The Spyro
Interviewed by Heili and Kaheli
What is the meaning behind the name ‘The Spyro’? Just out of curiousity, how many times do you get asked that?
Many times in every single show and answer. And no, it doesn’t come from the dragon. Spyro actually comes from the Greek word spiridon which means spirit.
What exactly is the definition of a ‘Spyromaniac’? How does one become a spyromaniac?
You don’t, you’ll get Spyrofied
How long have you been together playing as a band?
With this line-up, a bit less than two years
What kind of musical background do you all have?
We all have been playing in several bands and projects, but there’s no point in listing those here since The Spyro is THE thing now, right 
Who does the writing of your music and lyrics? Is it done collaboratively amongst all of you or not?
Most of the songs are written by Hape except ‘Braces In My Brain’ which is Toni’s masterpiece and Olli is behind all the lyrics. The final versions of the songs are arranged together by the whole band
Besides The Spyro, are there any other bands you guys perform in?
Nope… well actually Simo is playing in Pantera cover band called Vanttera \,,/ 
Are you all originally from Helsinki? If not, then where did you grow up?
Olli was born in Vaasa, but lived most of his life in Hämeenlinna and nowadays enjoys the laid-back atmosphere of Kallio, Helsinki.
Toni’s only one who’s originally from Helsinki area but recently moved to Turku. Bastard. Hape lived the first twenty years of his life up north in Rovaniemi before moving to Vantaa.
Antti was born in Northern Finland, Pudasjärvi. This little city made famous by UFOs in ’70s. After wandering in various cities, Antti has found his home from Helsinki. Simo is originally from Ruokolahti (you know, the small town that has lions running around), but grew up also in Hämeenlinna. And almost knew Olli as both were active in the huge Hämeenlinna music scene
We were wondering who did the pictures of you guys in the tube-like things? Got to admit, they’re pretty spiffy and a lot of fun to use in photoshop …
Pictures were taken by Jani Turku and they were shot in Gloria, Helsinki. Just to get to the right mood we lived in those round holes for a week;)
With Finland being famous for its dark side when it comes to music, what has pushed you guys or driven you, should I say, to have a more light and livley vibe in your music?
Lively vibes are the best, lively music kicks ass. You’re able to get yourself sweating like a swine on a gig and when you see pretty girls shaking their booties to our music, you know “everything’s gonna be okey”
What is it with Finnish bands and wearing sunglasses while performing live in a dark club?
We’ve done it just once in a club, just for fun. I think lots of players are so shy they must were shades or too drunk;)
You recently did a tour in the Baltic countries last fall, how was it? Were you guys well received? And were there any antics that happened? You know, a bunch of guys cramped together for days on end…things can happen.
It went quite smoothly. In Estonia and Latvia people went crazy when we started to play, which is nice, Lithuanian gig on Sunday was little bit more calm, but we managed to get one dancer on the stage but quite soon the security removed him . In dark punk clubs and in a huge nightclubs the spirit went up through the roof.
We have our own tour bus named Spyrovan and it has really become a second home for us. Only problems occurred with the gearbox of this van as we lost the fifth gear somewhere in Latvia, but four is enough… We like this touring so much and we are exited to play, that there’s no reason to fight. Maybe after fifteen years of touring with Spyrovan, we’ll whack each others fat faces or throw some popcorn on each other because we are so old and tired.
What would you say was the funniest moment during that tour? The worst?
Our funniest, and probably Antti’s worst moment, was when we torched his butthair with an air refreshener and a lighter while he was passed out after the last gig on Baltic tour
When you’re performing a show, which song does the audience seem to react to the most?
We’re The Libertines is known well, Bordello and Desert Cube also wake up the audience and of course Braces in My Brain and Waterfall.
What’s the craziest moment you’ve experienced or seen when playing live?
Probably in Valga, Estonia during the encore, the stage was suddenly full of people dancing. This continued also in Latvia and later in Helsinki.
You have some gigs coming up this spring, do you plan on touring & gigging throughout the summer? Also, do you have any plans to tour other countries?
We are doing a minitour in northern Finland in March, we might do some festivals in the summer and Eurotour 2010 in Germany and some other countries in June.
What other countries besides Finland have you toured? Which has been your favorite to date? Also, if you could tour anywhere in the world this year, where would it be and why?
2009 we did Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. This summerfestival in Estonia was a great experience and our first gig in Reeberbahn, Hamburg was also fine moment.
We would definitely tour in Australia in October and November, we have some good friends there and the weather conditions would be quite different to Finland’s gloomy autumn.
Tell us about ‘The Spyro Van’…what’s it like? Comfy? Roomy? Smelly? What..we would love to know.
You should try it, we rent it for people who want to taste smelly rock’n roll life once in their secured lifes/ once in a lifetime…
Heili has a virtual ‘short bus’ that we often use for joyriding, cyberly of course, would you guys be interested drag racing the spyro van against the short bus? Just a word of caution though, she does tend to ‘drift’ sideways…
Drag racing is on, our driver is Zouwi, the sounddude, because he has no driving license. (What we have noticed is that you don’t need a license while driving in Poland 
Recently, our DJ Heili, became a mother so the big ‘political’ debate rolling around FU Radio chat room has been about breast feeding in public. What’s your take on this, good thing or bad?
The more breasts in public- the better! We were all born naked and most of us tend to go naked to the shower and sauna. It’s natural.
If you had a pet polar bear what would you name him?
Archie, the Analsniffer.
What’s your stance on underwear? Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxers ok, commando ok, Borat trunks ok but no drawers while playing!
What is your take on the real meaning of life?
“Cobacabana, Pina Colada and Surf Nicaragua!” -we’re the Libertines
Links
Upcoming Shows (Finland)
- 03/17/10 @ Klubi in Turku
- 03/19/10 @ Tivoli in Rovaniemi
- 03/20/10 @ Koodi in Kemi
- 05/22/10 @ Club Liberte in Helsinki
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