007 Travelers interview: Sami Hintsanen, Musician

Who: Sami Hintsanen is a musician and an actor from Tampere. He was the host of "Tartu Mikkiin" tv entertainment show. In addition, Hintsanen is a Finnish Champion of karaoke and pop song contests.
Where: Teatteri STATE, Tampere, Finland
When: 31 December 2015
Bond connection: Sami Hintsanen and Capri performed Bond theme song with For Your Ears Only band.

007 Travelers met Sami Hintsanen after his wonderful Bond theme song gig at the backstage of Teatteri STATE. He answered to our every question, and gave a good and professional impression of himself.

Sami Hintsanen (in the middle) with 007 Travelers, Pirita & Mika

In autumn 2015 you published single "Menneet on menneitä". How was your year?
I have basically done cover gigs for years and planned about 17 years of making a solo album, and I felt that now I have time to publish material of my own, since the tv entertainment show I hosted has ended. This year has gone doing gigs like this, mainly in bars, the parties of companies. My job description has not changed otherwise.

Can we expect a whole album any time soon?
Yes. In April-May 2016 my album will be published, and before that in February will be released another single. Let´s see then how the audience feels about it. For years I have been an odd-job man in entertainment business, I don´t dream so much of being a popstar. It is nice if the audience likes my own music too, let´s see then is it wanted.

Where did you come up with the idea of performing Bond title songs?
I love these songs. They are great songs. Almost all of them. Couple not that good but I like these songs and there is something special in James Bond´s character. I have never read Superman or Spiderman cartoons. I like realistic heroes, it could all basically be true, it is not but still....I was a little boy when I started to watch Bond movies from the beginning of 80´s, and these are so great songs and I know lots of musicians in this town and we thought that we should give a try...

So this is your own idea?
Yes, it is. And Capri is such a great singer and in my opinion she can show how good she really is.She is the same age as me (born 1972) and has done cover gigs for all of her life. I have seen all the Bond movies, some of them many times. I know the melodies by heart, but not all the lyrics. In theory I could sing the songs which are performed by women. There is something bombastic in that character and it is kind of a hero story. I don´t believe in anything so much , but I believe in the everyday heroes, and the character of James Bond could exist for real in principle. Of course Bond is Ian Fleming´s imagination. I think it has been nice to be able to dig into this world a little bit when doing these gigs. 

Which song is your favourite?
My own favourite to sing is "You Know My Name" (2006). I am such a rocker of 80´s from my soul, it worked for me. I remember when I heard it for the first time, I phoned to program manager Juha Koivunen on the Radio 957, and asked him what song that was. I had never heard of it. Also "For Your Eyes Only" (1981) is fantastic, and of course "Goldfinger" (1964) is such a legend. There are lots of them, almost all of them are great. About Sam Smith´s new song "Writing´s On The Wall" (2015), when I first heard it I thought that it is a lame song but after hearing it 25 times, I felt differently.

 Which Bond song is the hardest one to sing?
"Writing's On The Wall". Also "Another Way to Die" (2008) is hard as Jack White sings so damn high. The phonetics of the Finnish people sets certain limits that what one can sing. If they were higher or lower they would be easier to sing. I do not know anyone else who can sing for example "GoldenEye" (1995) like Capri does. Maybe Johanna Försti and Saara Aalto. Great songs.

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

Who is the best Bond? Why?
Tough question. I say Roger Moore. It might be related to "The Saint" but Roger Moore is such an aristocrat. Also Daniel Craig is great, he is a modern action star. I like Roger Moore´s "harrisonfordish" way to act, he has restrained style and he acts with his face a lot.

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

Which is the best Bond movie?
"Moonraker". (1979)

Why?
When "Moonraker" was released, I was at that age when I really started to watch these movies. "Moonraker" is the one that I have seen more often than other Bond movies. And Jaws by Richard Kiel is such a great character.

Are you a science fiction fan or why do you like "Moonraker"?
Actually I am. The space geometric way of thinking is typical for me, I find that world intriguing because it was not an everyday thing to know about space back in 80´s. Richard Kiel´s character and Roger Moore are the reasons why I started to like Bond movies in the first place.

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

Your favourite traveling destination where you have visited?
Budapest. My ultimate favourite.

Why?
That´s a good question. I don´t like the food there but I like the old area of Buda, the old town area. I am quite interested in history, recent history mainly. The history of that city fascinates me. It is architecturally beautiful. I like it, and I am going there again.

What is the travel destination you would like to visit, but have not visited yet?
Unfortunately I have never visited Barcelona. I have to visit Camp Nou since I am such a soccer freak. There I must visit in this life. It is not even a difficult travel destination to go to. So far I have not found the time to visit there. However, there is another place to visit: Dominican Republic.

What is fascinating about it?
I have no idea. It has a great name.


Thank you:
For the interview Sami Hintsanen
For arrangements Teatteri STATE

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