Today’s interview is with Kalmah, specifically two members of the band, Pekka Kokko and Antti Kokko. They are from Finland. Antti is the lead guitarist, Pekka is the guitarist and vocalist for the band. They’ve been together since 2000 or their first release was in the year 2000. I saw them on the 70,000 tons of Metal Cruise, which is always in January, year after year after year! I highly recommend going. I got to speak to them right after their performance on the cruise ship. Some of the subject matter of this interview is their self-titled record that was released in May 2023.

Check it out. Thanks to the Kokko brothers for making a little bit of time on this insane cruise to talk to me. And thanks to 70,000tons.com for putting on the shows and getting some interviews done along the way.

ANTTI: That’s much crowd surfing and mostly dance.

D: There was an excessive amount of crowd surfing, it was more like a crowd waterfall.

ANTTI: Yeah!

D: That was really pretty great. So how was that? You noticed!

ANTTI: Yeah. Actually from the very first song, I noticed that there’s a good boogie. So it was fun to play.

D: What is it like for you after many years, being in a band, from starting off, like being in a band, like, oh, we’re gonna do this band thing. Like, oh, this would be really cool. This would be fun. And now it’s part of your life. Talk about the differences and how it affects you and that kind of thing.

ANTTI: Well, of course, it hasn’t been the same all the time, but I think last 15 years, we just write an album and then we do some shows. And we have normal day jobs. So we do this every now and then. So it’s easy.

PEKKA: So it’s like something shit that you have to accept, right?

D:It’s a condition!

PEKKA: Yeah, it’s a condition or something. Yeah.

D: How is that different from when you started the band and it was an idea and you really didn’t know where it was going to go?

PEKKA: Yeah, of course, it’s different. You just said that. Why? Yeah.

ANTTI: In the beginning, you just wanted to do the music as it is today, of course, and we didn’t have any expectations, of course, doing shows outside Finland and things like that. And it has gone bigger on every album and it has been nice.

PEKKA: Yes, slowly but surely. Yeah, that’s right.

ANTTI: I think it’s good that it’s not on the higher level because we want to keep it a bit down.

D: Manageable.

PEKKA: Exactly. We are quite happy actually where it is now.

D: So you get to choose.

PEKKA: Yes, that’s right. We are able to choose. That’s right.

D: Oh, so why did you self-title your last record, Calma, like after all these?

ANTTI: Well, we thought that it will be the last album we ever made. But it seems that there’s new songs arising. So maybe we do another album. It’s going to be the 10th album. So at least that’s a good milestone.

D: Did you really decide that you wanted to end things or…?

ANTTI: Well, actually, well, at that time, I felt that we have seen this.

PEKKA: Otherwise, we just record the 10th one and then leave the scene open.

D: I think you could just do projects or do festivals. I don’t know if you all live near enough to be able to rehearse.

PEKKA: I don’t think we are not going to do absolute quit. Yeah, yeah.

ANTTI: Yeah, we need the door open. And let’s see what happens.

D: How close do all of you guys live to each other?

ANTTI: We used to live 15, 20 years ago, but nowadays, the rest of the guys live in southern Finland and we live up north. So it’s 700 kilometers. So we didn’t actually…We have rehearsed twice in the last 10 years. Together, yeah. We rehearse on stage.

D: Well, and there’s a lot of data sharing, so it’s not as necessary. It creates more freedom for you, really.

ANTTI: Yeah, yeah. I would like to rehearse more together, of course. Yeah, especially when you are doing a new album. But we are forced to do it by the Internet.

D: So who does most of the writing?

ANTTI: I do. I have written most of the songs, yes.

D: Okay. So you’re the man then. Do you write the lyrics?

PEKKA: Yes, I have done all the lyrics.

D: You can say that proudly.

PEKKA: Yeah, really? I have made all the lyrics. [laughter]

Yes, I have wrote them, yes.

D:  Did the cruise ask you to do particular albums, like the way it is?

ANTTI: Yeah, I think the guy who sells our shows sold them this way that we are doing to some special sets, so.

D:  Do you prefer that? Is it interesting to you?

ANTTI: Well, I think it’s the first time we do this, so. It was, of course, at first I didn’t think that..why? Because there’s some songs that we have never played live, so. But it turned out to be fun, yeah.

PEKKA: It was pretty well, actually. I was surprised. Pretty well done.

D: The joy that was in the audience was remarkable.

PEKKA: I noticed that, too!

ANTTI: Yeah.

D: It was beautiful.

ANTTI: We had some technical problems, but it didn’t matter because of the crowd was so crazy, so.

D: Is there sometimes where you get too involved in the technical and then just don’t really notice the moment?

ANTTI: We have had technical difficulties, so basically always, so we don’t care.

D: What’s your favorite piece of gear? Like, what’s your most reliable?

ANTTI: My gear? Well, myself. Yeah, myself! Well, I don’t have any, so I only have a couple of pedals and my guitar and I just need an amplifier and that’s it. So it’s very easy.

PEKKA: There’s nothing much that could get broke. We don’t have much equipment.

Just the basic stuff. It still works nowadays. You don’t have to do that, all that digital on everything. We keep it simple. Yes, that’s the best way.

D: For sure. I saw Hammerfall the other night and they went entirely direct. They had no amps on stage.

ANTTI: That’s the way bands do today. But we are doing it analog way.

D: Did they give you a list of what they have here? You just kind of like, did they have different Marshalls, etc?

ANTTI: Yeah, they have. We just pick one and that’s it.

D: So as the years went on, and when you started the band, I’m guessing that you weren’t really that good at your instrument or you were at a certain level. Not trying to insult you, I’m just saying.  So does it get easier to write music as your musicianship gets better?

ANTTI: Well, in a sense, in some way, but for me, writing music has always been about the inspiration. So I only trust my inspiration and try to avoid every possible influence. That’s of course not possible, to do so. But my principle is that if the inspiration gives me something and I like it, then it’s going to be a Kalmah song.

PEKKA: Yeah, when you get a better player, there’s always a danger that you’re going to start to repeat yourself. Avoiding that repeating is the biggest problem, I guess.

D: So then you have to really be, have a level higher expected for yourself. So then it’s actually harder getting better!

PEKKA: Yeah, that’s right.

ANTTI: And if you like develop on a guitar in playing it, you can easily start writing complex stuff, probably and things like that. But I of course enjoy that soloing is getting better still. So, so…

D: So you have those little things like, you know, is it faster, is it more about…

ANTTI: Well, I think it’s… More notes? No, no, I don’t like more notes. I think that…

PEKKA: More is not more.

ANTTI: Maybe my style is developing. That’s the way.

D: And that’s from the inside?

ANTTI: Yeah, that’s from the… Yeah, yeah, yeah.

D: Comfortable with what you’re…

ANTTI: Yeah, I like… I think that like solos, they… I think them as…They have to be kind of part of the song structure, but they are still solos, so they have their own story to tell inside the song.”

D “Do you do the same solo for the same song over and over again? I don’t mean it like over and over again, but like each time you play a particular song, if it’s recorded with a specific solo…

ANTTI: Yeah, I tried to do it, but I of course cannot remember.  {laughter}It’s a solo, so I usually pick up the certain points in the… If I don’t remember the solo throughout, so I pick up some things here and there, and then do different things in between, so that if somebody who plays guitar and listens to the solos can reckon the solo and remember the parts.

PEKKA: The solo’s theme.

ANTTI: Yeah, the theme of the solo, yes.

D: Oh, okay.

ANTTI: But if I remember the solo exactly, of course I play it like that!

D: What’s your favorite song to perform live?

ANTTI: Well, of course, the songs that Heroes To Us is the one that always goes to the crowd. So that’s fun to play. Yeah.

D: Are there any songs that are your favorite that you don’t really get to play?

ANTTI: Well, no. We play what we want.

D: Any weird audience experience?

ANTTI: Well, I don’t know. For example, last year, we were in China. We went to the Mongolian area. We were basically the first bigger band to go to that area, that has been prohibited. There was a lot of police. Every 50 meters, there was police and police stations. We were under the eye, so to say. But before the show, there was announcements that you cannot do that, you cannot do this. Everything was prohibited. And then we started the show and the crowd went totally crazy. So I thought, this is weird. So they didn’t care any of the announcements. So that was fun.

D: Did you book a tour there because you wanted to visit?

ANTTI: Well, we have been in Japan and China before and yeah.

PEKKA: But not in that particular area.

ANTTI: Yeah, it was up north. I think it was the town that has more miles to the sea from all over the world. Basically in the middle of the nowhere.

D: So what’s the best advice anybody ever gave you?

ANTTI: I don’t know. Be yourself. Yeah. 

PEKKA: Keep pushing.

D: Were you encouraged as a child to play music?

ANTTI: Well, no. We didn’t. Our parents, they of course listened to music, but they didn’t play any instruments.

D: Was that influential to you just that they were listening to music?

ANTTI: Yeah, of course.

PEKKA: I think I was his biggest influence.

ANTTI: Yeah.

PEKKA: Because I’m an older brother. 

D: How much older?

PEKKA: Five years older.

ANTTI: Yeah. Well, he started playing, so I sneaked in. Yeah.

D: Were there fights over..?

ANTTI: Yeah, we have had fights. But actually, nowadays…

PEKKA: Not serious fights. Only little arguments.

ANTTI: Yeah, arguments. Yeah. But nowadays, it’s calm. But with the new songs, of course, he’s…

PEKKA: Always complaining.

ANTTI: Yeah, always swearing that, “I cannot play this, I cannot play that”.

D: Oh, because you write it and then you put him through the ringer. Good!

ANTTI: But he will usually learn it.

D: He’s trying to keep you on your toes.

ANTTI: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.

Yeah. 

Thank you to brothers Pekka and Antti Kokko of Kalamah, 70000tons.com and wfmu.org.