Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
If you know rock and roll-related spots of the city of Helsinki and visit them often enough, you may notice – in fact you couldn’t miss when walking past – four guys coming over to rock bars, record stores or venues, looking as if they were members of a phenomenal rock band. Spoiler alert: they actually are.
Vänski Väntänen, Lovers’ Left Alive bass master, a genuine icon of punk as well as fashion. You wouldn’t miss him even if you tried to, and you’ll see people on the street actually turning their heads in awe as he’s walking. Jaska Mäkiniemi, the group’s charismatic guitarist with some of the sharpest sense of humor you’ll encounter and a fistful of unbelievable stories. William Freyermuth, the great drummer who seems to have been born playing drums as he delivers a crazy performance to each show. An easygoing guy you won’t hear speaking often, but once he does, it’s always a great thought you’ll want to write down. You’ll see their singer always with a black big apple cap that by now has become nearly his signature one, having his dark hair slightly backcombed and wearing a leather coat. Despite Helsinki’s mostly harsh weather, the guy much likely does not know [or refuses to acknowledge] the concept of an umbrella. He’s tall and quiet, you’ll often see him smoking his cigarette and looking off into the distance. Marked with a black eyeliner, the deep gaze of his dark eyes tells a story of a life he might not want to reveal in conversation as much as through the music, his guitar playing, captivating melodies and riffs he comes up with so effortlessly as if it was the most ordinary thing to do. He speaks slowly and confidently. Since it’s been obvious he was born to be a rockstar, this punker’s vague past like a storm dragged him from one band to another. Joining projects as a guitar player, with a crystal-clear vision of who he was and what he wanted to create, he never really felt like the bands allowed him to do his own thing the way he wanted. Being a classic individual who refuses to be pressured to fit into a pattern, it was pretty inevitable that soon he was meant to start a band of his own – one that would become a gem of its genre. One that would win a fanbase wherever they’d go. That would not pass unnoticed and would soon become recognized by most legendary figures in Finnish, and not only, rock and roll. The guy’s name is Tomi Hyena and he’s the founder of Lovers Left Alive.
A few days before Lovers’ show with The Sideshows I was going to meet the band for an interview – Lovers Left Alive are undisputable legends of Helsinki’s underground rock scene, stylistically deriving partly from the legacy of great Hanoi Rocks, yet distinguishing themselves by authentic freshness they’re bringing into the genre in the hard time for rock, where the scene has significantly shrunk compared to the older times. Known for their dynamic live shows, letting loose to the fullest, bringing the passion and the vision to life – in short, four rockers who go out on a stage and just own it, Lovers Left Alive are, to say the least, among those few bands who keep it real.
On a windy and rainy Sunday – exactly one of those days we love to avoid by staying home – I waited for the band members at Loosister, a rock and roll spot around Helsinki’s Sörnäinen, an area known to some for its unpopular visitors. The crowded, cozy bar full of legendary bands’ pictures and filled with rock classics played in the background was contrasting with the weather outside. Tomi Hyena slumped onto the couch with his beer, wearing sunglasses i wondered what he exactly needed for a cloudy day.
“I was born on a Sunday. There’s a Finnish saying that people born on a Sunday are always happy. Eh.” – he forces a smile.
“Jaska is the happiest member of Lovers Left Alive. He never shows it though.”, I hear Tomi add as we watch the “unrevealingly happy” rocker enter Loosister with a guitar case to join us at the table.
It’s been a bit more than a year since you released “How..” [Lovers’ Left Alive debut album]. Listening to that one I got the impression that it was, in a way, a journey through a whole range of different emotional states. Did the songwriting process reflect it, did it feel the same for you? Cause… It’s a long way from “All about LUV” to “Out of My Reach”.
Tomi: Actually, if you listen to the whole album from the start to finish and wanna see how it ends with “Out of My Reach”, and then you play it all over again, that’s when “All about LUV” and the songs that follow start to make more sense – it’s kind of a self-repeating cycle. Many people keep telling us they’ve been listening to it all over again.
Jaska: So we put the last song first.
Tomi: The first song is the last and the last song is the first. At first “Only Lovers Left Alive” was supposed to be the last song on the album but then we just felt, okay, it was so intense, maybe that one could go here but you might want something soothing afterwards… So we just got “Out of My Reach” instead as the last song.
Jaska: I think it took some convincing cause we don’t wanna soothe people!
So… What inspired it? Or “All about LUV”?
Vänski: All songs are written by Tomi. Except for a couple that are yours. [Jaska’s]
Jaska: “Crackdown” is the only one on the record that I wrote.
It feels a little bit different from the rest so… that explains it.
Jaska: Oh, definitely… But, Tomi, you wanna continue?
What was the inspiration for writing “All about LUV”?
“Well… I got set free.”, the singer smiles somewhat ironically.
That’s what I thought.
Tomi: It’s kind of a bipolar song actually. You’re ready for love again and you kinda want to spread that everywhere as you feel it in that moment. Then in the end, the other half of the song has a more longing, more depressing vibe, so it really goes from highs to lows.
How about “Crackdown”?
Jaska: Well… it is not so much about love life as watching people self-destruct.
When you’re writing songs, do you come to the rehearsal place with a particular idea in your mind or do you just jam and go like, ‘okay! That’s cool, that sounds cool – let’s make a song out of it’?
Tomi: I hear voices. Harmonies, melodies, rhythms. I can compose, write and arrange a lot in my head.
Vänski: Somebody has a base idea. But usually we’re jamming during the whole arrangement in the rehearsal place.
William: Yeah, I think every song has had a basic idea by Tomi or Jaska. Actually there’s one song that kind of came with jamming, that was the first song we ever released, it’s not on the album, “Where I belong”.
Jaska: I have no memory of this process…
Tomi: First we were just wondering where we belong after the covid. And where we should be. Kinda common thought back then, our generation felt kinda lost at that point. I think everybody was wondering “where we belong?” And then the bars opened.
Jaska: And everybody was lost after that.
Tomi: I have found myself many times since then…
“You’ve found yourself in many places, yeah!”, Jaska laughs.
Tomi: It’s the… adventurous side of me.
You’ve been compared to a lot of legendary punk bands, like Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls, Ramones, Dead Boys or Stooges as well… But there’s not a single band you’d fully resemble.
Jaska: No… it would be weird if we did though.
“Well, that’s fair.”, I grin. “But what I’m getting at is, you’re not trying to copy anybody and… that’s why the sound is unmistakable.”
Tomi: I think it’s boring if a band has like one influence. For example, if you go to social media and there’s all these “Hey, if you like Led Zeppelin, if you like this or this band, then we’re the band for you”, and there’s bands like Greta van Fleet, who are like “Yeah, okay. What’s Led Zeppelin?”. Come on, at least be honest about it. And of course we owe a lot to Hanoi Rocks, Dead Boys too, New York Dolls, Queens of the Stone Age… for many bands, but… what about the softer, what about ABBA…? I like simple pop melodies.
So the sound is the outcome of multiple inspirations.
Tomi: I think you just need a great song. It all starts from great songwriting. When we started out with this band actually, we were more like my therapy/vanity project, and i was just pissed of ‘cause, you know, i’d never really written songs that i’d like to perform with the other bands, we were just about to do one album, maybe a couple of gigs and I’ll be satisfied. But… I think it kinda escalated.
I remember you mentioning that you used to play guitar in a bunch of other bands but from what I understood, you were never really fulfilled with them.
Tomi: Well, I did a lot of composing and writing. And I guess I made mostly riffs and melodies and… usually singers like to write their own lyrics. I’m now happy with all these lyrics.
So then you started Lovers Left Alive with Jaska and you guys [William and Vänski] joined.
Tomi: I think I first started with William and Jaska cause they were in the same rehearsal room. And then we had this other rhythm guitar player Eino who, after two years, went to start some solo career. Then Jaska’s fingers started hurting from playing bass all the time, he was originally a bass player, so i was like, “uh, just grab a guitar”. We were playing a gig at Lepakkomies, and Vänski came there… he didn’t see the gig but he was like “yeah, i heard that you might need a new player here”, I said: “wanna come and play bass?”
Vänski: …I started as a fan.
Jaska: And you have devolved into a hater.
“Yeah”, Vänski laughs.
And what were you doing before that?
Vänski: I was in a bunch of bands and… I saw the guys at Bar Loose, I think half of a year before I heard you [Jaska] are switching to guitar. And then I was like, “yeah! That’s my spot!”
Jaska: I saw Vänski’s gig in his earlier band, Boneyard and then I thought that – I was 18 at the time – I thought that he must be really old! And I was looking at him like, “woow…”.
Vänski: You weren’t wrong…
Tomi: I saw him perform when I was 17 and Vänski was playing with Muddy Bones and he was the rhythm guitarist… He was the coolest mofo there so…
Vänski: I had the side of my head shaved.
Tomi: Of course we all were big fans of Vänski when we first met him. There were two drummers trying before William. But I had this habit of firing anyone who skipped even the first or the second rehearsals… if you didn’t show up you were fired. So I kept kinda strict policy.
“Okay… I wouldn’t want you to be my boss.”, I laughed.
“No, no… I mean, me neither”, Jaska smiles. “That’s why that’s not the case.”
Tomi: I had enough of playing with drunks and junkies who don’t do their part so i had to keep this strict policy back then. I needed dedicated people for this. I don’t like being a boss – I really believe more in leadership. Also there’s a lot of responsibility in that.
Jaska: And to be honest, it’s fucking fair that, if you don’t show up for the second rehearsal even if you did for the first one, it tells something of where your priorities are.
Tomi: You have to first get around that six-months trial period, after six months, after then you can sleep through rehearsal or two.
Jaska: But after six-months the trial period ends and you have to start paying… right?
Tomi: Yeeeeah… When a band starts, I like to think of them as a startup. Startup businesses. For the first ten years you don’t get anything. Well, you get into debt, but…
Jaska: The first time we tried to record the album, it ended up being somewhat unusable material. So Tomi has been covering his losses ever since.
Tomi: It was one expensive demo session, which I paid from my own pocket, so… too much too soon.
And now that you look back on “How..”, are there any songs that you particularly enjoy playing live or… some that you’ve grown tired of?
Vänski: I still love them. “Want you there” is my favorite of the album. I think it’s the best live song of ours at the moment.
Tomi: I still haven’t grown tired of the album or playing those songs in the album… Well, i like them, i love them in the first place, that’s why i recorded them. I wanted to record an album that I myself like playing. I’m really proud of that album. I’m surprised by how great it turned out.
William: Yeah, I’m not tired of any of the songs. Actually I feel like playing the songs we don’t play every time more often. But I’m always the one who wants the set to be 2-hours long!
I would say everybody would appreciate that. You could play for three hours straight and people would stay until the end!
“I wouldn’t.”, Vänski chuckles.
Tomi: I would have not enjoyed the Zeppelin shows, let’s face it, so… I like it when a gigs and albums last max 45 minutes or so. Some people want you tho play over one hour-gigs? Why? But even a half-an-hour show is better than a 45-minute show sometimes. Especially if you’re the opening act.
You’ve been around for more or less six years now, yet people are already mentioning you as their inspiration. How does that feel and, considering that, what would you like them to learn from you, from your experience?
Tomi: I think it’s about doing your own thing and being stubborn about it. Some older musicians told me once that if you do your own thing for long enough, you’ll be rewarded. The reward might be something you didn’t even expect but… you’ll get it eventually. I’m pretty satisfied with how things are right now. I didn’t have so high expectations when we were doing our first rehearsals.
William: Yeah, I guess that’s the advice… stay true to yourself and do what you actually want to do and you don’t necessarily need to do what other people tell you to do. Just enjoy what you’re doing and keep doing it. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t it doesn’t. but you’re still gonna be happy doing what you love.
Tomi: Also, improve the songwriting and improve the songs, even when you have recorded songs, you can always lift it up, kind of. Led Zeppelin used to do that a lot, let their songs evolve further after their release.
So, are you currently preparing some new material?
Tomi: I think we’re putting out some new material on the gigs, right next week. We like to try it out occasionally, “ok, how will this work out?”. I also need deadlines to finish my lyrics so… and the songwriting – when I write lyrics I do ‘em like a crossword puzzle.
Are the new songs going to be very surprising or kind of “How..” vibe? …if I may ask about that!
“Well, it’s honestly a classified information and forbidden completely.”, Jaska smiles. “But… I think it’s what people generally do with a second album. It’s gonna be a bit broader in context. Or… if I should say that. Or did I already speak too much?”
Tomi: I like our songs as kinda simple. They’re supposed to make people move. And no, there’s no second album coming for a long, long time because… I don’t really like albums, actually. They’re very expensive to make so… I prefer EPs or singles. They’re easier to package.
Jaska: But for the new material, I think “How..” was kinda… we did have to ponder and think what we want on the same album so as they’d fit each other. And for the next release, i have no fucking clue what it’s gonna be!
So we’ll see over time how it’s gonna turn out.
Jaska: Yeah.
Tomi: I heard that it’s gonna be acoustic.
Jaska: Who told you that? I want names…
Tomi: Remember when I said that I hear voices?
[I think at this point no one dared to question this so we just nodded in silent approval of the voices’ statement regarding the new album and… moved on to the next question]
By now you have toured a few countries [Finland, Estonia, Sweden, the UK]. You’re also the kind of band I would imagine having some adventures on tours… Some actual crazy stuff happening. – My remark was met with the band’s laughter which only ensured me that I was not wrong about this particular suspicion.
Jaska: I mean, we can talk about it…
Tomi: Me & Jaska ended up in a Bachelor’s party in Edinburgh.
Jaska: They were on the streets singing. At like 5 in the morning or so.
And you kind of just… joined them?
Jaska: Yeah.
Tomi: And then we went to Blackpool with no sleep.
Jaska: Yeah, i mean we didn’t really sleep much and then we got to Blackpool and we looked around like… where the fuck are we actually? Seriously! They had these princess wagons with horses that looked like their hooves were dying… and there’s just tourists riding these things. And i was like, where the fuck are we? There’s only fish&chips shops and casinos. It was weird to stay there.
Tomi: I liked Manchester more.
Which one of you is the most likely to get lost or left behind on a tour?
William: Two weeks ago it was you [Jaska].
Jaska: No… I told everyone where I was going but no one listened to me, once again.
Vänski: Where did you go?
Jaska: I don’t remember the place!
Tomi: Once we lost Vänski and William to Manchester’s Gay Village.
William: Yeah, that’s true.
“We made friends with drag queens… and I had vodka slushies. It was quite good…”, Vänski chuckles.
Tomi: And Jaska got lost in Stockholm.
Jaska: I wasn’t lost…
Tomi: He locked himself outside the motel that we were staying in.
Jaska: I was walking in my sleep, for fuck’s sake…
William: You just forgot which room you were staying in.
“Yeah. I woke up in the middle of a hallway, I was like: where am I? Why am I not… oh, I see. I had to be really humble and go to the reception and tell them: I’m sorry but I seem to have… misplaced myself.”, the guitarist recalls as the band members laugh.
So you eventually got back to your room.
Jaska: Yeah I did, I did get back. But in the end to answer the question I would always say it’s probably me that is more bound to get lost… but not that I would think that I’m lost – it’s just they don’t know where i am!
Tomi: Now that you mentioned it… i think we shouldn’t be using the term getting lost, i think we’re all just having our little side quests or adventures for our own.
Vänski: I think in Edinburgh we lost… everyone was lost. And we met at the hotel at 6am or something like, “there you are!”
Tomi: I think it was the two homeless lads who helped us find each other.
Vänski: And I was with the ex-convict who punched the guy…
Tomi: oh yeah…
Who is… “the ex-convict who punched the guy”…?
“I was at some park and there was this guy, he was like “i can buy you drinks if you come with me”. We went to two night clubs and the doormen would not let him in… “what is happening? Why aren’t you allowed in any place?” And he was like, “yeah… I just got out of jail last week… and they know me and yeah… we have to look for another bar…” he was a nice guy.”, Vänski laughs. “Had some drinks and then started looking for those guys.”
William: ..and I was alone in a night club wondering where the fuck is everybody.
When you’re out on the stage and you’re all together, playing, is there any band you can most relate to? In terms of your live performance. My first thought, when I first got to know you, was: “they may be influenced by Hanoi Rocks…” only afterwards I started noticing many others. What does it look like from your perception?
Tomi: Yeah… Hanoi Rocks also had that same thing that… They had many different kind of influences. Some of them liked AC/DC & Cheap Trick, some of them liked the Clash, everybody loved New York Dolls, then you just blend ‘em all together and see what happens. We’re actually quite rich in that taste of music.
Jaska: I have to say: performance-wise, I don’t actively think about it.
You’re just being yourself and…
Jaska: Yeah… I feel like that’s one of those things as well. I keep on being honest to yourself, then it’s just whatever, it does its own thing. I’m saying “it” does its own thing because it’s more like a thing than a person.
Tomi: As long as you look good while doing it.
Jaska: But does that even actually matter?
Tomi: When the band looks good on stage, the crowd will move.
Jaska: But like for example, posing is not… I don’t get it.
Tomi: I don’t mind bands posing a little…
“I know you don’t!”, Jaska grins.
Tomi: We got many great songs, why not look good while you’re at it?
Jaska: If that was the case, I would only show my back…
William: I could have a dance number in the set.
Jaska: So, we could do that as well, that would be fucked up!
Demolition 23’s “Hammersmith Palais” came on the bar playlist and I watched the band members cheer up to hear it. The 90s punk piece about friends missing the past times of music and staying true to their identity while facing the rapidly changing music world might be more than relatable to Lovers Left Alive.
William: It depends on the song but I don’t think of any particular band or drummer unless there’s a song that’s really similar to another song that I like. Of course, if i practice alone, i might try out stuff or imitate other drummers but… that’s practicing.
Jaska: I think performance-wise, the only criteria is how much you can unleash yourself completely.
Tomi: …and look good while doing it.
I love the way you keep bringing it up.
“I always look good!”, William laughs.
Tomi: That’s William, he’s the most good-looking member of the band.
How important is looking good to you guys?
William: Not important.
Tomi: That’s why he’s the most good-looking member.
Vänski: …it comes naturally.
Jaska: It’s more about comfort than it’s about looking.
Vänski: No… fashion has a function.
Jaska: No… you don’t understand me… comfort. How comfortable you are in your own appearance and in the clothes you’re wearing. Not as to how it looks – cause there may be many fucking solutions to how it looks. But not all of them are comfortable. And not all of them might be particularly comfortable in your particular mindset that you have that day.
Vänski: Ok, ok, I get it.
William: I agree.
Tomi: Three of four agree here… in high heels. Your ankles are gonna thank you later.
Tomi: Once we play I want reactions from the crowd.
Jaska: Or from me.
Tomi: …And to surprise them. Also the interactions between us onstage – we like to surprise each other as well.
I was in fact going to ask about that.
Tomi: But unlike Dead Boys, I’m not snotting into a bologna and then eating it onstage, I don’t find stuff like that necessary.
William: Did they do that?
Tomi: They did a lot of things on stage.
Speaking of the interactions on stage… It looks like you all know each other so well by now that you could technically predict what the other is going to do.
William: That’s the goal. And I guess you can see that we have known each other for 10, 11 years? Vänski maybe now seven years.
Tomi: I think it’s easy to connect with these guys. But at the gigs, I find it kind of hard to connect with the audience because there’s too many phones in there. I’ve noticed that when there’s for example people in the front row, filming all the time, it works like… a barrier between us and the other people in the audience. And also when you’re standing still and taking a photo, well, it’s gonna make people behind you passive.
So you’d rather see people in the audience going all crazy like in 80s punk gigs.
Vänski: Yeah! It takes away something… when people are just standing and taking videos that they’re never gonna watch anyway afterwards.
William: I don’t see anything back there… It’s just your backs.
You’re in your own world behind the drums.
William: Yeah basically. I can only see maybe ten percent of the front row.
Tomi: Actually I don’t really like to share any more of those clips from our gigs that people film because I don’t like to encourage this kind of behavior anymore. I like to keep some sense of mystery on our gigs. That you don’t know everything that happens over there. I don’t like when people can see our whole set from youtube, or from someone’s social media accounts. It’s like giving out a spoilers.
A while ago Sami Yaffa mentioned you guys as a band that he would like to particularly play with sometime in the future. I know that was quite a huge thing considering he’s among your influences but it also seems like everyone can tell by now that there’s some kind of a breakthrough coming up in your career. I don’t know if you can sense that too. And now you’re playing with them [The Sideshows] in a few days.
Jaska: Yeah, I think we’re gonna find out what’s gonna happen.
Tomi: I can tell he [Sami Yaffa] has an excellent taste in music, so I’m up for any kind of collaboration. It’s nice to get some recognition from your heroes.
Vänski: When people whose music tastes you respect suddenly like your music…
Tomi: It kinda strengthens that sense of purpose in what you do, and helps you push forward. Hope we can get more gigs soon… Right now we’re looking for more UK gigs in December. We got only two booked now, London and Brighton. I thought it would be lovely to go to play one or two shows in Ireland, too.
Ireland? That would be interesting.
Vänski: Yeah, never been there before so… looking forward.
Tomi: There’s a lot of bands who we want to share the stage with. Playing live music is – at its best, a great excuse for excessive travelling. And of course we do have an adoration for excess.
Vänski: And with Sami for example, I’m looking forward to meeting him and having a beer.
Apart from your general music taste, the one that’s more or less obvious, is there any kind of guilty pleasure music you’re digging that you wouldn’t normally admit?
William: There shouldn’t be guilty pleasures… just pleasures!
Tomi: I agree with William. We’re kinda shameless in that sense.
Hey, that’s a good thing. That’s also a part of your identity as a band.
Vänski: Yeah.
William: But there’s nothing embarrassing from bands that I like…
Vänski: No, you have those…! wait a second…
“But I’m not ashamed… I’m proud of it!”, the drummer laughs.
Tomi: Not many knows that I like rap music.
Vänski: I haven’t listened to anything but italo disco for like a month now.
Jaska: It’s really hard for me to think of anything because I seem to be quite serious with my music taste somehow.
Vänski: Yeah, you’re a hater.
Jaska: Mostly I just hate things. And people.
Tomi: I told you earlier that Jaska is the happiest member in our band so…
The band’s happiest member who hates everything and everyone.
Tomi: He’s really happy with hating.
That… makes sense.
William: It’s a balance… the more you hate, the happier you get.
So, how do you feel about those shows booked for the future, or new releases plans?
Tomi: One record label tried to offer us a 3-album deal… I’m not telling which label but I told them that we’re not doing a 3-album deal because we much rather prefer to release singles and EP’s, which are easier and less expensive to make, market and sell… Also I like to keep the publishing rights to myself.
Vänski: I’m looking forward to just basically playing more gigs and going abroad.
Jaska: Can we talk about the acoustic stuff?
Tomi: Of course. We are planning of doing an acoustic album to promote some of the future gigs next year that we are not announcing yet. But there will be a lot of acoustic gigs coming up with me and Jaska, and recording some material makes it easier to promote those shows.
Jaska: As it seems at this point but… who knows.
Tomi: Also Jaska just sent me some new riffs that I’m gonna listen to at some point… I’ll be writing new songs and lyrics as well, Jaska has also been active in that sense. I’m still waiting for William and Vänski to go together to the rehearsal room and bring something for me and Jaska to catch up with.
Seems like there’s a lot of new ideas coming up.
Tomi: I see absolutely no reason to start getting bored at this stage… There’s still a lot of things to do, we still have a lot of songs we haven’t recorded yet. And we already have a lot of shows booked for next year. We have a lot of things to wait for. Also, there are some more negotiations coming up, stuff we can’t say anything about now. But we look forward to telling people about it.
“I think we can stop recording for now, unless there’s something you’d still like to mention…”, I said after realizing we’d been talking for around an hour.
“Congratulations to Elfyn Evans for winning the rally championship today!”, William chuckles.
Tomi: And could people please stop punching me.
“I got punched on monday, half of my face is yellow and purple, that’s why i’m wearing the glasses…”, i hear the singer say completely casually as he takes off his sunglasses.
We talked for a while longer and the more we were sitting there, the more questions I felt I wanted to ask them. Lovers Left Alive are four guys who refuse to live a life that’s not their own. They’re the real deal of rock and roll and it’s hard not to sense that Tomi’s “therapy project” has evolved into an unstoppable band at this point. They’ll likely soon be considered legends and their name will appear over the most recognized venues’ doors. They’ve mastered the art of rock and roll and they’ve never faked it. On the stage, they’re a chaos – the electrifying music seems to flow through them rather than be merely a performance. Off the stage – they’re some of the coolest people you could meet. As they’re maintaining the spirit, the passion and the brotherhood, you know anything is possible for these four. There is an inevitable breakthrough coming up in their career soon that’s been talked about more lately… It may be the “reward”.
I left Loosister, out into the rainy and dark Sörnäinen area… and it struck me. I had not asked my first question from the list. I still had not found out the answer to what “How..?” actually means. But maybe that’s good? Maybe it’s in fact still unanswered, keeping the band company as they’re paving their path through the obscure world of rock and roll. Maybe everyone might find a different answer. After all, there are riddles that remain unsolved, and maybe someday someone will loop the album again, and once “Out of my reach” ends and “All about LUV” starts again, maybe that’s when they will understand.
Below you’ll find “How..” (2025) – make sure to give it a listen:
