The Lauri

The Rasmus's front-man Lauri Ylönen is musician, father, and boating enthusiast

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By Mari Koppinen
     
     
On the band:
     
      “Rasmus started out with a gig at the Oranssi Club [in Helsinki’s Herttoniemi suburb]. The first gig, we only had our mates and parents present, the second one we had maybe 50 listeners, and the third 100 or so.
      That’s how things got moving. Actually the very very first gig we played together was at a school Christmas party in Suutarila Comprehensive, in the sweaty-socks atmosphere of the school gym.
      At that time we were fans of [American rock band] Primus. And because Primus ended with an “s” and I had a thing about words ending in “s”, the band’s name became Rasmus, because it sounded neat. Now I have a son and his name is Julius, so there’s another “s-ending” for you.
      It’s amazing that after all the touring we've done the members of the band still call one another first if we’re hanging out at home and bored. Then we get the barbecue going or head out fishing or something.
      Our guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi has been living in Singapore for nearly a year, but it hasn’t slowed things down. We still all turn up for gigs at exactly the same time, even if we are playing in Italy. We’ve planned this year that we’ll spend Christmas in Singapore. It will be the band’s first Christmas together.”
     
     
On the everyday grind:
     
      "For the last three years I have been writitng material for our new Black Roses album. We've recovered a sense for doing battle again, something we'd lost for a while. it may have been that we felt we'd achieved everything.
      I've also composed the music for a Finnish movie that will be appearing in cinemas at the end of the year. It's been very therapeutic to do something quite different.
      Then I'm are kept busy by our own studio and our record lable Dynasty Recordings. Right now I'm executive producer on a number of projects.
      In October we are taking off with Mariko and Von Hertzen Brothers on a Finnish tour. And we have a world tour getting under way in January, starting in Russia."
     
     
On things that get me going:
     
      "I started drawing again after a gap of ten years. I used to do graffiti when I was a teenager, and then I'd have a pen in my hand every day. Now I designed the cover for the new album.
      I got into architecture in a big way when I was having the house built and I was surrounded by talented people. I guess I was a bit of a control-freak on the project, as I changed just about everything. The building project got way out of hand; it took two and a half years. Now the house is perfect.
      I'm into the functionalist style, and that shows up in the house. That's not to say it is cold, but it has clean lines and it's cosy at the same time. That's the way things should go in the music, too.
      When we are on tour I make a point of keeping my eyes open for interesting architecture - for instance it is great to walk around in Milan looking at the buildings. you get a great sense of history there. It's a shame I didn't do anything much in history lessons at school except make and throw paper-darts. now I subscribe to a history periodical.
      I'm also getting into gardening. I've got this apple tree that produced just the one apple this fall. But it was huge. I thought for a long time whether to make jam out of it or put it in a pie, but in the end I decided to eat it straight off the tree before it fell or the rabbits got it.
      I try to arrange myself time to do some cooking. It's good, relaxed time at home. My special is a mean burbot soup."
     
     
On passions:
     
      "I just bought myself a small motorboat and a couple of books on the subject that I'm working through. I've taken the boat out by myself and with friends in the waters off Helsinki. It's a completely new world that opens up out there. We had an amazing Sunday a week or so back, when we went over to Suomenlinna [Helsinki's fortress island] in the boat for a fish-soup dinner.
      When I was a kid I used to go out fishing in a little Terhi boat with my grandfather. We'd go out from Herttoniemi for the whole night, after pike-perch. Now I'm living in the same sort of waters and doing the same things.
      I'd like to find someone who could teach me how to sail properly. It would be ecologically a lot more sound than the motorboat. I could even see myself getting on board a campaign to improve the state of the Baltic. So that one of these days I could be the grandfather and I'd still be able to drop a lure into the water without having to worry about mud sludge and algae."
     
     
On family:

"Julius is four months old now. At this early time I'm glad I've been lucky enough to be at home getting to know my son. These days I play all morning with Julius and I really don't want to tear myself away from home.
      In future, Dad will have to go on tour, and we'll have to work something out. Some years we have been on the road as much as 250 days in the year. But it might not be such a clever idea to try to take Julius along on a world tour with us. Touring is a heavy business and there isn't much time for anything or anyone else: you sleep nights in the tour bus, there are interviews in the morning, then the soundcheck at the venue, more interviews to be done, then the gig itself, and the after-gig party.
      All of the band-members have children, so I have not been short on good advice. We've also had some tips from other bands; for instance from the boys in Kent and Apocalyptica. Being a father is a big deal - it's not something you can screw up."
     
     
On getting older:
     
      "I'm not worried about getting older. I just want to give my kid a lovely, safe childhood.
      In The Rasmus's music, I guess getting older shows up in the lyrics above all. We've made seven albums, with a couple of years between each one. They are kind of like chapters in our common diary. I laughed and cried when I listened them through. I went and bought the lot off iTunes for the new album.
      I think we can still go on for a long while yet. The first fourteen years have gone by in a flash. If we can avoid getting bogged down and stagnating, you never know, we could be bringing out the 17th Rasmus album when I turn fifty."
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.9.2008

More on this subject:
 WHO? The Rasmus front-man Lauri Ylönen

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Rock piece by The Rasmus overtakes Sibelius in foreign music royalties (25.4.2006)
  The Rasmus are still small fish in the U.S. pond (23.11.2004)

Links:
  The Rasmus official site
  The Rasmus (Wikipedia)

MARI KOPPINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
mari.koppinen@hs.fi