On the 23rd of March, three impressive looking gentlemen arrived early at Finland to perform at the livehouse Gloria in the capital Helsinki. The concert was a success and looking tired but pleased, the band even held an autograph session for all their fans. Our scheduled interview began a little later than expected, but as the clock neared midnight we met up with the three men who looked like they had dropped out of Tim Burton’s movie The Nightmare Before Christmas.

“Hi, nice to meet all of you,” we said to begin our interview. “Could you please introduce yourselves to our readers?”

“I’m Jack Spooky,” said the scary-looking vocalist with a mysterious deep voice while bowing to us.

“Kiddy Skeleton,” said the guitarist nodding his head, and the pigtailed bassist introduced himself with: “I’m Peggy.”

”Which things in Finland have been so peculiar that they made you laugh?” we asked. The band members pondered the answer together until Jack answered very politically, “Nothing has really made us laugh, but I’m very impressed by the scenery of Finland and this city. I like the way this city has been built.”

It was very pleasing for us Finns to hear such kind words from Jack. “It was also really nice to see how enthusiastic all the fans were tonight. It was a big surprise!” added Kiddy, looking excited.

Next, we asked The Candy Spooky Theater what they missed in Japan. We didn’t have to wait long for an answer! “Japanese food,” said Jack.

The Candy Spooky Theater’s style and their way of performing is very impressive and brings Halloween to everyone’s mind. So we asked the band if there was any other holiday they’d like to base their style on. The members thought for a moment and then Peggy answered, “Probably Aho-matsuri. A Japanese summer festival. People dress in yukatas during it.” And even though we knew what yukatas were, he kindly explained to us, grinning, ”They are like informal kimonos, used on a more daily basis.” The other two members burst out laughing, and we figured that must have meant they agreed with the bassist.

We also questioned the band about their attitudes towards gifts received from fans. “All gifts are very pleasing and I become very happy when receiving them,” said Jack Spooky, fidgeting with his shirt sleeve. “It’s nice that the fans think about us and remember us by giving gifts.”

”Now it’s time to move on to more unusual questions,” we told The Candy Spooky Theater. “Are you ready?”

All of the members nodded in agreement.

”When walking down the sidewalk you discover a wallet on the ground that’s full of cash. Do you take it to the police or keep it for yourself?” The members grinned and Jack Spooky answered first. “I wouldn’t care about it, I’d just walk by it,” he muttered.

“I’d put it in my pocket,” said Kiddy Skeleton, laughing out loud.

“I’d take it, but instead of putting it in my pocket…I’d put it in my underpants!” answered Peggy, giggling. His laughter immediately had the two other members joining in, and we had to wait a short moment for them to calm down to continue the interview.

Our next question was about shaping the world. After all, everyone thinks certain things would be better taken out of the world and replaced with something different, so we asked the band what they’d take out of the world and put in instead. “It would be nice if all the blue color of the seas would turn into blood red,” said Jack.

“I like to drink,” said Kiddy, “so it would be awesome if I could take all the water from the seas and put beer or sake in it’s place! If that happened, I’d go swimming every single day!” The other two members burst out laughing, and Kiddy’s answer amused us as well.

“What’s the most popular vegetable in Finland?” asked Peggy. We answered that it was carrots and he laughed and said, “I’d take all the carrots from the world and plant carrot seeds in their place!”

”What animal does the member next to you remind you of?” we asked. The question aroused grins and giggles from the members and after a few moments, Peggy answered, “Kiddy looks like a chameleon.”

Kiddy glowered at Peggy for a moment but then turned towards Jack Spooky. “Jack reminds me of a sloth!” he finally said, roaring with laughter. Jack Spooky tried to keep a straight face but he couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from twitching. He looked at Peggy with a pensive look on his face and told the interpreter his answer. At this point we got stuck as the interpreter didn’t know what the animal was called in English. Was all lost? Would we ever know what animal Peggy reminds Jack of? Luckily, Peggy had a secret talent: drawing. He took the interpreter’s little notebook and when he had finished his drawing, we couldn’t help but laugh. Jack Spooky thought Peggy looked like an armadillo.

Then we wanted to find out if Peggy or Kiddy Skeleton would like to dethrone Jack Spooky and become The Candy Spooky Theater’s singer. Just as Kiddy opened his mouth to answer, the lights in the hall we were in went off. After some confusion and nervous laughter, we decided to continue the interview in almost total darkness. Kiddy finally replied, “If we superseded Jack, The Candy Spooky Theater wouldn’t be The Candy Spooky Theater anymore,” he answered diplomatically. “The style in which our music is done wouldn’t be the same anymore. We need Jack to be The Candy Spooky Theater.”

We then asked the band to imagine an ordinary Monday morning where everything was normal…except they have changed bodies with the member sitting next to them. “How do you react?” we questioned. After a moment of silence, Kiddy asked us to specify: “How would we react or what would we do?” We told him we’d like the answers to both.

Jack grinned and said, “If I turned into Peggy, I’d first make sure that it really is Peggy’s body…then I’d damage it and do all kinds of mean things to it!” Everyone laughed and Peggy pretended to be upset. But he told us his answer,

“If I changed bodies with Kiddy, I’d be very surprised at first. After the shock I would try to drink a lot of alcohol, since Kiddy can drink a lot, and I can’t.”

”If you weren’t Japanese, which country’s citizens would you like to be?” was the next question. Jack carried on Kiddy’s previous diplomatic line, answering, “I’d like to be Finnish!”

“I’d like to be Finnish too!” said Peggy, flattering us.

“I would like to be Italian,” said Kiddy. “The mafia comes from Italy,” he added and made us all laugh.

We continued with our odd questions, asking what super power the members would like to have. “It would be great to be able to control the whole world,” said Jack.

“I would like to fly,” answered Peggy modestly. With a wide grin Kiddy said, “I want the power to control all the women in the world!” Again the guitarist’s answer made everyone laugh.

Following Jack Spooky’s previous answer, we asked them how they would rule the world if they became world rulers. “In a very selfish way!” answered Jack.

“I would also rule the world selfishly,” said Kiddy. ”If anyone comes in my way then…” He demonstrated what he would do by fisting the air. Peggy added quietly, “Me too.”

”Thank you for your time and good luck with the rest of your tour!” we said and got up. It was past midnight and the band members thanked us and immediately dove towards their freshly delivered McDonald’s meals, looking extremely hungry.

Interviewers: Ake and Katrin
Translation: Katrin
Photos by Heikki Mitikka

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