written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hello Lassi. Thanks for your time. How are you doing these days, are you alive and well? How are the other guys of the band?
Lassi: Hey Marko and thank you guys for the interview! 🙂
Well I’m actually doing pretty well considering the circumstances and the situation in the world right now (Covid-19). I mean it’s terrifying to read the news nowadays cause it seems that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. I’m really worried how the music and culture industry will survive after all this period of cancelling events and tours. Of course on a personal level this has been a very difficult year for a person who’s musical career is based on performing for people in front of the crowd. I mean entertaining people, performing live and singing on stage is my fuel to keep going and doing this. I hope we can stop these speculations about the future soon and start doing what we love the most, performing live.
We are all professional musicians so of course it has been a hard year for everyone without being able to play live shows. However besides being professional musicians there is so much knowledge and versatility within our band. Iivo who’s the main songwriter in Arion is also a professional guitar teacher, Topias is a professional studio sound engineer and also working with video productions (he can actually do anything music related), Arttu is a professional studio sound engineer too and Gege is now working as a youth worker.
So luckily we all have very good connections so everyone has found something to work on and have got their bills to pay.
Pix666: Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. Arion has been around for about 10 years now – you’ve been a member of Arion for about half that time – how did the contact to the guys come about?
Lassi: Modern metal band filled with huge melodies, monster riffs, amazing solos, big playing ability and great musical talent. Arion delivers raging and charismatic live performances that you MUST witness as soon as you can.
If I remember this right I think it was Perttu Vänskä (Co-producer on Last Of Us & Life Is Not Beautiful) who called me about this opportunity to join Arion. I think he and the guys had found me from Youtube and thought I could be the one to fill in Viljami’s shoes. Btw I knew right away that I wanna get on this roller coaster of amazingly talented youngsters and take over the melodic metal scene. We had this audition sension where we played “Seven”, “I Am The Storm ” and “Shadows”. I remember that I nailed it and after the first song we already bumped our fists together with Iivo and Arttu. I also remember that Rolf Pilve had something to do with this. We had done some collaboration in the past with him and I think he put in a good word for me (btw thanks Rolle).
Pix666: What was your inspiration to become a musician? Who are your idols? Were you in other bands before you joined Arion?
Lassi: I think I have always liked attention and performing on stage has probably fulfilled my “attention jar” the most. haha. At a very young age I started listening and watching all these rock/metal bands on TV (MTV, “Jyrki” TV Show in Finland) and I think it looked so cool. So first I just wanted to be a rock star and started to play guitar because I think it was the coolest instrument in every band. haha. I think I had put together my first band when I was like 10 years old. At some point we always had the same problem that no-one wanted or even couldn’t sing so I had to take the microphone everytime. We noticed that I can really hit the high notes so it was obvious… In high school it really hit me that I would like to do this singing thing for real. It was time to put the guitar aside and I just started to focus on singing and aiming on those high notes. So the inspiration just grew from year to year when I was growing up because of the surroundings and noticing the talent I had in me.
First bands that really hit me were Hanoi Rocks, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Children Of Bodom and Edguy. I would say Bruce Dickinson and Tobias Sammet are the main reason why I’m doing this. These guys were the ones I looked up and wanted to be someday (and still wanna be) when I was looking for my own sound and style.
I had several bands and projects before joining Arion. I would point out one of them named Cønstantine. Together with the guys in Cønstantine we learned so much about making albums, playing live and about the music industry that I would say it was the elementary school of “rock n roll”. We were like family and I still feel like Marko, Antti and Janne are my brothers. You guys should check out Antti’s and Janne’s new band “Time Primer”. Btw we didn’t pass the final test cause we never even got there but we had one hell of a ride while it lasted and now we all are so much wiser and stronger. haha.
Pix666: What have been the greatest and most unforgettable experiences in your time as a musician?
Lassi: Wow there’s so many experiences that this career choice has given me. To point out a few… in 2019 we had the pleasure to tour with one the greatest bands on earth Battle Beast as a support act for them. Earlier I was talking about an elementary school of “rock n roll” well this was the “high school of heavy metal”. Noora and the guys were so supportive and helped us on everything on our first big tour. They treated us like we were their family and I will never forget that!!
Also I would say playing in Japan is something I will never forget and actually get enough of. Japanese people are so hospitable and the fact how loud they can be at a concert is something else. In 2019 we also played on the main stage of Tuska Festival in Finland which is something every Finnish metal musician dreams of. I would also point out the fact I have got so many friends and met so many great people over the years because of being a musician. Because of all these people I have experienced so much in my life.
Pix666: January this year the video clip ‚Out Of My Life’ was released. Where did you shoot the clip? Who was part of the team and were there any complications during the shoot due to certain Corona restrictions?
Lassi: We filmed the video at Kaapelitehdas (old cable factory) in Helsinki which is a really big hall where they also organize events and shows etc. Of course now it was empty because there’s nothing going on so we had lots of space to work on. The clip was directed & produced by our dear drummer machine Topias Kupiainen and his friend Lauri Anttila so we had only one person in addition to the band.
Also on this video we were filmed one at a time so it was easy to keep your distance to others. However when we filmed the music video for “In The Name Of Love” it was much more challenging because there were so many locations where the video had to be filmed (lots of the scenes were filmed outside) and a bigger production team. We still made it pretty easily and hey you should check out that music video too!
Pix666: Some weeks ago your new single ‚In the name of love‘ was released. How was the response to the new songs from the fans so far?
Lassi: The feedback has been amazingly nice or at least what I’ve heard! haha.
“Bloodline” featuring the one and only Noora Louhimo was a pretty obvious choice for single number one. Not just because Noora is featuring on the track but because it’s a freaking great song. haha. This might be my favorite song from the album and our fans love it too! I would say it’s a typical Arion masterpiece. A huge sounding melodic masterpiece from our mastermind Iivo Kaipainen once again. There has been a huge success on Spotify for this one and it has also been played a lot on a Finnish radio station “Radio Rock”.
I would say before releasing “In The Name Of Love” feat. amazing Cyan Kicks we were a little more “nervous”. I mean we didn’t know how our fans would respond because it was something totally different and new from us. At the same time we were excited cause we knew we could reach out new fans with this release. The song is modern and fresh, something very special and unique. The release has been a big success and I think we hit a jackpot on this one. What we’ve heard is that our fans are loving the beautiful story and the catchiness of this song.
The song has stayed on the biggest metal playlist “Kickass Metal” on Spotify for about six weeks now and Finnish radio station “SuomiRock” has given it a spin many many times!
If you are into heavy bangers and ready to bang your head off, our fourth single “I Love To Be Your Enemy” is the right answer to your needs! The song for example includes rapping and shouting! You will love it!
Pix666: The new album ‚Vultures Die Alone‘ will be released in April. In which versions can the fans buy your album, and above all, is it possible to pre-order it somewhere??
Lassi: There’s vinyl records on four different colours but you have to be fast because all of them are limited editions. There is a digipak CD available as well. And YES you can pre-order “Vultures Die Alone” from our official webshop https://www.backstagerockshop.com/collections/arion There’s also some pretty cool exclusive merchandise for you guys!
Pix666: What is special about the new album – are there any major differences to ‘Life Is Not Beautiful’?
Lassi: I think Iivo surprised us once again by delivering these masterpiece melodies and lyrics. Well maybe not surprised as being one of the best songwriters of his generation or if not the best. I mean I knew right away when we recorded the first demos that we are doing something really special here once again. I think he knows my voice a lot better than I do because it was exciting to notice how he had thought every note and word so precisely and how it would sound when I sing them.
We were aiming for a more modern and heavier sound on this one and I think the whole album sounds more mature in every way compared to our previous ones. But we still wanted to keep that Arion trademark where there’s catchy melodies and hooks, the band showing their unbelievable playing skills (I have to point out the guitar/keyboard solos being pure magic) and my vocals being the central point of the compositions. I also think we got to show my versatility as a singer a lot more than what we had in “Life Is Not Beautiful”. I like how Iivo is not compromising with the vocal melodies when writing the songs, keeping them always in the main role. The album was produced by our main man Matias Kupiainen and mixed by Adam “Nolly” Getgood. They did an amazing job which we are still very thankful for!
Pix666: In summer you will be playing at the Dark River Festival – but the pandemic unfortunately still has us in its grip, in Germany we are even in a lockdown again. Nevertheless, is Arion already planning some 2021 concerts for the time around the album release?
Lassi: I’m so sorry to hear that… and I hope I could give you a more specific answer for this question. But it seems that the pandemic situation is not getting better in Finland either… Of course we have had big plans for the album release concerts and for touring, but we still have to wait how the situation works out before releasing anything. I hope that we can play our album release show at least in late summer and it would be great to play at the Dark River Festival and other festivals too. Fingers crossed!
Pix666: What is the current situation regarding the pandemic in Finland and especially the mood among the people?
Lassi: I would say people are really tired of living in this uncertainty. People working in the culture industry are really disappointed in our government because all the other industries which have suffered from this pandemic have had these stimulus packages. Culture industry is still waiting…. I hope they will do something really soon that the whole culture industry won’t fall down!
Pix666: As a musician, you certainly spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to get your mind off things – are there any interesting hobbies that you pursue? 😊
Lassi: I don’t know if I have any interesting hobbies to tell you about but….
I love being in nature and taking hikes in forests. There you can really get your mind off things. It has been a pretty good hobby for the past year because we have so many untouchable forests where to go in Finland. haha.
I have started investing in stocks, ETFs and cryptos for real in the past few years so I would call that as a hobby for me. I really love to read and learn about investing so it’s a good way to get your mind off things. Also it can be really stressful cause you’re not just making more money all the time. haha. Please hit me with the best investment tips and save me!
Also I like to spend time with my dog friend, a little Chihuahua called Ronnie James Dio. Who would have guessed that our favorite hobby together is barking and playing ball. What a stubborn beloved little bastard!
Pix666: Do you have any other news, that you would like to share with the fans?
Lassi: Well I just hope that everyone is doing ok and that we would survive from this pandemic and be together like we used to!! I have been dreaming of that moment when I come on stage and we all put our hands in the air and SCREAM! So let’s stay safe, help each other as much as we can and one day we’ll be together once again.
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck with the Album and stay healthy!!!
Lassi: Thank you so much for the interview and you guys stay healthy too!
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photos © by Ville Juurikkala
