Poetic rockathon

Sep 01, 2012 - Nivi Shrivastava

Poets of the Fall performed at the Hard Rock Cafe in the city; (below) lead vocalist Marko Saaresto

They are famous as the “poets” but their true talent lies in giving voice to muted tones and converting them into popular rock anthems. Almost eight years ago, it was their love for rock music that made a bunch of rockers from Finland leave their jobs to form the Poets Of The Fall. The spokesperson and lead vocalist Marko Saaresto spoke to us exclusively about their journey as a band.

The band lead by Marko Saaresto (lead vocals), Olli Tukiainen (lead guitar) and Markus Kaarlonen (keyboards, production) along with Jani Snellman (bass guitar) and Jari Salminen (drums, percussion) needs no introduction, and recently when they performed at the Hard Rock Café in the city as part of their Vh1 Handpicked tour, it seemed like all the prayers from rock fans finally got answered.
Says Marko, “When we started out we were working in different fields. I was in advertising business and I sold my share and invested all the money in the band. Music is a precarious business, and we faced ups and downs from time to time, but we never gave up. Our next album Temple of Thoughts is about the experiences that we’ve had in our lives.”
Marko reveals that their band travels a lot and that is what enriches them as a group. He says, “When we travel we get exposed to various sounds and sights and that is what inspires us to write songs. While growing up we all listened to various rock bands and heavy metal bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth etc influenced us a lot. The grunge music period in the 90s also played an important role in shaping our music. I am not fond of jazz but I find the music by Pink Floyd, Van Halen and Scorpions very interesting.”
All the band members were thrilled to perform in India and they agree that screaming and cheering of fans during a performance brings great energy to the concert. Marko says, “Usually I perform with my headsets on and I don’t get to listen to the holler from the audience. Once we were performing before a crowd of 25,000 people and I removed my headphones and I could hear everyone around me screaming. The feeling was absolutely ecstatic.”

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