THE RASMUS: an exclusive interview with Lauri Ylonen (english audio)

We met up with The Rasmus singer/songwriter Lauri Ylönen to discuss the new album Black Roses, out today.
Press the PLAY icon to stream the interview.

A few of the questions asked:

- In this age when the words "radio-friendly" seems like an insult, you picked Desmond Child as a producer, and the result was a first hit single that is dominating the charts everywhere. was this your aim when you picked him, to continue in the radio-friendly streak of "in the shadows" and "no fear"?

- "Livin in a world without you" seems like another personal song written after the end of a relationship... how do you mix this personal kind of writing, with something that will be so hugely successful?

- I've always been curious to ask this: "in the shadows" was a very personal song dealing with depression, how did it feel for you when it became a massive success and it started appearing on mobile phone ringtones and played at pool parties? do you think it lost its message?

- The album was originally planned to be relased in March, but was delayed due to new songs the band still wanted to record, including "Livin' in a World Without You". what made you not satisfied with the bunch of songs you were ready to record?

- The first introduction to a few of the new songs was through a live acoustic performance, how did it feel to present them to an audience with no electronic bits, sounding definitely different than the album version?

- I read that the song featuring Anette from Nightwish is an 8-year old idea, was it something you had in mind while Tarja was still the singer of Nightwish, or you wanted Anette since she joined the band?

- This new collaborations brings further the idea that the finnish rock scene is very tight... is that right?