Organ (Soundi 5/1982) - English Version
Argon took a dork, what we got was Organ
Organ took Futu, what we got was bream spawn
Soundi 5/1982
Words by: Arto Pajukallio
Dear readers of Soundi, you may remember the EP sent with this magazine a while ago, as a showcase of Poko Rekords presenting four of their recent albums. Among them was the title song “Organ”, from the longplay of Organ.
”Otimme messiin tuon Eppujen dorkan / nyt Argon-orkan nimi on Organ” [“We took along that dork from Eppu Normaali / now the Argon orchestra is called Organ”], sang Seppo, and Mikko in turn declared: ”En tahdo enää tutkia lahnan kutua / tahdon, tahdon soittaa futua”. [“I don’t want to study the spawning of bream anymore / I want to, I want to play futu” - “Futu” being the Finnish nickname for synthpop.]
Seppo is Parkkinen, Mikko is Saarela, of course. Seppo and Pekka Tolonen formed a synthesizer duo last summer that made the awesome LP “Kone kertoo” [“The machine tells”] for the QUU label – or in the boys’ own vernacular, a synth duo. When Mikko and Tapani Lahtinen joined, Organ was born. Their LP “Nekrofiilis” was released in the spring of 1982, in honour of which the band also went on a tour. As if that weren’t enough, Soundi sent their man to find out about the matter, and what a mess it eventually was…
Our reporter is skulking around restlessly, his eyes darting around. He is at the Pormestari restaurant in Tikkurila, Vantaa, where a club night organised by the local VELMU [Vantaa Live Music Association] is about to begin. Our reporter met the musicians of the band Organ at the station when they arrived by train, and is now getting ready to do his job. He is trying his best to forget the annoying fact that he is wearing four pairs of long underwear, because it is cold this far south, and the magazine, being stingy with its credit cards, hasn't even provided him with sunglasses!
The rock labourers are piling up their stuff, the second band is lugging their instruments. Out of habit, our reporter is asked if he is working here, writing, or doing a story. He decides to go ask one of the Organ guys if he is here to play. Though it is not a good idea to ask a question from a guy with a strange smile. The guy in question is Tapani Lahtinen, the other members of the band think he is their best musician. Tapani’s instrument is Zyrgo [an analogue drum machine for Argon and Organ, custom-made by Pekka Tolonen], which requires dexterity when you have to push a bunch of cords into the right plugs at the right time. We’ll explain more later. At the gig Tapani keeps changing the reels in the tape recorder, because Zyrgo is not suitable for stage use. So, is he an actual live musician? In any case, Tapani is a nice man. He even approaches our reporter and says to him:
– Oh, say some tender words to me.
Help, why isn't Juntunen here? [Juho Juntunen, another reporter for Soundi.] And why not Saarinen, either, our reporter thinks, but decides to toughen up. Lahtinen grins infantilely, and oh no, now comes that most artistic-looking eccentric of them all – Pekka Tolonen. He also opens up his verbal coffin.
– Take me, my dear!
If only the boys from The Ramblers were here! And Kalsa! Our reporter puts his hand in his pocket, greedily throws a handful of Valiums into his trembling mouth, bravely sits down and joins the others.
Really, our reporter now decides he’s feeling quite alright. He immediately writes down the boys' comments in his expectant-looking notebook, which has an obvious effect. Seppo Parkkinen does not make similar comments as his fellow band members, but the conversation turns more serious, to the band's activities.
Organ's gigs usually last for an hour. Three guys stand behind their synthesizers and conjure up some synthpop with a noticeable hint of humanity. And the fourth guy, who stays in the shadows, maybe even a bit too much, is responsible for the rhythmic backing tapes.
Our reporter reminisces: Pekka and Seppo both used to play guitar, the latter with a uniquely fast one-finger-one-string technique, Tapani was on bass, Matti Kanerva on drums. All were from the same school, were in the same class, full of strange ideas, implementations and endless shenanigans. Sometimes Seppo was involved, sometimes not. Under the band names Aniara and GUU? they made some unforgettably unique music. If those works just had managed to get out of the basement, the group could have created a truly unbridled album. Our reporter is excited to plan in his mind how one day those crazy people who are in the business of releasing all kinds peculiar old basement recordings will go nuts once they will hear GUU?, and those prog-rock oddities will finally get the attention they justly deserve.
But back to the present. Parkkinen took out his student loan a little over two years ago and, somehow, he spotted in a shop window a synthesizer, the price of which was exactly as much as the amount of loan. One just could not refuse what felt like the sheer guidance of fate, and Seppo got a great addition to his home recording equipment. Pekka followed suit and thus was Argon born. For one reason or another, the band's album was left out of the media spotlight. What a pity. There's no way the music there could be called some slavishly technical gimmickry, but instead, it is very fun and – uh – original stuff. You can even hear some songs on the radio at the listener’s request programmes for children.
And when Saarela bought a synthesizer, invented that fly sound and decided to make a single, the Argon guys gave their helping hand. The collaboration came about so naturally. And yet, since Mikko used to be in Eppu Normaali, a band consisting of family members, the transition to another insider group is understandable. The Argon guys are old acquaintances – of course because Tolonen is a cousin of Eppu Normaali’s Syrjä Brothers, Martti and Pantse. That's how it usually goes.
Sheets are being spread on the back wall of Pormestari club. A slide show has been created which is linked to the music, which aims to follow the themes and moods of the music as closely as possible. The photographs are by Seppo and Stepe Toiviainen, who is sitting behind the slide projector.
Pekka Tolonen has opened his Portasound, a handy portable synthesizer, and is showing off its specs: rhythms, basslines, sounds, and eight-voice polyphony. The keys are so small that playing the Portasound is closer to tapping on an electric typewriter than to playing a traditional keyboard.
The gadget is one of the favourite toys for both Pekka and Mikko. The latter, along with Pantse Syrjä and Apo, even used it to tease the waiters at Helsinki’s Kosmos restaurant on the eve of the former's trip to London. Will new technology create a new culture of customs? Why, even in these days, people are not allowed to play the Jew’s harp at Helsinki’s Old Student House, and why can’t they blow into a harmonica at Messi, either?
While our reporter is left fiddling around with the Portasound, Pekka pulls a mini-sized electronic football game out of his pocket. One always has to be prepared!
Later, our reporter hears about the musicians' many hours spent with an electronic game where, for example, one has to fetch supplies from the shed and dodge wrenches; buckets and screwdrivers falling from the scaffolding onto one’s head.
The world of these games and technology in general provides endless fun for Organ's guys. Even though in the photos the guys pose with makeup on, there's no way that they've ever been seen at the local futurist discos such as Einstein à Go-Go. Oh no, instead you can find them at home fiddling around with their gadgets, except for Seppo, who is so strange that he also has some "traditional and real" hobbies.
Repa is setting up the PA system. The reporter drifts up beside him just in time when the energetic roadie stops to admire his handiwork.
– Beautiful, isn't it? We have twice as much power in the amplifiers as the cabinets can handle.
Our reporter retreats. He runs into Stepe and a few others, who are wondering how to power the disco soundboard. Toiviainen tells how he tried that once in the Rose Room, but had to give up after trying for fifteen minutes. But it’s Repa who solves this problem, too. A roadie is better off being an electrician than a bodyguard these days. Our reporter retreats again. When, through trial and error, Mikko tries to play “No Woman No Cry” (“Well, the tune is so difficult, but back home I could actually play it”), our reporter pulls sunglasses over his dark-tinted spectacles and feels good again.
The venue opens its doors, people are sipping their beers and having a chitchat. Our reporter still keeps his profession in mind. He recalls how Saarela used to rant, as a young angry punk musician and then as a misunderstood rock lyricist, how rock is ultimately about only one thing: whether your balls are swinging or not. The journalist wants to be of a critical mind and asks if they still swing. Saarela shows off his ignobility by chirping in a eunuch's voice: "Which balls?".
Tapani amuses himself by drawing his characteristically naughty pictures in our reporter's notebook. Tapani specialises in men who have heavy hanging breasts instead of eyes. Boys will be boys. There’s no way you could call the Organ boys deviants, but even more than that, they are all uninhibited boys with their wrinkle-avoiding and childlike enthusiastic manners.
Vantaa's JSS-Band play their own set, being a variety of styles, even to the point of disunity, but it’s clever and, above all, inventive rock.
It's Organ's turn. The restaurant manager of Pormestari digs Bach and beer and is a nice guy in general. He is an understanding person and allows the room to be darkened and the sliding doors in front of the cash register are almost completely closed. This also allows the slide show to be seen properly.
Organ’s start is stiff. There was no time to do a soundcheck, and it takes some time before the instruments and songs are in balance and the musicians can actually hear each other and their own songs, but the faults are soon fixed. When the Zyrgo rhythms come from the tape, the basis of the music is of course shackled, but the whole thing still doesn't sound stiff or mechanical. Pekka gets excited about improvising and performs various wild leaps with the Portasound hanging around his neck. Synthpop is such a boundless joy!
The slideshow supports the music perfectly at times, but in other songs its significance remains only superficial. Of course, haste makes waste, there was not enough time to prepare the performance to be satisfactory in every way. But still, the combined effect is to be enjoyed. No Düsseldorf neon nightmares, but just some fun music making, for example about the eyes of Regina Linnanheimo!
I suddenly realised the darkness that had fallen around me, caused by thousands and thousands of flies descending on us from behind. I pulled off my glasses and turned on the lights, but nothing helped. Stepe's video camera was caught by flies and transmitted them to the monitor behind the band.
The boys of Organ noticed what was going on, stopped playing and started hunting for flies. Every now and then they managed to kill one, but there were just more and more of them. The buzzing filled the entire hall, but the audience just sat on their asses, thinking that such sounds were coming from synthesizers. Quelle erreur!
But suddenly the flies disappeared and the sound stopped. We killed the last ones, which made the audience think we were clapping for the band, and so many joined in this clap-clap. Of course, the band, who had fled to the backstage, was encouraged by this, and came back on stage to play Paajanen's classic "Kundi meikkaa" [“A guy puts on makeup”]. The Organ cover version is great, but it’s really unnecessarily slow in tempo. Tapani, doesn't your tape recorder have stepless speed control yet? With a joyful chorus and clapping, we disappear into the March night.
A Thursday evening in April in the futuristic landscape of Merihaka district of Helsinki. Our reporter slowly sips his beer from a can, the interviewees are drinking coffee, later tasting some beer as well. A tape recorder whirs in the middle of the room, tasked with recording some talk that keeps meandering restlessly and that often-repeating chorus of laughter that diligently bursts into the air.
It transpires that the synthesizer is a more meaningfully “difficult” instrument than, for example, the guitar. So, Pekka Tolonen has recently sold off his guitar. Likewise, Tapani Lahtinen sold his second bass guitar even earlier. And even before Pekka and Tapani, Mikko Saarela had already done the same.
So, Mikko actually sold off his famous bass guitar? It was commonly called a “trip-a-laika”. When he was still the bass player for Eppu Normaali, his destructive climaxes with some Pete Townshend-esque instrument swishes eventually led to the instrument losing its G-string tuning peg. It only made Mikko’s playing easier, since there was one string less. I wonder where and owned by whom is now that wreck of a bass that made Finnish rock history? Is it still “heading for the gutter”?
Argon still used guitars and bass guitar. Even Organ’s song material is sometimes written with string instruments. How much does composing with these instruments differ from each other? Mikko answers first.
– Well, I don't know. Both ways, my songs become exactly the same.
It's different with Seppo.
– Yes, there is a significant difference. If I am in a certain mood and I pick up the guitar, it becomes something completely different than with the synth.
And what about Pekka?
– Well, as for me, I'm incapable of composing anywhere else than in the studio. My composing is now completely synthesizer-centric.
Mikko still on the subject:
– We have certain rhythms and certain sounds that we use, and they always have their own effect.
So, in practice, what is it like working in a synth band? There’s some hysterical laughter. Which is revealing.
– It depends a lot on the song, Seppo ponders. First we find a suitable beat... Sometimes we start totally from scratch.
– Let's take a couple of examples, Mikko clarifies. For instance, the song "Organ" came about when Pekka played this disco beat from Zyrgo, which had actually been left there from the previous time. When I arrived to the band rehearsals, Seppo came up with some more ideas for it, to which I then added that “pew-pow” sound... and Pekka in his turn created the pop-pop-pop-pop frog sound.
Seppo then improvised some initial melody, and Mikko dug out from his memory some nascent ideas and rhymes – he often spends his time brooding over them – and made up the lyrics. Then a tape with a raw version was recorded, which Seppo took home, added vocal parts to it and then brought the song to the next rehearsals.
– Another example is “Regina”, explains Seppo. It was special in the sense that Mikko had written the lyrics and I made a version of it on guitar, which was then rearranged.
After all, there are songs on Organ's LP where someone plays all the sounds on their own. Seppo plays “Regina” alone, Mikko the title track, and Pekka plays “For Next.” But is it difficult to arrange and practice these songs for gigs?
– Well, no, Pekka denies. The only problem at gigs is with Zyrgo, and all of us, that we have to find the sounds.
– It's more up to the equipment now, Mikko explains. If we had similar gear as The Human League, we would have two LinnDrums, pre-programmed rhythm machines... What we have now is the kind of poor man's Kraftwerk gear. So, here's hello to Markku Fagerlund! [The Helsingin Sanomat reviewer who called Argon ”poor man’s Kraftwerk”.]
The Portasounds are gadgets costing over a thousand Finnish marks. The bigger synths of Organ are worth two or three thousands. The guys go out with a sparkle in their eyes, lusting after some new equipment.
– And I have to say, there's nothing as interesting in Soundi these days as ads for new synthesizers!
– New cool things are coming to the market at such a fast pace. Now Linn has a new, cheaper and handier model. Taskinen [the keyboardist for Pelle Miljoona] is probably getting some big gadget now...
Pekka also lets his dreams run wild, after which he explains his Zyrgo.
– It has six different drum sound units, a bass drum, a couple of toms, a snare, a hi-hat and one cymbal. They create the sound electronically, and then there is this logic that produces pulses, and these pulses can then be connected to the dru… (censored; some technical terms and other cusswords are cultivated, there are sounds of lap wrestling and crumpling cans – until peace comes again.)
When you start making music with synthesizers, how much technical knowledge does that require, our reporter finally asks, putting his index finger on the stop button of his tape recorder. That one he does know because it's the red one.
– It's getting to be something that everyone can do these days, available for everyone, Pekka announces. Actually, I'm the only one in the whole band who's a bonafide technician, whereas the others are well capable of playing this stuff. You can learn it, as you can see from Mikko.
Mikko too has something to say.
– Yes, technically, I don’t exactly understand everything that is going on there, but do you know, for example, what happens in a guitar microphone?
That’s true – only superficially…
There are some unnecessary myths about synthesizers. General technical knowledge and the progress that is within everyone's reach - from stereos, transistor radios, cassette players and decks to the videos now - always gives birth to a new generation that has the knowhow and always demands a little more. And at this point in the interview, when the Disney part in the Pätkis cartoon show had been saved to a video cassette recorder, we were watching on television the war of gods in Battlestar Galactica, albeit without sound. An interview without some TV entertainment in the background? No way!
– The synthesizer is a real everyman's instrument, Mikko continues. In principle, anyone can start a band like ours. There are many good and easy aspects to this. Any band can stay on tempo even in their first rehearsals.
– And in tune, Pekka continues.
– Yes, when Mikko had bought the instrument, first it was tested without a trigger (Alright then: so, out of Zyrgo comes a pulse that guarantees the tempo is maintained, or something), it sounded terrible, but then when we turned on the trigger, well – oooh!
During the 1970s, synthesizers were still largely used to record just one long, strange, whirring sound, which was then a cause of some wonderment. Synths were often used very cautiously. Restrained playing was appreciated, that which was “self-important” was criticised.
– And there are still dozens of keyboard virtuosos who have this huge pile of gadgets and then reach up to the top and pick up one little “pew” sound, Mikko bemoans. Just one sound from some gadget worth of thirteen thousand Finnish marks that could replace an entire orchestra!
Indeed. But yes, a musician and some instruments are still needed. And now, from these points of view, in synthpop we are perhaps surprisingly disciplined, even to the point of being shackled to certain formal, perhaps even sonorous solutions. There would be much more possibilities for synthpop that is freer, that takes wider paths.
The Organists agree, but they think that this type of channeling is present in almost all other types of music, too, and what is needed first is tradition. There will be gradual change as the human ear gets used to different sounds. Perhaps in time we will move from synthpop to synth prog and so on – to synth punk rock?
Our reporter is thinking about quietly testing the boundaries of traditional tonality and rhythm within the framework of pop. Organ, on the other hand, is striving to expand their expression in the direction of polyphony in the future. With current instruments, a rather optimal point has been reached; these instruments can no longer achieve much better.
One attractive idea, according to Pekka, would be to add some additional tunings to the rhythm to give it the same kind of random dynamics that you can find in live music. For example, the tempo could always speed up in the B part and random fills could be added to the accompaniment, which would in a way humanise the music.
F for fake? There are plenty of possibilities. Organ does have some “non-commercial” recordings in their archives, too. And that makes me wonder, is there some sort of mass-mindedness involved in synthpop? Do your activities involve some sense of keeping up with fashion? Mikko’s answer is shameless.
– Of course!
But on the other hand, so far Organ is a lone pioneer in our country. Someone like Stressi is a bit on a different path, but what else will be coming out of the basements?
And on top of that, Pekka is also enthusiastic about talking about the danceability of good music, even though these guys are the last to engage in such physical culture, except for Mikko and maybe Seppo. But not all the rock journalists who write about it dance either. Mikko is also excited about this topic.
– It has its own special idea, of doing something like disco. When you think about some wanker’s opinion, that the whole atmosphere there is terrible, that everything playing in a disco is shit. And, when you remember that a disco is the place where the most records are played in the world, why leave your own records out of it? Secondly, disco music is pretty good! And half of "Kärpästen juhla" [“The feast of flies”] is exactly that same disco jamming...
This makes it easy for the conversation to drift into the lyrics. Mikko doesn't really care to mull over them.
– It pisses me off sometimes when you make a good song and everyone just talks about the lyrics!
But Saarela wouldn't be Saarela if he didn't flash his brilliance even in this area a few times. The album has many good songs – and lyrics. "Kaavakekauhu" [”The fear of fill-in forms”] is in its lyrics a delicious description of bureaucracy; "Kani kertoo" [“A rabbit tells”], with its fine melodies, is an impressive song that exposes the unnecessary cruelty of animal testing; and "Kolme pennin kymmenystä" [“Three tithes of a penny”] is a different song from these, which just quietly opens up, and of course deals with our attitude towards developing countries. And now that we have learned to pronounce "delirium tremens", it's the time for “kwashiorkor”. In Mikko's opinion, knowing even the name of this deficiency disease is part of general education. What if we just spared a little thought?
And of course, the album has that brisk synthbilly song, “Aknebobbin”, which – possibly – soothes the conscience of some – possibly – worried young person regarding the naturalness of masturbation. If the song does this, then great. Besides, it’s a fun song, as is the album’s fast-paced opener, too. Will these be played at discos?
“Aknebobbin” could also be hyped up by the Mannerheim League of Child Welfare. Time for a medal, eh? But hardly. And who is that person who actually listens to the lyrics and ponders about their significance? Because those who do listen have already figured these things out for themselves – or have they? In any case, the general attitude towards the lyrics tends to make Mikko cringe.
– Finnish lyrics tend to revolve completely around that Pelle Miljoona – Ismo Alanko axis. Many people get scolded for doing terrible Pelle imitations or Ismo imitations, but then, when you do something really original, it's not accepted at all – or even tried to understand!
So, this is what Mikko thinks, and many different opinions can be found. In any case, Organ plays some fresh and personal pop. Many rock musicians and some other people haven't liked it, but anyway, that's only a good sign. Now it's up to you. Ugh!
Thanks: Kalle Karvanen.
Mikko Saarela (16 January 1958 - 11 January 2019)
Seppo Parkkinen (18 April 1957 - 15 January 2021)
Pekka Tolonen (3 June 1957 - 12 June 2024)
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