Sami Yaffa – Down At St. Joe’s (video)

Sami Yaffa – Down At St. Joe’s (video)

Sami Yaffa has had a unique career as a musician both in Finland and around the world. First in Finland in the band Pelle Miljoona Oy and then as a founding member of the band Hanoi Rocks, with whom Yaffa lived the life of an international rock musician with all its spices. Fortunately for the man, there have been enough callers since Hanoi to keep him busy: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts and Hanoi Rocks’ big influence, the New York Dolls, to name a few were Yaffa’s bands for years before forming a new band with his old Hanoi Rocks partner Michael Monroe in 2009. This collaboration continues, but now Yaffa is also releasing music under his own name.

The second single from Sami Yaffa’s solo album ‘The Innermost Journey To Your Outermost Mind’ will be released. A song called ‘Down at St. Joe’s’ had been sitting in Yaffa’s desk drawer for a long time as a finished composition, but the lyrics were not coming together. Fortunately, Sami’s bandmate from the Monroe band, Rich Jones, came to the rescue.

“Rich had already written some lyrics for my album when I decided to send this song to him. I definitely wanted this song to be included on the album because it differs from the electronic world of the other songs on the album with its down-home acoustic approach. I wanted to raise a glass with the song to thank The Faces, Stones and Dylan for their brilliance and innovation. Eventually, the theme of the lyrics was found to be the king alcohol, its pros and cons and especially how close to a complete collapse one can get if it gets to take a stranglehold on your life. Richie’s ingenious lyrics brought this song to life, and it became one of my favourite songs on the album,” says Sami Yaffa.

 

Sami Yaffa: The Innermost Journey To Your Outermost Mind album will be released on September 3, 2021, in Finland by Vallila Music House and internationally by Cargo Records

 

 

Find Sami Yaffa online at: WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

Sami Yaffa – The Innermost Journey to Your Outermost Mind – pre sales

Sami Yaffa – The Innermost Journey to Your Outermost Mind – pre sales

SAMI YAFFA, best known for his work with New York Dolls, Michael Monroe Band and Hanoi Rocks has announced the release of his first solo album “The Innermost Journey to Your Outermost Mind”, out on September 3rd, 2021 via Livewire/Cargo Records.

 

SAMI YAFFA has had a long and unique career as a musician. He played at the tender age of 16 on the Finnish punk legends Pelle Miljoona Oy’s legendary album Moottoritie On Kuuma. As an original member of the band Hanoi Rocks (1980-85) he recorded 5 albums with the band and toured the world extensively until the tragic events that ended the flight of the pioneering band. Hanoi Rocks became a major influence on many bands that later became huge like the Guns N`Roses and Pearl Jam.

Yaffa’s career continued after the break-up of Hanoi and ended up playing with Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, the legendary New York Dolls, the Swedish RnR machine The Hellacopters and many more artists. Sami began playing with the Hanoi Rocks lead singer Michael Monroe again in 2010, the collaboration with Michael continues to this day.

But now it’s time to put out an album under his own name. “The idea for the solo album started to take shape a few years back. I had written music for the New York Dolls and the Michael Monroe Band, but a lot of the songs and ideas were starting to sound more like me than the other bands.”

Recording lineup:

Sami Yaffa (HANOI ROCKS, MICHAEL MONROE, NEW YORK DOLLS) – Vocals, Bass Guitar
Rich Jones (MICHAEL MONROE) – Guitar
Christian Martucci (STONE SOUR) – Guitar
Rane Raitsikka (SMACK) – Guitar
Timo Kaltio (IZZY STRADLIN, CHEAP AND NASTY) – Guitar
Janne Haavisto – Drums

What kind of music does Yaffa then release under his own name? Versatile. “I’ve always loved the music of the bands like The Clash and The Rolling Stones. They can play country, funk, reggae and rock`n`roll, and still sound like themselves. I wanted the same kind of versatility for my own album. ” The album has influences on a fairly wide scale, but it hardly surprises those who have followed Yaffa’s career: in addition to his own music career, he has been seen getting to know the musical cultures of different parts of the world as a host of the Sami Yaffa: Soundtracker TV series. However, the beating heart of the album is in rock`n`roll and punk, I don’t shy away from that.”

Even though it’s a solo album, Yaffa mentions a few of names without whom the album wouldn’t have been completed. One being the drummer Janne Haavisto, with whom Sami played already as a teenager. And the other being his Michael Monroe Bands band mate Rich Jones who co-wrote a bulk of the songs with Sami. Also the Stone Sour guitarist Christian Martucci and Smack guitarist Rane played an important role in the creation of the album.

SAMI YAFFA is ready to hit the road after the release of the album with a line up of Janne Haavisto on drums, Linde Lindström (HIM) on guitar and Burton (HIM) on keyboards.

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