Cris Cohen: I found this interesting quote from you about the song “Rest in Pieces,” where you said, “I was betrayed by a friend, I wanted to channel my frustration into the music and create what I call a fuck you song for revenge.”
Lauri Ylönen of The Rasmus: I said that? That’s well said.
Cris Cohen: While I see that as a fabulous source of passion and genuine emotion to put into a song, how do you step back and craft it into something that’s a good tune and not just a lashing out exercise?
Lauri Ylönen: That song happened at the very end of production. Everything else was basically finished and almost mixed. Then this thing happened with my best friend, and I was so sad and pissed off and angry. I woke up one night thinking about it, and this idea came to me. I started writing at three a.m., and that song just happened right there. I was like, “OK, it’s a sign I have to get this on the album.”
I started working on it on my own because I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea… if the other guys might think I was crazy. I wanted to make it good before I presented it. I recorded my vocals myself and really did the best I could with my computer to make the production sound like something. I’m not very good at that yet, but I really enjoyed it. I’d really like to put more input into that, because if I have the vision, it takes a lot of energy to explain what I mean about some certain sound. If I could just do it myself, it would be easier.
We’ve worked with crazy good producers this time again. Still, it would be useful to know how to do more myself. I’m happy that song is on the album. It was actually the first song we put out.