#006: Panu Aunola

He is head honcho of the much beloved Eurobeat-Prime. Panu has headed the boards since 2004. We will be coming up on its 9th anniversary this summer. I wanted to ask Panu his feelings on the industry, the music, and his guilty pleasure. Introducing...Panu Aunola

1. Occupation?
Registered nurse (Psychiatry specialization)

2. Where are you from?
Oulu, Finland. The reindeer hood. Never, ever, ever move here.

3. How did you get into Eurobeat?
I initially bumped into random eurobeat songs amongst various Dancemania/DDR albums without really knowing anything about the genre itself. I recall paying a lot of attention to the first few Lolita songs I heard. Eventually I started digging around the net for more releases under the title and ended up figuring out there are these "Super Eurobeat"-albums that held all of the treasures on them. Think the first SEB I listened fully through was SEB138 or such. After that I was instantly hooked.

4. Many people know you as the creature of Eurobeat-Prime, one of the two most well-known Eurobeat forums on the planet! What was your inspirtation for the creating the forum?
I have to admit that the forum initially wasn't something I myself considered a necessity for the site. When I started working on E-P I had a lot of friends around me who also loved the genre and they gave me the spark to put up a forum. Actually I think it wasn't even me who dug up the forum layouts and set it up (Thanks AxU).

5. The other forum, Initial-D World, has been plagued with fights over piracy of Eurobeat music. What are your feeling about the actions of that forum and piracy in general?
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship for the piracy regarding eurobeat. I bet about every single person who browses the forums (E-P or ID) is guilty of some form of piracy. I myself would never have even heard about the genre if not for the mp3s floating around online. And I am really happy that happened. I have an immense amount of respect for the eurobeat producers and artists, which is also why I do try my best to support to genre to the fullest. Yet I do understand the reality, that the genre is humongous with a ton of great content and purchasing everything the legal way is just not an option for everyone. So I understand some form of piracy, yet I would encourage everyone who enjoys the music to support it as much as possible. Especially considering how 2012 ended up being without any new SEBs.

6. How would characterize the Eurobeat fan?
I feel us eurobeat fans are pretty devoted. The genre has an odd way of mesmerizing the listener and make us crave for more. With so many different types of eurobeat styles around it's hard to characterize people though. With a simple adjective I would probably go for the word 'Positive'.

7. Which Eurobeat studio is your favourite?
A few years back I wouldn't have any issues answering this question. Now I do have to say it's not such a simple answer. The studios have balanced a lot and all of them produce great material in their own ways. Though I would probably have to lean towards SCP as my current favorite.

8. Which Eurobeat vocalist is a favourite of yours?
Doubt it comes as a surprise to anyone, but... Elena Gobbi is in a league of her own. I have tried analyzing why she stands out so much, but there's just something inhumanly enchanting about her voice. From the highpitched screams of Jealousy to the low and soothing Fantasy. I could probably go on for ages about her merits within the genre, but I'll just keep it short and say she has the skill to make every song pleasant.

9. Do you have any interest in trance or hyper techno? If so, what songs?
My musictaste is nearly fully covered by various electronic music genres so, yes, trance and hyper techno both work very well for me. From a vocal trance view point I would name some of the older titles like Alice Deejay - The Lonely One or Angelic - It's My Turn. As for hyper techno, Gold Tiara - Princess Fairy and the various DJ Zorro songs are excellent options.

10. Do you feel that the genre has progressed to your liking? By this, I mean are you a fan of the classics or songs that deviate from the normal formula and use tricks from other genres like trance, house, pop, and disco?
I strongly feel that if any genre gets stuck in a stasis, it's not going to live on for long. Music needs to evolve and the genre needs to find new innovation for it to be longlasting. Eurobeat has done a lot of facelifts throughout the years, some for the better, some for the worse (from my perspective). But with the genre being as vast as it is, it's only for the best if there's variety so everyone can find their own gems. I do occasionally get irritated by specific elements, but the next time the same elements are used they can suddenly sound amazing. So I would say it's more about the whole package in the end, not the separate elements.

11. What has been your favourite decade of albums from SEB? Why?
I guess as I have aged and gone from a happy-go-lucky student to a world-hating-gramps my favorites in the eurobeat world have also changed. I used to love the early 2000s (100-120) the most due to the upbeat nature of the genre back then, things were simple. But the later years have given me so much more in the long run. I would consider either the 140s or 180s the best. Both decades had something new which made them standout.

12. Where do you see the genre going in the next few years?
I definitely hope new material will be pushed out. I don't really mind about the release frequency that much, as long as there's something new to look forward to I'm happy. With the depression going in the financial world I wouldn't be surprised if the eurobeat labels also had to do more collaboration work and do some merging.

13. SEB landed on Facebook a few months ago. Do you think they will actually listen to non-Japanese audiences in international relases?
It is definitely a step forward. The gesture of being interested about the "foreign fans" is already a big step from Avex. Being the forever skeptic that I am, I'm still fairly reluctant to believe that anything big will happen anytime soon. But we can hope!

14. Physical albums or digital copies? Why?
Physical all the way. I'm a collector at heart and I just need to have the material within my reach if I suddenly feel like fondling my precious SEBs. Still a long way to get the whole genre covered.

15. One of the landmarks of your website is your review section. How do you go about reviewing albums and songs for the site? Have you ever had songs, that, as time went on, you wished you gave them a completely different grade?
Oh yes, I have multiple times randomly listened to older SEBs and suddenly felt like I was hearing a song for the first time. Then went back on the site to check what I had thought of the song just to be baffled by a 6. It is really true that songs occasionally need _a lot_ of time to really grow on you. This works both ways, a lot of songs I used to enjoy initially have very quickly become boring. As for the reviews themselves I never have felt that I was a professional at expressing myself verbally so it's more of a 'hobby' in some sense. I do feel it's often a good way to market the niche genre to the people. Maybe someone agrees with me and ends up getting an album I loved. That's enough of a reward for working on the reviews if you as me. The eurobeat ambassador, hah...


16. For the current labels on SEB, can you comment on their works in the past few years?
A-Beat C/Sunfire: The label has definitely gone downhill during the past years, though there has been much improvement also within the last decade of SEB. I do feel they have lost a lof of their core key-ingredients which used to make A-Beat C such a legend back in the day. But still, there's a lot of great material surely to bea heard from them in the future.

Asia/Saifam: I know for a fact that I'm not alone with my thoughts on the current status of the label. They have gone from the top of the class to the very bottom in a fairly short amount of time. The spark the label used to have has nearly gone out, but every now and then there are some really refreshing productions. Especially lately the newest Mark Farina song "Last Of Eurobeat" really stood out as something special. I just hope there's still more to be heard from them.

Delta: For whatever reason I never really considered Delta as my favorite label, although they have released some stunningly great material over the years. The past few years have been decent enough on their behalf but I do have to right off the bat admit that I miss hearing Newfield's productions. Think Kevin Johnson's Tonight Tonight was the last song on SEB from him (correct me if I'm wrong) and that song has really stuck with me as one of my favorites from the 190s.

Dima Music: Dima has been a really strong contender ever since they appeared on SEB. While I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the productions I still hold them in high regards. Great material and some excitingly experiemental songs. A fun label with some real talent.

Eurogrooves/Time: Whether the label is entirely out of the eurobeat business or not is still a mystery for me. I was often very vocal about my dislike for the label, but Time was definitely one of the labels that I should have given more credit for. Some of their songs are very high on my all time favorites and while the label had some atrocious material, their best songs are really longlasting and memorable. I do hope they will make some form of comeback eventually

Go Go's Music: This is another question currently, whether to trust the rumors or not. Either way it does sound like Alessandra has taken her crew to the SCP-stable and are collaborating currently. This is definitely not a bad move as there's great potential within this merge (if it really is true). But from their past few years they have really gone on a steep rollercoaster. One moment the songs have been phenomenal, next very hollow. A very strong label and Sandro Oliva alongside Newfield is one of the biggest eurobeat producer Legends for me (notice the capital L).

HI-NRG Attack: HRG, HRG, HRG... I'm often at a loss for words when it comes to them. I'm often puzzled at how they can come up with all of the nonsense they put out. The nonsense ranges from one end to the other, but on average I do feel they have gone a bit downhill from their glory years. They definitely know how to make great music not denying that, but majority of the productions do feel a bit lifeless which is a shame. Especially when the current material is compared to the awesome Eurobeat Flash content.

SCP: While I do consider SCP my favorite label, I still feel there's been some lack of innovation at times within the recent years. Though on average I would say they are by far the most reliable label. SCP is also the label with the most variety within the label and that is one of the reasons why I do consider them the best.

Sinclaire Style: Bratt Sinclaire has done a good job as of late by keeping up with fans in various ways. The SS-site has small n' cute tidbits for the fans and the music videos have been a great addition. Music wise I do feel the label has improved massively within the last years. When the label first appeared on SEB I felt the songs felt totally void of content, but currently the label has been pushing out hit after hit. Definitely going towards the right direction.

17. Probably the most notorious song of the past few years is the Futura track, "I'm Superstar". It was a love it or hate it track. What are your thoughts on it? Did it deserve the criticism is received from the community?
Haha, I had to dig up my library to pick the track up again just to remember how... different it was. The song is definitely quirky and warped a bit too far, but I would not go as far as to call it the worst track of the lot by any means (that award goes to the atrocious Not Gonna Get Us cover).

18. What's been looping on your media player, recently?
I had to double check from my last.fm profile whether to see if I had anything specific standing out and alas I do not. Bamboo Bimbo's Kiss has been my most played track, but I guess it'd be easiest just to say that SEB221 has been looping on my media player the most. Which reminds me... I need to get to that review, next week when I finally have some free time. I promise!

19. What is your guilty pleasure (food, music, movies, etc.)?
Got way too many guilty pleasures truthfully. I'm a terrible fastfood junkie. I could probably get different types of fastfood every day and live happily ever after. And well, as sad as it is to admit, World of Warcraft is still a guilty pleasure. It has been for the past 8 years now. And it's also something that often eats up my little free time (blame WoW for the lack of site updates). Also Eurovisiong Song Contest is something I couldn't live without, every year the contest is one of the year's highlights (look forward to our quirky entry this year!).

20. Is there anything you wish to let the readers of the blog know about you or anything else?
First of all thank you for the interview, I wasn't expecting this at all. And for the readers, wish you all keep enjoying eurobeat and supporting it in your own ways. Maybe Avex will hear our plea and eventually the music will be more easily accessible. Oh and I'm sure nobody actually bothered reading this all. I know I would feel that way with such a wall of text. 

PS: I agree with Panu that Gobbi has one of the best voices in the Eurobeat world!