Poets of the Fall – 05/08/2007

Marko
By: Sabine van Gameren

Poets of the fall… one of the best pop/rock bands in Finland. Are they ready for the rest of the world?
We asked them questions like these…

– How are you?

Marko: “I am fine! Thank you!”

– How did you enjoyed your gig at Ankkarock?

Marko: “It was brilliant! We had huge crowd although we played on a smaller
stage I feel very good about the gig”

– As we want to know, who is Poets of the Fall… may I ask you, how would
you describe your band for potential fans?

Marko: “I think our band plays very strong, emotionally music. Rock…
with some Latin sounds. It can be very dark, it can be very light. There is
a lot of contrast and a lot of emotions.”

– What makes Poets of the Fall unique?

Marko: “Would be hard to say… sounds like… I am sooo great.
I think we have a energetic live show. We have a strong contact with the audience.
I think that would make us pretty unique. We have a lot of good bands in the
world who have this strong charisma as well but this one of our things…
the interaction with the audience on a live show.”

– When we want to get know you, we want to know more about your personality.
If you would be an animal, what animal would you be, and why do you think this
animal matches your personality?

Marko: “That would probably a panther, because it is black and I like
black. And it is a big cat so it has a strong mind of it’s own. It makes up
it’s mind very quickly. I think it also can be bored easily, but you know…
as cats can be easygoing as well. On the other hand… I am like a dog. I
like it when someone scratches me behind the ears”

– Do you have any upcoming plans for touring?

Marko: “Yeah definitely! We have some gigs coming up in Denmark and hopefully
in Germany as well. We are going to Russia and Lithuania. I even heard we have
a gig in India.”

– Wow!

Marko: “Yeah pretty cool! I have never been to India before, so this will
be the first time.”

– Where else would you like to play?

Marko: “I think there are a lot of places… New York is one of those
places. I like to tour in UK… Ireland.”

– Do you have plans for releasing a DVD?

Marko: “We have been talking a lot about this lately and there has been
some work done… If not this year, then probably next year. The first dvd
will be out. I even know the title of it already, but it is not been shot yet.
We have people working on it.”

– You have released 3 video’s. 1 from “Signs of life” and 2 from
“Carnival of rust”. Which video is you personal favorite and why?

Marko: “I personally like Carnival of Rust most. Also Lift has a very
good video but it is easy and light and it moves very nicely. It is something
that I like to watch, because the performance is right there. These two are
the best ones I like most. But I like them all! We have been able to work our
own ideas into them. They are all very dear to us. ”

– Are you going to release another video from “Carnival of Rust?

Marko: “Well in autumn we are going into studio. Which we are building
right now. We are building our own studio. We are going to record the third
album there. And when it comes out, we are also going to do a video from it.
I don’t know what song it will going to be, but probably the first single.”

– Have you already written a lot of new material for the new album?

Marko: ” Yeah I think we have around 24 songs and we are going to decide
which ones we will take on the album and if something really good is left over
we will take those to the album after the next one.”

– In Finland you even won an award as best Finnish band in a contest organized
by national radio. How do you feel when you hear your own music playing on the
radio?

Marko: “The first time I heard my own song on the radio I was driving
the car, so I had to stop the car and turn the radio louder. It is amazing!
Like WOW.. our song is on the radio! After a while you get kind of used to it,
but every time when I hear it… It still feels good. Even though Carnival
of Rust has been the most played song on the radio last year. It gives you the
feeling like… Hey… we made it!”

– If you could include a female vocalist for maybe one song… or maybe in
the band, who would that be?

Marko: “I would probably ask Juliette Lewis for kind of a rocky, hard
song. She is really cool. And I always really liked Anastacia so I would like
to do a ballad with here. She also haves an amazing voice. I like those two.”

– Who is the craziest of you guys when you are on tour?

Marko: “Hmm… Who would I say… Our guitarist and our mixer. Those
guys are crazy. We are all pretty weird. But they are get into things. I guess
it is because they talk to a lot of people and then have loads of stuff to tell.
I am kind of crazy, but I never do anything. I try to keep my voice fit, so
I can actually sing the songs when the time comes for it.”

– Where would you like to see your band in the future for example… in 5
years?

Marko: “Yeah definitely, I would like us to tour to all major festivals
and I would love to go to Netherlands, I would love to go to Germany. And Italy,
Uk… maybe some parts of America as well! I really want this band to go
as far as they can! And I hope we break through everywhere, but we’ll see what
happens.”

– Do you see yourself playing stadiongigs, like Metallica does?

Marko: “Oh yeah definitely! In small clubs you can get really close to
people, but a huge stage gives a different vibe. Like the audience we had today
at Ankkarock was a really good audience! A lot of people out there! It looks
nice and it feels nice. They shout your name or put their hands up. On the stage
I think like… Hey is this real?”

– How would you define “success”? When are you satisfied?

Marko: “When I have peace in mind. Then I am satisfied. It doesn’t matter
how much money I have, It doesn’t matter how famous I am. I am probably better
of with not being very famous, because… if you are Robbie Williams…
where are you going to have peace? It doesn’t matter if you have 8 million dollars
if you have to spend all that money to go out on a beach, since you would have
to buy that beach to find your peace. Basically, it is ok if I have a good living
from out of what I do. And you have to give people something positive, something
that is good. I like helping people having a great time as they like the music.”

– Besides, Poets of the fall do you have other bands or side projects?

Marko: “Not at the moment. This takes up all the time. It is Poets of
the fall or nothing.”

– Last question: What effect do you think that new media like Internet, Myspace
and Forums have on the fame of Poets of the Fall?

Marko: “I think it is a very good platform for us. It’s a form of media
which you have to use since a lot of people nowadays are into that. But it is
also very important that you perform live, your songs are heard on the radio
and even now… that is one of the most important things in music… That
you are heard on the radio.”