KARHU AMBASSADORS / BONGO ROCK

This time up we wanted to give you an indepth interview with Herkules and Bongo Rhino, the duo that goes by the name of Bongo Rock. They are moving the masses touring around the Nordics and are hosting the jam packed monthly club at Siltanen in Helsinki. We sat down on one of the Siltanen’s table, had a tasty dinner and covered some interesting topics, before Herkules and Rhino rushed on in to stage to give the crowd another banging night.

Karhu Originals: Hi fellas how’s it hanging?

Bongo Rock: All good all good!

Karhu Originals: Can you guys tell us little bit about your background and how you hooked up back in the days?

Bongo Rock: Well we know each other from elementary school and have hung out at the same circles. The musical collaboration started slowly around 1999 and later continued with Helsinki based Komposti Sound.

Karhu Originals: The famous Komposti Sound.

Bongo Rock: Yah man! First years touring and doing shows together we always wanted to go on stage first and do the warm up because we didn’t have any songs released or finished. Our live act was a mix of juggling music and singing on top of instrumentals which were mostly reggae. To be honest we still like that approach! Bongo Rock was born in the clubs and can be defined as modern club music with a jamaican twist.

Karhu Originals: For the readers who haven’t seen you performing yet, how would you describe your set?

Bongo Rock: It can be anything really! We definitely have the roots in reggae and early dancehall sounds but our set might consist of soul, hip hop, disco, AOR.. You name it!

Karhu Originals: Your music has been described as “Ladies Music”. Is that correct?

Bongo Rock: There are definitely lot of ladies at our gigs! We think though that love is the best message in our music.

Karhu Originals: Tell us little bit about your future plans?

Bongo Rock: We are going to release an album this year and before that our second mixtape.

Karhu Originals: Your first mixtape really set the bar up high!

Bongo Rock: Definitely. We record our mixtapes live so you can never quite predict the outcome! We are using Siltanen as our laboratory. We often experiment new things here and see if it works or not…

Karhu Originals: Ok let’s change the topic a little shall we? Do you still remember how you discovered Karhu the first time?

Bongo Rhino: I remember the bear logo being my first touch to graphic world. The logo is damn dope! Of course in terms of first products, I remember the Karhu skis and ski boots.

Herkules: I remember my aunt’s husband had a pair of the freaking nicest Karhu trainers in the 80s! I was pissed off because they were too big for me to borrow them! I also remember the Finnish baseball bats and gloves…

Karhu Originals: How about your all time favorite Karhus?

Herkules: I love the “Super White” runner from the 80s and have to give it up for “Trampas” as well!