With epic yet haunting tracks such as ‘Cyclone’, ‘Illuminate' and their recent head-twister ‘The Choice', Finnish quartet Carbon Based have long been offering a darker, Gothic freeform alternative to the energised UK sound but insist that they’re far from the dour faced make-up covered stereotypes that our UK has associated with ‘Goths’. Thier alliance with their dark, haunting and twisted taking place only on a musical level.
Appropriately, the friendly foursome are more at ease bracketing themselves bracketed as dedicated computer nerds, fending of the tedium that descends during Finland’s long, sun-starved winters by burrowing themselves in the studio to compose their masterful, innovative productions.
The humble determination had certainly paid off. Over their rich ten years legacy, they have risen stealthily to stand tall as the most recognised, prolific and respected proponent of the Finnish NRG/freeform sound. The first of the Finnish breed to enjoy UK releases through outings on Max Alien’s seminal Alien Trax in 2000, they have since toured their explosive PA across their native homelands, UK and some of Australia’s biggest rave events.
With the awaited release of their dark epic ‘Anger Ball’ on Nu Energy and a backlog of bombs dropping on Electronic, their stock looks set to rise further still as the potential prospect of another UK appearance later in the year keeps fans on these shores excited. So as ‘Anger Ball’ gets packed up at the pressing plant (at long last - bring it on!), we caught up with the four Carbon Based members – Toni Eronen, Petteri Kääpä, Teemu Lahtinen & Ari Virtanen – for an insightful interview that covers everything from their chance yet fateful conception ten years ago, the colourful journey since and the current state of the unique Finnish scene.
First of all… happy new year! Were you all involved in nocturnal adventures on New Year’s Eve or did you stay indoors, and have an early night?
We had great time at Petteri’s family villa in Padasjoki, which is located exactly in the middle of nowhere. We let of some fireworks, but stayed most of the time in sauna. A truly relaxing weekend for all of us in contrast to last year when we were playing at Rush NYE.
With ‘Lumi’ and ‘Anger Ball’ both being licensed to Hardcore Heaven CDs and being released through the mighty Nu Energy, do you feel that the Finnish sound is finally rising to new heights?
It's great that Finnish music has finally found its way to Nu Energy as well, but the greatest thing is that with these well established CD compilations the music will reach more people than ever before. The vinyl release on Nu Energy is certainly one of the most notable milestones for us, as it surely is for Alek Száhala and Nomic as well. This certainly means new heights for Finnish Freeform as more labels releasing the Finnish sound means faster release pace, more attention and hopefully new fans and friends for the Finnish artists.
What do you think is underpinning the current wave of interest?
We like to think that the amount of success is directly proportional to amount and quality of work done. But success is not taken – it’s given. What we mean is that we can try to push good tracks, but we cannot push people to like them. The audience will make their own mind and the Finnish sound will go exactly as far or short as that.
How did you first come into contact with the Nu Energy label and what are you first memories of it?
Ari: I think I found it by chance in 2000 while browsing the internet for vinyl. It was a changing moment, since it changed my sound preferences and way of thinking for good. I had previously bought mostly hard nrg and hard trance, but listening to classics on Stompin Choonz, Nu Energy, and Bonkerz, really blew me away. My history on hardcore comes from collections like Thunderdome, as for most of Finnish geezers I think.
What were your earliest electronic influences when you began your relationship with electronic music?
Teemu: I can remember my father playing me Kraftwerk around ’85. I bought my first techno collection in ’92 and started making music around the time.
Petteri: It must be Syntesizer Greatest Hits somewhere in the late 80s, but it was the vibrant house scene of Lahti in ’95-’97 which made an everlasting impression on me. The veterans have told me that that was just the post-era and a shadow of the great scene that emerged in ’91. Too bad I was still playing with my G.I. Joe and Star Wars figures at that time.
Toni: Syntesizer Greatest Hits which inspired me to my first Amiga tracker experiments back in ’92.
Ari: Jean Michelle Jarre back in 80’s. I heard it from my neighbour and good childhood friend Tomi Pöntinen, who was very musical already back then. I didn’t go to any parties (or was even aware of them) before late 90’s. I’ve been following technological development as long as I remember, and electronic music seemed to fit in there perfectly.
How satisfying is to have a track released through Nu Energy and what are your opinions on the Kevin Energy remix?
Ari: I like the remix and already played it out few times. The melody in 'Anger Ball' is definitely one of its most memorable features and stays in your head long after you’ve heard it. Kevin’s remix has the Nu Energy styled tight production and always delivers total damage on the dancefloor. Since the original is a kind of anthem here, it certainly didn’t give the remixer an easy task but its one that Kevin definitely rose to!
What other UK labels would you be most proud to release on?
Ari: Personally I would say Tinrib, if it still existed. Captain is a groundbreaking producer whose label was hard but versatile. Every release had it own special something, and there were so many good crossovers from other genres.
In your opinion(s), what are the main musical differences between the Finnish productions and the UK sound? There is definitely a unique sound that sets each Finnish track apart from the others, but what elements do you think lend it this musical individuality?
In our opinion the Finnish sound is more melancholic, which in fact is a typical feature in all Finnish music. The winters up here are long, dark and cold which naturally leads to depression which can be a huge resource for creative work. We also feel that the Finnish sound has more groove, whereas the UK sound is more straight forward. Looking at the technical side of productions we Finns still have lot to learn. The second part of this question is quite impossible to answer as there are some many things influencing artists and their works all the time.
The Finnish hard dance has always entertained strong ties with the Gothic community and a darker, more mysterious scene. What do you think is the main reason behind this link and have you all got Goth pasts?
Well, for starters we are not Goths nor have we ever been, but there probably is some cultural difference between UK and Finnish definition of a Goth. We don’t mind at all being associated with the Goths in the UK, but we’re sure that Finnish Goth scene would laugh its ass off if someone would claim that us computer nerds are true Goths. Saying that, it may be that the dark and hard music might appeal to Goths in Finland as well, but we have no proof of that yet. Maybe the style and look of Alek Száhala and Proteus has more to do with this trend than we do, although after our Live PA at Elation we remember reading from the forums that we were described as Goths by the looks. Maybe it’s just the fact that Finns like to dress less colourful than the British folks.
In the past you’ve collaborated with the likes of E-NRG and Nemes but if you had free reign to collaborate with anyone of your wish who would you pick to take into the studio?
The world is full of exciting artists who would be amazing to collaborate with. Just to name two who pop straight to mind: Prodigy and Lab4.
In England, certain hardcore producers often turn out tracks in less than day with certain sections believing this leads to a lack of musical depth and formulaic tracks. How long do you spend creating each track? Is it a long, intense process or do you have things boiled down to a simple process?
The working time varies a lot. And ‘a lot’ in this case means that usually work gets done in a week or two. Saying that, ‘Cyclone’ was laid down in just two days while others are lying around for as long as a year before they get finished. We have our own studio so we have no need to rush the creative process, but on the other hand there’s no need to unnecessarily lengthen the process if one has a good drive on.
For years now, Carbon Based has pushed forward as the leading Finnish hard NRG styled PA outfit. What have been your most enjoyable gigs in recent weeks and how would you describe the current state of the Finnish hard dance scene?
As earlier mentioned we have been holding a gig break since the FINRG tour Lahti, which was held on December 5th so there has been no performances lately. Also on the last gig at FINRG tour we had to keep our focus on the event besides the performance as we organized it with the FINRG crew alone. The event itself was a massive success, but there’s always stress involved when promoting an event which makes it a bit harder to get the vibes and concentration for the performance.
From 2005 we’d like to point out ‘Konemetsä’ which was a huge (in Finnish scale) outdoor festival in the middle of nowhere/forest. We’ve also enjoyed our residency at club Rush where we’ve got the chance to play alongside many great and famous foreign artists which would have not been possible elsewhere.
Currently almost everyone is taking a short gig break so one might say the state of Finnish hard dance is bit frozen from our point of view. We hope that this break will be creatively fruitful for ourselves and that the fresh new artists would have more space to do gigs and show their talent while we are out of their way. 
You’ve previously played at cult London hardcore rave Elation as well as touring the hard dance haven of Australia extensively. What main differences did you notice between the Finnish scene and those you encountered in Australia and England?
Finnish scene is very club oriented and quite polished, whereas the Elation event was very underground and had the authentic rave feeling, which gave us great vibes.
The ascending scene in the Oz is very professional, well organized and from what we saw on a big scale. It seemed that the scene there differs very much from city to city while here it’s very consistent in the whole country.
Have you got any plans to travel to UK shores again to unleash the full power of the Carbon Based sound and which parties would you be most keen in playing?
We’re afraid we are not too familiar with the parties in UK to name top picks, we’re sure that any event would rock! We will most certainly be back, but it’s no secret that not too many promoters are keen on paying the travelling costs for four guys and equipment as it’s bloody expensive. We’d probably need to get some sort of mini-tour arranged to lower the cost per event or either do it with a reduced crew.
How is the Carbon Based Live PA diary looking for 2006? Have you got any major gigs lined up?
As earlier mentioned, we are currently holding a gig break, but we are doing one off gig with the Proteus Live PA in the main stage of the massive Laserpoint 2006 which is to be one of the largest events of the year in Finland. In the fall we’ll do the FINRG tour and are hoping to arrange some special appearances to celebrate our tenth anniversary. There has also been talks about a number of international appearances, but they are all still on the planning phase.
Do you all DJ and, if so, what artists and labels are causing the most excitement in your DJ sets?
All deejay except Petteri.
Teemu: Mostly Finnish freeform, but some UK artists as well like Technikal, Dougal & Gammer etc. Labels like Essential Platinum, Raw Elements and Nu Energy.
Toni: I mostly play progressive house, progressive trance, freeform and hard trance, but it's too hard to pick any artists or labels because there are so many great ones.
Ari: When playing freeform, it’s probably something from more or less known Finnish artist or from Nu Energy Collective. I buy a lot of various slower genres and follow Hydraulix, Headline, Mouseville from tech, plus various breakbeat, progressive & electro labels. Variation keeps me going…
What styles of music are currently on the Carbon Based stereos right now? Do you like to whack on some full-on drum and bass or just slip something ambient on to chill right out?
Drum 'n bass and Breaks indeed. Artists like Pendulum, Sub Focus and Muffler... Actually the range is quite broad: We like to listen to all sorts of music from classic to pop and rock.
The Carbon Based group has been making music together since 1996, but how did you all first meet?
Actually Carbon Based was started on ‘96 but only comprised of Petteri and not forgotten founder Toni Leirimaa. On late spring of ‘97 Petteri met Teemu and turned out they had more in common than just enthusiasm for electronic music. They had born on the same day (Teemu being five minutes older) in the same hospital! Soon after, they were introduced to Toni Eronen and found out that they all had a whole lot in common. During the next year or so we all started to collaborate more and more while Toni Leirimaa got more interested with the punk and industrial sound. This slowly led to Toni Leirimaa leaving the group and Toni Eronen and Teemu joining it. Later Ari Virtanen was also introduced by a friend to Toni Eronen and they started to collaborate as E-NRG and Carbon Based. Yet again Carbon Based assimilated talent and the collaboration was known simply as Carbon Based. Resistance is futile!
What are the main ways in which your sound has changed over this period?
For starters the project was all about being part of the scene. During the first years most tracks were rave, gabber and jungle. When Teemu and Toni joined the sound unified to house, and slowly moved towards mainstream euro-trance. At our darkest hour the white knight in form of Ari Virtanen arrived and introduced us to freeform.
From another point of view, important milestones for productivity have been moving from trackers to hardware synthesizers on 1997, buying of Virus on 2001 and the arrival of VST-plugins and switching from the old PowerPC Macintosh architecture to modern PC and sequencer software somewhere around 2002. Also Sharkey’s visit to Lahti last year was very important as we had completely lacked a mentor on the production side.
And how do you think the hard dance/hard NRG/freeform scene has changed as a whole over this period? Do you think there are still as many fresh ideas and sources of inspiration as there were when you first got into this all?
In general we feel that the scene is fragmenting all the time to smaller and smaller schools, which just doesn’t feel right. Sometimes people seem quite narrow minded, which is a shame since diversity is needed for progression and to keep things fresh.
On the bright side the Finnish freeform and hard dance scene has grown so much and been so vibrant during the last years that it has been really exciting and motivating to work for it. Yet again on the down side, some might feel that freeform getting more popular has also made it more formulaic as mentioned before. There might be a seed of truth there, which is not to be taken lightly. We really want to work towards a fresh direction and hopefully with this gig break we can renew and refresh ourselves.
Nothing can ever be as exciting as it was in the very beginning; that is a fact. But there will always be sources of inspiration, motivation and ideas. We like to think that there are no limits.
Finally, gazing into your crystal balls, what are your predictions for 2006?
We believe to see a rise of new generation of young, talented and motivated producers in the Finnish scene and that our own focus will move more to the international scene. To put it short and sweet we’ve got great vibes about the 2006!
