Finland, the land of a thousand lakes, has brought us many celebrities. Some people we know well in the Netherlands are Jori Hulkkonen (DJ and producer), Jari Litmanen (Ajax), Kimi Räikkönen and Mika Häkkinen (Formula 1) and of course multiple Paris-Dakar winner Ari Vatanen. In the synthwave area, someone from Finland is also working hard to become a well-known name. We are talking about none other than Millennium Falck. In this nice interview we chat about Queen, inspiration, manga and other things.
Well, first of all congratulations on your collaboration with Magnavolt for the song Sarah. I really like this new song of you guys and didn´t knew you were also a singer. Is this something you plan to do more in the future?
Great question and actually if I go all the way back to my youth, singing was the thing that got me started into making music. I come from a musical family where my dad has been singing and playing music for over 50 years already. I always joke about the fact that my brother got the balls of performing live (he is an animal when you put him on stage) and I got the singing voice. So singing has been an integral part of my life since I was 5 years old. My first single Why won't you love me now? and You make me better were vocal tracks, but I do enjoy doing also instrumental songs. Collaboration with Magnavolt has been super. It started out with him making my current logo and we started talking about musical ideas. When he sent me the demo and idea of Sarah, I was sold. Anything related to Terminator is just pure love for me.
How did you first get into making music?
It started really early when I was a kid growing up. Vocals and guitar were the first points of contact for me and music. It ofcourse helped that you had guitars, bass, synths and all sorts of musical equipment laying around the house :). I'm in gratitude to my brother who introduced me to Tracker softwares back in the 90's and my dad who actually suggested me to buy Propellerhead Reason in the early 2000's. Computers have been a dominant part of my life since the Commodore 64. For the past 10 years I've transitioned from guitar based composing to synth + DAW.
What were your musical influences?
Queen and Freddie Mercury. It's the first band that really made an impact to me. Queens music was always something different. They were able to transition through the ages without losing their fans because they did something completely different. I remember also the passing of Freddie Mercury being a hard point in my life. It was for the first time when I felt I had lost something special. You understood that there wouldn't be any new songs coming from Queen. Until they released Made In Heaven. It was an emotional moment. When you heard a persons voice that was already gone. I still cry when I listen to the record. You can hear how fragile Freddie felt and there are some truths that only they have been able to give me about life. No schoolbook told me what life would be, but thankfully Queens music did.
When working in the studio, how goes the process for creating a new song?
It starts with a mental vision of what the song should sound like. I've tried to explain it in a way that I truly "see" the music before I can compose it. All my best works have started out like that. Describing the mood in my mind, writing a couple of adjectives what the song is about. The process is quite cinematic in that sense. I love the book from Julia Cameron called "The Artist way". I did the course from the book and I've felt like after that I haven't experience anymore these writers blocks that used to ravage my mental health. I think it opened up a door in my mind that I'm able to tap into a deeper level of creativity. Drawing the ideas and letting myself to be a tool that brings it to life.
What equipment do you use in your studio?
My studio consists of the following:
DAW:
Propellerhead Reason 10
Synths:
Alesis Vortex Keytar
Korg R3
M-Audio Axiom 61 Pro
3 Ibanez Jet King electric guitars
Ibanez Precision bass from the 60's
Taylor 314CE acoustic guitar (My love)
Monitors:
Finnish Genelecs 8040B
Mic:
RØDE NT1
RØDE NT1 A
RØDE M3
RØDE NTK
Can you tell us something about your future plans?
It's going to be a crazy year, I can tell you that. I have several collaborations coming up with some epic artists. I'm really excited about those and in majority of them I'm handling the vocal parts. I have new single coming out May 24th called Kessel Run. It's an instrumental song that I like to define that it's great for those late night smuggling runs. I'm also collaborating with fellow #Finwaver Levinsky and his new album. I'm handling the post production for the album. Super cool stuff coming from Levinsky, I can guarantee that. I'm continuing to post images and videos of Neo Helsinki on my Instagram account and there is a bigger thing happening also later this year. I'll keep it a secret for now, but you'll see it unveiling during the summer. More Spotify playlists are on the way. It's my way of showing gratitude for this amazing community we call #synthfam. Especially would like to give a shoutout to Neon Fawkes, who was the first person to add my music to an Spotify playlist. That's a moment I won't forget.
How do you think the synthwave scene in Finland develops?
I have a strong feeling that we will see many FinWavers emerging this year on the Synthwave scene. We already have many well known artists like Ace Buchannon, Kizunaut, Levinsky, Ferus Melek, Turbo Knight etc.. So I'd totally say that the northern lords of synth are on the rise :).
Where do you get your inspiration?
I draw my inspiration from cyberpunk, sci-fi, Star Wars, old school anime and manga. I think one of the most influential films I've seen was an anime called Appleseed (1988). I remember seeing that movie as a kid and the story really caught my attention. There were so many levels of how you would look at the seemingly perfect world that the humans had created. I've composed so many songs about that movie. I think part of my Neo Helsinki 2080 story has elements from that movie. Gaming has been a major factor for me since I was 4 year old. Growing up with video games was an integral part of who I am at the moment. I still play with my PlayStation 4 and enjoy sci-fi games. I think Titanfall 2 has been a huge influence for me, as that game gets me pumped up. Also Deus Ex Human Revolution opened my eyes to understand what the future of humanity might be. Michael McCanns soundtracks is in my humble opinion the best soundtrack ever made.
And finally any last words to the Dutch synthwave community?
Ofcourse Timecop1983 is a must know when it comes to synthwave music from The Netherlands. I think one of the cool things about the whole scene is that nobody seems to primarily care where you are from. People are really open to everyone and I've made so many friends across the globe. I would say that it's a music genre without borders. Something John Lennon would be proud of.
Thank you very much Millennium Falck for this interview!
For the new single Kessel Run we are giving away 10 free download codes:
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You can redeem it here at https://millenniumfalck.bandcamp.com/yum!
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