"A Step Forward"

Suiciderock: Flinch was reformed last year, what happened since than?
Ville: We had a great time together, we recorded the new album and we did a good job in the studio. We had lots of fun during this time. Furthermore we shot our music video for our first single of the new album “Taivas Tähtiverhoineen”, we`ve played a couple of shows with the new line-up already. They have been quite good. We signed a recorddeal with Hype Records, we found a company that sells our gigs. As you can see many things have happened since than. We are going forward day by day.
Oskari: That`s true, lots of good things have happened. We really had a great time so far.

Suiciderock: The band consists of five different band members nowadays, how did you guys met?
Ville: I knew Oksari already, we are long time friends. We had this dream that we will play together one day and here we are.
Suiciderock: What happened to the old members?
Oskari: You know, let me put it this way: they lost the spirit to play together and Ville didn`t want to play with them anymore. So we started to play together. I will continue with the question you asked before. Jaakko was the first guitar player in our band, he sort of bumped into everything, it happened like a coincident.
Ville: Tommi who plays the bass for Flinch is a very good friend of mine, I know him since many years. Well and Haiwe… we stole him from Filthy Sixx.
Oskari: He was the only one who didn`t know anybody of the band.

Suiciderock: Describe each of your band members by using one word.
Ville: I start with Haiwe. I would describe him as “mysterious”, Jaakko is “the youngster of the band”, Tommi is “calm” and Oskari is like “a father”.
Oskari: I would describe Ville with the word “sensitive”.
Ville: I want to describe the band with two words, which would be “Big Heart”. That`s how I see us as a band, like a big heart.

Suiciderock: If you compare "old Flinch" and "new Flinch", what's the main difference?
Ville: It’s a big difference if you compare the old and the new Flinch. It`s like night and day. If you see it from the music aspect and the style as well as from the bandmembers it`s completely different. If I have to compare them they are like the sun and the moon, they couldn`t be more different.

Suiciderock: You will release your new album "Irrallaan" on 9th of April. What have the recordings been like?
Ville: The recordings have been funny and from time to time it has also been hard work of course. We have done a good job and we are quite proud of it. We are very satisfied with the result. It was really funny to work with Jonne, our producer and Matti Lötjön, who was our sound engeneer.

Suiciderock: Is there any special studio story you remember?
Oskari: The funniest thing for me was the story when Ville left to Sweden in the middle of the recordings. We had four days left to record, we had many songs left to sing, many vocal parts had to be done but Ville simply decided to go to Sweden. We were supposed to met at the studio and I wondered were Ville was. Somebody told me that he went to Stockholm. That was pretty cool. I will always remember that when it comes to the studio sessions.

Suiciderock: Can you describe all tracks briefly?
Ville: It`s very hard to describe each song. So I describe the album as a whole. The lyrics are quite depressing. On the other hand they give hope at the same time. I wouldn`t say that “Irrallaan” is a sad album but it`s typical for Finnish rock. Some people might think that it is like I would be wining about the things that have happened but for me it is more like letting go, getting rid of the bad feelings and that gives me strength. The sound is more rock and more melodic. It`s a step forward for us. But people should listen to the record and get their own picture from it.

Suiciderock:Who was responsible for the songwriting?
Ville: I was, except for our second single. “1986”. It was written by Jonne and some parts of “Lähtösi Jälkee” as well.

Suiciderock: Where do you take your inspiration from?
Ville: Whenever I feel inspired I take my guitar and start to play. It can be during the night or in the early morning hours or even after a hard drinking night. It depends on my mood.

Suiciderock: All your songs are still in Finnish, what are their main topics?
Ville: They are about my life and the experiences I`ve made. I mean not directly from all my experiences but from the way I felt in some situations. I`m not an old man yet… “Hutaen” for example is like a story that contains many things but to write or to tell a story doens`t have to mean that the story has really happened to me. It could also be the story of someone else.

Suiciderock: Would you say it's more difficult for bands, who sing in Finnish as for English singing bands to become popular?
Ville: I think that too many bands start to sing in English just to get a name and to become famous. I think that this is wrong. Music comes from the heart. At least it should be like that. It`s ok if they want to sing in English but that`s nothing for me. Perhaps the English lyrics are easier to write but when I write lyrics in Finnish it means something to me. There are some Finnish bands that have such a bad English or such a bad way to express their lyrics in the English language that I bet noone in England or America understands what they are trying to say in the songs.

Suiciderock: You've already released a videoclip for your first single, who had the idea for the clip?
Ville: The clip wasn`t our idea. We didn`t have so much to do with the story of the clip.
Oskari: We just went there and played. They basically told us what we had to do.
Suiciderock: So you couldn`t choose what the theme would be?
Ville: No, not really. We had two or three themes. They went to the record company and they decided which one we should take.

Suiciderock: Who was working with you for the “Taivas Tähtiverhoineen” –clip?
Ville: The director for the clip was Olli Suominen and the producer was Timo Lepistö.

Suiciderock: You just released your second single "1986". Do you already have a videoclip for it?
Oskari: We are not sure yet if there will be a video for “1986”.
Ville: The recordcompany hasn`t decided yet. It`s not so easy it depends on many components like for example money. *smiles* No I was just joking. There is a good chance that we will shoot a video clip also for this one but nothing is sure yet.

Suiciderock: You'll perform two shows outside of Finland, one in Berlin and one in Slovakia, how did that happen?
Ville: It`s some kind of Finnish festival. The organisers asked us if we want to play there. Of course we couldn`t refuse and said yes. Many Finnish bands will perform there. I`m not sure who has arranged that gig but it`s great to be part of it!

Suiciderock: What can people expect from your liveshows?
Ville: It will be fun and energetic. We hope that the people who visit our concerts enjoy it as much as we do.

Suiciderock: Your bassplayer currently left to New Zealand and got replaced by Teemu Mäntykorpi, how does he fit into the band and will Tommi return?
Oskari: I`ve played with Teemu for many years in a cover band. Teemu also playes in a band, called the Scanditones. We`ve had the same rehearsal room in Pyynikki. He`s a good friend of us and he perfectly fits into the band if you ask me. He is a funny guy as well as a good bass player. Of course, we all have been quite sad when Tommi left to New Zealand but he will be back. So everything will start again: We will be sad that Teemu leaves and so on. We knew that Tommi would go to New Zealand. He told us when he became a member of Flinch. So it wasn`t a big shock for us. It alreaday was a planed and fix thing. Everybody in the band was ok with that. We didn`t want to stop him from doing that. It always has been a big dream for Tommi. So we let him go. However we told him that he has to promise us that he`ll come back. *smiles*
Ville: We keep the contact. He is sending us emails and so on. So we are still in touch with him. Two days ago I got a message from him and he told me that he is on the airport in short jeans and a shirt and that he was freezing. He is with us also if he is not here. Teemu is a great guy. He loves to play with us. He is so much fun!

Suiciderock: Eastertime is just over. How did you spend it? Any traditions you hold on to?
Ville: You know the traditional Finnish easter food, called “Memmi”.
Oskari: It actually looks like shit.
Ville: But I like it, I ate it with cream. Of course we also had all this little chocolate bunnies and easter eggs. That`s how I spent my easter time.
Oskari: I don`t have any easter traditions. I didn`t eat any Memmi. When we were kids we were searching easter eggs. We have this tradition were the kids go from house to house , they are dressed like witches, you can compare it to Halloween. They ask for candy and stuff.
Ville: I`m still wondering how you can translate “Memmi” into English. But I think there is no word that fits.
Oskari: Anyway, I wouldn`t eat it, never in my life! *laughs*

Suiciderock: Your future plans for the band?
Ville: We are panning to play lots of gigs, to have even more fun with the band. Hopefully our album will be sold very good and the people like it. Just doing our thing `cause it`s so much fun.
Oskari: Yeah lot`s of fun and great moments with the band.

Everything Ville said was kindly translated by Oskari.

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