EMW at Jazzkaar Festival Part Two: Interview with Jesse Markin
Prior to his performance on Thursday August 26th at the Vaba Lava theatre centre, Estonian Music Week caught up with Finnish singer and rapper Jesse Markin, for a round of questions at the venue's restaurant, KÄRBES Kitchen & Bar.
Markin was the winner of two Finnish Emma Awards in 2019 and a Teosto Prize in 2020. To date, he's released five albums, including three as a member of the duo The Megaphone State and two solo albums. Having just released his second solo album, Noir, an auditory spectacle with unexpected turns in each song, it's clear why he's become a respected name in Finnish music.
***
Coming from Finland, does Estonia feel comfy and familiar, or is it something totally different?
It feels comfortable because the languages sound pretty much the same. There are some words that are very close to each other. They sound similar but mean different things. Culturally, we're not too far from each other. Plus, I've been here before for this music thing I've got going on, because we're basically like neighbours around here. I live in Helsinki and it takes an hour and 30 minutes by boat. You can just hop on it and be in Tallinn, have a nice weekend, and go back.
How would you describe the Finnish hip hop scene on a global level? What's something that it alone can offer the genre?
On a global level I'd say it's non-existent because, even if we're looking at the language alone, there are only two, maybe three, artists that make hip hop in English, me included. So, on a global level, the impact is not that great at this point. But I'm trying to change that.
Do you feel like a pioneer then?
In a sense, yeah. But hey, we had Bomfunk MC's way back in... was it in the 90s? They had the “Freestyler” song that was all over Europe and stuff like that. But I'm not sure, did it reach Canada or did they reach anywhere else? But yeah, there ain't too many people rapping in English, or even singing in English in general. So, the pressure is on me!
Jesse Markin performing at Jazzkaar 2021. Photos: Liis Reiman, Siiri Padar
You've been performing live with a band that consists of guitar, drums/percussion, bass, keyboards. Is there a noticeable difference in the energy of shows with this, compared to performing with primarily electronic instruments, like with Simo Tuominen for The Megaphone State?
Well yeah, definitely, because even with Teppo [Mäkynen], my drum player, and Totte [Rautiainen], all these people, they're real professionals and they're like sound nerds, the same way I am. At the same time, Teppo's doing something on stage, and I look at him and he gives me that energy, or I give him something back, they change something, and then Totte helps with the bass and does something crazy. Something always happens and it's fun. When I was working with Simo, we had the beats. Everything is already made up. Basically, he could just press play. So that's the difference. You don't really get feedback back and forth or anything like that.
What has been your favourite part of translating the experimental production elements of your latest album into a live setup?
When we made the album, most of these players that I jump on stage with were already on the album, like Teppo plays the drums on the album. So it's more like you tweak stuff in the studio. But Totte himself, he's a sound engineer. He's making movie trailers, he's in movies, documentaries, and stuff like that. So he really knows a lot about sounds. They bring a lot to the table.
There's this human element, where you can hear that it's not playback. We try to create live sound. We have these personal audio rehearsals at this farm every once in a while, where we tweak the sound. We have our own tables and everything, so the sound is always going to come out the way we want it to come out. It's not supposed to sound exactly the same as on the record. You can recognize it, but you bring more power to it. The drums kick a bit differently and stuff like that. And obviously, Teppo has all these electronic percussion things.
So you're fine tuning for the acoustics of a live venue?
Exactly. And without these guys, I'm pretty sure the live sound wouldn't be what it is right now. Actually, me and Totte, we met at this theatre thing I was acting in, I was playing Stokely Carmichael in this Miriam Makeba theatre thing. He was the sound designer, so he really knows how to fill the space. He's a valuable asset in that sense.
In Noir, the tracks “Stars in Your Eyes” and “Pushing Daisies”, combine folk and aspects of electronic music. Do you decide how these genres combine before you start recording an album?
It's more spontaneous because I don't know how to read notes or anything. So I loop things and mess around with the keyboards. Even with “Pushing Daisies”, I only had [Nicolas “Leissi” Rehn's] guitar riff, and the whole song was built on the guitar riff.
That little drum jam session we had at the end just happened at the studio. Teppo started beating the drums. I was like, “Okay, keep going, keep going.” Even after that, me and Totte actually edited that thing, 'cause he was going real crazy with it. But, because I come from the sampling world, I wanted to give [for people who also like sampling] a simple drum break at the end that they can have fun with, too, and make their own songs. It's real spontaneous in that sense. You're trying to find the “it factor” of whatever you're trying to do; the main thing that pushes this song forward.
Even with “Pushing Daisies”, we have four different versions. You know, anything might happen. At some point, we had this little clapping thing before the last chorus. I was like, “that's too corny, let's take that out. We can do it live, but on the record, that's too corny.”
***
That spontaneity and continuous refinement made for a great live show and recordings to support it. You can find Jesse Markin's latest album on Spotify here: https://tinyurl.com/m3wp98ux
Interview by Vincent Teetsov
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Originally published in Estonian Life.