Many Thanks to serinde, Lisa for uploading and Dark Side of Light for translating the interview! What’d would we do without our PotF Task Force? :)

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Host: That was of course Korn and Narcissistic Cannibal. But let’s move on to Finnish music: Marko from Poets of the Fall hello.
Marko: Hey.
Host: It’s been a little while now since your album came out.
Marko: Yeah, it’s been a while but it’s still a very current thing for me. We’re just buzzing, running around and going abroad and different places in Finland, talking to people about it on radio, on TV and at gigs. And magazines.
Host: A little here and there.
Marko: Everywhere.

Host: Temple of Thought is the name of the album. And like you said, you’ve given a lot of interviews to other countries as well. What’s the most exotic one that you’ve come across so far?
Marko: Right today I had one from Egypt. Nothing special there, the English was good and all but if I remember correctly I’ve never done an interview to Egypt before. I’ve given some to Israel and some other places which you wouldn’t first think about giving an interview to.
Host: Well at least when it comes to rock music consumption, it’s not the first country that comes to mind.
Marko: At least it’s not the first and foremost country that Finnish rock musician would think of.

Host: But this is your fifth album already. So how is the creating process… does it become easier or more difficult the longer you’ve been around?
Marko: Well, some of the things we know how to do already. So in some ways we have our own ways of doing certain things already and they work very well. But there are times when you need to take a break from everything and live your life and to experience and run around and bang your head on the wall. You have to have experiences so you will know what to write about and what to feel and what to bring forth in the songs. So the more you go into the extreme there, the more difficult making the music gets. And as an artist you’re always careful not to repeat yourself.

Host: Your new album is kind of… it makes you feel very visual. When you were planning… When you started to work on the new album, did you have any specific vision about the way it should sound or did you have some landscapes on your mind?
Marko: Let’s just say that the landscapes appear when something starts playing in your head. For me personally… Actually I should map out how Olli and Captain see this thing, or feel, or hear. But I see stuff like pieces for movies and I can just look at it and write about what I see. Or it feeds the feelings and feelings in turn feed the music. If anyone plays something that creates a feeling, I automatically start to hum or sing something on top of it.

Host: When it comes to making notes… When this clip of a movie comes to your mind, how do you write it down so that you will remember what it was about even later on?
Marko: It has been pretty much a mess and a stream of consciousness. And usually I write in a bit of a panic, because I need to find a piece of paper to write on or a mobile phone so I can turn on the recording program. And then you hum something very vague into it which is really difficult to interpret later on. But then I always get empty envelopes from the paper trash basket. Maybe we could photograph some of them and put them into the booklet, like “this is how we worked on it”. And they’re full of all kinds of little doodles and pieces of phrases which end up in the final song either partially or fully. That’s the first impression on the song and a stream of consciousness, like I’m trying to say something here and I have something to say. And you write something like la-la-laaa and then in the end it ends up being the third phrase on the right in that song. Maybe. Something like that.

Host: Maybe… How was the album making process this time? Was it blood, sweat and tears or did it come easy?
Marko: It never comes easy. It really is blood, sweat and tears in many different ways. You have to experience and live and take in the painful things in life and take in the painful things at the studio when we don’t agree on something. We have happy moments too of course, like this worked out perfect. But we get into arm wrestling when the timetable is starting to get tighter along with everyone’s nerves. And last year we were doing a lot of management stuff at the same time, we were going through a large amount of possible affiliates in Finland and abroad, bigger and smaller record labels and we negotiated contracts with them and it was like “read up this contract and then work on the lyrics a little before we start to record some of your vocals and I’ll do the guitars in the mean while and program in the drums and we should think about updating our website and check out our Facebook” and stuff. It was a really bizarre mix of things. I… Last year I learned to escape from the studio somewhere to the beach with my recording device and some paper. Every time I got a piece of music from Olli for example, like he had created a structure for the song and I went to write the lyrics at the beach so that no one would know where I was.
Host: Like “Please, let me just have a moment of peace”.
Marko: Yeah.

Host: Let’s listen to a song I just had to pick from this album: the last song, The Happy Song, which is very different from the rest of the album. What can you tell us about it?
Marko: I think it’s really great that it’s on that album. When you’ve listened through the album in a certain kind of mood you have to let go of it before you can listen to it again. That’s why it’s in there as some sort of a… well, a bitch slap to your face if I can say so.
Host: That’s exactly what it is. Let’s listen to it now, Poets of the Fall – The Happy Song.

Host: I’m guessing that there are quite a few people out there who are now wondering if this really is Poets of the Fall. But it really is. We have Marko here in our studio to talk about the band’s new album but… That really was a different kind of Poets of the Fall.
Marko: Yeah, you have to be able to do the kind of stuff that feels good and what comes out. It’s fun to look at some of the things in hindsight, like “so that’s the kind of stuff we used to do, guys… what were we thinking?”
Host: What were we thinking…
Marko: But that was a really fun song to record. Because there are like 5 to 8 different characters that you have to pull off. Like first you’re this schizophrenic killer and next you’re the miserable stalker and this character and that character and this one again and then you have to sing through the whole thing like that. Like “Ok, how does it sound? I told you I’m a psycho!”

Host: Your music has… and always had, a very visual element to it. Your music videos are excellent and so forth. So when are you going to be making a movie?
Marko: Oh-hoh-hoh-hoh, when we have a shitload of money.
Host: But how important is the visual side to the band? Do you all share a love of movies for example?
Marko: I could imagine that the visual side is very important to all of us. And since we all are addicted to perfection in a way, like total junkies, we want to be very much involved in it. The music videos are very much a part of the songs so it’s nice to be able to work on those as well. At least I find all that close to my heart and very important. I guess it comes from seeing the first music videos as a kid and thinking that they suck and I’d like to do better ones.
Host: You were watching Michael Jackson’s Thriller and thought it was just shite.
Marko laughs: Yeah, like I should get to do it myself so that it would be properly done. I guess it came from defiance like that and being a visual person, things really have to look like something and fit just right. And of course one works through their own vision of it and other people will see it the way they do. It’s good to go with your own vision.

Host: Yeah, music videos are starting to be an extinct species. Is it worth putting all the money into really good looking videos anymore?
Marko: That’s a good question. You can basically create music videos without spending much at all. But on the other hand you can spend insane amounts into them and in my opinion there’s no sense in doing that. Even though it’s marketing and a tool for marketing the cost can be something that you start to think if you’d rather just start smoking and get yourself a cancer than pay that much for something like that. But, well… I think some things are worth doing if you want it. Of course there are things that pull you back to reality, like money. But still.
Host: Those little details.
Marko: But music videos are still pretty much necessary in the music business. If you try to get ahead to new territories, they want the whole package. They want the album published, they want the concerts, radio play and interviews. And the music videos. In a way it’s simply a part of it.

Host: How much do you think your music videos, which are really brilliant, have actually advanced your career out there in other countries where they actually play the videos on some channels?
Marko: They are important in my opinion and they have helped a lot. If you think about Carnival of Rust music video, it has over 10 million views. And every time I do an interview to some foreign country they always ask about the videos. So I get to talk about them a lot. And it’s really cool that people take notice of them because we’ve put much thought into them and we’ve invested money into them and we’ve tried to do them as well as possible. And it’s great to see people interested in them. And the characters I play in the videos, they change ever so slightly in their appearance and even name, but it’s very much a part of our concept as Poets of the Fall and so. It’s theatrical in a way, and something we like to aspire to. I think it would be really boring to get on stage if you can’t let go a little bit. If you take on a character do the concert through the character, it’s much easier to depict the stories behind the songs and to live in the moment.
Host: Yeah, if all you did was stand and hold on to your mic, it would be really boring to watch.
Marko: Yeeeeah, and it’s a bit of a performance. You wear your character and you are the character for a while it gives you a sense of surreal madness and everything’s simply a lot more fun.

Host: It’s more fun for you too? During the song we talked about going abroad and your album will be coming out there as well. When was it, at the end of summer?
Marko: Yeah.
Host: What kind of buzz do you have going on in Central Europe for example?
Marko: Surprisingly good. Our fist singles have started to roll and we didn’t even expect something quite so big to happen. We got a list of several radios from large to small ones who have added out single to their playlist. We were like “what?!” It’s really nice and now we have all our fingers crossed and thumbs up so that it would start to go forward from there. We’ve been doing a lot of ground work there for years and now we’ve found a really good bunch of people to help us out with creating a buzz, so all we can do now is to hope for best.

Host: You’ve always done things by yourselves a lot. How difficult has it been to form contacts when you don’t have a bit multi-national record label backing you up? How difficult is it to get people even to hear you out, what you’re about?
Marko: Well, if you think about the fact that today is Poets of the Fall’s 9th birthday and this is the point where we are now. It’s clearly taken a few years to work on all of it and to look for contacts and to find the right ones.
Host: So it hasn’t been the easiest thing in the world?
Marko: No, it hasn’t necessarily been the easiest thing in the world.

Host: Have you ever felt like “oh shit”?
Marko: Yeah.
Host: Like now we really have to get that deal in that country.
Marko: Yeah, you sometimes start feeling like it’s not going to work out at all, let’s just call it quits and something comes along that we could get but it’s just totally shit, but should we take it anyway. We’ve ended up not taking that route.
Host: Like you wouldn’t have to do everything all by yourselves?
Marko: Yeah. Stuff like that comes along. On the outside it might look like we’re going up to the sky like a rocket but when you’re on the inside there’s a fist coming through every single door and window that you bump into before you reach the end of the corridor where the light is shining.
Host: That sounded pretty bad! That’s where the light is shining.
Marko laughs: That’s where the light is shining.
Host laughs: Don’t walk towards the light.
Marko laughs: …towards the light.

Host: This is a good place to end our chat, except please tell us where your next gigs in Finland are going to be.
Marko: During the weekend we’ll be in Helsinki, at Pressa. And we have a couple of boat cruise gigs coming up and then we go to Tallinn. And for the rest of May we’ll record some stuff in the studio. And during the summer there are going to be some open air festivals and nightclub gigs in Finland and we’ll have those along the autumn until winter if I remember right. Check out Poets website for more information because I only know that our tour manager tells me where to be on that day so I should remember to come to the tour bus so that we can put you on stage. I never know where I am on some specific day. All I know that tomorrow I have a gig.
Host: So they tell you that it would be nice if you were on the bus as well so that you can be taken to the gig. You don’t need to know where it is.
Marko: Olli always comes to pick me up from home, like “let’s go, now”.
Host: That sounds somehow endearing.
Marko: Can’t deny that.
Host: You don’t have to worry about a thing.
Marko: Yeah.
Host: But hey, thank you for being able to visit us.
Marko: Thanks, it was fun.

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Part I:

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Part II:

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  • Size: 4.3MB
  • Length: 3:44min
• Part II:
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  • Length: 3:08min
• Part III:
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  • Length: 2:32min

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

Host 1: Until now this band has released four albums and one compilation and yesterday they released their 5th full length studio album Temple of Thought.
Host 2: And a true temple of thoughts is their vocalist Marko Saaresto. Marko Saaresto, that hunky, handsome male with a beautiful voice. He makes women’s panties wet and men’s feelings surface. This tall hottie is very talented in many different walks of life. He’s a sports masseur, graphic designer and multi-instrumentalist.

Host 1: I think you got a little bit side-tracked there. There’s more to the band than just Marko.
Host 2: Oh really? Like who?
Host 1: Who? Let me check… There’s some Olli and some Markus as well, so…
Host 2: In any case, let us welcome the bombastic, poetic and popular in India Poets Of The Fall!
Laughter.

Host 1: Yeah. This kind of stuff. Welcome, Marko Saaresto.
Marko: You don’t really need me here at all, just play that again or make it a little longer.
Host 2: We were a little worried, like what if the other guys, who were they again, were to come with you…
Host 1: Molli or someone.
Host 2: … if they had gotten a little offended, but luckily you just came alone.
Marko: Luckily it’s just me. They can’t get themselves out of bed at this time of day. They’re artists, I’m just a worker ant.
Host 1: How’s it going?
Marko: Pretty well, thanks. You have a new coffee machine here, the coffee’s good.
Host 2: Right, right. So yeah, thanks for stopping by, it was great to have you…
Laughter.

Host 1: But we’ve waited for the moment when we get to listen to new Poets, and we get to do that right now. You’ve released a new single, Cradled in Love.
Marko: Uuuu, yeah.
Host 1: How did it feel like to get into the studio to work on the new stuff?
Marko: Really good, really great. We’ve been working on it for a year now and it feels good to have it done now. We can start on the next one straight away.
Host 2: Is it really such a conveyor belt production, like you have to be at the studio all the time?
Marko: No, you can’t work like that, all the time. But then you get the right feel and want to get to it. For me it took a vacation of 10 days in between, so… I had to relax a little, but then I had to get back to it.

Host 2: The new album Temple of Thought came out into the stores yesterday. Isn’t it so that the afternoon and evening before the release is the most nerve-wrecking time for an artist?
Marko: Yes it is.
Host 2: So right now you’re a completely relaxed and undone man.
Marko: Yes, absolutely.
Host 2: Everything’s ok?
Marko: I’m feeling rather languid right now.

Host 3: The falsetto comes out easier too. So this is an ending to a trilogy, this Temple of Thought.
Marko: Yes.
Host 3: What’s the message of this trilogy, or why is it a trilogy in the first place?
Marko: It’s a trilogy thematically. I did go and change our logo at some point, but the titles and the photographic material and the songs mirror each other in there. And thematically, if Signs of Life is the first part, it depicts the birth and growth and Carnival of Rust depicts the loss of illusions, you see what life is really like and the end result is a human being, Temple of Thought.
Host 2: Going down to pretty deep spheres.
Marko: Yeah, yeah, I can lower my voice a little bit more.

Host 3: We didn’t really get that. Bygones. So what is the next album going to be? A party?
Marko: But that’s a really good idea. I was thinking that it could be. I thought it could be this…
Hosts singing together: Sorry for party rocking.

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

Radio spoof: NRJ Morning Boys.

Host 1: The vocalist of Poets Of The Fall, Marko is here for an interview.
Marko: Hoy.
Host 1: Marko, like we can hear from your new song, it’s pretty much a falsetto song, you go pretty high up there. Not necessarily loud, but very high. And all the time! Is it difficult, you’re practicing for the live performances, have you ever gotten the feeling like damn, what did I do, I can’t sing that.
Marko: Every time you’re writing a song you have to think about the live version also, so that you can do it. But sometimes you have to pull off tricks to make it work, because the live situation is so different from a situation at the studio or even from the gig rehearsal situation. When it’s live, there’s noise, sounds, movement, different vibes and your energy is wired up high. And that’s a delicate song. Like if you make a spinning top on top of a pencil, it’s got to stick to that. And if you’ve been running around all over the stage to all the rock songs and then that song comes up you just hope you could get another set of lungs.
Laughter.

Host 2: But somehow these slow songs seem to suit you. When you think about your new music, it seems natural for you to have these soft and tender songs there.
Marko: Yeah, seems that way, we do write quite a bit of those. We do stuff from one extreme to the other, like so. One of my friends from school, a tough heavy metal guitarist, told me back in the day that it’s the heavy metal guys that write the most delicate songs.
Laughter.

Host 1: When you think about putting the gig set together and so, how does it work out to find the balance to it, like on the optimal set list you can offer feelings from one end to the other.
Marko: We have the happy situation that we have feelings from one end to the other in our songs and you can include them. But of course you think about it. There are those certain songs that people want to hear and expect to hear Lift and Carnival of Rust when they come to our show. So we stick them somewhere in between, to spots that feel right. Then there’s the new material that you want to play and want to include and then you see what else you can pull off. We already have so many singles, music video songs that when you’ve picked a few you already have a set for one and half hours.

Host 1: It must be difficult with the 5th full length album, you can’t squeeze in that many songs from the newest without someone complaining “where’s my favorite song from the first album and why didn’t you play Late Goodbye?”. Are you still playing Late Goodbye by the way?
Marko: Yes, we are. We did one whole tour without it because I got fed up with it.
Host 1: The crowd must have been in total rage.
Marko: They asked about it, yeah, like where is it.

Host 3: Talking about feelings, you’ve been the cause for rapture in India… at Oktoberfest, wasn’t it? I read you had an audience of 15 000.
Marko: Yeah, it was cool.
Host 3: How come you’re so huge there? Not to doubt you wouldn’t be able to be huge somewhere, but why India of all places?
Marko: I don’t know why. I think the word of mouth works really well there and people there are really passionate about the things they like. If you like something, you like it with all your heart.

Radio spoof: NRJ Morning Boys.

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

Radio spoof: NRJ Morning Boys.

Host 1: We’re talking to Marko Saaresto from Poets Of The Fall here in studio. We already touched the topic of their success in India. Do you think this success in India will drive you into using traditional Indian instruments, like the sitar. Will this all have an influence?
Marko: I don’t know. Of course it will have an influence. Sitar is an excellent instrument, like all the others that come from there. But on the other hand, the Indian musicians have plenty of sitars to make music with as it is, so perhaps we’ll just stick to what we know and play electric guitars.

Host 2: Will this drive your band to the point that you will have your influence in Bollywood movies?
Marko: Actually we were asked at one point if it would be possible for us to…
Host 2: What?
Laughter.
Host 2: What kind of part?
Marko: I don’t even know if they had a specific role in mind, but they asked if it would be possible.
Host 2: The Scandinavian bad guy.
Marko: But it would be so cool to go there, really.
Host 3: A big market at least.

Host 2: I claim that the next time Poets Of The Fall comes to visit us they will be talking like [mimics Indian accent] “we are Poets Of The Fall, we play the good music”.
Host 1: Everyone will wear a turban and…
Laughter.
Host 3: And every third sentence is singing.
Laughter.
Host 2: Yeah, this India connection won’t change our music at all… yes it will when money talks!
Host 3: The Beatles created some India-influenced stuff at one point too.
Marko: That’s a good comparison.

Host 2: So when is the Goa album coming out?
Marko: Actually I just checked up on the basic living costs at Goa just last night. I was thinking that I’d like to live there, wearing only a pair of shorts and a pair of flip flops. It would be everything I own and maybe a surf board or something. So I checked out how much it would cost to live there.
Host 2: What does it cost then?
Marko: It wasn’t very expensive. I think a monthly rent of some place was around 100 euros.
Host 2: Oh-hoh.
Host 3: Why don’t we all move there?
Host 2: Yes, all of us together. Imagine how cheap. Just 25 euros per person.
Laughter.
Marko: Per month.

Host 2: Let’s all move in there. But this is a really amazing moment really because this is the last time we get to interview Poets Of The Fall. The guys will be moving to India, so…
Marko: That’s life.
Host 1: No, we really want to thank you for showing up and all. Your new album is in the stores since yesterday and Temple of Thought… or Thooth is the name of the album, it’s worth it to go and get it. I’m very grateful, you wrote something on my booklet with hearts and all. Thanks very much!
Marko: Thanks, it was fun. Good day to everyone.

Radio spoof: NRJ Morning Boys.

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• 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.

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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.

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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.

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

Ari Hursti: It’s 8:38. That was a weird click-smack kind of sound.
Minna Kuukka: Yes, yes. We’re here sitting in the studio, the three of us, and there’s an empty chair in the middle.
Minna laughs.
Ari: Kuukka, Hursti, Laitinen and… and.. and…
Aku Laitinen: But not for long. We’re going to have a guest from Poets Of The Fall.
Ari: Yeah, Marko. But not…
Minna: So, Marko is in the house, that’s not the problem. But we have a couple of different doors from where you can come in and apparently Kristofer is at one door and Marko is at the other and they’re trying to find each other. And perhaps someone is already in the elevator. Yeah, but…

Aku: We could have some awkward conversation here, like we have to come up with anything.
Minna: We could.
Ari: Or then we could be all silent.
Minna: We have a message here for the specialty man Laitinen here…
Ari: Ah, no?
Minna: Besides the fact that Laitinen is soooo cute…
Aku: Oh! Hit and sunk, thank you!
Minna: … then referring to…
Aku: Just leave it at that.
Ari: He’s feeling good now.
Laughter.

Minna: Referring to what you previously said, before the 8 o’clock news, when you gave advice in case of a mishap on the road. You said if the car engine stops, just leave it running so you won’t get cold. And we got to bully you about it a little. So the message goes that if the specialty man Laitinen can leave his car running after the engine stops, is he related to Chuck Norris.

Ari: Was this a question or…
Aku: I really can’t reveal this. Cos I’d have to kill anyone who heard, after telling. But yes, I’m very closely related to Chuck Norris. And let’s just say that the only reason different animal species exist in this world is because Chuck and I are letting them live.
Laughter.
Aku: Nah, I’m not related. It’s great that a myth like this is circling around. Just kick more power into it if it indeed exists.

Minna: Do you have the same kind of rug as Chuck has?
Aku: No, that’s what I’m missing. I’m missing that fine round house kick and the rug. By the way, did you know that hiding behind his beard, Chuck has a third fist?
Laughter.
Aku: I don’t have a beard, I can’t keep it in hiding.

Ari: But now, in the studio!
Minna: For once I’m going to have to say: Thank God our guest is here!
Ari: Yes!
Minna: Cos our stories started going to the kind of state, that…
Aku: Dispare.
Ari: You saved our live transmission, welcome!
Minna: Yes.
Marko: Oh, thank you, thank you.
Minna: Marko, good morning!
Marko: Good morning.
Ari: Let’s shake hands.
Marko: I’ll shake hands, even from this far away. There you go. Good morning to each class and caste, for everyone out there in the freezing weather and I hope you were able to tune in just in time. Getting here on time was such a close call for me. But I’m here on the exact right minute.

Minna: Did you arrive by car?
Marko: I had a really brilliant… I’m sure that taxi driver was from some Aladdin’s lamp.
Laughter.
Marko: I said I have to be there at 8:30 exactly, because the live transmission starts at 8:40 and he was like it’s going to be alright, I have a little trick, we can turn from the hot dog kiosk to the opposite traffic lane and by 8:30 we can be in Timbuktu if you want.
Ari: Like my aunt lives around the corner, let’s stop by there.

Minna: Well, let’s get to the point then. A song named Cradled in Love has been playing in our frequency as well for about a week now.
Marko: Yeap.
Minna: And it’s the first single from Poets Of The Fall’s upcoming album. So when is the whole album coming out?
Marko: The album is coming out in March. And from what I’ve gathered, if everything goes well and the tight schedule we have keeps, if we can make it in time from the hot dog kiosk, the blast should happen on the 21st.
Minna: Well then. Great, great.

Ari: Can you shed some light on the album, if you can? What kind of material is there going to be, in general?
Marko: Eh, well, there’s going to be familiar Poets, some more experimental Poets and the same kinds of fun songs as Cradled in Love and also some faster paced music that will make you go out of breath.
Ari: Mmmh. Good.
Marko: The album is called Temple of Thought.
Minna: That’s… Temple of Thought: A fine name, and a fine song too. I almost sank into nirvana listening to it [Cradled in Love] on my way home in the car. I almost had to take a look around where I was when the song ended.
Marko laughs.

Minna: And I checked out some fan reactions from your website, and someone had written like “Oh, how nice that it was somehow different, but still there was some familiar Poets Of The Fall in it”.
Marko: Yeah, yeah.
Minna: So if that has been the plan, then it’s worked out well.
Marko: Yes, yes it looks like it came together just perfectly. There was a lot of nervousness about how it’s going to be received.

Minna: Anyway, your website and your discussion forum is a quick and easy way to do an arm chair trip around the world.
Marko laughs.
Minna: Because there are different sections for different countries. Sections. Sections.
Ari: What was it?
Marko: What? Sex… what?
Minna: Like, this is the place for Germans, for fans who speak German and that is… I mean, there were so many different countries and people there.
Marko: Yeah.
Minna: It’s quite dizzying. Just think about it.

Ari: This Cradled in Love, then. A lot of other musicians and music business people and rockers have said that it’s been a while since a world class ballad such as this one has emerged.
Marko: Whoa, whoa.
Aku: Yeah, I’ve bumped into the same comments quite often.
Ari: What does it take, in your opinion?
Marko: What does it take?

Ari: Have you just worked without thinking about it that much, or… is it about some grandiose sound or where does it come from?
Marko: It’s really difficult to say. But I guess it’s about having three guys work on a song, and then everyone pours in their own thing and their feelings. One does something that inspires the other and that inspires back and it turns into a spool of energy and in the end a blast like this comes out. It takes a lot of pain of the soul and tearing to create something like this. So for once all of the banging your head against a wall has led to something great.
Ari: Professional victory.
Marko: Yes.

Minna: Has this happened in between of everything else? Like you’ve been touring and working on the new album.
Marko: Yes, that’s how it works for us usually, somehow.
Minna: And do I understand correctly, that your tour will continue in March?
Marko: Yes, it continues from March onwards, but of course with the new album. Because it’s kind of a… There were Signs of Life, Carnival of Rust and now Temple of Thought, the album to finish the trilogy. Hopefully there will be something special with that.
Minna: Because you’ve been touring under Alchemy title now…
Marko: We started with Alchemy, yes, and we’ll see what will come to succeed Revolution Roulette and Twilight Theater, if anything. Something will come, hopefully.

Minna: You have upcoming gigs in March, there’s St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia and there’s Ukraine.
Marko: Ukraine, yes. And I think some Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania… and what else? Where are we? Finland.
Minna: So what is the fan base like over there? And are the gig situations much different from our Tavastia, for example?
Marko: It depends on the place and the energy you can whip up but our gigs abroad are starting to get quite big already. Like one venue can hold several thousands of people.
Minna: Excactly.
Marko: Interesting choice of words, by the way.
Laughter.
Marko: Yeah. But it can be anything from 3000 to 5000 people in Russia and Ukraine for example. And some other countries have places pretty much like Tavastia and India has really huge arenas. It’s incomprehensible. But it’s really great.

Minna: Do they treat you like… uuuh, mega world stars? Do you have limousine rides from one place to another and…
Marko: Yeah.
Minna: And insane penthouse suites at the hotels and…
Marko: We usually stay at rather reasonable, nice hotels. Now and then we’ve had suites where you just walk from room to room and wonder how you’re going to find use for all this space.
Ari: You need to take a snack with you when you go from room to room.
Marko: Like I’m going to put my Pepsodent [toothpaste brand] over there and I’ll take my spare underwear to that room and I’ll put my gig wear to this 70-square-meter entrance hall. We’ve had that, but usually it’s just a decent basic kind of room.

Ari: When you get a suite like that… Does it ever cross your mind that you ought to behave accordingly, as an artist? Like, when I’m given a situation like that, I’m going to take it.
Marko: It does cross your mind. But if I take advantage of it is another story. We do have parties sometimes. But usually it goes to… if we hang out after the concert it’s just crazy laughing until the morning.
Minna: Is it just your core crew, or do you invite some local people?
Marko: It’s usually that. And maybe some people from the organizers. But a lot of times during the tour… People, I’m going to tell the truth now. So during a day we may have only about two hours for ourselves.
Hosts: Mmmh.

Marko: And we usually spend that time sleeping.
Minna: This is the kind of stuff one would never want to hear. One would like to think that it’s all like… someone’s feeding you grapes while you lie on a divan at the suite or something until you’re taken to…
Marko: I can tell you more about that when we go off air. I can tell you all the stories involving grapes.
Minna: Yesss!
Ari: So it’s not all about the kind of life Mötley Crue used to live?
Marko: No… I think if it was still the 80’s, then it might be a little more like that, but it’s not like that these days. All things evolve in some respect, things change and it’s pretty much all work and so.

Ari: How disciplined is the profession of a musician, during the tour? Is it a free rock ‘n’ roll life or does it go with a purely professional attitude?
Marko: You have to go with a professional attitude, there are a lot of things from promotion to concerts and you have to do it well and stay sharp. And at the same time you get really tired, you’re flying around and you’re awake at the weirdest hours and you meet a lot of people. You have to have a certain kind of work ethic there. But sometimes it’s like… like we’re professionals of waiting around. It feels like we’re always in a hurry to wait around.
Minna: Military service vibe!

Marko: It’s pretty much like in the army, yes. You learn to be very patient. But if you know how to let loose and take it easy, you do get some time for yourself in a way. But quite often it’s just going from one city to the next and you don’t really get to see anything of those cities. It’s a really good day if we’re arriving at Hamburg, for example, in the morning and you have a chance to go walking around the town until noon from when you wake up around 9-10 am feeling confused. And you get to walk around for a couple of hours. And then we have the sound check and after that, interviews. And we meet up with some fans and then it’s time to eat something and then you wonder what to do with the rest of the day. And then we start preparing for the gig and at some point you get to take a nap or something. And at night we have a crazy cuckoo party. And the next morning you’re all confused, like “oh, we’re in Berlin”. And the same thing continues.
Ari: And it sounds like it’s work.

Minna: But Marko has the same kind of speaking voice as his singing voice is.
Marko: Mmm.
Minna: And I could just close my eyes and slowly tilt to the side.
Laughter.
Ari: And fall over with a knock on the floor.
Marko [in a relaxation tape kind of deep voice]: If you at home have a moment to spare, please do close your eyes now and if you haven’t closed them yet or if you have, do close them again. And we’ll lull ourselves into the mood of the next song.

Radio spoof.
Cradled in Love.
Commercials.
Radio spoof.

Ari: It’s 5 to 9 am, the news coming up at 9 am and after that Sari and Minna O. in the studio.
Minna: Yes, we just heard the fine Cradled of Love by Poets Of The Fall. And it’s from the new upcoming album that’s coming out in March. Temple of Thought is the name of the album. Thanks a lot Marko for visiting us.
Marko: Thanks, it was a lot of fun and everyone have a fun day with some coffee and cinnamon rolls.
Minna: We gave him some coffee and cinnamon rolls just now, and a moment of breath before a photo shoot for promo pictures. It’ll be good to go to that setting with some crumbs at the side of your mouth.
Marko: That’s how life smiles at you.
Minna: Good! We’ll continue tomorrow. Bye!

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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.

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

Host: That’s a good piece of advice for all uninvited guests: Jääkää Kotiin [Stay At Home in English] by Stella. But we have an invited guest over so we didn’t want him to stay at home. He is the front man of Poets of the Fall, welcome Marko.

Marko: Thank you.

Host: Poets of the Fall long awaited hit collection Alchemy Vol. 1 is published, I mean was published yesterday. Happened to be my name day.

Marko: Aaa. Congratulations.

Host: To honour the occasion. And tomorrow you’re having a sold out gig at Tavastia and after that you’ll be heading to Europe. There’s going to be Ukraine and Russia and a few other places too. Looking good all around.

Marko: Yes, thank you.

Host: We were thinking, now that you’re here to talk about this new compilation, that we’re going to give you a compilation interview.

Marko: Ok.

Host: Because musicians always get to do compilations and it’s not possible for us even though we do a lot of valuable work, we have a lot of great questions which are usually asked only once. We have the right, the great public has asked for these.

Other host: Yes, you get all the fans and the adoration just for publishing your songs all over again, so we’re going to try and see how the same tactics work for us.

Marko: The same tactics, it’s fine.

Host: The first question, that someone has asked Miss Finland [translator's remark: 2011] Pia Pakarinen quite some time ago…

Other host: Must be more than one week even.

Host: Yes…

Laughter.

Host: And here we go: Marko… I changed Pia into Marko here… Marko, why don’t you give us your honest fact sheet. Your name, characteristics, hobbies and something philosophic.

Marko: Hey. My name is Marko and I’m a singer. I like all kinds of… ahh…

Marko laughs.

Marko: This is more difficult than you’d think, it takes practice. I think kittens and puppies are wonderful, and I wish for – like every beauty pageant winner – the world peace. And something philosophic… eeeh, sleep well.

Host: Oi.

Other host: Carpe Diem would have been a good one.

Marko: Yeah, it would have been a really good one.

Host: Very good answer, very good, for the first question. The next question was asked from contemporary dancer, Vesa Saarinen. When have you last failed to understand some contemporary dance performed by a colleague?

Marko laughs.

Marko: This may even be a daily event, my colleagues do such moves that I can’t keep up.

Host: So you don’t dance?

Marko: No, I dance superb, but they are even better. But if you want to evolve and do anything that will be remembered, you had better keep company that is better than yourself.

Host: Marko from Poets of the Fall here in the studio and we’re in the middle of a compilation interview. Questions from previous interviews. Marko, who is the best dancer in Poets of the Fall?

Marko: Without a doubt it’s Olli. He’s even better than Michael Jackson in his days.

Host: Oh!

Marko: So yes, you can see the bum getting a move on when Olli starts dancing.

Host: This question has been asked from the heavyweight champion boxer, Robert Helenius. How much excitement or fear is there involved when getting into the ring?

Marko laughs.

Marko: You don’t even notice it, it just happens. And after a while you’re sweating in the backstage and you wonder what just happened.

Host: So you don’t get nervous about going on stage?

Marko: No, not at all. There used to be… and even now a couple of weeks in advance before the first gig of a tour there may be some feelings like “damn, I feel tired and I don’t want to do anything” and so… but then it blows over and you don’t really feel out of the ordinary. And if for some reason you do develop a terrible stage fright, it disappears between backstage and the stage.

Host: How much of the gig do you remember afterwards? Like what you did on the stage, how you moved and if you took contact with someone in the audience. Of course everyone from the front row, but…

Marko: Yes, of course. Mostly it’s a blur, a vague mist and a sea of people and you don’t remember if you spoke something or gave any signals to anybody. Especially if it’s a very good gig.

Host: How many times have you fallen out of speaking terms with someone because of your opinions?

Marko: If I’m completely honest about this, then… probably not one. So far. But it could be that I’ve forgotten about such unhappy things.

Host: It’s not something you talk about anymore.

Marko laughs.

Marko: It’s not something you talk about anymore. The conversation is done for good.

Host: what are the things you’re very opinionated about?

Marko: Amm, shall we say the kinds of things that… I’m very strongly of the opinion that everyone has worth as a human being no matter who you are. And if someone doesn’t agree I usually try to give as qualified argumentation as I’m capable of doing… according to my capabilities of the day.

Host: This question was once asked of a rock journalist Nalle Österman who is very opinionated when it comes to criticizing different bands and artists.

Other host: Let’s move on to something lighter. I have to read this straight from the paper. Have you had time to ride downhill in a pulk? Do you prefer a pulk or a sleigh?

Marko: Let’s just say that if there’s snow involved, I’m not going to do anything.

Host: No?

Marko: No.

Host: You don’t downhill ski?

Marko: No, I used to but the last time I had skis under my feet must have been about 20 years ago because I had to. I rode a pulk about a ten yeas ago last. But not downhill if I can recall. My friends did and I was cheering on the side, drinking hot chocolate. That has been my closest brush with winter sports.

Host: So you don’t like any kind of winter activities whatsoever?

Marko: No, I start to hibernate when the temperature sinks below zero [Celsius]. I can’t get anything out of myself, I just keep watching CSI New York on a repeat.

Laughter.

Host: Is this a chance to organize a “Rockers on Skis” event?

Laughter.

Other host: Oh yes, everyone to the Finlandia Ski Event [translator's info: it's a yearly 50-kilometer long ski event for everyone who wants to take part] next year.

Host: From who did we ask this before?

Other host: From Jenni Vartiainen. I don’t remember what her answer was, but she used to be a figure skater so one would think she likes winter activities.

Host: I’d rather see her on a pulk than a sleigh. What do you say Marko? Pulk or sleigh?

Marko: There’s a certain kind of playfulness to it, I’m going to go for the pulk as well. On an ice track too, so it would be a high speed.

Host: She could take all her Emma Awards as an extra weight so the speed would increase even more.

Laughter.

Marko: To increase the speed, yes.

Host: Did she get seven Emmas?

Marko: It would make a more spectacular crash with all the Emma Awards flying around.

Laughter.

Host: It would make a good shell bomb. I think we’re going to have to build a ski jump just for this event. On to the next question.

Other host: In God’s name, tell us what chase is?

Marko laughs.

Marko: I haven’t got a clue. The first thing that comes to mind is that Hercule Poirot actor… errr…

Host: David Suchet.

Marko: Suchet or whatever Chutchet he is… It must be some kind of an attaché briefcase.

Host: Not bad, not bad at all.

Other host: This was during the Dancing With The Stars because they were always speaking about chases, if they were done correctly or not. This was asked from Antti Tuisku and we tried to figure out what it actually is.

Marko: If you had asked me what plié is, I could have even shown you.

Host: O-hey! It’s still not too late! Get on with it.

Other host: What IS a plié?

Host: Marko is going to show us what a plié is.

Marko: Plié, plié. All the girls who have gone to fairytale ballet will say that I didn’t do it right but put your feet into this Chaplin position, like this. And lift your hands up like this. And bend your knees a little like this. And then you can move your hand like this.

Host: Aaa. Look at us, Black Swan, here we come.

Laughter.

Host: This is the boldest move that I dare to make after having a stomach flu.

Laughter.

Marko: Yes, it is the kind of movement where I had to look into the mirror myself and think if I’m a man or…

Laughter.

Host: Let’s have some more of these questions. Heels on. But what kind of high heels? [translator's info: Heels On is a Finnish TV talk show hosted by two women and it includes a word play. In Finland the words Korkojen Kera can mean shoes with high heels or "payback with interest" as in taking revenge.]

Marko: Heels On or… meh, what was the question again?

Host: But what kind of high heels?

Marko: Platform shoes.

Host: What are platform shoes?

Marko: The kind that have fat bottoms. For me personally it’s everything from Teddy and the Tigers to Marilyn Manson.

Host: Spice Girls too. They had those, didn’t they?

Marko: Yes, I suppose they did.

Host: You can buy the likes from Morticia [translator's info: a gothic fashion shop in Helsinki], even all the way up your thighs.

Marko: Oh.

Host: Just noticed once when I walked by this gothic store.

Other host: Yeah, right, walking by…

Host: I wasn’t in there to buy corset or anything.

Other host: But!

Host: We once asked this from Jenni Pääskysaari [translator's remark: one of the hosts of Heels On].

Other host: From Jenni, yes. What did she answer? Didn’t she say stiletto heels?

Host: Stiletto heels if I remember right. Yeah.

Marko: I used to have a stiletto once too.

Host: Did you?

Marko: Yes. When I was a kid.

Host: Was it a stiletto comb, because I remember those were hot once.

Marko: Yes, I bought those combs for my nephews at one point, I didn’t want to get them the real deal… But when I was a kid, I had to have one. And there was this cool tough guy at our school who sold it to me at the smoking circle for 50 Finnish marks [translator's remark: would be about 8 Euros now].

Host: 50 marks?

Marko: And I just kept clicking the blade in and out in a frenzy for the rest of the day.

Host: He probably got it from some cheap store for 10 marks.

Marko: Actually he had bought it as a souvenir from a holiday in Greece.

Host: They were almost always brought from abroad, right? You would go in the plane and be worried if the metal detector is going to go off.

Other host: But the security back then wasn’t what it is now.

Marko: It sure wasn’t.

Host: I remember I wanted a stiletto because in Beverly Hills Cop the guy always took a stiletto into his hand and performed a break and enter with it. Did you have some “young rebel” kind of a phase or why was the stiletto blade so fascinating for you?

Marko: No, you see, everything ninja was very cool, so it went with that. I had probably seen it in some kung fu movie and I’ve always loved to watch a lot of those movies. I think it came from there. Some crappy 70′s Hong Kong movie where all special effects sounds are rather terrible bams and whams. I plagiarised it to myself from there.

Host: Marko from Poets of the Fall is here in our compilation interview. We’re asking him questions from previous interviews with other people because their Alchemy Vol. 1 was published yesterday, it’s a compilation album. Last question Marko. Which of your songs has given you the biggest amount of feedback?

Marko: Bmm, bmm, bmm, good question. Probably the ones in the beginning of our career because they’ve existed so long and people have had more time to talk about them. Late Goodbye, Lift… Illusion And Dream.

Host: This one was asked from Miitta-täti [a Finnish comedy character with her own guest show] because her songs are rather hard core… Tomorrow you have the sold out gig in Tavastia and Poets of the Fall will be on the road again and won’t be seen in Finland for a while. Or will we see you, and when?

Marko: Of course we’ll be seen in Finland, once the open air festival season kicks in we will be here as far as I know and we get to play live for our Finnish fans across the country as well.

Host: Thank you Marko for visiting us and now we’re going to listen some Poets of the Fall, one of my favourites actually… and it’s a great song to end your jog or run with, when your energy is out and you can’t take another step I usually play this one from my iPod and…

Marko laughs.

Marko: Brilliant, makes you run another mile.

Radio station plays War.

Host: Tomorrow performing for a sold out Tavastia, Poets of the Fall. This song is War and can be found in a console game named Alan Wake. It’s worth a listen, a compilation album Alchemy Vol. 1 from Poets of the Fall came out yesterday. Thank you for all the messages, Marko got a lot of feedback during this interview and we will give them all to him. Now it’s time for some news, reported by Jan Fredrikson.