Brutal Jesters Interview

Hi all

Like I said before, this blog is dedicated to two kinds of music. The similarity is that dark atmosphere and with some of the genres melodies. Last update was of synth-pop album review, so this time it is no-holds-barred interview with huge artist! I am superpround to present you:

Brutal Jesters Interview!!!!

1. What sort of music did you grow up with?
Ohmboy: French hip hop, Nirvana, Thunderdome Micropoint Manu le malin
Remzcore: I'm very eclectic in music but my first real crush in music goes to Rock/Metal. I’ve bought albums like: The Offspring, System of a Down, Korn, Marilyn Manson.

2. What lead you to electronic music?

Ohmboy: My love for industrial sounds and DJing on a technical level
Remzcore: Back in 2003, a good Friend gave me: "Thunderdome best of 96". This caused me a massive outbreak. My hero is 3 Steps Ahead.

3. You both have released solo material previously. How did Brutal Jesters happen?
Remzcore: We met in a party called “Leshouille act2”. Ohmboy was mixing before me and Ive got an instant brocrush when he stared scratching. Then when I started my show right after him he got curious about my very particular technique with my computer (initially he’s a vinyl DJ). He asked me if he could scratch during my set. The crowd went nuts and we got gigs together since then. After few gigs, in a party called Azylium we came up with the name: “Brutal Jesters”

4. What are the good points and bad points of collaborations?
Ohmboy: No bad point, it’s all about the discussion and make deals
Remzcore: With collaboration you can get results you could never achieve on your own.

5. Why Frenchcore of all genres?
Ohmboy: Maybe because we are french ?! No lol I think when we created BJ we listened a lot of Frenchcore
Remzcore: I think Frenchcore is the most party oriented style above all, as The Braindrillerz said : “No Frenchcore, No Party!”

6. What kind of equipment you use in the studio?
Ohmboy: Some simples things: a pc, monitors, midi controller and the most important Cubase for sure.
Remzcore: Really not much, the most important is a good computer and a DAW you are comfortable with.

7. How is the scene in France ?
Ohmboy: The scene is big but it's really hard to organize some party here, so there is really less party than there should be.
Remzcore: I think in France it’s totally different region by region. Near our home, partys are small but Lyon and south of France have a big potential.

8. How different is the crowd over there compared to other countries?
Remzcore: The French crowd is very good, they are passionate people, they know the tracks you play and they show it to you.
Ohmboy: All crowds are fucking great, you just need to understand them..

9. How do you approach a remix? What makes it a good one?
Remzcore: For example when we remixed Fa-lium for Dr.Peacock. We kept the main theme but we developed it in our own way. For example we added a sample speech from a guy who thinks he’s was going to hell when he used valium pills.
It’s all about finding a balance between respecting the original and making something new.
To answer on what makes a good remix, well you should keep in mind that in music all the rules can be bended. So there is no particular way to succeed on a remix, just let the magic happen.

10. What can we expect from you in the future?

Ohmboy: I’m preparing a solo album

Remzcore: We currently work with artists from different horizons. We want to evolve our sound. And we are very proud because we have an official remix coming for The Speed Freak.

What is Club Interface?

Let me borrow moment of your time and tell you of Interface. The whole idea was pitched to me by accident. I did an interview with a band for my blog and they asked if I knew anyone who might book them, That got me thinking that there might be something I might do differently here. From that seed Interface was born.

The concept:
Monthly podcast presented by me Dj Ikari featuring variety of good, quality music. We will also tell you what is happening and hint of new releases.Also we will feature interviews and guest mixes. Podcasts will be streamed by Kaaosradio and after that uploaded to both Mixcloud and Soundcloud.

The party side of our operation is simple: Bring you 4 nights each year of audiovisual pleasure. We do not have resident djs, our only resident is Vj Move. This way we can keep things fresh and sometimes do thematic nights.

The facebook page will feature news, music videos, news and other interesting things we want to share with you. There will be free downloads, competitions etc. Find us on Facebook

The other Facebook group is meant for you as a place where to meet new people and to connect with people of same musical taste,  No matter where you live, everybody is welcome to join us! The group page.

As for this blog, I will keep updating it. At the moment I am waiting for some big interviews and got couple of album reviews coming up too. As soon as they are finished, will post them here. There will be at least an album review this week.

And bit of news I just heard! Mesh is back. They will release 2 albums this year, one will be orchestral versions and other one will be brand new material. First single, Kill Your Darlings, is out now. They are also on tour in the end of summer, with shows in Germany and England.

Me The Tiger album review

Hi all!

This time I have the honour of reviewing latest album by Me The Tiger (album sane name). This is another totally new artist to me so I had no expectations of the band and no idea what was coming. That's the way I like it :)

As I write this I am listening to the album naturally. What we have here is synth pop album that is well-crafted and balanced. The female singer's voice really reminded me of Emiliana Torrini from time to time. Her voice is strong but has that vulnerability, I just don't know how to explain this, but I do mean it in good way though.

As for the sounds, they do sound fresh, but have that retro feel also neatly together. No complaining there. Melodies are nice, beautiful and quite simple. With this kind of music, that works usually the best. Album is quite varied with some uptempo, danceable songs in the middle like Ambulance Dico Light and then it goes back to more listening territory with medium tempo or slow tempo. Ambulance was followed by slow The End. The feel really changed drastically between these like the end of the night at your local disco, The End is beautiful, somehow sad song. And that is followed another danceable one, with retro synth sounds. I'm not sure if this was the best possible track order, since The End felt like end of the album. In a way this feels bit bumpy.

To sum the album, I'd say it is a good album, not the best I've heard, but definetly good and recommended. It does feel bit bumpy with tracklisting, since all faster songs are followed by slow one. I would change the track listing a bit but, that is matter of taste. Still I found no track on the album I didn't like. If you like synthpop fresh with some retro vibe on some songs thrown in, check them out!

Official web page

Chimaera Interview

Now this was long time coming thanks to me. I did interview with Chimaera and it is finally here! Chimarea is duo known better as Skitzofrenik and Toni Taskinen, both members of Mindcore team. Sorry of the bad translation, did my best, but I ain't a pro :) Also in finnish below.

How did Chimaera got started?

Well, we've known each other for now about 6 years and the latter 3 years we have spend time closely with music (that's probably why the term my boyfriend's boyfriend) and that time has included
quite many sets together. Due those we realized we both like dark sounds and that is how it pretty much happened

2. Which artists have influenced Chimaera's sound?

Toni: For me one of the biggest source of inspiration has been Deathmachine, who actually did help me a bit getting started on producing. Other of my liking are for example
Switch Technique, Dithe, Djipe, Sei2ure, District7 and naturally Ophidian.

Metrsi: TOA,Tomcat,Ophidian,Tieum,Sei2ure,Switch Technique and Catscan has been inspiration for me. Especially the older Ophidian's productions are very inspiring.

3. How do you see the scene in Finland and in Europe changed over the years?

Toni: Of European scene I canät say much and I haven't followed Finnish scene for that long that I would have strong opinion on this matter. Tiny thing I've noticed is that popularity of the genre changes quite a lot.
Mertsi: Scenes are growing in Finland  and in Europe fast. Artists and events have gotten bigger and been produced better than before. Due this also more marginal events gain more attention and there are new producer emerging to the
scene a lot more than before.

4.Harder music is now really big hype thanks to meteoric rise of hardstyle and this reflects also to hardcore. Has this been only positive thing?

Toni: Thanks to hardstyle many punters have for sure discovered hardcore, but I wouldn't put it necessarily that way. The main thing is that genres support eachother in a way many party-goers have noticed:
If there is a bigger event there is usually something for both lovers of hardstyle and hardcore and this is only positive thing. And what goes for effect, it most likely is positive eventhough there are some
facebook group brawls of the subject. ;)

5. How did you come up with the name Chimaera?

Mertsi: Chimarea popped into my mind when I imagined best way to describe our musical backrounds and how those have affected on our productions. Toni as quite strong history of drum & bass and I've got mainstream hardcore
"history". So there will be influence of both mainstream hardcore and of drum & bass.

6. What can we expect from you in the future?

We've been progressing slowly due Toni's school, but pushing things forward of course. Couple of upcoming tracks have some old school industrial flavour, so mainly dark varied hardcore and mainstrean hardcore with drum & bass influences :)

Finnish version

1. Miten Chimaera sai alkunsa?

Noh me ollaan tunnettu toisemme nyt jotakuinkin 6 vuotta joista viimeiset 3 vuotta ollaan vietetty aika tiiviisti
musiikin parissa (tästä varmaan termi poikaystäväni poikaystävä)
ja aika paljon siinä yhteisiä soittotuokioita on tullut vieteltyä ja sellainen havahtuminen siinä tapahtui
että tykätään molemmat synkistä soundeista joten siitä se ajatus vähän sitten lähti.

2. Mitkä artistit ovat vaikuttaneet bändin soundiin?

Toni: Mulle yksi suurimpia innoittajia on ollut Deathmachine jolta olenkin pientä opastusta saanut että pääsin tuottamisessa alkuun. Muita omaan makuun kovia
ovat mm Switch Technique, Dithe, Djipe, Sei2ure, District7 ja tietty Ophidian.

Mertsi: TOA,Tomcat,Ophidian,Tieum,Sei2ure,Switch Technique ja  Catscan on innoittajina mulle. Varsinkin Ophdidian tuotannot kaikessa laajuudessaan on erittäin inspiroiva lähde.



3. Miten näet Suomen skenen ja Euroopan skenen muuttuneen vuosien saatossa?

Toni: Euroopan skenestä en varsinaisesti osaa sanoa juuta enkä jaata ja en tätä suomenkaan skeneä ole niin pitkään seurannut että mitään
vankkaa näkemystä lähtisin esittämään. Sellainen pieni havainto on tullut kuitenkin tehtyä että genrejen suosiot ovat melko aaltoilevia.

Mertsi: Skenet kasvavat Suomessa sekä Euroopassa kovaa vauhtia. Artisteista ja tapahtumista on tullut isompia ja ja paremmin tuotettuja.
        Tämän ansiosta myös nämä marginaalisemmat nimet saavat enemmän huomiota ja uusia tuottajia ilmestyy skeneen aiempaa enemmän.

4. Rankempi musiikki on nyt todella pinnalla hardstylen kovan nousun ansiosta ja tämä heijastuu myös hardcoreen. Onko vaikutus ollut pelkästään myönteinen?

Toni: Hardstylen takia moni bilettäjä on varmasti löytänyt hardcoren mutta en välttämättä muotoilisi sitä ihan noin.
Pääasia kuitenkin on että genret tukevat toisiaan tavalla jonka varmaan moni bilettäjä onkin huomannut:
Jos on isommat pippalot kyseessä niin sieltä löytyy yleensä tarjontaa "molemmille kuuntelijakunnille" mikä on pelkästään hyvä juttu.
Ja mitä tuohon vaikutukseen tulee niin kyllä se varmasti myönteisenä on pysynyt pieniä fb-ryhmägenremähinöitä lukuunottamatta ;)

Mertsi:Toni vastasi aika kattavasti kyllä. Ei tuohon ole lisättävää.

5. Mistä keksitte nimen Chimaera?

Mertsi: Chimaera tuli minulle mieleen kun ajattelin parasta tapaa kuvata musiikillisia taustojamme ja sitä miten se vaikuttaa meidän tuotantoihin.
        Tonilla on aika vahva Drum & Bass historia ja itsellä mainstream hardcore "menneisyys" Luvassa siis on vaikutteita niin mainstream coresta kuin drum  &  bass:ista


6. Mitä voimme odottaa tulevaisuudessa teiltä?

Tässä on nyt edetty aika hitaalla tahdilla Tonin koulunkäynnin takia mutta eteenpäin pusketaan tottakai.
Parissa valmistuvassa biisissä on vähän pientä industrial old school henkeä mukana eli pääsääntöisesti

synkkää corea laajalla skaalalla ja mainstream core & drum bass vivahteilla ;)

Upcoming parties

Hi all!

Sorry for not writing anything here for awhile. Been sick and had not energy nor time to write anything that would make any sense. But now I'm back on bike :)

And let's see what's coming up first!

20.5.-21.5. Future Energy Festival

Got a weekend with no plans? Head here, this will be banging! Line-up looks like this: You can buy two kind of tickets: Only for Pakkahuone or Klubi, or ticket for both.

Friday:

PAKKAHUONE (main room)
► WILDSTYLEZ (NL)
► PSYKO PUNKZ (NL)
► DEETOX (NL)
► SASHA F
► CARBON BASED LIVE
► ALCHEMIIST & DECION
► YEDIAH

KLUBI (Club)
► VIRTUAL RIOT (GER)
► TOPI (Never Say Die)
► NOCOMPLY
► MEFISTO

TERRACE PERJANTAI 20.5.2016:
► TREMONT
► NASTYWIP
► DRS

Saturday:

PAKKAHUONE LAUANTAI 21.5.2016:
► ZATOX (IT)
► EVIL ACTIVITIES (NL)
► ATMOZFEARS (NL)
► PROTEUS
► SUBSTANCED & HORZI 
► WAILY
► MEKE

KLUBI LAUANTAI 21.5.2016:
► INSIDEINFO (UK)
► REDOM + MC C.I (FIN/SWE)
► ILLUVIAL
► O4KLY
► FA NA TYK

TERRACE LAUANTAI 21.5.2016:
► PHIL PARONI
► DIFFICULT
► MIKADO

And be prepared for the afterparty kicking off at 5 am on saturday :)

28.5.  Fury presents Technoboy & Sub Zero Helsinki / Nosturi

Technoboy needs no introduction and Nosturi is legendary venue by the sea bit outskirts of city centre, but easy place to get to. There used to be legendary after parties and tons of concerts. Finnish support looks like this:
Galrav & Fearsome
Efialtes & Zerathep - Early Hardstyle Classics -set
Tickets are available at tiketti.fi

2.7. Hardcore Blasters Helsinki /Wäiski

Another month, another banger and this time at legendary restaurant boat Wäiski. This will be epic!

Northern Europe's 1st and leading UK/Happy Hardcore record label, 'Finland Full Throttle' go head to head with 'MINDCORE' the #1 Hardcore organisation in Finland, to give you an unmissable, complete experience at:

!!! HARDCORE BLASTERS !!!

Will you endure Mindcore's Torture Chamber..
or find refuge in Full Throttle's Therapy Room..?
We shall fuckin see!

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
❖ LINEUP

Upper Deck
Finland Full Throttle: Therapy Room

Malmen (SWE)
Daniel Seven (IT)
DJ Neon
Substanced & Horzi
JNKS & Tornadoz
Oskill8
Crash & D-Shark

Down Below
MINDCORE: Torture Chamber

Waily LIVE
Chimaera
Dj Toxic Green
Jan-D
The Finnishing Dutch
Tarec

16.7. Harder.fi Keehaul Wäiski

Same venue different people and another banger!

xl8r vs Decion
JKA vs Yaya
Camfer vs Andy F
Xelfer vs Ozma

13.8. Odysseia A loudest Summer Cruise

Better put on your lifevests for this one, since the beats will sink the boat!

No line-up as yet, but it'll be Proteus' Birthday party. Nuff said! Tickets are extremely limited, only 200 available
✪ INFO:

M/S Emma, Kauppatori / Linnalaituri Helsinki
Lauantai/Saturday 13.08.2016
Ikäraja/Age limit: K-18

Pääsy laivaan/entry to boat: klo 16:30
Lähtö/departs: klo 17:00
Paluu/returns: klo 22:00

✪ TICKETS: 

✰ Lippuja myydään vain 200kpl!
✰ Limited 200 tickets only!

● Osta liput täältä / buy tickets here: http://bit.ly/1pxJvvG

Solar Fake Helsinki On The Rocks 

Might've mentioned this before, sorry if I've done so. Just so excited of this gig.

English
Dark Helsinki & On the Rocks proudly presents: One of the most remarkable artists on the German dark electro scene, Solar Fake is coming back to Helsinki in September 2016! During these last couple of years after their first amazing show in Finland in 2014, Solar Fake have had a lot to do, touring new places, playing sold out shows in their home Germany, performing at major festivals around the globe and even having released their gorgeous brand new album “Another Manic Episode”. Now the long waiting for their Finnish fans has been finally paid off and the band will play in Helsinki on Saturday 17.09.2016 at On the Rocks Club. This will ensure an unforgettable evening full of drive, dancing, fun and loud music. All of these combined with touching beautiful melodies and the singer’s incomparable voice is guaranteed! Don’t miss this at any cost and book your ticket right now!

Support: Ten After Dawn (FIN)

AfterShowParty: Dead Souls Gathering DJs

20:00 doors
21:00 Ten After Dawn
22:00 Solar Fake
23:30 Dead Souls Gathering DJ:t

Advance tickets from 14,50€, at door 15€
Advance tickets with On the Rocks loyalty card from 12,50€, at door 13€

24.9. Fury presents Dirty Workz "take-over" Helsinki / Nosturi

This fall Dirty Workz 10 Year Anniversary World Tour lands in the heart of Helsinki together with 12 Year Club Fury.

Bringing you an exclusive roster of the labels biggest artists and Finnish supports. Fury and Dirty Workz, one night only.

Dirty Workz Artists:

DJ ISAAC (NL)
www.facebook.com/djisaac

CYBER (SUI)
www.facebook.com/DJCyberMusic

MC DL (NL) - Host
www.facebook.com/MCDL.NL

RIIHO & DIGITAL MINDZ (FIN)
www.facebook.com/MrRiiho
www.facebook.com/digitalmindzmedia

Club Fury Residents:

GALRAV & EFIALTES (FIN)
www.facebook.com/galrav
www.facebook.com/efialtesdj

tickets: Coming soon to - www.lippupalvelu.fi

24.09.2016
22:00-04:00
Nosturi 
Telakkakatu 8 00150 HKI

De/Vision gig report

Hi all!

I just got back from Berlin, where I attended to De/Vision's preview show. And it was worth the trip! Just perfect night of good music and nice people. And it was really nice to meet people, whom I've chatted online, but never met in person before.

The gig took place at Lido, old movie theatre turned into concert venue. This is what I love of Berlin: The mixture of old and new. Lido has it's own atmosphere as a venue that I liked. It shows it's history, but manages to be good concert venue for smaller, intimate gigs.

First up Empathy Test. Totally unknown to me this British band, but still good warm-up act. Nice melodies and they managed to create nice vibe. Only thing that I didn't like that much was singer's voice that lacked power. But still interesting new band. Some of you will like it, so check them out if you like it melodic and bit slower. The band will be touring with Mesh later this year on their tour.

Next up: De/Vision. They really rocked and had support from this kid, I think he was singer's godchild or daughter, not sure, since I don't speak german. He was up there for few songs and you really could feel the love between those two.

The band played nice mixture of new material from upcoming album 13 and old ones. New songs sounded good. Top quality you have gotten used to expect from the lads. Old ones got crowd going well and singing along. As for the crowd, they were really dedicated fans and you really could feel it. It showed how music can unite people of different ages and backrounds, especially since most of the crowd was older than I expected, but who cares when the atmosphere is magical. They did have some technial problem during set, but I assume they only joked of it (in german of course).

Steffen has really nice, clear and strong voice that I like. He really shines live and also on albums. And he knows how to work the crowd. Rage was one of the songs that really rocked the crowd, but hey, almost all the songs had that effect. What can I say? The gig felt like family gathering of sort. More gigs like these please!

News!

Some of you might've heard of my new project called club Interface. If not, here's the deal: We are planning to organize 4 events per year dedicated to darker electronic music. First one will be held at the end of the year and I'm not going to let out details as yet, but I'll assure you, it will be good one :) We got 2 live bands and 2 djs booked for your aural pleasure. And we are on Facebook too, so follow us there and join in our group created for like-minded people.

What I can reveal now is that plans are being made for the club nights and some extras too. Watch the Facebook page to keep up-to-date of this project!

Interface official facebook page

Group page

New project

Hi all!

I just started a new project called Club Interface. Music policy is alternative electronic music (synthpop, ebm, synthwave, alternative etc,) and we will host 4 parties a year. Also I launched both official site for the project as well as group for people to connect with each other.

Official Club Interface site and the group

If you like your electronic music bit darker or alternative, join us and jack into the music!

Eventhough I started these projects, I will also run the blog :)