Pekka Heino:
”Cashmir was my first real band. Pretty much everything I know about singing, performing and writing is based on the years spent with that band. I remember the excitement and enthusiasm when Atominus Records signed us. It was the biggest thing for a bunch of kids from Kerava, Finland. ”Cashmir” debut came out, music videos were shot, interviews were made, a song or two got played on the radio, videos were shown and a talent show competition was won on TV. People showed up at gigs but for some reason it started to look like Cashmir was not gonna be the biggest band in the world. We were confused. World domination was supposed to be a piece of cake. The music we played was definitely not the flavor of the month back then in 1997. Brit pop ruled and we played melodic heavy rock or something in that vein. No wonder we couldn’ t get arrested, no matter how hard we tried.
Atominus Records thought it would be best to steer the boat into new waters and brought in a talented young musician by the name of Anssi Kela to handle the production duties for the second album. Anssi worked hard with the band and obviously took pride in doing the best he could as a producer. Doing his best earned him a successful career as a solo artist in Finland a few years later. With his arrangements, a few songs from outside writers and the record company’s strong will to push us into a more modern direction meant that Cashmir was now going to sound a whole lot different, to put it mildly. Some of us were not too happy about it, some of us didn’t mind and some of us even liked the new clothes the band was now dressed in. We recorded the songs and shot a video for the single ”Better Than Me” which was played on national radio a lot, so everything was cool up until the day when the record company informed us that it’s ran out of money and the album is going to be canned and shelved. Another shot at world domination failed before it even started.
Cashmir slowly faded away in the early 2000’s and new projects and bands came along. Life went on. Que to September 2012 and I’m informed that the debut ”Cashmir” and the unreleased second album ”Greetings From Sherwood” are going to get released in digital format. Woah. Didn’t see that coming, really.
It’s really cool to get back to a very exciting point in my life through these songs. Everything was a lot more innocent and carefree and I guess it can be heard in the songs, in both good and bad. With all its ups and downs, it was a privilege to be a part of Cashmir. We all learned a hell of a lot. Most notably that it’s essential to stay true to oneself, press on and ignore whatever trends are dictating the popular music at the moment.”
Pekka Ansio Heino
September 2012