite on it already. Look at this dude.

Interviewer laughs.

Marko: Like right at the beginning we had this incident…we were shooting, my hands are all black, we were shooting an orange that I stab like this with a nail and then this black blood oozes out of it. So, the whole thing exploded. All over our set. Those few guys over there clearly died, hahah.

Interviewer: You mean? … yeah.

Marko: No… I mean, I don’t know. But these suits, we’ve only borrowed these.

Interviewer: I see. You intend to take these back then?

Marko: Well no, we can’t do that anymore.

Marko laughs.

Interviewer: Right.

Marko: We’re going to have to buy them. But it’s ok, I’ll have a suit. For the future gigs to come, I’ll be wearing these suits. Always wearing the same outfit.

Interviewer: Right. But to be honest, it looks very confusing around here, all these guys with cones and oranges with black stuff coming out of them…

Marko: Yeah, this is what it turned out like…

Interviewer: What’s the idea behind the video?

Marko: To a psychedelic direction. What Locking Up The Sun song and the video are about is internal conflict. And in this video it’s clearly seen as everything we do… I mean, the idea is that you cause your own pain yourself. But you can also save yourself from it. Now we lost the lights.

Interviewer: Yeah, we did. What now?

——————————————————————————–

Interviewer: The shoot is starting any moment now but we have a bit of time left. Can you tell more…

Marko: Yeah, I’ll tell more about the idea for the video. We thought about it a lot over a cup of coffee with Stobe and we had about nine or ten ideas until we realized that this song is all about a conflict of how people cause their own misfortunes but they also hold the key to their own happiness. So we have a boxing ring over there and we go in to battle ourselves. And all the people in our audience and so, it turns out that it’s just us. And all the evil that we do… I had a button open. Oh no. The lower button should be open and I had the top one. Terrible dress code mishap.

Interviewer: The viewers will be outraged.

Marko: Yeah, yeah.

——————————————————————————–

Interviewer: So this is the second video for the second album… and most bands do only one per album. You must view videos as something important. Like you want to do them and make them look good.

Marko: We’re a little crazy that way… There’s a thought behind it, but it’s true, we wouldn’t have to do it but we want to. And if we go abroad with these videos, we want to have a couple of different things to offer. Carnival of Rust is a little slower department and this one is faster, more schizo, more industrial, rougher department. So we can give these images of our band, because in Europe, in Germany it’s often maybe the first impression the bigger audiences get from us.

Interviewer: Umm.

Marko: And in Carnival we have a heavy make up on… yes we have these cone guys here, but on the ring where we play we’re ourselves. And it gives a picture of what the band looks like and so.

Interviewer: Yeah. You’re really getting some great material done here, but these must cost you a fortune.

Marko: Yeah, they pretty much do. It costs more than one can comprehend.

Stobe takes Marko down by the neck.

Marko: Now the director came and…

Marko climbs up.

Marko: Director is going to take some lollipop now. [Marko shows his fist to Stobe.]

Stobe: We’re shooting in just a moment.

Marko: Yeah.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Crew: [Some of it I can’t understand.] Second chorus, bridge and final chorus.

Interviewer: This is the third video you’re doing for Poets. Is this going to be the calling card for abroad?

Tuomas “Stobe” Harju, the director: Well, I hope the other two are calling cards just as this one is. It’s not about that, the main point in this video is to introduce each member of the band a little better than in the previous ones. In the previous ones the guys were either very styled or then the emphasis was on the singer. So now the purpose is to show them actually playing, and a glimpse of what Poets Of The Fall gig is like. This was a very difficult process, I can’t remember if this was the 7th treatment that I went through with Marko. We kept throwing ideas at each other and it went always so that either one of us wasn’t entirely happy with it. The previous idea was mine and it was about having a big space and a big things for the video because of what the song is like. And, umm, then finally both of us were happy with the 7th version. Before that we had stuff like The Little Match Girl and so. And it would have been cool to do that but it didn’t sit with the theme of the song.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Director: We pretty much have it all together now, what we were looking for.

——————————————————————————–

Marko: This is our symbolic sun which bleeds black blood. Wuuuu-wuuuu. Locking Up The Sun. It’s like this sun is crucified or something like it and it bleeds black blood. I’m quite well covered with this goo, but with this day of shooting half way done and we’ll be shooting all the way to late night and those guys are building up the boxing ring which is our stage that we play on. But when it’s done, something a lot more fun is going to happen with this black stuff. But you’ll see what it is in the video.

Interviewer: So is this oil or what is it?

Marko: This is wallpaper adhesive and oil and foodstuff dye. This is a new licorice flavoured orange yummy.

——————————————————————————–

Interviewer: Your latest album, it came out on September in Sweden.

Marko: Yeap. In the middle of the month. [Finnish: Puolessavälissä]

Interviewer: In Poland too? [Finnish: Puolassa kanssa?] What?

Marko: No, on mid-September.

Interviewer: Oh, I heard “In Poland too”.

Laughter.

Interviewer: Would have been extraordinary.

Laughter.

Interviewer: Sweden and Poland, the first countries to conquer.

Marko: Poland especially. Such an important music country. With all respect to everyone in Poland. But still.

——————————————————————————–

Jani [in Swedish]: Tetris… tetris… tetris in Sweden. [Referring to packing things up in order that fits.]

Marko [in Swedish]: Here we have a commercial. Look. Water.

[The bottle says “Vittel”, Marko covers a part of it and it comes very close of being a Finnish profanity word for women‘s private parts.]

——————————————————————————–

Interviewer: So what happened in Sweden?

Marko: Well, Sweden was a lot of great fun, the reception we got was really good. On our first gig we had almost 2000 people come to see us and it was quite wild. All kinds of stuff happened. We had the boxing ring there for example and people started climbing on it. Once there was like 500 people on it, it started giving signs of falling apart. When were playing Carnival of Rust the cops came in to fend people off from it, like you can’t be there. It almost fell apart on top of the rest of the audience there. All kinds of things like this happened. Olli was left behind to a gas station when the tour bus went on. We forgot him and started driving on.

Marko laughs.

Marko: Where’s Olli? All of a sudden he was not there. Stuff like this. But it was a really great trip and the Swedes took us in, like when we went to do the gig they were screaming “Finland, Finland”. It gave a really good vibe. Of course I have some favourite festivals where I’d like to go and perform at. Like Hultsfred in Sweden and Roskilde in Denmark. I was at Roskilde a week ago by the way.

Interviewer: A week ago?

Marko: Yeah. I went to test it just for fun. But the funny thing was that our album had been selected the album of the weekend by Metro magazine.

Interviewer: Ahha.

Marko: Yeah. Our album hasn’t even been released there yet. Like so…

Interviewer: Did you notice it while you were there?

Marko: Yeah, yeah, I saw it while I was sitting in the train. Some guy was reading the magazine and I kept discreetly glancing and then “What?!”. Then it was like.. [Marko gestures that the magazine was handed to him] “Oh, album of the weekend in here. Whoa!”

Interviewer: Cool!

Marko: Yeah, like… just came to my mind from your question. Rambling on about totally different topics for half an hour and playing with this… Would you like some of this? [Marko probably refers to the black goo or the nails.]

Interviewer: No way! Anyway, the day will continue on and Del Monte [a fruit label] man has to finish up the video.

Marko: Yeah, I have to. I’m going to have to change my clothes and wash my hands a little so I can…

Interviewer: Play?

Marko: Play and move around the stage.

Videos courtesy of voice.fi.

Watch (Part 1):

Metadata (Part 1):

• Size: 45.1MB
• Length: 06:26min

Watch (Part 2):

Metadata (Part 2):

• Size: 55.3MB
• Length: 08:01min

Translations (#1, #2) available thanks to Dark Side of Light (thank you!):

Part 1

Male host: Two pieces of Poets of the Fall: guitarist Olli and singer Marko, good morning.

Marko: Very good morning.

Olli: Morning, morning.

Male host: The new happy fathers to a new compilation album, Alchemy came out on Wednesday.

Marko: Our little one.

Olli: Yeah, one more.

Female host: Yes.

Marko: Should I hold this like this [hold's the mike like a baby].

Male host: We have to get a monitor for you from somewhere.

Marko: So that I can put my leg on it? I’ll just lift my hoof on the table.

Male host: In just a moment we’re going to watch and listen Can You Hear Me, one of… or the other one of the compilation’s new tracks. The video is premiering in our show this morning. Why a compilation album now? 2003-20…

Female host: 2011.

Male host: 2011.

Marko: It seemed like a good idea and they are two classical years, aren’t they? 3 – 11. Everyone does that, don’t they? … Come on now and say that they do!

Laughter.

Female host: Yes, yes.

Olli: Yeah, yeah.

Marko: I need support and strengthening to my theory.

Olli: And that was the start of everything.

Marko: That was the start of everything, 3 – 11. It’s almost like seven eleven… nothing like it at all.

Male host: An expanded seven eleven.

Marko: Yes.

Olli: So, we’ve made a few songs so far and we thought… what was it. Space financial…

Marko: Space financial statement idea.

Olli: Well, yeah, that we’ll take a look back on our hits and then move on.

Marko: We also thought a lot about the amount of albums we’ve done so far, and still there are quite a lot of people who like to listen to the songs they’ve heard before and already know, but they haven’t bought all our albums. So maybe it would be a good idea to put something together for them, a recap of our output so far and throw in some new music so that our HC-fans can get something new and exciting and fun out of it. Then it holds all our music videos so far and we’ve included some rather obscure ‘production stills’ where we… which we didn’t even dare publish before this, but… now they’re in there. Help.

Male host: Have you noticed at all something about the compilation? That it’s missing the DVD song list.

Marko: Really?

Male host: Yes.

Marko: Well… good of you to notice.

Olli: Woooa.

Laughter.

Female host: But is it our of principle…

Marko: No, but well… it would be a little too obvious to have it there because it’s all our music videos, so there’s no actual need for the song list there.

Olli: And you will see when you put the disc into the player anyway.

Male host: Yeah.

Olli: Wheeh.

Marko: Now I started sweating so much! Have to start stripping…

Laughter.

Male host: But really, was it like, when the whole package came out from the print, like “yeah, looks so fine.. But where are the…”

Olli: No, it wasn’t, no.

Male host: So it was a conscious choice?

Marko: Yes, the whole thing is designed through and through. But the one thing I did notice was that the sticker was crooked! At least in some of them, I don’t know if it’s in that one… but it may go a bit off somehow.

Female host: No, it’s very neatly here in this version.

Marko: Brilliant.

Male host: But it does have a small bump in the middle, an air pocket.

Olli: Oooh.

Marko: Air pocket? Oh Lordy…

Olli: There’s your challenge for the day, to try to get it out.

Male host: Without tearing the sticker.

Marko: Yes, yes.

Female host: Rub the air out of each one going out into the stores…

Marko: Yeah, they all go through our hands and we rub the stickers into place.

Male host: Ten thousand pieces is the amount for a gold album, quite a lot of rubbing for you, I’d say this is going to sell gold.

Marko: Let us hope so.

Olli: Yes.

Male host: Just like all your previous albums. New music coming up, Can You Hear Me is the opening track on this compilation and it’s been turned into a music video. And there are a lot of people in it posing for the camera.

Female host: A ballerina, and…

Male host: All kinds of people.

Olli: A boxer.

Marko: All kinds of people, different professions, different skin colours, different ages and all kinds of things yes. We found people that… actually it was in a very short notice which was really great. We asked people to join in and explained that we have this idea to show different people under the same sky and with this thought behind it that you should make most of your life and feel good about it instead of feeling bad. In the end, compassion is what gives the best solutions in this world and…

Female host: Where did you find these people?

Marko: We found some of them from our circle of friends, right off the street and even from some modelling agencies that we asked from… And we asked a lot if our friends know friends who… and many people were like “yeah sure, we’ll come and help you out”. And it was great to see all these people there, everyone was on time and functioned consistently as if they were professionals. So it was cool all in all.

Female host: There was an appendix accident during the shoot. What is this story?

Marko: Someone’s appendix popped. Yes, during filming we had an appendix accident, it was rather painful and ended up to surgery and we were a bit nervous about how to get the video done in time. On the other hand, that guy is such a tough guerrilla that he basically dragged himself on all fours to finish shooting.

Female host: So it was your director who this happened to?

Marko: Yeah, yeah. I have to lift my hat several times for his performance. And not just that, the whole thing was so brilliantly coordinated by our director-producer. It was just.. Tsk. All thanks to them.

Olli: Outstanding.

Male host: The band is seen wearing rock gear and Marko changes his outfit a couple of times over. Clockwork Orange influence?

Marko: Actually it’s a spin off from Carnival or Rust Zolter character who sings in the booth. I think it’s a brilliant character but I just never have the patience with the white face make up. I did it once since, in Elämä Lapselle concert [Charity concert for sick children] but then I thought that maybe the character can change a little, just like people evolve, so maybe it can live. I took the same bowler hat and the trickling make up. It’s actually funny when you dress up like that, your own bearing changes completely. When I look at the video, I don’t think it’s me in there. And when I wear the clothes, I feel like I’m some other character. Actually it’s quite fun, you go into this some kind of a different… can you say role? You get more out of yourself than in your normal clothes.

Female host: And at some point you switch into white. It gave me a kind of a… boy band feeling.

Marko: So did I!

Laughter.

Marko: Poets goes Backstreet Boys.

Olli: Yea, yea, yea.

Marko: But in the end… I was quite sceptical about it, as well as the other character. I was afraid they would look too peculiar and strange. But when I saw the result, they look pretty neat. I was like “wow, it was worth doing and throwing myself into it”.

Olli: Even I saw this kind of yin and yang thing, this balancing going on which I liked.

Laughter.

Part 2

Male host: Guitarist Olli and singer Marko as guests here at Wake Up Show, good morning.

Olli: Morning, morning.

Marko: What, do I have to wake up?

Female host: Yes, yes, we’re now in transmission.

Olli: Already?

Male host: Now that you’ve done your space financial statement and put your career into one disc…

Marko: Five more minutes.

Laughter.

Male host: It’s time to think back on the history of Poets of the Fall and so… What are the kind of things you’ve experienced and reminiscence about and laugh at in the tour bus, anything from over the years, like “remember that time in India… hehehe, we left that cow into the bus”

Laughter.

Olli: Well, the best sessions start from watching old photographs.

Marko: Oh yea, that’s absolutely true.

Olli: And through the pictures you remember the stories. But there are a few legendary ones for sure.

Marko: The kind of photographs that will never ever be published.

Olli: Even from India.

Marko: Ever.

Laughter.

Male host: What kinds of photographs?

Marko: They will never be published.

Olli: No, we’ll eventually become so desperate that we will publish them too.

Laughter.

Olli: Well…

Male host: Tell us a little bit, what is it about the India pictures then?

Olli: Nothing really, well…

Marko: Not necessarily in the India photos but in photographs in general, there are all kinds of things from over the years.

Olli: Exactly, exactly. There are a lot of stories…

Marko: Shadow pantomime for instance…

Laughter.

Olli: Yeah… oh yeah!

Male host: My imagination started running…

Laughter.

Male host: Marko went completely red.

Female host: He did!

Marko: It’s just hot in here.

Male host: Granted, it’s a little warm in here. Now, if not before.

Laughter.

Olli: I was on a dock, I had just taken a swim. And it happened to be a nice bright summer afternoon and a bright sun shining. I was drying myself and Captain was taking pictures from the other side of the dock, trying to get a good shot. And I was like “phew, I’m glad I have the towel here” and really like… (Olli lifts up his hands in the video).

Male host: The light hits from the back and everything’s in plain sight…. Oh, what brilliant photos…

Laughter.

Olli: Yeah, directly like “is that…?”  “yes, it is!” Even that kinds of pictures can be found, so… very unintentional though, no one gets purposefully bullied.

Female host: Olli, are you too quiet of a man on tour because, if I understand right, you were left behind in a bus once.

Olli: Yes, I got locked into the bus once…

Marko: You can’t really say he’s quiet.

Olli: No, I’m not necessarily all that quiet, but at that particular instance we were on our way to Turku for a gig and I was due on stage in a few minutes and I woke up in a bus that was locked up from the outside with a proper steel lock and I kept banging on it for a while before I realized I can’t get it open. Luckily I had my mobile phone with me, I called the guys to let me out right away so that I won’t miss the gig. And in the end I didn’t miss it. But there was a moment of dread there.

Female host: In this band you have to be loud not to be left behind.

Marko: Yeah, because we’ve also left Olli behind when we left with the bus once… We had a gig in Sweden, Göteborg I think. And we headed towards Stockholm or something. After some gas station stop we noticed like “where’s Olli?”. After that we’ve paid more attention on checking that everyone is in the bus.

Female host: Are there really so many of you there that you can’t see on first glance if everyone’s there?

Marko: We have all kinds of little nooks and mazes in the bus where you can have some own peace if you want, or you can withdraw into your own bunk or backstage department. You have to shout for everyone to be sure they’re in.

Olli: Yeah, at first glance you see two or three of us in plain sight who happen to be just about there.

Marko: Yeah, some of us sit in the front sometimes with our laptops or looking out the window or so. And the rest are somewhere else.

Female host: How does the story continue? Did you turn back to fetch Olli? Or?

Olli: We can’t really reveal that information…

Female host: Right…

Olli: So far I’ve always made it on stage on time. But once I forgot to turn on the amplifier. Actually it was for the encore. I forgot to… this can be found in You Tube by the way… I forgot to turn on the amplifier and I came on stage all cocky, like I’m going to start this song and then…

Laughter.

Male host: Isn’t it a More floor amplifier?

Olli: Yes, yes.

Male host: You were all ready to start playing and banging your head and…

Olli: And for a while you were baffled with why isn’t there any sound. And I had to take a quick spurt to the amplifier. Click, ah, the sound is on. Things happen, things happen.

Male host: Marko, during the song you were telling about the funny rituals you had at home when you were four years old… at the dinner table.

Marko: Oh, right, or actually on the living room coffee table. I was reminded of it because of this appendix hassle. My dad used to sell surgical instruments to hospitals and so of course he had to get familiar with how they work himself. And sometimes it meant having to watch recordings of different operations to see how they work.

Male host: So this kind of a childhood.

Marko: This kind of a childhood, yes. Many times it so happened that once our family was kind of used to watching then it was completely natural, like watching a cooking show or whatever. Because it’s nothing more really than a person cut open for a bypass operation or whatever. So we could even have snacks during the watching, or some food, cream crackers or sandwiches maybe while watching the surgical operations.

Female host: Yikes. And you were quite young?

Marko: I was about four or five years old. But then I turned out to be a musician.

Laughter.

Olli: Natural…

Marko: Natural, just like the 2003-2011 continuum.

Female host: You have no problems cleaning a fish then… or anything similar.

Marko: No, it’s not a problem, but I don’t like the smell of fish at all. I don’t eat fish because of that. I should probably go to some (funny sound) therapy to be able to eat it because it’s healthy. But I hate that lingering smell, it’s just…

Olli: But you don’t mind people being opened up and eating…

Marko: Well, I don’t eat people… Thanks a lot!

Olli: Just crossed my mind… No fish or people for you.

Marko: No, I don’t have a problem with that. I’ve watched through one surgical operation that I went through, via a mirror. It was a small superficial surgery.

Male host: How did it feel?

Marko: It didn’t really feel like anything…

Male host: Like eating a cream cracker?

Marko: Yeah, it was like eating a cream cracker.

Olli: Just without the cream crackers.

Female host: Did the doctor think you’re weird for asking them to have mirrors installed so you can see…

Marko: No, not at all. They see all kinds of things, so he probably just thought it would ease my nervousness to see what’s being done. So it was just interesting. And doctors themselves are interested in such things, that’s why they become doctors.

Female host: That’s true.

Male host: Haven’t you taken a look inside your own body as well, after being opened up with a knife?

Olli: Yes, but it was an accident. I didn’t mean to look.

Marko: Oeeew!

Olli: I have a very weak stomach anyway… I happened to glance while I was being opened up and when I saw my own…

Male host: And you happened to wake up from your anaesthesia? Oh… waah!

Laughter.

Olli: No, I had a local anaesthesia… but it was horrifying to see yourself opened. Quite an experience in its own way. But then, it has its own “how exciting” feeling.

Marko: I hit myself over there, I have an inch long scar, I knifed myself a few years ago. It started bleeding a lot and it was rather deep and I just examined it, how deep it is and I patched it up myself before driving to emergency. It needed a couple of stitches but… It was another incident which was rather fascinating.

Female host: What did you patch yourself up with? Glue?

Marko: Well, roadie tape.

Female host: What else! Musician.

Olli: That’s something you have in your cupboard, always.

Male host: Poets of the Fall tonight in Tavastia, although the gig is sold out already. And Alchemy compilation is in the stores now.

Marko: It’s in the stores and also available in our website digistore. www.poetsofthefall.com and click on digistore.

Male host: Thank you for the visit, I have to ask one more thing. Marko, you borrowed some paper and a pen. What did you sketch?

Marko: I’m always drawing these round heads, my old teacher called them nose guys but just some guys with round heads.

Female host: Is it a sign of nervousness or what?

Marko: I don’t really know, but it does calm me down, my hands are… I always do these when I’m on the phone too. My hands just start drawing, it’s cool.

Female host: Wow.

Male host: Thank you for visiting. It’s time for our news.

Olli: Thank you.