Posted on April 7, 2010 - by Mark Zonda

Burning Hearts: interview with Jessika Rapo

White and blue, snow and rivers, pale skins and blue eyes. Bet Finland is really jealous of most of its musical talents, still the ethereal sounds of Burning Hearts with the mesmerizing ’80s voice of Jessika Rapo has somehow manage to escape from those cold landscapes. Indietracks will sure be the sweetest excuse to get closer to that cool band. Meanwhile let’s just interview the singer!

Mark Zonda: “Burning Hearts”, when you began to think about this project and which are your main influences?

Jessika:  I guess both Henry and me wanted to do something on our own, something different from what our other bands, Cats on Fire and  Le futur pompiste, do. As a band, BH has existed since 2006 when the first demos were made. It took a while for us to realise that we actually were a band and that we actually were working on an album insted of demos. Musically we are influenced by whatever music we happen to listen to in a certain moment, whereas the lyrics are influnced by love and nature.
Mark Zonda: How did you and Henry met?

Jessika: Can’t tell exactly when it was. We’ve always had friends in common and I’ve known Henry via bands, but we became friends back in 2004 when Cats and LFP did a minitour in Sweden.

Mark Zonda: Has Stereolab influenced the writing of “Night Anilmal”? What’s that song alla bout? Is there a story behind that modern ballad, you were trying to catch a feeling or just to be cool?

Jessika: Night animal is one of the first songs that we wrote, but we were never fully satisfied with its sound, therefore it was never released on “Aboa sleeping”. It wasn’t until last autumn that it finally found itself. At one point of my life I listened to nothing but Stereolab, so I guess I’m a bit brainwashed. Obviously it’s hard to shake off old influences and I’m not even trying to! But I can’t say Stereolab has specifically influenced the writing of Night animal, they together with many others, have influenced everything I write. That’s natural, isn’t it? And when it comes to the story behind that song, I’m not going to say anything else except that it’s based on a true story like everything else I write! The song is just trying to be me. You go and interpret it your way!
Mark Zonda: It’s amazing. I love when artists put life in their works. Did a song ever cheered you up in a very bad moment of your life?

Jessika: I can’t say that any of my own songs have cheered me up, they work more as some sort of a diary or a way for my feelings to be put into words. I can’t remember listening to a comforting song, not even as a teenager. I’ve always used songs to strengthen my melancoly or to handle a broken heart.

Mark Zonda: Is “We Walked Among The Trees” the new “Ashes to Ahses”? The sounds of that song really impressed me a lot!

Jessika:  No, they are just close friends!
Mark Zonda: Which keyboards do you used to record that song?

Jessika: It must have been my Juno-60

Mark Zonda:  How did you end to work with Shelflife records? Are there still people buying vynils?

Jessika: They actually heard the old version of “Night animal” we had put up on our myspace page. They liked it and suggested a co-operation. And yes, people actually like to buy vinyls, especially if they are white!

Burning Hears – “Aboa Sleeping”

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