The Bad Penny (beta)

Finnish doom-metal cult band Hooded Menace can come across as, well, a wee bit intimidating. But the Finnish Grammy (equivalent)-nominated trio of vocalist Harri Kuokkanen, guitarist/bassist Lasse Pyykkö and drummer Pekka Koskelo temper those fears by throwing curveballs every so often. Look no further than the out-of-nowhere cover of Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer” that they surprised fans with three months ago.

Turns out all three members of Hooded Menace have a soft spot. For his own part, Kuokkanen touched base with The Bad Penny shortly after the October release of his band’s smoldering seventh record, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration (Season of Mist), to talk about his coterie of cats (and one dog).

Alrighty, gotta start with the tackiest question, to get your groans out of the way: Where did you come up with the names for each of your pets?

Hekla (7-year-old dog) and Touko (6-year-old cat) were already living with my partner when we moved[in] together, and so they had names already. Milli-Maila (cat, 2 years old) and Kaarna (cat, 1.5 years old) are both rescue cats who we adopted when they already had names, so we didn’t want to change them, as the names were fitting. Except Milli-Maila was originally just “Milli”; Maila was added as a tribute to Maila Nurmi [actress who created and played the film character Vampira]. 

How did each of your pets come into your life?

We heard about Milli-Maila from the local rescue organization. She was part of a litter that was born wild into some engine room and rescued there.

Kaarna was found with his sibling from a tree somewhere in Spain. They were just kittens shouting there, and the owner of Hekla’s sister spotted them while traveling [in a] van and took care of them. The other one found a new home immediately, but Kaarna lived the van life for a year. He eventually didn’t get used to it, so the owner had to find a more suitable home for him. Everything clicked when he joined our home. He has settled down better than ever imagined. 

Was Hekla’s patience tested progressively with each new pet you brought into your family?

Hekla loves cats, so she has always been very welcoming to any cat members of the family. When Kaarna (the most recent newcomer) joined, Hekla was the first to get into contact with him, and Kaarna, being used to dogs, bonded with her immediately.

Please share the greatest anecdote – humorous or otherwise – involving your pets.

I don’t know about an anecdote, but Touko and Kaarna are having the greatest bromance of all time right now [see the post-concluding pic below]. They go everywhere and do pretty much everything together. They wrestle and cuddle nonstop. It’s pretty heart-melting to watch.

Which one is the most oblivious?

Hekla, although being the largest of them all, can be like, never making a spectacle of herself. If she does, that’s usually a sign to hurry outside with the poop bag, haha!

Milli-Maila also enjoys some privacy and tends to spend a lot of time behind the books on the book shelf. I think she learned that when Touko was chasing her (Touko is too big to fit there), and it’s also a good place to hide if we have some guests. Milli is very relaxed with her household people but is still very reserved with any stranger, especially men. She usually goes unnoticed by the guests because of that.

Which one is the most hilarious?

They all are in their own way. Touko may have one of the funniest habits, though: he likes to lick and bite the vinyl record spines and their plastic sleeves, especially in the morning, when he is waiting for the food. It’s usually the sound I wake up to.

Which one is the most dominant?

Touko can be like that, and especially with Milli-Maila, he used to be a petty asshole sometimes. But it changed when Kaarna joined in. 

Which one is the most mischievous?

None of them really are. But Milli-Maila has this habit of digging plant pots in the middle of the night and occasionally dropping the pots down to the floor. When we tried to pre-grow some sprouts, she was always running around with the sprouts in her mouth as well, haha!

Was there a specific time or instance when you felt most overwhelmed by your pets? After all, you’re outnumbered (unless you’re sharing them with someone else).

Having moved houses recently, it was something with three cats. Kaarna is the only one who’s always relaxed with anything, but the others we’re pretty stressed out when spending a couple of days in a temporary Airbnb flat with them. It’s always a drama when trying to get them into the carriers and heartbreaking when they are stressing themselves so badly.

Would you consider bringing another pet into the mix?

Right now, we have it perfect. There was room for the third cat, and it got fixed with Kaarna. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to a prospective pet owner?

I think, like with any non-human animals, it is important to acknowledge and respect their own way of being and take it into consideration when making decisions about their lives. And taking care of their health is mandatory too, regular health checks etc., as people can be easily fooled with their non-human friends not expressing pain as used to with fellow humans.

But about cats specifically, I think the crucial thing is also to be responsible with cats’ living surroundings. It’s not responsible for the cat’s sake (their own safety) nor the birds’ sake to let them roam free outside. If you adopt, you ought to take care of their quality oxf life indoors and/or have the guarded outdoor activities with them.

For more on Hooded Menace, visit their Bandcamp page.

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This entry was posted on 12/11/2025 at 7:31 am and is filed under Features, Interviews, Pet Sounds with tags animal rescue, animals, ” the band said. “Nothing else was around for miles and this dog obviously didn’t have a collar or anything, cats, Hooded Menace, Pet Sounds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.