Hi Aste, it goes without saying that you're well known mostly in Finland, but has your music reached further afield and if so, any surprising locations? "Yes, I have lots of listeners in the Nordic countries and across Europe, but most surprisingly I have a couple of active fans in Brazil." You started rapping in your mid / late teens, what was your inspiration for getting into rap music? "Eminem was my biggest inspiration in my teenage years. I had a lot of teenage angst and through Eminem’s music I found a way to channel it. I started writing and rapping, and it helped me through some difficult years." But you didn't start off solo, you were in a few groups when your started out, what were they called? "Yeah, in the beginning we had a group of friends who started rapping at the same time. My first group was called Konflikti, there were 4 of us. In a couple of years the rest of the group got into different activities, but I continued writing and rapping. One of my early band mates Matti Melu Lassila is still in my live band playing guitar." On some songs you've included various sounds, e.g. 'Urpo' which includes rock music, so would it be fair to say your music is experimental? "Yes, absolutely. Exploring different genres has been one of the main themes in my music already from the beginning. I like to listen to a lot of genres and it’s only natural that my music is also inspired by different kinds of music. I was one of the first artists who had the courage to combine rap and mainstream pop. It was sort of forbidden at that time in the Finnish rap scene, but now pop-inspired rap is one of the biggest genres here." You call your music 'crime pop', could you explain how this term came about? "Crime pop was a genre name I came up with to describe my music style. As I said, it was against the “rules” to combine pop and rap so I was a kind of a criminal. Crime pop is about breaking the rules." Finland is mostly known for rock and metal music, so where does rap / hip-hop sit in terms of popularity in the music industry? "Rap is currently one of the biggest genres in Finland, especially amongst younger people." 'Poikkeus Sääntöön' was awarded summer hit of 2009 by The Voice Finland, arguably that had to be a major turning point in your career? "Yes, that was a huge turning point. Ever since that summer I have been touring around Finland except for the last two years because of COVID. We released the song in May 2009 and already at the summer festivals, all the gigs were fully packed." You're headlining Headland festival in Lahti; is this is one of Finland's biggest mainstream music festivals given the line-up? What is it like to be performing there? "Headland is a festival my friend and live drummer Jori Routo and I started last year. Even though putting up a festival during COVID has had its difficulties, we had a great first year and are looking forward to next summer already. Last year I was headlining the festival with my 20-year anniversary show. It was the best show I have done so far. And of course it was extra special because we had worked hard to arrange the whole festival." Did the lockdown in Finland provide you opportunities to write more music when live shows were not allowed? How is Finland now regarding COVID? "I had more time to write music but being in lockdown wasn’t inspirational at all. I felt like I had not that much to say, so in the end it wasn’t a very productive period. Now all the restrictions are gone and I’m looking forward to gigs. Performing live is a huge part of my artistry." Will we see a greatest hit compilation being released with songs re-recorded in English, or would that be too challenging; given the complexity of the Finnish language? "I feel like some of the mood and overall feeling would be lost in translation. I listen to a lot of music in different languages I don’t understand and it hasn’t bothered me." What plans aside from Headland festival have you got for the year ahead, would we see you perform in the UK sometime in the future? "I’m going to release a lot of new music, hopefully a new album will come out later this year. And of course we plan to grow Headland as big as possible. I would love to perform in the UK. I have spend quite a lot of time in London, especially in the Camden area. I’ve enjoyed going to pubs and seeing open mics and jams, and have seen a lot of great artists there. If I get an invite to perform in the UK, I’ll book the flights in a minute!" https://www.facebook.com/astemusic/
1 Comment
Marita Ikonen
22/8/2022 09:33:06
Aste is the best rap and crime/pop artist in Finland, and I dont think this way just because we are relative 😀
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