Sestina, part III

Sestina

(sĕ-stē'nə) 

n.

1. A verse form first used by the Provençal troubadours, consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy.

2. The collective name for a group of three rock'n'roll astronauts from Helsinki, Finland

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And now, for the grand finale in the history of our little musical troupe. (Parts I and II can be found here and here)

In our most recent little fling together as a band, we didn't get much done in terms of new music - however, what it did do was provide us with enough of inspiration and momentum to get the thing going again.

So how did the band eventually get back together? The honest (and hopelessly clichéd) answer is: It all happened very naturally. Jaakko had just split with a band of his (April), whereas I had a kind of a lull with my other projects. Pekka, on the other hand, had recently been talking a lot about resurrecting the band and writing new stuff together. However, both Tommis were out: T. Forsström was simply too busy to even consider another project, and T. Raivio seemed to be done with playing loud music altogether.

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Another time, another band - the future members of
Sestina are clueless about what lays ahead (and still are)

With the three of us left, eventually Jaakko, Pekka and myself got together at Jaakko's Helsinki rehearsal space (again around Christmas time), and started working on some sketches I had. This time, the pieces fell into place very easily. At our first rehearsal as a three-piece, we put together and recorded three skeletons of songs, and there were many more on the way.


This new music didn't sound at all like anything we'd made before. First of all - as a kind of a leftover from my strange experimental ideas for Sestina - our guitar tunings went from dropped to ridiculously low. If you tune a bass guitar with standard strings down to A flat, you get some very strange sounds, my friend. Colliding with this abrasive, hulking soundscape, there were clear vocals, melodies and harmonies placed front and center. The stark contrast was fascinating for us - it was like experimental pop tunes played with the rhythm section of a doom band.

We all felt we were on to something, so new rehearse times were quickly booked after the holidays. What I did learn the last time around was the value of doing things the old-fashioned way: Write some riffs and ideas, play them with a band, write some more, play some more. Write together as a band as much as comes naturally. Write words. Just get on with it. All the thinking and great concepts in the world can't replace that.

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So in about six months, again very NATURALLY (yech), our direction was beginning to take shape. For myself, what was most inspiring was to witness things taking a life of their own - I'd never imagined music like this, it just started coming out from the speakers once we got into a room, turned up the volume and pummeled away as a band.


Since none of us had played this kind of music and in this way before, I think all of us had to kind of re-invent our styles as players. This is where things get scary and exciting at the same time: Once you pretty much discard your whole bag of tricks as a musician, and start making new tools from scratch, you'll have to get used to sounding like complete crap - a fresh beginner - for quite some time. However, once you start to get the hang of it, you'll discover you have a voice you've never had before.


For me as a guitarist, with this new version of Sestina, I found myself often trying to almost keep in the background compared to what I was used to. It would've been easy to take the heavy metal route and grind out distorted power chords to match the rhythm section. Instead, I tried to use guitar as a more ethereal instrument, using the upper range and effects to create space and harmonies rather than just going for maximum sound pressure. Shoegazing with Black Sabbath.


This was brought about by what Jaakko and Pekka were coming up with. As I noticed the bass and drums locking more and more tightly together with each passing band practice, sounding increasingly better, I stopped bringing in guitar riffs, and instead presented ideas for bass lines, drum beats and vocal lines. Once the rhythm section discover the song, I fit the guitars in. Guitar parts are still often the last thing to happen to a Sestina song.

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As great as things were going, our collective sound still felt it was lacking something. I had some ideas for piano arrangements for a couple of songs, and many song parts felt like the sound should be expanded further. Make no bones about it: We still wanted synths!


Since by the beginning of 2009 we happened to be recording two of our new songs, "Devil May Care" and "Rose in Dreams", and there were already a lot of keyboard arrangements being thrown about. However, even though Jaakko is excellent with the keys as well, we needed a creative pianist to bring some life into the songs.


I asked Marja Teittinen, the keyboardist of the current line-up of Oka, if she would be interested in recording some additional parts, and fortunately she said yes. Eventually Marja ended up being a huge presence in the finished recordings, bringing some amazing stuff to the table. We did ask her to join as a full-time member, and rehearsed as a four-piece for a couple of times, but unfortunately due to time constraints she had to step aside...

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So that's pretty much where we are today. A trio, wondering the possibility of adding additional member, very much still in search of what this band and this music are all about. With each passing song we write I feel we're getting closer, but in many ways I don't even want to arrive. This has turned out to be so much fun I want to keep on looking, writing as many good tunes as possible in the process, without any kind of hurry.


After all, isn't the journey supposed to be the main thing?

~ Markus

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Music ingested while writing:

PMMP - Veden Varaan

Nirvana - In Utero

Radiohead - Airbag/How am I Driving? 

Kashmir - No Balance Palace

Sestina - Don't Look (work draft)

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