EMQ’s With Tacoma Rain
EMQ’s With Tacoma Rain
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Finnish Melancholic Rock/ Metal band, Tacoma Rain. Huge thanks to their Vocalist, Guitarist, and Songwriter, Toni Sarell, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hey, I’m Toni Sarell, vocalist, guitarist and currently the main songwriter in our band. Tacoma Rain is a Finnish Melancholic Rock/Metal band founded in 2023. Even though the band is fairly new the members have known each other for a long time and played together in some other projects already in the early 2000’s.
How did you come up with your band name?
Heh, for some reason I’ve been obsessed with the Northwest USA for a long time: the nature, Seattle’s grunge scene and Twin Peaks (I think everyone in our band loves the series – RIP David Lynch). So when we were thinking of the name for the band, I thought that ”Tacoma” would look and sound cool and it would bring some Northwest-spirit to it. I’ve also heard that it rains a lot in there 🙂
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from Lahti, Finland (100 km north from Helsinki). Finland is known as a ”Metal country” and they say that we have approximately 50 Metal bands per 100,000 inhabitants so the Metal scene is very much alive, but I think the Rock scene is a bit quieter at the moment. Although Metal is not as mainstream anymore as it was back in the 2000’s in Finland, but it’s still a very popular genre in our country.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
We released our debut EP ”Lighthouse” in October 2024 and it’s available on all major digital platforms. The EP contains five tracks that shift between heavy, light and melodic. Catchy songs with melancholic atmosphere.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Oh boy, here are few of them: Sentenced, Katatonia, Alice In Chains, The first album of HIM, Placebo, and 90’s rock music in general, Twin Peaks (the atmosphere and the music).
What first got you into music?
My sister is five years older than me and she listened to Guns N’ Roses in the early 90’s when I was like 7 years old, and of course I followed her example and became a fan of that band as well. That was basically my first touch with Rock music, although I didn’t play any instrument at that age, just listened to it. I started to play guitar when I was 15 years old and I guess the inspiration came from HIM’s first album ”Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666” and Sentenced’s ”Frozen”. The heavy guitars and sad melodies were something that spoke to my soul and they still does.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
That’s a tough one… So many options… Maybe… Corey Taylor.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Hmm… I don’t know… This year it could be for example Rock am Ring. Would be cool to share the stage with Slipknot, Korn, Jerry Cantrell, In Flames, Prodigy etc.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Still waiting for the first one!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Keep listening to Tacoma Rain and be kind to animals 🙂
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Kurt Cobain
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The creative process behind the music is the best, composing and studio stuff… But what I hate is writing the lyrics.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Distribution of revenues.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Katatonia – “Last Fair Deal Gone Down”
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
From these options it’s probably the CDs as I still have lots of those, although the only CD player I own is in my car. But yeah, for me the streaming is the most common way to listen to music these days.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Let’s say the latest gig we played.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Hmm… I would be a mad professor! or just a mad person 😛 Or a Geologist, since I’ve been interested in rocks and minerals since I was a kid.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
My wife, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Marilyn Manson, Duff McKagan, Quentin Tarantino (sorry band mates :D)
What’s next for the band?
We’re gonna record some new material soon and hopefully we’ll hit the stages soon as well.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/tacomarainband
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/tacomarainband/
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QlEtrgOCjFU8xHHiEZEwG
There’s a long-standing food-based debate here in the UK. And we’d like your help. So… A Jaffa cake – is it a cake or a biscuit? Discuss!
In Finland those are called Jaffa keksi (keksi = biscuit), so let’s say it’s a cake 😀
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for the interview! And for the reader: take a sip of our fresh EP and stay tuned for more!
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