Wasted is probably the best punk rock band in Finland. They just released a new 10�/MCD. Singer, Ville, and guitarist, Antti, had some time to do this interview before their gig at Lutakko, Jyv�skyl�.
Tuomas: You just released a new MCD/10� �Can�t Wash Off the Stain�. Are you satisfied with it?
Ville: Yeah
Antti: Yeah
Tuomas: I think it has an oi!-ish sound.
V: Oi!-ish sound?
Tuomas: Yup, somehow it reminds me of The Last Resort.
V: Oh. Well, that wasn�t the purpose.
Tuomas: No, I mean it�s a good thing. I don�t mean oi!-sound as a bad thing at all. I think it�s a good record.
A: I think the old songs are more [like oi!].
V: In our previous release, �Down & Out�. I think it has a little bit of a different style.
Tuomas: Somehow those guitar melodies remind me of the Last Resort. It�s a good record anyway. When you started I heard you play Black Flag kind of stuff. Have you changed your music from then to now?
V: Well yeah, that was the beginning. Old US punk from the early 80�s. From Black Flag and Circle Jerks it began. We don�t have that kind of sound very much anymore. I think we have our own sound now.
Tuomas: When I first listened to �Can�t Wash Off the Stain� and your first album, �Suppress & Restrain�, I think there wasn�t too big of a difference.
A: Not in the songs, but in our playing skills.
Tuomas: More diverse and melodic�
A: In the beginning, it sounded like shit on purpose. V: The studio dude almost refused to put that kind of sound down. Now we�ve tried to make it sound good.
Tuomas: You had a tour in the UK. What kind of stuff is going on there?
V: Good goings on. It surprised me how good.
Tuomas: The crowd liked you?
V: I was surprised how many people knew the band; we hadn�t been there before. There were people at the gigs who knew the words of the songs�
Tuomas: What kind of places did you play?
V: Mostly in the pubs and bars. There are no squat things.
A: There were a couple of good punk bars.
V: Mostly pub gigs in the UK.
Tuomas: How about the USA?
A: We don�t have any certain plans.
V: Of course it would be cool go there. But there�s probably no use if we haven�t released any records there. Otherwise people don�t know us at all.
Tuomas: One funny thing: when I copied some of your songs to Dora, who does this zine with me, she liked your songs and bought your CD. Dora�s mom has a radio show and she would�ve played your songs, but you have too many fuck-words�
V: Didn�t get through? [laughing]
Tuomas: No.
V: Maybe we should put less fuck-words. �BEEB� sound instead of fuck.
Tuomas: I read in Palokka zine that you (Antti) bought a tattoo gun and stuff. How did you get into that?
A: I don�t really know how it started. I�ve always been into tattoos, I draw and stuff. I�m interested in that, so I thought why shouldn�t I do that kind of stuff myself too? Then I had a chance to get tattoo gun and stuff when I got a student loan.
Tuomas: Boring politic-question: will you vote? [We had a parliamentary election at that time]
V: It�s kind of a complicate thing. If they would count empty votes, that would be a stance. Then I would give an empty vote if they were counted like the rest of the votes, so it will be realized that there�s a resistanc. But it doesn�t work like that so I don�t know. In theory I could vote for the Lefties or Greens, but there�s no candidate who I would totally support.
Tuomas: Do you think you could run for Parliament in 30 years?
V & A: No.
V: I couldn�t image that and we surely will not.
Tuomas: How much does your music effect people?
V: Of course it has an effect. I�ve noticed that if teenagers start to listen to punk, it will change their life quite a lot. And it will effect a hell of a lot in the choices you make in life. You can make an effect a little at least in your own life, hopefully for some others too.
Tuomas: You (Ville) wrote Wasted�s lyrics. Do you have any influences?
V: Well� nothing pops in my mind immediately. I don�t really try to take influences, I try to improve my own style.
Tuomas: Whose lyrics do you like?
V: I can�t say anyone who is better than another. I don�t know. I don�t like when lyrics are too black & white. I think there should be a little bit of a personal point of view or opinions from a different angle. That kind of stuff is good.
Tuomas: If you could choose 2 bands you could play with, from the past or present or whatever, what bands would you choose?
V: 2 bands. It�s a gig, right?
Tuomas: Yeah, you can use a time machine.
A: I don�t know who I would like to play with, but at least I would like to see some bands. I would be more interested if I could just go to watch some bands. Of course it would be cool to see Black Flag play�
V: At the time when they really had their thing (early 80�s I guess). Operation Ivy would be cool to check out when I think of old bands.
Tuomas: What else? What should I bring up in this kind of interview?
A: Nothing really pops in my mind�
V: Quite a hard question. Sure we could bring up something, but I don�t really know what.
A: I think that in an interview many things come out when just discussing things.
V: Many times it�s quite hard if we�re doing an interview and we don�t know each other (band & interviewer) so it�s kind of a hard situation because it�s not quite obvious if the interviewer got all of the points. Many magazines, especially if it�s a regular rock magazine, they don�t care very much about what they say. They could edit things.
Tuomas: I�m out of questions. Say �hi!�s or something. It�s all yours.
V: �Hi�s? Hi to mom. [laughing]
A: Hi to everyone who is interested in this kind of stuff. Music things.
