#mårdis

[beesgobzzzing]

From https://www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/hooja-kaarija-om-tanken-pa-att-tavla-i-eurovision

Translation / Transcript under the cut. This interview was really nice, I highly suggest you give it a listen even if you don't speak Swedish!

Hooja and Käärijä about the thought of competing in Eurovision

Interviewer (Carolina): What an exciting collaboration! Hooja together with Käärijä. [In English] I didn't see this one coming, I can tell you that. And I will start in Swedish, with you, Hooja. [In Swedish] How in the world did this end up happening?

Hooja: We're not as different as you could think. We've been saying that both of us are crazy, we definitely saw that in the studio when we met, because we had so unbelievably much fun when writing this song. So we… we really fit well together, both personalities and musically. Writing this song was a LOT of fun.

Carolina: Yeah, because… I mean… but HOW did you meet from the start so that this ended up happening?

Mårdis: At first we had been tittle-tattling in our camp about how it would be fun, because we see a lot of similarities in each other despite also being so dissimilar. And then they apparently had also been talking in THEIR camp as well, so it sort of came up in a roundabout way AGAIN that "he wants to make something with you". So we decided that we'll go down and do this, and we met up, and we had fun, and there was no pressure, no idea was bad, we were there for two days and just laughed. And that's what happens when you have fun, too, you make music from that, and that's how we got San Francisco Boy, our lovely child that we have together. [In English, to K] San Francisco Boy is our child that we have together.

Käärijä: Yes!

Carolina: A love child.

Käärijä: YES!! (Laughter)

Carolina: So, Käärijä, I must ask you, have you seen them without their masks?

Käärijä: Maybe I see more than only face…

Carolina: In the sauna..?

Käärijä: Maybe… (Even more laughter and something unintelligible about a mask)

Carolina: But it's so nice to see, because they just said, in Swedish, that when they were in the studio, they laughed so much. Was it the same for you?

Käärijä: Yes, yes. And, uh, I remember, first time, because you start to make like, the beats, and you played that song in Finland, to me, and I'm "uh, ok, this is… this is very funny and crazy and I feel good" when the boys played the song. And uh, then we start to try and do something and we get the song San Francisco Boy. And, uh… very, very good times and we get a lot of fun.

Carolina: [In Swedish] And the funny part is, San Francisco Boy, is in Swedish and English, but I'm thinking this - We have northern Sweden, we have Finland, and we end up with San Francisco Boy. (Laughter) Is there any hidden meaning with this?

Hooja: Why not? [In English] Why not? (Laughter) [In Swedish] We don't like doing the most obvious thing.

Carolina: No, no.

Hooja: No.

Carolina: But there is no hidden meaning in the song?

Hooja: No, I don't really think there is. What do you think? (To K and Mårdis)

Mårdis: If there's a message in the song, this is what we said when we started with the song - Disco Boy, San Francisco Boy, whatever you want to be, if you want to be Orange Boy or Finland Boy then you're allowed to be that. That was a thing that we really agree upon, that… It sounds cliche, you know, "you can be who you want to be", but we really think that. For real. And it's important to us. And that we could put that into a funny song, that just sort of happened, and it's nice.

Carolina: And now you're here at Melodifestivalen, and get a taste of… wait, get a feeling of what it's like being here. Have you considered Hooja in Melodifestivalen?

Hooja: Well… Never say never, we've gotten the question a few times and we've said no then, but you never know what the future holds! You don't want to say too much, you need to.. you need to watch your words.

Carolina: [In English] Käärijä help me here, I'm trying persuade them to do the Swedish Melodifestivalen.

Käärijä: I think the boys have to make öööh, to use what they want to do. Maybe… Maybe some day. For me, why I tried to go to Eurovision in 2023, we made the song Cha Cha Cha, and it's like the first demo, and I'm thinking, "okay, this is more than just only song, we can do something bigger" and one way how we can do something bigger, um, we can go to Eurovision, and uh, I watching a lot of Eurovision when I was young.

Mårdis: And if we want to go to Eurovision one day, we are very happy to have a Eurovision veteran with us, who can guide us through life.

Käärijä: Yes, I can be your manager. (Laughter)

Carolina: That is a brilliant idea! [In Swedish] We have this on tape now. [In English] We have it on record here.

Käärijä: Yes, yes!

Carolina: Now we come..

Käärijä: We have a plan, boys! Yes, let's go to studio. (Laughter)

Carolina: I will call the EBU immediately and say "Hi, I've got three guys who will SHAKE the Eurovision around". (Laughter) But I must also ask you, Käärijä, coming second after Loreen but winning the public vote… Are you still mad? Are people in Finland still mad at Sweden? [Bees note: The interviewer's tone of voice here is very genuine and almost… apologetic?]

Käärijä: I think that people in Finland, they are mad, but not really… I'm not. Of course I remember time after final where they give the points and I saw that Loreen get more points than me, I going to cry on toilet, but… (giggles) but yes, I'm ok and Loreen is amazing artist and person, human, I love Loreen. And after final, Loreen sent me the message to "Käärijä, if you need something…"

Hooja, breaking in: Except the price… (Laughter)

Käärijä: If you need money or something… (Laughter)

Mårdis: If you want to look at the price… (Laughter)

Käärijä: But yeah, good person and I… I'm not care any more, I'm ok (giggling)

Carolina: To wrap it up then, a final question I'm very curious about, will you proceed doing this (stumbles over words) [In Swedish] I'll just do it in Swedish - will the collaboration continue? [In English] Will you continue this collaboration?

Hooja: You never know! No but, uh, you do never know.

Mårdis: I think the thing with us, we only do things that are fun for us, it's the only thing we care about, that's what music is for us. If it's fun, we're going to do it, and we've had a lot of fun with this too, so I'm ending it just like Hooja, you never know! (Laughter)

Carolina: [In English] Ok, two diplomatic answers, that they had fun, Käärijä, the Finnish vote - this sounds like a dating show! - do you want to continue dating these boys?

Käärijä: You don't know yet! But I think, boys, you can't run away anymore, when you do work with Käärijä you stay with Käärijä. (Laughter) Oh yes, yes, yes (Laughter) But uh, yeah, I hope we do other songs and more songs, and uh, let's see!

Hooja: Yeah!

Carolina: Thank you very much! [In Swedish] Thank you so much, I'm crossing my fingers we get more from your collab in the future! (Collective "woo-hoo!")

[damiannasworld]

Kuriren Nöje IG story 31.01.25

[theplantbish]

So about those swedish boys...

[meerkathideout]

We know Jere overslept ("slept like a dog" according to Mårdis) when everyone else met up at the studio to write a song.

What I think happened is that Allu accidentally opened a file that was supposed to go on OF, and when Jere arrived at the studio his OF track had been made into SFB and they just ran with it.

[cityofchestpains]

älskar mårdis hjälm

[norrkatt]

mårdis 😭 vad gör du

[beesgobzzzing]

Pics from here.

(Never thought I would actually be using subscriptions to newspapers from my childhood to access pics of my faves but here we are.)

[beesgobzzzing]

Article translation

Hooja and Käärijä are performing together for the first time in the first semifinal of Melodifestivalen in Luleå. Maybe Hooja will be participating in Melodifestivalen for real in the future:

You never know, Hooja says. [Bees note: Their manager said in a podcast during the fall last year that they were not interested in competing in Melodifestivalen, so this is definitely a politicians answer.]

Among feather boas and pink sequins, dressed in their particular fur hats, baklavas and fleece jackets, Hooja and DJ Mårdhund has arrived in Luleå Energi Arena. [Bees note: Mårdis and myself has referenced this as Coop Arena before, and that used to be it's name. Like many arenas elsewhere, this one also takes it's name from their main sponsor, which changes every now and then.] They are debuting in Melodifestivalen. They do have someone who has a lot of experience from this setting with them - Finnish Eurovision favorite Käärijä. But they're not taking part in the actual competition.

Together they are here as an interval act in Melodifestivalen's first semi in Luleå, where they are performing their new song "San Francisco Boy".

The trio has taken a break in show preparations and sit down on some chairs by one of the arena entrances. Käärijä is not wearing a mask, but does wear sunglasses just like the duo from Gällivare.

You're a bit secretive, and I think it's fun to work with artists who don't only have the music but another level to it. You have nice clothes too, Käärijä says.

Outside the glass doors another masked artist, Fröken Snusk [Bees note: her artist name translates to Miss Dirty], appears and waves to her coworkers before she once again disappears into the darkness.

Why are you making a song together?

Why not? I listened to Hooja's music and thought "oh, Swedish music can sound like this". Of course in a positive way, Käärijä says and laughs.

He says it's not always easy to make music with other artists. But the collaboration with Hooja has been painless.

Everything went so quick from meeting for the first time until we had a finished song, DJ Mårdhund says.

It was destiny, Hooja adds.

(Text under the picture: Käärijä has watched Melodifestivalen at home in Finland and is happy that he gets to enter the stage in Sweden with Hooja. "Dreams can become true", DJ Mårdhund notes.)

That the song is called "San Francisco Boy" has nothing to do with anyone from the trio having been there.

We have seen San Francisco in pictures, very nice pictures in my opinion. They have a nice and big bridge, DJ Mårdhund says.

Maybe we should go there together and make "San Francisco Boy part 2", Käärijä says.

Käärijä competed for Finland in Eurovision in 2023 with the song "Cha Cha Cha". He came in second after Sweden and Loreen's song "Tattoo". Being in Melodifestivalen now is not something he minds.

It's fun, I love Loreen, and I like you too, Käärijä says and points at Hooja.

He won the audience vote in Eurovision and quickly became a fan favorite. Not least of all in Sweden, where his song climbed the charts. He wasn't quite prepared for the love from the Swedish audience.

There were a lot of Swedish people who wrote to me and said they liked my song. I didn't think Swedish people liked Finnish music, but it was really nice to see that the song charted so well in Sweden.

The trio has a very full schedule during these few days in Luleå. Hooja describes the whole event as "hullaballoo".

There are a lot of people running around but it's a fun show, he says.

Being the interval act together with Käärijä feels safe, according to the duo.

It feels good having you here, you've done this kind of thing before, Mårdis says and looks at Käärijä:

You're almost being a father figure for us.

But will being the interval act this year make Hooja want to compete for real in Melodifestivalen in the future?

You never know. We are not going to say: No, we would never do that. But we're not going to give a definite yes either, Hooja says.

Wow, what a politician's answer, DJ Mårdhund says.

Maybe I should get into politics instead, Hooja says.

[beesgobzzzing]

Hooja: What should we reveal…. Mårdis (off screen): Something! Hooja: Uh huh… We can tell you that… that… that we're probably going to maybe get a bit out of breath. Is that enough? Interviewer (I think???): Yes! …. or no… Mårdis (the rest is in English, to K): He's telling them too much about the number! (Laughter) K: Good boy, good one Hooja: Fuck K: You're fired

[beesgobzzzing]

Melodifestivalen coverage translation collection

From here

Hooja, Mårdis and Käärijä are at the arena.

The trio has spent the night together in a rented cabin outside of Luleå, where they celebrated the release of their single "San Francisco Boy" and now they have just arrived at Mello's press room to answer some questions.

We were first in line and we will post some videos, pictures, and talking points starting now. [Bees note: The article is a live commentary they kept running the whole night, I'm posting the snippets of K and Hooja that I can find]

--

The trio Hooja, Mårdis and Käärijä are soon going to perform their song live, for the first time in front of an audience. Friday's dress rehearsal starts at 19.00.

"It's not going to be just us on stage," Hooja reveals when we meet the trio at Coop Arena.

"And this choreography does demand some coordination. You almost fell down a few times at rehearsal yesterday," says Mårdis.

Is this the biggest number you've ever done?

"It's not just us on stage, like I said, it's pretty big - you can say that, yeah. With all the lights and everything happening on stage. But it is Mello, so that's how it's supposed to be."

--

Regarding the stay at the cabin I mentioned earlier, the musicians took the chance to get to know each other while they're performing at Mello. This was the third time they've met up, previously having met to record a music video and make the song.

On Thursday they rehearsed the number at Coop Arena during huge secrecy, and then they left for their cabin to have a celebratory night.

"We didn't ~party~ [Bees note: when someone up north calls something a party, it's sort of insinuating that you're getting black out drunk], but we did have a bit of a live stream into the late hours of the night when the song was released," Hooja tells us.

Mårdis turned to Jere Pöyhönen (Käärijä's real name) and said:

"Everyone was supposed to sleep at the cabin, but you didn't. Can you tell them why?"

"I don't sleep," the Finn replied, who has never been in northern Sweden before.

--

Hooja-time

All six competitors of the night have performed and we're closing in on the interval act. The expectations on Hooja and Käärijä are high - now we'll see if they can meet them. And how. [Bees note: I think they're referencing a Hooja song called "Levererar" here. It's about delivering a great performance on the dance floor while drunk. So lit. trans. of the wording is "we'll see if they deliver. And what." But it sounds weird to me to put it like that in English without an explanation. ]

--

Synths, inaudible lyrics and DANCE This is the first time we're seeing something this choreographed from Hooja and Mårdis.

Hooja's interval gets the loudest cheers from the audience of the night. Before the song San Francisco Boy there is a clip that shows Hooja walking across the border to Finland.

Then the treadmills start running and the trio works up a sweat (I'm assuming) as they walk briskly for the entire song. Tonight's winners.

[damiannasworld]

"Raccoon dog" 😂

(Mårdis = DJ Mårhund, mårhund is a raccoon dog in Swedish, supikoira in Finnish)

🎥 Mårdis

[beesgobzzzing]

I TOLD YOU

I TOLD YOU

I TOLD YOU

[beesgobzzzing]

the delulu isn't delulu any more Käärijä and Hooja are really working together. Or at least parts of Hooja is working with Käärijä.

SO! Hooja (both the main account, hoojahooja, and DJ Mårdhund's own account, mardismardgard) have been following Käärijä on IG since summer 2023, and Käärijä has been following them back since at LEAST March 29th this year.

Yesterday, November 25th, mardismardgard posts an IG story saying "Making music here in the machinery"

pay close attention to that piece of carpet at the bottom right of the photo.

today, November 26th, Mårdis keeps posting about being in Finland, and most importantly, posts a picture from his dinner, where a note on the table is visible with the text E-STUDIO WIFI

also today, Allu posts a picture from a studio, where there is an E-STUDIO sign clearly visible on the wall. Two people are seated at a mixing console and Käärijä is partially visible standing behind a mic.

notice that the carpet in this picture is identical to the sliver of carpet in the picture Mårdis posted?

it's fucking coming. they're cooking something. right now it's unclear if it's just Mårdis or if this is a full Käärijä x Hooja collab. but something sure is happening. words can not fucking express how hyped I am about this.

[meerkathideout]

Hooja is so tired and done, meanwhile Kä and Mårdis play with a hand puppet and yap.

Perfect live collaboration.