Here's my translation of
this radio interview with Jonsu. It was broadcasted on December 15, 2009.
Our guest is Indica’s Jonsu. Good morning. In order to continue our theme of the day, we’ve checked the merchandise section of your website and you have only few products for men. Why don’t you sell, for example, Indica boxer shorts?
- I promise that right after this interview I’ll make a couple of phone calls and they will be available within two weeks.
Yay, you saved my Christmas. My size is S or M.
- Any other requests?
Could they be loose ones? I don’t like tight underwear, no matter how sexy they are.
- Okay. Maybe we’ll start to sell both types.
They must have an ornamental finish along a seam and buttons *laughs*. What’s up with Indica?
- We’re fine. I slept well last night after spending the last week in Hamburg. On Saturday we had the record company’s Christmas party and on Friday a wonderful concert at Masala (in Kirkkonummi).
Was your trip to Hamburg a business trip?
- Yes, it was pretty much a business trip.
Indica is releasing a new record and this time the lyrics are surprisingly in English. Why did you switch language?
- When we started our career, we tried to write English lyrics too, but they were awful because I couldn’t speak much English then. We thought that maybe some day we’ll switch to English. And when we had the Scandinavian tour with Nightwish in 2007, we started to think about it more seriously. Tuomas said that he would like to produce the album and that was it. We thought that why not.
How good was your English when you decided to make the English album?
- At that point it was much worse than now. I had to work for it. I wrote the lyrics with a New Yorker poet, because I didn’t trust that as a Finn I would be able to write perfect English. And I think that it was a really good idea.
So you wanted to hear a native-speaker’s opinion?
- Yes. A native-speaker understands many things in a different way. Sometimes I thought that I'd written a perfect sentence, but that wasn’t always the case.
For sure, it’s important to pay attention to the content when you switch language. How well can you internalize the message of English lyrics?
- Nowadays well, but we have made this album for two years. And this was the first time I wrote the lyrics with someone else. It took some time before we started to understand each other’s thoughts.
You also said that your pronunciation wasn’t perfect earlier. Have you taken English courses or studied singing in English?
- I have practised English pronunciation, because singing with a strong Finnish accent isn’t a good idea. In some genres, like opera, the singer can have a strong accent, but in pop/rock a strong accent isn’t desirable. It could steal the listener’s attention.
Unless you happen to be Björk.
- It’s true. Some artists are able to use their accent as an advantage.
What’s the most difficult word that you have tried to learn to pronounce?
- Oh no. I can’t answer to that question early in the morning.
You made a deal with Nuclear Blast. It’s known for heavy metal and your producer is Tuomas Holopainen. Is your new album going to be heavier than earlier albums?
- No, it won’t. That’s not our goal. The album was almost ready when we signed the contract with Nuclear Blast. I don’t think that heavy metal arrangements would improve Indica’s music.
We were worried about this. So, your mystical troll style is still there?
- Yes.
When you decided to switch language, was English your only choice? Or did you consider, say, German or Portuguese?
- *Laughs*. No. I can say only a couple of sentences in German and they wouldn’t be suitable on the album.
*Laughs*. I see. How have your fans reacted to the language switch?
- Let me think... Many new fans, who discovered Indica during the (Scandinavian) tour, are excited, but I’m sure that some fans are disappointed and wonder if Indica will ignore Finnish fans from now on. But that’s certainly not the case. We will continue to work in Finland with Sony BMG in the same way as earlier.
Will you sing in Finnish or English when you have concerts in Finland?
- In Finnish. I can’t think of us ever performing here in English. But you never know.
If Indica becomes famous outside Finland, will you translate your old songs to English? Eternal Stream (Ikuinen virta), for example.
- This album will include old songs that have been translated to English and arranged for the orchestra. But the next album will probably contain only new songs.
Can you reveal at this point what’s the leading thread of the new album?
- Well, I hate to talk about the songs before they are released. I could keep talking and talking, but people wouldn’t know what I’m talking about. So, I’ll come back in January or February and give you our new single. We can talk about the leading thread then.
You wrote the lyrics with a New Yorker poet. Did you manage to include the old Indica style, the mystique of the Finnish forests?
- In my opinion, there’s even more mystique than earlier. I think that our new music is even more atmospheric than before and closer to movie style. It’s definitely not heavy metal.
I would still like to ask about the leading thread. You mentioned the movie style. Which movie would describe the style of the album?
- I hope it would be one of David Lynch’s movies, because I’m a big fan of Angelo Badalamenti. But I don’t know. You have to listen to yourself when the album is released.
What kind of song names do you have on the new album?
- Let me think…
Eternal Stream?
- There is no Eternal Stream. One is Children of Frost. It could be… well, I can’t reveal you more, because I don’t know yet which song will be our first single.
Okay. We won’t bother you anymore with this subject. So, in February we will hear new Indica and you have to keep your promise to come back here. We’ll see you then.
- Yeah, let’s do that.
Thank you, Jonsu, for visiting us.
- Thank you.
EDIT: Oops, I forgot to implement
these corrections.
This post has been edited by Niko: 11 April 2010 - 06:53 PM
Mooki, on 12 October 2009 - 02:29 PM, said:
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