Erja Lyttinen Is Shining Like A Diamond

You will be releasing your fourth brand new live album ‘Diamonds On The Road’ following ‘Songs from the Road’, ‘Live in London’, and ‘Lockdown Live’. What was the reason for recording and releasing another live album and where was it recorded?

Our latest studio album, Waiting For The Daylight, came out last year in October, and by the spring of 2023 we had been playing songs off the new album quite a few times. The tour was successful, we had 8 sold out shows out of 10, so you can imagine how good we felt after these insecure pandemic times to be able to enjoy playing live without any restrictions. I thought it would be the perfect time to record a live album with the new songs and some of our favourites from the past.

Our previous live album, Lockdown Live, was recorded just two months after the pandemic struck, so compared to that, this was really a celebration of freedom. We recorded the album in a famous rock-club, Rytmikorjaamo in the western part of Finland, Seinäjoki. Playing your studio songs live is interesting, as in the studio you have the chance to record dozens of different guitar tracks, so it´s challenging to combine all these tracks to work with just one guitar on stage. Now when I listen to the live album, I think me and my band had a really good night when it was recorded, as everything sounded energetic and flowing. I´m very happy with this live recording!

Who is in the band on this album with you?

I have my touring band playing with me on the live album. There´s Petri Rahikkala on the keyboards, Tatu Back on the bass, with whom I have done gigs since we visited in India in 2016 and Iiro Laitinen is playing the drums. We have done hundreds of shows together and you can probably hear that. It´s like a symbiosis, we know exactly what each of us will be doing next.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

I have been living in Helsinki since the 90´s and now I´m living in the city centre. Describing Helsinki with a few words; beautiful, cool, exclusive, exciting, and expensive.

You recently released your latest single ‘You Talk Dirty (Live). What was the thought process/inspiration behind this song?

The song You Talk Dirty was released for the first time already in 2002, so it is an old song. I felt the song hadn´t reached its best arrangement yet, so I rearranged it and changed some of the lyrics to better suit the present day. Sound-wise it’s a huge song and I had Black Sabbath´s song War Pigs in my mind when playing the intro for the song. I´m using a Whammy pedal to create this oppressive, mystical sounding beginning for the song to instantly capture your attention. It´s like, hey, something bad is about to happen. The lyrics are about sexual harassment, when one doesn´t get that he is invading your personal space, crossing all possible boundaries. Living out his fantasies to fulfil his own needs, to satisfy his lust without the other’s consent. The song is my favourite song to play live, and towards the end it speeds up to double tempo.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments/effects?

I usually carry 5-6 guitars with me on stage and every guitar has its own character. When playing slide, I use open tunings and heavier strings, so I have guitars fixed for that as well. My favourite slide guitar is G&L Asat Semihollow Z-3, which has a huge output, and its pick-ups are strong, which helps me to get a thick, distorted sound out of the guitar. I recently got a new custom-made guitar, which we named “the Queen” made for me by Ruokangas, and I simply love its neck, which is quite petite and therefore helps me to play faster licks and more advanced technical material. For example, my song “Last Girl” has a few passages which are quite challenging, and this guitar is just perfect for playing those. I also have quite an arsenal of guitar pedals! My fav is Whammy, on which I use the octave up, when playing melodies. I also use different interval presets to create interesting riffs. Sometimes I even use the pedal to change the tuning of my guitar! My other favourite pedal is Dyna Mo Roto by Keeley, which is a brilliant modulation effect. I use it with chords and sometimes to create a poignant sound with a slide.

How do you look after your voice?

Everything has an effect on your voice, so I try to sleep as well as possible and I try to avoid talking the whole day, though I´m very talkative, so this is sometime a challenge, ha! But I try my best to “save” my voice during gig days and I always do warm-ups before starting to sing, even before the soundchecks. It´s very important and helps me maintain my voice. After an hour or so on stage, your voice works like if you were running a marathon. You just keep on going and going.

In doing my research, I discovered that you previously joined Carlos Santana live onstage! How did that opportunity arise?

I got a great gig offer in 2018, when I was asked to open for Santana at Kaisaniemi Park in Helsinki. We had 20,000 people in the audience and Carlos came to see my set too! After my show he walked up to me, took my hand, and said the most beautiful words about my playing. I was invited to hang out at his backstage for half an hour or so, and I had the honour of listening to his words of wisdom. Believe me, I was paying attention, I´d been a fan of Carlos since I was 16 years old! Then he invited me on stage to play with him on his set, so I joined for two songs Total Destruction and Love Power. Sometimes I think to myself did this actually ever happen, but the performance is on YouTube, so, yep, it did happen! It was a magical evening, which I´m forever grateful to have experienced.                             

The album includes your version of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Crosstown Traffic’. Given the vast back catalogue of Hendrix material at your disposal what was it that drew you to select this classic?

I learned to play this song a few years ago and we brought the song to our new live set. It’s a very cool song, and our version is slightly faster than Jimi´s. I´m playing the song in open C tuning with a slide, so it has a bit of a different approach. There is only one Hendrix, there´s no way you can replicate what Jimi did, so I’d rather make my own version of a classic song like Crosstown Traffic. This song is also our second single release of the live album.

What two pieces of advice do you have for any novice guitarists?

Listening to lots of other guitarists and learning theory helps to some extent as well. Practising might sometimes feel tiring, but always remember to practise, it´s the only way to improve your playing and it will build the foundation for everything you do. But most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself and enjoy playing!

What is the story behind the track ‘Väinämöinen Tuonelassa’?

I was asked to write music for an exhibition of a famous Finnish painter Pekka Halonen´s painting. I chose a painting that depicts the epic Finnish saga called Kalevala, describing the shaman called Väinämöinen going to the Underworld (Tuonela), to fetch a tool to fix his broken boat. He is trying to fool the Ferryman of Tuonela. The song is written in Finnish and it has a folk-metal feel to it. We started to play the song abroad too, and it always gets attention. There is something mystical about it, Kalevala stories are really something else and I feel we managed to capture some of that in our song too. Even Tolkien took some inspiration from Kalevala when writing Lord of the Rings!

In addition to the new single and album, you will be returning to the UK for a tour in November 2023 with a series of intimate headline dates including a solo show in Newcastle. How do you as a band approach performing live and what two things do you hope to have achieved once you leave the stage?

It has been 4, 5 years since my last visit to the UK, so it’s about time to come back to meet my friends and fans! I always want to give my very best on stage, I´m there to entertain people with my songs and playing. It is an honour to be able to play your own music and have people who genuinely love it too and support what you do. So yes, I want to give them the best gig ever, each night! If people forget their daily problems for at least a few minutes during my gig and then come back to my next show, I have succeeded.

What makes Erja Lyytinen happy and what makes you unhappy?

Terrible world events make me unhappy. People doing evil deeds make me unhappy. With my music I´m trying to give my listeners some relief, something that moves them and gives them hope and positive energy. So great gigs and playing music feels wonderful, but in addition to that you need to have other things in life too. It´s the balance in everything that counts. Love makes me happy. My lovely friends and family make me happy. And nature makes me happy; whenever I have time, I take my backpack and go hiking. And funny enough, when I have been hiking for a few hours, new musical ideas usually start to come up and I start wishing I had my guitar there with me haha!

Photo Credit: Elsa Wellamo

Erja Lyytinen’s new album “Diamonds On The Road – Live 2023” is released by Tuohi Records on October 6th. She tours the UK from November 8-14. Further info: https://erjalyytinen.com