Much has been made of the emergent Finnish harddcore/hard NRG sound and not without good reason either. Cut from a different cloth from either UK or the European hard dance sounds, the rushin' twisted sound of labels like FINRG and Teflon Bullet and clubs like Rush, Sade Fury, has been rising emphatically from the dark and eerie landscapes of Finland to find itself new homes in faraway labels such as Camel, Electronic and, now, with the release of Alek Száhala 's epic 'Lumi' the Nu Energy label itself. Looking like the lost member of the Adams Family, 24 year old Alek has long been lauded as one of current Finnish breed's most innovative producers and sits amongst the likes of Carbon Based, Re-Form, DJ Rx and the mighty Proteus himself as one of most exciting Finnish producers around.
Reared in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, he's often found behind the decks of infamous Helsinki party Rush but this year has seen him transport the magical Gothic epics he is is so famed for to both England and Australia. Both with devastating effect. As his 'Lumi' track sees light of day after that infamous moment here at Nu Energy HQ when the demo was whacked on the stereo, our jaws hitting the floor almost instantly, we catch up with Alek for to delve into the history of his enigmatic and eccentric character and get the inside track of his fastest moving yet.
First of all Alek, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. What have been the highlights of the last twelve months of Alek Száhala?
My first four gig tour in Australia this summer was something I'll never forget. Parties were huge and the country itself was really beautiful. Especially Mayhem 2005 was a prototype of a perfect party. I'm really looking forward to get there second time.
Back in June, you played live as part of the Kaotik Records/Freeformation tour at Total Bedlam. What was it like to play your music live to an English hardcore crowd and what sort of response did you get?
Of course it's always exciting as finnish sound is so different form UK stuff. I've noticed in England there's always a small group of Finrg fans in parties who really enjoy every beat, fans who knows every Finnish artist all their tracks, and they're the ones who usually give you the feedback. But I guess most of the ravers liked it as they didn't flee from the floor but stomped on through til the last beat 
Ephexis, Father and Sawyer rocked that night!
I remember meeting you the next night at Club Republic at the cavernous SeOne where we were hosting a Freeformation hardcore room. How did the rave compare to the events that you have in Finland?
Well, there was at least three times more people and space than normally in Finnish party, and of course for me there was lots of big names playing such as Kevin Energy, Lab-4 and Sharkey. It was great to see them all in action and rockin the floors with their different sounds. The venue itself was great, one of the most old skoolish places I've ever been at. One thing to mention too is that in England music is much louder than in Finland (especially in that party at SeOne). We've got always some decibel guys with dB-meters at parties, who guarantee your ears won't start bleeding after three minutes of partying without ear plugs!
The following month you went on a tour of Australia, playing to huge arm-waving crowds at events such as Sydney’s Godspeed alongside Brisk, Evil Activities and UFO. Friendly, mental and full of energy, Australian ravers have a global reputation as being the most up for it around. What is the craziest experience that your Australia tour provided?
Well, I looked forward for warm and nice weather and lot's of zoos, surfing and theme parks but it actually rained almost every day and there were also some floods. But, I still had really good time there as all the people were so nice and fun. I was surprised by how much people liked the Finnish sound especially in Brisbane and Adelaide. I can't say what was craziest, but it was interesting that in a country of that size, every city seemed to have totally different scenes and taste of music: In Sydney they loved gabber and in Melbourne it was more psychedelic and slower stuff etc.
Many of the Finnish wave of producers such as Re-Form and Carbon Based cite the late 90s works of seminal hard NRG acts such as Tinrib and Lab 4 as their defining influences in converting them to twisted underground dance. Others talk of early psy-trance acts like Juno Reactor and Hallucinogen. Who were the electronic acts that first captured your imagination?
I think Astral Projection and some evergreen UK artists such as Lab-4 and Tinrib as you mentioned were one of the biggest influences. Also Carbon Based and some other Finnish artists have given lots of ideas and inspiration for me.
According to your biography, you’ve been producing music since 1993. Not exactly new to this game are ya! How old were you when you first started and what inspired you to put your visions into practice by using technology?
I was around ten years when I got my first sound card and tracker (and of course a microphone to make some stupid swearing samples). My biggest influences then were some Amiga Demoscene guys such as Mad Freak. And of course the early 90's dance acts. Though it took about four years to make first track I uploaded to some BBSses and internet.
How has the learning curved developed since then? Do you find yourself learning new studio trickery day by day or have your skills reached a constant level now?
I've used only Reason, and heard billion times "it's too simple, you can't do this and that with it.." No, no, no. I've used it since the day it was released and I'm still discovering new things and ways to make new sounds and stuff. Though it's difficult to compare my older tracks to newest ones as my sound has changed pretty much, I can say I've been learned much. Especially my mixdowns have got better recently (thanks to Oli, Sharkey and my brand new Genelec monitors
Twisted, weird, gothic, magical, epic, different pacey… the Finnish sound has been described as so many things by us in England. In your opinion, what musical elements do you think it really makes it stand out from the more conventional UK underground sounds?
We've totally cut off all the happy elements, there are no cheesy vocals nor happy melodies. But maybe the biggest trademark are those grinding hi-passed sawtooths which are included in almost every Finrg track. Older Finnish stuff were also pretty fast, about 180bpm in average, but for now I think tempos are getting slower (at least in my tracks), around 160-175, because usually you'll have to pitch them down anyway if you play outside Finland. Dropping bpm also makes the mixdown sound clearer and you can always pitch them up if needed.
How often do you play out in Finland and what are your favourite Finnish clubs to play?
Now I've started my studies at university of Helsinki I've had to skip some gigs. I've played from 1 to 3 times in month, but now I've try to play only once per month as I don't have much time to produce new tracks. In Finland SÄDE is the most respected hard dance club alongside Rush and Impulse. Also a newcomer Fury has gained some reputation recently. These ones are usually most enjoyable to play at, but of course there's plenty of other great parties too.
Much more so than the UK freeform scene, the Finnish sound is often linked closely with the gothic and fetish scenes. The mighty Proteus dresses up in impressive PVC draped costume, the Finrg sound has an almost gothic edge while many Finnish artists are fans of legendary industrial bands such as Sisters Of Mercy and Front Line Assembly or edgy gothic electro-industrial band Nine Inch Nails. Areyou a fan of industrial music and why do you think the two scenes (hard NRG/freeform & Industrial) are so linked in Finland?
It's difficult to say, gothic/rock/industrial scene is growing bigger and bigger every year in Finland. Finnish bands are getting big contracts from international labels all the time. The combination of old metal goths and electronic music has created a whole new "cybergothic" scene where they seem to combine the classic gothic "Addam's family Morticia look" with old school neon color rave and/or anime style. I think these styles have been united just because harddance is getting darker, and gothic music more electronic.
Epic, uplifting and full of magical emotion, your track ‘Lumi’ is your first appearance on the Nu Energy label following impressive appearances on labels like Camel, Electronic and FINRG. How did you first discover the Nu Energy label?
I heard about Kevin Energy and Nu Energy first time only about 3-4 years ago when I heard some mix with Kevin's tracks. I can't remember did I send a promo CD for Kevin or did Kevin e-mail me first
How do you feel about people remixing your work and what are your opinions on Kevin’s take on your original?
Of course it's great to get your own tracks remixed by the big international names. I think Kevin's 'Lumi' remix is really good, I was really positively surprised when I heard it first time in London @ SeOne. Really good combination between the original Lumi and Kevin's personal sound.
As far as I know you’ve never been one to collaborate with other artists. Is it because you simply prefer working on your own personal ideas or are you just waiting for the right opportunity to come up?
I've actually made few collaborations, one with Blender (Raver's dream), although I just send some midi files to him and he wrote the whole track. I guess the reason why I haven't collaborated much is Reason I'm very unfamiliar with other softwares and everybody else use Cubase or Logic.
A lot of people think that hard dance music is running out of ideas, probably a major reason why so many hard dance enthusiasts are so excited by the Finnish sound. Do you ever find it hard coming up with fresh ideas and who is exciting you most at the moment?
Of course we all run out of ideas sometimes. I've had very silent perioid for now with producing, during last three months I've written only one new track and I'm not happy with it yet. But I don't feel overall hard dance would suffer from anything at this time. In my opinion Dj Rx is now writing the best tracks and has got the most "fresh" ideas..
Can you tell us a bit about the tracks that you have been working on recently?
I've finally mixed down the latest versions 'Unholy word' and 'Supriya' now (I finally got real studio monitors!), although I've played different versions of them in my sets since last summer. Now I'm working with two new tracks: First one is almost finished, very dark and hard track with really fat grinding synth leads and quite a strange melody. The second one is more freeformish stuff, but yet heavily under construction.
Is music your full time career or do you have to sit in front of office computer from 9 to 5 like the rest of us?!
No it isn't. Now I study Computational Liguistics at the University of Helsinki.
What have you got planned for New Year’s Eve? Will it be a wild party of drink, drugs and underground music or will you be taking it easy indoors?
I'll play in Helsinki at Rush's New Year's Party. I guess it will be just drinking and chatting with people.
And what are your main ambitions in 2006? Are there any particular targets that you have set yourself?
I know nothing about next year yet
Now for some quick-fire questions Alek:
3 Favourite Tracks Of All Time?
1. Epilim - Rapid Fire
2. Lab 4 - Candyman
3. DJ Fury - Lemonade Raygun
3 Current Favourites?
1. Re-form - Knight rider remix
2. Proteus - Metal
3. Kevin Energy & Proteus - London-Helsinki underground
What was the last CD you bought?
Finntroll - Midnattens Widunder
What did you have for dinner last night?
French fries & fish fingers
