Name: VIRTA
Members: Antti Hevosmaa (electronics, flugelhorn, trumpet, vocals), Erik Fräki (electronics, drums, percussion, vocals), Heikki Selamo (bass, electronics, guitar, lap steel, vocals)
Interviewee: Antti Hevosmaa
Nationality: Finnish
Current release: VIRTA's new album Horros is out now and available via Svart.
Recommendations: Two books: In praise of shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki; The eyes of the skin by Juhani Pallasmaa
Bot hof them are nostalgic and philosophic masterpieces mostly made for architects, but I feel everyone should read them. They both criticize the modern man-made world where the visual streams and trends are overflowing and taking over global consciousness.

If you enjoyed this VIRTA interview and would like to stay up to date with the band and their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens inyour body when you’re listening? Do you listen with your eyes open orclosed?

Both. It depends what the surroundings are. Sometimes the surroundings feel like a scene with a soundtrack.

I love listening to deep sounds while biking. Luigi Tozzi is one of my favorites. It helps me focus on the rhythm and beat.



Eyes shut. The sounds are often like food for imagination that creates the mindscapes we experience.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate thegains made through experience -can one train/learn being an artist?

Music has been part of my life ever since my early childhood so it’s hard to remember what was going on inmy head back then.

I started playing the trumpet when I was 8. With VIRTA we started playing together in highschool. It has always been about the sake of making music and having fun. Also reaching towards our dreams together.

I believe every individual has a voice one can level-up with practice and self discipline. But living through art is not for everyone.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisivemusical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to youatthat age and what’s changed since then?

When I was a teen, music was an alternative reality for me. A place to escape to.

Many times music felt like magic that came from somewhere else. It still does today.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music andwhat motivates you to create?

For us it’s mostly following our intuition.The music we make starts from playing freely together. We often stick to a beat, melody or loop during a jam if it feels good. Then we record it and the future tells if we feel like continuing the idea or not.

Brian Eno said he wants to create music he hasn’t heard yet, but would like to hear. That’s the motive behind our creative work, too.

[Read our Brian Eno interview feature]

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with amusical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

For us it's the discovery that starts the creative process.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics -my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I can relate to Simon’s thoughts. I hardly analyze the chords or listen to the lyrics anyway, it’s more about the overall sound and feel.

It’s hard to describe the music we create with VIRTA, and I feel good about it. Maybe Brian Eno would be proud of us if we knew each other.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the wavesof the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you’ve had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describethem as “musical”?

Every spring when the birds return and start singing after the long, dark and quiet winter feels like a promise of a better tomorrow.

In Kouvola, the city I currently live in, I often listen to the passing trains at night. They’re powerful experiences.

Theoretically those soundscapes are not music, but they make me feel the same way like a good piece of music or an immersive live set does.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

Sure. I really enjoy minimal and maybe even extreme electronic music like Mika Vainio and Ryoji Ikeda. On the other hand I sometimes enjoy radio playable pop, rap and other easy listening if the mood is right. I love classical and jazz too. Our drummer Erik is a big fan of Metallica.

[Read our Mika Vainio interview]

I believe the more there is out there, the more one can be curious.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces,live performances or albums that’s particularly dear to you, please?

“Tunneli,” the first single we released from the upcoming longplay is still a dear piece to play and listen to.



The process started from a jam we had. Heikki did some experiments with a modular rack and guitar that me and Erik played on top of.

After finding the mood we did an early composition we then continued developing during the album making process.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you’re making music?

Very often we feel like the space where we practice and create is like a laboratory. Not the clean, hygienic and rational lab but a space where we can do experiments with the instruments we have. Mostly it’s very irrational.

I’d say the music we make isn’t scientific but it gains inspiration from modern science. The new album has a lot to do with sci-fi visions, movies and games.

We do use computers and other electronic tools when making music and we always look for new possibilities to use them through mistakes and coincidence.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can welearn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Making music and being a musician is a lifestyle.

I think we can understand life better through music - but it’s not about understanding the music itself. It’s more about the realizations one can find through music that reflects the way he/she sees the world around us. Conscious and subconscious.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherentlydifferent from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn’t or wouldn’t in more ‘mundane’ tasks?

For me, making and performing music is a much deeper and heavier process compared to mundane tasks in life.

Playing in front of an audience is a mindset of its own. Many times during / after a gig I feel like I’m in a different zone compared to normal life. Sometimes I forget I’m on a stage when keeping my eyes shut while playing. When I open my eyes it feels like a drop back to reality.

I enjoy that feeling but I enjoy ordinary life too, so for me it’s about the balance.

Every time I listen to ‘Albedo 0.39’ by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics aremade up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song orpiece of music that affects you in a way that you can’t explain?

Sure! Many of them. That’s the magic in music and sound.

Claude Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” is one example that always leads me to wander to unknown mindscapes and feelings.



It’s a weird mixture of hopefulness, happiness, nostalgia and melancholy.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music youwould like to see and hear?

I believe there will be more space for organic sounding music in the future. At the time AI and computer tools can make everything “sound perfect” the perfection doesn’t feel that interesting anymore.

Human made errors back to music please.