Naked Idol
For our very first interview, we want to let you discover a band that some may see as pretty known when in reality most don't know them yet. I personally find they deserve to be much more known than they are. This band is named NAKED IDOL
Terve,
Kiitos for letting us interview you. Let's begin with discovering a bit more about the band. How did everything start ? What's the story of the band ?
After Lordi I concentrated for a few years on my business, which was manufacturing road cases for bands as well as working in a record company. After a while I started going through old songs with an old friend of mine, Jones, with whom I had a band when we were teenagers. Instead of jamming the old songs we started creating new material and liked it so much, that we decided to form a band around it. The material was a lot different to what it is today, as it was more punk, and there was a decision of changing to the style we do now, along the way. In the beginning everything was supposed to be just for fun and more as a hobby, but then we thought that the music we created could be something people out there could enjoy and that’s when we chose to take it to the next level.
You have a music style what can hardly be really categorized. Is there a aim on it ? From where do you find your inspiration ?
It has all happened naturally and kind of by accident. Like I said earlier, the decision of ditching the punk and being heavier was made, but everything after that has just happened. Our sound is not necessarily anything that has been thought out, but more a case of being influenced by certain bands that we listened to as we grew up or music that we listen to now and mix it all up. So, it’s a hybrid of bands like KISS, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Alice In Chains, WASP, Alice Cooper and Stone Temple Pilots, to name a few. All those bands have inspired us and I’m sure you can hear it on our songs and in our sound.
After releasing some singles, you released an EP some months ago called « Filthy Fairies ». Tell us more about it. What was atmosphere you wanted to give on it ?
After a lot of changes in band members, we really wanted to get something more released than just a few singles. Due to the fact that there’s so much stuff thrown on peoples faces because of internet and social media, their attention span is so much shorter and therefore, instead of releasing an album with 10-12 songs, we decided to release three 5-song EP’s within a few years. It’s easier to “digest” than a full album. I’ve noticed a lot of bands in our genre seem to do that these days – not to mention artists like Beyonce and such that instead of an album, release only single songs.
After we got Malcolm on lead vocals, we thought this would be the right time to record the cd and release it. Many of those songs on the EP were recorded by ex-members and rerecorded by someone else, because they weren’t a part of the band anymore, so in a way it took really long to make the record. Mr Lordi’s vocal parts were recorded, like 1½ years before the cd got released, so it was a long journey, but it was worth it.
As far as an atmosphere… You know, we just wanted to come up with an EP that was straight ahead rock and would hopefully be enjoyed by many listeners. It was very little planned, actually.
When ordering the Deluxe Edition of your EP, we also get a plectrum but also a condom,what is pretty unusual, Who had the idea ? And why ?
Well, the idea was actually mine. I thought that it would be cool to give out something that’s not just a thing that everybody puts in their special editions and yet would be very rock n’ roll. Apparently it was a good idea, since we’ve received a lot of great feedback from it. Also the print on the condom “Release the Fairies” should make people understand that although we are serious about our music, we have that tongue-in-cheek side in us. People tend to take some things a bit too serious. In the end of the day it’s only rock n’ roll…
If you need to choose one in all the songs you made, which one would it be and why ? What do you want to say with your lyrics, if anything at all ?
That’s a hard one… It’s mostly hard to pick just one out of a bigger bunch and I feel like my favorite song even changes from time to time, but I think I’d go with… Jane. I wrote the core of the song when I was still a member of Lordi, but never had the chance to show it to Mr Lordi. I don’t know if it would have ever made it to a Lordi record, though, especially in those days… Anyway, we thought we needed a ballad or something close to one and that’s when I remembered that song. I changed some bits and pieces here and there, demoed it and thought it didn’t turn out that great. I thought it might make it to a b-side of a single, a bonus track or something like that. Turned out everybody else in the band liked the song and I just didn’t see its potential right away. After the actual recording, even I begun to dig the song, and nowadays I really like it.
What are your future plans ? Releasing an album ? Some gigs ?
We’re planning on releasing another two EP’s, one late this year or early 2015 and the other maybe six months to a year later. Plans are also to start booking gigs after the release of the next EP. We just need to make a deal with a decent booking agency for that to happen.
Some of the people who will read this interview don’t know your music. What can you say for giving them desire to discover you ?
I think Naked Idol is a band worth checking out. Our music is a nice combination of 80’s hardrock and metal, 90’s grunge and todays modern sound. All the great reviews we received for our first EP “Filthy Fairies” proves that our music can be enjoyed by many people and you, who’s reading this interview, should check us out and find out if you are one of them!
If you want to recommend some Finnish artists to discover, which ones would they be ?
I don’t really follow the Finnish music scene, so that’s a really hard question, so I’m going to go with something really weird and say… Kirka! Check out his record “Spell”. If I understood right he was asked to join Deep Purple in the 80’s. Great voice! If he was still alive, I’d try to get him to do a duet on a Naked Idol song!
Thank you for giving us some of your time. Is there a last word you want to say ?
Thanks for doing this interview with me! Check us out and keep rocking!
(Interviewed : Magnum Interviewer : Isa)
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Twitter : @NakedIdolBand