House music has had its fair share of characters in the past, but there are few dance artists as articulate and out-spoken as Chicago’s Larry Heard, otherwise known as Mr. Fingers. Heard’s classics have included “Mystery love”, “Can U Feel It?”, “Washing machine” and “Alien”, and having been teamed with Robert Owens under the moniker Fingers Inc..
Mr. Heard had a somewhat intriguing past. It all began for Larry at about the same time that Frankie Knuckles span his first house music in Chicago’s legendary Warehouse club. Indeed, based a stone’s throw from the Warehouse, those parties and their associated vibe rubbed off on Larry.
“I would see the people down the road because my job was on the same street as the Warehouse. I’d always see the crowds because I worked nights, but I never really knew the full gist of what was going on there until afterward. When people started talking about it more and saying how the music fitted in , I realized what was going on.”
“I wasn’t too familiar with house music at that time because I was working in bands (reggae, rock, jazz, etc.) so that would occupy my time for the most part.
The Warehouse, it seems, was a necessary outlet for the Chicago groovers, in particular, the black community. In Larry’s words it was “mad but necessary”. America is a conservative place at the best of times, and people needed outlets to open up their creative minds and offer them the chance to release the tension of an every-day, boring, restrictive life.
Escapism was probably the best word to describe the Chicago club scene.
“In Chicago we’re talking about black musicians and black culture in general. There’s nothing there. It’s just – stay here, stay poor, and don’t get in our way. That’s basically the whole overtone of Chicago. Money makes the world go round. That’s fine when you are R-Kelly or Babyface, you’re a successful person. Everyone embraces you then, but when you’re stemming from a musical genre that comes from a black, predominantly gay club scene, no way”.
How did you, Heikki, Sami and Toni get involved in the ROCK project?
Anchi: First I have to make clear that this is no project but the main focus for us. We all go back many years. I've known Sami for some 15 years and many times we'd been talking about putting together a band where we could make all our dreams come true. In the summer of '07 we decided that the time was right and called to two super-cool dudes to join us. We got together and from the first bar we played, we know we had something huge going on. Sami and I had few songs and so ROCK was born. We talked a lot about about how our music should be and since we had a lot to say, we composed 36 songs for our debut to choose from.
 |
| ROCK live @ Tavastia - April 29, 2009 |
What was it that you wanted from this collaboration? Any expectations?
Anchi: I personally wanted to go back to my roots. As a producer & sound engineer I had given up my musician career years ago to concentrate on studio work. During the years behind the mixing desk I had so many ideas about writing the music I would love to hear. The chemistry is essential. I find nothing better than doing the things you love with the best possible crew.
...and of course we want to take over the world by storming the charts and touring like hell.
Toni: After playing mostly metal for several years, it was time to rock and i can't think of a better group to do that!
What is the music approach to music making that you have?
Anchi: Me and Sami write all our music together. All songs tell about our lives. The lyrics to me are very personal as I write them from my heart. We don't believe in categorizing. Good music is good music, no matter what style it is.
What is the creative contribution given by each component? Any creative battle?
Anchi: Haha... I've seen a lot of bands both in studio and on the road. Some of them never fight and some have the tempers that burst after traveling in the tour bus for 20min. ROCK is the perfect match and there are no creative battles. We like the same things and even if some of our material might be considered to be "on the edge", we trust each others opinions.
Every member brings their own flavor to the mix. Every member is irreplaceable as we all form ROCK.
Toni: My part is to give rhythmic ideas and to keep the drums interesting and grooving. It's easy to avoid all the battles, because we are all working for the songs. I also seem to give Anssi a lot of lyric ideas, just by saying stupid things and doing weird stuff!
 |
| Toni Paananen |
Has your way to express yourself changed much over the years?
Anchi: Yeah. A lot. I believe in progress on all areas of life. I used to listen only metal for several years but now, although I haven't turn my back on it, I mostly like to listen to pop music. To me it was a natural development as I could not have continued working with metal bands if I had continued listening only metal. One should always keep on changing as it keeps things alive and interesting.
Toni: Yes it has. Nowadays my playing is much more.. how could I say it.. musical. And a large part of it comes from playing in ROCK, for sure.
Do you feel the group has evolved since the beginning?
Anchi: Definitely. Since day one we played tight together, we now have developed to be one of the best live bands in Finland. I cannot wait to go on long tour and see how things develop from there. I think as individuals we are bad-behaving punks. Also our stoopidity has evolved and things can get very dangerous before we even know it.
Toni: Yeah, we are terrific! The way I see it, is that playing in ROCK is a constant learning process. As a group, we are really strong and it's amazing how each of us four guys can be so insane, each one in their own unique way!
Is there a topical meaning throughout all your songs?
Anchi: It's all about our lives and our experiences and emotions. Lots of girls, parties, some drama, more parties, being wasted and did I already mention the partying?
 |
| Anchi Kippo |
Talk about your last hit “Dance”...
Anchi: Dance (Before the night is over) is actually the first song I wrote for ROCK. It tells how I met a stripper under dangerous circumstances. Dance, like most of the songs on our debut album, was played live in studio with drums bass and guitars. After working in studio for so long, playing live has become almost a forgotten art. Very few bands nowadays do it and out of them not many get away with flying colors. We wanted to have live energy to our music. The same emotion and feeling of danger we have on stage and I think we succeeded great.
Toni: Recording the album live was really demanding, but the result is very satisfying. I couldn't be more proud!
So, you’re just releasing your first album... how would you describe the musical results of it as a whole?
Anchi: I think we have avoided many mistakes that most bands do especially on their first albums. Personally I could not be any happier about the results. I love the groove and live feel, I have had the opportunity to make the sound I want and the most important thing: the songs are exactly how we want them to be. It's dangerous, it's wild, it's nice and it definitely is not lame. People will either love it or hate. It's all about the emotions...
Was it difficult to release it?
Anchi: Well.. it's not released yet. The album was difficult to make as it took way much more time that we could have imagined but then again we couldn't be more satisfied. Yet we have no label and we are looking for one.
Any plans in the near future?
Anchi: Since finishing the album session I have been working in studio with many bands and we took a two months rest. Now we are activating to play several shows in Finland, Russia and Czech Republic. We hope to release our album in Japan first and play start the storm from there.
A message to your fans...
Anchi: Listen before judging. Come see us live to see what it's all about. Hell yeah! Spread the word. We are coming :o)
Toni: Töttöröö & hehhulei!
 |
| ROCK live @ Tavastia - April 29, 2009 |
ROCK, the band:
Heikki Pöyhiä - Vocals
Sami Vauhkonen - Guitar
Anchi Kippo - Bass
Toni Paananen - Drums
Live photos by Aila Leppikangas
Promo photos by Gary Runck
