Estonia Hears a HU

This article was also picked up by the excellent Baltic Reports.


The music group HU? may be the finest Estonian invention since Skype. Their 2008 debut album Film aspired to be a classy underground effort, but far exceeded those expectations (wrote music critic Erik Morna of Film in Eesti Ekspress, "We've been waiting for this disc for over 20 years”). The album's songs were licensed to TV ads, its music was discussed by Estonia's leading politicians, and its lyrics won them both admirers and enemies (proof that they must be doing something right). The follow-up, HU2, has now arrived, and like its predecessor it is packed with shimmery synth hooks woven through a spectrum of musical styles that ably demonstrate the band's creativity, versatility, and unwavering sense of cool.

I exchanged email with the group's 23 year-old singer Hannaliisa Uusma—sociologist by day and rock goddess by night—to find out more about her life, the band whose name is plucked from her initials, and Estonian pop music in general. This is her first English-language interview.

EorE - Estonia looks set to join the eurozone in 2011. Are you ready to exchange your krooni for euros?

Hannaliisa Uusma - I am absolutely ready!

EorE - How were you "discovered"?

Hannaliisa Uusma - When I was 15 I was a member of an Estonian underground rap band called CSQ. There were four members: me and three boys from my neighbourhood. After that I performed with a rap group called Connected People (Ühendatud Inimesed) once in a while. Chalice—the head of this group—is a really honourable singer, poet, and producer. Chalices's first album came out in 2001. It was revolutionary and fresh, in contrast to the monotonous sounds which had generally characterised our pop scene in those days.

At one point, DJ Critical (producer and DJ in HU?) decided that the girl singing backing vocals to Chalice surely deserved her own chance! A bit later, Leslie da Bass (the author of HU?'s music and bass player) joined us. We worked terrifically together! We were full of inspiration and ideas, and we had the same vision about music.

EorE - So are you Hannaliisa Uusma, or are you HU?

Hannaliisa Uusma - Our band is called HU? True, this letter-combination comes from my initials, but it is the band's name. And jokingly, we can steal some of the spotlight from The Who! ;-)

EorE - Who are those people playing the instruments behind you?

Hannaliisa Uusma - Leslie Da Bass is a songwriter and bass player. DJ Critical (also known as "Bert on Beats") is a producer and DJ. Kristjan Oden plays the drums and Sigrid Mutso—who is actually a classical singer—is rocking on the keyboards. I am responsible for the vocals.

EorE - Who writes most of the material?

Hannaliisa Uusma - The main songwriter is Leslie. Film featured some other songwriters [also]. My good friend and old music mate Chalice was the author of two songs. And Sten Sheripov wrote the song "Linnasuwelaul". This song is definitely bright and full of sweet emotions. I believe it will live for many years in the hearts of the Estonian audience.

EorE - What is the songwriting process for HU?

Hannaliisa Uusma - Just three of us work together in the studio: Leslie, Critical, and me. Leslie writes all the lyrics and music at home. The next day we normally meet in Critical's studio. Leslie hums something. I catch it and let it through my brain, heart, body and soul. If it fits me, I add my own ideas and colours. Then it's Critical's turn. [The rest of us] go home, but he has to stay in the studio and work hard with recordings and beats!

EorE - How would you describe Estonia's music scene, and how do you fit into it?

Hannaliisa Uusma - Our success shows that we are fitting. Our pop scene was very unfashionable for a long time. Really "juicy" music was only in the underground. Critics have said that HU? spiced-up the Estonian mainstream pop scene with a fashionable sound. Many people have said that this was the key to our success. People were thirsty for modern sounds.

The last two years have been a time of change in our pop music and club culture. Suddenly, we are surrounded by more and more world-class local pop music. For example, bands like Vaiko Eplik & Eliit, Malcolm Lincoln, Pop Idiot, and Mimicry. The paradigms and generations have changed. And god damn, I'm really happy about it!

EorE - Who are Heini Vaikmaa and Kare Kauks, who are credited as guests on your new album?

Hannaliisa Uusma - They are the very best part of our old school pop music scene. Their creations have inspired and influenced our music a lot. Now we have had a great opportunity to make music together on our newest record. This is a great pleasure and honour!

EorE - Were the 1980s a major influence on your sound?

Hannaliisa Uusma - The 80s have definitely influenced our music. [80s music] was around me in my most formative years. It is strongly and maybe even unconsciously deep in my brain.

On our second record we have many nuances which also reflect the 90s. I think the next volcano in the world's pop music is the sound of the 90s. There was a lot of awful 90s pop, but also many extremely bright nuances. It is important to try to transform those good sides into modern pop-music.

EorE - Are you full-time HU'ers?

Hannaliisa Uusma - Most of us are working in different fields ["day jobs"]. I am a sociologist. Leslie is the owner of an advertising company. Kristjan is a designer also. After the working day, music is a brilliant opportunity to put the performing suit on and to rock out, to find inspiration, and to be passionate. It's like a creative orgasm. :-)

EorE - What songs do you most look forward to performing live in the coming days?

Hannaliisa Uusma - In performance, my favorites are "Riia Tallinn Vilnius", "Varas", "Tähed", "Sa meeldid mulle" , "Nõiaring" and "Kosmos". The last three are from our first record.

EorE - "Miks ainult mõni asi on nii hea?"—I love this song. What does the title mean?

Hannaliisa Uusma - It means: "Why Are Only Some Things So Good"? I also like it. It features Kare Kauks.

EorE - I presume I am missing out on a lot by not understanding the lyrics. :-/

Hannaliisa Uusma - Lyrics are the really important part of our music. This is the reason why we are at the same time so loved and so hated. People have written protest letters about us. But at the same time our albums are the most wanted and most sold in Estonia. Politicians have quoted us. The President of Estonia has said good words about our music. With Film we won most of the prizes in the Estonian Music Awards. Our concerts are sold out. We have been in the top of the local charts with both of our albums.

Our new record is still quite recent and I don't yet know how the audience is going to react. But the reviews have been very approving.

EorE - "Protest letters?" What sorts of controversies did you stir-up?

Hannaliisa Uusma - We have one song from Film called "Depressiivsed Eesti väikelinnad" ("Depressive Estonian Towns"). It was a very sensational song. Suddenly, we heard that a local association of small towns had written a public protest letter against us. Briefly, their statement was that our lyrics about these little towns were an overreaction and that the towns are not so depressive as we had said. There followed a long public and even political discussion in the media about social life in local small towns. It is still continuing.

EorE - I love that you sing in Estonian. Has this been a subject of discussion within the group, though? Can an Estonian musician do all right marketing oneself to the 1.3 million living in one's own country?

Hannaliisa Uusma - Well, a major part of our songs are in Estonian. But "backstage" we also have some interesting new stuff in English.

EorE - Do you perform outside of Estonia?

Hannaliisa Uusma - We have had some offers. Let's see how things go!

---

On the Web:

HU?'s Facebook page
Mindnote, HU?'s record label
Mindnote's YouTube Page

HU? tracks on YouTube:

"Miks ainult mõni asi on nii hea?"
"Depressiivsed Eesti väikelinnad"
"Sa meeldid mulle"
"Absoluutselt”

10 Days with Europe's Top 10 Pop Music Scenes. #1.

Number 1: Estonia. 14.17% GREEN (14.17% of that country's charting songs earned top marks on my spreadsheet)

Yoda once said, "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For we shall soon establish that my size has little bearing on my abilities. For the size of one—" and on and on he droned. But he had a point. Estonia, a nation of 1.3 million, tops my list.¹

Estonia borders Russia by land, but Finland is just a short hop across the Baltic. Estonia caters to a small Russian music scene, but it is clear that on a cultural level Estonians relate most to their Scandinavian neighbors (by contrast, Latvia and Lithuania feature far more Russian product on their charts and Russian attitude in their own songs).

Sometimes Estonia and Finland seem to be participating in a music-exchange program. Estonia's Y2K-era Eurodance hitmaker Caater partnered a lot with Finland's K-System, and in 2006 Finnish metal legends Nightwish chose to unveil their new singer at a secret gig in Tallinn.

But Estonia's artists are pursuing their own weird and wonderful agenda. They remind me a bit of the quirky introverts in Iceland's music scene. However, the Estonians seem to be having more fun.

Throughout Europe you see too many MCs who continue to party like it's 1999, bland rock bands rewriting the same old tunes, beautiful young women warbling torturous confessional ballads, and how many leggy girl groups does the world need, anyway?

Estonia, by contrast, keeps looking ahead (their leggy girl group, Vanilla Ninja, threw in the towel years ago), and they tackle things with a spry spirit of inventiveness. They are fond of electronic sounds, and so am I, hence my chart bias. Consider one of my favorite songs, the HU?'s "Sa meeldid mulle," which, in addition to exhibiting the verse/chorus/verse appeal of a catchy pop song, might also be the most beautiful drum & bass tune I have ever heard.

Their music scene's independent streak befits a country that, in going its own way, has become the clear economic leader of the Baltic region (they will adopt the euro in 2011). Estonian software developers gave us Skype. Estonia's March 2007 parliamentary elections "were the first in the world to include voting via the Internet."^{2 3} Estonia is also "the least religious country in the world" which, from my atheistic perspective, is also appealing.

So it's time you hugged an Estonian—if you are fortunate enough to find one.

The following list includes an Estonian Idol winner warbling something more appropriate for a NYC art band, a Eurovision song contest entry that sounds like something cooked-up by Brian Eno, and two groups featuring hot chicks and violins. Heck, I even tossed in a song from a former Vanilla Ninja-er.

Birgit Õigemeel - Moonduja
Glow - Kui möödud sa (Feat Kelly)
HU? & Kare Kauks - Miks mõni asi on nii hea
Laura feat Tafenau - Lihtsad asjad
Lenna Kuurmaa - Rapunzel
Malcolm Lincoln - Siren
Mimicry - Right Back Home
Urban Symphony - Päikese poole
Vaiko Eplik & Eliit - Kosmoseodüsseia
Violina - Sellel ööl (feat Lenna Kuurmaa)

¹ A future essay will examine the relationship between size of population and the quality of a country's pop music scene.

² Nations in Transit (2008 Edition). Freedom House. p.221

³ Newsweek's Steven Levy, in a Washington Post piece called "Pay Per Gig" published 30 January 2008, wrote that "in terms of penetration, we are in 24th place -- behind Estonia -- in the international broadband competition." I really hate that sort of writing. It attempts to shock the reader into saying, "We're behind ESTONIA!??!" when the reader 1) probably knows nothing about Estonia and 2) if he or she did, would realize that it is quite reasonable for that country to have a decent level of broadband saturation. The real point, of course, is that the USA is in 24th place--but why piss on Estonia to drive that home? Perhaps this is why Newsweek's fortunes have fallen so far in 2010. See also Michael Moore's condescending treatment of Slovenia in the movie Sicko, where he announced with comparable dumb incredulousness that the USA was "just slightly ahead of Slovenia" in terms of the quality of its health care.



The rest of the best:

#2: Finland
#3: Croatia
#4: Slovakia
#5: Bulgaria
#6: Sweden
#7: Lithuania
#8: Ukraine
#9: Slovenia
#10: The Netherlands

Planning Stage: Slovenia (Pt. 2 : Maribor, Celje, Piran, Portoroz)

I am in a good mood. I finally tracked down high-quality recordings of two great Estonian pop tunes not available to me for months: Urban Symphony's "Päikese poole" and Birgit Õigemeel's "Moonduja." My McAffee anti-virus software stopped one Trojan from infecting my system during this important rescue operation. These are the exciting risks I take tracking down European pop songs. I am the Chuck Norris of Estonian pop music downloading.

Birgit's "Moonduja" is an especially interesting song; a strange time-signature, icy synth stabs, and ethereal vocals weaving around chunky R&B beats. It's kinda spooky. This is the perfect song to have float out of your radio at three in the morning. Birgit came to fame by winning the first Estonian Idol competition in 2007, and this performance of REM's "Everybody Hurts" shows how she did that.

Two days ago I began writing about Slovenia, their clubs, and which clubs would make a good match for my blend of Eurotrash, turbofolk, and the odd song by Journey. I wrote last time that most clubs in Ljubljana seem to fall into one of two categories: the elitist venue and the alternative venue (the photo above is one I took just before New Year's in the waning days of 2005 at the none-more-arty Metelkova complex). Sadly, my DJ style puts me somewhere in the middle.

I found considerably more to be cheerful about looking at the nightlife in some other Slovenian towns. Of these places, Maribor, Slovenia's second...er..."largest" city seems the most promising.

Maribor has music coursing through its veins. It hosts some big music festivals each year. Their Lent Festival is the biggest music festival in Slovenia.

Clubs that appealed to me included:

KMŠ - A student disco that also hosts some big (in Slovenia) acts, including the excellent DJ Sylvain and Leeloojamais. I also see that KMŠ has a Ljubljana branch which may be worth investigating also.

ŠTUK - Another student disco, this one described by an "In Your Pocket" writer as "a place you come to for dirt cheap drinks and all night parties, not subtle ambiance and sophisticated discourse." In other words, I think there is trash to protect and serve in this establishment.

I had spent some time in Celje back in 2006, but the trash club scene does not appear to be much to speak of. YouTube videos suggest that there are some interesting places of the more turbofolkish variety there. These would be a pleasure to drop in on, but I don't think my DJ'ing would be particularly welcome.

Finally, I looked at some of the clubs in Piran and Portoroz. These places seem to boom during the warm weather months, but they strike me as having a cooler-than-me vibe to them. I tend to avoid places that advertise their "elite atmosphere." But advertising and reality usually diverge, and perhaps some of these places would be way more accommodating than I imagine.

So, I emailed KMŠ (also joined their Facebook group) and ŠTUK. This has made for a good day's work, though I suspect I am going to put in another day's work today as well. :-D

Prison Break: Drinking and Talking Part 897

It's Thanksgiving week, and I am thankful for the fact that there are very few people in my office today to see what I look like the morning after a night spent with my enablers at the Park Tavern. The Park has a "if it rains, all draft beers are $1 each" rule. It rained yesterday, and so in this manner the weather has had an adverse affect on my health.

Carson and I met up at the Carroll Street Cafe at 3 PM yesterday where we studied satellite maps of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in an effort to determine an ideal base of operations for me. In each of those countries one has easy access to Scandinavia, where conceivably there would be more money to be made as a DJ. The ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki costs around 30 euros. The trip from Estonia to Scandinavia can be full of surprises.

Of all the emails I sent to Estonian clubs last week there have been zero replies. This puts a serious crimp in my confidence. I feel this is the week I have to buy the plane ticket, so where will I go? Should I just go to Estonia and see if I can make something happen?

The better idea is probably to go to Romania. I have many friends there. I'm comfortable there. I spent several months this year studying the language, and while I am by no means proficient I should be able to do OK once immersed in it. The country is centrally located in Eastern Europe. And there's one cute girl I want to date there as well.

Seems like a no-brainer, but the problem with Romania is that I've been there so many times already that I'm not especially motivated in the same way I would be if I were visiting a "new" country. I'm not especially fond of the club and music scene there lately, either. Romanian pop has changed significantly since I started listening to it in 2000 (I wrote a little editorial about this a while back for BalkanInsight). While it would be sensible to go to Romania, I feel a green light from Estonia would give me more of an adrenaline rush, since their pop scene is so much more exciting to me right now and there would be the shock of the new to motivate me.

But considering the stress I am putting myself under, beginning my adventure in relatively cozy Romania might be the smartest way to go.

Carson told me that, as a DJ, my biggest downfall was my sincerity. What's the opposite of a backhanded compliment? A fronthanded criticism? Anyway, he has a point. I'm quite averse to spinning in many different club environments, as yesterday's Slovenia blog entry demonstrates, and it would be more beneficial to me if I were willing to play the trendier genres. I shut too many doors before I am willing to give things a try, and that inflexibility is not the best way to survive as a DJ in Eastern Europe. "You've got to become Mr. Lava," he said, referring to my fictional alter-ego.

Planning Stage: Slovenia (Pt. 1 - Ljubljana)

Last night's merriment was had at the Book House Pub (the photo is from that, and I am the handsome blonde guy in the middle of it). I imbibed less last night, got to bed relatively early, and so awoke without the usual bloodshot eyes and headache of recent days. I turned down the temptation to hit MJQ Concourse after the pub because I'd punished myself enough Thursday and Friday night and I needed to sharpen myself in order to get stuff done today.

A couple days ago I wrote about Estonia. I thought it would be fun to a play a sort of six degrees of separation game today, so here goes. Caater, a Eurodance group from Estonia, frequently partners with the Finnish Eurotrasher K-System. Finland recently stepped messily into Slovenia's elections when a Finnish TV station accused the Slovenian Prime Minister of accepting bribes. And so we find ourselves in Slovenia today. How was that?

Balkan Slovenia has a lot in common with Baltic Estonia. Both are tiny countries with small populations (2 million people live in Slovenia). Both are relatively well-managed and are doing very well financially for formerly communist states, in part due to their luck in geographic placement (Estonia is tied to the ultra-wealthy Scandinavian region, and Slovenia shares a border with Italy and Austria). Slovenia is currently the only former communist state on the euro currency; Estonia will likely adopt the euro in 2011. Both countries have their share of regional and cultural tensions, but overall these are not so bad.

A big difference between the two lies in their music scenes. Much of Estonia views itself culturally as Scandinavian, and Scandinavia loves its pop and dance (think ABBA). Neighbor Russia has a love for the tawdry and trashy, and these worlds intersect in Estonia to create some really stellar pop music that manages to move the feet while also giving a little bit more to the brain.

Slovenia, on the other hand, tends to be mellower. Their music gravitates towards the live. They love their jazz. Their RTV Big Band spits out tons of high-quality recordings. Maribor hosts a jazz festival as well as a more general music festival. Tolmin hosts a metal festival each year.

Turbo folk does not seem to be popular in Slovenia, but turbo polka is. Turbo polka sounds exactly as you would imagine.

I have been to Slovenia once before, so I know a little bit about the feel of the country and its nightlife. The trip was fabulous, despite my being chased back to my hotel by two thugs one night in Ljubljana (probably glue-sniffers, the hotel porter reckoned).

My goal is to DJ through Eastern and Central Europe, and since I've already laid eyes on three towns in Slovenia you would think I'd be able to come up with some good ideas for places to spin. You would be wrong.

The "problem" with Slovenia seems to lie in its tastefulness. After spending a chunk of my afternoon today reading up on Ljubljana clubs both new and old to me, I realized that there seem to be two extremes of club taste in that city. One is the exclusive, luxurious club that is staffed by bouncers who will deny you entry if you are wearing the wrong clothes--or might beat you to death if you invoke their ire. Point is, a stuffy or exclusive club is one where the focus is more on the preening, networking, and hooking up, and less on the music.

The other extreme is the ultra-alternative venue. I speak here primarily of Metelkova Mesto, which I partied at on two different nights in Ljubljana. Here you find your hippies, crusties, squatters and travelers, as well as your gay/lesbian/trans-gender community.

Metelkova totally rocks. But this presents its own strange problem for a Eurotrash DJ like myself. My music is not tasteful enough for that community. It's hard to follow a drum & bass/dancehall set with Cascada's "Fever."

Interestingly, in Ljubljana my best bet would probably be at Metelkova's gay clubs, because only there does a blend of pop, trash, and house find balance. I know this because some friends and I stumbled into a Metelkova gay club on New Year's Eve, and we demanded to be let by skeptical door staff despite not being gay enough because the music was so freaking awesome.

So, maybe gay clubs in Ljubljana are better.

What is missing in Ljubljana that would make DJ King Pigeon's mouth water? It seems there is a lack of student discos catering to the younger, poorer, yet well-educated pop fans out there. This population exists in abundance in Warsaw, Poland, and fuels some awesome nights at places like The Parc. But I haven't seen signs that such a venue exists in Ljubljana.

I might need to turn to Maribor or Celje to find a better fit. I will do that tomorrow, and post part two of my review of Slovenia then.

Planning Stage: Estonia

Yesterday's 2 hours of planning my DJ Eastern European Misadventure focused on the clubs of Estonia. Estonia is a country of 1.5 million. They speak Estonian, Russian, and most know some English. My friend Vaidas, who has traveled around the region, tells me that Russian is not all that commonly spoken there despite the shared border with Russia. Estonians seem to see themselves more as Scandinavians with an Eastern European swagger. Their language, to my American ears, sounds much more Scandinavian than Russian.

The Estonian music scene is fantastic. It proves that population does not have a bearing on the quality of one's pop music. You might think a country of 1.5 million would have, at best, one or two talented artists. Estonia, it turns out, has a lot of good stuff to offer. Here are some great relatively recent Estonian pop tunes:

Hannaliisa Uusma (HU?) - Sa meeldid mulle
Birgit Õigemeel - Moonduja
Laura feat. Tafenau - Lihtsad asjad

I visited TurismiWeb and went through their long list of Estonian nightclubs to find places that looked like they would fit my own DJ'ing spirit, since the whole goal of this adventure is to DJ my way through Eastern Europe. I checked out photos from the various clubs' galleries, studied their advertising, and from that selected six candidates. I sent emails out to those six yesterday. The clubs I selected are in the towns I have indicated in the map above.

The winners were:

Beach Club (Pärnu)
Club Panoraam (Tallinn)
Club Red (Viljandi)
Lifeclub (Põlvamaal)
Nightclub Oscar (Tallinn)
Ööklubi YES (Valga)

So I wrote to each one of them, included a link to my latest Eurodance mix, and now await a reply.