What’s with the name?
Well, when we were growing up in the 70′s, it seemed popular to name bands by the last names of the members, and then refer to the bands with the initials only. Think “ELP” or “CSNY”. Plus, if you flip “BTW” around, it almost looks like “MIB”. And that’s gotta be cool, huh?
You are a bunch of old guys, aren’t you?
Yeah. We’re mature. But then, so what?
How would you describe your musical style?
We don’t. It is what it is. But many seem to have referred to it as “AOR”, and we have nothing against that. We are certainly adults and so oriented.
What is BTW all about?
Simply put, it’s about writing and recording music that genuinely speaks to us, and hopefully thereby to others also. It’s about expressing, communicating, and invoking emotions.
It’s also – at times – polishing the sonic wrapping and honing the arrangements somewhat beyond the point of diminishing returns, as we happen to love that stuff. But none of that matters any, unless the songs themselves are worth the while. To us, they honestly are. Songs and emotions, that’s ultimately all there is to it.
There are only three of you, and one just sings – who plays with you?
In fact, we all (even the singer, or so he thinks) play multiple instruments, some better than others. But we’ve had the amazing privilege of having some of the absolute crème de la crème of Finnish session musicians collaborate with us. Most of them are (still…) our friends, and we’ve been compassionately referred to as “poor mans Steely Dan”. Granted, we are certainly uglier than Becker and Fagen could ever hope to be. We may be a bit possessed when it comes to studio work, yes.
Speaking of which, none of our stuff would be what it is without the brilliance (and the nerves of a cow) of Rami Kaalamo behind the mixing desk. He’s not old, by the way. We just thought BTWK would not sound as cool as a name. Rami is actually an accomplished rock star in his own right – check out livanimal.com.
Who are your musical influences?
There are way too many to list. However, bands such as The Eagles, Toto, and Rush, to name but a few, formed a significant part of the musical landscape when we were in ripe age and first started learning to play. We still dig them, and some reminiscence of this may perhaps be apparent in what we do. (Is that enough of an ego trip…?!)
How come you only do this now – you’re way past your prime?
No, we are at the peak of our prime. But in short, we tried doing this together first when we were young and restless, more than 25 years ago. We lacked the patience and experience needed then. The music was there, but we could not pin it down. Life has taught us, and now we can.
Your music is outdated!
If you don’t like it, then it’s not for you. But should you find that it actually sounds good and makes you feel good, then it is good – whether it is dated or something else. It is perhaps retro to begin with, but so are we.
More seriously, much of todays music is done quickly, for quick and easy consumption, with a narrowly defined target audience in mind. And with computers, samples, etc. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not our style. We decidedly want to make and record music the “old way”. Real musicians in a real, great studio space, mixed with actual analogue gear, and so forth. Such gear, for instance, may be “outdated”, but has proven itself time and again to be of lasting value.
Why is your stuff written in English – it’s not your native tongue, is it?
No, Finnish and Swedish are. But to each of us, English has always been the prevailing language of the sort of music we’ve mostly listened to, and it feels natural to write stuff in English. Also, music knows no boundaries, and a quick search in Google reveals what the lingua franca of the present day is. We’re not that old.
Are you merely a studio act?
Not by decision or of principle, but in reality, mostly yeah, we guess. We are happy to throw the occasional gig, and love it, but we will likely never be a touring act for living. Our main focus is putting out music, in recorded form, that is as good as we can make it. And hoping it to reach the listener and invoke and reflect emotions. This is how we communicate best. We’ve only begun!
Let’s get personal, shall we?
Okay, why not.
Did you sport long hairs before – wasn’t that hip back in the day?
You mean, when all of us still had hair. Well, it dawned on us that men have only a limited supply of hormones. Some spend theirs to grow hair… In fact, when we reminded Rami of this, he cut his.
Who’s the badass drummer on the “What Made Us” album?
That would be mostly Jyri Sariola (some Zarkus Poussa in there as well – see if you can spot where…). Btw, Jyri is a badass mastering engineer, too! And a photographer. Can throw a frisbee as well. Why is it that some people have all the talent?
As for the songs on the “What Made Us” album, a few more questions spawned into mind:
- Are you by any chance talking about your mothers?
Best leave our mothers out of this!
- Are you into gambling?
Naah, just fans of Kenny Rogers.
- How many does “One more, then some” actually mean?
Can’t remember. Usually two is too many, three is too few.
- Are you fans of Natalie Portman?
Most definitely! She was great in “Leon” already.
- Are you into jigsaw puzzles by a chance?
No. Takes too much patience.
- What games might you refer to as being “late in”?
Mind games. But if appointments count as “games”, we’re late.
- Were you quick to learn at school?
None of your business!
- What’s your favorite bedside story?
The one where a wolf eats the grandmother, but then comes a hunter and rescues her.
- Do you ever dream of becoming a movie star?
Have you perhaps seen our pictures?
- “Years” can’t be lonely – are you stupid?
Momma says stupid is as stupid does!
- Did you think it clever to place a song titled “Almost to the End” almost to the end of the album?
Why, yeah, we did!
- Two minus one is not “nil”, it is one!
We must have miscounted.