TLOBF Introducing // Shine 2009

The crystal clear glacial sounds of Shine 2009 and their debut Associates EP were the first fruits of Cascine’s loins when the label launched just a few months back. Since then, they’ve introduced us to three additional signings; Evan Voytas, Selebrities and Chad Valley – who, at the time of writing, is currently sitting pretty as the fourth most blogged about artist on the planet.

Shine 2009 set the initial tone for the label perfectly. “Experimental pop, guided by intuition” is Cascine’s para-phrase and one that sits front and centre within Shine’s music. Throughout the following interview, neither Sami Suova or Mikko Pykäri give anything away about themselves or indeed their music. Their mystery – in classic Scandinavian style – is kept tightly sealed under lock and key but underneath it all, reading between the brief lines, it’s clearly apparent that the singular thing that unites the pair is intuition. Their focus and drive unaffected by their surroundings; they make the music that comes naturally to them, devoid of any outside influence. Apart from an insane amount of caffeine, that is.

For the benefit of our readers out there that are new to you guys, tell me a little about Shine 2009. Have you guys known each other long?

Mikko Pykäri: We’ve known since 2004 (I think), and started talking about doing music together since we noticed that we had very similar tastes.

Sami Suova: But it wasn’t until 2009 when we actually did something together.

Hence the name…?

MP: Yes, but that wasnt the main idea behind the name.

Oh really? tell me then, where did the name come from?

MP: It’s interactive and changes its meaning, it started sounding fresh and new in ’09, but it feels already a bit outdated. It’s also related to the fast cycle of new bands.

Going back to the music that brought you two together, there are obvious touch-stones…. The Embassy, The Tough Alliance, Field Mice….. But you seem to put a fresh tone on these bands. There’s almost a glacial sound that surrounds your music.

SS: I guess the common thing every time has been the songs. I mean, bands change but usually we like songs that are “proper” songs. Good production just isn’t enough.

What was the shared vision you had together that resulted in Shine 2009?

MP: Well, we were kind of frustrated with the music around last year.

Give me some examples….

SS: Pretty much everything! I think stuff that was hyped and was supposed to sound new didn’t sound that way to us at all.

You’ve recently signed to Cascine, how did you meet those guys?

SS: Our press agency in the UK introduced us and things started rolling pretty fast after that.

It’s pretty exciting that you were their first signing… The opening salvo of acts on their roster is nothing short of breath-taking, really…

SS: Yeah, it’s great to have the EP released in the States as well. We couldn’t have done that with Expo (Finnish label).

How have you found the reception to the record so far?

MP: I think it’s been received pretty well… All the comments have been positive. Except the one you said about our name!

Haha – I think our reviewer was just struggling to find something negative to say to be perfectly honest.

SS: We forgive him.

I’ll let him know. So how do you guys feel you sit in the current Finnish music scene? Is there much happening over there at the moment? Villa Nah seem to be doing pretty well…

MP: I think there isn’t that strong a tradition in pop music done with self respect here. Of course there are few acts but I wouldn’t mind if there would be even more alt-pop bands.

Can you recall the moment when you first decided you wanted to become musicians?

MP: I’ve never actually wanted to be a musician…

You’re in the right business then! What did you want to be Mikko?

MP: I’ve always just wanted to write and produce music. In my books not exactly the same thing as being a musician. But it’s of course fun to travel and play the tracks live, but it isn’t the main thing for me, its just a bonus.

SS: Kind of the same thing with me. I’ve wanted to do all kinds of things and music’s definitely involved in most cases. But I don’t think it would be that interesting to play the guitar my whole life.

Have you guys played live yet?

SS: Yeah, we did our live gig last February. So far we’ve played around ten shows.

How do you go about transferring the studio sound to the live stage? Is it still just the two of you?

SS: Us plus visuals.

There seems to be a sudden influx of bands using visuals more and more at the moment. Like an additional band member…

MP: With electronic music it’s a question of conscience.

SS: I think we’ve managed to make it sound like a live performance which is important. So it’s not us twiddling laptops or anything.

Do you create the visuals yourselves or collaborate with someone else?

MP: No, there’s a friend of ours who makes all of our visual things – Santtu Mustonen.

If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing?

SS: Hmm, I guess that’s kind of an impossible scenario. I wouldn’t be doing alright, that’s for sure.

McDonalds?

SS: Nah… Well, maybe on the executive level. But still. No!

Alright, so tell us about your future plans….The album surely is your main concern at the moment?

SS: Yes, we’re trying to get that done as soon as possible and we’d like to get it released early next year.

You’re producing it yourselves I gather?

MP: Of course

Would you ever like to bring in a producer?

MP: No I don’t think so. It would be like giving up, the producing and song writing is the main thing.

SS: Yeah, they go hand in hand. Maybe an engineer would be something we’d like to work with. Who would set up the mics etc.

MP: We could make him/her do all the nasty things.

SS: Rename the tracks and take the backups.

And make the tea.

SS: We’re more into coffee actually.. I guess it’s a cultural thing.

MP: 1 litre per day!

SS: Check this out. You have to drink hard to get to top of that list.

Holy shit. I bet you have a cup right now don’t you?

SS: Just finished the first pot of the day.

MP: Second one coming right up!