Thank you for the Links - I loved to read the article and to listen to the interview.

I simply wanna have some time to read and listen to all those interviews. Argh, this is so annoying.
But thanks for posting. I'll read them when school's finally over. ^^

Yeah, same here. I mean, these are first-world problems, but it's hard to keep up from time to time. Anyone up for a weekly PotF audio podcast where people read last week's interviews? Name could be "The Temple of Thought" and jingle would be "The Happy Song"

if you have not read it (though the tweet is up right here on the forum also ^^) Marko today on The Voice at 14.30 and 16.50 (Finnish time).... + The Lie Eternal is the next single!

One little detail I'm not sure I understood: is Marko going to be there at 14.30 or at 16.50? or both? Or will the latter be a rerun of the interview too? ^^

I think the latter will be a re-run. The part of the radio show he's on is called The First Reaction. So I think the host will interview Marko a bit, play the song and then will take in callers to talk about their first reaction to the new single.

ok, thanks wish I could call XD

It started early, I missed the beginning.
Let's hope I'll catch the re-run completely.

Edit: There was no re-run, they just played the song again.

Anyways, Lisa's recording will be available a little later (when she has time to edit and upload it to Poet County Jail). Here's the translation, ahead of time.
Neither of us caught it from the beginning, sorry.

May 23rd 2012 The Voice, Oku-show, The First Reaction

Marko: …in the set or something like that. Then I’ve seen some brilliant versions on YouTube that people have come up with. There’s one of Carnival of Rust… can’t remember the name of that bloke but he plays the guitar, he’s a bit of a HD looking guy from somewhere in the U.S. and he sings in a troubadour style.
Oku: An elder gentleman?
Marko: Yeah, something like that.
Oku: Ok, I just checked it out today and paid attention to what a nice version it was.
Marko: Yeah.
Oku: So you take these things in a positive way?
Marko: Oh absolutely. Songs tend to have a life of their own and if they do then it’s just great for us and I’m sure great for other people too.

Oku: Well, Poets of the Fall doesn’t do covers at gigs I’m sure. You have plenty of your own songs.
Marko: We have, back in the day.
Oku: Really?
Marko: Yeah, yeah. On our first tour we played Simon & Garfunkel’s Hazy Shade of Winter and it went on for about a year because we didn’t have that many songs yet with only just one album out. And I liked that song immensely. Then we had a cover version of Chris Cornell’s You Know My Name and we’ve performed that live a couple of times.

Oku: Alright. If such were to happen that you would cover some songs, for a charity concert for example, what would you pick?
Marko: Whoa, there would be… that’s a good question because I’ve thought about it, and we all have thought about it together that if we were to make a cover album, what songs would we include. I think it would have the ones I mentioned plus Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill and… what was it… hmm… Duran Duran’s Ordinary World. Songs like this would quite possibly end up on it.

Oku: If you could choose any band to cover your songs, what band would it be? What would make it a complete wow-experience for you, to hear them doing Poets of the Fall?
Marko: Metallica.
Oku: Yeah, that’s pretty…
Marko: Yeah.
Oku: After some Coldplay, some new Poets of the Fall on The First Reaction.

-------------

Oku: On The First Reaction today The Lie Eternal by Poets of the Fall will be playing. There’s something about pronouncing the name of the song that makes me nervous.
Marko: Makes you feel nervous?
Oku: Somehow that “Eternal” is such a difficult word for a Finnish mouth.
Marko: Yeah, well… Eternal.
Oku: Eternal.
Marko: The Lie Eternal. It’s not actually difficult at all. It comes out quite naturally.
Oku: But some English words are really difficult for Finnish mouths.
Marko: Mmmh. It could be if you’re unused to… For me, having grown up with both of these languages it’s so natural. I sometimes think if other people can say these or even get the gist of them even if they’re native speakers. But on the surface it’s worked out pretty well.

Oku: Tell me a little bit about your background. What does it mean when you say English is very familiar to you?
Marko: Ah, well the first language I learned to speak was Finnish, at home. But then, my mom used to live in the UK before I was born and she moved here when I was born. So I learned Finnish first and once I knew how to speak in Finnish, we all started to speak English at home. And somehow I really grew to like that language a lot and we spoke a lot of English and I learned it… and so.

Oku: Was it clear to you right from the start that Poets of the Fall will make music in English?
Marko: Yes, it was. I write music and lyrics in both languages but the majority of it I think is in English. Unless you count in text messages because I write a lot of those. And my text messages are marathon length usually. So it might be that at the end of the day Finnish language prevails after all. But sometimes it’s really fun to get to use English, talk with friends in English, and that’s fun. Because you do live in Finland after all and your vocabulary narrows down a bit every once in a while.

Oku: Is there any truth to the claim that it’s easier to write songs in English?
Marko: No, it’s not easier to write songs in English. I think the reason behind a claim like that is that if you write in a foreign language, you experience things differently. It’s not so close to you. It’s like you’re looking at it from the sidelines. So in that sense it may seem easier. Writing in your own language and coming up with a text is usually easier but it also more easily sounds cornier. I think the point of view shifts a little, depending on what language you’re writing in. But when you understand the other language well, you use it a lot, you can break the rules a little and you can say that breaking the rules was deliberate, and if you can create something new to that other language somehow, it’s challenging as hell.

Oku: This easily provokes thoughts about translating English lyrics into Finnish… like “Bye bye Hollywood Hills forever”. Yeah.
Marko: Yeah.
Oku: It does sound corny translated.
Marko: Yes, but you need to understand that it’s written in the context of English.
Oku: Right. That’s what Samu Haber wanted to write.
Marko: Yeap.

Oku: Today on The First Reaction we’re playing The Lie Eternal. But before we get into that, I’m going to ask you the same question I ask all my guests on this show: What is your first music related memory?
Marko: My first music related memory… Oh Guggenheim, this goes so far back into my childhood. It has to be something like travelling in a car and there was a song playing on the radio “If you can’t think of anything then how about some sex…”
Oku laughs: So that’s how it all started?
Marko: Yes.

Oku: When was the first time when the name Poets of the Fall was first uttered? Aloud.
Marko: It was…. 2003, May. So just about now, 9 or 10 years ago.
Oku: Congratulation! It’s your 10th anniversary then, is it?
Marko: No, actually it’s coming up next year… Febr… no July… no, April 25th. That’s going to be our 10th Anniversary. We just turned 9 on April.

Oku: What happened on that day?
Marko: That’s when we sat at the beach with Olsku Polsku [polsku = splash in English, but Ollie Splash doesn’t quite rhyme as a nickname] in his car, which back then was our office. We were thinking about what we want to do with our wonderful life and decided to start a band together and listed our goals and what we need to do to reach them so that we would have a fun life. So that’s the day we officially started the band and I remember it because it was my name day also.
Oku: And 10 years up soon.
Marko: Yes.
Oku: And on The First Reaction some new music, The Lie Eternal.
Marko: Yes.

Oku: And before we play it, anything you’d like to say about it?
Marko: Anything I want to say about it… Just that you had best choose your own truth.

I think my recording starts just a couple of sentences after your translation (thanks again for that^^): here it is

Thank you you both for the interview!!

Thank you two for recording and translating. This one made me smile for many reasons.
*cough* Is there by any chance and recording of Hazy Shade of Winter out there? I'd love to hear that.*cough*

Thank you both for your efforts! Loved to read this interview.

Thanks so much for the translation, Dark Side of Light! I also recorded and uploaded to YouTube: http://youtu.be/akY1uPsBwVI Feel free to share, all. Would you mind at all if I used your translation to add captions to the video (and does anyone know how that works, BTW)?

Thanks again for another great translation, DSoL!

Yes, you can use my translation. I don't know how to add it to the video though. Besides, your recording starts later than my recording and translation, so to be in sync, you'd have to start the translation at

Marko: ...so natural. I sometimes think if other people can say these or even get the gist of them even if they’re native speakers. But on the surface it’s worked out pretty well.

Oku: Tell me a little bit about your background. What does it mean when you say English is very familiar to you?
Marko: Ah, well the first language I learned to speak was Finnish, at home. But then, my mom used to live in the UK before I was born and she moved here when I was born. So I learned Finnish first and once I knew how to speak in Finnish, we all started to speak English at home. And somehow I really grew to like that language a lot and we spoke a lot of English and I learned it… and so.

And so on.

Cool, thanks again!! I've been enjoying your translations for quite a while, so it's nice to be able to be one of the ones who gets to help share them! Turns out adding captions on YouTube is pretty simple, just save it as a plain text file and upload it. And thanks for the tip about where to start.

@DSoL thank you for the translation!

I enjoyed the interview, same as redbossfan it made me smile for so many reasons. I'd love to hear Poets' cover of Running up that hill, it's great song

Great interview!! Thank you for the translation!

Hey, didn't we miss the Shining's cover song? I totally forgot about it! Luckily, I was pirate enough to get the LP. I will not spoil your surprise, so I'd say that the LP is totally not a black metal music (just checked the songs, have't listened them yet, just the POTF cover).

Another nice interview, yep! Thanks as always, for both translation&recording! Cos it's always great to hear that voice speaking in Finnish, even without getting a single word (actually I can recognize some word... too bad I don't know the meaning)...

For me, it's always nice to hear the word "unelma" 'Cos I know the meaning!

DSoL, Thank thee for sharing these with us.

OK, not an interview, but if I'm not mistaken, POTF at Provinssirock will be on TV. Don't know if this is a channel everyone can see though or how much they will show.

http://areena.yle.fi/tv/suora (scroll down to 15.6., 18.20 - 1.00)

Guessing with the help of Provinssirock timetable, they will be showing the whole concerts and POTF is right up first. I wonder if there will be interviews or something else in between bands, cos there are fairly long breaks there, like 1 hour 45 minutes. The gig lengths are 45 min each, or so.

I very much hope that they'll have a re-run of this... I know for 100% fact that I won't be able to watch it.

Edit: It viewable outside Finland as well!

Great. Provided that my computer allows me to watch it, I can stop being bummed about not being able to go. Otherwise my plan for taht night was to sit at home and quietly mope in a corner.

Yeah, via internet. Yle Areena is Yle broadcasting company's online viewing service (they upload different programs there after they've been shown on TV) and Yle Areena Live is the live function of the same service.

This is the direct web address: http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1571188
If you press play now, all you get is the TV test image, cos obviously the show's not on just yet.

Poets of the Fall Helsinki Day concert is coming out from Finnish TV on Thursday June 14th at 6 pm Finnish time. I have a feeling it will be available later on in their online viewing.

There will be a shortened re-run on Sunday June 17th of all the bands. (They're showing 2 bands per day on Wednesday, Thrusday, Friday and Saturday.)

That's awesome DSOL, thanks for the info

On another note, part 2 of Oscar Benjamin's interview with Marko SHOULD be out this week, and IF part 2 includes the snippet he played for us last night....wow, major question answered. Maybe some already know, but I had not heard this and I was blown away... so wait for it soon No spoilers.....

YleX Pop news June 13th 2012
Poets of the Fall vocalist: ”It’s important to look good.”


Poets of the Fall is performing at Provinssirock on YleX Stage on Friday June 15th at 6.30 pm.

The vocalist of the band, Marko Saaresto, thinks that it’s important to look good on stage. The man’s stage wear include a top hat, feather boa and dramatic make-up.

-It’s important for me. I dress by the feeling and when it comes to being in a band, the look which you perform in is important. It’s a role of a sorts, that I put on myself. Then it’s fun for me to go on stage and pull all kinds of antics. It gives more to me and to the audience. I could of course do it in jeans and a t-shirt, but it just feels more whole this way, Saaresto explains.

Marko’s greatest Provinssi-memories are connected with the beginning of the band’s career.
-I think it was our very first Provinssi-gig. We were such a fresh band back then, it was our first tour and we went straight on the main stage. It was quite an experience. It’s an important memory and an important festival. Our gig in 2005 ended up in the Who, What and Where-book, that was pretty cool, the singer enthuses.

Saaresto would like to enjoy the festival mood this year also as a part of the audience.
-I’m hoping we’ll have at least an hour or two after our own show to let the feeling flow. I’m sure I’ll find out what I will have time for, when we arrive, the front man tells.



Provinssi-performers tell: This is how the festival has changed over the years.

The coming weekend the Provinssirock festivities at Seinäjoki will march a bunch of top performers onto the stage.

Marko Saaresto from Poets of the Fall, Villa Malja from Lapko and Antti “Hyrde” Hyyrynen from Stam1na tell how the festivel has changed over the years. Or actually, how they have changed with the festival.

-I’ve been talking with a few friends that some upcoming summer Provinssi should just be Provinssi again. We’d park the car on Törnävä camping area and mess around the whole weekend like we used to. Nowadays we just miss the best stuff, hanging around the backstage eating cheese snacks, Ville Malja chats.

Hyrde from Stam1na goes along the same opinion.
-Well, it has become a workplace, heh. It’s very difficult to say how the event itself has changed. In a way the heavymetal boom of the first decade of 21st century has toned down a bit. Back then this festival was a celebration for those who wear black. I’m glad the wave has moved on, Hyrde comments.

The observation rings true because this year Provinssirock has even more dancemusic than before.
-I have to tell our drummer to play a dancing beat to each one of our songs, maybe it’ll then fit in better, Saaresto jokes.

Poets of the Fall has had a couple of years break from performing at Provinssi, so the band is looking forward to the gig.

-It’ll be interesting to see how it’s changed. We’ve been there a few times, but not for a couple of years now, the man continues.

YleX will also be at Provinssirock.

kiitos!won't be home at that time... but I see other older videos on the page can still be watched, so if it works the same it might be available also in the following days?

Might be, yes, I'm not sure about that. I've heard it will also be broadcast on TV in Finland at some later date. But when exactly, I can't say.

ok, we'll find out. Thank you