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• Popgasm • Tour Diary 2007-2008 • Keikkapäiväkirja • Fairytale video shoot • Fairytalen video • Making of 1st album • Albumin teko |
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09.07.2006 — Samu On the way home 16/06/2006 The flight company (I won’t mention the name) had made a mistake with Sami’s, Janne’s and Raul’s tickets. When we left from Finland they said it’s cool and we don’t need to check in earlier or nothing. But no, we had to pay extra and we were lucky to take off at all. So here we are again above the Eastern Sea. Janne is snoring (like a baby) next to me and Sami is hugging him (probably dreaming about his mom) on the other side. Raul sleeps on the other side of the ally and Mikko’s seat is in the front. All by himself. We had to leave Julia to Germany on our stop, she had to go to work. Poor thing. We’ll be able to sleep in the buss, but I’m sure she can’t just close her eyes at the office. It was the first time we all met Julia and we liked her a lot. She seems to be dynamic and she seems to know what she’s doing. And she knows how to drink beer like a man. Good. We taught her all the necessary nasty words in Finnish to be used once she comes to Finland. And we shot many clips for our own “teen hitchhikers.com archive” of her. Her bosses will love it. Pori and club 19 here we come. I’ll close my eyes for an hour now. Damn I love this…. Added: 09.07.2006 — Samu Video shooting 2nd day In the morning we sat in our van and headed towards south to the next location. Julia was feeling a little sick for all the “a couple of beers” and we had to stop on the highway for a while… We drove to this little village in the middle of nowhere and as we arrived, the weather wasn’t too promising. We can skip the whole thing if it starts raining. When we were almost at our destination, we nearly hit a BULL with the van. It was 30 cm away. Our driver Lynn just happened to look at the lovely mountains for a moment. Would have been nice to shoot the last parts with blood on our faces. Most of the day we just waited and waited. As Ralf and his crew were getting everything ready (and hoping for the weather to change a bit) we shot some clips with Julia’s vid cam for the German press and TV. “Hi, were Sunrise Avenue and you can see our new video Fairytale Gone bad on Viva” And the same in German. It took so long for us all to learn it. Especially Raul had problems pronouncing, probably gis hairy face is not made for the language. The shooting location was really cool. It’s the same place where U2 shot their VERTOGO video. A desert field with some kind of an old concrete building ( probably an old oven?) in the middle on what they reflected the shots of me and Ashley. The later and darker it got, the angrier the mosquitoes got. And guess who’s face is in the spotlight. Mosquitoes love bright light. But Ralf seemed to know what he’s doing. After those parts, Julia, Ralf and I went to the beach nearby to shoot some scenes where I sit on the sand right next to the water for the first chorus. The place was awesome. 5Km of a sand “bridge”, water on both sides. They say it’s the only place in Catalonia (Western Spain) where you can see the reflection of sunset in the water. There were also some thunderstorms by the mountains that time. Looked pretty impressive. We only got a few drops on us. Good. On the way back to the centre of Barcelona, our driver Lynn got completely lost. She’s from the southern part, from Malaga and don’t know the area that well. Luckily I had been to Barcelona quite a few times and I was able to use my knowledge and my Spanish skills for a long time. It’s funny how you don’t forget the language once you learn it. At least not all of it. We got to the hotel at 01AM and we still had to pack the bags for an early wake up to get to the airport at 6. Again we slept for some 2 hours. I really wouldn’t want to leave all this at all. I’ll miss this trip. On the other hand our tour buss will be waiting for us at the airport in Finland and we’ll get to see Jukka again. We miss him a lot and we wish he could have been a part of this trip too. Added: 09.07.2006 — Samu 2nd day, Video shootings part 1 Hotel breakfast. If all the people all over the world would get hotel breakfast once a month, I’m sure there would be no wars. It’s so great. Even the bacons were placed symmetrically. Huge bags of clothes again and this time also our guitars and basses along and towards the studio complex. Of course I had forgotten my guitar strap in the tour buss and Mikko had to explore the city’s flamenco guitar shops to find a new rock credible strap for me. And he did!! Quite a job. The day started with waiting and waiting… The local crew had delivered a wrong kind of a crane (the one that moves the camera) and it took a while to get the one he needed. Finally we decided to have lunch before shooting a single shot (we woke up for this at 9 AM!) and it was 3PM before we got to the action. Hot as hell! We shot some live stuff at the complex. The story is about me and my “girlfriend” breaking up, actually she’s throwing me out in the end. The girl is played by ASHLEY, an extremely pretty girl from L.A. We play the song in front of a reflection of shots that “I’ve made of her.” Ralf told us that they were approached by more than 600 girls from L.A. who wanted the role. Whatta hell?? And we got to choose. Every job has its down side. In the evening we drove the whole equipment to the center of Barcelona to a rooftop to shoot some more live parts. Sami’s drums were 30 cm away from the edge of the roof – a long way down. We were all a bit nervous. Especially Janne and Raul weren’t able to fully focus because they don’t like the heights. We had a small fight with Janne as I took Julia on my shoulders and pretended that I’m gonna throw her down. It was only a joke, but OK, a bad one. It’s stupid to play with such stuff especially if someone’s not happy being on the roof. Luckily we were too tired to have a fistfight. I would have lost. I think… We worked for 14 and a half hours. Make up and new clothes all the time and all the time ready for action. It’s tougher than you would think, but in a way I feel happier than ever. After the dinner Julia invited us to her room to have “a couple of beers.” We all agreed to get up early to go shopping but due to Julia’s hospitality Sami and I stayed in bed. Couldn’t get up. You gotta sleep too you know… Added: 09.07.2006 — Samu First day shooting We were nice boyz and girls and went straight to bed after a few welcoming beers in the evening. Now we feel fresh! First we waited for our manager BOB to arrive (who’s flight was cancelled yesterday), but then decided to leave him on his own with the Spanish taxi drivers. The first location was maybe 15 minutes from the centre. A cool studio / Office complex surrounded by palm trees. We met Ralf, a guy originally from Germany, who’s lived and worked the last fifteen years in L.A. – a cool guy. We have many bags of clothes and all kinds of accessories and pretty tight instructions from the stylist what to wear on each set. I’ve never seen such a big crew shooting promo pictures. Probably in the States people are used to have a big dynamic team. The only thing is that the Americans are used to work dynamic and all the Spanish folks aren’t… Ralf has to bite his lips many times when things are a bit late or the Spanish team provides him with stuff that don’t work. I’m sure we’ll be just fine. The first day we shot pictures at the complex. The photos seem really cool on Ralf’s laptop. It’s extremely hot, 30 Celsius in the shade and Jamie, the make up girl needs to work with powder with both hands. In the afternoon we shot some photos ion front of the famous ARTS hotel (with no permission;) and on the beaches and bridges in front of it. There Ralf finally showed us who’s the man. He’s got great visions and working in front of the camera has never been this easy. In the evening we shot at La Rambla, the famous street right in the heart of the City next to a fish market. I almost slipped after stepping on a dead fish, yak. Dinner after the long day and we all were ready for bed. Feels really great to be a part of this thing. I could pay for this experience. During the first day we met some cool Spanish folks; The local head of action PEPE, Jesus (Not from Nazareth), Carlas and of course our private driver Lynn who was a bit lost all the time ;) Added: 09.07.2006 — Samu 12/06/2006 ON THE WAY TO BARCELONA I’m sitting 10 miles above the Eastern Sea together with Janne, Raul, Sami and Mikko from our record company (in an airplane of course) and we’re heading towards Düsseldorf. Julia from Emi Capitol Germany will join us in Düsseldorf for the second flight to Barcelona for the whole week to shoo video for Fairytale Gone Bad! Yippee!! I just love Barcelona, no question; it’s the coolest city in the world! They have hired a cool director and photographer Ralf Strathmann from L.A. USA to the project. He’s worked with HIM, System of a Down, Blink 182 etc. in the past – I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. Cool! We’ll soon be in Barcelona. I’ve lost my heart to the city a long time ago on my journeys. But now I feel better than ever on the way there… |