„there’s two types of music, good and bad, and we’re going for the good!“ - Pastis im Interview

Photo by Ashley Wolf

Ich hab mal wieder eine Band entdeckt, die unglaublich gute Musik macht. Pastis beschreiben sich auf ihrem Instagramprofil als "The rock'n'roll group with style" und werden dieser Beschreibung definitiv gerecht. Am 08. Februar veröffentlichen die stylischen Finnen ihr Debütalbum Circles und dank der drei vorab veröffentlichten Singles bin ich mir sicher, dass die LP pretty good wird. Ich hab  mit Sänger Markus über ihre erste LP, die finnische Musikszene und Tourpläne gesprochen. 

Finnish music scene reminds me of Lordi or dark metal bands. Can you describe the Finnish music community for my readers?

Markus: That is definitely the stereotype. There is obviously that as well as horrendous top 40 music, hipsters trying hard to be cool and some good jazz.

You are based in Helsinki, are there differences between the Helsinki music scene and the rest of Finland?

Markus: We’re not too aware of the music scene elsewhere to be honest. I guess the further you move away from Helsinki the less you’ll find music sung in English. Except the Lordi stuff you mentioned earlier…

Your sound is incredible nice! As I am a fan of various British indie bands, I fell in love with you immediately. Did you orientated your music to any specific styles, bands or sounds? Markus: Not at all no. We’ve never talked about who we should sound like or what genre we are. I think we all believe there’s two types of music, good and bad, and we’re going for the good! Always happy to hear someone appreciates our music, so thank you!

Which musicians/bands inspired you the most?

Markus: So many. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Peter Doherty, Leonard Cohen, Oasis…

You debut LP Circles comes out on February 08th. Can you describe the cooperation with Lauri Eloranta?

Markus: Lauri is one of them guys who does not seem to have one bad bone in his body. Working with him was as easy as anything. We did all the tunes live in his studio in five days and did the vocals and a few overdubs later by ourselves. The whole process was a lot of fun and we all made a new friend!

Is there any background story about the album title Circles?

Markus: Circles are the loops in life that stop us from moving forward. Old ideas about who we think we are or who we think we should be. Fear of the unknown basically. This makes us experience the same day over and over again and hinders us from reaching our full potential. I think we wanted to create a mood that counters that and makes the listener feel as if anything is possible.

Can you give us some insights about your songwriting - especially for your song Curry & TV? How did this song came to life?

Markus: Usually Emil would play us something he’d composed and we’d take it from there. Arrange it, write lyrics, etc. But that song, Curry & TV, was actually pretty much written at rehearsals. I think Emil had the chorus and Henrik and me improvised the rest including the lyrics. It’s a story about a tougher time, perhaps drinking too much but not taking it too seriously because the dream is there. Hope is everything.

Are you planning to tour?

Markus: Absolutely! Touring is one of the reasons why we do what we do, and it is after all the purest way to connect with fans. At the moment we’ve got dates lined up in Finland but we’re striving to head abroad in the summer or fall.

Anything else you may want to say to my readers?

Markus: Enjoy whatever you do, and do it well! You’re a star, bless you.

Thanks for your time and happy releaseday guys!