For parts of the year, Mikko Von Hertzen lives on the top floor of a 16-storey ashram in Kollam, on India’s tropical Malabar coast. The view is full of the colours and noises that have informed his band’s music – widescreen, enigmatic matter with rock vigour and a pop heart. Birds and butterflies swoop across the sky. Horns honk from the streets. Down by the sea, fishermen play cards under palm trees. Songs, chants and chatter drift up from various devotees and monastic disciples, all of them here for the spiritual wisdom of Mataā Amritaānandamayi Devic (or ‘Mother Amma’ as she’s often known).
It was this apartment that Mikko moved into for seven years, back in the late 90s, following some hedonistic years in different touring bands. And it was here, in 2000, where he and his brothers Kie and Jonne (both of them visiting from Finland) decided to join forces as The Von Hertzen Brothers – looking out at the Arabian Sea, worlds away from the icy forests of their motherland.
