JYKA Country Artist

JYKA is probably the only country artist from Finland. With his early beginning in music, a rock bass player, to moving to Nashville and starting on his dream of writing songs, performing his style of storytelling! y'all check him out at all socials
pronounced  yu-kah

facebook@countryjyka
instagram@countryjyka

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hi, my name is Yucca, and you're listening to me on the David Bradley Show.

SPEAKER_05 0:10

All right, everybody. Uh we're gonna sit down and have a talk with probably the only country artist ever to come out of Finland. I think so. I think it's awesome. Uh Joku, how you been doing, bud?

SPEAKER_03 0:28

I'm doing really good. I'm doing really good despite of the allergies, but I'm fine.

SPEAKER_05 0:32

Yeah, and airplane problems and everything else, man. I it just it's crazy what all everybody goes through when they do traveling and and going to different places and it it's it's nuts how all that works.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

I mean, and it's changed. I mean, I used to fly a lot all over the world because of my previous jobs. Yeah. I mean, flying is not as fun as it used to be.

SPEAKER_05 0:56

I know. I've only done hang on four airplane trips in my life.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Well, that's more than most of Finnish people have done.

SPEAKER_05 1:09

Yeah, well, I mean, I'd I'd have been happy without them doing none of them, to be honest with you. It just amazes me how much this thing weighs frickin' astronomical weight, but it's in the air flying. Go figure. I mean Yeah, I I don't want to think about it. I'm not a physician, so everybody be canceling their tickets now, going, hey, he's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

Maybe I'll stay here as well and and cancel my return.

SPEAKER_05 1:40

Oh yeah. Uh so I was doing some looking up on you and and and checking some things out. Oh my. And you know, and and then the the only country artist from Finland. But then I got to look in a little bit deeper, and I noticed you've got a rock and heavy metal background on you. I do. And I thought that was cool as I'll get out.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Yeah, I mean, I used to work as a professional bass player for quite a number of years, and I think I started touring professionally when I was 14, 15, maybe. Yeah. So uh, I mean, growing up in Finland, the country that has the uh highest percentage per capita uh hard rock and heavy metal bands in the world, so being a country artist is not easy. I can imagine. But I I I remember when we were touring in our big red bus, uh, and everybody still today thinks that I was actually listening to uh my favorite heavy metal bands and my um Sony Walkman's at the time. Yeah. But I was actually listening to Merle and Whalen and John Prime, and I mean country music. Probably probably they will fire me right now.

SPEAKER_05 3:02

I love that. And and you mentioned John Prime, he's actually one of mine that uh listen to a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

That's because of my mom. I mean, I grew up uh listening to a lot of country music. I mean, my mom was a member of the uh I think Readers Digest, and she just randomly started ordering different albums, yeah. And I remember that was 1978 when we were sitting uh in our living room on our brown leather couch. I mean, I have really vivid memories of that uh and listening to Working Man Blues, and that's kind of the moment when I decided that I probably one day will pick up a guitar and then I became a bass player eventually.

SPEAKER_05 3:45

Well, see, my my background was always helped Mama with fanfare and you know all the stuff that she was doing, and she loved country music, and uh we actually my great aunt worked for uh I can't remember the name of the company, but it was the one that did all the stuff for Opry Land and the Grand Old Opry and all that stuff. And uh then I hit those teenage years, and I was all about Iron Maiden and and all these metal groups, you know, and ACDC and everything, and it wasn't until I don't know, probably Garth Brooks actually kind of brung me back around to the countryside because I mean we didn't really uh we didn't really call Hank Williams Jr. country as much as we did brother music, you know? Yeah. It was he was just that redneck icon, you know. Yeah, and um there was uh uh Jason Aldeen actually bring me back a lot on some stuff and uh and then I started this podcast and I'm like it's open to everybody, but primarily get country music and and I'm I'm really digging it, you know. It's it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Yeah, I mean I I agree. And uh that's probably why I'm still sticking to country music.

SPEAKER_05 5:22

Well, I mean, there's more of a a storytelling aspect to it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

I agree, and that's what we try to do as well. I mean, everything we write is more or less based on my my life and my life experience. So all the stories are real, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:43

And then when you sit there and come up with one of those stories, you're kind of like probably me. And how did I live this long again? It makes you wonder, man. I mean, it it just uh but I I I gotta take my hat off to a lot of people that can lived it, know it, and had an inside track to a lot of the music stuff, yeah. And are able to actually write about it that now.

SPEAKER_03 6:16

Yeah. And I mean, I was not a part of the writing team when we were doing hard rock and heavy metal. I mean, I was never really interested in writing that kind of music, but I I mean I didn't have a lot of chances in Finland doing anything except hard rock. So if you wanted to play rock and roll, you had to play rock and roll. I mean, there was no contrabands or anything at the time, and still really isn't.

SPEAKER_05 6:41

So I I'm just curious, how did the whole country thing happen for you? What was the attraction? What what drawed you to it?

SPEAKER_03 6:55

I think it all started, as I said, uh growing up brought growing up uh with with a lot of country music around me. Yeah. So um, I mean, long story short, Christmas Eve 1978, listening to Merle Haggard with my mom in our living room, and she played guitar at the time. Yeah. So uh I picked up her guitar for the first time the New Year's Day a week later and performed, so to speak, uh Working Man Blues on our couch. And I remember we had these two green cast iron foot lamps, and she pointed those at me and kind of my stage lights. And uh that's that's one of the moments that I actually wrote a song about that. I haven't released that yet. Yeah, it's um but I mean I I just started sending songs here in different pitching services, and and there was some kind of interest uh towards my way of writing because of course I mean we don't have country music in our DNA, right? So uh I needed to start by mimicking a lot of things, and then I kind of met the right people, like my producer Dale Oliver, who really liked what I was doing, uh, and we shared kind of the same kind of uh background musically as well. I mean, he used to play guitar for uh Black Hawk, and he's worked with Jason Aldean as well, yeah, a lot of other people. So um that's how it all started. Then we kind of started figuring out what is my style because I was not a singer. I never when I first got to Nashville more than 20 years ago, I never wanted to be an artist. And I that was kind of the moment when I started singing. So I've been I haven't been singing more than like maybe three years.

SPEAKER_04 8:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

Um, so he and Dan Couch, uh the co-writer for my first single, Cracker Cold one, they kind of pushed me over the edge and kind of told me that you need to release this song. Um, that was the first single which actually hit I think 61st on the music row. Yeah. Nobody expected anything. I mean, I didn't expect anything to happen. And it's been just uh I I what I keep telling to everyone, whatever and whenever this all ends, if it if this all ends today, I'm I'm happy. I mean, yeah, I've had a chance to meet some great people and have them in my life, and I've had such great experiences meeting all people from the radio and and uh you and I mean it's just you don't take these kind of things granted when you're from Finland. Yeah. So that's a long story short.

SPEAKER_05 9:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

Very short.

SPEAKER_05 9:42

Oh, well, yeah. But uh they don't give you crap when you go back home to Finland, do they?

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Oh, they do.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Oh, they do.

SPEAKER_03 9:50

I mean, there's there I mean I don't know why, but we have such a small country music community in Finland. I mean, there's not a lot of people who do country music, and I still don't understand the backstabbing mentality we have there. I mean, I I just don't get it.

SPEAKER_05 10:07

Yeah, well, I mean I've seen it, so I kind of understand that because back in the 80s, Music City, Nashville had a glam rock influence that was coming in. And uh a lot of those, you know, metal guys, they were like frowned upon, and there was very few clubs around that you could actually go to. And uh if you walk down Broadway and you know, your heavy metal gear and everything, you know, they're just like it was like parting the Red Sea as they walk down Broadway. You know, it was just like everybody walking away from them and stuff, and and it was just it was crazy.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

It sounds familiar. I mean, coming from a small town and looking like a dude who looks like a lady. So uh so I mean that was not easy.

SPEAKER_05 11:06

Well, I mean it's crazy how it all works. But to me, uh I don't know, I've always ever since I was young, I to me it didn't matter what genre they called it, music to me was music. Yeah, you know? It's how somebody conveyed a story across and how somebody entertained somebody or maybe opened somebody's eyes, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

And I mean music, I mean, any genre, I mean, it brings different kinds of memories for for people. I mean, have a great example of my grandpa. I mean, he was he had an he had Alzheimer's, and I mean, music on his last days brought him joy, a lot of joy.

SPEAKER_05 11:54

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

You can tell that.

SPEAKER_05 11:57

Well, my daughter hates it, but I've around these parts, they like to play music when you pass away in the reception or whatever they want to call it. And I've already got my three songs picked out and told to them, so are we gonna talk about them now? No, I'm not telling what they are. They're just uh they mean something to me, you know. And that's what it all comes down to. Yeah, because I mean everybody needs to have a song that's theirs, you know. Oh yeah. Because I mean, even through well, several divorces I went through, I had certain people that certain bands that helped me through certain levels of that.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

Yep. Yeah, I'm I'm going through that right now, so I I naturally have my song as well.

SPEAKER_05 12:45

Oh yeah. You know, and everybody needs something to help them, you know. And that's what I like about it. I I'm not big on the whole genre type stuff because I could listen to Creed, and the very next song could be a Jason Aldean, or I mean it could just be anything. My playlist is so sporadic.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

Yeah, same with me. I mean, especially when working in a studio environment, and you have to be kind of on top of your music game. I mean, so I mean, I even collaborated on some rap uh tracks just recently, and I mean I just have to listen to all types of music.

SPEAKER_05 13:26

Well, you know what brings to mind on that a lot is how you know Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones reached out to Eddie Van Halen, and he cover and he didn't want money, he didn't want anything. He just did it because it was fun. Yeah. And that's what music is supposed to be.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

It's supposed to be fun. I agree, and I mean, I'm a little concerned it things have gotten a little more or a little too serious lately. That's how I feel at least.

SPEAKER_05 14:00

Yeah. It's strange how it is. I mean, it's uh that makes me want to go listen to Beat It now.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

Oh, we can do that.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

Yeah. Beat it. Just something about that. That whole riff, man, just it was incredible.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

Yeah. And I mean what Michael and Quincy created, that's just I mean, that's leading.

SPEAKER_05 14:29

Well, I think I know I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think that album is like in the top ten best albums ever made or something.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

Yeah, it's gotta be there.

SPEAKER_05 14:40

I mean, it's just huge. Everything that they put into it.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

Yeah, and I mean they I think they used Steve Lukather some songs as well. Um I might be wrong, but I I just kind of remember reading about it.

SPEAKER_05 14:57

I don't know. It's it's amazing what you can sit there and when you're bored waiting on an airplane or doing something else or waiting on something to happen, and you're on that little phone and you can Google like crazy on there and find read all kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 15:16

Research and development. Oh we like that. Oh yeah, it's fine. So you and the whiskey. Or is it just you and whiskey? Yeah, you and you and whiskey. You and whiskey.

SPEAKER_03 15:37

How did that come up? Well, I mean, that's for me at least, that's one of those magical moments that I've only heard of. So it was me, uh, my producer Dale Oliver, Dan Couch, and a friend of mine, LV Shane. So we just got together um in the studio one morning. We had no idea what we were gonna do. So we just started writing. And the whole thing, I think it actually we pulled it together in like three and a half, four hours. That's not bad. No, it's not bad, and it includes most of the production and it includes the real drums because uh my producer's son was having a drum session downstairs, and we just sent the track to the drummer, and he's okay, I can play. And he played it, he played it, and we uh we got the tracks, and uh then I I think most of the vocals on that one are actually my demo vocals as well. Sweet. So things just happened the way that I've always heard of. Yeah. And uh, because I mean it doesn't always go like oh no, I don't.

SPEAKER_05 16:48

Sometimes easier to write when you're actually setting in the studio or well it depends.

SPEAKER_03 17:00

I mean, it's a lot about the the energy level. Yeah, I mean that can be anywhere, but I think we we were just sitting inside the studio room with acoustic guitars, and then we went to um uh Dale's patio for 15 minutes, and I think that's that was kind of a breaking point for ah, that's that's the direction we want to go. And then we got upstairs and and finished the whole thing. So I mean it's I I'm mainly ride by myself when I'm in Finland. I mean, there's we don't really have this kind of a group writing uh thing in our country, so um I it took a bit of a learning curve for me to to know how it works and how how you need to prepare.

SPEAKER_05 17:48

And yeah, you might not want to start a writer's room over there or anything. Uh no.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

Oh that's that's a big fat no. It's crazy how all of it works, man. Yeah, and I mean I've been if I'm moving here, so I will naturally move my studio here as well. Uh and we were talking about having kind of a writer's good environment for uh songwriters and so we can actually record and produce everything there.

SPEAKER_04 18:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

So a little bit of a similar setup that and you're planning.

SPEAKER_05 18:22

Yeah, it's um well, I mean, when you get m everything moved and done, uh we can uh you know pitch each other studios and we'll have some fun with it. Yeah, he's charging what no I'm cheap. Yeah, well yeah. That's why we have day jobs. Yeah, yeah, we do. When you get the music industry, you got a day job. Yeah. Or no. I don't know. I just but some of these musicians, man, that just because I've had several songwriters tell me they'll go to cut a song and some of these Nashville musicians are are cutting it in one take. Yeah. They might run through it once or twice just to get a good feel for it, and then as soon as they go to hit record, they're just like perfect.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

And I'm just like Yeah, I mean that's pretty much with bass, I can do that.

SPEAKER_04 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

But I mean anything else, not so much.

SPEAKER_04 19:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Uh but I mean, I remember the first time when they uh put like this Nashville chart, numbers chart in front of me. I was like, what the heck is this? How do how do you drive this? It it looked really weird for me. Yeah. It it makes sense now, but I mean, it was like I can't do, I can't do this.

SPEAKER_05 19:56

I've heard a lot of people that that have had a lot a little bit of an issue with with learning that whole number system, you know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:06

And I mean I'm kind of self-taught. I I grew up listening to a lot of different types of music and playing along. And uh I mean I studied music theory probably when I was 35.

SPEAKER_04 20:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

Uh just learned names for the things that I already knew. So, but it's um I I mean I need theory a lot in my work in the studio environment and also writing, but I don't really kind of think about it. Yeah. But the numbers are still yeah, I think that's too mathematic for me. Yeah, well, I mean, I couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_05 20:45

There's no way. I mean, uh it's just of course I can't even play guitar. I used to uh I dabbled with bass a little bit in my younger years. And then I dabbled with drums for a little bit, and I just uh my papa Joe told me, he said, the problem boy is you just ain't got no rhythm. And I'm like, do what but that's just the way it was. I mean, I just I couldn't get coordination is what I called it. I just couldn't get coordinated. And I mean that's tough for me with guitar, but well, I mean I should have known better and should not have tried picking up the bass, and the only song that I wanted to learn to play bass on was Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

You picked the easiest one first.

SPEAKER_05 21:40

Yeah, I mean I should have picked something a whole lot easier, and and but the the the changes up on that song and everything else and all the 16th notes and all that. Yeah, it's not it's crazy. Well, following that bass player's, you know, Mr. Harris is is Dude, I don't see how anybody can follow him. I mean, he he's just phenomenal. He is, he is.

SPEAKER_03 22:05

I mean, I used to be really into Billy Sheehan when I was younger. I mean, I remember when his kind of instructional video came out. I mean, I was just sitting in front of my TV and just rewind, rewind, and learned learned all those things. Uh did I ever need them? No. No. Would I be able to still play any of those? No. I mean, so, but it was fun learning different styles, and I really enjoyed him playing bass. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:38

I mean, he was uh he's up there on my list of of top ten bass players. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's just uh and then people don't think about it, but I do, and and Getty Lee is actually phenomenal. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:56

And also any bass player from ACDC. I mean, you you have to be so tight playing those quarter or eighth notes through the whole set. Yeah. And it's just amazing how I mean they've had a couple of bass players, but yeah, that's a skill.

SPEAKER_05 23:18

Oh yeah. And it's fun. And just keep that drive going and just but that goes back to what I've always said. If you just have fun with it, it's amazing what you can do. Yeah. And that's what I try to do every day. So the one thing I hated is when they actually turn the music industry into a business.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:44

But we all need money, so yeah, we do we do. So please contribute now at Should we give our Venmo or any other? Yeah, you can give it all. I don't care. No. Uh you can get his new album at special price. Special price, man, right now. But wait, there's more. It's the fun stuff. Oh God. So crack a cold one. Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Um I think that was the first week of writing when I was actually invited to a group writing session. Yeah. And it was me, Dale, and Dan Couch. I mean, I love Dan Couch. He's one of my favorite writers. I mean, and he wrote one of my favorite songs ever, which is uh Cody Johnson's Dear Rodeo. Yeah. Um, so I mean, I was first of all, I was scared of meeting him because I knew that he he would be there. Um, Cracker Cold one sounds like a drinking song, but it's not. It's about the feeling that I get when I when I get out of the uh the asphalt and get on the gravel roads. Because I live in the countryside in the middle of nowhere in Finland, and I just love the sound uh that gravel makes under your tires, truck tires. And I mean, I'm one of those stupid guys in Finland who are driving a V8 F 150 with our gas prices. Not the smartest decision in your life, but I remember when we wrote the song, and I mean I had the reef, I had the song structure, everything, and then Dan Couch walks in into the room and he asked a lot of questions about my where do I live? What color what color are my wife's eyes? Like, why is he asking all those questions? And and then he just uh walked out with his pen and paper, comes back after 10 minutes, guys. I have this. And he pretty much had all the lyrics, lyrics ready. Um you don't know to be astonished or throw something at him. I didn't even know what what to do or how to react. It was such uh a kind of a I was just baffled at the moment. Yeah. I mean, how did that happen? He got into my head and he put it on paper exactly the way that I I saw it. Yeah. So that's but I mean that's why a lot of uh artists use him for for writing purposes. Yeah, it's it's amazing to me how they can do that though.

SPEAKER_05 26:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

I mean he's he's so good.

SPEAKER_05 26:37

Yeah, because uh I've um I've lived, I've got stories, and I can tell somebody a story, and then the next day they're like, oh, by the way, I wrote this off your story, and I'm like, huh? And I'm like I can hear the story in my head, but it's not in the words that were coming in my head, yeah. It's in these new words and a whole different outtake on them, and but I get it, it connects, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:16

And that just it blows me away how that happens. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean it's happened so many times for me here uh with a lot of people.

SPEAKER_04 27:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Because I mean, because I'm not a my native language is Finnish. So I mean, of course I need a lot of help with the lyrics and how to kind of say certain things which I can't do. Yeah. So kind of wording the right way for for the listener, still having me kind of embedded in the text.

SPEAKER_05 27:50

So well yeah. Well, I've I actually asked uh because we've had at CMA Fest we had uh a Scottish guy, and we had uh a lot of people from Australia, and uh my big question to all of them was how in the hell can you sing, and it sounds like English, you were born here type thing, you know. But when you talk, it's like good day, Mike, you know, and all this. And I'm like how how does that translate over? I mean, I don't understand that. Well, I have no idea.

SPEAKER_03 28:28

I mean you can you can clearly hear that I have an accent, I have a pretty distinct accent when I talk. But I mean, a lot of people tell me the same exact thing. I mean, there's hardly any accent when I'm singing. I think it's because I've been I've spont spent most of my life listening to American music and singing along. Yeah. So I think that's where it comes from. But we also kind of wanted to keep a little bit of that accent on what we do. Yeah. Because it's such a big part of me anyway.

SPEAKER_05 28:58

Right. So well, that's like, you know, you you uh which I was blown away by you see these movies, and they're like speaking American English in these movies, but then you see the actor on a talk show or something like that, and they're like, holy crap, they're British. Yeah. Didn't know it. How in the heck did that happen, you know?

SPEAKER_03 29:27

I'm sorry, I can't give you it's strange.

SPEAKER_05 29:31

Um well, yeah, I mean, it's just but that's some of the things that goes through my weird mind. Caitlin, I'll tell you, I got a weird mind. Oh, jelly the closet. Oh God. So you've been having fun on the radio tour?

SPEAKER_03 29:53

Oh yeah, absolutely. I've met some wonderful people and been driving a lot. Oh yeah. That's uh I mean I enjoy doing radio tours and I enjoy doing riders' rounds. Probably even more than doing my own shows. Yeah. Because I mean, having like-minded people around you and and talking about the same things and sharing the same passion, and I mean, I got a lot of contacts that I'm I'm planning on writing in the future uh from the writers' rounds, and some of them I've already done. I mean, I just love doing that.

SPEAKER_05 30:33

Yeah. Yeah, because uh, well, I mean, Nashville's got plenty of writers' rounds in town. Oh yeah. Um have you tried chasing melodies? Have you done any of those?

SPEAKER_03 30:47

Uh uh is it is the one at at the uh Nashville Palace? Yeah, yeah. Uh I haven't, but I'm definitely willing to do one if if there's gonna be a chance.

SPEAKER_05 30:58

Hey Brian, you need to give him a call, man. Um but yeah, he uh they do a real good writer's round down there. Yeah, yeah, they do. And um I think they've been doing it at Live Oak also.

SPEAKER_03 31:11

Yeah, I've been to to Live Oak quite a few times actually. Yeah. I think that was Pick Venice thing. He was arranging those some of those riders' rounds there.

SPEAKER_04 31:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 31:25

Well then it'd be cool. Yeah, I mean I think that's one of the best parts of Nashville for me. Because I mean I started just going to the the writers' rounds and listening, what people do, how they craft their songs and and how they craft the lyrics and all that. So I mean that's the way I learned listening to other people and now I'm doing that myself. So I mean that's that means probably a little bit more for me than uh a lot of other people. I mean I come from a different place and being able to do that, so that makes me really kind of humbled for what I can do.

SPEAKER_05 32:12

Well, yeah, and then um Daddy told me a long time ago, if you ever wake up and you think you know it all, just roll over and go back to bed because you ain't learned nothing yet. And I think if everybody took that into mind and set out to learn something new every day, you know, a lot of things could be a whole lot better, you know.

SPEAKER_03 32:37

I mean music, everything. Yeah, and I mean things that I've learned here, learned here over the years, I'm trying to kind of teach to my studio customers as well. I ru run my own recording studio. So I mean there's a lot of young young kids coming there and uh trying to kind of push them a little different direction as well. Think about things a little differently.

SPEAKER_05 33:05

What uh what piece of advice do they ask you the most for?

SPEAKER_03 33:11

Um I think everybody's most concern concerned about their uh pitch. And I tell everybody that you can forget about the pitch. Yeah. That's the the only thing that I can't fix is the emotional part on your on your vocals.

SPEAKER_05 33:32

Yeah. Yeah, because um I remember when I first started helping a guy recording people, I was like 19, and uh there was every now and then we'd have somebody in the vocal booth and they would start recording and he would stop them and he'd be like he would yell at them, try to get them mad, so they could get it out, you know, and then there was other times that he would be like, Look, you need to, you know, slow down, you need to take a deep breath, you need to relax, you know. And then it was just amazing how just him having certain conversations with people could change their whole pitch. Yeah, how they delivered the song, and it it blowed me away, man. I learned all that stuff through this little old man with a basement recording studio. And I was just like because then I watched that one movie where uh it was uh uh shoot, I can't remember the name of it. But uh the guy brung this girl in and and she started singing, you know, it's hard outside for a pimp. It's money on a rent, you know, and and she was like terrible at it, and he got on to her and was like, push that shit, you know, and do this, and then the next take on it was just like holy crap.

SPEAKER_03 35:16

It's totally different. Yeah, and I mean there's so many different singers that I I do record, so um some of them need a little bit more kind of a cozy environment, so it's gonna be like candles or whatever it is, and some need to have a little bit more rough approach.

SPEAKER_05 35:36

The one thing that he told me that that I'll never forget, and I've actually Caitlin, I totally haven't been doing that, but we're gonna have to do that. Uh he told me to always have a lava lamp. Yes. And that's one thing I've never actually done in the podcast study. We're going to have to get a lava lamp. It's gonna open up so many new avenues. I know, right? We'll all be talking more eloquently and yeah, sipping uh red wine from an aroma glass. Oh, yeah, so a robe. Is this a good chaudinet? Oh god. So what's on your playlist now that you listen to? Are you still because I still I ain't gonna lie, I still listen to Death Five Finger Death Punch and God Smack and all of them, and but then I have the the country part in into it. And what's what's on your your your l little listening list?

SPEAKER_03 36:41

I have um I have a skeleton, let's start it from here. Okay, I mean I really loved there was a band called Enough's Enough. Um I mean I think people call them like modern day Beatles. Yeah uh I just love what they did. The first few albums were just amazing, and the rest I'm not even gonna talk about. But I mean, I was just listening to them quite a lot for I had a certain purpose for that. I have a project coming in that I I wanted to get a little more acclimated with that kind of a style.

SPEAKER_04 37:19

Right.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

Um but I mean I don't only listen to country music, so let's start it from there. Uh I love Mr. Big. Yeah. I just love Mr. Big because I mean having such amazing and technical players in a band and they still write songs. Yeah. And it's not it's not all about the technical things. And but I mean I can go from I can go pretty much anywhere else except black metal. Yeah, I I don't really get anything out of that. It sounds like me snoring.

SPEAKER_05 37:58

So Yeah, well, I mean I'm not big on the uh the uh uh um I forget the name that they call it, but it's uh the female fronted metal bands that they have a beautiful voice, but then there's like they're you know, and I I've I've never been into that.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

That's either death metal or punk rock, and that is the genres I love.

SPEAKER_05 38:30

Yeah, but but see, there's uh the only one that I actually that that comes to mind on that is uh Alyssa White Glues. Yeah, uh she's and she's fabulous at it. I mean how she goes back and forth, it's amazing how she does that. But I've heard some other ones that are just like they don't do any of the operatic or anything, no, and then it's just that snarling, whatever stuff.

SPEAKER_03 38:57

Yeah, and I mean she actually has a beautiful, like normal voice. Oh yeah. Oh my lord. Uh we have this band, we still do have the band in Finland called Battle Beast. I mean, one of the, I would say one of the best female vocalists, uh Nora is her name. I mean, she just uh left the band a while ago. Uh but I mean she is an amazing singer and she's also my vocal coach. So that's pretty cool. Uh but I mean, if you haven't heard of Battle Beast, I think it's worth giving a try at least.

SPEAKER_05 39:34

Yeah, and and oddly enough, yes, I have heard of Battle Beast. You have? Yes. Oh my. I've listened to it. I can't tell you a damn song, but I've listened to it. Wow. So you've actually listened to some Finnish music. Oh, yes, I have. It's uh my all-time favorite metal band is uh Rammstein. And I actually got to see them live in Atlanta one time. That show is crazy. It is amazing. I've been through all kinds of shows, dude. I've seen that I've seen Cooper, I've seen Ozzy, I've seen all these people in my lifetime. And I go and see them one time. And they went straight up to the number one top concert I've ever been to, and I was just like blown away by it, man.

SPEAKER_03 40:31

Yeah, I mean, I remember we were we had our first hard rock band, we were, I think we were 16. Yeah, because yeah, it was 1997. So there was uh no eighty-seven, sorry. Yeah, I can't calculate. So there was a festival called um Giants of Rock in in Finland, and I I mean the the headliner was Dio, yeah. And I mean we were supporting Dio when we were 16. Yeah, that that's the craziest and most memorable experience I've ever had in music. Dude, for a short guy, he had the biggest voice, man. I mean, God. And he was the nicest guy. I mean, yeah, I remember he walked into our uh little backstage area where we had our there was drinks and there was non-alcoholic drinks and alcoholic drinks.

SPEAKER_04 41:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:27

He walks in, spends like a couple of hours with us, three young guys, and I remember when he asked, How old are you guys? And we told him that, yeah, we're like 60. And he grabs all the alcoholic drinks and tells us that, okay, you're not old enough for this. I've seen too many of my good friends ruin their lives with this stuff, so I'll take this away. And he just walked out with our beers, and so I I that's a very cool moment for a young metalhead.

SPEAKER_05 42:03

Well, I mean, the fact that he actually cared enough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

And he came back. I mean, he just didn't walk away. He just took the drinks out and came back. That's cool.

SPEAKER_05 42:15

I love that. And see, that's those memories. I love, I love memories like that. You know, it's I cannot do another thing with music and just I could live off the memories. Yeah. And if somebody had the money, I could probably write a book. You probably should. I don't know. I might have to holler at you and uh co-write a book together because you've got some good memories too, dude. I do, I do.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

I mean, and they are definitely a little different. I mean some of them link to touring in uh Soviet Union. Yeah. Uh it was different, let's put it this way.

SPEAKER_05 42:55

Oh yeah. Well, I mean, I think the biggest thing that ever I think Metallica had like the biggest show ever over there one time. Yeah. And um music needs to go everywhere. I d I don't care about certain places and all that other stuff, but people need the music. Yes. Because the music brings the community together.

SPEAKER_03 43:21

Yeah, and I mean it could do it even more. Um if there I mean in Finland it's a little bit of our government is not really seeing music as business at all. So I I've paid everything uh myself. I haven't had had any kind of support from anyone. Yeah. So coming here for twenty years, uh, studios, writings, all that, so it's all from my own pocket. Oh yeah. Well, I mean Yeah, that's how it works over here too. But it's it's all worth it. But it's different in Sweden. I mean, they support a lot of music export. Yeah. It's amazing how it all goes. Yeah, I mean it there and uh there's a reason why there's a lot of Swedish bands out there. I mean the latest example like Dirty Loops, those guys are just doing great at the moment and they I I know the bass player, he uh I met him a couple of times and I mean he told me that they are the support they get for their musical career at like uh school is is it's crazy good.

SPEAKER_05 44:36

Well, I mean that's one thing I liked over here in the States is they actually opened that School of Rock from that movie. They've actually opened up School of Rock. I think we just got one up here in Hendersonville, didn't we, Caitlin?

SPEAKER_00 44:50

Uh I don't know. I know that um a little School of Rock band played for the Predators, like a little half-time thing or whatever. And uh it was it was uh it was interesting. Well, yeah. That's all I'm gonna say. It's all interesting.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

Please enlighten us.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

I'll I'll tell you when we're not recording.

SPEAKER_03 45:22

Just you don't even have to read between the lines, by the way.

SPEAKER_05 45:25

Yeah, I know, right? It's written all over your face. That's why she don't like being on camera.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

I told you one day we could put a camera. I just always look like this, so I'm not very camera presentable.

SPEAKER_05 45:43

Well, yeah, but it's the real you.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

Fair. At least I'm not wearing a tank top. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:50

Well, it's a good thing that I didn't wear one today.

SPEAKER_00 45:53

David used to.

SPEAKER_05 45:55

I used to. When I first started the podcast, I was like tank top shorts, and I was just comfy, man.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

Little too many nip slips.

SPEAKER_05 46:04

Yeah. Oh my yeah, I had a lot of I l I had a little bit more weight on me back then, and it was like I had a good A cup going on and it would slip out, you know. What the hell, man?

SPEAKER_03 46:23

Are they still online?

SPEAKER_05 46:25

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

Oh, I need to go and see.

SPEAKER_05 46:28

Yeah, I mean, it's uh I think we've got over 300 and something shows that we've actually done and they're still up. I haven't deleted any of them. I just keep adding to it. Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, I mean when you was talking about enough is enough, I I was sitting here thinking there was an American band that uh I really liked a lot back in my early teens. And it was uh black and blue.

SPEAKER_01 47:02

Ooh.

SPEAKER_05 47:04

I really like them.

SPEAKER_03 47:06

Well we can definitely talk about that era era of music a lot.

SPEAKER_05 47:14

Yeah, because it's uh remember the Japanese band Loud Loudness? I love them, man. Wake woo. Oh yeah. It was uh I just those guys were insane, man. The music that they created.

SPEAKER_03 47:33

Yeah, and I mean I kind of miss the uh the good old days in the way that we had a lot of like great bands coming to Finland. I mean, I've seen Dio, I've seen Ozzy, Guns N' Rosies, Vixen, Alice Cooper, I mean all it doesn't really exist anymore the way that it used to.

SPEAKER_05 47:54

That's the one thing that I bring up time and time again. I feel sorry for the kids of this generation because a lot of the things that we could actually go through and lived and you remember standing outside trying to get a ticket to go see a concert. Sometimes you'd spend overnight waiting to get them tickets, you know. These kids nowadays they just click, click and buy their tickets.

SPEAKER_00 48:22

Arm and a leg later for one ticket.

SPEAKER_05 48:26

Yeah, and overpriced tickets. Oh, yeah. Well, I mean extremely I think the most I spent back then was like fifteen bucks. That's uh that's pretty cheap. And that was uh Ooh, that was a Van Halen ticket that I bought. It was fifteen bucks. But we stood in line and we got the actual paper ticket. And this is what happens when you put everything on the computer and all these people take their fees and all this other stuff, and five thousand dollars for one ticket.

SPEAKER_03 48:59

It doesn't make any sense. I mean, I I just don't understand it.

SPEAKER_05 49:04

You know that money didn't go to the the band. No. It didn't. Maybe the fifteen bucks did, but the rest of it went to everybody else. Yeah. It's insane.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Yeah, I just talked to somebody at the airport who bought tickets for the whole family for I think it was Taylor Swift show. Yeah. And that was like more than ten thousand dollars. Yeah. I mean I would rather spend that money on guitars.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

Yeah, but those Swifties go hard.

SPEAKER_05 49:44

Yeah, Swifties go real hard, yeah. I think uh I think they actually have credit forms at the bank that you can actually go to to get Swifty tickets.

SPEAKER_00 49:58

It would not surprise me. Oh my.

SPEAKER_05 50:00

Yeah. You can finance your house, you can finance your car, or you can finance your Taylor Swift tickets. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_03 50:11

Well, there's gotta be an option for that.

SPEAKER_05 50:13

Yeah, there's got to be. I don't know, dude. I just couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

Yeah, and I mean a lot of the concerts in Finland are nowadays the kind of music that I don't really enjoy going out and see, but it's probably more of my problem than anyone else's.

SPEAKER_05 50:32

Well, the bad part about it is there's some of them I've actually scratched my head going, what you want what for what? Yeah, no. It ain't happening. No. It's nuts how it all goes. Well, I'm glad you're getting your music out and you're doing the things that you actually dreamed of doing and getting everything going. Yeah, me too. Even though, you know. I'll back you. Even if Finland won't, I'll back you.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

I know you will.

SPEAKER_03 51:08

But it's been I mean, such a journey for me from from there from Finland and just being where I'm right now. Yeah. So I mean I couldn't couldn't dream of anything more. Or I probably could, but I can't. I'm uh I'm a working class kid, so yeah. True blue collar from Finland.

SPEAKER_05 51:33

Well, see but the songs that you sing and the songs that you're doing, man, are just the stories and the the people being able to write some of them and everything, you know. It's it's it doesn't matter where you're from, it's still a blue-collar man. Yeah. That is very true. It transposes through all kinds of things. Because we're all a bunch of working class dogs, man.

SPEAKER_03 51:58

Yeah, and I mean my uh my second single, Talking to Jesus through a bottle of jack, I wrote that for a childhood friend of mine who passed away three years ago. And I mean we're from uh same small town. Yeah. And we played in uh the same band since we were like 13, 14. And uh I mean unfortunately I I lost him for for his demons, but that sometimes happens. Yeah. And uh but I mean we used to have this thing that we packed my car and took a bottle of Jack Daniels and a couple of whiskey glasses. I mean real whiskey glasses, yeah. And just went out fishing or out in the woods and and drank a full bottle of burn. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 52:44

Um so um see, we would do that and we would go four-wheeling and running around and then we would build a bonfire, and yeah, somebody would drag out a guitar, and next thing you know, half the people that we were with were sitting around doing shots and singing and having fun.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

Yeah, and I mean those are some of the best moments in life. I mean, that's why we're here. I mean, you can't really take anything with you. So having those kind of memories and experiences, I mean, that makes you a lot more richer than your bank account. But yeah.

SPEAKER_05 53:19

But the bank account is nice. It's nice, except mine right now.

SPEAKER_03 53:25

Oh so you gonna do a song for us? If you want to, I can do uh do a song. Uh I'll probably do a song called Florida O Ford. Sweet. So um we've been talking about releasing that as my next single, but uh let's see. There's uh we we have plenty of material to choose from, so I can't really be 100% sure, but it's it's where we are right now. Awesome.

SPEAKER_05 53:53

Well, I mean, are you just doing are you releasing singles or are you gonna do an EP release or like a full album release?

SPEAKER_03 54:00

Um I just recently released an EP. Uh there's some new songs and a couple of old ones. Uh we have full album ready. Uh we're just waiting for the right moment. Uh so maybe one or two singles before before the album. Yeah. I mean we have probably 70, even more probably even more songs ready. So we've been really productive with uh with my producer Dale. So and we are continuing still still continue writing, and we have a vocal session next Tuesday. Sweet. So we we haven't given up.

SPEAKER_05 54:37

That's awesome. I love it. I'm gonna have to bug you and come hang out in the studio one day when you're all doing this, because I just want to watch. I think it'd be fun.

SPEAKER_03 54:50

Yeah, I I I'd love to. And I will. And if you even if you don't want to, I will. I love it. So all right, are we ready for uh some live music?

SPEAKER_05 55:03

Sure. I'm not ready, but let's do it. Well, uh, if you're not ready, I mean it's whatever you want to do.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

I can do it. I just need to.

SPEAKER_05 55:13

It's all about getting Sitchima weighted.

SPEAKER_03 55:20

I'll probably move that a little.

SPEAKER_00 55:23

Uh, you can move it close to you, because I have you on DI for your guitar. All right, perfect.

SPEAKER_05 55:29

Better. We try to make it easy around here.

SPEAKER_02 56:53

If you really want to get all that devil and shotgun, you can see that. You've got a floor that all for Hell yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_03 59:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 59:33

My first car was actually a sixty-seven Ford Mustang fastback.

SPEAKER_03 59:38

Well, that's not a that's my dream car. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 59:42

But it's uh I always wanted one by back, but you know, it's it you can't ever find them after they leave.

SPEAKER_03 59:52

And really hard to find. Yeah. I mean, that is something that me and my dad planned for years, finding uh finding a good chassis and engine and all that, but it's it's getting too pricey.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:05

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:06

You know, and I don't know, it's just that song resonated with me, some, you know. I mean, it's just actually dated a girl that had a forward and and I think she drove that thing harder than I did, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:23

It's just like I'm s I'm so sorry, but I have to let you down on this one. This was about my my boring F-150. And it's about my uh I mean, as I said, I always wanted to end a relationship in a positive note. Okay. So um when I wrote the song, I had no idea that I will have to go through a divorce two years after after writing this song. And now we're kind of uh we're in a good place with my my wife. Yeah. So it it actually turned out to be more meaningful for me than I even thought.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:02

Weird how that works, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 1:01:04

Yeah. So kind of writing your own destiny. Well, I've always said sometimes I think some songs can be a little like a prophecy. You know, prophetic or uh how do you how do you actually say that, Caitlin?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

Pro prophetic or don't ask me how to pronounce things.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:28

I don't know how to pronounce that.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:29

I can barely talk.

unknown 1:01:33

Prophecy.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:34

Prophecy, it was a prophecy.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:37

It's crazy how it all works. Yeah, and I mean why we just wrote a song called Poor Man's Prophecy, so that's Oh, interesting. So it's a it's about the little things in life that actually matter the most in the big picture in the end. Yeah. So it's uh it's a pretty good one.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:54

I think it's pretty cool. Well uh brother, I'm glad you actually come and hung out with us and be on on the show. And uh for everybody out there, y'all need to uh really check out you and whiskey. Uh that was unreleased. So Yeah, that one is still coming. It's coming. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:24

It's coming. I don't know when. We'll find out. Yeah, I would I would say probably using the uh business terminology, maybe Q4.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:40

You never know, man. Oh brother, I appreciate you being on. And uh if you don't mind looking at last camera on this side and tell everybody where they can find you. You got a website and all that good stuff? I don't have a website.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:59

So uh you can find me on uh on social media, uh Instagram by the name of countryj, and on Facebook by J YKA with capital letters. Uh and of course all the streaming services.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:15

Yeah, and if anybody has any problems looking for that, you can they'll be on the very bottom down there that way everybody can look it up and check everything out. Uh I don't know how you feel about it or not, but I'm actually happy that you are the only country act out of Finland. So you know, it it's uh we might have five or six hundred more people coming out and doing country next.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:46

Yeah, I mean then I but I I'm I will be retired at that point.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:50

Yeah, but like there wasn't a whole lot of country in Australia, and then Keith Urban came out and it's like erupting now.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:57

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I can see that. And same thing in the UK. I mean, a body of mine went just on tour in the UK, uh, Joe Hermes is his name. So um, I mean, there's a definitely a country boom out there right now.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:12

Oh yeah, one of uh one of our friends from the show, we've had him on several times, uh Brooke Ellingworth. Oh he actually lives over there and he tours over there. Yeah.

unknown 1:04:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:22

So uh Finland is pretty much the only country where there's no country country hype. I mean, we we have one country music station which is based on um the US charts. Yeah. I I mean it was really hard for me even get to get there, even though I'm the only Finnish guy who ever made it to the charts here. The weird part, you could probably just walk up, knock on the front door, and go, hey, can you play me please? Yeah. I mean they told me that they won't play Finnish country music. So that is crazy. That's insane. I mean, but it's but then they listened to the song and they were like, oh, it doesn't sound Finnish. Like, yeah. That's what I tried to tell you all the time.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:03

Well, I mean, you definitely got the pipes for it, you definitely got the guitar playing for it, and you definitely got the storytelling for it. So it's pretty good for a heavy metal bass player. Yeah, I know. Just follow your dream, brother. Follow your dream. I will. I will. All right. We appreciate you being on, and uh, we're going to get out of here. Thank you so much for having me. And tell everybody bye, and we'll see y'all later. Or as we've seen, finish boy. There you go. Uh, all right, everybody. Remember, please like, share, follow, and subscribe. It helps all these artists out. You do not realize booking agents are looking at what their streams are, they're looking at their followers, their subscribers. This is how these artists actually get from town to town and play these shows and do these tours. So you can actually meet them, listen to some really good songs. Meet them, shake hands, take pictures with them, tell them a little bit of a story about yourself. All these new artists, they are loving the fan interaction that y'all are giving them. All right, we're gonna get out of here. Love ya, mean it. Bye.