Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space - an interview with The Saturnettes
Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?
Maybe it is a dream. Or simply a silly piece with spaceships, geeky machinery and random craziness in it.
So, what would you think if you suddenly found yourself on a strange black surface floating in the sky?
Well. Maybe it wasn’t really that long ago that you tried any mind-altering substances. Or maybe you forgot that you agreed to earn a few euros as an extra in a low budget sci-fi flick. Or maybe you just fell asleep.
Whatever it is, I find myself in the strangest scene that feels half 2001, half Bladerunner, and both options don’t offer a particularly comfy perspective for innocent bystanders. (It could be worse, though. Riddick, for example.) I am standing on an open square like a roof garden, with a seamless black floor made from some strange, artificial material, and there is nothing around me but the blue, vast April Skies. I don’t even have a bloody towel with me, and therefore, I am just about to panic.
Every now and then, the floor shakes and trembles, sometimes almost rhythmically. And then I hear the music, a single electric guitar strumming some chords, and I notice that I’m not alone on this stretch of black surface. Indeed, I'm sharing this strange setting with The Saturnettes, Finland's up and coming indie sensation.
"There you are", says keyboardist Henrika, her bright red hair shining in the sun. (I am particularly observant of her hair at this point, because it would have been an extremely bad sign if Vin Diesel turned up now.) "We got all the questions you sent us the other day and thought we'd meet you here instead of mailing our answers back to you."
Now, this explains at least a little bit of what’s going on. I was set to do an interview with The Saturnettes, and since Tampere is some way to go if you’re living in Northern Germany, there wasn’t any other way than doing it by mail. Apart from coming together in some Space Oddity backdrop like this of course. Henrika leads me over to some weird grey blocks rising from the black surface like a line of smooth, symmetrical rocks, and I see guitarist Robin sitting on one of them, dangling his feet and playing some clear, ringing notes that sound a bit like Jeff Beck's "Morning Dew" without Rod Stewart's tell-tale vocals.
Singer Jann and bass player Kaide are facing each other over a strange board game that looks quite like the one hidden inside the upcoming Saturnettes album, using pawns shaped like the Lewis chessmen but oddly transparent, and some of the figures seem to glow from the inside whenever the rhythmic vibrations shake the floor beneath our feet. Robin changes the tune and plays a more abrasive riff – the intro of "Cadillac", the Saturnettes' first single that came out in February 2011.
The band is extremely versatile; their sound is based very much on synths and pop melodies, but they know how to handle their dark and heavy stuff, too. That's what makes them so good: They combine a wealth of influences and plunder the whole history of popular music for lost gems, digging into punk and rock as well as into sixties shoo-be-doo and eighties wavepop, forging their own distinctive sound out of it.
"You want to talk about our influences?" Kaide asks. I wonder if he can read my thoughts, but no, he is checking a little display with my mail on it. Anyway, yes. Talking about music is always fun, especially since I guess that we all share some common ground here.
Jann and Kaide leave their game, the pawns still flashing up every now and then, and we all sit down in the sun. The greyish stone blocks are strangely warm and don't feel like stone at all. They almost feel like plastic. This is still very weird, but hey, whatever, I’m here to do an interview. Why not meeting the Saturnettes on plastic Saturn, ha ha.
And the Saturnettes, so Henrika tells me, all share the same passion for rock'n'roll: “I grew up mostly with the pop and rock bands of the 80's and 90's, and with female singer-songwriters. Later on, I discovered the music of the 60's and 70's, for example T.Rex. I also love some 21st century bands, like Auf der Maur and Melody Club. My number one influence has always been PJ Harvey." That's really nice; Polly Harvey can’t be name-checked often enough.
Robin has softly provided the stomping chords to "Children Of The Revolution" as a backdrop to her words, and now he is mockingly picking the well-known "Stairway To Heaven" intro.
"You know," he explains, "music genres don't really matter to me, as long as the music is well done and stands out from the crowd. I grew up listening to Hendrix, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton or, amongst many others, Angus & Malcolm Young of AC/DC who have all influenced my guitar playing."
Kaide agrees. "We all dig some bands together. Well, I had a Kiss and Twisted Sister phase when I was young, but apart from that, the music I grew up with and still like the most is late 60's and 70's stuff – Led Zeppelin, Cream, Thin Lizzy, Jimi Hendrix, Doors, Neil Young, Iggy And the Stooges, MC5 ... I also dig a few bands from the 80's like The Cure, The Smiths and The Police. Most of the current bands I don't like at all."
Jann’s taste in music – among others, The Cure, New Order, Beatles, Bowie and Bolan – can be clearly heard on the three albums he has already released. He is only half listening to the words of his band mates, instead, he is looking up to the sky. In the distance, a man appears on a flaming pie, and he is flying straight towards us.
Ah, yes ... The name The Saturnettes - when I first heard it, I thought of a Motown girl group.
Jann waves to the man on the flaming pie who, to my disappointment, passes us by without a word, and comments: "The name existed well before the band. My idea was to create a band name that had something from the sixties, something sci-fi and some gender bending. My favourite English words are Saturday and Saturn. It also contains 14 letters, and 14 is my lucky number and my birth date. And it was original enough to give zero Google hits!" Henrika adds:
"I think the name is just aptly naive for us. In the end, we're not too far from a girl pop group."
Sound-wise, the girl pop group element might be evident in catchy tunes like "Girl Named Sue", but on their debut album there are also dark, almost Gothic tracks like “Dietrich”, straight rockers like “Cadillac” or melancholic love songs like "Dunkelbunt".
"We try to avoid doing songs that are too similar," Jann says. "We don't have to prove how rock or how indie we are. I can't stand bands that keep on repeating their hit single formula. – Especially when they never had a hit in the first place." Kaide grins and carries on:
"It all comes down to good, catchy songs. And if the band members know how to play different styles, it will all work out."
Different styles, that’s not really what people in my home country associate with Finnish music. Due to the massive success of bands like HIM, Apocalyptica or Nightwish, the first thing that comes to mind when you mention Finland is usually metal or dark rock. But is it just that we’re seeing a distorted picture of the music scene in Finland or are The Saturnettes indeed pretty unique with their wave-synth-pop-rock?
Henrika considers this for a moment. “I'd say both. Finland has been pretty successful when it comes to exporting metal bands, so it’s no wonder you associate Finnish music with metal rock. Dark music also suits the Finnish mentality; therefore, our kind of music isn't so common over here. I'd say we stand out from the Finnish music scene, but we're not the only pop group here. If we were in Sweden, we would fit in perfectly!”
Obviously, this is something that the band has been discussing amongst themselves a number of times. They don’t feel particularly at home within their native scene, but Robin reckons it’s a good thing they sound completely different from anyone else. “You turn on the radio and hear loads and loads of bands that are produced exactly the same way and sound like copies of each other,” he says. Kaide takes this a bit further:
“There are some pop groups in Finland but most bands play heavy rock. The Finnish are a simple, rural people who think that street credibility comes only with ruff stuff.” He shrugs. “People who like pop music need a healthy self-esteem, and most Finnish people can't handle that. That's why Finland has many bands that play nice tunes – pop tunes – but they always marinate the music in heavy sounds so they can sell records and sound heavy, not embarrassingly pop.”
Now Jann has already proven over the last five years that he isn’t afraid of sounding pop, and the other three band members have been working together with him in one form or the other for a while and are well familiar with his particular vision of pop. Jann, Kaide and Robin played together in Jann Wilde & The Neon Comets, and Henrika sang a duet with Jann on the Comets’ album Neon City Rockers. Which brings me to the classic question every new band has to face in interviews sooner or later: “How did you all meet?”
Jann doesn’t bat an eyelid. “We woke up at the same orgy wearing instruments!”
Now that would have been worth a look. And what was your first impression of each other?
“Hippie, hippie, shake!” This is Jann again, of course. Henrika decides to be a bit more forthcoming.
“Gosh, it's so long ago… I wondered how much hairspray Jann needed to get his hair done. I remember admiring Kaide’s perfectly polished finger nails. Robin, I met later on a Neon Comets gig; I thought this guy can play the guitar upside down, ha ha.”
Left-handed Robin gives her a playful nudge. “It's been some years now, yes ... As they say, a first impression is often a lasting impression, so I suppose we all did fairly well as we're still playing together!”
Indeed. Though the Saturnettes originally started out as a side project last year when Jann decided he wanted to try out some more electronic and abrasive sounds, in contrast to the more organic rock of the Neon Comets. When did it become clear that the side project was turning into something bigger, eventually sending the Neon Comets into hibernation?
Jann is getting serious again. “After few rehearsals. It felt like a band that has its own style and something to say. Besides, I talked many times with Henrika about forming a band with her someday. Kaide and Robin were easy picks to make it four. Those trusty old henchmen.”
Apparently, the first member to join this new project was Beat Pest, their drummer, or rather, a drum machine who doesn’t only have a name but also his own blog. Why did they settle for an analogue drum machine instead of a “real” drummer or digitalized drum programming?
“It's the purest 1-2-3-4 you can find,” Jann says. “It forces you to cut the crap. It also makes it easier to include all the electronic elements. And hallelujah, how easy it is to hit the road without drums. We are truly economic.” He looks as if he wants to say something else but now, there is some more commotion high up in the sky. A line of Weimaraners is surfing the clouds, balancing on some tilted chairs. Now, how does it feel? At the same time, the concrete and the clay – if that’s what it is – beneath our feet begins to rumble again, more intense and louder than before. Kaide leans over to Jann and says something in Finnish, and Jann gets out his mobile phone and presses some buttons. Strangely enough, the vibrating sensation stops at once.
Jann checks his mobile again, though at a closer distance, it looks more like a remote control. After what I’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next thing flying by would be a row of TV sets. By now, things are really getting a bit surreal, but we all act as if we don’t care or at least don’t mind, and we just carry on talking about the chemistry within the band. Jann’s former bands – Rose Avenue and the Comets – were pretty much centred around him as the front man and songwriter. Now, Henrika has been taking over some lead vocals, and at gigs, Kaide sometimes sings lead as well.
“I think the starting point of the Saturnettes was different,” explains Henrika. “We wanted to be a group without specific roles. We could also change instruments among each other if we wanted to!”
- The Saturnettes at Tammerfest Goes Viikinsaari, July 2011 -
Which they have also done to some extent; Kaide used to play keyboards with the Comets and has now switched to bass while Jann has been playing keyboards and bass at live shows, too. Apart from that, one of the big qualities of the Saturnettes lies in the fact that they have three very good singers in their ranks whose voices blend extremely well. Jann explains:
“I have always been fond of bands like The Beatles, Queen or even Kiss, with several members doing vocals. I do lots of lead vocals on this album as most of the material was originally meant to be on the next Jann Wilde album. Though most of the time, there's still three voices. In the future I hope we will start spreading our wings wider and wider. I might sing just one line and Robin will do ten. Who knows? I love the idea that we all sing.” Robin looks up and laughs.
“Ha ha, the problem is that I'm awful when it comes to remembering lyrics; I guess it's just lack of practise! Besides there are already three awesome singers in the group who are doing an excellent job – that's enough in my opinion. But maybe in the future, who knows.”
The collective spirit of The Saturnettes doesn’t stop there; the band has also produced their debut album themselves, and Jann claims that this has been easy – no ego clashes, all working together for the common good. The only “outsider” assisting them was Henri Kovanen, a good friend who mixed the album and also delivered a dark and powerful remix of "Cadillac"; he proved, as Jann says, a great help and an important part of their team. But in general, they are clearly a very self-contained band, relying very much on an indie, DIY attitude.
“It is important to have full control,” Robin says. “This way we can really define our own sound and do exactly what we want to do. It's really refreshing to make music without having someone behind you, forcing you to compromise your own stuff in order to make it more commercial or whatever.”
And they certainly don’t compromise. The Saturnettes sound, with its references to so many different kinds of rock and pop, doesn’t fit the usual pidgeonholes, and they are anything but predictable. Jann consciously turned away from the glam and glitter image he sported for a while and decided not to fulfil people’s expectations – something he refers to in the chorus of the incredibly catchy “Lavatories”, where he claims: “Don’t ever put your hands in a rock’n’roll band, if you change your direction you get killed by your fans.”
“Some bands keep doing their thing just to please their fans or their label or their mums which I can't understand,” he says. “I wanna give something new and surprise people. Yes, some people said that I should have kept the hairdo and leotard I had in 2006 and 2007, and should keep on doing crazy things on stage. People went to see Ziggy Stardust but suddenly there was the Thin White Duke.” He laughs completely unembarrassed: “Ha, I just compared myself to Bowie and don't even feel sorry about it!”
We keep chatting about his lyrics; they are sometimes telling stories, sometimes cleverly combining and juxtaposing rock clichés. “Jello” is a bit of both, as Jann explains:
“It's mostly about a situation where an artist turns into a jukebox and releases a new compilation every year. I hope that, one day, I can just lie beside a swimming pool and will find our ‘best of’ collections on sale at gas stations. Besides, ‘Jello’ is a quite a funny word.” Another mischievous grin. “Oh, and I have to admit the song also contains some humorous views of my ex-record label.”
I almost expect the shark-like smiling manager stepping out of the song and flying overhead, trailing after the pie man and the dogs, but the skies stay empty this time. Better get on with my questions. How big is the part that music plays in your life, and which other things are important to you?
“It plays a very big part,” says Henrika. “Generally all I do is music. I play with the Saturnettes, I have other music projects, and I compose for other artists as well. For me, this is the thing I want to do for a living. I can’t see myself having a nine to five job. The other things that are important to me are sleeping late and baking chocolate muffins. Yep, that's the only girly thing in me.”
“For me, everything I do has something to do with music as well,” says Robin. “Sometimes, I play cover gigs with other musicians. When I'm home, I play guitar constantly.” Like he has done since I joined them here, in this funny place under the April Skies. And now I feel that it soon will be time for me to go. Just the last, obligatory question about the future: Now, with the Saturnettes debut album out in the shops (and available world wide here), what are your plans?
“I think it would be nice doing an EP, or split vinyl,” ponders Jann. “I've also toyed with the idea to re-record some of my previously released tunes. Some tracks from Tokio Okei and Neon City Rockers would be perfect for The Saturnettes. Just to wind them up and give them few electric shocks.” A heavy thud shakes the floor beneath us. “I mean the songs,” Jann shouts, “not the band!” But now, the whole black surface comes alive, and the grey rock-like boulders begin to glow from the inside. Red lights flash up to the steady rhythm that is suddenly all around us. Jann pulls out the remote control and hits some buttons, but the rhythm plays on.
Kaide reaches into a bag and hands me a towel, and as soon as I put it around my neck, I realise what’s going on. No Riddick, no Vin Diesel, no worries. We’re just standing on the black plastic surface of a giant RT-123 drum machine, and by the sound of it, Beat Pest is getting bored and would rather play music than have us talk about it. Robin slides down from one of the trembling control buttons flashing up bright red again and again, and strikes some chords to go with the beat. Jann has a his half-acoustic Epiphone in his hands and is launching into the first lines of “Just A Song”, while Kaide plucks his bass and Henrika unfolds another towel until it suddenly becomes a keyboard. The skies dim to a blueish light, and before the scenery undergoes one of the typical dreamlike changes and I’ll get trapped in a Tampere rehearsal room, I decide to take my leave.
Not a moment later, I find myself at my desk, staring at the computer screen. A mail has just popped up. “Re: Saturnettes Interview!” says the header. In the background, the new Saturnettes album is playing. Those guys can really take you to another world, if only in your mind, I think and shake my head. And while I’m doing this, I notice I have a towel round my neck.
