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Have you ever sung in front of ballroom dancers at dance pavilions?
What does it feel like, or what would it feel like? When it comes to dance pavilions, I have to admit I’m still quite a novice—at least as far as singing is concerned! A few years ago, I sang a couple of songs with a band at the Kaleva Lato Dance in Loppi, and as a little girl, I remember visiting the Kuikka pavilion in Central Finland on a holiday trip, wondering about it all. The wise ones have told me that at dance pavilions, the goal isn’t to highlight your own artistic ambitions but to entertain the people! It’s a responsible and skillful task to put together sets so that the dancers, the rest of the audience, and hopefully the band and the artist themselves all have a good time. It would be incredibly wonderful to get to perform on pavilions all across Finland! At MeriTango, I got my first thrilling taste of what it’s like to perform for an audience where a large part is dancing. To fill the floor, both the song and the artist need to captivate the listeners. While performing in a concert-like setting is also wonderful, it felt magical to get the dancers moving! I have to admit, I think I got hooked on that feeling.
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Have you already made peace with yourself, or have you found your inner Helena?
I believe that a person grows and develops throughout their life, and there is no need to be 'finished'—nor is it even possible. If, on your deathbed, you have few regrets—especially about the things you wanted to do but never got around to, didn’t have the energy for, or simply didn’t bother with—then you’ve likely reached a place of contentment with your life’s outcome. I’ve lived with myself for over 40 years. In that time, you learn, to some extent, how to navigate your own 'platform,' even if air traffic control occasionally falters!
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Tell me about the funniest mishaps that have happened around your performances?
Oh, there are plenty! On one hand, if I forget the lyrics to my own song in front of the audience due to nerves, that’s far from funny. But once, at a Central European metal festival with my band Crimfall, there was a little twist just before we went on stage: the artists' backstage area flooded, and the nearest toilets were way too far away for me to make it before the show started! In the summer heat, I had wisely stayed hydrated, and before the performance, I *had* to go. Luckily, a short person like me could crawl under the festival stage, and a tarp had been pulled in front of the stage so my summer evening squat wasn’t visible to the audience. Everyone backstage got a good laugh out of it, though. Not my finest gig experience, but necessity knows no law!
