My mobile alarm went off at 5:10 in Jason’s place in Tampere, and after a couple of dozes I got myself up. Then Sammy called and said that he’d pick up Chris and Theo first, then come and get us, ( Viivi had gone on to Helsinki ahead). After popping in to the Nekala Esso to buy some fuel and take-away coffees, about 6am Sammy’s new Ascona was heading for Helsinki. We stopped once for a ciggie at a motorway rest and arrived about 8:30.
We were met in a small office by two stylists (one we’d maybe seen on MTV3’s Model School program) and our photographer Alexi and his assistant. After a while we had our hair styling done. I was the first prepared for the shoot and while the road to beauty can be a difficult one, with the help of the professionals everything went well:) During this time the rest of the band were scoffing “delicious” meatball rollsJ Don’t need to buy them again. The whole group went one by one to make-up and about halfway through this process Alexi, his assistant and I left for the shoot site. We took a short break for a ham roll at a service station and then kept on going to the selected spot, a bit of forest in Kirkkonummi, about 30 kilometres west of Helsinki. It was around 1 o clock ….
The photographic pair then started setting up the equipment and after 20 mins. Bullhead’s Jakke arrived. We chatted a while and the subject of the day’s filming requisite, nearly every boy and girls dream, a Hummer. One of those funny/strange cars. Its whereabouts were uncertain. The car rental agency had said that the car was on its way but when asked again said that it was still in the garage under a dust-sheet. Super, but after half an hours frantic phone calls from Jakke, the car was supposed to be on its way again. A horn sounded and the made-up and the make-up artists arrived. The time was somewhere between 3 and 4 pm when we started getting changed for the shoot and they once again touched up our hair and make-up.
There was no sign of the Hummer and everything was ready. The weather looked a bit uncertain so we decided to begin the shoot. Just then the Hummer showed up and then, right after the first photograph, it started to rain. Fuck. The cameras were packed up and we all sheltered in the cars. There we sat and wondered. With the make-up people and the camera pros and the special effect, the whole day was incredibly expensive and it was impossible to postpone till another day. But things have a way of sorting themselves out and after half an hour the rain gradually stopped and we able to continue the session!
Again hair and make-up, the smoke machine working and the Hummer in place and the photography commenced. I sat on the Hummer’s roof and they started to take pictures as fast as possible and they came out great! The cover for the Bleeding single was one of the first shots taken. It was cloudy and spitting with rain and we never new if it would start pouring again. When it didn’t start raining properly again we tried out some different camera angles and all that. The, as the weather was still reasonable we decided to pack up the gear and change location
Another break for a roll and then we changed to another spot. The side of the road somewhere where there was a bus stop. I remember we took a few more pics with the Hummer, and then they got some shots of it leaving. Next Alexi told us to lie down in the middle of the road and we did what we were told and it was funJ but I doubt that any usable pictures came out of it.
We went back to Alexi’s studio and he took some individual portraits of us all. It must have been 9:00 but it was still another 2 hrs.until all the shots were taken. Then we looked through some of the day’s pictures and Alexi showed us what it’s possible to do with Photoshop. Tired but happy we piled back into Sammy’s Ascona and headed back to Tampere. One stop at the services so our driver didn’t fall asleep …. Some continued from Tampere to Hämeenkyrö and I went on to Ikaali. I was home at 3:00.
Today I got the single cover by e-mail and I’ve got to say that it looks damn cool! This‘ll bring Finland’s music world to its knees! J
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Julian Drain
