One Hidden Frame is part of the many melodic punk bands out if Finland. They’ve been around for a while, but take their sweet time to put out new releases. Their new album is due out soon, and TGEFM got in touch with Pekka Multaharju from the band. We rolled a NINE.
1) I’ll just get this out of the way: How tense are things in Finland right now after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Yeah, the whole Putin’s attack was a big surprise in the end. Finland has had good relations with Russia for a long time and suddenly it feels everything’s just thrown off the cliff. Well, all of the European countries are now being alert on what is going on. Ukraine just wanted to work closer to EU to a path with less corruption and less government control on citizens opinions. Well, Putin found this offensive somehow and we see the result of a madman blinded by +20 years being in power. But they really made an intelligence mistake here and thought it would be like the annexation of Crimea. Ukraine has fought back bravely so far (today is March 25th) and hope they stand strong. This is all too familiar with Finland’s history too and my great grandfather was Ukrainian so it is kind of personal also for me. One thing I have to point out that we do love all our Russian friends, and none of them are supporting this war by any means of course. It is sad that their country’s future has probably been wiped under the rug for a long time.
2) Your new album I Am Not Here is due out the beginning of April. It’s been almost 4 years since your split with Thousand Oaks, and five years since Harmful Content was released. Now, you’re not the speediest band when putting out releases, and generally have a few years in between each. Is the amount of time between Harmful Content and now just due to your process, or did the pandemic have any bearing on it?
I think it is just a matter of finding less time to sit down with the guitar than it was when you were 20-year old. Not that I have any responsibilities, like kids or anything, just need to recharge more these days after work! But also you could make a lot of songs easily, but they need to bring you goosebumps and that certain drive in your heart, that makes you pump your fist in your room when listening to the demos, hahah! And that not always happens, or at least it is a bit harder when you more often think these days “nah, this is done before, same old shit…”.
3) One Hidden Frame tends towards the more technical side of melodic punk rock, kind of with a dash of skatepunk. What are your biggest influences in creating your sound?
From the mid 90’s Bad Religion was a big thing for sure, later came in 2000’s Propagandhi and some other melodic hardcore like Strike Anywhere or even Boysetsfire and Hot Water Music. It has always been the melancholic side that hits the spot, not that surprising for Finnish people, hah!
4) On a similar note, what is the typical song-writing process for One Hidden Frame, is it fully collaborative, or does any given member find some sound they like and bring it to the band to build on?
For a long time, it used to be just me (Pekka) doing all the songs, but this new album is the most “band” album. We did give more time when recording to think about what works and what doesn’t. Not sure if the listener can hear that, because we all kind of know what the sound of the band is and have that thought in mind when doing songs. This is our first album with our new bass player Vesa, who did some almost non-distorted guitar stuff and brought some more dynamics in the songs. But he also did the 30 second hardcore punk blast, so he is a nice addition to the band!
5) How has the band been doing with gigs and tours over the pandemic, and are there any tours planned for the near future?
Finland probably had it a bit better than many other countries, we didn’t have real lockdowns that much and we were able to play some shows here. In August 2021 we got to play again in Slovenia at the sweetest festival area in the world. Punk Rock Holiday did a smaller European band version and it was a great experience of normality for a long time. We were supposed to hit Canada in 2020, but we all know how that went. I hope we find a spot for that soon again. Japan, Australia, South America, so many places to go, so few vacations in a year…
6) The band has been around for almost 20 years and, presumably, has been to a lot of places. What are the best cities you’ve visited for gigs, and just for visiting (you can list separately for each criteria)?
Well, touring started in 2009 and so far still only in Europe! But the favorite ones that come to mind are maybe of course the Punk Rock Holiday spot Tolmin in Slovenia, Manchester Punk Festival, which is an awesome city event where you stroll around different venues. We had a great time in Larissa, Greece, warm people, warm weather! Livorno in Italy has an absolutely sweet spot by the sea called Surfer Joe. Brighton in UK seems to have an awesome spirit and atmosphere. Bonn in Germany and Valasske Mezirici in Czech Republic has a special place in our hearts, being like the second homes on tours. Going to Russia has been really fun always, but now, what can you do, it is sad.
7) TGEFM, based in the USA, is always trying to discover new bands internationally which may not get enough attention in the English-speaking countries. For example, I discovered Rankka Päivä through your Facebook posts. Can you name a few bands from your neck of the woods that TGEFM’s readers should be checking out?
Hmm, well from the hardcore punk side of things there are for example Kohti Tuhoa, Kovaa Rasvaa, Hero Dishonest, Maailmanloppu or Cause A Riot. For metallic hardcore fans, check out Down My Throat, Cutdown, Foreseen, MORA. Skate punk / melodic punk listeners could go for P.T.K., Custody, Teresa Banks, Knullburken, Bucket, Tryer, Neverlearn, Blossom Hill, Fladderpuck, Strum 101. Oh shit, I’ll stop here, hah!
8) If the employees from Lockjaw Records and Thousand Islands Records were going to have a tag-team wrestling match, who do you think would win?
I haven’t met the Canadian office face to face but I somehow feel Bruno would wipe the floors with everyone. I don’t know if that is a compliment or not but I send my best wishes though, hah! Maybe he is a gentle teddy bear, who knows!
9) Aside from the new album and any gigs/touring, what’s next in line for One Hidden Frame?
I guess it is time already to start looking at new riffs and ideas. Next year it is 10 years anniversary from The Water Seems Inviting, many people have been asking for a vinyl version of that, maybe it is something to have a look at. Thanks for the interest TGEFM crew!
I Am Not Here is due out 08 Apr 2022 via frequent co-conspirators Lockjaw Records (UK) and Thousand Islands Records (Canada). You can head over to the One Hidden Frame Bandcamp page, where you cam preorder the album on vinyl (for Finland delivery) or click onwards to the appropriately labeled label for delivery to your neck of the woods.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
