days until the Eurovision Song Contest Final in Azerbaijan!
Finland: Leola [Interview]
![Leola [Interview]](http://www.escchat.com/images/news/29975.jpg "Leola [Interview]")
escXtra: Hello Kuisma! Thanks for taking some to speak to us today. Firstly we’d like to congratulate you on your qualification to Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2012!
Kuisma Eskola: Thank you!
X: Firstly for all our readers who aren’t familiar with you guys, would you be able to introduce yourself, the other band members and tell us a little about your career so far?
K: We are Leola, an indie pop band from Helsinki, Finland. Tuuli Okkonen is our vocalist and I play the bass and compose our songs. Hannu Huhtamo plays the guitar and Veikko Ruuskanen plays the drums. How to describe our music… perhaps “rugged pop songs with cool electronic tones”. At first we did our music in English, but last spring we started to make lyrics in Finnish and it seems to be the right decision.
We’ve all studied music in some point so it is very natural for us to play in a group. We don’t have a record deal and so far we have been playing gigs in small rock venues in Helsinki.
X: How did you all come together to form Leola? What does the name mean?
K: I’ve known Veikko and Hannu for about 10 years and we’ve been playing together since 2005. Tuuli Okkonen, our vocalist joined the group in 2009 when we were looking for a new direction to our music. Juho Vehmanen from a Finnish rock band PMMP knew Tuuli and gave us a tip – and here we are. The name means “female lion”. Because our singer is an energetic woman, we wanted to have a name that has some feminine power in it!
X: You were one of the lucky 12 songs who survived the cut from the original 540 to make it to the live shows. How did you find out you had made it to the actual show and where were you at the time? Who found out first?
K: I was the first to know that we are in top 40 and of course I called the others right away. But later when we heard about top 12 the whole group was there. Finnish Broadcasting Company gave us no clue about this beforehand and we were of course very excited when we heard the news. Hannu suggested a group hug. They actually filmed the moment, which was very nice.
X: Can you tell us a little bit about your song ‘Rytmit Rikkoutuu’? How you came to create it and what is the song about?
K: The song’s name means “Rhythms breaking”. It encourages people to sometimes break everyday routines. By doing that you’ll live in the moment – and renew yourself. However, this is only one way to understand it. One can think it as a party song or even as a sad story about a moment when everything safe around you crashes!
At first I made another song solely for the competition. It didn’t quite have the right feeling in it and wanted to look for an optional song. I had been doing sketches about “Rytmit Rikkoutuu” in English. I rewrote it in Finnish and recorded it with Tuuli. Then we did a comparison with the band and decided to send Rytmit Rikkoutuu to the competition.
X: UMK has instantly differentiated itself from the old Euroviisut format by being much more open to different genres and styles than before. What was behind the decision to enter this contest?
K: Tuuli told us about this new concept and we thought that it might be now easier for “indie groups” to attend UMK successfully. I think that one of the ideas of UMK is to find new, promising artists and give them a chance to get more of a name.
X: The ultimate aim at the end of this show is to compete in the 2012 Eurovision song contest in Baku. How do you feel about Eurovision in general and what would it mean to represent Finland in this contest.
K: Well, personally I’ve always liked ESC and I’ve actually been involved with Finnish contest before: I’ve produced one Finnish entry, Heli Kajo’s song “Annankadun Kulmassa” which came third in 2010. Tuuli and the other boys are also huge fans of the whole ESC institute. It would be a lot of fun to represent Finland in Baku – so fun that we would take it very seriously!
X: If you are unsuccessful at winning the ticket to Baku, what are your plans for the rest of 2012?
K: We would be trying to promote the band in other ways. Mostly by doing gigs I hope.
X: Are you Eurovision fans, and if so do you have any favourite Eurovision songs? Perhaps a favourite Finnish entry?
K: As I mentioned we are ESC fans! My personal favourite is France 1967: L’amour est Bleu. Of the more recent songs I liked Greece 2010: Opa! A cheesy but catchy song with lots of adrenaline and attitude!
X: When you’re not performing, what do you do with yourselves?
K: I think we all have quite usual hobbies except for Hannu, who does light painting: check out www.hannuhuhtamo.com (The photos of Tuuli in this article are an example of that). I think everyone in the band but me knows a lot about photography.
X: Unlike former Eurovision Selections for Finland, the majority of the UMK entries are in Finnish, your song included. Do you prefer to sing in Finnish or do you perform in other languages too?
K: We did our music in English for a couple of years – so we’ve tried that. I think that in Finland it’s easier to deliver your message in Finnish. Good Finnish lyrics are a means to stand out.
X: Do you have any thoughts on singing in English vs Singing in native languages at Eurovision and if you win UMK would you consider changing the language of your song to English for Eurovision?
K: It might be possible, because we have an English version of the song. However, I think we would stick to the Finnish version and trust the translators.
X: Finally, do you have a message for our readers?
K: Remember to sometimes break your rhythms!
Leola will face possible elimination this week when six of the entries go up against the jury, with only four remaining. You can listen to Leola’s song 'Rytmit Rikkoutuu' below! We would like to wish the Kuisma and Leola all the best of luck with UMK and whatever comes beyond!
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