Santa Cruz
From Zombie Mode To Beast Mode

27.10.2014

Finland’s Santa Cruz call their style “kick-ass hard rock the way it should be played”, and you can’t argue with that. If you like the 80s rock, you are sure to love this Helsinki-based four-piece. On October 27, the band is expected to release a new single, “Wasted And Wounded”, and on October 31, to follow it up with a gig at Tavastia Club. Even though the guys are hands-down working on their second full-length album, which is to be released next March, Archie (vocals, guitar), Johnny (guitar), and Middy (bass) found time to meet me in Helsinki for an interview.

Why did you name the band Santa Cruz? Who came up with this name, this idea?

Archie: That sounds so cool like that. I would call myself an author, the one who made that name, it’s something I made up when I was a kid. And when I met Johnny, first thing I told him was like, ”When we form this band, can we make it called Santa Cruz?”
Johnny: Yeah, that's cool. That's how it came about.
Archie: I read in on a map – the name of Santa Cruz – when I was in my third grade or something like that.

You play hot rock, maybe that's why the band is called Santa Cruz…

Johnny: Yeah, yeah. You mean the California one? Actually, there are 36 Santa Cruzes all over the world.
Archie: Is it 36? I always get wrong cues with the numbers. Like that one – 47 or 31. (everybody laughs)
Middy: From now on it’s gonna be different in every interview, I think. We’re not gonna fix it.
Archie: It has always been different, every day. It actually has nothing to do with the Californian Santa Cruz, but, yeah, it would be cool to play a show there for sure. We are planning like a world tour including just the cities that are called Santa Cruz.
Middy: And the only problem that we facing is this one Santa Cruz is in Galapagos Islands, and there is no electricity, nobody lives in Galapagos Islands except the lizards. That will be cool to play in the sand, on the beach...
Johnny: A show for the lizards! (smiles)
Archie: They need entertainment too!

Your new album is coming out in March next year. How is the process going?

Archie: Well, we just finished our guitars solos for the entire album. And pretty much the only thing left to do right now is vocals, and the mixing after it. We are going to start working on the vocals the day after tomorrow, on Monday. Yeah, that's all that's left, but it’s the hardest part actually. So, I’m exited and nervous about it.

How do you come up with new material? Does each of you bring your ideas to the studio?

Archie: Well, Johnny makes most of the demos. Actually, all of the demos are bits and pieces. In some cases, I’ve made a melody part of the song, in some cases, they’ve already had it, in some cases l’ve had an idea, and we build up a song around that. Johnny mostly makes up the structures, cause he has Pro Tools for that. (smiles)
Johnny: Yeah, that’s what you need, if you write a song. (laughs) We’re not using Pro Tools, fuck that! But it seems we can make a demo that sounds good already before you come and rehearse it.
Middy: Yeah, because you get the idea of a song from the good demo. You can visualize how it’s gonna sound like. Of course, it sounds a little bit different in the acoustics...
Archie: The demos usually have just “na-na-na, sha-na-na”, vocals without lyrics in the beginning. We just sing something on it to get the idea of how cool the melody is, and then start working on lyrics. But sometimes some demo lyrics stick as well.
Middy: It is funny with the new album: Joonas [Johnny] sings on the demos some lyrics that come straightr out of his head, but the thing is the most of the song titles have stuck. We get a title and then we’re gonna write lyrics.
Johnny: Do you guys remember what the title of “Wasted And Wounded” was before it came to be “Wasted’n’Wounded”?
Archie: The demo was called “Sex is on Fire”. (everybody laughs) But Johnny made up the title “Wasted And Wounded”, and then I built up the lyrics around that title. This will be the next single we're gonna release.
Johnny: We had this afterparty after our London show. The next morning I woke up, and I made up the name based on what I was feeling, and everybody was like, “Yeah, it sounds cool”. I think we all had the same experience in London – like, wasted and wounded. (laughs)
Archie: It’s cool how the whole song was built. First there was this melody. We practiced next door to HIM, and this melody was the one I was humming while walking around the hallways of our rehearsal place. It kind of reminded me of HIM, not too much, but there’s a little influence, you know. And then Johnny built up the whole song around that melody, which you can now hear in the chorus.
Johnny: Yeah, we actually recorded the first version of it before the first album already. Do you remember? (looking at Archie)
Archie: Yeah, I do. It was like this. (sings the tune) Back then it was more like the basic solution, but it’s good now.

What songs on your current setlist are you bored to play the most? Why?

Middy: There are songs like that on the first album, but we don’t play those songs. We do not play ”Lovin’ You” from the first album.
Archie: It depends on the situation as well, cause sometimes I don’t want play songs when I having a bad day with vocals, and there is a particular song which is hard to sing when you have a bad day, you have problems with your throat. Then I’m bored to play that kind of a song.
Johnny: We have been playing those songs for four or five years, and it’s not so much time, as if you play them for like 40 years.
Archie: It’s not like Jon Bon Jovi playing “Livin’ on a Prayer” every night of his life.
Middy: Or like Mick Jagger singing “Satisfaction”, that was written in 1964 or something.

How do your relatives take your rock’n’roll lifestyle?

Archie: Well, my mother did worry from time to time. Sometimes she gets shocked about something I say or do, or about some of my photos. But it’s cool, ’cause she appreciates the music. She is not a fan of  my lifestyle, but I think she’s understanding it at least. We're still young and wild and free.
Johnny: I think my parents were a little bit suspicious when I quit school and focused on the band. But now it’s paying off. I think they support it pretty much.
Archie: Yeah, my mom is being the biggest supporter that I have ever had. (smiles)
Johnny: Yeah, we’ve been using Archie’s parents’ car... sometimes (everybody laughs)
Middy: I think, our parents take the rock’n’roll thing really well, because now it starts to pay off really, and we’re not just skipping school because we wanna drink beer and hang out at the rehearsal place, we have something special that we do.
Archie: I think that even though they see that we like to let it out from time to time and have a good time, they still see that we want to work for our music and it’s not just some crazy excuse for being decadent.

Gene Simmons said that the main reason why guys become rock musicians is having a lot of girls. Do you agree with that and why did you become rock musicians?

Archie: When I started to play guitar the last thing on my mind were girls.
Johnny: Yeah, me too.
Middy: We were so young, we didn’t think about girls.
Archie: The whole girl thing, it came later. After five years that I was playing, I thought that I had only been focusing on my guitar, and maybe it was time for me to try to get some girls. And then we started to play glam metal. (everybody laughs) Just kidding… When I started, let me repeat, when I started I just wanted to play music, so the last thing on my mind were girls. I was interested in the guitar.

How often do you have conflicts in the band and why?

Johnny: I think we used to have more when we were younger, but now it’s kind of mellow. I think there is a reason why it is like that: over these years that we’ve been touring for the ”Screaming For Adrenaline” album, we’ve been hanging out a lot more, we’ve been forced to hang out more, and we just liked it! (laughs) When you’re on a UK tour for two weeks...
Archie: ... You are forced to be together.
Middy: When you hang out a lot you become this one tight group and I think that’s the main reason why we don’t have that many arguments anymore.
Johnny: We know each other very well.
Archie: We do have some conflicts from time to time, but I think it’s good to clear the air.

It’s not serious.

Archie: It is serious sometimes. But after the conflict it’s always good, it’s better than before. We do not have fistfights. It’s better to have open fire than this tension that burns in you for a long period. It has to be let out. (everybody laughs) Let it out what has to be let out!

Does your rock’n’roll lifestyle live up to your expectations? What did you imagine of it to be?

Archie: Well, I always imagined that I would get to play shows and record new music, and that’s what we are doing right now. So it's pretty cool, we can’t complain. We are in a situation right now, when we get to play cool shows a lot, and we have an opportunity of recording new music in a good studio. You can’t ask for more.
Middy: We can do it the way we want to do it, and there is nobody like a record label or anything telling us what to do with our music. That is cool.
Johnny: I think that’s pretty important if you play music that you can decide what you wanna do.

What things are most annoying for you during the tour?

Johnny: Early wake-ups for the airports.
Archie: Early wake-ups for the airports are not bad, if you don’t have a hangover.
Johnny: Yeah, right. We didn’t have a hangover, when we left for the UK. We were drunk already at the airport. (everybody laughs)
Archie: When you take a flight it’s OK if you don’t have a hangover. But when you have to wake up and take a car all the way to the next city then you feel like, ”Oh shit!” Our tour manager is knocking on the door, “Guys, wake the fuck up! 15 minutes late, motherfuckers!” It’s always like you are a zombie for the next two hours. You start to become more human after 1 p.m. or 2 p.m, if you have to wake up at 9 and take a car ride to the next city, it’s like zombie mode, zombie mode engaged.
Middy: And then you get to the venue, and you have a tight schedule...
Archie: You’ve got 25 minutes to build up the stage and then you’ve got 5 minutes to be on the stage. When we were touring the UK and doing one show a day, 10 shows, it’s always no matter how tired or how hungover you are, every time there is a call, things start to go down, you have to take your gear on stage and do the soundcheck, and do it fast. You get the focus right away – you know what to do.

Could you tell us a funny story that happened to you on tour?

Archie: There are many funny stories, but which one hasn’t been told yet?
Middy (looking at Archie): It was funny when we were having a radio interview and the door got locked. It wasn't on tour but I think it counts.
Archie: We were on a radio interview promoting our first album...
Johnny: It was actually a radio gig...
Archie: It was live acoustic on the radio and it was streaming online as well as video. Five minutes before that I went to take a leak. When I was in the bathroom I hassled with the lock and it broke down, so I couldn’t open the door. I called Johnny and was like, “Hey, dude, I’m stuck in the bathroom, man!” (everybody laughs)Three minutes till showtime!
Johnny: We were all like, “Where are you?!” It was a Finnish nationwide broadcast.
Archie: Everybody came, and they were like, “Let him out, what’s up, we need to get this guy out of here!” They start carving the lock open, and then this guy had some kind of tool or something which opened the door, just in time. I went out of the door, took my guitar and went straight in front of the camera – straight out of the bathroom.
Johnny: Did you check your zip?
Archie: I hope so! (laughs) I actually had buttons.

What are the main features that a rock musician must have?

Archie: Charisma, passion, ability to throw yourself fully into something, determination... It sounds like we are talking about a soldier. (smiles)
Johnny: You can see so many bands that would get up and play on stage, and they don’t enjoy it as much as we do. You can see it through.
Middy: It’s reflected in the audience, if they can see that those guys are not enjoying what they’re doing, they thinl, ”Why should I enjoy myself when I look at them closer?”
Archie: It’s a co-operational kind of situation.
Johnny: We have high energy when we are playing on the stage, and, I hope, we reflect it to the audience.
Archie: Yeah, and that’s why a band like Lost Society, when I watch them play, I just want to get out there and fuck the shit up. It’s because the guys are so passionate about it that it reflects on the people.

What’s your favorite occupation in spare time?

Johnny: Writing music and rehearsing.
Archie: Well, outside music?
Johnny: Drinking beer.
Archie: Listening to music, drinking beer.
Johnny: Hanging out with friends… If I had have more money I would travel a lot more.
Archie: Travelling is one of my favorite things. Drinking beer, basically, hanging out and being social. Having a couple of beers and a good conversation with friends, and then just going full throttle. Just enjoying life in general. In music, when you are doing it, you have to be 100% into it. You can’t do it like if you go to work from 9 to 5 and then you just do whatever else is on your mind, and forget about your work. But when you are making an album, it’s like 24/7, you have a job in your head, it’s your mind concept. That’s why it’s good to have a lot of social activity, having fun with friends, I think.

Do you believe in superstitions? Do you have your own superstitions or rituals?

Archie: Rituals? (smiles) That sounds weird.
Johnny: Before each show we put ourselves like this (shows it), and should out something like ’fucking blabber:... One, two, three, ”Blabber!”
Archie: Blabber is something really stupid.
Middy: Does it really help?
Johnny: It does help.
Middy: It’s something you have to do before you get up on stage. No matter what.
Archie: You just need to get yourself into the beast mode before to go to the stage. You have to have that state of mind before you go off. If you go on stage without being full of adrenaline, it takes a while to get into that mood.
Johnny: You leave the zombie mode and engage the beast mode. (smiles)
Middy: One time I had this one thing I did before the show – I listened to this one particular song, because of one time when I did it, Ie played the best gig  I’ve ever played so far. Then I started to listen to that song before every gig. And then, this one night, I played a fucking silly gig even though I listened to this song, and then I quit.

As far as I know, Reckless Love are your friends. Which another bands are your friends? What kind of friendship do you have with them?

Archie: Lost Society are our good friends, then also a band called Face of God, they’ve played in Russia a couple of times. A band called Hunters. They are real hunters. (smiles)
Middy: With Lost Society we drink shitloads of beer and do stupid shit. (laughs) That pretty much sums it up.
Johnny: We rehearse with a band called Face of God, we have the same rehearsal place. With Hunters, we also drink a lot of beer.
Archie: When you hang out with friends who are in another band you just talk about music, talk about the whole creative process, exchange ideas, drink beer and do crazy things. You’r just having a good time. And lots of guys usually pass out in your place. Not last night but the night before that. (everybody laughs) Children of Bodom from the older generation – they are all kind of our mentors, some sort of that.
Johnny: We were  looking up to those guys long time ago.
Archie: Yeah. One of the coolest things last summer was when we left Ruisrock, we drove off in Alexi Laiho’s car. There were me, Johnny, Jussi 69, Alexi and his driver. And then we went to his parents’ place, and we watched our gig from Ruisrock a couple of nights before with Alexi and Jussi and Alexi’s parents and Alexi’s parents’ dog, Apollo. That was pretty awesome.

What’s your ideal fan?

Archie: Dedicated. Coming to gigs, buying our CD. Decent. Friendly.
Johnny: I think that there isn’t an ideal fan. Every fan is ideal.
Archie: That’s right, but I would say: being nice is key. Sometimes I’ve seen these fans that are angry or something. They just behave in a weird sort of way and I don’t know why, what that is, but I think they are uncomfortable with the situation. Sometimes weird things are going down, it’s hard to explain, probably it has to do with psychology or something like that.
Johnny: But we have best fans in the world.
Archie: Of course.
Middy: We have a couple of really dedicated fans travelling to our gigs all over Finland and coving over to the UK to see our shows. That’s cool.

Have you ever had problems with aggressive fans?

Archie: A couple of times, but it was something minor, never anything too threatening. My scarf was torn in two one time. That’s pretty much the only thing I think. Somebody stole something from me one time. Oh, no, from you? (looking at Johnny)
Johnny: I think they stole my vodka bottle. (smiles)
Archie: You think, so you suspect? (laughs) Or you drank it? I don’t remember when the vodka flew away. (laughs) I don’t remember, I’ve blacked out. (everybody laughs)

Do you have any plans of visiting Russia?

Archie: We hope so. We’d love to play there. I have heard so many cool stories from bands that have been to Russia.
Johnny: That band called Caroline played some festivals in Russia, and they were blown away by how cool people were over there. There were many people, like thousands of people.
Middy: We’ve heard a few things about Russian hospitality towards the artists - when they come to play shows in Russia, they are treated very well, they are treated royally. Let’s hope for next year.
Archie: The only thing that people have been complaining about Russia is that they steal everywhere – you cannot even order a pizza without looking after your stuff.

Please say a couple of words to your Russian fans.

Spasibo! (everybody laughs)

Santa Cruz on the Internet: http://www.santacruz.fi

Interview by Lena ”Shona” Reutskaya
Photos by Elena ”Linn” Pavlova
September 20, 2014
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