THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “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 five 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. Yaffa’s career continued after the breakup of Hanoi and ended up playing with Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, the legendary New York Dolls, the Swedish rock ’n’ roll machine The Hellacopters and many more artists. Sami began playing with Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe again in 2010, a collaboration that 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.” 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. 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 is drummer Janne Haavisto, with whom Sami played as a teenager. Another is Monroe bandmate Rich Jones, who co-wrote a bulk of the songs. Stone Sour guitarist Christian Martucci and Smack guitarist Rane also played important roles in the creation of the album.”
