Q+A with Thelma's Dream
The swirling and invitingly doomy “Sofia” by Thelma’s Dream opened episode 27 of blank mood. The tune is from the band’s self-titled debut album, released in April 2025 by Noon Records. Thelma’s Dream is a four-piece band from Finland, crafting shoegaze with heft. Vocalist Jennamiia infuses their grunge-tinged shoegaze with a soft, sophisticated, and doomy dream pop flair. At moments, such as in their tune “Rooms”, you might imagine that Natalie Merchant has joined a goth pop band.
Eemeli, Joona and Jarno answered a few questions for blank mood, perfect for getting to know this band from Helsinki… also, they allude to some gigs and ‘big things’ on the international front for 2026. 👀 I recommend going to Helsinki anyway, find out why below.
//wendy
What’s the story behind the track “Sofia”?
Eemeli (guitar): Like many our songs, “Sofia” started with a great melodic bass line where I decided to try classic shoegaze guitar: reversed reverb full of distortion. For the second part, there's a little break to catch the breath before the swirling storm of guitars starts again. The song was perfected with catchy vocal melodies and the drum beat.
Joona (drums): I wasn't in the band yet when that song was made, but have to say that the swinging drum beat is fucking great and I love to play that. The song undeniably has everything I want from shoegaze, red walls of sound and a gentle sway. It floats.
How does it feel to have your debut album out? From where did you get inspiration for the album's songs, artwork and mood?
Jarno (bass): It feels great! And we’re grateful for Noon Records handling the release, it’s amazing to have an actual LP out. When writing songs, we rely heavily on the mood and aim to keep things somewhat slow and dark. I guess that’s the essence of Thelma’s Dream. The cover photo was shot by our talented friend Mira Ahlstedt. We had a bunch of alternatives with hazy sunsets, but we ended up choosing the boldest one. I think it captures the perfect balance between harsh and beautiful.
Joona: Feels good, I love how the cover photo is taken from Tervasaari, where I partied with my friends during my high-school years and post-high-school years. Lots of booze, poppers and sadboi moments on that beach.
How did you come to the name Thelma's Dream for the band?
Jarno: We wanted a name that’s mysterious and reflects the band’s dreamy sound. So we thought it would be fitting to name the band as ”someone’s dream” and then Sami, our very first guitarist, said how about Thelma’s Dream? The name resonated with rest of the band, so there it was!
Thelma’s Dream released an EP on cassette in 2021 - can you tell a bit about those songs?
Jarno: The EP came together when Eemeli joined the band as guitarist. He had demos for ”Dawn” and ”Days of Bloom” and then there was the bass riff for ”Violet”. We started to shape those song out and ”Underwater” just came out very intuitively when jamming in our rehearsal place.
Can you give a bit of background on the band members?
Jarno: We all live in Helsinki, but our drummer Joona is the only one who’s raised up here. Me and our singer Jennamiia are originally from a little town called Imatra in Eastern Finland, and Eemeli is from central Finland’s Jyväskylä.
Joona: I'm from Helsinki (u know Stadi) and it has been great to see how Turku scene, Järvenpää scene and now Imatra scene have all come here. Made a lot of new friends :).
What is the shoegaze scene like in Helsinki and how do you fit into it?
Joona: Hmm, I think Helsinki itself is too small to have an actual scene of any particular alternative genre. We do have good underground scene in general though, that features all kinds of different indie bands. All that stuff is pretty marginal here, but the bands stand up to international comparison. But yes, in the past six or seven years there has definitely been a some kind of new shoegaze trend going on in Finland as well. Besides us, bands like Neiti Olga, Radio Supernova, Ruissalo Amping, sometimes my other project Ghosts on TV and Hattara have all made some shoegaze music in their own terms. Who am I forgetting? Sorry to those! I think that we fit into that scene well, because we are maybe a bit closer to dream pop. Also we have this little gothic theme going on, and we sing in English.
How do you feel about issues in the music / creative industries like AI-generated music, Spotify, or any others you feel strongly about?
Joona: Well I just ditched Spotify because King Gizzard and Xiu Xiu left, so kudos to them for reacting to Daniel Ek's huge military investments. Some minor change is possible if bigger bands start to react. Buy CD or vinyl and go to gigs. Maybe use ChatGPT to check the grammar on these kind of interviews, but don't get too paranoid or co-dependent.
Jarno: I’m just generally pissed off that we’re force-fed AI from every direction be it music, visual art or news articles.
Does the band have any plans for the rest of 2025 or into 2026?
Jarno: We have some gigs coming up in the fall and we’ve just started to work on new music. There’s also international plans for 2026, but it’s too early to reveal anything specific at this point :)
Joona: Big things coming!
You can follow Thelma’s Dream on Bandcamp, Instagram and Facebook. Watch their video “Dawn” on YouTube.
If you like pizza and shoegaze, there’s a place for you in Helsinki. It’s called Daddy Greens Pizzabar. They used to have a pizza called “Shoegazer” with Swiss chard, roasted walnuts and truffle creme. If you’re in town and stop in for a slice or pie, ask for it - maybe they’ll put it back on the menu!
