Olli, you are the new permanent member on ‘Rankarumpu’. How did you get involved in Korpiklaani and how did you even start writing songs for them from now on?
My history with the band… well, I obviously knew the guys from years ago. We did some tours together when I was in Turisas. In 2016 and 2017 there were a couple of tours for Korpiklaani and some gigs when they needed a violin player to fill in. So I was like a substitute musician there and it went well. It was fun to play something very different from what I was doing back then. Some years went by then and in 2021 it was corona time. I was enjoying the lockdown and family time and everything and then Jonne sent me a text message: ‘Hey, what’s up? Our violin player Tuomas he cannot make some of the shows, so would you be available?’ and I think at that point Tuomas was like kind of fading away from the band. I consulted my wife and we decided: ‘yeah I can do this.’ It was like a handful of shows, still during the corona times and then for some reason I stuck there (chuckles). There were more shows and it was all fun. I kind of slipped in just as a member. As for the music writing… I had some music ready for different purposes, but it was very Korpiklaani sounding and the guys were open to that. We discussed the music and the new album together and they said: ‘If you have new music, then just shoot.’ That was nice of them of course, because some bands are very protective about the creative process, but they were like ‘if you have music, yeah, just send it’. I did and they liked what I gave them: two songs that I had previously written and then last year I finished one new song. It was ‘Aita’, the second single. That was written during the Korpiklaani year. That was basically my short history of being in the band.

What leaps to the eye is that ‘Rankarumpu’ happens to be a faster paced album. The previous albums ‘Jylhä’ and ‘Kulkija’ included more slower, melancholic songs… Was it done on purpose or did it just turn out that way?
That was probably the only conscious decision that we made about the new album, it should be faster than the previous one. Not because the previous one was worse, it was just slower and we also had the idea that the album should be a bit shorter.

Not only you are involved as song-writer, also drummer Samuli was coming up with good ideas these days. So this album is a real group effort I guess, more than ever…
Samuli asked me if it was alright when he should write some lyrics to ‘Saunaan’ and I was like ‘yeah, go ahead’. Traditionally I am not very familiar with writing lyrics, so that was nice and he did good work. I even did not realize until all the recording was done that he also wrote the lyrics to ‘Kalmisto’ and some of the riffs were his. Yes I think he is doing a good job with arranging and I did not know that he writes good lyrics. So that is a big bonus of course. This is really exiting for me. I mean, I was doing this one solo single of mine with my own name and that was how I was getting better in the song writing process. It was some years that I did not make music or anything like that and it has been really invigorating to be able to write music that is actually published. That is really nice and I am feeling really creative these days.’

Talking about the lyrics: the album title ‘Rankarumpu’ stands for the band. It means a kind of rhythm or drums, isn’t it? Can you explain that?
It is Jonne’s lyrics and he found a good translation saying that he was talking about the reggae drums, a little bit old and weary, a chilly drum, but he said that the song is a love song for the band and for ourselves and also for the audience. He said: ‘I wrote a love song to you guys’ and he also said that there is a funny detail. I think it is about joy of playing and joy of living life. Play your instrument and let’s rejoice, stuff like that. He also told us that some really drunk guy came to him after one show and he said: ‘I have been sober for many years, but as soon as I came to your gig, I started to drink.’ Apparently this music can make even a sober person get drunk. I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing.