MTUK: Good evening Jyrki.

JYRKI: Hello, Hello...

MTUK: So how are you?

JYRKI: Great. Very good.

MTUK: How does it feel to be back in the UK?

JYRKI: It has been a long time; we played the UK for the first time in '96, if I remember right , and then about three years ago when we toured with Wednesday 13. The UK and London itself has been of course like, I would say and influence for our band of course. Over the years, it has been great to be here as we are not touring here regularly, we don't even have records released out here, but now things are turning as they should have turned out a few years ago. Its been a matter of time and its good to be back, definitely, its better later than never.

MTUK: You're touring again with Wednesday 13 in Germany this June. Do the 69 Eyes enjoy playing shows with his band and how did this tour come about? Is there a special relationship there?

JYRKI: Yeah, we are all friends dating back to the days when he was in The Murderdolls. He has been doing his stuff for years like we have been doing our stuff and it was a great friendly gesture for him to take us to support them a couple of years ago here in the UK, so we thought it was time to repay the gesture and it is happening vice-versa in germany where we are taking them to support us there. Actually, going there was so fun, and Wednesday 13's band right now is the coolest ever. We are continuing the tour with them in two weeks time, from mid June to mid July in the USA, so thats going to be another horror, glam-rock extravaganza.

MTUK: Its been three years since your last studio release, 'Devils'...

JYRKI: Is it...

MTUK: Three years indeed. What have the 69 Eyes been up to between now and then?

JYRKI: Well during the time of the last few records, we were signed to EMI Virgin. And the deal is this, when you do your first album on a major label, it is a business tool that introduces you to the worldwide company. 'Devils' was such a thing, a proper introduction of the band to the company. The problem is that the record doesn't definitely come out worldwide at the same time, especially if it is a first album as its big for the company and it becomes a marketing tool. In the place of 'Devils', it came out every second month in a different country across Europe and the rest of the world; in America, it came out a year later on a different label. So basically we have been touring for the release of 'Devils' until March 2007 when we finished our tour with Cradle of Filth in the States. That was, if you like, the last tour for 'Devils'. When you have a record out, you tour for it, and we it comes out at so many different times, you have to tour for even longer. Now that the introduction is over, now that they know who we are, the records are coming out at the same time and also they have really started to work on our behalf to show that we are here.

MTUK: Has this progress had any particularly high points?

JYRKI: Yes, two things. Finally a UK release for our albums, for our new record 'Angels'. Thats a first ever UK release for the 69 Eyes, and I think our UK record company will also release 'Devils' out here. Also we have a new label in the states, to make it more complicated- Caroline Records- which is independent and was releasing everything from Misfits to Smashing Pumpkins in the 90s. They sort of went into hiatus for a while, but now they are back in business and we are one of their new bands.

So there are interesting times ahead. Also, before releasing 'Angels' we changed our management and agent, so we now have a totally new group of people working for us. We also have a UK based agency, 'Helter Skelter bookings' and the same manager as Apocyliptica, so we now have a totally new group of people pushing the 69 Eyes to the next level; Already, Angels has been out across Europe for two months and is just coming out in the UK, it feels like we have already reached the next level.

MTUK: Is the touring schedule for 'Angels' going to be as intense as it was for the 'Devils' release?

JYRKI: We have already been booked to play over here again, we are going to tour the [United] States about three times and probably also three or four times here, and then if everything goes according to plan we will go to some countries we have never been to before. Its endless touring ahead but its cool, and its interesting to see these places. From our point of view, it is incredible that our audience is possible, its great to see that people are into what we are doing.

MTUK: We talked about the UK a lot, and your plans to tour here more and really make a mark now that the 69 Eyes have UK distribution. Do you have any specific plans for the 69 Eyes return?

JYRKI: Yeah, before was just a scratch in the surface. We are certainly going to do some promotion here in the near future, also I might pop up every now and then to do some DJ slots and to have some fun. Also were are touring here after the Summer, hopefully a headlining tour and also a supporting tour that I don't want to mention yet (later MTUK discovers this to be Within Temptation's tour across the UK).

MTUK: Lets talk some more about the new release, ‘ANGELS’. Were there any songs you were particularly happy with on the album?

JYRKI: All the songs, and the mood of the album in general- you know, sometimes you can create something and not really have any idea where it comes from, so when it comes to questions like, 'What does this mean, What’s behind this', you don't really know what to say as you haven't thought of it yourself. Only now am I beginning to understand the album after getting feedback from fans, after playing it live, doing interviews. You may say, why is there a song called 'Frankenhooker'? Well because its fun and sounds cool, but that’s about it. A lot of things I write have to do with my freaky sense of humor. Also, the three UK shows we are playing have risen some songs of the new album that are really important in the life of the 69 Eyes, especially 'Rocker' which is getting a really great reception even though the album isn't even officially out here yet.

MTUK: So the fan response is what really determines your best material?

JYRKI: I bought a book of quotes and one of the quotes was 'I never explain my heart, I leave it to live it'. For people to enjoy. And it’s the same thing, you can never know until you experience.

MTUK: The new single, 'Never Say Die', is actually a quote from the Goonies, is it not?

JYRKI: Well yes, but not definitely so; it just caught me when I was watching the Goonies for a long time, and especially 80s movies catch me like that. I was once young and that was in the 80s- I probably didn't live a full teenager life 'cause I was a total nerd, on my own with my comics and records, so that might be the reason why these days I am enjoying 80s stuff so much. I don't know if is the common thing around, but the 80s is totally back everywhere and its amazing that even kids who weren't there when it all happened love movies like 'Goonies' or 'Lost Boys', even 'Back to the Future' and stuff like that.

MTUK: Why do you think the 80s has enjoyed such a huge comeback?

JYRKI: The 80s has some sense of innocence, a good time feeling. There was of course a dark side to it, but it was more for entertainment, not absolute evil. I guess there will always be this thing about evil ruling the world, but in the 80s all that was for horror and entertainment value, and so the movies are still pretty cool, even though I saw them all that time ago. I was actually in HMV today and I bought three, no actually four DVDs of 'Back to the Future' for our tour bus. So that’s what the dangerous rock n roll band does when the bus is moving, we all watch these kids movies. Well at least some of the time.

MTUK: Would you say there is an underlying message in the title, 'Never say Die', as the 69 Eyes have been together for almost ten years now?

JYRKI: Well, 'Never say Die' caught my ear from that movie and I thought it would be a pretty cool line to theme into a song, it just happened and I found similarity in the fact that its like the theme of the movie, and we needed again an anthem… as we move further along every album needs an anthem. On previous releases, we have had anthems like 'Wasting the Dawn', and 'Lost Boys' of course. The music for each anthem is a song, and I wanted to include parts of the cultures of skaters, Goths, glam rockers, punks, a little drop of southern California and a good time feeling. The song became, in Finland, the biggest hit we have ever done. In the radio charts there it is usually just the regular pop bands, but 'Never say Die' has been number two for a long while. Its amazing, and out there it is now 'our song'.

During this tour, it is not the single yet as 'Perfect Skin' [the first single from 'Angels'] is still fresh and new., but I am seeing 'Never say Die' growing in the audience, people are learning it and we will see what happens. Also its video was super fun to make.

MTUK: Would you say the 69 Eyes are rather prone to chart success, with the new album already gone gold?

JYRKI: I would say that we have the chance to live this double life. In Finland, we are this lame, mainstream band with platinum records and all-people shows: you don't have to dress in black, or know anything about lost boys and vampires, its just rock n roll and the 69 Eyes are everywhere. Then we go to South America, or Spain or somewhere like that and we are these deadly serious grave robbers, die hard goths. Or in the States where we are this mainstream, tattoo generation new secret band that the cool kids at school know about. It is cool to have the chance to be somewhere between the two worlds.

MTUK: As an album, 'Angels' seems somewhere close to the 'Paris 'Kills' album as opposed to more recent releases such as 'Devils'. Are the 69 Eyes returning to their glam rock roots?

JYRKI: Really? I think 'Angels' is more like a rock n roll record with a bunch of old-school 69 Eyes stuff and also some darker music. There is also more glam there than before. This year has been amazing for us, our entire back catalog was released in the states by Cleopatra Records so all these MySpace kids are buying now our releases from the early 90s, all of which are fierce, naughty, loud underground glam-rock songs and they are saying 'wow, this sounds so fresh and cool' so I guess it is relevant to what we are releasing now. When we were releasing 'Angels', that feedback was inspirational for us, and we could sort of place our bets; its like we are recycling our old stuff, putting more glam and straightforward leather in your face. That is the main thing- if you like 'Angels' you can safely go and buy any record from the 69 Eyes and not be surprised, because all of our elements are present on there.

MTUK: So 'Angels' is the definitive 69 Eyes sound?

JYRKI: It took ten years for us to create the actual 69 Eyes sound, what we have right now. A major example would be the song 'Never say Die', but it took four records to develop that sound. Down maybe another ten years we would have a different sound to what we have right now, but when we started we wanted to be a glam rock band with Gothic and dark-rock elements. Back in '89, that was something we had to figure out for ourselves as a band. Now, we have got that solved and we are doing this record, it is fun to go back a little, add little old bones to the witch's cauldron.

MTUK: So would you say that 'Angels' has brought on a new musical direction for the 69 Eyes?

JYRKI: No, I would say its just like we are recycling all that we've done already. Ever since the beginning we have been a rock n roll band, we jump around on stage and do crazy things. There is one moment that I remember clearly that was when we really started to happen, at a German Gothic bar. It was a moment that I will always remember in the life of the 69 Eyes. I like to take my act on stage and do crazy things; roll around on the floor, roll in broken glass, lick the mic stand and see girls boobs. Thats something that will go on forever and is the forward direction of the 69 Eyes. Musically, we can become whatever because we never painted ourselves into some corner and there are no limits in that sense. But I don't see our music changing drastically anytime soon, no reggae or Norwegian black metal stuff, though I love both of those styles as well.

MTUK: What would you say has been your best moment of the tour tour you've just done here?

JYRKI: When somebody threw her bra on the stage at the Barfly in London, that was fun. (laughs) But in general, the favourite moment was just to know we are coming back. I think maybe we are needed here. There are some really cool bands coming out in the UK right now, like Towers of London and stuff like that. But I hope also that we inspire some new stuff to life over here.

MTUK: You recently did guest vocals on a Sisters of Mercy cover by Maryslim, an artist you have collaborated with on a couple of occasions. Is there anyone you would particularly like to work with, or any other cover versions you would like to do?

JYRKI: There are so many songs that I would like to do as a cover, but I don't think it fits for the 69 Eyes as we write all our hits ourselves. When you do a cover version, you try to do something different with it, something that will catch the publics attention, but even for that reason I don't think we need to do some. Maybe I have to do them one way or another, I love Dead or Alive, there are always a few of their songs I would love to work with.

MTUK: Maybe a special cover just for the next tour?

JYRKI: Even live there is no room for cover versions as we have certain hits of ours that we have to play. If we have a special guest touring with us, then cover versions come into the picture- we did this for the end of the tour with Wednesday 13 and Maryslim. In Berlin, we played 'Search and Destroy' with all the bands for our last encore song, and that was really cool. So you never know, if a rock legend pops up and we have a chance to invite them to the stage, you never know it might happen. Also, as we are already planning the next album, I have some ideas of favourite artists of mine that I'd like to collaborate with in the future, but lets wait and see what happens.

MTUK: Do you see this follow up to 'Angels' coming together next year, or sometime longer like three or four years from now?

JYRKI: Most likely three years because of touring. But it’s definitely on its way.

MTUK: We do have one personal question for you Jyrki...Do you have and upcoming UNICEF plans?

JYRKI: Yes actually, I do. The kids I am working with right now, one thousand of them are doing what is called a 'camel walk' to earn money for schools in Finland. I got a call just yesterday after our London sound check from the school in Central Finland to open up this walk for them, so I said of course, why not. I'm not a sinner, I'm not a saint, I'm just a rocker.

MTUK: That’s great. Do you see the 69 Eyes as a band getting involved in any musical charity projects?

JYRKI: Actually I was just watching CNN and Bob Geldoff was on there, talking about how Africa is only nine miles away from Europe and how we should take more caution. I met Bob recently, and he is such a cool guy, the only guy talking about Africa in the world. That’s amazing and I have a lot of respect for him and what he is doing.

But he doesn't involve his band in what he is doing, and I too don't think that is necessary in a sense; when [the 69 Eyes] were in Brazil, I was asked to visit some local UNICEF activities, but with the really tight schedule it wasn't possible. But the people involved were inviting all of the band to play football for orphaned kids, and we were all interested in taking part. But generally I think its better for me not to get the band involved.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO JYRKI 69 AND BLOOD& GASOLINE, THE OFFICIAL 69 EYES UK STREET TEAM

http://www.69eyes.com

Interviewed by Lyn Connolly

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