Brother Firetribe is a new band that seems to gain ground in quick gears…The release of their new, 2^nd in the row, album under the title “Heart Full Of Fire” has already caused a pleasant “heart attack” to A.O.R./Melodic Rock fans and that was only normal with a high standard album like this. Brother Firetribe’s vocalist, Pekka Ansio Heino, talked to Solid Rock about the band, their plans and the influences that hide behind a complete A.O.R. album…

 

Solid Rock: Hello Pekka! First of all let me congratulate you on “Heart Full Of Fire”, it’s truly a great album!

Pekka: Much thanks for your kind words Harris!

Solid Rock: Brother Firetribe is a new band counting its 2^nd album. First of all, would you like to give our readers an introduction of the band?

Pekka: Brother Firetribe consists of 5 likeminded guys who share the same vision of music and having fun with it. Anyone who digs big choruses and melody with balls should probably check us out.

Solid Rock: With “Heart Full Of Fire” you’ve made it to create one of the greatest A.O.R. albums of our days! Would you like to tell us a bit about the songwriting process and the album in general?

Pekka: The way it usually goes is that Tomppa, our keyboard player, comes up with a riff or a chord progression, hands it over to me and I try my best to write a catchy melody and lyrics on top of that. Then it´s off to the other guys to do their parts. Then we just cross our fingers and hope for the best. And drink more beer.

Solid Rock: Are you going to shoot any video for “Heart Full of Fire” and if “yes” which song are you thinking of?

Pekka: There has been no talk of a video at this point although it would be fun. It´s just that the damn things cost a lot of money to make…I think I´d like to see a video made out of Wildest Dreams or the title song. We´ll see what happens.

Solid Rock: So far, “Heart Full Of Fire” has received amazing reviews from the worldwide media and from the fans, a fact that takes the band’s standards into a higher level. Could it be a bet for the band to top “Heart Full Of Fire” with your next studio release?

Pekka: Oh man, you ain´t heard nothing yet…I think we´re gonna come up with the goods next time around also. But it´s awesome that both our albums have been received so well, it´s good to know there still are people out there who appreciate this kind of stuff.

Solid Rock: Was the “Heart Full of Fire” track meant to be a duet from the beginning or did it come up later and how did you come up with Anette?

Pekka: No not at all. We had already recorded the song with me doing all the vocal parts. Anette had expressed her willingness to take part by doing some background vocals for the album so we just had another look at the songs to see if there´s some room in them for a duet. Luckily there was and the result is more than satisfying, she did a great job.

Solid Rock: You are also the frontman of Leverage and Emmpu also plays in Nightwish. How hard or easy is it to manage the ideal schedule and work hard on both bands for each one of you two?

Pekka: Much thanks to my schizophrenia I´ve managed so far… Naah, it all comes down to scheduling, 24 hours is a long time when you skip sleepin. Wouldn´t have it any other way now that it´s possible to do the kind of music that we love in both of our bands.

Solid Rock: You have announced dates for a 2009 tour beginning early January. What are your expectations from this tour?

Pekka: We´re really excited. It´s the first time we get to play outside our homeland, it´ll be very interesting to see how Pain´s audience reacts to our pink & fluffy stuff…We just hope all the bottles thrown on stage are full, we´ll just empty them and return them after. I´m kidding, I bet it´s gonna be a riot touring with Pain, they have a good thing going on playing live and so do we so it´s a great package.

Solid Rock: Would you name some of your influences as a band and personally?

Pekka: We share a mutual love of Van Halen, that´s for sure. Besides that, everyone has their favourites, mine include Journey, Night Ranger, Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Tom Waits etc. , you name it.

Solid Rock: Which are your all time favourite albums and why?

Pekka: I´m a crazy music fan with a collection of over 1500 CD´s and vinyls so it´s kinda hard to list the best…Slippery by Jovi, Raised On Radio by Journey, 4 by Foreigner, Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis, those are just a few cornerstones in my mind.

Solid Rock: I'll name a few great musicians; I would like you to give me your first thoughts on them:

Steve Perry (Journey): The best singer that´s ever lived. Period.

Jim Peterick (Survivor & Pride of Lions): One of the best songwriters in the world.

Desmond Child: A huge part of a soundtrack of my life.

Paul Stanley (Kiss): A big influence on me. Just incredible. He IS Kiss in my book.

Jon Bon Jovi: He´s the reason I´m doing this in the first place. So thank you Jon.

Jack Blades (Night Ranger/Damn Yankees): I´ve loved his songwriting since the day one.

Solid Rock: Is there any message that you’d like to send to the Greek fans of Brother Firetribe?

Pekka: Much thanks for the support, hope to see you soon, be safe and keep your beer frosty!

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