BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Dr. Mandy Ashley never thought she’d revisit her teenage rock star past playing bass with the Finnish band Apulanta - now one of the most successful bands in Finland - until she was 80 years old and writing her memoirs.
Then came a documentary about the band, four sold-out reunion concerts and a coffee shop and museum. Ashley will spend several days in September in Finland doing and seeing all those things with her two oldest children 9-year-old Asa and 7-year-old Sabine.
“It will be an eye-opening experience for them that I had a life before they were born,” she said, laughing. “They’ve never heard their mom or dad burst out in another language. I think it would be fun for them.”
Ashley is now a pediatric dentist who owns SKY Pediatric Dentistry, but nearly 25 years ago she was an exchange student in Finland. She had just graduated from high school at age 16 and was excited about having a gap year before college.
“I was a Rotary (Youth) Exchange student. In Finland, they have music and theater high schools,” she said. “I ended up by luck going to a music, theater and language high school.”
While there, Ashley was asked to play for Apulanta, which when translated in English means “manure.” The guys thought the name was funny, she said.
“I had no idea how to play bass. The guys taught me,” she said. “We would play covers for the first three months.”
The group, which has a sound similar to Metallica, then entered the Eurovision contest.
“It starts off as a local competition, then a regional competition, then finals,” Ashley said. “I don’t remember where we placed in the finals, but we got a record deal out of it.”
Apulanta cut the record one month before Ashley left Finland.
“My dream was to be a dentist, so I left to go to college,” she said.
The band kept going, Ashley said.
“The guy that took over for me on bass was Tuukka Temonen. He was my host brother,” she said. “He was actually really good at it. He played bass until 2004.”
Temonen also directed the band’s videos while continuing to play bass. He left Apulanta to pursue directing full time, Ashley said.
“It took him a few years to get a big project. He did a documentary on Finland’s female president,” she said. “It won a lot of accolades and awards.”
Temonen won 890,000 Euro, which equals 1 million U.S. dollars, to make his dream project, which was a documentary about Apulanta, Ashley said. The film is called “Tait Meista Kauniis,” which in English means “You Made Us Beautiful,” one of the band’s songs.
“He got the funding early last year and started filming last fall and wrapped up in the spring,” she said.
The world premiere will be Sept. 7, Ashley said.
“They’re flying me to Helsinki, and I’m going to walk the red carpet,” she said.
The band members also thought it would be fun to do a reunion tour. The sold-out gigs will be Sept. 1-4, Ashley said.
“It was full distortion. There were no discernible notes,” she said, laughing about how she played in the past. “I haven’t picked up a bass in 20 years. The guys promised I could play unplugged. By far the band is better off with me being a pediatric dentist.”
Ashley has learned a lot about Finland in the 1990s since she left. While there, she didn’t realize the country was in the middle of a major economic depression.
“I was this American who dropped in their town. Nobody ever told me that,” she said. “I never realized that until I sat down and read about the movie.”
Many of the kids had a lot of angst, Ashley said.
“What was really happening was that their parents lost their jobs,” she said. “It was about wanting to believe in something.”
Being in a rock band at 17 was fun, Ashley said.
“I was so incredibly focused in high school. I graduated from college in two years,” she said. “It was a great time to have a gap year. It was a buffer that added happiness to my life.”
While in the band she wrote a song called “Varoraka,” which in English means “Beware Snot.”
“They still play it,” she said.
The film is more PG than anything, Ashley said.
“Tuukka wants to present it as a good family story so he wants me there with my kids,” she said.
The documentary will be in Finnish with English subtitles, Ashley said.
“He wants to get it in to festivals in the U.S.,” she said.
The guys of Apulanta have made a name for themselves, Ashley said. The drummer and guitar player are original members.
“They’re by far the biggest band in Finland. Their productions are amazing,” she said. “The kids are excited about there being fire indoors and there would be flames and we wouldn’t have to run away.”
There has even been a book written called “Apulanta” by Ari Vantanen, Ashley said.
“Everyone knows there was a girl named Mandy who was in the band and played really badly,” she said, laughing.
Apulandia, the coffee shop and museum, will open Sept. 9 in Lahti, Ashley said.
“They have some of my old things,” she said.
Ashley has been letting her kids listen to the music and speaking Finnish to get back in the swing of things.
“Now they can sing along,” she said.
Ashley’s practice won’t shut down while she’s gone. Dr. Kyle Reynolds, her partner, will be there to help kids with their teeth.
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Information from: Daily News, https://www.bgdailynews.com
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