Something to Smile About - Janne Raappana and Taikakuu.

Janne Raappana from Taikakuu

I woke up this morning needing a bit of sunshine. And I don't mean that big yellow thing in the sky. You know what I mean. Before I left the house today I wrote on Facebook that I hoped the day would bring something worth smiling about. As I write this it's nearly three in the morning and I am happy to say that it did eventually- and in an unexpected way.

Every now and then we all feel that we need a bit of inspiration from somewhere, and today mine was delivered in the form of an interview with the lead singer in the band Taikakuu, Janne Raappana.

Ämyri dance venue in Somero

Taikakuu (Magic Moon) is a very well known band here in Finland, performing at dance venues all over the country with about 150 gigs a year. This evening they were at Ämyri in Somero and I could not resist the opportunity to interview Janne, who, (even though he didn't know it), has already sung to me so many times in the kitchen, in bed and in my car.

What is it like to spending a life on the road, being away from home so much?

"It reminds every one of us in the band the importance of having a place to go back to, somewhere to call home, especially now we all have children. As much as we can, we take our holidays at the same time as the children are off school. We've been really busy this summer so far, but luckily we've got a three week break coming up. We all need it."

The members of Taikakuu - Janne, Emil, Samppa and Miikka.

As well as having toured every dance venue in the country, Taikakuu have also performed in Malaysia, Sweden and Kuala Lumpur.

"It was such a different experience in Malaysia," Janne says laughing. "We'd been asked to go there by the Finnish Embassy to introduce the country to a bit of Finnish culture. We played some "humppa" (traditional Finnish dance) music and the audience had no idea what was going on. The Malaysians must have thought it was some kind of military music, because they all stood there and saluted. It was really weird, but I guess they found us exotic!"

I told Janne that this blog is read by people all over the world, most of whom will not have heard of Taikakuu. If they listened to just one song, which one should it be?

"I would say the first track from our new album. It's called Tunne (Feeling), because it sums up where we are as a band right now. Even people who don't understand Finnish will get a feeling from this song and will hopefully get something from it. To be honest even to Finns I don't ever explain what my lyrics are supposed to mean. Music is a personal thing, and the same words will mean different things to different people. A track about loss might be about death to one person or a broken relationship to another. Both are completely valid. Why should I go and spoil that?"

https://www.facebook.com/TaikakuuOfficial/app_271545776251423 (you can listen to the track Tunne through a link from Taikakuu's Facebook page).

"In terms of my own inspirations I listen to all types of music but I would say that one significant artist to me is Laura Pausini. I don't understand Italian that well, but I feel as though I understand her. Just through the music."

I asked Janne what he dreamed about. He thought about this for a while before answering.

Miikka on drums

"A life which hasn't lost it's happiness, because without it things can be really tough. I know, because I've been there. The thing is, no one else can make you happy. You have to do it yourself. Tough things happen, but the trick is to find the good side to everything that happens. And there always is a good side if you dig deep enough. You need to take the time to find out what you really want in life. You need to understand your own dreams before you can achieve them, and only you know what those are.
Myself, if I am remembered for anything, I would like it to be for making people feel good...positive. I would like to remembered for being someone positive."

Of course I had to ask Janne what he thought about performing in Somero. "We always like coming here," he said. "There's such a long dance tradition in Somero with Unto Mononen and Rauli Badding Somerjoki coming from the region that I guess the people here are quite traditional in their musical tastes. Somero is always a good place to perform."

Janne says that the next step for Taikakuu is to plan a concert tour in Finland, but that they've had such a busy schedule they simply haven't got round to it yet. "That's next on our list" he says, smiling.  

I hope I am remembered for being someone positive, Janne says

With my own history as a disc jockey I've been lucky enough to see many bands performing live, but Taikakuu remains one of my favourites, and if you get the chance to go to see them, go. You only need to spend a few minutes with Janne Raappana to know that he is genuine and that his songs come from the heart. He sings about things he cares about, things that really matter. And you don't even have to understand the words to get that.

Today's chat was just the bit of inspiration that I needed when I left the house this morning. So thank you, both Janne and Taikakuu, for being with us here in Somero tonight. We hope to see you again very soon.