Interviews

Hello Jason!

You guys kept me on my toes trying to research you!
Ratbags have very little information out there about you, so, with what I found...here goes my questioning. (side note; you named your cat Elvis?!)

Heh, yes I named my long lost cat Elvis !

1. Kings of Modesty formed a year ago, how did it all come together?

Other guys in the band have been playing over ten years together with under name face of modesty. Their lead singer left to another band and after a year guys wanted to continue and called me up to take a shot and everything clicked there.
I knew those guys through the years so there where no chemistry probs any kind and feelin was great from the first beat.
We changed the name little bit that there would be a clear new era for the band with a new lead singer. And if you ask me the Kings Of Modesty is very clever name and tells a lot about bands attitude,hahahah...So, tale started and we did promo EP that's our myspace site and now we are writing new material and thats even more tighter and we are very excited about upcomin stuff.
Hopefully we get album done within 6 months so we could find a deal for it and start giggin which we love the most !!!:-)

2. You have 4 promo tracks up on your My Space page which are all fantastic, I might add. I noticed that you had some help recording and producing from Mr Emppu Vuorinen who has been busy with helping out with Ancara as well his Brother Firetribe and Nightwish duties; how did you get him involved?

Well, cause I play in Brother Firetribe first of all is the obvious link there, but I asked Emppu to help us out with recordings at his E-Major studios cause I knew after BFT recordings how great sounding stuff one can make there so, Emppu was kind enough to help us out and during recordings he digged the stuff more and more and gave his visions into it. I think there's no question where we are going to record our album,hah. Still we got our own studio at rehearsal place but final stuff we..ll definetly do at E-Major studio !

3. Jason, having heard your vocal talents backing up Pekka in Brother Firetribe, how does it feel to be the leading voice in Kings of Modesty?

Thanx for the compliments first of all!:-) Its two different things so it feels great to get sing as a leader cause theres so much more space to do whatever the hell I want,hahaha...Improvisation is one of the fabulous things in music so its feels good to “shred” once and awhile. In backing vocals you are tied up to other notes cause especially in BFT those backin vocals are structured that way to get a huge stadium feelin sound as you know,heh.

4. A couple of the guys are in other bands (Jason-Brother Firetribe, Samuel - Ancara, and Tuura - Killer Kachina), is Kings of Modesty the side project or the priority band?

Priority number one band is Kings Of Modesty, but cause we have other bands too we do timetables that everything goes smoothly and everybody could enjoy the music they are doing, no matter what band it is.Thats the whole point of making music, it comes from the heart and you enjoy making it and playing it!! :-)

5. I notice there are two 'Hjelts' in the band, are Samuel and Mikael related or is it coincidence? If they are related, are there any family feuds from being in such close working proximity?

Yeah, Samuel and Mikael are bros and what I have seen its more benefit to a band that they know each other so well.

6. What one word would you choose to describe each other?

Ambitious?....hahahah suits well in Kings Of Modesty right?


7. Is modesty an issue for the band or are you just being ironic? Who has the biggest ego in the group?

...just being ironic...but its good to remember to keep the feet on the ground and remember where you are comin from...never forget the roots...
Biggest ego?...hhhmmm...I think we dont have space in the Kings Of Modesty to any big Egos so....no egotrippin in KoM!

8. What are the plans for world domination for Kings of Modesty?

Well, lets first do the debut album ready and see how heavy metal fans dig it...

9. What does the 2nd half of 2008 hold in store for Kings of Modesty?

Like I mentioned earlier we are writin songs for the album and do demos etc.

10. Why do you want to be musicians?

I can only say on my behalf but music keeps me sane cause I need to let out the steam and music gives me so much in every way. Its a way to express different kinda feelings and when you are on stage its whole different world. Love to give something to people and see those singing faces that makes my day worth to live...

11. What's the craziest onstage antics you've pulled?

I slided pass the mic on a slippery carpet when I ran hurrying back from Emppus side of the stage back on mine...bwaaahahaha...that was like from Loonie Toons !!!...and that was NOT on purpose though...

12. My dad is a guitarist and he names his instruments, I ask, is he particular bizarre or do you name your instruments too? What are they called?

No he's not bizarre if ya ask me!:-)...my bass is called brother silver, translated straight from finnish...its also one Dildos name in finland so theres connection there. Gotta name my KoM Mic too by the way,heh...

13. Amazing rock acts are springing out of Finland at a crazy rate! Do you think Finland is the home of hard-rock?

Its been boiling under the scene I think over ten years in the cellars and now they are rising up and the quality is on high level.
Result of hard work and effort...

14. When can fans expect to see Kings of Modesty on the road?

We did our first gig in long time couple of weks ago and we are going to do them in finland every now and then between writing. I heard that we are going to switzerland to do few gigs in september or something...couple of smaller festivals...thats gonna be great I can feel it already !!!

15. What are the plans for a debut album?

To fill it with kick ass heavy metal and get a deal and go to road to promo it.!!!:-)

Cheers for your time! I appreciate your effort! Hope you had fun answering!

Thanx, my pleasure. Keep on rockin in the free world,

Jason