LORDI Guitarist: Being Superstars In Finland 'F**king Sucks'

Scott Kara of The New Zealand Herald recently conducted an interview with LORDI guitarist Amen. An excerpt from the chat follows:

The New Zealand Herald: What did winning Eurovision do for you guys?

Amen: There are always good sides and bad sides. Now we are trying to get rid of it and maybe now we are rid of it. But we just have to make a good album and hopefully people will forget that we won Eurovision. You have to prove you're not a Eurovision band and you're a serious rock'n'roll band behind the masks.

The New Zealand Herald: So do you think your music would have the same impact without the costumes and the image?

Amen: To be honest, of course I understand the power of the mask, because in the world there are so many bands, so you have to pop out some how. And that's one of the reasons we're wearing the masks. We want to be different. And it sounds cliched but if your songs are not that good then people are not going to go to your concerts or buy your albums. So I think without the music you don't have anything but I think it's 50/50.

The New Zealand Herald: What is it like being superstars in Finland?

Amen: Since this newspaper isn't coming out in Finland I can safely say it f****** sucks. Finnish people are really, really jealous people. If something good happens for this country everyone is together. "Yeah, we won Eurovision, we are the best." But in one year it turns against you and they are up there calling you, "Eurovision bastards." You can't even imagine it. It's unimaginable. One minute you are a national hero and then in the morning you're a bastard. It's crazy.

Read the entire interview at www.nzherald.co.nz.