by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
Is Rock music becoming more and more eclectic? It certainly seems so, especially when it comes to the younger generation incorporating more and more electronic music influences into their sound. Some of them indulge in synthwave-driven side projects (like Erik Modin’s Taekwondo or Michael Palace’s Platforms and HOLOFLASH), while others let the electronic music seep into their songwriting towards brand new sound quality. Sometimes it gets even as far as to the point of reinvention for the band – the case in point being the Finnish four-piece Reckless Love. The self-proclaimed representatives of ‘Merry Metal’ have been absent from the scene from quite a while, their last release InVader having been released in 2016. Now they’re back with way more synth-oriented sound of their new album Turborider – and if your first association with the aforesaid title is a very certain Judas Priest album (and single) from 1986, the analogy is surely there. Hardrock Haven’s Alexandra Mrozowska caught up with Reckless Love’s singer Olli Herman to discuss the brand new chapter in the group’s history.
Hardrock Haven: The first time we talked back in July 2010 for a small Polish webzine, you kind of predicted that in the next ten years, Reckless Love will release six or seven albums and will play stadiums. Now that we talk twelve years from then, are you happy with your career and the way the band developed over the years?
Olli Herman: Wow – I’ve had high hopes back then [laughs]. I actually remember the interview and if I am not completely mistaken, that prediction was not done with the most serious face… rather than that, with a little bit of a humorous undertone. However, I must admit I must have been secretly hoping for something like that back then. We all were very ambitious back then. We still are, but maybe we’ve grown to be a little more realistic too. We certainly are not playing stadiums as headliners. However, we have played a few of them on festivals over the years, so in a way we reached my prediction early. I must admit that we are two albums behind the schedule I so very optimistically predicted. I would still argue that it’s not a bad thing, but a really great thing instead. We could have actually made eight albums during this time, but in our collective opinion, it’s far better to have five killer albums than eight average ones. In other words, our objectives have changed a little over the years through experience. The fact that we are still craving for more makes me very happy and also the things we have achieved, I am very happy about those too. The key here is the old wisdom about staying in your comfort zone and being very content on what you have achieved. It doesn’t go so well with making any progress.
Hardrock Haven: Do you think it’s easier for an ‘80s inspired band to start out today than it was in the 2000s?
Olli Herman: I have no idea. I think it was never easy for any kind of band. The young bands of today just battle with different kinds of hurdles than what we were used to. What I know for a fact, is that nowadays it’s easier to get things going and to make your music sound very professional from the get-go, at least if you are tech-savvy. The modern technology has reversed pretty much everything in the business and made instant success available for everybody. Demos started to sound like a finished polished product ten years ago already and now things have moved forward even further. Artists don’t necessarily need record companies to make it big anymore. However, it has its considerable advantages to have one on your side, since the better availability of professional music production has resulted in a massive increase of new artists and new music overall. The amount of new input is mind-boggling. It’s easier than ever to get lost in the crowd and drown in the flood. That’s why we are extremely impressed by the freedom of finding our own unique sound that our current partner AFM has given us. Trust is an amazing thing, and it’s vital to be able to find the uniqueness of oneself to stand out.
Hardrock Haven: Obviously, throughout the years there were instances when you were dubbed “peroxide pretty boy” by the reviewers, something a lot of Rock musicians of both genders experienced since time immemorial. Did you find it more funny or more annoying, and was there ever any struggle when it comes to such criticism?
Olli Herman: We have always had our fair share of critics and even haters that keep following us. It’s quite funny at best. Maybe a little puzzling too. Especially the amount of effort those people go through just to let us know they don’t like us, or that they don’t like the way we look. Why do that? It’s funny though. Honestly, I think the biggest illusion social media has created for people like that, is that they actually think their opinion about someone else matters. It doesn’t. We still don’t give a shit. However, I love the fact they hate us or try to put us down for looking a certain way. Please do more of that and do us a favor. Don’t just tell us, tell all your friends. Tell everybody about us.
Hardrock Haven: Now that’s the attitude! So, like Judas Priest’s legendary album Turbo, Turborider is a reinvention for Reckless Love. What’s the inspiration behind the new direction for the band and is this kind of analogy to Priest accurate?
Olli Herman: I’d say it’s accurate. We went on a break for a reason in 2018 and we always knew we had to be reborn to make it back. The feeling just kept intensifying the longer the break took. We’re not a band like AC/DC that keeps releasing the same song over and over again. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re brilliant. We’re just not the same. We need to evolve to stay alive. I actually don’t think we can make two albums that would sound the same. We’re too curious and too eager to improve our sound and we just downright want to keep things exciting for us and the listeners. Once we came up with the idea how the new album would have to sound, it was time to get back to work. I discovered the genre of synthwave way back when I first saw a movie called The Drive with Ryan Gosling in it. The soundtrack was full of some synth gems of the time and I immediately saw the connection between that type of music and the crazy Hair metal sounds of the late ‘80s. The likes of Van Halen’s 5150, DLR’s Skyscraper, Judas Priest’s Turbo, Def Leppard’s Hysteria and ZZ Top’s Eliminator and Afterburner came to mind like lightning. I started to play around with the idea of introducing that type of sound more into Reckless Love. I say more, since we had toyed with those type of sounds already on the debut album. There’s a track called “Back To Paradise”, which was always a live favorite, and still is the best streaming song from that first record. There are these type of synth-driven songs on every record of ours. On the last one, InVader, we had “Child Of The Sun” and “Scandinavian Girls”. I introduced the idea to go all out on synths and electric drums to Pepe and he got very inspired by the idea. When we decided to ask Joonas Parkkonen to produce the record, the deal was sealed and we set out to make an album that would amplify all of our crazy late ‘80s influences up to eleven and that would combine some of the awesome modern day synthwave elements with it. The writing process was very intense, fast and felt very natural. It was like this style had already been there in our DNA, waiting to break out.
Hardrock Haven: When we talked for the second time in 2012, you actually agreed there’s plenty of pure pop elements and some dance/disco vibes in Reckless Love sound. Do you think the current transition to more synth-driven sound was perhaps easier because of that, more of a logical next step on the way?
Olli Herman: Reckless Love has always had a thing for pop influences. Just like all the ‘80s Hair metal did. Take away the heavy guitars from any of the Mötley Crüe or Van Halen hits and you’re left with a catchy pop song. To be more precise on that, when I talk about pop influences, I talk about songwriting. Nothing to do with the sounds or the way it’s sung, which is what most people tend to think. I’m talking solely about composition. For example, musically “Night On Fire” is one of our most pop-esque songs. It’s got that Latin pop groove to it and it’s very danceable too. However, the song is heavy on the sound department. On what comes to the sounds, the synthwave sounds on Turborider are actually quite a far cry from today’s pop. Moreover, I would claim that Turborider is one of the heaviest songs we have ever written. Sure, there’s catchy melodies too and I get that people cling to those electric drum sounds of the ‘80s, but they really are not very present in today’s pop music, with the exception of maybe three big artists (The Weeknd, Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus), who intentionally made retro sounding albums a few years back. Synthwave couldn’t be further away from pop. It’s mostly just instrumental. Furthermore, for us, the electric drums come straight from Van Halen, ZZ Top and Billy Idol records rather than pop music. I don’t really listen to the chart hits, unless they have strong ‘80s influences in them [laughs]… On what comes to the Simmons electric drums, they are sounding so badass even Ratt used them on their first record. Opinions might differ. I get it.
Hardrock Haven: So, being inspired by synthwave as evident on Turborider, do you have any other contemporary influences?
Olli Herman: We all do have our own favourites and there could be a long list of artists and songs underneath here. Instead of listing all of them, I’ll just write down some of the genres I tend to turn to myself. I listen to modern – especially freshly released – metal. One interviewer asked me about a Rammstein influence on Turborider, and I guess it really is there. I listen to them every now and then. As I mentioned a few pop artists in the previous answer, I am a sucker for well-written pop music. Miley Cyrus is my guilty pleasure. Her voice is amazing and the way she can crossover from country to rock’n’roll and to pure modern r’n’b is amazing. I got a massive personal playlist of lo-fi/garage rock’n’roll on my player. Artists like The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys. I also have a craving for Classical music at times. Maybe not the contemporary kind, but I really love Mozart. In addition to that, you’d have to ask the other guys as well. There’s a huge assortment of different influences.
Hardrock Haven: Do you think the popularity of synthwave may be what will bring people’s attention to ‘80s culture again, especially the younger generation? And what’s so fascinating about the ‘80s that continues to inspire you?
Olli Herman: I really hope so. The modern world has a lot to learn from that carefree attitude people used to have back then. It seems like people were living more intensely back then and like they were happier. It might be an illusion, but even the really dark stuff seemed to be less grim. Just like ‘80s horror movies. I love those. Somebody started to frown upon the fun loving life after the ‘90s took over and I get it. There needed to be a counter-reaction, but we could move on now. It’s starting to get boring. I think that’s why TV shows like Peacemaker, Stranger Things and Cobra Kai are so popular right now. They got that attitude and atmosphere right and it’s answering a demand. Plus, they’re brilliantly written shows. Especially Peacemaker. James Gunn is a genius. In addition, it’s also the era that first influenced us when we were kids. Those early age influences are just impossible to beat. I tend to find great new art, movies or music every now and then, but I always go back to the ones that struck me first. It’s now a permanent part of us and the way we express ourselves. On Turborider, we truly managed to amplify those influences up to eleven.
Hardrock Haven: What were you and other band members up to between the process of making this album and InVader?
Olli Herman: Partly, the reason why it took so long (six years), was just bad luck. We toured InVader for two years and decided it was time for a well-earned break, which was supposed to last a year and a half. We planned on making a comeback for the 10th anniversary of our debut album. We mapped out and booked the biggest tour of our lives for 2020 and even put out a 10th anniversary single called “Loaded” to celebrate it, but then COVID-19 kicked in and everything was cancelled. Now, two years later, we are still postponing tours. So, mainly it has been just waiting this thing out and spending time with our families. In addition to making, writing and recording the fifth album that we now call Turborider.
Hardrock Haven: What was the process of making the new album like? Has such a huge break between recordings created any kind of pressure for the band, or maybe it was a blessing to have so much time to work onthe new album?
Olli Herman: It has been both, a very frustrating wait and also a blessing in disguise. The time was mostly spent on planning, which was relieving. The actual writing and recording process was a very fast and intense process. We completed the whole thing in three months last summer. Only two of the songs were written beforehand, “Outrun” and “Like A Cobra”. They were written with a good friend of ours, Janne Rintala, and his creative partner Mika Laakkonen. The rest of the album was done on the spot as we started working with Joonas Parkkonen. We got very inspired by his way of working and ended up co-writing new songs as fast as we could think. We took notice of this and decided to create an album that had a concept. The vision was clear since the get-go.
Hardrock Haven: Having mentioned your producer Jonas Parkkonen (Apocalyptica, Lost Society) quite a few times already, what kind of impact did he and Svante Forsbäck (Rammstein, Lordi, Volbeat) have on the album, having produced and mixed the new material?
Olli Herman: Joonas is hands down the world’s hottest producer at the moment in my opinion. He’s been around the block and he has this vast knowledge of music in general. He also knows exactly how to apply his skills onto producing. He’s a super talented songwriter and very tech-savvy too. Naturally, on top of that, he’s one of the nicest guys in the business. He cowrote most of the album with myself and Pepe. So, Joonas had a huge effect on the album. Svante is a legend by his own right. His sound is always pure finesse. The mixing was done by the awesome Ilkka Herkman, who also had a huge effect on the final result.
Hardrock Haven: Is “Bark at the Moon” cover included on Turborider a deliberate tribute to Ozzy or was it recorded simply because the song itself inspired you?
Olli Herman: We are all big Ozzy fans, myself especially. I have always loved his unique voice and his songs are just pure gold to my ears. That’s why “Bark at the Moon” wasn’t the obvious choice for a cover. It’s such an iconic song. It’s perfect as it is. It felt like there was nothing we could do to make it better. However, our producer Joonas really went out on his way to convince us to do it and it was worth it. I love how the synth sounds and the electric drum sounds fit the song so perfectly. The rhythmic quality of the riff sits unbelievably well for this record. I am beyond happy that we did the cover. It’s not better than the original – it’s different. Turbocharged and electrified. It’s our new take on a classic song.
Hardrock Haven: And as a whole, Turborider is…
Olli Herman: It is not just a collection of tracks we happened to think of writing in the studio. The album has a concept and we worked extremely determined to get the full picture to work as a whole. It’s definitely a bigger piece of art you need to listen to from the beginning until the end to get the best experience. The full album is done in the same style and the sounds take you to an ultimate escape kind of journey to the core of the neon-coloured ‘80s-inspired cyberreality that we live in at the moment. Yes, we as Reckless Love. We’ve taken the ‘80s influences and turned them into a dystopian future for ourselves. The old ways are dead and this is the rejuvenated, reimagined and recharged turbo version of the band reborn from the purple ashes on the hot pink grid backstreet. The record has a couple of tracks that are way darker than what we’re done before, lyrically speaking. The overall speed and the tempo of the whole album is higher than we’ve ever done before. A couple of tracks are more metal than before. One is a laid-back, stormy beach paradise tune with a funky groove. The sounds and stories behind the lyrics are multilayered beyond anything we’ve ever done. Turborider is relentless. More electric than before, just like the chorus of the title track says. We reach for new heights musically, conceptually, lyrically and visually.
Hardrock Haven: After the album is out, the European tour was planned for Feb/March but is postponed now, I believe. What are your expectations, especially that it must have been quite a while since you played live?
Olli Herman: We expect to get back on the road this spring and summer. We can only hope that this pandemic and especially the restriction bullshit will end this year. Naturally, we’re all very concerned about our fans and followers’ well-being and we don’t want to put anyone in danger. However, it seems like the Omicron has changed the game and the virus has diluted itself to a milder version. It’s time to get back on the road. It’s time to end the uncertainty and start living life to the fullest again. This is what we hope for. As to what comes to the live condition of the band, we are in brilliant shape. We held our tour rehearsal in Helsinki despite the postponement and we were blown away by the new songs. They’re gonna take us to another level once we get to perform them live. They sound incredibly badass. We hope to perform them to as large of an audience as possible in the future. We’re gonna have a lot of fun.
Hardrock Haven: On tour, you’re scheduled to share the bill with Dan Reed Network and Collateral. As you don’t necessarily share the exact fanbase with Dan Reed Network, what do you think the outcome will be for the fans of both groups?
Olli Herman: There is some overlap there too. At least a mutual common ground for the art, but I do see your point. The bottom line is, that DRN is an awesome band and they got brilliant songs. The guys seem very nice and that’s pretty much all that counts. I think we’re the same. Awesome band with brilliant songs. Nevertheless, I suspect some people will be their doubts of one, or the other depending on whether they’re familiar with our or their material. However, I’m sure those doubts will be blown out of the water once they see us on stage. Both bands are brilliant live. It’s going to be an awesome party every single night.
Hardrock Haven: What are the band’s plans beyond the tour?
Olli Herman: We always have plans, but right now it’s time to focus on Turborider and the tour we’re gonna be doing for the next two years. Yes, I said it. We are already booking shows for 2023. This tour is going to be massive and go around the world.
Hardrock Haven: Is there anything you’d like to add in the end? Olli Herman: Yes – in these times of uncertainty it’s ever more important to remember to have more good times. Always more good times. When you do, let us provide the soundtrack to the best moments of your life. Reckless Love is the answer.
Watch a new Reckless Love video to the title track of their upcoming album Turborider:
