Those mad Finns are at it again. If they’re not hooning souped-up cars around in the snow or basking in stupidly hot saunas, they’re making wonderful noisy music…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Turku, Finland.
How did you meet?
Matti (vocals), Kasper (guitar) and Markus (drums) were friends before founding Awake Again. The band started as a trio and Matti was playing bass along lead vocals. Ville (bass) joined the band when Awake Again started to look for a separate bass player. He was friend of the band through Turku’s music scene.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Matti, Kasper and Markus founded the band in 2013 and Ville joined in 2015.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Being “awake again” is getting back to a mental state of a small child. When you are a kid you see the world without pre-assumptions or stereotypes or other general frames of thinking and cognitive biases that blur your vision of the world. In this childlike wonder the world is exciting and vibrant filled with potential.
What are your influences?
When forming the band the main influence was Enter Shikari. Now we describe ourselves “when the electronic mayhem of Enter Shikari meets System of a down wrapped in the production of Bring Me The Horizon”. We enjoy all kinds of music so we draw inspiration from many places.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is energetic, powerful, surprising and eclectic. It’s heavy and melodic but can also be intricate and subtle. With us you can’t never be sure what’s coming. Diversity is one of our strengths. We like to think that we have somewhat unique sound in all that sonic madness.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Human condition and personal development are some of the main themes. We also address the state of world like ecological crisis etc. and try to link it in the previously mentioned themes.
If you like what we do, consider joining us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We are a very energetic band. It’s like watching somebody doing downhill skiing. It’s fast, exciting and it looks like the skier is going to crash at any moment but s/he doesn’t. There is very little pre rehearsed or planned in our shows so it’s an unique experience every time. At the moment we have played little over 100 shows.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
When we were playing Ruisrock here in Turku Matti, our singer, ran into the ocean during a song. We played on this stage that was close to the water and when this instrumental bridge part kicked in Matti sprinted into the ocean, took a dip in the water, and ran back. It was super close that he made it back in time to sing when the vocals were supposed to come back.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Our drummer Markus uses DW acrylic series with two toms and couple of cymbals so nothing crazy. Kasper uses ESP LTD EC-1000 Evertune guitar and Axe-Fx guitar processor. Ville uses Yamaha Attitude Ltd 2 Billy Sheehan signature bass and HX Stomp guitar processor. Ville and Kasper don’t use amps on stage anymore. For backing tracks we use Cymatic Audio uTrack24.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
When this comes out we are promoting our new single “Enmity”. Please check it out on any of the major streaming platforms.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
We are writing our debut album which is planned to be released in the fall of 2021. Hopefully in the spring we get to play shows again. We have missed that very much.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Opening for Enter Shikari would be awesome since they are the initial influence for this band and we just love them. To open for us… Somebody here from Turku’s music scene. Let’s say Avacia. They are just a great hard-working band and overall awesome guys.
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