Artist Interview: Teppo Raussi

Tell us about yourself and your music

I live in Finland and my home town is Turku, which is located in Southwestern Finland. Now I am 51 years old and couple of years ago I started to write music. As a kid I played electric organs and learned to play by myself. Then, around 2010, I had a keyboard instrument, which was connected to my PC. At that time I used to play with mid-files.

Recently I have invested to synthesizer, new laptop with DAW and bookshelf speakers. Because I have never studied any instrument, I went and started piano lessons last spring. It is very motivated to get teaching for piano and then practice with the synthesizer. Making music is still interest for me and I enjoy really a lot while playing piano practices or just playing and trying new sound combinations.

My music is instrumental music with genres from pop and rock to ambient and electronic. I have not directed to a certain genre yet and I don’t know if that even happens. I have used my feelings to guide me with a music creation process.

Talk to us more about your latest release

‘Feel My Flow’ is my second release and it came out on 31st October 2016. I lost my companion of life on 26th November 2015 and she is a reason for that my music exist. She encouraged me when I did not believe in myself. That release date was the birthday of my companion of life and with that way I wanted to honor her memory with this release.

The tracks on the release are all played with the synthesizer and DAW. And they are based on my feelings during summer and autumn 2016. While making my second released I went through very strong feelings and they are reflected from tracks. In a way this was a mean to me to start live again.

What inspired you to write this release?

In the end of 2015 I had already decided to make this release. The beginning of the year 2016 was not so comfortable for me. I grieved my lost but in spring 2016 I started to think about writing my second album. I had new synthesizer and DAW and I had started piano lessons.

I wanted to express my feelings during the release creation project. For example I travelled a lot during my summer holiday and track ‘The Best Summer Ever’ was born that way. Track ‘Now Is the Right Time’ came out when I thought that I need to give up the past and start to live again. Track ‘Anthem for My Dear Lady’ is dedicated to the memory of my companion of life with my loving memory. The ending track ‘Feel Me’ is the crystallization of the whole release.

Any plans to release a video?

Well, I have done videos for all tracks of my second release. I have used couple of video editors, but I have to warn with this. They are not any kind of fancy videos because I’m really a beginner with video production.

Any plans to hit the road?

I have not planned that yet. I’m newcomer and beginner with the music field. I have thought about concert but I have not made a point of that yet. But someday that will come true.

As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?

I guess that as an instrumental artist I’ll make something different with my own music. And when you listen to my music, it is very comfortable music for background. Listening to my music is easier because you don’t need to care about the lyrics.

Who have you been listening to lately?

Well, I listen to a lot of music. I have a jukebox on my PC with currently over 9500 songs of any genres and my phone has the same jukebox. When I go to work or home, I usually have earphones on and playlist is randomly selected. Lately I have listened to Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Darude, Ultravox, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica and 69 Eyes, just to name some.

Tell us about your passions

In shortly, I have daily work so I have a reason to get up. I have recently gone through the Masterclass course of electronic music production by Deadmau5 and currently I study the course of Music + Audio Production in Logic Pro X by Rob Mayzes. Another passion for me is films, I love to watch movies. And now and then I’ll go out with my friends to a concert, or to have a cup of coffee or dinner after working day or weekends. Or sometimes it’s just spending time with my friends.

What else is happening next in your world?

Soon I will undergo another Masterclass course of film scoring by Hans Zimmer. I have also planned that I will release my third album by the end of this year. I have already had many ideas for new tracks to write. And, of course, I continue with my piano lessons.

Thanks for an awesome interview, Teppo!