Aspesti Want You to Hear the Band Behind the Noise
Punk Head: Everyone hears the Nirvana influence, but what makes someone listen to Aspesti and think, "This couldn't have come from anyone else"?
Aspesti: We definitely love the 90s foundations, and obviously love Nirvana. We also grew up with that music because of our parents; they taught us to listen to it. So it feels natural for us to keep that as our foundation. On top of that, we bring our own modern touch to it. We use massive fuzz with big granules, our riffs are heavier mainly because of the Finnish melancholy we bring along, and the overall sound has way more low end and boominess compared to 90s bands. It’s heavy, but we think it breathes in a way that is entirely our own interpretation of grunge. And of course, the sound of the band and the vocals is recognizable. Tight trio-playing.
Punk Head: "Blank" feels raw without sounding careless. How do you know when a song is finished instead of overworked?
Aspesti: We know a song is finished when it captures a specific reaction in rehearsals. We don't over-edit anything or fix every mistake when we record, it has to have that feeling we had when we were first jamming the song. It is also important to have the natural bleed of the instruments in the low end, it can feel lifeless without it. As you can hear, we don't chase digital perfection where everything is cleaned up. We recorded it pretty much live after playing it a bunch of times. There are small mistakes and rough edges, but that’s the point. We want to leave those mistakes in the finished song so people can actually feel the live playing.
Punk Head: You describe your music as honest. What does honesty actually sound like in the rehearsal room?
Aspesti: It sounds like three people playing in a room, letting all the feedback roar, and playing loud enough to feel the sound. Sometimes Nooa’s voice cracks, and sometimes the drums go off the rails for a second. Kalle always plays perfectly :D Honesty in the rehearsal room is when somebody says “this part sucks” and we actually figure out together what the best way would be to make that part work. It sounds like arguing, laughing, and also compromising. We are a powerful trio who have been friends for a long time. This band is our relationship, and in relationships you have to be honest.
Punk Head: A lot of young bands chase polished production. Why lean into grit instead?
Aspesti: Grit definitely belongs to grunge. In today’s music, everything is perfectly quantized, compressed, and polished until it sounds completely artificial. There is a very fine line where it starts to lack feeling because of too much editing and cleaning, so this is a good alternative to that. We also choose grit because grit has texture. When you listen to a track with dirt on it, you can hear the band behind the live instruments. We definitely want it to sound like a band. And it feels like a lot of young bands are scared people won’t like them if it’s not perfect. We aren't.
Punk Head: What does Finnish sludge bring into your sound that American grunge never could?
Aspesti: Absolutely different level of melancholy. Life is gray for eight months of the year here in Finland. Living and rehearsing here naturally injects a certain moodiness into our music. Maybe it is the reason for the thicker fuzz and adds a slightly darker tone to our grooves. Also, this weird Finnish silence where nobody talks about their feelings sucks. Making these songs is the best way to get everything out of our system.
