Poets Of The Fall: ‘No Time To Get Complacent'

The Finnish rock giants were back in India for performances in Meghalaya and Kolkata, promoting their new album ‘Ultraviolet’

- Anurag Tagat

Anyone would count Finnish rock band Poets of the Fall among those ‘big in India’ artists and it’s not just because they’ve visited the country multiple times in the last decade, but also because they hold the distinction of releasing (via Indian imprint Sa Re Ga Ma) a Best of compilation album.

The compilation arrived in 2009, which is pretty early for a band who had been active only since 2003. But they had their time in the sun with songs like “Carnival of Rust” and “The Ultimate Fling” and certainly become one of the most popular artists in their country, topping the Finnish charts with every release. But even now on their eighth album Ultraviolet – which expectedly topped the charts once again – vocalist and founder Marko Saaresto says they aren’t ready to sit back any time soon. “I don’t think there’s any time in one lifetime to get complacent, even if you’re happy with where you are,” he says over email.

Saaresto finds a great unifying factor in the global listenership they’ve accrued over the years. “It’s great to have people coming to see us live, singing the songs at the concerts, wearing our t-shirts and all that. It means we have a common ground, a shared understanding that is music and its power to create something good and lasting,” he says.

Poets of the Fall head out in search of that common ground once again, promoting Ultraviolet with two shows in India this year, as part of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender in Meghalaya (November 2nd) and the Weekender Express edition in Kolkata (November 3rd). Considering they were one of the artists chosen as a result of a public survey by the festival, Saaresto couldn’t be happier about how they’re making their seventh visit to the country. Excerpts from the interview: