Am 1. März 2024 wird das neue Album „Exit Emotions“ veröffentlicht. Mit gespannter Erwartung blicken Fans auf dieses Werk, das eine Fortsetzung der künstlerischen Reise der Band verspricht. Im Vorfeld des Albumstarts hatten wir die Gelegenheit, mit Joonas, Gitarrist von Blind Channel über ihre kreative Prozesse, die Entstehung der Songs und die tiefgreifenden Einflüsse zu sprechen, die in „Exit Emotions“ zu hören sein werden. Im folgenden Interview teilen sie Einblicke in die Entstehung des Albums, die Zusammenarbeit mit renommierten Produzenten und die emotionale Reise, die sie mit Fans teilen möchten.
Frontstage Magazine: The new album „Exit Emotions“ is set to be released on March 1, 2024. How would you describe the creative process of this album compared to your previous works? Were there specific influences or challenges that played a role this time around?
Joonas: Compared to our previous album ”Lifestyles Of The Sick & Dangerous” this time we wanted to approach the new album from a live perspective. If we’re going slower, let’s go slow – If we start the moshpit, let’s not stop it. Overall we would say that we’re going a bit heavier on this album. With the last album we did not really have co-writers. This time we wanted to expand our creative team and we worked with Johnny Andrews (Motionless In White, Three Days Grace) and Jason Aalon Butler (vocals in Fever333) in America and with Dan Lancaster (BMTH, Muse, One OK Rock) and singer-songwriter Rory in UK to mention a few. The track ‘FLATLINE’ was born with the German DJ duo Blyne so there’s definitely a lot of versatility. Since almost all of us in the band are into songwriting it can be pretty chaotic sometimes and it can freak people out, haha .
Frontstage Magazine: „Flatline,“ „Happy Doomsday,“ and „Deadzone“ are already known as classics from the album. Can you tell us about the creative and writing process of these songs? Was there a particular story or message you wanted to convey through these tracks?
Joonas: Happy Doomsday was the first track we wrote on this album but we finished it last if I remember right. The first demo was written when covid was still a big topic on the news. Flatline was written with German DJ duo Blyne and we wanted to write a crazy song where we can combine our strengths and it turned out to be one of our favorite live tracks ever. You can hear these Berlin underground rave vibes combined to the low tuned nu-metal riffs. With Deadzone we were staying in Los Angeles at the end of 2022 where we met Johnny Andrews who had the title and a raw demo and we absolutely fell in love with it. We wrote the whole day in our house and we already knew we managed to do something really great. We all love this track. On this day it has reached the top 30 of Billboard Mainstream Rock and it has blown up pretty well especially in the USA.
Frontstage Magazine: Your music combines various genres, from Nu-Metal to Pop and Hip-Hop. How did you manage to integrate these diverse influences into „Exit Emotions,“ and how do you define your own unique sound?
Joonas: Since the beginning we’ve used the term ‘Violent Pop’ to describe our music. We’re definitely a modern day rock/metal band and it has been pretty natural to combine our favorite elements of music from various genres. The most important thing for us is that we want to write great songs no matter how heavy or easy the song is. As long as the audience and listeners get something from it and it resonates with them. Some of us are old metal heads and some of us are into modern pop music and hip-hop and we all take part in what comes to songwriting. I’d say it’s like a soup from different worlds but the balance between the flavors still exists. Heavy riffs and bouncing rhythms with boy band choruses.
Frontstage Magazine: „Rohkea rokan syö“ translates to „Fortune Favours The Brave.“ How does this idea reflect in the songs and overall mood of „Exit Emotions“?
Joonas: It has been our mentality since the day we started this band. We’re from a country of six million people, from a city in Northern Finland 600 kilometers away from the capital. It’s not easy to break through from this kind of setting. Even though in the north we have this thing called “Pohjalainen hulluus” which translates to northern madness. Our music is the same; it could be too heavy for the mainstream audience and too easy for the true metalheads. This is the thing we and of course the fans absolutely disagree with. I’d say we have found a golden recipe of being a metal boy band because that is what we are. We love to play heavy music with the small twinkle in the corner of the eye. On our shows you can either jump and sing along or get yourself pumped with the adrenaline in the middle of the mosh pit. Or you just simply do both. We’ve kept banging our heads through the wall for years and when you’re brave enough and never give up you might achieve something big. We’re still heading there but it looks pretty good so far.
Frontstage Magazine: You’ve already achieved significant success in Finland. How does this local grounding influence your music, and are there specific elements on the new album that particularly emphasize your Finnish roots?
Joonas: Of course it helps us to have a clear local grounding in our home country and play arenas for example. Our fans are super dedicated here as well and they are simply amazing. It has been awesome to notice that it has been grounded to the rest of Europe as well and also to North America. Venues are also much bigger than they used to be. Especially looking forward to the German shows which are gonna be huge for us. ‘Wolves In California’ is one of the high speed tracks from the new album and it has this line on the song “The night is darkest just before the dawn but where I’m from the sun don’t rise at all.” We are six Finnish wolves far from home trying to make it and we will always be ready for everything, whatever it takes.
Frontstage Magazine: Some of the songs on the album were co-written by producers like Johnny Andrews. How was the collaboration with these creative minds, and how have they shaped the sound of „Exit Emotions“?
Joonas: Collaboration with Johnny was super fun and pretty natural. He’s an older guy who has been working with a lot of great bands and artists but also with Finnish band Apocalyptica. He immediately managed to adapt to our songwriting process and we noticed he’s truly a pro. He brought a brilliant demo to this session and we were blown away. That’s when we wrote Deadzone. I think it was one of the key tracks from the beginning and we noticed some important elements we want to use on this album. We will definitely write more with Johnny in the future.
Frontstage Magazine: The title of the album, „Exit Emotions,“ leaves room for interpretation. What emotional journey or message do you want to convey to listeners with this album?
Joonas: This album gathered feelings from our busy, amazing but also rough years after the last album. We wanted to make an album for the people who want to shut down their negative feelings for a while when they do listen to this album or these songs live. This is the album where you should be able to clear your head from all the shit and live a little. Exit Emotions.
Frontstage Magazine: After success at the Eurovision Song Contest, you’ve expanded your fame internationally. How does this global perspective influence your music and your approach to your career, especially in the context of „Exit Emotions“?
Joonas: We’ve always been a band who wants to make it globally. We’re making this music to our listeners and most of all to ourselves. We want to process our thoughts and feelings about this life and interact with people on the record and of course when we’re performing live. We don’t feel that we’re having any creational pressure. Of course radios have their own rules or in America radios might want some a bit more straightforward tracks without too much experimental stuff. But still we’re not writing music for the radios since we’re a metal band who wants to stand out from all the other bands. Like someone once said: the Backstreet Boys of the metal scene.
Fotocredit: Natalia Pastakeda
