Introduce yourself briefly, what kind of music do you make and what you do in the band?

We are Hebosagil, a rock band from Oulu, Finland. We call our genre of music in a humorous manner “New Wave of Finnish Suomi Rock”, but maybe there’s also some truth to it. It’s also an homage to Circle, Ektro Records and Jussi Lehtisalo. My name is Oku Kähkönen and I will be answering your questions. I play guitar in this band.

If Hebosagil was an animal, which would it be and why?

A horse, of course.

How and when did the band originally come together?

Tatu, Antti and Remi formed the band in 2003. I joined one or two years later. The line-up has been pretty much the same since 2008 apart from a few leaves of absence.

You are originally from the Oulu area. How have the surroundings shaped the sound of the band? What do you think of the local scene right now? What is the secret behind the tap water of Oulu?

This is a tricky question to answer as someone born in Oulu. I think the “Oulu sound”, if there is such a thing, is probably more obvious to someone not from Oulu. I’m still not quite sure what it means, but I guess all places have their own specific features that come out in the way the music sounds. To be perfectly honest I don’t really have much feel of the local scene in Oulu these days since I moved out of there about 10 years ago. Oulu tap water is fine, but Hangaskangas groundwater is the real deal. There are a few groundwater hydrants around the city. Bring your own bottle and remember to carefully close the tap. I did a short internship at Oulu Waterworks back in the day during my studies.

What drives you to make the art that you do?

Financial success and the freedom that comes with living an artist’s lifestyle.

How do you balance between the recording process and live performing? Does either play a bigger part for the band?

There’s a huge amount of work that goes into making an album and we sometimes get lost in the tedious process and it becomes difficult to maintain a playful mindset. It’s very rewarding to finally have the new stuff ready and get to play it live, so I’d say it’s crucial to have both to maintain balance. Still, making new music is what drives us.

What is going on in the Hebosagil camp at the moment / do you have some future plans?

We have slowly started crafting new material for our next album. We already have some idea where we are going, but the odds are we won’t be doing any recording anytime soon. I just hope the new album “Yössä” would do well enough sales-wise that Svart Records is willing to put out the next one too.

What would you name as the biggest highlights or hardships in the band’s history?

I can’t really think of any actual hardships, at least any that would relate to the band anyway. As for the highlights, well there’s just so many. I still think it’s so cool that we get to release albums on labels like Svart and Ektro, and that we have people coming to our shows and interested in the music we do. Generally, we are just very happy to do this, and every free drink and backstage sandwich is always very much appreciated.

How do the visual aspects of the band come together and what kind of a role does it have in Hebosagil? Who’s behind all those cool t-shirt prints?

The name of the “picture making man” (as he calls himself) is Jari Johannes. You can find him on Instagram too.

We have ripped off quite a few known brands in our shirts, and have agreed that I would be the one to stand up for us in court once the lawsuits start coming in. The official Instagram account of Taffel had actually liked some post of the “metal cheese doodle” design, so I’m not too worried about them.

If you could collaborate with any past or present artist/band which would it be?

Vesa-Matti Loiri or James Brown.

What were the biggest influences that made you interested in music back in the day?

I think Slayer was the biggest single influence for the other guys in the early days and one of the key reasons why the band came into existence. For me personally, I’d say my dad who introduced to guitar, Tony Iommi, whose style of playing was simple enough for me to try and mimic, and Guns'N’Roses which I used to listen to a lot as a kid. I’m nowhere near Slash when it comes to skills or style, but I do have a Gibson Les Paul to compensate for it.

Recommend three artists everyone should know? (bands or anything you wish to mention)

Taukki, Evakko, Dxxxa D.

Last words of wisdom.

Thanks, it has been a pleasure. Thanks to everyone who took the time to listen to our new album.