{"id":47467,"date":"2014-12-17T20:39:47","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T01:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47467"},"modified":"2015-01-26T16:34:15","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T21:34:15","slug":"interview-with-olli-herman-of-reckless-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/interview-with-olli-herman-of-reckless-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Olli Herman of Reckless Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Marija Brettle<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

December 06, 2014, at Rock City, Nottingham —<\/h3>\n

Fronted by former Crashdiet singer Olli Herman, Reckless Love first came together in 2001 as a hugely energetic, entertaining live act with a deep regard for rock\u2019s most colourful icons, plus an unquenchable thirst for the brighter things in life.<\/p>\n

Early in 2010, this Finnish outfit issued their debut self-titled album, an 11-track release which was soon praised by the fans and media as a true classic. Buoyed up by the sudden success of their debut album, the four began to tour outside of their native Finland; scoring front covers, headlining shows and being added to major festival bills.<\/p>\n

With the second album, Animal Attraction<\/em>, supported by two singles\/videos\u2019; \u2018Hot\u2019 and \u2018Animal Attraction,\u2019 the band continues to tour around the world. In September 2013, Reckless Love released their third studio album titled, Spirit<\/em>, which also contains two singles\/videos; \u2018So Happy I Could Die\u2019 and ‘Night on Fire.\u2019 <\/p>\n

This month, the Finish rockers returned with their short U.K. tour, where Hardrock Haven caught up with the charismatic frontman Olli Herman, during their Nottingham (Rock City) show to get the lowdown on the band. Also we talked about his music heroes and his philosophy of \u2018what Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll should really be all about. As well as his Download Festival experience, working on the new songs and more… <\/p>\n

\"OLLI<\/p>\n

HARDROCK HAVEN: Hi Olli, great to see you back here in the U.K. It’s been a while since your last show here in Nottingham. How was it last night in Glasgow?<\/p>\n

Olli Herman: It was amazing! Yeah, Glasgow always has been good to us! I mean, we can\u2019t really understand what they\u2019re saying, but we understand each other! We both come from the north! (Laughs) Yeah, the further north you go the cold and the dark changes people…all for the good! (Laughs)<\/p>\n

HRH: When I met you last time, back in 2010, you said that you didn\u2019t like a lot of what was going on in the world of rock music these days and that you are on a mission to bring back the real power of rock. Are you still on this mission?<\/p>\n

Olli: O Yeah! I think I was talking about all philosophy of \u2018what really happened to the real power of Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll this days. I\u2019m still not happy of how things are going in rock music today! I always thought that rock music should be all about having a good time; because that\u2019s the way it was born originally! Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll was for teenagers to have something on their own. Something to rebel against dance music, their parents we\u2019re listening to. So yeah, we\u2019re still on a mission to bring that joy and power back to Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll, because at some point it got really serious, really dark! (Laughs)<\/p>\n

HRH: Was this one of the reasons why you were largely influenced in your earlier work by the \u201880s rock, especially on your first record? <\/p>\n

\"OLLIOlli: Yeah! We were born in the \u201880s so I guess music from this era and bands like Motley Crue, Warrant, Guns n\u2019Roses, Poison, and Van Halen were closest to us! That was our first touch with rock music when we were teenagers and I think that was the last era when Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll really was all about having fun, party and girls! (Laughs) After that I think all the modern alternative rock bands, heavy metal bands were more and more aggressive, dark, depressed…<\/p>\n

HRH: Are you referring to the whole era of the Grunge music and all those Death, Thrash Metal bands?<\/p>\n

Olli: Yeah, yeah there was this element of darkness and false aggression, definitely! I mean, I am not putting down other bands. I don\u2019t hate those bands! There were some really talented people and awesome bands and I love their music, but our philosophy of Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll is more about people having a good time and enjoy life! (Laughs) <\/p>\n

HRH: Tell me more about your more recent album Spirit<\/em>? What was the dynamic in making of this record? <\/p>\n

Olli: It was recorded exactly two years ago, but we had to sit on it-so to speak for quite a while, because Universal Music wanted to clear out for the next fall. We thought they were going to put it out the next spring so we had full album ready. In the meantime we gone on tour again and waited for Universal to release the album. Actually I think this is the most serious record that we have done so far! During the making of this album we thought that we need to come up with something that will go on the opposite direction from our previous record. It was like, \u2018Ok, now we\u2019re going to outdo Animal Attraction<\/em> like 10 times more! (Laughs) This album really captures the real spirit of Reckless Love, which is why we called this record Spirit<\/em>!<\/p>\n

To continuing to read the interview click the link below:
\n<\/p>\n

Continued…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"OLLIHRH: So how does Spirit<\/em> really differ from Animal Attraction<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Olli: With Spirit<\/em> I think we rely heavily on a tradition. Animal Attraction<\/em> is more modern kind of record, the way we we\u2019re processing the sound and stuff… songs like \u2018Hot.\u2019 We used a lot of modern studio trickery in that sense. I mean not in a way like some bands do, like being so precise of what you can do in the studio and what you cannot do. We just take the best of what we can get of what was available! With Spirit<\/em> as I said earlier, we went in total opposite direction and made a traditional metal record, so to speak.<\/p>\n

HRH: With both records you got great reviews and lots of positive feedback from the fans and the press worldwide? Why do you think that is?<\/p>\n

Olli: Yeah, I mean we are really grateful for that and things like being called back in the U.K. … and why not! We always love to tour here, because British audience always been great to us! Like Nottingham and Rock City … Every time we play here we get some awesome crowd! Yeah, every time! (Laughs) So, we love coming back here! <\/p>\n

HRH: Yes, absolutely! Even though British audience is known for being tough crowd to please, you been always welcome and loved here!<\/p>\n

Olli: Well, one thing for sure, we never try to fool people, never! I mean British crowd can detect that pretty easily. So, it\u2019s all about having fun on stage and shearing the excitement and experience with the crowd! Have a big party and enjoy life more often! We\u2019re not afraid of making a full of ourselves, because that\u2019s who we are! We\u2019re just four fools from Finland, but that\u2018s the true us! (Laughs) Rock music should be more about having a good time and shearing the good vibe with people! <\/p>\n

HRH: Well, you have definitely managed to capture all of that in your songs and lyrics, as well as on stage where you\u2019ve been often praised as \u201cone of the most exciting live acts\u201d<\/p>\n

Olli: Yeah, thank you! We take a great pride in how we perform live and that is why we\u2019re here tonight! I mean we want to deliver every night and not 100% but 360%, because people pay with their hard-earned money and use their valuable spare time to come and see us! So yeah, we need to give them back as much as we can! Well, you can\u2019t do a half show with the hangover. Would be totally wrong and unfair to your fans to show-up on concert stumbling on stage! That\u2019s bullshit! (Laughs)<\/p>\n

HRH: Hmm, I am not sure that Vince (Neil) or the rest of the Motley Crue guys would agree with you on this? (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Olli: (Laughs) Yeah, all this and everything we been influenced by the 80\u2019s music and bands are in \u2018I Love Heavy Metal\u2019 song from the Spirit<\/em>. It was like our conscious choice, making a mockery of; what people expected of us to be from the start! People, rock fans constantly looking for the next Motley Crue or Guns ‘N\u2019 Roses and Axl Rose! Well I have news for you guys … there will never be another Motly Crue or Guns ‘N\u2019 Roses! Or Axl Rose! This guy is amazingly talented singer! I mean, its sad how things gone so badly within the band… You know, Guns ‘N\u2019 Roses was a great band and they still are and Motley Crue is doing their farewell final tour at the moment and that would be the end of that! <\/p>\n

HRH: Do you mean, people should embrace the new and equally talented bands?<\/p>\n

\"OLLIOlli: Yes, there are many new and amazingly talented bands that deserve to be recognized and embraced for what they are! I mean, take them as they come! Motley Crue was the best Motley Crue there ever will be and Reckless Love will be the best Reckless Love there ever will be! We just have to do things our way! I have made a list of all those bands that I like and that I been influenced by. So what we do in a way it\u2019s our best tribute to all those bands we love. We are not trying to be those guys. Like with the \u2018Sex Drugs and Rock\u2018n\u2019Roll\u2019 song! It\u2019s just a clich\u00e9 line of what really Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll supposed to be. Fuck that! For us it\u2019s all about \u2018Sex Drugs and Reckless Love\u2019! (Laughs) I mean it can be anything else if you like as long as it\u2019s with the reckless love. (Laughs) Love as a powerful force that moves the world around! It\u2019s strong and it\u2019s awesome force falling recklessly in love as I said in the lyrics of this song!<\/p>\n

HRH: With the last two albums you have said that the lyrics are all about you and your life as it is. The good and bad, the joy and the pain… Has this also been the case in your last record Spirit<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Olli: Oh Yeah, it\u2019s all about what we think and what we feel at that moment. The good or the ugly side of life! (Laughs) The real stuff and all those influences and everything what is happening in our lives. I mean that\u2019s the part where we\u2019re totally honest with the Reckless Love audience! You know, not fooling the crowd! If you try to take out somebody else experience, people will soon figure it out! <\/p>\n

HRH: Do you have any favorite songs from this record and why?<\/p>\n

Olli: Is tough to pick any favorite, but from the production and all we have done so far, I think \u2018Hot\u2019 is one of the songs that always get the best reception from the audience and always get the crowd going… or \u2018Summer\u2019. I love this song!<\/p>\n

To continuing to read the interview click the link below:
\n<\/p>\n

Continued…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"OLLIHRH: Tell me more about the video \u2018Night on Fire.\u2019 How did you come up with the whole choreography and locations setting?<\/p>\n

Olli: We combined our effort with the video director, but mostly the work on the video production and the location was all his idea. He was just taking the imagery out of the lyrics-context and album cover. Originally that was the idea just for the record cover, but we thought how all would look if we transfer that on the video. So that was the whole idea of painting the faces.<\/p>\n

HRH: Last time, you said that before every tour you all have to work hard to keep fit. Are you still going to the gym to keep those biceps intact?<\/p>\n

Olli: Well, you have to keep yourself fit for the tour. Now days when records are not really selling, bands are constantly on tour, like touring never ends! (Laughs) This is surprisingly short tour, but last time when we toured in Europe we have like eight shows in a row and before that we had four consecutive shows in a row. It was like one after the other, with no break, so it was really hard on your physique. You need to be fit in order to survive and carry on and to give maximum performance! It\u2019s not like we follow any strict regime, like must go to gym every day. At least for myself, I do it because I wanna feel good and deliver the best on our shows.<\/p>\n

HRH: …and of course throw some more impressive high kicks on stage. (Laughs) In the past you\u2019ve been often compared to David Lee Roth and Michael Monroe. I read somewhere, that one of your fans said \u201cIf David Lee Roth had a lovechild anywhere in the world, then Olli Herman must be one of his illegitimate sons! I mean, the voice, the screams, stage kicks and usually \u2018the chosen one\u2019 when it comes to women!\u201d?<\/p>\n

Olli: (Laughs) Hmm… I hear this a lot! Well, for the record, my mother has never been into Van Halen or in any way come close to David Lee Roth! So I hardly doubt that I am his illegitimate child! (Laughs) I mean yeah, Van Halen and David Lee Roth been huge influence for me, but Hanoi Rocks not so much. I didn\u2019t even know who Michael Monroe was until I saw him on the sleeve of the \u2018Use Your Illusion 1\u2019 with Guns N\u2019 Roses. I remember thinking, \u2018this guy looks cool, what does it do\u2019? I looked on the credits and found out that he plays harmonica and saxophone that he is Finish and he is from Hanoi Rocks! I have never been into that kind of music, he is more of a punk rock and I like more heavy metal! Van Halen kind of stuff! The think was that Hanoi Rocks were dead and buried by the 1985 and I was two years old so I didn\u2019t know anything about the band. Also around that time Michael Monroe lived in America so there was no press coverage of him or the band in Finland until he came back in the late 90\u2019s. Since then I met him few times and he really is one of the nicest guys! We played on the same Festivals and I did found out all about who really is Michael Monroe. I mean I have great respect for this guy for the way he is still handling it all! To keep up with all what he still does on stage at his age is amazingly impressive! I am in my 30\u2019s and I have to work damn hard to keep fit so I can do all those splits on stage without serious damage on my knees. (Laughs) He is still doing splits and stuff effortlessly! So, of course I look up to him and admire his professionalism and true passion for what he does!<\/p>\n

\"OLLI<\/p>\n

HRH: You mentioned recently that beside Van Halen, Axl Rose was a guy who was mostly responsible for you getting into hard rock and heavy metal? <\/p>\n

Olli: He did more than that for me! I mean he was the first rock star I ever saw. I saw this Live in Japan<\/em> video and that was actually from where I took those high kicks as well! I saw this video and thought, \u2018Wow, I like to do all those kicks.\u2019 I never rehearsed or took any training. I just started doing them my way and I am paying the price for that now (Laughs) I have surgery on my left knee and my right knee actually making those cracking noises all the time (Laughs) <\/p>\n

HRH: Have you heard how Michael Monroe broke two ribs while hitting a metal barrel in front of the stage during his performance with Slash in Tokyo, back in 2010? True to himself, he carried on with the show!<\/p>\n

Olli: You have to if you are true professional like Michael. I remember I fell from one of those stage stands and I remember it did hurt, but I keep on going because you can\u2019t feel it much when you are high on adrenalin! I mean you feel it later (Laughs) <\/p>\n

HRH: When you look back on everything you have done with Reckless Love, what would be the biggest highlight for you so far?<\/p>\n

Olli: The whole career\u2018s been fucking highlight for me! (Laughs) I never expected to live of this. You know, as I said at the beginning; we\u2019re just bunch of fools from Finland! When the first record came out, that was like dream come true for us! After that things start happening for the band, people start talking about us … all those magazines and our faces on the front page! Then we did a whole headlining tour in the UK, and so on! It was like, \u2018what the fuck is going on!?\u2019 (Laughs) After that as you go along, you get more hungry and more ambitious. So now-days we like to push ourselves making a step further. All it comes down to; \u2018so what can we do to get there\u2019?\u2019 Getting a hit on the radio in the UK and getting a tour in the States! Instead of Venues playing in Arena, big Stadium for the massive audience! More Festival shows… I mean it\u2019s the greatest thing for any band when you know that people want to see you back! <\/p>\n

To continuing to read the interview click the link below:
\n<\/p>\n

Continued…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"OLLIHRH: Well you have always been welcome here in the UK! I remember back in 2010 at Download Festival\u2026 Reckless Love together with Cinderella, caused an absolute storm with the audience? <\/p>\n

Olli: Yeah, we had an amazing time at Download Festival twice and hopefully there is more to come! (Laughs) In 2010 we did a show that took us some time to figure it out what was really going on around us! (Laughs) We were so excited and pump on adrenalin that we almost missed the whole experience and excitement in the crowd! I mean how you prepare yourself for that … it was mind blowing! Well, to be fare it was only 20 minutes on stage as it\u2019s on all big Festivals. After that all this feedback we were getting from people was surreal! It was like \u2018what the fuck just happened!?\u2019(Laughs) Next time round we got to embraced it all. We really had a blast and crowd was awesome! I heard that 10,000 people came to see us into the tent! Everybody was singing to our songs word by word. They were singing to Pepe\u2019s guitar solos, tunes that he wrote and of course that is amazing feeling. Yeah, that\u2019s why we do all this! {Laughs)<\/p>\n

HRH: You\u2019ve been often called a hot singer, uber-talented, and a charismatic frontman… How would you describe yourself if you have to, in more than one word? <\/p>\n

\"mariaOlli: Although it\u2019s flattering to hear some of this stuff, when it comes to any of my qualities and work I am the hardest critics of myself. I am constantly on the mission to better myself. So I try not to look into all that \u2018hot guy stuff\u2019 too deep, otherwise it will slow me down. (Laughs) But if I have to put it in my words, I would say that I am stubborn, indecisive and thoughtful … sometimes too much of all of this! <\/p>\n

HRH: Ok, what next from Reckless Love? I hear you\u2019ve been writing new songs…<\/p>\n

Olli: We are not actually working on the new album yet. I mean, we\u2018re working on the new material and writing new songs. So, hopefully by the next year this time we would have new album! We will do more videos, singles, but nothing sure yet. At the moment we\u2019re hunting for new killer songs! I mean, we have killer songs; we\u2019re now hunting for mass murder songs! (Laughs) Yeah, that\u2019s what we need! <\/p>\n

HRH: Thank you Olli for making the time for the Interview! It was awesome seeing you again back here in Nottingham and in the same venue! Enjoy the rest of your tour!<\/p>\n

Olli: Thank you! (Laughs) It feels like coming back home! I mean, we always love coming back here in the UK and Nottingham audience always been awesome to us! <\/p>\n

Visit the band online: http:\/\/www.recklesslove.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

— Photos appear courtesy of: Ville Juurikkala and Jade Jadranka —<\/em><\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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