Hello guys and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. You are a particularly new band, releasing your
debut EP in January of 2018. Can you tell us a few things about the formation of the band and how you came from the first jams to recording an EP?
Adam Huttunen : Hi there! Going back to the start, me and Martin were classmates in a songwriter school that was geared towards making pop music. We connected through the realization that commercialization of art, at least as a premise for the art itself, really sucked the soul and purpose out of the entire thing...
So we started recording some folksy songs I had written and quickly found out that we 'clicked' in terms of what direction we wanted them to go. I remember I was nervous to ask him if he wanted to start a band with me, and was kinda surprised he said yes, haha. That was something like 4 years ago and thankfully we're still on the same path even though we've evolved a bit since!
As for recording an EP, I believe it first made sense to do that once we had built some kind of audience. Not many people would've had the patience to listen to an entire EP from some band they'd never even heard of, I think. Thankfully, some youtube channels and blogs picked up some of our singles and that got us some followers. Maybe an album next? :thinking:
What were your inspirations and influences while growing up and more importantly now that you are recording your own music?
Adam Huttunen : Most artists I've seen get this question always seem to have some story about their parents listening to Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. My mother listened to really terrible "dansband", I'm not sure if you have this phenomenon in Greece. It's a mix of country and pop made for couples to dance to. The most cheesy lyrics. My father wasn't much of a music fan I think. He had some Elton John records that I delved into, but not much else.
So I discovered most of the stuff myself. It was all the regular stuff to begin with, Backstreet boys, Eminem, you name it. How I went from there to where I am now, with The War on Drugs, José Gonzalez, Ben Howard, Bon Iver, Ry X, Daughter etc... It's a mystery and a lottery. But I'm happy with the grand prize.
I have a Spotify playlist with all my favourite songs by the way. It's great. https://open.spotify.com/user/huttunizle/playlist/0Yecytp5jmVMhZyN3TgC8C?si=kSEf0oI1THqQ5jYBOKW_4Q
Coming from Sweden which has a very famous reputation for much heavier sounding bands how does it feel to play your own kind of folk rock and is it more difficult for you to find your place in the music scene?
Adam Huttunen : I think we have some prominent artists in our little field as well, like José Gonzalez and Daniel Norgren. But yeah, I'm not sure about the music scene. We're certainly outsiders. Most of it circulates around indie pop, I feel. We're not cool like that! But we're cool with that.
Your EP Tiger's Tongue has a very atmospheric mood, mellow and sentimental. It is a bit different than, say, How I Leapt From The Stratosphere which was released a year before and comes out as a happier more optimistic song. Was that a conscious choice, or rather what just happened to come out of your songwriting sessions?
Adam Huttunen : We're generally moving towards more ambient stuff right now. How I Leapt was an odd one, I don't even know where it came from. But it made me happy and it was fun to do. I try to be as unconscious as I can, whatever comes is what goes. There's no strategy because there's no ultimate goal to achieve success or whatever. We just make music that we want to make. And sometimes we're happy, believe it or not! Haha.
I really love your lyrics. Dark and deep, quite personal and with strong emotions. What is the inspiration behind them?
Adam Huttunen : Thank you! I guess it's like a therapy session in some ways, or a public diary. It's a way for me to turn an abstract feeling into something concrete and eternal. And to understand it myself. A lot of the times it's just a stream of unconsciousness when I write, where words almost seem to come to me from depths of my mind that I can't reach normally. There has been moments when I've written something and thought, "holy shit, that's how I feel!" as if I was listening to someone elses song. It's strange. Anyway, the inspiration is always from my own experiences and feelings. I guess I'm a quite miserable guy haha.
What are your future plans? Any live dates apart from performing on top of rocks?
Adam Huttunen : We've only ever performed anything live on that rock! True story. I've had the idea that when we play, it has to be REALLY good. It has to be a real show. I didn't want it to be us, on a stage with a red lamp and a blue lamp, just playing songs. I wanted a visual performance too, be it with creative lighting or projections or whatever. But that's difficult to do for a bunch of reasons, when you're just a small band with no financial muscles or backing. But I'm slowly coming down from my high horse. So maybe soon.
We are recording stuff right now. I'm wise from experience to not set the bar too high, but there will be something in not too distant of a future. World exclusive scoop for ya! Haha.
Interview Editor : Marios Rigopoulos , Chris Mouskos
Black Velvet Radio
