olli herman kosunen reckless love

Interview by: Mary Evans

Date: 29 September 2010

Venue: Academy, Liverpool, UK

Photos by: Mary Evans / Reckless Love / Spinefarm / Kuorosota

Hi Olli... so 2010 is fast approaching its end… what has this year been like for you guys?

Phenomenal! I mean this has been the year that our childhood dreams just came together. First of all, well the record deal was signed in 2009 but in 2010 we had our first album out. That’s been my boyhood dream… and to top that we had our faces on the cover of the top teen magazine in Finland, that was like I had to pinch myself. I’ve been reading that magazine since I was about 10!

We played Download Festival and we did all the biggest festivals in Finland. We’ve done a tour here, well nearly done, in the UK. We’re going to Japan, we’re going to play Loud Park Festival. There’s plenty of stuff we’ve done in Finland and there’s plenty of stuff still left to do in Finland.

At this point I’m half dead already but I’m not complaining! (knocks on his head) I have to knock on wood, it’s been a phenomenal year. This is what I went for, what we went for, and this was the stuff we dreamed of. Reckless Love is going out there, we’re not hitting it big yet but we’re…

You’re getting there!

Yeah, we’re getting there, definitely! At this point we’re getting emails, I get approximately a hundred fan emails a day. Among those emails there are plenty of interview requests and requests for gigs. We got our first commercial radio airplay in the United States already so emails have started pouring in from there. It seems that every corner of the world, they are starting to realise that ‘Hey, these guys are here!’.

Yeah, the internet certainly helps with that these days doesn’t it?

Oh yeah, definitely yes. It’s a great marketing tool if you want to see it like that, but of course it has its downsides.

Oh it has its downsides but imagine without it you might not have been heard in America without the internet…

Well, probably not! If it would have been like during the 80s it would have taken like two years or so, it has happened so fast.

Ok, so you’ve been out here a couple of times already, what was it like playing Download?

That was phenomenal, it was fantastic! It was a feeling that I’ve never felt before. Almost 10 000 people singing our songs, word for word! Some of the audience actually knew the lyrics better than I do! It was incredible!

So that’s quite a feat in itself for a band that’s only just started coming out here!

Yeah, exactly! We had no expectations at all! As we got to Download Festival it was like ‘Woah, what’s happening here!?’ Literally the tent took in 8 000 people and there were people outside the tent! Everybody was singing our songs word for word and we’re just a bunch of guys from Finland. I’ve known Jalle since I was 4, Pepe since I was 10. We are all close friends since childhood so it’s kinda, you really have to pinch yourself occasionally to believe that it is real.

Just today we were walking in the streets of Liverpool, me and Jalle, and I can’t believe that this is the same guy that I spent all my childhood and all my teen years with. We used to walk together from school, you know back home, every day! And I’m still walking with that guy, this time on the streets of Liverpool trying to find a McDonalds to get something to eat! (laughs!)

This current tour sees you hit the road with Jettblack, your labelmates from Spinefarm, how has the tour been so far?

The tour has been excellent! The reception has been incredible. It is amazing and the UK seems to be a place where there’s a huge demand for a party! Every night it has been a wild party and every night the shows have been packed. A couple of shows were sold out. There have been plenty of people to see us at every gig. The feedback that we’re getting is great!

Actually you can hear I’m starting to lose my voice here! It has been a really tough tour in that sense, because it has eaten a lot from us. I actually fell ill during the tour and have been talking about that since Nottingham. I actually called my doctor in Finland and she told me to cancel the rest of the tour, but I’m not gonna do that! I once did two gigs in Finland when I had some 40c fever, so I’m not going to cancel a show for a little pathetic flu. (laughs)

You’ll be back out again in a few weeks for Firefest… does the UK now feel like a home away from home for you?

Well we’ve been discussing about this with the guys… we haven’t had the time to get to know the country that well. We just realised that we’ve been on tour for two weeks now here in the UK, and basically when we finish we’ll have visited fifteen different cities and we’ve seen nothing except the stage, backstage and the insides of our car and the inside of an occasional hotel room.

Is that quite disappointing?

No, not at all!! It makes the four of us, we’re like a tight bunch, and with Simon and Wolfgang in our crew, we’re working as a team!

But in one sense it’d be nice to see where you’re playing!?

Of course, of course, but that’s why we have holidays! (laughs)

True! What do you think the key to your success out here has been?

Oh well, there are so many different factors to that. To be honest I have no clue why it is, but I can only guess, that’s the reason why we started doing old school type of 80s influenced ‘merry metal’ as we call it. I mean, party-going music! Coz rock’n’roll has always been about that, except for the past fifteen years which has been really awful for me. I can’t imagine why rock’n’roll went to that.

mean you didn’t see Elvis or Chuck Berry whining about how miserable they are. You didn’t see them doing that during the 50s and 60s. You didn’t see during the 70s Led Zepplin or anyone else doing the same thing. It was always about a party, and especially during the 80s, that was the era of hair metal and merry metal. That was the first incarnation of it! During the 90s and, what are these called, nulties?... (laughs) it has been awful, I mean why would anyone pay their hard earned money or spend their valuable precious spare time and pay a ticket and come and see somebody who whines about how miserable they are, I just don’t get it!

So you’re bringing the party back?

Exactly! It’s entertainment. It’s art and it’s entertainment. People should get value for their money. I’m not doing this for the money, I’m doing it because we have fun doing it. Rock’n’roll is the second best thing that I can think of, it’s the best thing that I can do with my pants on! (smiles) I can’t fake it, on stage I can’t help but smile, that’s the best thing that I know!

Because you’re enjoying yourself…

Yeah exactly! So why shouldn’t the music be the same? I can’t understand why I should be angry or I should be feeling depressed on stage, it’s ridiculous. (laughs) I just can’t get that idealogy. Where does that come? It’s a different philosophy from mine! (laughs)

That’s quite different to a lot of other Finnish bands who we’re familiar with over here, who are all doom and gloom!

Well that’s just, I mean, of course they always tell that the winters are long, cold and dark…

And that’s why we’re writing these songs to help myself through it…

(laughs) Yeah, that’s all bullshit!

I must admit, some of my favourite bands say that, but yeah!

Yeah, that’s all bullshit! During the never ending night time there is nothing else to do but drink and have fun and on the other hand, the other side of the coin, is that during the summertime the sun never goes down! So it’s the ultimate California, you can get a tan during midnight! I don’t get it (laughs).

Yeah, I’ve been out there quite a few times and even in February, there was a blizzard in Helsinki and we were still out there having a really good time and we didn’t care!

Yeah, that’s what people do in Finland! Every time, especially in Helsinki, there’s plenty of stuff to do during winter. I mean, the weather is horrible to say the least but you can always go out and party if you’re doing it inside. If you go up north, there’s plenty of snow and enough minus celcius, it’s sub zero, so you can have fun outside in the snow. You can go skiing and stuff and have some after-ski after that! (laughs)

So, the people who want to miserable can have an excuse to be miserable!

They don’t have an excuse! That’s just a marketing speech!! (laughs)

It says it all when I say merry metal. It’s that ultimate, fun-loving, party-going music. It’s the type of music you switch on when you have your third beer and you’re getting that rush and tonight is the night we’re going to have some fun! It’s summer type of music, we’ve got summer songs. I’ve written plenty of lyrics while I was on a beach in Helsinki, I just had my laptop with me and I was there, writing lyrics. That’s the type of music, it’s easygoing, but it’s still metal, still hard rock.

Ok, so you used to be in Crash Diet…

Yep!

So obviously you have, but have the rest of the band been in any other bands?

The drummer, Hessu, he’s played in different cover bands in Finland. He’s done his fair share of musicianship. He was a ‘professional’ musician when I met him, so he was earning his living by playing drums in different cover bands and stuff. He’s always had that ambition to go and do something original. I think he’s had a couple of bands before Reckless Love. He’s the newest member of the band.

Pepe and Jalle, as I said, I’ve known Jalle since I was 4 years old, we’re practically brothers. I’ve known Pepe since I was 10 and so has Jalle. This is the first band that we ever started.

So this is your main focus now?

It’s always been my main focus but by the time I joined Crash Diet, you know, Reckless Love wasn’t going anywhere. Since the beginning I made it clear that I’d stay in both of the bands, but eventually it wasn’t enough for Crash Diet and it wasn’t enough for me because I had an ambition of writing a different kind of material… that’s a band with a sad story and sad songs.

So you had to stay true to yourself?

Yeah, well it made me look a little bit monsterous so to speak coz I can’t help but smile on stage, so if I’m singing a sad song while doing that…

It looks a bit weird?

Well actually, to tell the truth, it’s more of a creativity part. You just can’t find a mutual understanding or the chemistry isn’t there. If I’ve got that party-going attitude I want to make party metal with that attitude… and they are really depressed all the time and they want to do some real aggressive and sad stuff!

You’ve cited the likes of Def Leppard, Skid Row, Van Halen and KISS etc as major influences… I’m guessing what you love about them so much is that their entertaining sort of style, party-going attitude, that kind of thing?

Yeah, yeah…

Just being able to entertain a crowd, rather than depress them when they come out to see them?

Definitely! That’s the whole idea. I mean if you give people a choice, if you put this band that has a name that you can’t even understand the name because it’s such a difficult academic word and here’s KISS and they’ve got explosions and beautiful girls on stage, and they’ve got a song called Lick It Up, so which way to go? Party, no party? (laughs) and the same thing with Reckless Love.

Occasionally I love to listen to good, aggressive crunch. I mean I enjoy good, healthy, aggressive metal every now and again but there is so much out there right now I can’t tell the difference between the bands anymore. With us it wouldn’t work because there are so many bands already that are so good in doing that, Reckless Love couldn’t do it any better. We just do our stuff and that’s best for us.

It doesn’t! (laughs) That’s why we’re so popular in the UK!

It must be quite difficult in the beginning with heavy metal being so popular out there…

Yeah, I must admit that but of course Finland is famous for kicking out Hanoi Rocks before they became big stars abroad and then they welcome them with open arms!

I think people tend to forget that don’t they…

Yeah! I’ve never felt that it was difficult, or it is difficult. We’re playing bigger and bigger shows in Finland all the time. There are parts of Finland where we aren’t that popular but Tavastia, which is like the rock’n’roll mecca in Finland, our debut gig / release party was there and it was sold out.

You’re doing something right then!

Yeah, we’re doing something right for the Finnish audience as well and as you said, people are secretly having fun!! (smiles)

Ok, so Pepe writes most of the music and you write most of the lyrics…

Yeah, that’s a rough divide usually. Jalle, if you read the record sleeve, it shows who does what. Jalle and Pepe have both written three songs together, our producer Ilka took part in the songwriting process with Pepe so he has co-written a couple of the songs. I’ve been there writing the music as well to take part in how the melody flows and stuff like that and I’ve been a major part of writing the lyrics of course.

Sometimes Pepe has an idea what the lyrics will be and he might say ‘I’d love if you could use this word’ or ‘This might be a great title for a track’ and if I like it myself I can use it and if there is something inspiring in that I can go with that flow, we connect pretty well like that.

Of course, Hessu wasn’t in the band when we did the songwriting for this album, so I’m eager to hear what he’s got to offer for the next album.

In my world which is predominantly influenced by metal and rock, you guys are a refreshing change to the norm as we’ve been saying… I’ve often said I get tired of photographing bands who can’t be bothered to change their travel clothes, let alone brush their hair… how important do you think image is?

Well, it’s a 50/60 kind of a division!! In the same time that it is important, of course, it’s the same thing, a show is a special occasion for the people who come to see it and for us too. I put on stage clothes because I want to feel special for the stage. Some people consider it as being fake or something like that, but lets be honest you wouldn’t go to a funeral with the same clothes that I’m wearing right now and I just can’t understand why the hell you should go to a party with the same clothes that you wear at the gym or something. In that sense it’s a big part of it.

When you think of our style, people ask us if we have a stylist or something, no we don’t, we just let it all be. I’ve looked like this for ten years now, so, you know, I’ve had the same hair cut and I’ve worn the same kind of clothes. I’ve got only torn tshirts and skin tight jeans and I’ve got plenty of cowboy boots in my cupboard. I’ve got nothing else. This is my casual look and when I go on stage I put on some tights and wear some pink sneakers… (shows his trainers)

Is that so you can do all your high kicks and everything!?

Yeah, well I can actually do it with my boots on too but when you land the kicks it’s going to hurt your heels. (laughs)

The biggest difference must be the fan culture. Overall it’s much more polite and shy in Finland. People don’t come up to you and ask for photographs and autographs when you’re walking in the street but the first time we were here we pulled over and I opened the van door and stepped outside and the first two people that came said ‘Hey, you guys are from Reckless Love? Could you please sign this? Can I have a photo?’. It’s much more social here, Finnish people are more shy…

A bit more reserved?

Yeah, reserved, exactly. It’s the same thing during the gigs as well. Here people, who are the hard core fans, sing the songs word for word. In Finland it’s probably the choruses maybe and the verses they listen, just like in Japan.

For me the best show, the hotter it is on stage, the more sweat I get out of myself the more feeling I get, and the crazier the crowd gets the better and that’s when you get the most energy out of it. Of course, the kind of audience that listens to you is a really good one as well because sometimes we’ve played shows in Finland that people are so wasted during the gig you can tell they won’t remember it tomorrow, but it’s a fine line.

You’ve mentioned Japan, but what else is next for Reckless Love?

Italy is happening at the moment. There have been plenty of offers for the tour in Italy. We went to Venice a couple of weeks back and did a show there, and actually the editor of Powerplay magazine was there and he wrote a cover story for the magazine. We’re doing pretty well in Italy, and of course, hopefully the rest of Europe will follow. We’ve got plans of publishing the album all over Europe during this Winter, so possibly next Spring we’re going to tour somewhere else in Europe as well, plus Japan, and of course in the meantime while we’re doing that we’re writing new material.

We’re going to start recording next Spring and the record should be out by next Fall, this sort of time. The record should be out within a year, let’s put it that way. We have to learn how to say no because right now there is so much to do that we just can’t do it! If you want us to release an album within a year you’re going to have to wait for a while to catch us live. (laughs)

Saying that, do you find that you can write while you’re on the road or do you need to have the tranquillity of being in one place at a time?

It doesn’t matter to me at all, I mean I need some tranquility but I can do that on the road as well. If you have a hotel room or a bunk in a nightliner that’s fine. Usually when I do lyrics I put my headphones on and listen to the demo and I listen to the melody and go with the flow and try with different lyrics. The music that Pepe does, he’s got a constant jukebox in his head. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and starts playing the guitar because there’s a song playing in his head. He wakes up and starts playing it and listens if it is somebody else’s song or not, usually it isn’t (laughs) so ‘Hey, this is my song! Great! I thought it sounded a bit familiar, but it’s not, it’s actually mine!’.

You’ve just talked yourself into more work there, haven’t you!

Again it’s a 50/60 kind of division! This profession isn’t the kind of job that you do 9-5, you live it and you do it all the time. At the same time it is a bit frustrating and you have to learn how to say no, but at the same time it gives you the freedom of doing what you like whenever you like.

So we’re getting close to the end now… what’s the best thing about being on tour?

The best thing? Well, to be able to do what you love the most every night, I mean, for that one hour or one and a half hours on stage that is when I feel most alive. That is the thing that I want to do and that’s the thing I feel I am good at. That must be it, of course, there are downsides of touring, but everything has it. There are plenty of other good things as well, with a tight bunch such as ours with Pepe, Jalle and Hessu and us being such good friends we’d do the same thing in Finland and hang out and have a good time. This way we can work at the same time and have a good time together.

Can you describe the others in a few words?

Oh yeah, definitely… but I doubt that we have the time! (laughs)

Just a couple of words!

Alright well..

Jalle: He’s like the definition of ‘merry metal’. The only times I have seen him angry is when he doesn’t get anything to eat. When his sugars are low he gets angry but otherwise he is the most easy-going guy I’ve ever met. He is a constant joke generator. He hardly speaks anything that can be taken seriously. At the same time, some people consider that really annoying but I find it really, really… he’s Jalle I can’t describe him. He’s such a funny dude to be around.

Pepe: He's probably the most… he’s the warmest guy I’ve known. He’s a real family kinda guy. He’s a loving man and has a big heart. Of course, he is super talented, the man has such an ear for music that I have never heard of anyone else. He’s a genius with melody, he comes up with new fresh melodies that take influences from all the greats and manages to still sound so fresh. He is such a talented guy.

Hessu: It is hard to find words for him too. He’s such a personality, he’s quite similar to myself. He’s got this attitude towards making music that is so great. That’s the most important thing in his life. He sacrifices basically everything for the music and for the band and that’s his style of doing it. He gives everything to this job and everything he does all the time is for the band. Rarely, rarely, rarely he will take some time off to do something else, but that’s something you rarely see happening and, of course, he is a really nice guy to be around with. Because he is the newest member you constantly learn some new stuff through him. He’s from the western side of Finland and we’re from the eastern side, so there’s a slight cultural difference and we laugh ‘at’ him and ‘with’ him. (laughs)

Does he know the difference though!?

Yeah, he does, and he makes fun of it and at the same time and of course, it’s the opposite, it works the other way around as well. He’s a great drummer as well, a really talented guy, a rock solid rock drummer!

Could you describe yourself in a few words?

Oh what!? That’s a tough one… well I must be a real attention junkie coz I do it. I think I must be… (laughs) the asshole of the band! No, no, I think I am the guy that the guys can’t just put their finger on what I am… they know exactly what I am but lately they’ve been telling me that ‘You keep surprising us all the time!’.

Let me put it this way, when I was a child I was really, really thoughtful. I was just with myself, I played with myself, (laughs) played by myself, of course with myself too! (laughs more) I was by myself and I just had like a few friends like Jalle, but then when I grew up after teen years I became real social and stopped thinking about things too much and nowadays I’m probably the most impulsive of the guys. I give the guys a hard time sometimes, and they’re like ‘What’s he up to now!!!?’ (laughs)

Ok, so if a band approached you saying they wanted to cover one of your songs, which song would you hope it was, and which band?

That’s a good question! I’ve got no good answer for that one actually… (thinks) what I would love to see would be Coldplay covering Beautiful Bomb!! (laughs)

That’d be interesting for sure!

Yeah, that’s the type of music, I don’t want to put down any type of music typically, but I mean it’s the other end of the spectrum because there is modern days of rock’n’roll and on the other hand you have the death metal bands and grindcore, black metal stuff which I can’t make a difference between the bands. On the other hand there are the bands that look like, and sound like, U2… and Coldplay is one of those. It’s the biggest one of course. They’ve got really good songs, don’t get me wrong, I like Coldplay quite a lot, but it’s the type of music I can’t see myself doing and I bet the guys of Coldplay couldn’t see themselves playing Beautiful Bomb! (Laughs)

On the other hand it could be very interesting to see Lady Ga Ga covering our songs and that might actually work even! (laughs)

If you could pick any band to tour with, who would it be and why? Even in your wildest dreams?

Well if I give you the answer that the ambition side of me tells you it could be U2 then coz they are the biggest and greatest at the moment and in that sense we could reach out to so many people out there but if I had to pick one of my favourite bands of all time I’d say Van Halen, KISS or Def Leppard.

Cool! Seeing as you are Finnish I’ll ask you this, who is your favourite moomin and why?

Favourite moomin? Umm, I certainly do have a favourite but I’m not sure what she is called in English…

Ok, which one?

In Finnish she is called Pikku-Myy…

Little My…

Little My , yes, and Lilla My in Swedish, as it was originally written, but she is my favourite.

And why’s that?

I’ve always liked girls that have attitude! (laughs)

How did I know that was coming!? So, have you experienced any extreme fan behaviour as of yet?

(laughs) Oh, well!!! Um, well probably one of the wildest or most rude things ever, and actually I was really scared... it’s a cool story, and it’s a really Gene Simmons type of story.

I woke up in Finland in a hotel room, well here’s a newsflash! I wear nothing when I sleep so I usually sleep totally … I don’t wear any clothes at all, I’ve been doing that since I was a kid, I just can’t do it. So I woke up naked in my bed and there was this naked girl right beside me. Well, that’s a typical situation for me, but it wasn’t that typical because I went to sleep alone (laughs) and all of a sudden she was there and I didn’t know who the f*** she was so I got kinda scared, coz I mean what the f*** is she doing here? How did she get in? I just threw her out (laughs). She didn’t have any clothes with her either, she didn’t have anything with her, she didn’t bring any, I didn’t know where the hell she came from. The most interesting thing is that when I closed the door and went back to sleep she came in again. She had her own key card. She had bribed the receptionist to give her a key card and she left all her clothes in the corridor. She just used her own key card to get in and she stepped inside and slipped between the sheets and tried to rape me!! (laughs) I wasn’t up for that, I threw her out.

On a more serious note, that’s kinda scary isn’t it!

Exactly! Well I could tell it in another way and in a sense that could be a fantasy of someone somewhere but in real life when that happens it was really freaky! It was a scary feeling to wake up knowing that there’s a stranger in your room.

Indeed. So do you have a message for your UK fans?

Yeah, don’t bribe the receptionists! (laughs)

Have you got anything else to say or is that it?

(laughs more) Keep listening to good music and let yourself be the one who decides what is good music… and remember if there’s a time for party hook up with Reckless Love. Hopefully we’ll tour here again soon!

Thank you very much and good luck with the show tonight!

Thank you!

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