Interview: Deep Insight in Kampen, The Netherlands, April 15th 2006
I arrived at the venue at 8pm, seemingly at the end of the world. It looked like a pretty dodgy place, and my cabdriver was as reluctant to let me get out of his car as I was to go in to the 'venue': the local motorcycle club. I knew I was at the right place when I noticed Deep Insight's van was outside. As a compromise we stood outside talking for a bit. When Jukka (singer) walked out, I asked him if I would survive if I would go in there and he said I probably would, so I figured I'd trust him on that and said goodbye to cab guy. The venue was made up of some old booths/large sheds and, like I expected, there were long haired, tattooed bikers hanging out, dressed in jeans with lots of leather, thankfully all looking terribly friendly.
Finnish band Deep Insight have been around since 2002. Their last album Red Lights, White Lines was released in Europe in 2004, but the band’s fanbase really started growing after a tour with fellow Finnish rockers The Rasmus in the autumn of 2005. Deep Insight is Jukka (vocals), Johannes (guitar), Miska (bass) and Ville (drums). Their new album is finished and will be released later this year, after the band has signed to a new label.
Touring
Jukka: I think it’s really important for bands to play as a support act a lot. Going straight from a rehearsal place to a big venue would be too big a step. Then you wouldn’t know how to play live and work the crowd at the same time. You need the routine and experience.
Johannes: Small shows like these (more like tiny - tonight’s venue has a capacity of 70, ed.) keep our feet on the ground.
Ville: These kind of shows can be better than festivals, because they are more intimate.
Imre: Do you go to see other bands play live, for example on your day off?
Jukka: Yeah. During the tour with The Rasmus we went to see My Chemical Romance in Munich. We get to see a lot of bands when we’re a support act, but when you’re on tour you hear so much music that you sometimes just want to shut it down.
Johannes: There is a festival that we play on this tour in the UK and a lot of our favourite bands are there, like Thrice, Underoath, Silverstein. That will be a great day!
Japan never sleeps
Imre: Do you find that it’s a different market in every country that you go to?
Jukka: The Scandinavian market is very different from Germany, Holland or France.
Johannes: It also depends on the record company and the way a band or album is promoted in a country.
Jukka: The current album is out in Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Portugal Switserland and Japan.
Imre: How was touring in Japan?
Ville: Everything there is like a well oiled machine. They don’t do mistakes, those guys.
Jukka: I think we slept for like six hours in one week.
Miska: We were in Tokyo and that city never sleeps.
Jukka: We couldn’t sleep and then right before a show I fell asleep backstage.
Ville: We had to wake him up and he didn’t want to, he was telling his mum to go away.
*all laugh*
Imre: Do you have any other plans to tour outside of Europe?
Jukka: For now we’ll just concentrate on getting the new album released in Europe. We’d love to play in the States though.
Johannes: If the record company – whoever that is – gets a deal in the States, of course we’ll go!
New album and influences
Imre: What is the new album like, compared to Red Lights, White Lines?Ville: It’s very different! They old albums are… well, they’re good, but they’re not representing the band. The new album is more… Angry.
All: Rock!
Jukka: With the last album it was like someone was holding us back.
Imre: To be honest, you sound more like an American band than a Scandinavian one.
Miska: Yeah, we like a lot of American bands, so naturally we are influenced by those.
Imre: Who are your biggest influences?
Ville: Too many to mention. You get inspiration from everything you hear. You might even pick up a beat from an RnB track.
Miska: We could name some bands now, but tomorrow the list might be different.
Jukka: The thing with Scandinavian bands is that a lot of it is melancholic. Like Katatonia or Opeth. We have the same producer as Opeth for our new album!
Imre: It must be good then!
*all laugh*
Johannes: Jens (producer, ed.) is a real tough guy.
Miska: Yeah, we’re all frightened of him.
Ville: He’ll go: "One more! Mistake! One more! Mistake! Again! You suck! Again…"
*laughs*
Johannes: The last album could have been produced better. I am really happy with how this new one has turned out. It works.
Jukka: We met at pre-production and I think we’ve developed as a band, as songwriters and musicians. We’re still quite a young band, of course, we’ve been playing together for four years. Three with Miska and with Ville a year and a half.
Imre: Has the band changed a lot since you two joined?
Jukka: With every step the band has been changing for the better. When me and Johannes will change, then it will be perfect.
*all laugh*
Johannes: This line-up really works best. We’re a team. It’s really nice to be in this band. We have a good chemistry.
Imre: You look like you’re having fun when you’re playing.
All: We are!
Miska: I think it’s all about the bass.
Ville: Of course it’s not always fun…
Jukka: Sometimes you just want them all to shut up and get a 8 to 4 job so you can have some free time. This band is more like a hobby that has turned into a job. We work 24 hours a day and you don’t know when you’ll have free time. And when you do, you take the job home with you and write new songs in your time off.
Johannes: Basically what I think is the best thing about being in this band is to travel with your best friends. Touring is fantastic. Ok, all the waiting is not so good, but in the end when we look back we always have so much fun!
Jukka: When you go home it’s great for about two days. After that it’s like: What am I doing here?! Touring feels like home. More than our homes do.