Rock-Criminals: ‘If you capture that energy, it’s like capturing lightning in a bottle’

Finnish rock band Rock-Criminals are moving into darker territory with an upcoming EP channeling the sound of 60’s Stooges-era rock.

The band comprises Aleksi Wild (vocals/guitar), JS (guitar), Mike Scott (bass) and Luke Eaton (drums). Wild and Scott started the band in 2011, when they were 11 years old, with JS joining in 2016 and Eaton shortly before that. Of their band name, JS says: ‘It has got some criticism but Alex stood by it and I respect that. It has a reference to Hanoi Rocks, if you know the Finnish band with Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy? We’re both very big fans. Alex wanted the word “rock” in the name and “criminals” was a cool, edgy word for an 11-year-old! But we draw influences from all kinds of genres, rock is more to do with the attitude but everyone else interprets the name in their own way.’

Their single ‘Sticks & Stones’ is a huge punk rock anthem of a song, with “na na na’s” designed to keep the crowd chanting it as they bounce along: ‘It’s about picking yourself back up when someone doesn’t believe in you or the music industry doesn’t believe in you,’ JS said. ‘I remember I got this melody and then I started fooling around with the words. I think I wrote most of it but Alex added a few phrases here and there.’ The Russia-Ukraine war had recently started when he wrote it and he was looking for a song that could counter the world, which seemed to be ‘a very dark and cruel place if you only read the news’: ‘Despite what it is about, I wanted to somehow capture the positivity that not everything is so dark and grim,’ he said. ‘You could compare the chanty riff to Alice Cooper’s ‘School’s Out’ (1972) and imagine a little kid singing the “na-na-na-na-na” part, which is a mischievous type of melody (laughs). It was just me being annoyed at the world once again and trying to write something that fights back.’

‘I haven’t read any books in Finnish in a long time because I like to read biographies of musicians‘

JS – who perfected his English playing video games and going to an international school in Budapest for a year and a half when he was 11 – turns out to be a massive aficionado of music biographies: ‘I haven’t read any books in Finnish in a long time because I like to read biographies of musicians, he said. ‘I have a long list of books! You can’t see it now but it’s by the window. I was 12 when I read Ozzy’s book ‘I Am Ozzy’ (2009). It’s crazy, it’s a great read! I have Michael Monroe’s book, one of my heroes, and Paul Stanley’s and Peter Criss’s from KISS, although Nick Cave is probably my favourite lyricist and composer. He’s my ultimate hero alongside Robert Smith and the others here.’

Rock-Criminals released their debut full-length album last year and one of the standout tracks for me is the opener ‘Fool No More’, which is powered along by the catchy main guitar line: ‘We wrote that originally back in 2018 or maybe 2019,’ JS said. ‘Alex came up with the basic structure of the song and we switched a few parts out here and there. We had three or four different versions of the song before we finally settled on the final version just before we recorded the debut album. The song has been around for a very long time but that is a very good example of me and Alex working together. At that time, we used to write songs and trade lines. I used to crash at his place and we would be watching hockey and I would be writing a song, and I would throw him a line, and then he would respond. That’s how we would write most of the songs back in the day.’

As the track goes: “I’m looking out of the window and I see the sky is blue. Fireworks are flying around but it all feels so blue. I have been through so much you would not believe me if I told you so. So I keep my mouth shut, curse my bad luck and I let you go.”

He describes ‘Fool No More’ as being ‘a nice, pop love song’. These days, with their busy schedules, JS has taken on the lion’s share of songwriting duties: ‘Over the years, I’ve managed to get into a spot where I’m capable of finishing a song on my own,’ he said. ‘I bring the demo to the band but it’s more interesting when all four of us put our own style and thought into it, so it becomes more of a whole.’

‘It was one of those very cool, pinch yourself moments’

Meeting Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe on the Finnish version of X Factor in 2018 was a defining moment for the band, who went on to collaborate with him on ‘Get Yourself Together’ on their debut album. ‘It was written in 2019 when our bass player, Mike, was having a rough time and I was rather annoyed by the fact that he lacked motivation. This song was basically me telling him to get his shit together, it was my pep talk to him (laughs). Alex came up with the riff to the song later on and then Michael put his own twist to it. He helped me out with the lyrics.’ Monroe was a judge on X Factor when they met, kindly giving them his contact details and has stayed in touch with them ever since. ‘He plays the harmonica on it and sings backing vocals and he helped out with the arrangements. He put my idea for the lyrics into more solid form. I have the original recordings when he recorded an acoustic version of the song which he sent to us. That was also very surreal because he was basically singing our song! I remember being 14 and reading his book and thinking that it would be very cool to be like him someday. And there I am 10 years later, writing stuff with him! It was one of those very cool, pinch yourself moments. I didn’t really know how to react at that time. It was very nice of him. He’s one of those people who motivates you to be the best version of yourself every day.’

Next up are plans for a new EP and they are already in the process of recording demos: ‘I’m writing new material and I surely hope that Alex is writing new material as well,’ he said laughing. ‘Now, we both do our own thing and we come up with demos and then we just pick a random date and we trade ideas. For example, I have a few songs, I show them to him and we work on those. It’s very collaborative – a few people have called us as the Keith and Mick of Finland! But with fewer drugs (laughs). We don’t really do drugs, although Alex takes insulin because he has diabetes. I have ultimate respect for him for putting up with that and not giving up because it’s a very difficult disease to live with but we are more clean than than the actual Mick and Keith!’

Richards’ memoir ‘Life’ (2010) is another book that he has read, although he describes it as being more of a challenge: ‘I read in English but it was very difficult to read because he uses a lot of slang and he switches the time around a lot. It’s not logical at all (laughs). One really good autobiography that I read was John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten of punk rock band Sex Pistols)’s book (‘Anger Is An Energy’, 2014). It’s fascinating. It’s very inspiring to read someone’s life story who started out with basically nothing. They didn’t even have an indoor bathroom at the start. To make it out of that is really hard.’

‘I think the groove is what caught my attention, then the sleaziness and the dark atmosphere and humour’

Monroe has told him a similar story about moving to Stockholm in the late 70’s with very little: ‘They were completely broke. They were homeless for eight months, I seem to remember, on the streets of Stockholm. The same thing applies to The Birthday Party (Nick Cave’s early post-punk band). They’re my favourite band. When I was in London, I went to a record store in Notting Hill and I bought their record Junkyard (1982) there. It’s very weird (laughs). The production is crazy with the echoes on the bass and guitars and stuff but the groove is there. I think the groove is what caught my attention, then the sleaziness and the dark atmosphere and humour.’

Rock-Criminals’ upcoming EP will showcase ‘a rougher edgier sound’, where Wild focuses on the singing and steps back from guitar duties: ‘I listen to a lot of The Birthday Party, The Stooges and other post-punk bands,’ JS said. ‘We’re not necessarily going to be doing post-punk but I definitely want to have that darker feel. The energy of The Birthday Party and other post-punk bands is something I want to capture. That’s what I’m seeking all the time and that’s the hardest part. If you capture that energy, it’s like capturing lightning in a bottle. Lyrically, the songs might be darker. The easiest way to write about stuff is to write about love or breakups but dark, twisty love would be fun to explore! I feel that we Finns are very melancholic (laughs). For us, heartache and heartbreak are very natural things to write about. And the winter is coming, so that is usually the most inspiring time to write because it’s so dark. During the winter time, I usually write my best stuff. The early winter, when the first layer of snow comes in, that’s the most inspiring time. It’s not too cold!’

He works the night shift in his current job and admits that winter can be rough when he can go for several weeks without seeing the sun at all: ‘It can be really hard psychologically. Luckily, I’ve got friends all around the world so I don’t suffer from loneliness but your energy levels are very rough. Your inner clock gets really messed up. There was a period in time when I would wake up at six in the afternoon, and I would go to bed at nine in the morning. You can adjust to a lot of different situations but it can be very hard. I don’t have a relationship to take care of or any pets or any of those things.’

‘I was just playing, I was just having a good time, it felt right’

When he’s not working or gigging with Rock-Criminals, he performs with his cover band, Primo, where they play rock and garage rock songs from the 60’s to 80’s: ‘I love playing,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘That’s my thing. I’ve never lost my interest in playing my guitar or writing music or coming up with something new. I got my first electric guitar as a birthday present from my mom in 2009, I think I’d just turned 12. My dad used to play guitar when he was younger, so he taught me a few tricks. After that, I learned songs by listening to them and trying to figure out how to play them. It was just endless hours of practice, even though it never really felt like I was practicing. I was just playing, I was just having a good time, it felt right.’

JS describes himself as ‘a very shy kid’ who was very unsure of himself, holed up with video games. ‘I wasn’t antisocial, though, but when I got the guitar, that’s when I knew what I had to do. I’m willing to go to extremes so that I can do what I want to do. That’s why I do the night shifts – and I’m going to start working a second job as well – so I can maintain a stable life and put as much of my free time into music as possible. I’d rather do whatever I do at a hundred percent, you know, with passion instead of at 50% and then not do it properly.’

One of his most memorable early musical memories is of going to his first concert to see KISS with his dad when he was 10: ‘I remember that very clearly! They’re almost like mythological characters in my life, it was such a mind blowing experience! I was never the same afterwards (laughs). My dad is a complete metalhead, he loves KISS and Van Halen. When I was in middle school, I started listening to Hanoi Rocks. Then, in 2021, my life changed. I’d been in the military before starting to study pop jazz at the conservatoire when COVID hit. I watched the Stiv Bators documentary ‘No Compromises, No Regrets’ and it struck a nerve. The documentary opened my mind more in terms of sticking to your own vision and your being yourself without letting outside influences interfere with that what you are or what you want to be. Also Rowland Howard who played guitar in The Birthday Party, he has such a unique sound. I’m so amazed by these noise gods! The primitive creation of noise as music is about expressing yourself and filling in the layers.’

He mulls which musician he would most like to meet: ‘Lemmy would have been great, may he rest in power. He was such an inspiration to me,’ he said. ‘Motörhead is one of the greatest bands ever to exist! Johnny Rotten/John Lydon would be a nice guy to meet. I’ve listened to some of his interviews. He comes across as a very funny, smart guy. I would probably be laughing for the next two weeks after that! He would be probably be a nice guy to bump into because he feels like one of us.’ I say that I have the same impression of Paul McCartney and he agrees: ‘The same thing goes for Keith Richards. I don’t know how much Keith hangs around in bars nowadays (laughs), but he comes across as a really normal working class guy.’

We get chatting about how you can find music in the most unexpected places, even weird yet wonderful stuff: ‘Do you know The Einsteins and Neubauten?,’ he said. ‘They became famous for using trash cans and rubble like industrial tools to create music in the 1980’s in Berlin. They were mad! The first time I saw them, I was completely speechless (laughs). When I was travelling to London with my dad, I put on their album  Haus der Lüge, Einstürzende Neubauten and I put it on his headphones. He’s very open-minded when it comes to music, but he didn’t get it. He was: “It’s not for me”. I thought that was great (laughs) because if my dad doesn’t get it, I get it. That’s the best possible outcome – maybe I’m onto something!’

(Photo credits: Pasi Liesimaa, Teija Ahola, Arto Alho and Markku Nykänen)