I'm Only Happy When It Rains

QM:
What is the hidden symbolism behind the name?


J69: First of all it’s a real cool name for the band. It sounds good and looks good and has great symbolism it possesses. It has two strong symbols, like 69 and the eye. The eye itself is one of the oldest symbols. It exists in all things like Aztec and Egyptian cultures and is the symbol for two lovers. People ask me if It’s from and old Misfits or Cramps song. It’s inspired from old fifties horror films and Russ Myer 60’s and 70’s horror films. It’s a real rock and roll name. It’s been our name for representing sex, blood and rock and roll for the past 17 years.

QM: We owe if to the Egyptians for our makeup concepts, because without them we would not exist, don’t you agree?

J69: Most definitely!

QM: What inspires you for your writing concepts?

J69: I get inspired everyday by different things, especially on this tour. When I started the band I was really into psychedellic culture and always flirted around with deep rooted things. All my inspiration comes from American pop culture, things like the New York scene with Andy Warhol and such. It’s like a synonym for the 69 Eyes. The next album will probably contain Metro-Elitistic ideas to draw inspiration from and other different elements. I am finding my ideas from also old school horror psychedellic punk rock culture and so on.

QM: Do you feel you are portraying a message to the masses that we can all relate to?

J69: We have been playing for so long and our roots are really deep and we know so much about rock and roll. Maybe we are expressing something in passing but if you are interested there are a lot of things to find out. We are putting out some references, for instance, in the song “Jimmy” off the album “Devils”, it refers about, of course, the late James Dean. There is some symbolism there and if they can’t figure that out, well it’s about time they do, but it’s not necessary. Still I write what I write.

QM: How has the US Tour been going? How do it feel to finally play Chicago?

J69: It’s been the best tour for the 69 Eyes. It feels like home, whenever we are in the states. This tour is doing real well and it seems something is happening and people are telling me why have we been waiting to see your band for so long? All of a sudden, in the states, we are thinking to ourselves, what if we become more commercial and mainstream. We hope people won’t think we sold out, because in Finland, we are a total mainstream band and also a teenage pop magazine band like the Backstreet Boys. We play all ages shows and the fans are 13 and 14 years old or something, Actually, that started to happen here as well. I went to the House of Blues store to get some House of Blues merchandize and there were some kids waiting and they were really surprised to see me and they were twelve to thirteen years old. I couldn’t help but think to myself just how long have you waited to see me play! I really like young people they make your band go on forever. 69 Eyes are keeping that American youth alive. The reason why this tour is really cool is we are playing with some new kids on the block, Goth kids on the new block, Program the Dead, if you will. This is our favourite tour and we haven’t sold out yet, next time more people will know about us and hopefully we still won’t sell out!

QM: A lot of Finnish bands are starting to play America, why now?

J69: It all started out with Norwegian Black Metal bands like Mortis, but now that’s all old news here in Finland already. It’s time for Finnish bands that have something unique. Even from Hanoi Rocks to Children of Bodom, those Finnish bands have a way of writing melancholic melodic lyrics, compared to black metal but the music is completely different. We have been away for so long, isolated and we have maintained some old school rock values which have been long forgotten. We are bringing back the old school values, black hair, black sunglasses, black leather jackets, going back to the youth, American pop culture like the Ramones and Sisters of Mercy for European culture.

QM: Have you ever met the Misfits?

J69: No, actually we have never met. I met Glen Danzig but never Jerry Only. With all respect to Glen Danzig, I like the new Misfits stuff with Michael Graves and the Project 50 stuff. It’s honestly boring to hear people complain about about the newer Misfits 2003 stuff vs the older Misfits stuff. People are never satisfied with anything!

QM: Do you have any favourite tracks off any of our albums?

J69: It depends it changes all the time. “Lost Boys”, it’s growing. In Finland EMI offices couldn’t get the film to come to rotation when the album came out. We come here in the US and we are celebrated. In the summer in Finland it was the most played track on commercial radio. You don’t have to be a subculture music specialist to see what we are doing. We are two entities, mainstream and underground, but I’m close to opening the lid off the cage. The Central EMI Finnish offices didn’t get the idea but here, in the US, we are the saviour of that scene.

QM: I see your band as the 21st Century Apocalyptic Goth Rock Band, what do you think of that analogy?

J69: I like that a lot, you need to write that down. 21st Century Apocalyptic Goth Rock Band, I’m going to use that for the next album in your honour.

QM: Wow thanks!

J69: It’s a great idea, thank you

QM: In Conclusion: What are some tips to surviving bands out there that are just starting out?


J69: First of all, I will tell you how we all met. We all were in the Helsinki rock scene seeing bands like Hanoi Rocks and so on and we saw each other and then and by mistake. My band members now, back then said who is that guy with the long black Johnny Thunders hair and we got to know each other and formed our band. I was sometimes on flyers and they liked my looks and we shared the same love for horror, rock and roll records, booze, women, so that’s how it all started. So, as for tips to other bands, they need to fight the same chemistry and find your own niche and party on. Even if it takes 4 to 5 albums to get the best sound you can get. It took us 3 to 4 albums for 10 years to get our best sounds and I’ve found no one can take from our band, of course, we recycle from our favourite bands, but I haven’t heard anyone that sounds like the 69 Eyes!

LoriAnn questions
Any Plans for a new video?

we have some psychedelic visions for new videos
-jonne-

Nakkikone
Is it easy to work with roadrunner?

often yes!
-jonne-

Andie
Any plans for a Us tour?

we have a lot of plans for the states!
i cant wait to get there, until youre mine;)
-jonne-

If you could tour with anyone dead or alive NGT’s Perfect line up would be?
We would be headliner and elvis would be support act.
-jonne-

What is the wildest tour story you are able to tell?

foursome
-jonne-

HGQ
Any crazy or special moments on the HIM tour?

the whole tour went well(i mean every show),but if i have to pick one
special thing then i would say day off in cologne.
-jonne-

Artarita
What’s the biggest change that’s acurred for NGT in the last year?

been able to tour with HIM.
-jonne-

You have fans from all corners of the world. Does it surprise you that
you are such a global band now rather than just being popular in Europe
considering in many places your not publicized?

borders have dissapeard with the internet, people always talk after
seeing a good show, so the reputation spreads from mouth to mouth.
-jonne-

Krissy
Why do you sometimes kiss each other on stage?

for your pleasure..
-jonne-

If you could describe the new album in one word what would it be?

aggressive!
-jonne-

My Questions
Is your favorite food still Chinese?

thats one of my favourite ones+chicken wings, home made Greek salad..and
so on..
-jonne-

How do you think the Viva la Bands compilation helped you here in the
states?

no clue yet..
-jonne-

I know your brother is in the band Flinch, and now Tommi has Hype
records, do you believe it was in the Liimatainen blood to be in this
business or is it something you all adapted too?

this music is our curse!
-jonne-

Are you messy or very clean?

clean but unorganized
-jonne-

What music are you addicted too at the moment?

Mikko Kuustonen, Dave Lindholm, Johnny Cash, Queen, Muse..so on..

Interview conducted by Pam
V.=Ville

M.=Mige

Have you thought about making Heartagram dildo’s?

V.yes we have but there are very limited quality dildo’s in the world. Some tiny companies, different quality woods. So we will think about that but we haven’t found the right manufacturer yet. We are talking to a chinese company now but the chinese stuff it’s cheap.

M. It’s cheap doesnt really suit our band what we want to represent.

v. no

Do you have any ideas as far as colors and stuff like that?

v. I just want like different woods like birds eye maple or something like that

Are you going to organize Helldone again this year?

v.i think so yes we are trying to expand it but i still dont know how i havent been home in ages of course im gonna go back home in june and im going to talk to the owner of the club about that what we are gonna do

thats at tavastia right?

v. yeah tavastia, we are thinking of making something i mean it worked out pretty well last year its nice for people because there are alot of people traveling you know from out of the country and from far away like lapland and places like that. its nice that its more than just one gig you get a couple of days like you can hang out there the whole weekend

How do you decide on the support bands for your tour. Do you decide or does Warner?

v.well of course warner brothers only seems to have shit ideas so we’re usually deciding everything.

So you decide who the opening band is, do you use press packs or…?

v. i get to read alot about music, i get to read all the music press there is, i try to get to know all the new bands

So you read about Aiden, i heard about aiden a while back they have been blowing up in the UK for a while now.

v. yeah i didnt know how they were live, but i thought live its pretty much the same. you know its a little bit kind of dark but its alot more punk and a bit more metal then what we are so we thought maybe the kids would like them as well. originally we thought about playing with bullet for my valentine from the UK alot of bands are touring all the time so you cant neccesarily have what you really want. Actually this turned out to be alot better than we thought. because i didnt know what to expect but those guys are really really nice. like last time around we played with Finch and that like it didnt fit with the audiences and that was the first time we listened to the label or the booking agent or whatever and they do good every now and then but most of the time not, because they just think about ticket sales, but they dont think about how it works with the audience

If you could put together any tour what would it be?

V. we would probably like to support sabbath, black sabbath, but i dont know we have been touring with great bands, we had an oppritunity to tour with monster magnent and skindred. Alot of great people alot of cool bands. Just like we are big fans of monster magnent so that was great for us, we listen to that every night, so we will see what happens iggy pop would be great to tour with

m. robert johnson

As a band after so many years do you still have as much fun getting on stage together every night?

m. it gets funnier and funnier

v. i think it goes its like a rollercoaster ride you know everybody gets tired at one point, we had a great time recording the latest album and the album is doing very well and of course that makes us happy and seeing that there is alot of people who like what we do and like the new songs and everything like that of course that puts and extra boost in kicking ass, i think this tour so far has been best we have been alot more animated alot more energetic than the stuff in the past.

I read some reviews from the first shows down in florida before i came here, they seemed to be different from the last tour, you seem more energetic..

v. you get in a certain mood and also with different albums different sounds bring you into a different mood we have been in the mood for now like the past half a year the mood of really rocking it out rather than playing alot of ballads and stuff like that because we used to do that we were in a point where we were really moody like in a type o negative type of way and now we are in a mood of playing more fast songs and stuff like that and that is what feels comfortable now. We dont know what is happening next time around its always different and thats why music is nice and thats why it is entertaining to us and funny

m. not neccesarily fun but always funny

Tell one secret about yourself or the band that you have never told to anyone.

m. we have gone so public with all those dirty little secrets

yeah you guys are always very open and everything

v. yeah there are no secrets really, nothing spectacular, im really sorry to dissappoint you

No not a dissappointment

m. we had once these santa clause figures we made one of them look like Elvis

v. that was pretty extreme

m. it was fucking terrible

Like polar bears in finland there are so many myths you can believe about Finland

v. just like there are so many myths about america

exactly

v. alot of people come and they never get to see anything besides maybe NY and Los Angeles you know Europeans, usually we always start off in Miama. places like Atlanta or places like San Antonio, or El Paso

and even for you all you dont get to see the smaller places like 2200 population and so forth

v. well you know you shouldnt be a loudmouth about cultures you dont really know but there are alot of americans who dont know america so its such a big place and alot of europeans who dont know europe because its such a big place so we’ve gotten not necessarily to know all the cities and the countries but we have seen alot of places still

so like experience

v. it really is

If you could name one band who has been a constant influence on HIM who would that band be?

v. really the only answer we could say is black sabbath and other than that type o negative, maybe neil young there is alot we listen to all kinds of music so like levi the reggae artist

m. its hard to name one

v. mega death dave mustane

m. dave mustane is christ

i dont like dave mustane

v. dont judge a book by its cover

m. he has a heart of gold

v. a whore with a golden heart

If you could redo one HIM song, as if it had never been released what song would that be?

v. I’m really happy about everything we have done because the belong with that time they were written that was a part of our lives a part of the band and a part of where we were as individuals there is little tiny things that go into it so i wouldnt want to change anything. We did redo like Wicked Game several times and love said no..so we kinda did things just to check it out but the magic is there when you do it the one and the only time.

I personally think that HIM is a band who has made it possible for smaller bands from your area to emplode onto the US scene, how do you feel about your part in this Scandinavian invasion?

v. I personally dont consider us to be a wingman to the wheel so like Hanoi Rocks was one of the first bands at an underground level to become known by like Guns and Roses and have really gone for it so they are the ones we followed

I think this time these bands are able to come over because you did do it first for this generation

V. Coming over to this country it costs alot of money its always like a gamble, you are gambling with it and alot of people dont have guts to do that and because we were pretty well known in Europe we just saved all our money to be able to tour our asses off no matter how much it cost or whatever we wanted to be in a position to where we could be on a zero line you know we didnt lose but we didnt gain any money as well

so you had to wait

v. yeah sure we had the possibility and we were willing to go for it because otherwise that would have driven us nuts just to be hanging out in Europe because we have been touring all over Europe for ten years already so we wanted to expand the territory and be able to go to new places because its inspirational in itself for the music and for the band

how do you feel about bands that do come over from everywhere that are losing money on tours in the us

v. i think they should make better albums i think that if you are a good band and if you write music that people want to hear then its not a problem of course there are alot of people who are disillusional about their situation and they maybe think that they are better than they are and i think you earn your props by touring your ass off first in your home country then expanding bit by bit take baby steps around rather than trying to conquer the whole world because I think thats impossible.

Then wouldnt it be smart to tour your home country and at least hit the UK before America?

v. its better luck like we did Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Greece, Czekoslovakia, Poland then we did the UK. We did the other side of Europe before we hit the UK, then we started working on the UK, then we had an opportunity through some contacts to play in Philadelphia for the first time. Gradual and I like it being gradual nothing like exploding at one point because it would have probably done our heads in, like if we would have gotten this great global interest, there is still a challenge in different places and we are not that well known and I love it because that puts us in a situation to where we need to prove to ourselves that we are worth it and prove to the audiences that we are worth it

HIM as a band has pretty much covered the world though right?

v. We still haven’t done South America we have done Mexico

I know you have a fanbase in South America

v. It is just such a big place just a fucking vast ball, it’s impossible to do all the gigs you know and people have families back home we have to have a normal life as well and with that normal life to be able to recharge our batteries

So south america is not a possiblility right now but maybe in the future

v. we are thinking of going there in the fall, we are doing a few gigs in Columbia at the end of the year and austria yeah. We may go there as support you know some of the American bands draw really big audiences, bands like Linkin Park so you never know what will happen. Nothings planned out yet, we have been in constant tours since October of last year. So we need to recharge the batteries and work on some new music as well. We don’t want to be on a never ending tour.

Have you all already started on writing music for the next album yet?

v. We have no idea yet, we have been writing some rifts and melodies stuff like that but of course we don’t have the time to do much with traveling all the time. You read a book in the hotel and calm down and get yourself ready for the gig. I’ve got an accoustic guitar with me I am working on idea. It is gonna be probably July when we get back home and then we will have some oppritunity as a group to start working on it.

Alright guys I will let you go and get ready for your show good luck tonight!

v. Yeah I am going to go work on this setlist.

M. I am going to eat.

Enjoy!

Ти помниш ли

морето и машините

и трюмовете, пълни

с лепкав мрак?

И онзи див копнеж

по Филипините,

по едрите звезди

над Фамагуста?

Ти помниш ли поне един моряк,

нехвърлил жаден взор далече,

там, дето в гаснещата вечер

дъхът на тропика се чувства?

Ти помниш ли как в нас

полека-лека

изстиваха последните надежди

и вярата

в доброто

и в човека,

в романтиката,

в празните

копнежи?

Ти помниш ли как

някак много бързо

ни хванаха в капана на живота?

Опомнихме се.

Късно.

Бяхме вързани жестоко.

Като някакви животни в клетка

светкаха

очите жадно

и търсеха,

и молеха пощада.

А бяхме млади,

бяхме толкоз млади!...

И после... после

някаква омраза

се впиваше дълбоко във сърцата.

Като гангрена,

не, като проказа

тя раснеше,

разкапваше душата,

тя сплиташе жестоките си мрежи

на пустота

и мрачна безнадеждност,

тя пъплеше в кръвта,

тя виеше с закана,

а беше рано, беше много рано...

А там -

високо във небето,

чудно

трептяха пак на чайките крилата.

Небето пак блестеше

като слюда,

простора пак бе син и необятен,

на хоризонта пак полека-лека

се губеха платната

всяка вечер

и мачтите изчезваха далеко,

но ние бяхме ослепели вече.

За мен това е минало - неважно.

Но ний деляхме сламения одър

и тебе чувствам нужда да разкажа

как вярвам аз и колко днес съм бодър.

Това е новото, което ме възпира

да не пробия

своя

слепоочник.

То злобата в сърцето

трансформира

в една борба,

която

днес

клокочи.

И то ще ни повърне Филипините

и едрите звезди

над Фамагуста,

и радостта

помръкнала в сърцето,

и мъртвата ни обич към машините,

и синята безбрежност на морето,

където вятъра на тропика се чувства.

Сега е нощ.

Машината ритмично

припява

и навява топла вера.

Да знаеш ти живота как обичам!

И колко мразя

празните

химери...

За мен е ясно, както че ще съмне -

с главите си ще счупим ледовете.

И слънцето на хоризонта

тъмен,

да, нашто

ярко

слънце

ще просветне.

И нека като пеперуда малка

крилата ми

опърли най-подире.

Не ще проклинам,

няма да се вайкам,

защото все пак, знам,

ще се умира.

Но да умреш, когато

се отърсва

земята

от отровната си

плесен,

когато милионите възкръсват,

това е песен,

да, това е песен!