COB Interviews

[DarkObsession]

So here is the second part:


Before the release you said that “I Worship Chaos” will be much darker than its predecessor but when I think about that you say that every time.

Alexi(laughs): I know, I’m embarrassed by my own gibberish because you always say that the new record would be darker, heavier blablabla but this time we are serious about that. I’m not only talking about the music but about the lyrics.

Your lyrics were always nothing more than necessary.

Alexi:”That’s true but I invested really much time in them for “I Worship Chaos”. I look forward to people who will discover something following the lyrics in the booklet. You don’t have to consider them as “dark” they are just honest and come from my inside. I changed much in my life. I had a really shitty time which I could have overcome without problems but with much booze and women. But this time I did something different. I faced my problems even if it’s hard and you really suffer for a while. But that is better than just closing eyes your from difficult things the lyrics did definitely benefit from that. The content was in some songs really important for me but know it’s the whole album.”

Writing was like a cleansing for you.

Alexi:”Yes, that’s the right word but this isn’t about a complete change of my personality. I still have a dark side and I still want to live it out. Crazy things still happen in my head but I try every day to learn something. That prevents me to react violently to certain problems. In the past I had no other choice but today I try to benefit from negative things and to put those feelings into the music so even the biggest shit can have something positive. If I wouldn’t have changed this way I would have been dead long ago. It sounds like a cliché but it’s the truth.”

You have control over your life again.

Alexi:”Almost. I am on the right way. Much is still undone but I really put much effort in handling my life however I will never be like a saint. As a 36-years old you shouldn’t behave like an idiot anymore. I realized that I have much to give as a person not only in music.”

Do you get help from friends, a relationship or a therapist or do you go through on your own?

Alexi:”When I was 17 years old I was forced to take treatment because I used to cut myself all the time and I was really self destructive in general. It didn’t help really much so I get my support from amazing people of my environment but at the end I know that it’s up to me. An addict must realize what’s good for him just like me. I am an addict whether it’s music, alcohol or caffeine: I must learn the hard way.”

Despite you have more control over your life you call the album “I Worship Chaos.”

Alexi:”This isn’t a contradiction. I know what I am like. This is inside me and I will never get rid of it. If it’s silent around me I totally flip out. What I want to avoid now is to snub people. It was just my body who was there sometimes and didn’t really make a step towards other people. I didn’t appreciate certain things. It’s really sad if you travel the whole world but you aren’t interested in anything because of a constant hangover.

Once you fell asleep during a Rock-Hard-interview because you were so wasted.

Alexi (laughs):”Yeah that was me back then but you can tell that I improved (laughs again)”

Are you nonetheless the “Suicide Bomber” in the same-named track?

Alexi:”Yes of course so you shouldn’t look at the song in a political way. Even if I would want to I couldn’t write political lyrics. I can’t change the shit that’s happening in the world so I stay at topics that I understand and to that I can relate to in a personal way.”

This includes Lake Bodom. My Bodom (I am the only one) is another song about those events. About what is this song in particular?

Alexi:”The lyrics are really detailed. I talk from the view of the murderer how he wakes up the next morning realizing what he has done. I think that many listeners can see things from this perspective. You don’t have to kill somebody for that. You just have to wake up with a huge hangover after an exhausting night for example (laughs).”

Hold Your Tongue is a polite way to say “just shut the fuck up”.

Alexe:” Exactly. Those people who are constantly whining really annoy me. Their life is actually really super but they find ways to cry about anything and this is really insulting towards people who really feel shitty. There are people who think that they have insomnia when they only sleep 5 hours for once. Jeez! I don’t sleep for three days sometimes. Somebody also complained about a hurting shoulder. Fuck you! I played many shows with a broken shoulder and two damaged rips. This is pain! Those people should shut up.

It fits well to your personality that you did a cover of the deceased Wendy O. Williams with Mistress Of Taboo.

Alexi:”I miss such people in this scene no matter if men or women. Mandy was really cool. What is better better than a half naked porn and rock star with a chainsaw in her hand?

Did something that you once tried to cover eventually not sound really good?

Alexi:”Yes, but this had an happy end.”

Janne:”We tried to do Alice Cooper’s He’s Back (The man Behind The Mask) but it didn’t work. However I really wanted to record that song. I did that with my own band Warmen and Alexi sang it.”

Lordi played that song too.

Janne:”That didn’t sound really good.”

Alexi:”Fuck Lordi! We were the first ones (laughs). No that was just a joke a good song remains a good song no matter who plays it.”

 

[sleeper666]

Many thanks, DarkObsession

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Ruthless interviewer and a deep Alexi. I can totally see where Alexi's problems and addictions are coming from, since I've dealt with traumatic stuff and addictions. When the sun goes down and it gets silent, you need either booze or women around or all hell breaks loose inside you. That's how your brain wires once you learn to medicate your traumas. And when there's no booze nor women, you can't feel content, instead the anxiety escalates until it's hard to enjoy things and you fall into this misery, it's like being ripped away from light. Surely there's things you can do like art and sports etc, but it's that deep validation that gives a purpose to everything. Once you've been denied and cast out by others thru physical and mental abuse, it's not enough just to 'accept yourself', (sorry philosopher-wannabes). Sure you can still enjoy life, but still, some people have this little black hole inside that eats their inner satisfaction, that's why you have to learn to enjoy little things.

 

[mrs.bodOm]

really nice interview! would've never figured out the intro/outro of the album is the distress call from Titanic. that's so cool! thanks for the translation.

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Didn't notice the first part until now...

Well, it's not your best record, guys. And I can't understand this "tighter" about IWC. Who cares if the riffs are tighter when they're slow as fuck and have little mood to them and are tuned drop B? May I just ask. Dropping the speed when the soundworld cannot carry such slowness is a bad decision in my opinion, it kills the energy. I think there was little musical material so you decided to slow it down, repeat parts and leave away solos. Because I'm not just a bitch or whiny douche I gave you heaps of ideas for the next record, posted on the Joonas Atmosphere thread and somewhere... Maybe it's just me but the style in general went the opposite way that I'd wanted, but that was probably what you were aiming for this time anyway, so...

 

[Стас Проклятый]

Thank you! Interesting interview.

 

[Стас Проклятый]

Error – Mielen Hairioita. Big Thanks for scans - Diana Piltakyan. Original language is Finnish. In addition, we have translated into Russian. English is unfortunately unavailable. The paper is a real eye-opener Alexi Laiho. Some points articles for me very close. I am once again convinced, Alexi Laiho grand is a man.

 

[sleeper666]

http://bravewords.com/features/chil...coustically-from-fleetwood-mac-the-girls-love

Following in the Scandinavian steps as Sweden’s Yngwie Malmsteen, it’s rare to have a guitar hero hail from Finland, and Children Of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho has fit the role quite admirably, given his extreme picking style which has found him on the covers of such prestigious finger institutions as Guitar World, Young Guitar and Total Guitar among others. And by the way, he sings too, which sees him in the shadows of the mighty Dave Mustaine, ironically the band Children Of Bodom recently opened for across the US. Gearing up for more dates on the I Worship Chaos World Tour, Laiho sat down to discuss the band’s maniacal upswing, dealing with aging and an unlikely guitar teacher!



BraveWords: Your career has gone through the roof... it's been quite a ride.

Alexi: "It has. It's been... long. Very eventful. I feel like we have a lot to do, and so much more to accomplish.”

BraveWords: Tell me about it.

Alexi: "Well, I try not to look into the future too much. Making the tenth studio album would be fucking amazing. It's crazy to think we have been touring for almost 20 years now. I don't really have time to reflect on the things we have accomplished, but when I do, it's like, dude, I'm almost forty years old, playing death metal, and there are still young kids in the crowd. There are people in the audience that weren't even born when the first album came out. That, to me, is insane to think about. It's amazing. It's shit like that you have to stop and think about once in awhile and not take for granted.”

BraveWords: It's pretty incredible you've maintained such a solid lineup through the years. So, what's the key to getting along as a band?

Alexi: "First, you really have to respect one another. The key word is communication. Even if the tiniest thing bothers you, you have to get out there. That tiny thing blows up like a fucking balloon, and nothing good comes out of it. It sometimes sucks to have those conversations, but it's crucial that you do. Some bands say it's almost like a marriage, and I can agree with that. A band like ours, we live together a lot of the time. When you live with someone, there is always going to be stuff that bothers each other. So, communication is key.”

BraveWords: You are so revered as a guitar player these days, talk to me about where that has taken you. What is your routine of practicing and creating riffs. You are an extreme visionary.

Alexi: "I mean, I still practice... I'm still that kid with a guitar who has that fire for learning new shit. I think I still have so much to learn. Lately, I have been playing stuff that has nothing to do with metal.”



BraveWords: Who is your teacher then?

Alexi: "Lately, it has been Lindsey Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac. It's a funny thing, but for such a long time I have been wanting to master finger picking like he does. Everything he does sounds so orchestrated - like it's done by two guitars. When I started learning I felt like a kid again. It was a great feeling that there was still something out there to learn.”

BraveWords: So, what was it in particular that Lindsey had to teach you? Any particular songs?

Alexi: "Pretty much anything he has done, though I started with ‘Landslide”… the slower, simple ones. Basically anything off of the Best Of album. Anything you can learn acoustically from Fleetwood Mac the girls love... so there is a plus side to that too (laughs).”

BraveWords: Following your summer dates, will you back in the studio in the fall?

Alexi: "Not this year, probably not. We have shit lined up til the end of the year. If we get an awesome offer to open for someone in 2017 then we will do that. If not, I will likely start writing early next year and then hit the studio in April. This is all just speculation, so nothing set in stone.”

BraveWords: Do you write much on the road?

Alexi: "No, not really. Over the last couple of years I have been writing lyrics on the road, which was a huge step for me. Nowadays, I don't really drink on the road, as I can't take the hangovers anymore. I'm so over that. When I was twenty I could take anything. These days, everything hurts. I just want to lie on the couch and eat chips while watching Seinfeld.”



BraveWords: That should be the headline quote: 'Everyday Everything Hurts!' (laugh)

Alexi: "It's important to realize that when you are getting older you can't act like you were when you were young. I make limitations for myself. As an example, this cruise, it's gonna be totally painful to be drinking every night, so I will only get drunk on the last night. I will feel good about myself and I will feel good onstage. I've been rolling this way for about three years now. I don't feel weird out there now. I was always the biggest party guy, but now I'm not craving it any longer.”

BraveWords: Good for you.

Alexi: "Yeah, as long as you tell yourself it's ok to have a couple of beers, and at the same time show that I don't have a weakness for it.”

BraveWords: Speaking of the hard-driving lifestyle, what do you think of all these deaths lately?

Alexi: "Lemmy shouldn't have been a shocker, but it was.”

BraveWords: Yeah, most of us were surprised it didn't happen years ago!

Alexi: "Yeah, that's the thing. Given his lifestyle it's not a surprise, but it's still Lemmy. As mentioned earlier, you can't be in such denial that you can continue to roll like you did in your early years. Especially nowadays, it's important to stay healthy with all these tours. You never know, anyone can die at any moment. Lemmy died. None of us our invincible.”

 

[(__Joonas__)]

After reading that about Alexi's peaceful lifestyle... well, it's good that he found peace, but... I'd be extremely surprised if the next album turned out a death metal cult album from pits of the abyss... it's so different to the past days when he was that depressed, young, suicidal alcoholic dude with demons raging in the closet.

 

[tragician]

Hey if no one has translated the Error interview into english yet, i could try? I just got the book from the library today (there was a really long queue to the book, i've been waiting since the release day :I) and I'm actually reading it right now so....

 

[NewHewkas]

It would be great and very much appreciated.

 

[tragician]

Ok I'm not entirely sure about every word, especially the hospital sorta stuff... So if someone who knows finnish knows alternate translatios to some words, you can point it out. English is my second language and I'm really tired so sorry for any errors D)
Error (original text by elina järvi)

Alexi, 36. anxiety disorder, chronic insomnia

It's 2010. Alexi is throwing up blood in his hotel room. He has been throwing up all morning. Nothing stays in, not even water. Still, he tries if beer would. But throwing up blood doesn't stop, so he calls a friend, that now he needs to get to the hospital.

Meanwhile downstairs, there's a big music convention going on, with big rock stars and a lot of Children of Bodom fans present. The man called the best guitarist in the world, gets pushed through the room in a wheelchair, with his face hidden under a hood.

”I didn't give a fuck who was there, or if someone noticed. Now afterwards it just makes me laugh.”

Alexi spent four days in the hospital. He was given sedatives, medication for nausea, and some epilepsy medication, to reduce the possible alcohol withdrawal caused convulsions.”Very few people knew what was going on, because I didn't really show how I was feeling. I played the shows and was sober when I had to. I wouldn't have been able to play the difficult guitar parts if i was always wasted."

Ever since Alexi was 18 years old, he has grown into a life, where his home is the tour bus. And the environment he lives in are different countries and stages. This life also meant a lot of drinking. After a while, Alexi wasn't able to exit the tour bus without consuming three shots of whiskey to an empty stomach. Only after he had done that, he would feel normal.

”For a long time, I would throw up right after I had woken up, and then drink some whiskey. And if it didn't stay in on the first try, it usually did after the third.”
The stomach ulcer renewed many times, and finally, his esophagus was damaged. The hospital visits made Alexi realize, that he had problems with alcohol. ”I didn't want to go to rehab. – Fuck no. I thought it was humiliating, that alcohol had such a power over me. For me, it's really hard to show weakness.”

At home, every family member – mother, father, and sister – had played an instrument. Alexi started piano lessons when he was five years old, but after a few years, he switched to violin. But the obsession with guitar had already begun. ”My dad bought me my first guitar, when I was 11 years old. It was crazy, I couldn't even sleep without it! I would usually stay up playing guitar until 5 am, and at 8 am I should have been at school...” Studying obviously didn't go that well then, because playing guitar was way more exciting.

But then Alexi was 16 years old, everything took a turn for the worse. ”I almost got killed. These guys grabbed me, and one of then ran towards me with a knife in his hand. They were some drug addicts, that probably had killed before that.” Instinct made Alexi fight people who were bigger than him. Fear can give you a lot of strenght.
The violence wasn't really the thing that bothered him the most, really it was the persecution. Once, when he was going to visit his girfriend on the other side of the city, he was followed, and then attacked again. ”They tried to cut my throat open. Somehow I got loose, and i ran to the stairway of the nearest apartment building. I was banging the doors and yelling for help, but no one opened their door, which I guess was partly because of how I looked. Soon the janitor arrived, and helped me, even though he was a little prejudiced. He was a good guy and he gave me a ride home. Later I went to tell the police, but they said they couldn't really do anything. Probably could have done something if I had died...

Those events were the last straw.
”I went totally crazy. I really thought that being a good person would never help me in this world.”

The persecutors lived around the same area as Alexi, so he had to move to his sister's place in Helsinki. Besides self harm, alcohol was a way to dull the emotional pain, and it soon became a hobby. He didn't really have much money, but soon found a way to get some alcohol anyway. ”I went to the shittiest bars in town, and found some middle aged women. I talked to them, showed them my self harm scars. I kept them company, so they would give me beer, it was alright. They were very nice ladies, just lonely, in need of someone to talk to or whatever.”

It had been a year since Alexi had moved away from his parents. 17 year old Alexi played in a band called Inearted, that he had started four years earlier with his friends. ”It got worse and worse. I got into a lot of fights. I never started fights, but I got myself into situations that developed into fights. I never went anywhere without a knife, and sometimes I even had a small hammer with me. I was really fucking paranoid, always afraid that someone was going to attack me.” To this day, if Alexi is sitting down, and someone's standing behind him, he will get anxious. He doesn't think that feeling will ever go away.

When Alexi turned 18 years old, for the first time in three years, he was starting to feel like life was fun. He knew how to smile again. The band had been renamed to Children Of Bodom, and they had a record deal. After the release of their debut album Something Wild, the band toured a bit. Alexi lived at his friends' houses, the band practice room, and various other places. But the death threats kept coming. ”The message was that when they find me, they'll kill me. I was cutting more and more. The depression got a hold of me, and I got a lot of suicidal thoughts.”

When Alexi was in Göteborg making an album, he had a really bad breakdown. ”I had a bottle of whiskey. First I got really drunk, and then I took a lot of pills. I can't really remember what happened after that, but my girlfriend at the time had found me, and panicked. She had called a doctor, who then instructed her to let me sleep, but to keep an eye on me so I won't stop breathing. We probably should have gone to the hospital...”

When he had returned to Finland, Alexi went to a psychiatric ward. The self harm and destructive behavior still went on, when he got out of there. ”My behavior was completely crazy. I would rage with a knife, thinking that this surely will kill me. Fortunaely, our original guitarist, – who was kind of a big brother character to me – suddenly came to visit me. He took me to the hospital, and told the doctors that this guy is really not okay. He saved me.”

Alexi spent a couple nights at the hospital. Then he got sent to a psychologist. ”If i hadn't gone to see them, according to the doctor I would have been sent to the closed ward. I really didn't want to go there. I went to see the psychologist once, but I left realy quickly.”

The same friend, who had taken Alexi to the hospital convinced him to give it another try. And to try another psychologist, if the one he met doesn't feel right. ”No one really wanted to work with me. But then there was this one woman, to whom the most interesting cases were these teens like me. I started seeing her, and after a little difficult beginning, it really started to work. It didn't help me right away, but being able to talk about my feelings to someone was a good start. I went there a couple times a week for at least two years.”

Earlier, the knife had been the solution to everything. But this time, when a really intense anxiety attack happened, Alexi called the psychologist. ”I had bottled things up inside too much, and then hidden it with all kinds of things. Cutting, drinking, and being a manwhore, or whatever it was. But then I felt like I couldn't be in my own skin anymore. I was really afraid, and I really didn't know what to do about it. The psychologist cancelled all her meetings for that day. And when I got into her room, I completely broke down. I cried, and was as miserable as anyone could ever be. Then she told me that we're going to the hospital. And we went, even if I really didn't want to go there or see anyone.

The next time he woke up, Alexi had no idea where he was. ”I realized, that I'm at the closed ward. I had been given a lot of sedatives, and I had slept for a couplde days straight.” Alexi rested, and smoked cigarettes with some people, who had been there longer. Back then, even hospitals had rooms for smoking, and Alexi often came back from the room with his stomach aching from laughing. Even though the days there weren't really scary, Alexi doesn't ever want to return to that place or that state of mind.
A friend came to pick him up from the hospital, asking him what's his plan for the future now. And Alexi said, ”We're going to write songs and become the best band in the world.” After the time he spent at the closed ward in 1997, Alexi still self harmed from time to time. But he had decided, that he would not be listening to the suicidal thoughts again. Getting rid of the thoughts wasn't easy. ”It took years to get where I'm now, and I still haven't completely recovered. But now I have learned what to do with them, now I have learned to put them to the music and writing. It's really not a cliche, that those things have saved me.”

Alexi's trust to the psychologist had become strong. But it really confused him, when she told him to take antidepressants. Alexi really didn't know anything about medication, but he didn't consider himself a depressed person either. ”I thought you were supposed to take antidepressants sometimes when you feel depressed. I didn't know you're supposed to take them daily. And when I started reading about the side effects, it didn't convince me at all. I thought that I'm totally not ever going to take any of these. I knew how to deal with my problems without medication. But I know people who have been using medication for a long time, and they're okay.”

Being half from the ostrobothnia, half from lapland, Alexi says that being stubborn is genetic. And it had something to do with his attitude. ”I didn't want to dull myself with medication. I was afraid that it would take the crazy, the ”edge” out of me. I don't think I would be able to do what I do if I didn't have it. If you asked me, would I rather be crazy or normal, I'd say crazy.”

But Alexi is annoyed by the finnish attitude, that it's more acceptable to drink a bottle of vodka, than to take a pill. ”Of couse some people take pills just for fun, but a person who needs them, could use them to calm down, and then continue family life. I'm pretty sure it's a little harder after drinking a bottle of vodka in the woodshed. That would more likely get you to the cover of Alibi (finnish crime magazine).”

Alexi thinks that nothing could have protected him from the bad experiences. The harder times have done their job; they have raised him to be a strong, confident person. ”I believe that I was supposed to go through that hell, to get where I'm now.”


Hits you like a sucker punch. Feels like jumper cables on my junk, why would you worry about me? I'm blacked out, lying on the floor, goin' down like a whore. Like a lightning from the sky, it's another roadkill morning. So break down and cry.

Alexi has written songs for COB as much about booze, as about suicidal thoughts too. ”Roadkill Morning” was recorded, and the lyrics were lost soon after Alexi had sung them. ”It's actually pretty funny: I was writing them all night until 7am on the recording day. I was so happy about them, and then they just completely disappeared. I remember a part of it, because I was pretty sober while working on them.

When his body couldn't take it anymore, Alexi spent a long time not drinking. Suddenly he had so much more energy to do things. ”I got so tired of the hangovers and anxiety. I felt like I had to help the anxiety with the alcohol, but the more alcohol I consumed, the more I felt I needed. I could have died.”

Because Alexi likes to drink beer, he later made the decision not to completely abandon drinking. ”Alcohol can really have a hold on you. It felt like I couldn't do anything besides drinking more and more. I have the same thing with working; I just can't stop. I know, that I'm a person who gets easily addicted, and now I know how to live with it.” On the weekends, you can drink sometimes in a bar, unless you let the drinking continue to the next day. Getting drunk is not a main priority anymore. ”I decided, that I will never drink on tour anymore. You can throw me in front of the bus, but I won't take a drink. And I'm proud that I can show to myself and others, that this is me controlling my life, not the booze.”

The first tour without alcohol was hard. Especially, when it lasted over three months. After the shows, Alexi didn't feel like going anywhere or hanging out. He felt lonely and secluded. On the next tour, being sober started feeling normal; it was nice to wake up without a hangover, to not have to throw up blood. Alexi started to feel more social after shows, even if he was drinking a coke. And in the mornings he could do something more reasonable. ”I started writing a diary, and I noticed, that it could be developed into a song. I started doing it every morning. A pot of coffee, some cigarettes, and then writing. It feels nice, and it benefits the whole band.”

Besides writing, Alexi plays the guitar every day. The ambition is one of the reasons why he has never given up. ”I will never let anything come between me and music.”

No one was really surprised, when Alexi needed the help of a psychiatric hospital. His family was mostly relieved. No one started to treat him ”like a crazy person” – Family and friends were there for him. ”It makes me feel really bad, when I think of how much I've caused worry to everyone. Especially my mom. I've apologized to her many times, but she always says that the past doesn't matter, the only thing that matters now is that you're alive.”

The hard times have brought him closer to his family, his parents and his sister, and also his other family; the band and the crew. Alexi has learned to never take anyone for granted. He wants to treat the people around him well, and he wishes people would learn to listen instead of judging. ”It's a beautiful thought; no one getting called a lunatic for their mental problems. Everyone's a person after all. Very likely a good one, but also a very broken one at the time. In the similiar way someone's broken when they have an injured leg.”

”It's also terrible, that people who deal with insomnia and depression get called lazy.” -Alexi himself has been diagnosed with chronic insomnia. It doesn't just happen sometimes, it's all the time. His head works on overdrive, and he doesn't know how to turn it off. But on the other hand, silence makes him anxious. He cannot sleep, unless he has a movie or some sitcom on the background. ”It's very hard for me to fall asleep, no matter how long I've been awake. It's been such a problem, that in the past I would drink myself to unconsciousness.” And falling asleep is not the only issue; when the sleep finally comes, it can stop at any time. Then it's back to square one. ”Fortunately there's medication for insomnia, but I rarely take any. Usually just knowing that there's a solution helps.”

Once after a COB show, a fan came to tell Alexi about their self harm. Being bullied at school had caused the girl to not only cut herself, but to also attempt suicide. She had read interviews where Alexi had talked about his experiences. The interviews and the music of COB had helped her to overcome her problems. She's not the only teen, who has come to Alexi to talk about their difficult times. ”Even if the parents are really good, it can be hard for teens to talk about their problems. There may not be anyone in their life, who would listen without preaching. And being afraid of becoming an adult can also feel like a dead end.”

Some fans have also tried to impress Alexi with their self harm. They've said hurting yourself is ”cool”, because he's done it too. ”Once I showed my arm to a guy, and said; Look, these are tendons. I've cut right over them many times, and I'm the luckiest guy in the world, because I haven't managed to damage them. If I had cut too deep, I would never have played a single note ever again.”

Alexi talks about his past, because it could give someone more hope for the future. ”No matter how many times you fall down, you always have to get up. Even just to say Fuck You. There are good things coming up.”

(This was a good read. I wish they'd write a proper book about bodom like Nightwish and HIM did.)

 

[dthmtl3]

Thanks a lot!

Is this sort of violence common in Finland, or are there many such violent circles?

 

[ESA1996]

Damn. Must have taken ages to write that out! Thought about doing a quick short translation about it myself but didn't other doing it in the end. Well done.

 

[ESA1996]

Thanks a lot!

Is this sort of violence common in Finland, or are there many such violent circles?

It's been quite a while since Alexi was young (From my perspective anyway, sorry to all you "old" guys ) so it might have been different back then, but what it says in the text doesn't sound like Finland at all to me. I have never gotten into a fight even when I had long hair (One guy came to me once on the street and told me "Sä oot kaunein muija jonka oon ikinä nähny" (You are the prettiest girl I've ever seen) as he hugged me (I'm not a girl by the way)) and in my entire group of friends there is only one "fight" that has happened. Even that was more of a "Give us money", "No", "Give us money!!!", *punch*, "Okay, we'll go away now", thing. So yeah, I wouldn't consider Alexi's experiences normal at all.

 

[tragician]

Thanks a lot!

Is this sort of violence common in Finland, or are there many such violent circles?

It depends where you live, i guess. There are some shitty areas, I've heard pretty scary stories from my friends but around where I live never has really happened anything.

Also yeah it took a while, but I really wanted to translate it, I'm not sure why.

 

[NewHewkas]

It's been quite a while since Alexi was young (From my perspective anyway, sorry to all you "old" guys ) so it might have been different back then, but what it says in the text doesn't sound like Finland at all to me. I have never gotten into a fight even when I had long hair (One guy came to me once on the street and told me "Sä oot kaunein muija jonka oon ikinä nähny" (You are the prettiest girl I've ever seen) as he hugged me (I'm not a girl by the way)) and in my entire group of friends there is only one "fight" that has happened. Even that was more of a "Give us money", "No", "Give us money!!!", *punch*, "Okay, we'll go away now", thing. So yeah, I wouldn't consider Alexi's experiences normal at all.

Don't you have long hair anymore? that's so sad.

It depends where you live, i guess. There are some shitty areas, I've heard pretty scary stories from my friends but around where I live never has really happened anything.

Also yeah it took a while, but I really wanted to translate it, I'm not sure why.

Because you would like to have a job as a translator, interpreter or/and you really like to learn and use foreign languages

 

[(__Joonas__)]

Is this sort of violence common in Finland, or are there many such violent circles?

It's usually this kind of stuff. There's a bitch, there's jealousy, there's drugs and fists, knives, gangs, threats. Many have low self-esteem and narcissistic grudges.

One guy came to me once on the street and told me "Sä oot kaunein muija jonka oon ikinä nähny" (You are the prettiest girl I've ever seen)

Good one. Then there's the situations where someone behaves like an annoying clown and you just don't know whether to laugh or punch (and get intro juridical trouble for it.) One lesson I've learned is people can be pretty twisted and it's best for one's own sanity to smell it from far away.

 

[ESA1996]

Don't you have long hair anymore? that's so sad.

I'm going in the army in the summer were we have a maximum hair length of 5 millimeters so I though I'd rather make the switch from a fairly normal hair length (Still slightly longer than most people) than from what I had (Came around 15 - 20 cm past my shoulders).

 

[tragician]

Because you would like to have a job as a translator, interpreter or/and you really like to learn and use foreign languages

lol maybe. I'd like to learn more languages (i can survive with 3) but I lack motivation

When translating the article, I was thinking of some newer interviews. I remember people commenting stuff like "lol alexi's drunk wasn't he supposed to stop drinking?" but I thought maybe he sometimes seems a little drunk because of the insomnia? Lack of sleep can cause that.