After 14 years together, Finnish rockers Kormus are entering a new chapter. With a refreshed lineup, keyboards now part of their live sound, new songs taking shape, and a renewed sense of energy following their first real break in years, the band feels more inspired than ever. Ahead of a busy summer of shows, we chit-chat with Kormus to talk about lineup changes, the importance of friendship, the thrill of live performance, and why seeing even one face in the audience still means everything.

Looking back at Kormus’ journey so far, what are the biggest milestones that shaped the band into what it is today?

Kari Luomaharju – drums, backing vocals (founding member): I think one of the biggest milestones for us is that the two of us have been here from the very beginning. We formed this band 13 years ago, and at first it was just the two of us.

Then we realized that being a duo wasn’t enough anymore—we needed another player. He told me, “I know one guy, and he’s the only option.” That’s how the band really came together.

Another major milestone was recording our first album back in 2014. For us, that was a huge moment because Anton had always wanted to write his own songs. In many ways, that’s the reason this band exists in the first place.

We wanted to create and perform our own music instead of playing covers. From the beginning, our dream was to become the next big thing in Finnish rock ‘n’ roll.

Joona Kuparinen – guitar, backing vocals: I also think that one of the biggest milestones is like when we had the 10th anniversary gig in Kangasala-talo. It was sold out. That was pretty awesome.

Jere Saajoranta – bass, backing vocals: I was there actually. I saw that show. 

Kari Luomaharju: But at that time you were in audience.

Jere Saajoranta: Yeah, I was in the audience at that time, yes. On the other side of the stage.

But it was a really great show. And of course, I think one of the milestones was when you moved from a trio to a quartet.

Kari Luomaharju: Yeah, and that’s because I’m old—I’m the oldest guy here. So we needed a dude who’s 10 years younger to join the band. (laughs)

What do you think longtime fans understand about Kormus that new listeners might not immediately notice?

Joona Kuparinen: I think when people listen to our music on Spotify or anywhere else, they don’t necessarily realize how good we are live. Because live, it’s much more rock ‘n’ roll.

And raw.

And raw, yeah. That’s a really good point.

It’s also more dangerous when we’re playing live. I think that’s the biggest difference.

Jere Saajoranta: Yeah, that’s true. It really comes alive when we’re playing live, but it’s still very tight. We have the whole show together.

We play well together. We’ve rehearsed a lot, and these guys had already played almost 800 shows before I joined.

You can hear that in the band. And it really comes alive when we’re playing live.

Kari Luomaharju: Yeah, and we’ve always been more of a live band than a studio band. Playing gigs has always been the main reason we do this.

Seeing happy people in the audience—that’s the most awesome thing, I believe.

You’re currently performing with a renewed lineup. How has this tour felt compared to previous years?

Kari Luomaharju: We’re having more fun now than we did two or three years ago. There have been many changes in the band along the way, and we’ve been doing this for so long without any holidays.

This spring, we actually took our first proper break ever during these 14 years. So we’re not tired all the time anymore.

I think we’re full of energy right now.

Jere Saajoranta: All the visions are coming together.

Of course, I only joined this spring, but I’ve known these guys for a while. It feels like there’s a new energy in the band, and it’s really great and fun to be part of it.

It always feels good to come to a gig, do the soundcheck, and get ready for the night. It’s pretty great.

And new songs.

Yeah, new songs as well. Actually, I was kind of surprised that we got into writing new songs so quickly. We only had a few rehearsals.

And Anton is like a song machine. He can come up with new stuff all the time.

A hit maker.

So we have a couple of new songs that we’ve been playing at these shows, and we’re going to play them even more throughout the summer. It’s been really fun.

You also get to see that side of things. I’ve been listening to the album versions and rehearsing the songs, and then we get into the rehearsal room and start working on new material.

And this guy is like, “Yeah, we have this new demo.” Then we start working on it, trying things out and seeing how it feels and where it could go while we’re putting it together.

It’s been really fun.

That’s something I’ve been missing for many, many years.

Kari Luomaharju: Like Joona said before, there’s more danger in our gigs now than there was during the past couple of years. You never really know what’s going to happen, and that’s a good thing.

We know what we’re doing, of course, but we still manage to surprise ourselves.

Joona Kuparinen: There’s always a chance that something happens that wasn’t rehearsed. Especially with Anton — he might suddenly start playing a guitar riff that I don’t even know, and then we just follow wherever he takes it.

That’s real rock’n’roll.

Jere Saajoranta: Shout-out to Joona, who only started playing keyboards last October, so it’s been a little over half a year. And now he’s up there playing like John Lennon.

Actually, the keyboards make a huge difference to the songs. They make the whole soundscape so much bigger.

They give us a lot more dynamics and different textures than we could achieve with just a few guitars.

Kari Luomaharju: And that’s a new thing for the band as well. We hadn’t had keyboards on stage before—only on the albums.

We tried it at a couple of shows toward the end of last year, and Joona was so good that now he has to play keyboards all the time.

He has no choice anymore, he needs to keep learning.

Jere is one of the newest additions to the Kormus lineup. How did the idea of bringing him into the band first come about?

Kari Luomaharju: Well, Anton and I felt that something wasn’t quite right in the band, but we couldn’t really put our finger on what it was.

After many discussions with our previous bass player, we eventually had to sit down with him and tell him that it was the end of the road for us.

But it happened in a good way. He understood our point of view, and we understood his.

We’re still really good friends today.

Jere Saajoranta: I think what you said to me was important: “Let’s put an end to this while we’re still friends.”

And that’s exactly what happened. We’re still good buddies, and everything is still good between us.

Kari Luomaharju: And when that situation happened, we already knew that Jere was a great guy and a badass bass player.

Yeah, he also plays bass, which is pretty important in this case.

Somehow, we’ve always managed to find the best possible guy at exactly the right moment.

Now we’ve found Jere, and it’s been really good for us. And I believe he’s enjoyed the ride so far as well.

Are there any musical influences that Jere has brought into the conversation that weren’t there before?

Kari Luomaharju: Yeah, this spring has been an interesting time because we’ve had a bit of a break for the first time in years. We’ve actually had some time off.

So Anton has really gotten into old vinyl records and some bands that we probably shouldn’t mention.

And then there’s the New Guy.

It’s been a really fun mix of old bands and new bands. We haven’t talked this much about music—whether it’s new or old—in years.

So it’s been really inspiring.

If we had this conversation again in five years, what would you hope Kormus had achieved by then?

Joona Kuparinen: I think reaching the point where we can do club tours at the bigger venues in Finland would be a huge milestone for us, especially during the autumn season.

And, of course, the summer festivals as well.

Jere Saajoranta: Yeah, doing headline shows and full club tours would be really great. To have that kind of foothold and see where it takes us.

Of course, getting songs on the radio is always a good thing. One of our latest singles, Hollywood, got a lot of airplay on SuomiRock Radio, which was really great for us. That definitely felt like a step forward.

And festival gigs are important too. It would be great to play more of them.

I do have something else in mind as well, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet.

Kari Luomaharju: We’re hoping to get to the point where, no matter where we go in Finland, people know who we are and know our songs.

Joona Kuparinen: That’s the main thing for us. We hope that wherever we go, there’s at least one person who came there to see us.

Jere Saajoranta: For every gig.

Joona Kuparinen: At least one person.

Jere Saajoranta: It was actually funny hearing that from people I’ve known for a long time who had never heard of Kormus before.

Then suddenly they were like, “Wait, you’re in this new band? Wow, you guys have so many gigs.”

We have around 15 shows this summer, and for these guys, that’s actually considered a slow summer.

Kari Luomaharju: And that’s always been very important to us, to play in places where people genuinely want to see us.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s Ruisrock or a small venue in Lithuania. That’s not what matters.

The main thing is that people want to be there, and that we get to see them smiling.

Interview: Ditty, Péter
Photos: Péter Tepliczky