A Dirty Dozen with PEKKA HEINO of BROTHER FIRETRIBE – September 2020

According to a recent press release: “Feel The Burn is here! Helsinki’s melodic rock heavyweights have been dropping successful singles one after another – including “Rock In The City,” “Bring On The Rain,” “Night Drive,” and “Chariot Of Fire,” from their new album, which marks the beginning of a new era for the band. The album brought about change with it as Emppu Vuorinen stepped down from his guitar-playing duties and the new kid in town, Roope Riihijärvi, got his chance to shine – and the talented guitarist showed he was the perfect fit for the band.” We get singer Pekka to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Feel The Burn is definitely a step forward for us. We have a new guitarist onboard and we used an outside producer for the first time which makes a difference in terms of how the band sounds like and how the songs are written and arranged. It’s still very much Brother Firetribe but with a new vibe. As far as hidden nuggets go, you can listen to the album and try to figure out who plays guitar on each track as we have 3 guitarists playing on the album; our ex-guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, our current guitarist Roope Riihijärvi and our producer Jimmy Westerlund.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I was 8 years old when my family took a trip to Stockholm and my parents gave me money to go to this little record store and pick out whatever record I wanted. I walked out of there with a brand new copy of Hanoi Rocks’ Two Steps From The Move cassette. There was basically no turning back after that.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

I’d have to mention Matchbox’s “Midnite Dynamos,” I kept playing that song over and over again when I was a kid. Van Halen’s “Panama” and “Jump,” WASP’s “I Wanna Be Somebody.” Then later on Journey’s “Positive Touch” from the Raised on Radio album got me heavily into AOR. Bruce Springsteen definitely. From the other end of things Sinatra and Miles Davis made a huge impact.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Bon Jovi, Journey, Foreigner, Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, and Tom Waits. Oops that’s six.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Jack Ponti. He’s got his own signature way of coming up with the catchiest choruses ever.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

It’s catchy, big sounding melodic rock. I really don’t cringe at anything anyone says about our music. Everyone has a way of hearing things, I have no interest at all to start arguing over somebody’s opinion.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

All in all it has too be the fact I’m blessed to be able to make a living out of doing something I love the most. Well at least I used to be, as things aren’t too great for musicians right now!

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

We’re throwing BBQ’s but that’s not really cooking, is it? Everyone gets the drinks in, absolutely! When the band is hanging out socially the last thing we do is play music, actually! We watch hockey and go to sauna.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

I’ve never really been star struck but I’ve been fortunate enough to have met some of the people whose poster I’ve had on my wall when I was a kid. For example, meeting Michael Monroe for the first time and sharing a stage with him felt like a full circle somehow.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

It wouldn’t be a dream job then, really! A record store owner if records would still sell… I don’t know!

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Naah, not really. Everything I’ve ever had a chance to do I can pretty much fully stand behind. Of course the stuff from back in the day is pretty funny looking at right now but that’s just normal to cringe at how you looked or what you thought was cool back then.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Oh that’s easy. Elvis’ first Sun recordings. I love Elvis and everyone knows the impact those moments had for the whole world.

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Category: Interviews