Name:
Heikki Vesa
AKA:
Pose, Posetronix, Posecutor, Hese Vesku
Instrument:
guitar, vocals
History joining the band:
There's always been music in my life. My mother and two big sisters sung in choirs and played piano and my father had played the clarinet. I was dragged into concerts and musicals all my childhood. My mother had decided that I'd become a musician as well and when I was six years old she told me we're going to meet this nice old man. Well, we went to see this nice old man and the next thing I knew was that I had a violin in my hands. I made it pretty clear to my mom that I didn't want to play the goddamn violin (of course I didn't say goddamn, I was only six years old for Christ's sake!), but she said that I can't quit ‘cause I've already begun. Needless to say that I wasn't particularily happy about it.
Well, I played the violin for three years, and as far as I recall, it was torture for me and for everybody listening. Seriously, who wants to have their children play the violin? It doesn't sound that good solo even if it's played well, which most certainly wasn't the case. My teacher said I had a good ear but stiff hands (I'm still trying to find an instrument which my hands could work well on).
Anyway after three years I begged that I could stop playing the violin. My parents agreed.. with one condition: I had to start playing another instrument. This time it was going to be the clarinet, ‘cause we already had one in the house. I played the clarinet for four years and it was somewhat more pleasant than the violin. I thought I had at least something going on with that instrument. Nowadays I can't even make a sound with one. Then at 13, I was struck by a lightning. I was in the boyscouts and at the camps there were always these really cool older dudes playing guitars. I thought that was as cool as it gets. We had an acoustic guitar in our house and I begun fooling around with it and soon it was all I could think about.
After a while I got my first electric guitar (The Galaxis, just look at that workmanship... Wow!) and begun working at McDonald's to earn some money to buy more musical gear. I was hooked and still am. During my first year at high school I formed a band with my friends. It was nice fooling around and I had written some of my first songs and we tried those out (well, I had actually written my first songs couple of years before, we had a rap band with my cousin called the Mankkamiksaajat . No, I'm not making this up). None of us could actually play and I was into Smashing Pumpkins and Hendrix and the other guys were into Metallica. This lead to, er.., artistic disagreements (in practise: our drummer only played his drums when I tried to tune my guitar :D). Anyway it was great fun to play with a band and try to get something together.
After my first year of high school I sold my moped (Honda Monkey, top speed 35 km/h) and bought my first real amplifier, a tube Marshall. A year earlier I had bought my first decent electric guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Studio with the money I had saved up from my summer job. The gear I had and the fact I was into Smashing Pumpkins and Jimi Hendrix got Thomas interested. I've heard worse reasons for someone to ask you join a band... Or have I?
Favourite food:
Mostly meat... Kebab, greek stuff, steak, etc. Love to cook myself and sometimes even succeed!
Favourite bands/artists:
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Flaming Lips, ELO, The Smashing Pumpkins, Jimi Hendrix, Simon & Garfunkel, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Zombies, Guns ‘n Roses, Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young), Neil Young, The Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Supergrass, Stevie Wonder, Colin Blunstone, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers, The Byrds
Favourite musicians:
Guitarists:
Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Mick Ronson, Bernard Butler, Billy Corgan, Stephen Stills, Paul Simon, David Gilmour, George Harrison, Keith Richards
Singers:
David Crosby (the ultimate singer for me, be it lead vocals or harmony, just listen to the vibrato, listen to the guts, listen to the amazing expressiveness of the vocals, I mean, the guy has great pipes, and at the same time he’s the soothing zen that’s sometimes so in tune with the world that you can’t even hear him in harmony stacks although he brings all the power to the party... I mean, come on, it’s David Crosby, ‘nuff said!!!), John Lennon (the honesty and versatility, he could sound really vulnerable but could also deliver the greatest rocking performance on this planet), Paul McCartney (the crooning sound, listen to she's leaving home, what a singer, and what a versatility too), Stevie Wonder (the guts), Colin Blunstone (the breathy quality, and the loveable wine drinking artsy fartsy type of guy who’s so feminine you just have to love), Stephen Stills (is he choking or is he singing? gotta love it, although he lost it pretty much after ’72 I think, too much booze I’m afraid), Jeff Lynne (he's super, he can sound like a knight or a robot, but always with emotion. Emotion with a capital E.)
Bassists:
Paul McCartney (self explanatory, the greatest bass player ever, what a musician, actually good old Banjo Eye could be in all these categories, he and Stevie Wonder are two of the greatest ever, even though Prince is one sexy MF as well), the motown session greats (James Jamerson) and the chick who played on God Only Knows) Kelly Groucutt of ELO fame (for the moustache).
Drummers:
John Bonham, Jimmy Chamberlain (really great stuff, Jimmy and Billy were the Smashing Pumpkins), Ringo Starr (if you disagree, I will fight you)
Keyboardists:
Stevie Wonder, Nicky Hopkins, Herbie Hancock, Mahoney
Favourite albums of all time:
Colin Blunstone: One Year
Colin Blunstone: Ennismore
Simon & Garfunkel: Bookends
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Axis: Bold As Love
The Flaming Lips: Soft Bulletin
The Beatles: the one that happens to be playing
Favourite Daisy tracks right now:
Options, for the sheer mess of it, it just takes you to so many places.
And all the new ones we’re writing and recording right now. I get bored with this stuff pretty fast, especially when it’s taken like twenty years to record the last album...
Favourite movies:
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Napoleon Dynamite, Old School, Star Wars, Lost Highway, Full Metal Jacket, Space Odyssey 2001, stupid & tasteless comedies in general, haven’t seen any good ones for a long time, I guess I always pick the wrong ones
Favourite actors:
Robert De Niro, Will Ferrell, Denis Leary, Al Pacino, David Hasselhoff
Favourite TV shows:
V: Visitors - the greatest thing that has ever aired on TV. This is from the early 80's, and was really high-tech at the time. Of course it looks ridiculous now, but it's still great. Great story, great visually and just that certain something. It was really scary when I watched it as a kid. It still has that pressuring vibe that I love. It's dark. And you gotta love Ham Tyler and Donovan. What characters! I'll rename myself Ham Donovan from now on. BTW, don't confuse the original 10 episodes with that shit they made after that.
Sledge Hammer - Trust me, I know what I'm doing! This is the funniest show ever. Great 80's vibe. When I watched this as a kid I thought Sledge was the coolest guy alive, and I didn't understand it was a comedy. I made myself a Magnum and chased villains in the woods… Years later I re-discovered the show and it's GREAT! Really stupid, un-intellectual humour, just for me. It has everything, even the really uptight black police chief. Hammer!!!
The Job, Rescue Me - Denis Leary playing totally corrupted roles, great!
Late Night With Conan O'Brien - I watch Conan every night. My favourite actor is the skinny and bald, kind of gay looking guy who plays Preparation H Raymond.
Cheaters - Tommy Grand is my hero
The Office (BBC version)
Takeshi’s Castle - perfect stuff for getting that late night feeling braindead and ready to sleep -feeling
Favourite reading:
Sound on Sound, TapeOp, rock biographies (David Crosby’s Long Time Gone is my favourite by a long shot), Lord of the Rings, Franz Kafka, Henning Mankell etc.
Gear:
1998 Fender Telesonic
2003 Gibson Hummingbird
2005 Fender Esquire (modded to Tele specs with Lindy Fralin and Acme Guitar works -stuff)
2006 Fender Nocaster
Amp: Bad Cat Cub II 2x10
Stomps: Timmy, TIM, Lovepedal COT 50, Hot cake, E-H Deluxe Memory Man, Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso & Boss TU-2
Recording gear (not just mine actuallly):
Lawson MP47 MkII, Audio-Technica 4050 x2, AKG C451, Shure SM57’s, Beyerdynamic M160, API A2D, API Lunchbox, Great River MP-500NV, Avedis E27 & Purple Action, and lot of more to come...
Links:
www.gearslutz.com
www.kitarapaja.com
www.davesguitar.com
www.mercenary.com
www.turunsanomat.fi
