By Ivana Lent

 

 

SC : Hi Guys, I've been meaning to chat to you for ages...Well, here I am at last!

HMM : “Good to hear from you, Ivana! We’ve been expecting you! Better late than never... And you’re not even late, are you?”

SC : Well, no, not really..ha ha ha...For the benefit of the readers that may not have heard of Hundred Million Martians, wanna introduce yourselves?

HMM : “Sure. We’re Hundred Million Martians. We’re from Mars, but we live in Turku, Finland now. We had no future up there so we decided to leave. Unfortunately, it didn’t get much better here. Marseille, France was our other option, but we feel more like home in Turku. Anyway, we have great songs and we rock. Jyrki is our songwriter-singer-guitarist. Pasi plays the bass and sings backing vocals. The guy behind the drum kit is Jarkko. I’m Ari, I play the guitar. I joined the band in 2001. The rest of the guys have been in the band right from the beginning, they go way back.” ”Since 1996, Hundred Million Martians has released four albums, a bunch of EP’s and singles and some songs on compilations and tribute albums on different indie labels. Our first two albums Martian Arts (1997) and Mars Bars (1999) were released by Hiljaiset Levyt Records. The latest two, Solid Rock Planet (2004) and Marseille (2008) are out on Plastic Passion.”

SC : You recently released your 4th album, Marseille, which we reviewed last issue by the way. Can you tell me a bit more about the recording of that, as I know you had one or two guests help out...?

HMM : “I think it was in early 2007 when we decided it was time for us to get something done. We’re quite lazy and we always expect someone to come and do stuff for us, but it never happens. So, we booked a studio. At that point we only had about five new songs ready, but we knew that it would take ages to write more if we didn’t have a deadline – a booked studio, that is.” “We had heard lots of good things about this place here in Turku called Studio Redhouse. It’s run by a guy called Danil Venho. Everyone we asked had really enjoyed recording there and working with him. So, we decided to give it a try. At that point the studio was pretty much booked for months in advance, but Venho managed to squeeze us in. The first couple of songs turned out so good that we asked Danil Venho to record and produce the whole album for us.” “We were making the record basically for the rest of the year. Not all the time of course, luckily we can’t afford that. Instead, we had a few studio days here and there, and during the summer 2007 we wrote and rehearsed the rest of the songs for the album. The making of Marseille started in March 2007. The record was finished in early 2008. I think it was a good way to make a record. When you have a lot of time and especially a lot of free time, you have perspective.” “Yep, we brought in guests. Our former guitarist Tuomas, who used to sing all the vocal harmonies on our records, left the band after the Solid Rock Planet album. So, we decided to ask our friends from the band Ben’s Diapers to help us out with the backing vocals in the studio. They’re a power pop / country pop band and old friends of ours – great guys, a great band and most importantly, really awesome singers. I mean we knew they were good, but their harmonies really blew us away in the studio. Their effort took the songs to the next level.” “Venho and the guys from the studio played some percussions and keyboards while we were away. The arpeggio guitar part in the middle of Take Back the Time was played by one of the assistant engineers. We were open for everyone’s suggestions and ideas. As long as we had the final word.” “We also wanted to try something new and decided to find someone to play some harmonica and saxophone on the record. No point in settling for the second best, so we asked Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks to do the job. He was happy to help us out. We basically let him play whatever he wanted – and we loved everything he played. The harmonica solo on the song Passed is amazing, and the jamming vibe in the end of I Still Love the Feeling is really cool. Monroe also ended up playing harmonica in UC/BC. We didn’t see that coming, but we’re glad he did. Michael brought some extra groove on that track. He’s a star and a talent.”

 

SC : What's the scene like these days in Finland?

HMM : ”There are so many scenes in music these days that it’s really hard to say. I think the bands here are really inspired by the international success of certain Finnish bands. The downside is that many bands try to imitate those who already made it. The bright side is that Finnish bands are more confident than ever, they know that it’s possible to go international. But I don’t really care whether bands sound international or domestic or whether they’re famous or not. I love good music, and in that sense the scene here is really healthy. Check out Sweatmaster, Boomhauer, Ben’s Diapers, Cheerleaders United, Daisy, Black Magic Six... there are so many great bands here that almost no-one has heard of. Oh, and check out Hundred Million Martians!”

SC : Got any tour plans yet?

HMM : “No. We’ve only played a couple of gigs this year. We played in Cavern Club and Cavern Pub in Liverpool, England and we had a record release show here in our home town, and that’s about it. We’ve had to cancel a few shows for different reasons, which is really annoying. We’d love to play live more.” What bands are you guys listening to these days? “Don’t know about the rest of the guys, but the latest records I’ve listened are Bruja in the Corner by Mad Juana, P.H.U.Q. by The Wildhearts, Seasons in the Abyss by Slayer, the new Oasis and Kings of Leon albums... and Cherry Bombz: Live in London and Hanoi Rocks: The Nottingham Tapes dvd’s! So many great records out there, so little money. “

SC : Is there a defining moment in the bands history?

HMM : “If there is, musically speaking, that was before my time. HMM has known what it wants to sound like as long as I’ve known about the band, which is from 1997. So I guess they found their sound in mid-90’s. How, that I don’t know. I have so many fun memories of being in this band, like playing in Liverpool, recording with Michael Monroe, rehearsing a new song that you know is going to be great, just sitting around in our rehearsal space and having a laugh, playing a show after being on a week-long binge, me and Jyrki looked like drowned pigs onstage – now, there’s a defining moment of stupidity for you. We’ve had some good times.”

SC : What would you liken your bands sound to?

HMM : ”Hundred Million Martians sounds like The Undertones and The Wildhearts making out in a space shuttle.” What about more recordings and future projects? Do you have anything you'd care to share with us? ”We have many recorded songs that haven’t been released at all or are available only on some obscure singles, EP’s, tribute albums and compilations. Our record label Plastic Passion wants to put out a compilation album of those rarities. I don’t know if it’s going to be a cd or one of those MP3 albums that you can download on the internet, but it sounds like a fun project. I think we should do that in 2009.”

SC : Favourite album of all time, and why?

HMM : ”Couldn’t come up with anything more difficult, could you? I have so many records and I love them all. I don’t want to name one my favourite, that would hurt the rest of them! How about the photo album of my holiday in Beijing? That’s me fave.”

SC : Like it....Finally, do you have any words of martianly wisdom for the readers?

HMM : ”Those who buy all Hundred Million Martians albums shall inherit The Earth.” Thanks so much for taking time out to chat with SoundCheck, we're big fans and will look forward to seeing you again real soon!

Ivana Lent, SoundCheck Magazine 2008

Photographs are by Rauski / Pix Art