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Interview in the Finnish Rumba magazine

Dark Sun: Sixth grade metaphysics

Dark Sun from Helsinki must feel comfortable under the headline “Star Trek ´94”. The group describe their music being “spaciously foggy”, and their goal being to ascent further into space. Dark Sun is going to appear in Radio City show “Trend Boom” 26.4. and their celestial sound may be heard at Club Semifinal 28.4.

Dark Sun bass player Santtu Laakso portrays the interviewees on the phone: –you´re most likely to identify us in the crowd. We´ll be the scruffiest and most longhaired customers in the restaurant. The guys were very meticulous concerning their looks, as I was about to realize when I entered the joint.

Three guys out of seven had come. With Santtu were guitar players Yrjö Takalo and Kari Kuusinen, and vocalist Janne Kuokkanen. The others are: Mikko Kuokkanen (keys) whose tool Moog crackles, explodes and whistles, Petri Sadinmäki (keys, fx, synths), and Antti Luostarinen (dr.).

When asked about the musical influences of the group the chief songwriter Takalo seems to get excited.

– I dig ´50s r`n´r, ´60s garage and rock music, the ´70s spacerock, postpunk and new wave, gothic acts and HM of the ´80s and all the good old farts of the nineties with a couple of new promising acts. And you have to mention them all in yous story!!!

The other band members settle with Hawkwind and Black Sabbath. –Dave Brock of Hawkwind likes our demo much enough to send us a greetings card, Santtu adds with a tone of pride in his voice.

Down-to-earth Rock and Roll as well as high-flown music

Our exemplars do indeed have an impact on our music. However, every song we have written is still written our way, the Dark Sun way. Our music is a relationship between down to earth R`n´R and more high-flown Space material.

– The essence of R`n´R is to pursue the most superficial elements. It is a dump site out of which one may find the most pretencious things, but curiously enough, also the core element of its very self. And so, we are in pursuit of that core ...but the superficial as well, Yrjö explains leaving the interviewer to a state of total confusion.

Dark Suns fantastic lyrics swarm with the plentitude of cartoonlike or movie spirit. I take it not all the stories have been meant to be taken so seriously?

– Well, you´ve got funny scifi stories as well as serious ones. Santtu is drawn to writing scifi, I myself write more down to earth -oriented stuff usually, says Janne, and he continues: – Even if I write about something beautiful or nice, I often add the touch of agony or melancholy in. Also, you have to have some of that good ol´ sixth grade metaphysics in it, so that the listener is not instantly aware of what the lyrics are about.

Coming up: Single

Dark sun have played just four gigs, all of them within a time window of three months. With seven members in the group, they have had some difficulties in squeezing in on the smaller stages.

– If we get on a big stage eventually, we´re going to create a serious space show with appropriate lights, projected movies and strobos the works. Kinda like Hawkwind, I guess, Santtu portrays there vision.

Miettinen of Gaga Goodies has agreed to produce a Dark Sun single on the Upstairs label (a Gaga sublabel). What is the direction you are heading toward now, guys?

– Higher into space. More scifi with swishing noise.

– There´s so many of us with different interests in this band, I wonder how we have managed to stay together at all!

– we´re out to take the universe.