Interview with Jaska Raatikainen – Children of Bodom
by: Marisa Connelly December 2009
Sitting on a tour bus at four in the afternoon is a noticeably quiet and serene experience… The only noise was the cathartic humming of the generator. Apparently, everyone was still sleeping except for my interviewee, Jaska of Children of Bodom. Despite having been awakened by his tour manager to meet with me, he was bright eyed and friendly, and still in his Batman pajamas.
SDM: Why did you guys decide to compile a cover album? Or was it Spinefarm Records’ idea?
Jaska: Well, it was our idea because we had been doing these cover sessions like for whatever tribute albums. The last three or four albums we have made there has always been cover songs, and we just realized that we have so many cover songs, it would be nice to collect them as a whole, like one package.
SDM: What was your favorite cover to play?
Jaska: Well, I really much like the Creedence Clearwater Revival cover. It’s hilarious!
SDM: Were all the cover songs easier or harder for you to do as a drummer?
Jaska: Well, there was the Slayer song, that was quite hard to play for me. I think for everybody it wasn’t that easy. We did it like the original version is, but then there’s a few songs that are not that hard to play, but to put it in CoB style was difficult. But I don’t know what was the easiest. Maybe Andrew W.K. was easy to me.
SDM: Any difficulty adapting to other drummers’ styles?
Jaska: Well, yeah, like Anthrax was a pain in the ass, and some of the 80’s rock songs, because I’m not that style at all. I think that I just played the song like it was supposed to be, but there’s no sense of feeling like there is in the original song.
SDM: How do you write drum parts? What’s the process from “perceiving the rhythm” to a finished song?
Jaska: The whole process? Well, it’s like, Alexi [Laiho] comes with a riff in his mind, and has some particular type of, whatever, like to have a double bass there or something. And then we just put the songs together, change some parts, and somehow figure it out together. But sometimes I might have added like, so many stuff, and for some songs I just do what Alexi told me to do. So it’s different on every song. All the fills are basically from my head, but if there is some melody [that] Alexi wants to point out, I might just follow the melody with the drums.
SDM: So is anything written on a drum machine, or all on the drum kit?
Jaska: It’s all on the drum kit. And when Alexi comes to the rehearsal place he hopes that I can pull it off, what’s in his mind. This far, everything has been OK. Sometimes I have to rehearse my ass off to pull some things off, but, I find it very good.
SDM: What do you think is an advantage of writing on a drum kit as opposed to a drum machine?
Jaska: I don’t know, I mean, sometimes some people do songs at home with a drum machine, but I have found that sometimes there is very good ideas that they have done on drum machines that really can’t be played with a real drummer, but it just sounds very good. But on the other hand, real drummers always sound like real drummers, and you can really hear real drummers, and there is a soul behind the drum kit. Some mistakes just belong to you in some places. It doesn’t have to be completely exact, that’s the whole point.
SDM: Did you always have a ride and a hi-hat on both sides of your kit? And what or who influenced you to do that?
Jaska: I’ve had that , I added an extra hi-hat when we recorded our second album, and it was 1998, I think, or 1999. Then I maybe a little later I did the extra ride on the left side. And I think it gives me possibilities to do whatever I want. I think Gene Hoglan was one of those who used rides on both sides and all the bells and stuff, I think Sean Reinert too.
SDM: When you’re not drumming, what do you do? Hobbies?
Jaska: I don’t know, I read books. I have an interest in science, I read science magazines. And movies. Some art movies, and Hollywood. I don’t like that much comedies, romance sometimes, Troma, action, everything.
SDM: And besides drums, you’ve played other instruments?
Jaska: Yes, I started with piano when I was very young. Not to the level of Janne [Wirman], but just basics. Then I started to play french horn, for like eight or nine years. But then I quit it because I didn’t have that much time and I wasn’t interested at all when I started playing drums.
SDM: Because of this, do you feel it’s important to be well-rounded as an artist? Either playing multiple instruments or listening to different types of music? And why?
Jaska: I think its. If you want to do a lot in your career somehow, I think it’s very important to listen to whatever music or just read about stuff. Keep your eyes open and mind open. There is so much things in this world that you can collect and put it into the form that you are doing. Even though you can’t hear in my drumming that I read books, if I didn’t read all those books or watch all those movies I couldn’t do this type of drumming. And all those music styles, you always can, for example, for drummers, they’re so amazing [in other genres]! Just all their fills you can steal and put it into this style. You know, variate it a little bit and then it fits perfectly, and every metal drummer is like, “Whoa! How did you come up with this idea?” And its like, I just listened to this jazz drummer, you know?
SDM: What do you admire most about your band mates?
Jaska: There’s lots of things I admire, like umm… Everyone is their own character that fits perfectly into this band, and they’re so good musicians I can play with. And still they are my friends and they can handle me like I am. Everyone has their bad days, but they support me.
SDM: They put up with your bullshit?
Jaska: Yes! And likewise! I think that’s the most important things. This is like a super-family.
SDM: What are you most disappointed about?
Jaska: [laughs] Nobody’s perfect. That’s harder than the other question. Sometimes, there’s like, everyone has their own things I don’t like. I’m a person that likes to really be in silence after a show, I don’t like noise that much, I just like to relax. And the other guys will come into the room or on the bus where I am and the moment is gone. And that’s what it’s like. Nothing against them being there, but then they put their whatever CD on, that they’ve listened to 100 times that day, and they put it on very loud, that’s very annoying. But those are like small things.
SDM: What’s going on for the rest of the year?
Jaska: We decided to have the rest of the year off, then start composing next year. Then heading to the studio in May.
SDM: Do you have any ideas or writing done for the upcoming album, or is it too early?
Jaska: Well, we’re doing some pre-production before, like talking to producers or whatever. But Alexi mostly does the riffs, and he thinks it’s easier to concentrate on one thing at the moment. I heard he has a couple new riffs, and they sound very good.
SDM: Alexi Laiho did instructional DVD’s for Rock House, do you have anything in the works along those lines?
Jaska: Well, I’ve been thinking, it’s been like five or six years already, that it would be nice to do something with two drummers playing at the same time, doing like an album with like a video showing me and the other drummer playing the whole album together like one song. Like an instructional video, but not. Like a show. I don’t know when, like no time frame.
SDM: I heard rumors that you guys will get naked on your tour bus, freaking out us Americans?
Jaska: It just happens. Sometimes we’re here, drinking beer, and we’re like, “Let’s get naked.” And we get naked. Sometimes people are like, “What the hell is going on with these guys?” But it’s like, we had this one bus driver a few tours ago, and we were partying naked in the back lounge. At some point our tour manager came to the back lounge and told us that the bus driver had stopped the bus, to tell our TM that he saw us naked. He asked our TM if he knew that we were naked in the back lounge. And he was like, “UM, it’s OK, just let them be.” It’s one of those things that we really don’t understand why it’s such a big taboo in America, that people can’t see others naked. They really freak out.
SDM: Um, because of conservative right wing republicans who have vilified anything that has to do with sex or the human body?
Jaska: But it’s one of the most natural things in the world. There’s like tribes somewhere in the middle of the jungle, the whole tribe is naked. You can’t hide your nature. Of course, I don’t go in the middle of the day or in front of an audience naked.
SDM: [Laughs] I think you should!
Jaska: Yeah? Sure! But, you know, we can do it here, be butt naked on the tour bus, we’re just like whatever! In Finland, we have sauna, and we go there butt naked. When your a kid, you go to sauna with your family and you’re all naked. Everybody can see everybody, and it’s not a big deal. I heard one story where some psychologist said that after a kid is 2 or 3 years old, it’s very bad, they shouldn’t see their parents naked anymore.
SDM: Well, in other countries, naked is naked. It has nothing to do with sexuality. Whereas here, naked is sexual. I think it’s more of a cultural thing, not psychological.
Jaska: In Europe as well, there’s public saunas where you can go butt naked, but some you have to use a towel.
SDM: Gotcha. So, are Finnish lake trolls real?
Jaska: Huh? What? [laughs] Um, no. But what is that animation with that metal band?
SDM: Metalocalypse?
Jaska: Yes! That’s hilarious!!
SDM: The episode where they awaken a Finnish lake troll? That’s one of my favorites!
Jaska: [laughing] Yeah! I like Dimmu Burger!
SDM: Definitely! So, anything else?
Jaska: Let’s get naked! [laughs]
Info:
cobhc.com
myspace.com/childrenofbodom
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