Velocity (1996)
Pekka Alisaari (vocals, guitars):
- This was our first good one. Released at home on our own Penni records, in Scandinavia on AWSF, in Central-Europe by IRS, in U.S.A. by Ichiban/Altered records (well, the company was struck by a divorce so the case was just a short honeymoon). Velocity was also for sale in Thailand and Malaysia. Metal Hammer wrote that ”It would be too easy for the Penniless People of Bulgaria to actually be from Bulgaria. Instead the band are a fourpiece from Finland, a place hardly renowned as a rock’n’roll hotbed. But don’t let that put you off because PPOB are a fine punk band. Motorhead, for instance, is a storming Pixies-like song of a kind that Frank Black seems to have forgotten how to write these days… PPOB are obviously influenced by seminal American punk bands… but they’ve got enough character… not to sound too much like their heroes… On the strength of ’Velocity’, their third album, gigging through the rest of Europe could spread their reputation.” In fact we toured in Europe for two months, playing over 50 gigs in more than a dozen countries. The head act on the tour was Mucky Pup (U.S.A.), and we come along quite well. We still get fan mails from the American crew. A few years ago we found out that Velocity had been competing over there for National Association of Independent Record Distributor’s Indie Award in the Hard Music category. Other minor names running for NAIRD awards in New Orleans were Tricky, NOFX, Bob Mould, Graham Parker, Coolio, Bomb the Bass, Sepultura, Ani Difranco.

Joe (1998)
Kimmo Kurittu (bass guitars, vocals):
- We emigrated from People of Bulgaria, buried Penni records, and turned frankly Penniless. Pekka’s and Lasse’s younger brother Ossi joined us. Joe became our pass port to Roskilde festival, where we had a lot of great moments and proved we could rock strongly for one and half an hour, even in the middle of the night. Joe was released in Scandinavia on AWSF and distributed in GAS (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) by Indigo. Joe got both good and splendid critics in Finland, Sweden and Germany. We even got a manager, filmed our four-day trip to Roskilde and back, and a year later used the material for a video. ”Beautiful” was a minor hit on MTV Nordic, viewed about once or twice a week on Alternative Nation. In 1999 we toured for 10 gigs in Germany. Yes, Roskilde was the thing, and it really got us into a weird situation: we a Finnish band singing in English, made a cover in Swedish, ’Sommarbarn’ by Swedish local celebrity Eva Dahlgren, for Radio Extrem. I built our virtual home too, for the moment on www.penniless.biz.

Anola (2001)
Lasse Alisaari (drums):
- Anola was a break through. The single ’Adam’s Apple Pie’ was a minor radio hit in Finland and Sweden. Chef as I am, I made a recepy to it. Our manager Gunnar is in love with the opening words: ’all my bones, all my bones are full of you, if you go i’ll feed the dog’. Anola is regarded as a classic album among indie lovers, here in Finland. As ’Beautiful’ was re-recorded for Anola, we came to have three video hits from this cd, ’Beautiful’, ”Never Forget You’, ’Imbecile’ were all in heavy use on MTV Nordic’s Alternative Nation. ’Imbecile’ was also showed on Viva and on other more local channels in Germany. BBC/Radio 1 dj Steve L. played Save in his program, and ’Imbecile’ landed on Xfm’s (Capital Radio) playlist in London. We got songs on compilations in U.K. and Germany (Rolling Stone, Visions). We were interviewed abroad too, and got thrilling reviews. ’Anola by Penniless is one of the best records of 2001. With wonderful pop melodies, rocking guitars, and a lot of humour, Penniless will storm the world…But they definitively have their own sound. This record is made for alternative radio and college radio stations. I don't know how, but these guys know how to blend 20 years of alternative rock into a mix that both features great melodies and advanced rock.’ (KindaMuzik) ’…their own mangle of quirky pop and twisted guitars is genuinely enjoyable…They may have shortened their name, but I doubt they´ll stay penniless for long.’ (Kerrang!) ’Impoverished by name, but wealthy in tuneage, with melodies that unforgettable your etched brain will seek an injunction against them, pop-rock fans hail Penniless from heaven.’ (Metal Hammer) The best one was written for Popmatters, U.S.A., but it’s a long story which should be read on the whole. What the hell, these are just words anyway. Stay tuned, get yourselves a copy! By the way, Anola was out in scandinavia on AWSF once again, and on Ulftone/Edel in Central-Europe.

All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait (2004)
Mikko Pere (guitars, vocals):
- We developed our pop skills, perhaps a litte bit too much. But in Denmark, where we never have had any really smashing times, apart from our Roskilde gig, they got fond of ’Amen’ on the national channel DR/P3. The reviews were not bad, and the songs were not bad. But seemed to be hard to live up to the Anola reputation. ’Story Of A Punk’ was on some compilation in U.K. and the album AGTCTTWW was released in Scandinavia on AWSF (surprise surprise), in BeNeLux by LC Music, and in U.K./Eire by Shellshock. As Anola had got radio time on a few college stations in U.S.A., All Goodies got too. And anyway, go get it from ITunes and check out if it was that bad, really.

The Attraction (2007)
Ossi Alisaari (vocals, guitars):
- Not much to say for the moment, as it is still to be released (on AWSF in Scandinavia, February). Twelve new songs, this time all but one are mine. The album is perhaps a bridge between Anola and AGTCTTWW, anyway more rock than in 2004. Songs to be remebered, I think. ’Messenger’ is the first video shot. The album was mixed by the same guy who mixed Anola, Jyrki Tuovinen, whose references are nowadays very impressive. He has recently been working with such different acts as The Crash and Lordi. Jyrki didn’t do the work alone, he had company by Arttu Peljo, singer/songwriter/producer in Firevision. See you on your local record store, or some of you on the net, I bet!