Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Last Panda: "We will give our all but the most important thing is to have fun!"

5th interview of 2013! and its from a band from Finland. Here are the answers of HENRY OSSIAN from LAST PANDA:


Name: Henry Ossian
Age: 27
Zodiac sign: The Lion
Height: 1.77 cm
Favorite Color: Deep red
Favourite food: home made
Shoe Size: 42
Eye color: golden brown
Where are you right now?: at home
3 Fears: global warming, greed and boredom
What’s your strangest talent?: I am very good at playing Fifa 13 on xbox. Heh heh.
Do you have any nicknames?: Plenty but lets stick with Henry Ossian in this interview.
Home alone and your bored. What do you do?: I grab my guitar. Music is the greatest escape.
What are you really good at?: I'd like to believe that I am very good at writing songs :)
What are you really bad at?: You could say that I have a very selective memory.
Childhood idol: Elvis Presley and Jari Litmanen.
Tell me something no one knows about you: Some people tend to think that I have a huge ego, but actually I'm very down to earth.
What would you do if you were invisible?: I would go to the casting of Invisible Man 2.
Favorite movie: Fight Club
Tell me a super power you wish you had: Being able to fly. How cool would it be to perform some flying in our gigs ;)
What's your favorite part of your body?: My legs because I love football.
Tell me one of your insecurities: I guess we all are insecure about the way we look on public.
What is your guilty pleasure?: Home made blueberry pie!
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Queen  - Don't stop me now
Can you teach me some interesting words in finnish?: Viina on viisasten juomaa. I leave the meaning for you to find out.
Tell me some of your bad habits: I get addicted on things maybe too easily.
If you were me what would you ask to the Last Panda? and tell me your answer:
What makes Last Panda special? We are a very unite group and good friends. Our music is honest and we really love what we do.

What can you tell me about the band? when did you guys start playing together? 
Last Panda was formed in 2007 but the core of the present group has been together for three years. We've been friends since we were kids but everyone has a different musical background. Me and bass player HC Knuuti have been playing in various punk rock bands, drummer Aapo is a more traditional rock guy and keyboardist Laze has been in many different bands, also in metal scene. Our newest member Matt is a very skilled guitarist and knows a lot about hard rock.
Why the name Last Panda?
Always a good question. Like I said it was 2007 when the journey of Last Panda begun. I was at the backstage of Bar 45Special, which is a legendary gig place in Oulu, Finland. The walls of the small back stage room are full of hand written messages, band names, stickers you name it. I decided that if I ever started a band it should have a name that matters. And then it hit me: Last Panda. I guess it's my way to say that look around you what's happening in the world.

The band is one of the 12 finalists in the UMK 2013. How did it all begin?
This might sound unbelievable. Me and Aapo wrote this song Saturday Night Forever. Well we had this song we found awesome but we didn't know what to do with it. My friend told me that we really should participate in UMK2013. I recall it was the night before the deadline day when I edited a short introduction film about our band and our song Saturday Night Forever. Then I sent it. I almost forgot about the whole thing until we got a message a month or so later that we had been qualified to the competition. It felt like a great surprise.
Photo: anatom.fi (Tom Hakala)
The title of your song is "Saturday night forever". What can you tell me about the song? what is the song about?
I was inspired by the movie Saturday Night Fever and some wonderful night that had happened to me. Our drummer Aapo had some good ideas about the melody and so the match was made. We just sat down and wrote the song. Sometimes it's very simple when you are having fun. I think it took something like half an hour and couple of beers until the main core of the song was done.
Describe the song with 4 words
Honest, fun and catchy raw power. 

What can we expect for the performance on stage?
Last Panda is a band that burst in fire on stage. I can promise that we will give our all but the most important thing is to have fun! Music is not a serious thing.

What do you think about the other songs in the competition? 
There are many great artists and bands in the competition and of course good songs. We are honored to be a part of this group. You could say that there's something for every taste.

What do you like about Eurovision?
The massive fuss. It's a megalomanic event and great entertainment. It would be a wow experience to see that really close in Malmö. 
What do you dislike about Eurovision?
Well, I think music and competition is not so good combination. Music is a form of art and the value of an art piece very hard to measure. Maybe people should take it more like a festival than a competition.

Do you like any Eurovision song from Finland?
I think Hard Rock Hallelujah, the winner in 2006 by Lordi, is a very good hard rock song. It's catchy.
Is there anything you guys want to say to close the interview?
Music is nothing without people who listen to it. You make us musicians matter. Listen to our song Saturday Night Forever and more importantly feel it. Check out our band because Last Panda is coming! Keep on rockin'!

Thanks to Henry!! and Good luck to Last Panda in the UMK 2013!

You want to know more of Last Panda, here is their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lastpandas
Their website: http://www.lastpandas.com/ 

Now lets watch their performance for the judges:
Saturday night forever
They said the devil’s got a hold on my soul
Think everything twice and you’re never gonna go
This city ain’t gonna sleep forever, I know
And I’d do it again a thousand times ’cause tonight I feel like

Saturday night forever
You and me gotta sing together
High and low together

Saturday night forever
You and me, it’s now or never
High and low together

The night is young and we have just begun
We’re all set up and about to have some fun
If you might think that I have lost my mind, no
I’d do it again a thousand times ’cause tonight I feel like

Saturday night forever
You and me gotta sing together
High and low together

Saturday night forever
You and me, it’s now or never
High and low together

Saturday night forever
Saturday night forever

Tonight I feel like Saturday night forever
You and me gotta sing together
High and low together

Saturday night forever
You and me, one night to remember
High and low together
Saturday night forever

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