Diaries

Diary: Tokio 22.5.-1.6.2007

The Crash Does America

20-26 March 2007

-A report by our Vice Low-Frequency Co-ordinator (i.e. replacement bass player), Luis ”The Hero” Herrero

Earlier this year I was asked to join the Crash for a short trip to USA that Samuli The Bassman couldn’t make. There were one or two important gigs over there and the gods had deemed this a good time to make Samuli a father. So I became a Paternity Leave Substitute – a position perhaps not so typical in the rock’n’roll scene – but one I accepted enthusiastically.

Because the Crash had a mini-tour of Finland already booked for February-March, Samuli selflessly offered those gigs to me in order for me to learn the songs completely and to fit in both musically and socially with the band. Naturally, I was very excited for many reasons. I have always loved the Crash – their musical invention and the unique writing and performance they come up with - and I have followed their career with great interest. The success of the band in Finland speaks for itself. I’m sure any bassist would give an instant ”yes” when asked to go abroad with one of the hottest (yet coolest) bands to ever come from Finland. And I know I caused a lot of envy amongst my bass playing colleagues. So I cleaned up my calendar of other work and started listening and practicing intently to ”Big Ass Love”.

During those gigs in Finland I got to know Teemu, Erkki and JJ really well. They welcomed me in and Samuli turned up a couple of times to offer words of advice and to steal my beer from the backstage. I also got to meet the rest of the crew, including the Crash’s tireless manager, Paul, and their brilliant sound engineer, Jukka. You wouldn’t believe all the hassle that’s needed to go through to get to The States, especially when it’s a work trip! After a s***-load of bureaucracy, e-mails around the world, official visa-photography, embassy interviews, finger printing and all, we were finally ready to leave. Playing in bands isn’t new to me, but being able to see the amount of crucial work that the guys have to go through behind the scenes was a real eye-opener. I’m just glad I didn’t need to handle it all. I just had to remember the notes on the bass guitar in the right order.

Our flights to the US went pretty well. But I guess it’s become part and parcel of modern day traveling that the ’fluency’ of customs clearance, security checks and plane connections can feel a little sticky and irritating at times. We connected through Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, which seemed to take an eternity as our bodies, bags and answers to repeated questions were thoroughly scrutinised several times before we got through to the other side. It all feels like some strange ritual that needs to be taken totally seriously despite the fact that it is at times like these that you feel the need to burst out laughing the most. We saw one guy being taken to one side because they thought he looked like he was enjoying himself too much, or something. So we just kept our heads down and followed the procedure.We decided that we didn’t fancy a few nights at Guantanamo. It would ruin the touring experience. It was around this time that I remember feeling thankful that I was with a few guys who could see the funny side of everything. It really helps when you spend hours and hours waiting and wondering what is coming next. Teemu kept me cheerful with some brilliant one line jokes – something to so with slapping baby pandas (?!) and for some reason Erkki can make me laugh just by looking at him.

But there is no doubt that the flight from Paris to Atlanta was worth the preceding hassle. The seats were beautifully comfortable, the food was great and we had these really entertaining multimedia screens built into the seat in front of us, loaded with games, movies, TV-series, music, news and all. I’ve heard that the Brits go nuts about quizzes, and I got proof of this when Paul played the game constantly for the whole trip! 9 hours! He was like a man possessed. And I’m still sorry about spoiling Teemu’s attempts to get some sleep by rattling his seat with firm hits of the screen with my index finger as I tried to negotiate some silly game that needed a bit of a rougher touch. Sorry Teemu.

When we finally got to Austin, after a boring delay in Atlanta, needless to say we were dead tired. But that was a good thing, because it was already evening local time and we got our chance to adapt our body rhythms a little easier. We were in Austin for the world famous South By Southwest Music Festival (SXSW). There were over a thousand bands playing in bars, clubs, cafes and anywhere else that could be found, all over the city. The days there were filled with promotional-work for Teemu but as for the rest of us, we spent much of our time by the hotel pool, drinking sangria and enjoying the occasional shot of tequila (although we agreed emphatically with the sign nailed to the wall by the hotel management that they ”do NOT endorse consumption of alcoholic beverages beside the pool”). It was an extraordinarily warm spring there, I even managed to get my face burnt in the sun. I definitely would like to see Austin a bit more, it seems like a real nice, laid-back, free-thinking university city right in the middle of Texas! Being in Texas, I just HAD to persuade the rest of the guys to see some good ol’ Texas rodeo! In Austin the rodeo isn’t an all-year-round activity, probably because of the city’s location in the more ”hispanic” part of the state, but we happened to be there at exactly the right time as the rodeo was in town that week! It was great fun, reminded me of the circus. With alcohol. And cowboy hats.

The next morning we had our first experience of the good old American breakfast. Lots of, er, substantially-built local folk were waddling back and forth to the buffet table to bring back platefuls of the stodgiest, greasiest, densest (and tasteless) piles of food imaginable. It seemed common to help yourself to a stack of huge and heavy waffles, cover them with a mound of sugar, layer them with gooey jam and, as if that wasn’t enough to slam shut your arteries, to round the whole dish off by slapping two fat juicy hamburger steaks down on top. Yummy! After a couple of bites we had to leave our plates, still fully laden, and slink awa,y hoping no one would notice our wastefulness. Nobody did. They were too busy eating.

But anyway, the reason why we had made this long trip was that The Crash was performing at the SXSW festival. The band had just recently signed a deal with the legendary American record label, Rykodisk, who were staging a showcase of all of their new signings for the benefit of their parent company, Warner Music, and for as many of the industry and audience as they could attract. It all seemed to go very well. Of course, everything seemed to have been well planned and organised in advance by the label so it all felt pretty easy to me. But I was aware that this was an important trip for the guys as they were planning their future with the Ryko people and talking of how to launch the band stateside. Paul kept giving me meaningful looks which I laughed off but knew meant that he was expecting me to maintain the high standards he was used to with these Crash guys. I was getting a little nervous. The Crash had played at this festival a couple of years before and had gone down a storm, selling out their gig and starting a bit of a bidding war between some of the biggest recording and publishing companies in the US. This was the real deal so I knew I needed to focus on my job and not let anyone down. But I’m good under pressure. I think. We had a quick soundcheck. Luckily Jukka was with us to do the sound and he is such a pro and knows this band so well that he nailed it in less than the pathetic few minutes of alloted time we had, then we headed out into the bustling street to check out the rest of the festival, take in the buzz and kill the couple of hours we had before stage time.

The place was amazing. Hundreds of colourful bars and cafes of all shapes and sizes, teeming with people, and all kinds of music pouring out into the street as we walked by. It was certainly a place I would want to visit again, even if I wasn’t playing there. It was such a special atmosphere.

Pretty soon it was time to head back to ”Friends Bar” on 6th Street for our own performance. The nerves were taking hold and Paul’s looks were now pouring into my soul, but it was a good, exciting feeling. The rest of the guys were really helpful and, well, brilliant. The way that Teemu is able to talk business with the manager and the label people then walk on stage and become this genuine and pure musical genius is beyond belief. Erkki is just always calm and casually focused and has this running joke with Paul that if he doesn’t get a specific kind of candy then he won’t play the gig, and JJ just seems to smile more when he gets nervous – which is not a bad thing it seems. Being part of that Crash experience on stage is a bit surreal but I really enjoyed myself and really got into the gig. I also knew that these guys had chosen me to play with them and that gave me a lot of confidence. The gig went great, plenty of people were there – including a couple of members of Razorlight apparently – and a whole load of Japanese publishers and labels who wanted to check out this band they had been hearing about. Again, it is probably down to the endless work that goes on behind the scenes as to why so many people from so many places seemed to already know this little group from Turku. Ryko were obviously thrilled to have signed the band and they all seemed like a great bunch of people, especially a guy called Billy who was the one who organised things, was in charge of signing the band and was obviously the cheerleader for us the whole night. A really great guy who made us wait for an hour after the gig so he could take us to this really cool restaurant to celebrate – then we ended up driving around all night unable to find the place before finally giving up and going back to our hotels. Pure class. Anyway, I came off stage hot, dizzy but happy with the performance. I hadn’t messed up and had loved the warm reaction we had received from this room full of strangers. Cool. Teemu was buzzing and happy and as brilliant as always. He went off to meet some more important people. I headed off to the bar with JJ. We had some free beer tickets!

After another day by the pool, we left Austin behind and headed for the Big Apple, New York. We had heard that the weather in New York had been rather unusual while we were in Austin. The odd early summer heatwave they had been experiencing had suddenly subsided into full blown winter – complete with snowstorms. This totally screwed up the timetable of every NYC-bound flight across the US. After a long delay we finally boarded the plane, only to be told that we had missed our take-off window and needed to wait for another hour and a half before we could try again. So everyone got off the plane and mooched around the airport gate in a miserable way. Teemu had been enthusiastically telling me about these great bars in the block where we were going to be staying the night in New York and I was looking forward to him taking us there but when we finally arrived at JFK it was so late and the bars had closed (it was a sunday night too). But we went to a 24 hour diner and had a slap up supper instead and tried to brush off the bad feeling that long travel days and eternal delays can bring. The rest of the guys had been to New York before, but I was a first-timer so I wish I’d had more time there but, as it was, we were leaving the next afternoon. Before we left for Helsinki, the guys went to see the Ryko people at their downtown NY headquarters, I went off into Manhattan with Jukka to post some cards, and ended up buying a great pair of shoes and eating a decent New York-style hot dog. And that was about all there was time for. All that was left to do was find a good old New York Cab that took us back to the airport. As we passed through the Manhattan streets, over the glorious bridge and looked back at the skyscrapers and dust being kicked up in the busy place, I thought I could hear the sounds of Woody Allen’s clarinet twisting through the skyline. I could see people out of Spike Lee movies going about their day. Our taxi driver seemed to be straight out of a sitcom. Even though I had never visited this place before, it all seemed so familiar to me already. Every street, every building, every neighbourhood was famous and bursting with personality. It was a brief but wonderful experience.

At last we reached the airport that is named after a dead president, unloaded our gear from the cab, emptied the dollars from our pockets into the driver’s hands, and headed inside the terminal to see how long our flight home was going to be delayed.

-Luis Herrero

Thanks Luis. And we’d just like to say what a brilliant job you did for us. You are too modest, sir. We don’t call you ”The Hero” Herrero for nothing, you know? – The Crash

Tokio 22.5.-1.6.2007

22.5. Tiistai-päivä, lähtö Turusta toiseen pikkupitäjään, Tokioon. Edessä erittäin mielenkiintoinen kaupunki. Jokainen meistä on odottanut hyvin paljon tätä matkaa, luvassa mm. keikka Liquid room –klubilla, Treasure –levy-yhtiön porukkaan tutustumista, turismia ja ennen kaikkea Ponyriden julkaisu Japanissa!!!

23.5. Saavumme perille kepeän 9,5 tunnin lennon jälkeen keskiviikkona aamulla paikallista aikaa.

Asumme keskellä Shibuyan kaupunginosaa, joka on mesta, jossa tapahtuu paljon. Ensimmäinen hämmästys on nähdä korkealta hotellin ikkunoista valtavaa risteystä ylittävien ihmisten määrä ja futiskenttä, joka on viereisen talon katon päällä! Pian myös tapaamme Makin ja Hiron levy-yhtiöstä ja saamme maistaa japanilaista vihreää teetä, joka meistä yllättävästi maistui pinaatilta. Jos tykkää niin tykkää... Päivä menee kierrellessä Shibuyaa ja illalla Maki vie meidät illalliselle perinteiseen japanilaistyyliseen ravintolaan, missä saamme ensikosketuksen japsiruokaan ja ennen kaikkea tikuilla syömiseen, joka ei ollut ihan niin helppoa... Aikaerosta ja pitkästä matkasta johtuen olemme erittäin väsyneitä, mutta yksi asia on vielä kuitenkin mielessä: Milan-Liverpool –Mestareiden liigan finaali, pakko nähdä, väsyttipä miten paljon vaan!!! Matsi alkaa paikallista aikaa 3.45, mutta ei auta, nähtävä on. Ja näin teimmekin. Paul Liverpool-paita päällä, Erkki, Jukka ja minä jaksettiin raahautua läheiseen baariin, josta matsin voi katsoa. Siitä ei sen enempää, kaikkihan tietää miten ottelussa kävi, sorry Paul...

24.5. Torstai, ensimmäinen yö takana. Nousevan auringon maassa aurinko on jo aikaa sitten noussut, melkein alkaa kohta laskea... Teemu on koko päivän tekemässä haastiksia radioihin ja lehtiin. Muut fiilistelevät hotellilla ja kaupungilla. Illalla kokoonnutaan ”viralliselle illalliselle”, jonka levy-yhtiön ja kustantajan porukka meille tarjoaa. Taas se tikku-show alkaa, voi kiesus!! No mutta, alkoihan se kuitenkin sujua, harjoittelu tekee siinäkin asiassa mestarin. Ja sanottakoon, ettei kukaan meistä ole koskaan syönyt noin hyvin/hienosti/eksoottisesti! Kyllä perinteinen japsi-ruoka toimii! 15 eri ruokalajin ja muutaman ruokajuoman jälkeen on Turun poika jo niin sekaisin, ettei erota enää sushia juustotikuista. Mitähän kaikkea sitä tuli syötyä? Suurimman osan tunnisti ja maistoi, mutta välillä oli niin eksoottisen näköistä settiä, että ei välttämättä edes halua tietää...however, paras illallinen ikinä!!!

25.5. Keikka-päivä. Aamulla promo-kuvauksiin, jonka jälkeen alkaa keikkavalmistelut. Ennen keikkaa vielä telkkarihaastatteluun, sitten soundcheckiin ja siitä backstagelle nostattamaan fiilistä! Ensimmäinen asia, jonka takahuoneessa näemme, on kukka-asetelma-lahja meille, from EMI music publishing Japan. JÄLLEEN kerran mieletöntä vieraanvaraisuutta ja kohteliaisuutta... Uskomatonta... Keikka oli upea, kerrassaan loistava!! Yleisö oli hienosti ja keskittyneesti mukana ja keikka-mesta oli todella hieno, tekniikka loistava ja puitteet toimi moitteetta... yeah...Keikan jälkeen lähes sama show, kuin torstaina. Yhteisillallinen pidemmän kaavan kautta. Taas eri ruokalajit juomineen vain vilisi silmissä. Oltiin ainakin 3 tuntia pöydän ääressä. Jälleen kerran voi vain todeta: ”Mahtava maa.” 

26.5. Lauantai, keikan jälkeistä fiilistelyä, mieli onnellinen. Hauskaa oli, seuraavaksi levykauppoihin Makin johdolla tsekkaamaan Ponyride! Siellä se on ja erittäin uskomattoman yllättävän megalomaanisen kutkuttavankin hienosti esillä!...Ja taustalla soi ”Big ass love”...

27.- 30.5. Fiilistelyä, hengailua....Tsekattua tuli mm. puistot, temppeli, pilvenpiirtäjät ja eläintarha!!! Suurin odotuksin lähdimme moikkaamaan jättiläispandoja, mutta täytyy myöntää, että jääkarhut veivät voiton! Jääkarhut rokkaa!! Yksi aika siisti juttu oli hotellihuoneessa, kun Teemu (joka EI normaalisti IKINÄ avaa telkkaria) selailee kerrankin kanavia. Niin, eiks ollukin siisti juttu?!! No itse asiassa asian hienoks tekee se, että yhtäkkiä eräällä kanavalla tulee pätkä meidän keikasta!! Kyseessä oli joku japanilainen musiikki-ohjelma. Oltiin todella yllättyneitä, justhan meidän levy vasta täällä julkaistiin! Kaikin puolin kerrottakoon, että Japani on yksi hienoimmista maista maailmassa. Kaikesta on pidetty hienosti huolta, kaupunkikuvasta rakennuksineen, puistoineen ym... Ihmiset ovat ystävällisiä ja kaikesta kiireestä huolimatta hyvin ystävällisiä. Ja ai niin, hotellin ala-aulassa olleelle ”Robocop” –automaatille erityiskiitokset kattavasta ravitsemisesta during the whole trip! Toivottavasti päästään mahdollisimman pian takaisin.... Arigato!!!

-Samuli jj-

Diary: U.S.A. Maaliskuu 2007

U.S.A. Maaliskuu 2007

Texas!!! Ja SXSW –festarit Austinissa! Diili Ryko-discin kanssa on tehty, joten oma jännitysmomenttinsa oli myös tavata levy-yhtiön jengi. Samuli H. ei tällä kertaa isyyskiireiltään päässyt matkalle, joten häntä tuurasi jo kevätrundilla tutuksi tullut maan mainio eeppinen figuuri, kiertuemanagerinammekin varsinkin bilemestarin roolissa loistanut Luis Herrero.

Suomen talven jälkeen, maaliskuussa, on todella hienoa päästä 25 C:n lämpöön! Ai jai jai ku toimii! Hotlan pihalla iltojen kokoontumispaikaksi jo vakiintuneen uima-altaan lisäksi mieltämme virkisti mm. rodeossa vierailu! Maassa maan tavalla, eikö niin??  Päivä texasilaisena –teema onnistui näin ollen (kiitos rodeon) täydellisesti!

Keikka oli hektisestä aikataulusta ja väsymyksestä huolimatta loistava! Tämän ansiosta mm. ovi Japaniin viimeistään aukesi... Keikka-mestassa oli Ryko-discin showcase –ilta, joten bändejä meidän lisäksi oli myös Briteistä, Tanskasta ja Amerikasta, tottakai.

Austinissa hengailtiin siis muutama päivä, jonka jälkeen matkamme suuntasi New Yorkiin. Big Applessa oltiin pari päivää. Jos Texasissa oli täysi kesä päällä, niin Nykissä oli taas talvi!! Lunta kaikkialla! No, tulipahan nähtyä Central park näin talvellakin... Vuoden ajasta riippumatta New York toimii aina... Käytiin vielä levy-yhtiömme toimistolla moikkaamassa erittäin mukavaa henkilökuntaa. Tästä matkasta jäi kaikille TODELLA hyvä fiilis!!!!!! Kiitos Ryko... .. Seuraavaa odotellessa....

-Samuli jj-

Diary: U.S.A. kesäkuu 2006

U.S.A. kesäkuu 2006

Well, tämä oli matka, jota koko bändi odotti kuin kuuta nousevaa. Itselläni kyseessä oli ensimmäinen kerta Amerikan mantereella ja ensimmäiset keikat the Crashin kanssa!

Matkan funktiona oli bändin promoaminen jenkeissä, sisältäen kaksi keikkaa: New Yorkissa ja Los Angelesissa. Aluksi menimme Nykiin, jossa olimme 4 päivää. Pari ekaa päivää meni aikaerosta toipumisessa ja kaupunkiin tutustumisessa. Tsekattiin kaikki tärkeimmät nähtävyydet, Central Parkista Vapauden patsaaseen. Ensimmäisen päivän jälkeen voi jo todeta, että kyseessä on mielestämme ehdottomasti maailman hienoin kaupunki!!! Pilvenpiirtäjissä vaan on fiilistä, ei voi mitään!!! Myös Central Park vakuutti hienolla ympäristöllään puine ja vesineen ja sen laajuudellaan. Puistossa tulikin hengailtua suhteellisen paljon matkan aikana ja mikäs siinä kun lämpöä oli koko ajan tuollaiset 30 C...

Keikka oli kolmantena päivänä Mercury Lounge –nimisessä rokkimestassa. Kyseessä oli siis allekirjoittaneen ensimmäinen keikka bändin kanssa, pientä jännitystä siis oli, luonnollisesti.

Mutta kyyyyllähän me hienosti selvittiin!  Oli loistava fiilis keikan jälkeen!!

Seuraavaksi suuntasimme Los Angelesiin, enkelten kaupunkiin. Asuimme Hollywoodissa, hieno meininki! Nykissä kaikki on korkeaa, Losissa taas matalaa. Aika rentoa meininkiä oli, yksi päivä fiilisteltiin Long beachilla, muuten aika pitkälti Hollywoodissa. Keikkakin tuli vedettyä siinä sivussa... Jee, takas kun pääsis...

Aina matkustaminen ei kuitenkaan ole niin herkkua. Aamulla neljältä hotellilta herättyämme, muutaman tunnin nukuttuamme on kotiin lähdön aika...Lentokentällä oli mukava yllätys: Losista Nykiin menevä kone oli nimittäin 6 tuntia myöhässä, tarkoittaen, että vaihtoon N.Y:sta Köpikseen ei ehditä! Minkäs teet, odottelet sitten jotain 9 tuntii ekaks Losissa, sitten lennät 5 tuntii Nykiin, odottelet taas ja säädät majoitusmestaa täyteen buukatusta suurkaupungista, nukut muutaman tunnin, lähdet seuraavana aamuna kentälle säätämään lentoa Kööpenhaminaan, odotat taas muutaman tunnin, lennät 7 tuntii, odotat Köpiksessä 6 h seuraavaa konetta, lennät Turkuun. Joskus menee näin... Noooh, still alive...

-Samuli jj-