French Magazine Rock Hardi intended to give a young persons guide to The Micragirls, asking some basic questions, which the Micragirls answer basically in basic english. (June 2009)
- Could you introduce the band ( musicians, instruments..)
---We are The Micragirls from Finland. We play rock'n'roll with our own style and attitude. Mari plays guitar and is leadsinger, Katariina plays organs and backing vocals and Risu plays drums and backing vocals.
- When and How did you decide to start the band ?
---It all started 8 years ago. We all studied in the same art & design school in Kuopio. At the beginning of the summer 2001 we went to a finnish music festival called Provinssirock. At first it was just a crazy idea. Someone of us said that "why don't we have a band, all of our boyfriends have. We should have a band too". So we chose what instruments we wanted to play and next week we went to our friend's rehearsal room. There we just started to play. We started to make our own songs from the beginning and we chose easy cover songs. We played our first gig in our drummer Risu's 25 years birthday party during the same summer. We couldn´t play music instruments very well at that time, but it didn´t bother us. We got the attitude that we can do it by our selves and so we did. That is how it all started. We wouldn't never guessed that The Micragirls would last long enough to do tours in Europe etc. At first it was only for having fun together.
- Was it the same mucians at the beginning ? Were you used to play in some other bands before ?
---When we started there was four of us. Our bass player Elina left the band after we had played about two years together. We decided to continue with only three of us because at the moment we couldn't find anybody who would have suited the band. And we noticed also that we three had good chemistry together so we we're afraid to spoil it with new people. Nowadays Katariina plays also bassorgan so we don´t miss the bass. Mari has classical music background and Risu had played a little bit drums before the Micragirls started. We have been listening to many kinds of music for a long time and we have been organizing gigs in our hometown Kuopio for a long time so we had many musician friends.
- How could you describe your music ? What are your influences ? What kind of music do you like ?
---It's cheerful, raw, crazy, hazy... Rock´n´roll without trying to look and behave like rock'n'roll stars but only be ourselves. We don't care about mistakes on stage, the main thing is good atmosphere. Our goal from the beginning was to learn to play with our own style, not to become great musicians. We love primitive simple rock'n'roll and that's what we try to keep our thing too.
Influences are old music compilations like Born Bad, Sin Alley, Back From The Grave, Savage Kicks and the bands like The Cramps, Ramones, Link Wray, Mummies, Trashwomen, Hasil Adkins, Dead Moon and Finnish 22 Pistepirkko, Jolly Jumpers, Larry & The Lefthanded, Cosmo Jones Beat Machine, Festermen, Flaming Sideburns, Thee Ultra Bimboos etc.
- Besides the band, there are two shops, a special designer for posters, drawings, some clothings...etc, Would you say that the Micra Girls are a business company or a high-energy family ?
---It's more of a high-energy family. We just do what we want and we do it as good as we can. And we hope that there is people out there who digs this kind of stuff. Everything has happened kind of easily. We all have this art & design school background. Risu's man Sami Vähä-Aho has done our graphics from the beginning. We all love his style. He has also helped us in many other ways and he's our driver when we are touring. Risu & Sami has they own clothing label called Polkka Jam and they have started two shops. Daiga Daiga Duu opened 2004 in Kuopio (East Finland) and Polkka Jam opened 2007 in Turku (West Finland). When Risu & Sami moved to Turku Katariina continued keeping Daiga Daiga Duu shop in Kuopio. Mari just had her first own exhibition in Kuopio and hopefully we can see her drawings in Micra graphics too in the future. So these 8 years we haven't been working only for the Micragirls, we have other activites in life too. We try to do the Micragirls the way that we would enjoy and have fun when we are doing it. Of course many things have changed from the beginning and there are things involved to Micragirls that aren't so much fun. Like tour organizing, promotion, long travels, trying to find time to play together etc. So it has at some point also became part of our work.
- Tell us more about your first singles, your very first labels.
---First 7" "Are You Insane Girls?" (500pcs) was published by our friends band Aavikko's record company Muysic for Peoples in 2002. It's really raw and hazy record. We didn't know much of anything back then. We were just very happy to got the chance to record and get to hold our very own record! Second 7" "Mindtwistin' Weekend with The Micragirls"(1000pcs) and "Primitive Homeorgan Blast" (1000pcs) we published by ourselves. We tought that if Aavikko can do that we can do it too... heh.. All of those records are recorded in our rehearsal room. "Mindtwistin" and "Primitive" was produced by our friends Arttu and Jantsu from the band called Slideshaker. We toured with Slideshaker a lot when we started to play gigs. Everything was new to us. We had really good time when we recorded those and I think that you can hear it from the records. All of those records have been sold out for a long time now.
- Tell us more about Bonevoyage
---Bone Voyage is Finnish band's 22 Pistepirkko and German Quintus Kannegiesser's record label. They have published only Finnish bands. I think that they got pretty good band roster. Different kind of indie bands. It's kind of small but they got quite good contacts to Europe.
- What is it all about in your songs ?
---At first it was only about having fun. We prefer to sing about animals better than relationships... At first we were very exited and happy to get any sounds out from our instruments and mouths and I think we still are. That's why we are still doing this. We have respect for some bands political lyrics because we are a bit political in our personal lifes. But it is very hard to do it with good taste and keep it simple if you go to that way. In our forthcoming record some lyrics are about having fun, dancing and rocking your brains out and then the darker ones are more about the DIY lifestyle we have choose. And few is about love...
- Have you record some covers ? Which ones ?
---We have recorded Marsha Gees Peanut Duck, Pleasure Seekers Whatta Way To Die, The Lone Twisters Lone Twister, Little Willie John's Leave My Kitten Alone, The Shandel'sGo Go Gorilla and for the upcoming record we have recorded Wanda Jackson's Funnel of Love, Collin's Kids Whistle Bait and Ronnie Love's Chills & Fever.
- About the new album ? Is it different from the previous one ? Where have you recorded it ?
---New album is going to be little bit darker and deeper. There will be couple of slow and moody songs on it. And some experimental weird stuff also, but we have not forgot pure rock´n´ roll either. So there is lots of nuance on it. We play and sing better than on our previous record so it is quite different.
We have been recording it in Altai studio in Helsinki with Jaakko Kujala and Asko Keränen in few different sessions. Sessions have been very nice. It has been great to work with music lovers who got huge knowledge like Asko & Jaakko! They are professionals but they still get our primitive point to do things.
- Have you played outside Finland ? Where ? What was your best memory ? Where would you love to play ?
---We've played about 250 gigs in Finland and abroad. We have played in Russia, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Netherlands and UK. But there is still plenty to conquer! There are many best memories! We were supporting Jon Spencer's and Matt Verta-Ray's Heavy Trash in Europe and that whole tour was a blast! Also I don´t know why but we all love to play gigs in Switzerland. Perhaps it's because of the good cheese or chocolate... and Swiss beer also tastes like honey...
- What about the finnish rock'n roll scene, is it active ?
---In Finland there are couple of really good bands but rock´n roll scene isn´t so active right now. Here is few names you should check out: The Lariots, Nazi Death Camp, Country Dark, King James & The Idiots, Sweatmaster, Patsy Walkers, The Seekrets, The Sultans -Cool stuff. In Helsinki there are also good record shops like Goofin' records and Fatty Sounds and good venues to play. Our number one fans are from Helsinki! They bring presents to our gigs.