Music
Interview : Antti from Foker
When and how was your band created?
I had been playing with our bass player Piispa in a few bands already and when the last of those came to it’s end we immediately began to form a new one. We have always had quite similar tastes when it comes to music and that was also our starting point with this band. You might have heard this one before but our intention was and still is to make music for ourselves, not for the playlists. Playing music has to be fun but the most important thing is that you believe in what you’re doing.
Luckily some other people besides ourselves have also liked our style and their feedback has so far been only positive. We had written enought songs for an album or two already when we finally found our singer Kirves, who also happened to be quite capable with guitar. To keep things far from simple that regular guitar was soon changed to a baritone one with a huge affect on our sound. A little more than a year ago we got drummer Elo on board and that’s when the action really started.
During 2005 we did some gigs and now our first five-song ep should be in stores in 3rd of May at the very moderate price of four euros. For more info please check out our web pages at www.fokkerband.com!
Where is the name of the band coming from?
Hah. Fokker was just the least bad of all the bad names we came up with, but it has shown some potential since then. We just hope it doesn’t give anyone the wrong idea that this band would be nothing but a joke.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
I listen to almost anything that sounds original and conveys some genuine feelings and love towards making music. That includes classics like Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and finnish bands such as Hassisen Kone, as well as some newer ones like Queens of the stoneage, Faith No More, Tomahawk, System of a Down, Monster Magnet, Mars Volta and Mew. Not all these influences can be heard from the music of Fokker but they are always present somewhere in the background. What’s common with all the bands listed above is that they’ve all created their own personal style and that is something I’d like to archieve also in what I’m doing. I don’t see any sense in copying what’s already been done, that is to say that if the only difference between your own songs and those of your idols are names and lyrics, it might be a better option to form an honest cover-band.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Positive are maybe the same ones as everywhere: playing live, getting to know new people and getting immediate feedback, while the most negative things are the policies of radio stations and bigger record companies who seem to think that people only want to hear the same s**t that is being done everywhere else, especially in the USA. Getting any attention at all is very hard if you’re not mainstream, and since this is a small country, being an underground band here means that only a handful of people know you. It’s also sad to notice how many bands want to be part of that continuum. I wonder how many more copies of HIM the world will still have to cope with…
How could you define your style of music?
Our variety of styles ranges from pop to almost metal and everything in between, sometimes during just one song. Basically what we’re trying to do is to play melodic rock with intensity and lots of mood changes.
During the years how has your musical style changed?
Fokker is still such a fresh band that our style hasn’t had much time to change, but in the future when everyone will have more to say in composing and arranging some changes are bound to happen. With a few exceptions our current songs are composed by me while Piispa has written their lyrics.
How do explain these changes?
There’s four of us in the band and with time everyone’s personality will undoubtedly be heard more in our music.
What are topics you treat in your songs?
Whatever raises questions or provokes thoughts. Most are at least somehow personal and deal with discontent to certain things, deeds or people. But not always that seriously; irony plays an important role here.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
It’s hard to say because they tend to change almost daily. Newer ones have always certain appeal because you haven’t had time to get used to them, but if I had to pick one it would be the one called Ride. It’s one of our first songs and it mixes both sensitive and not so sensitive moods with the kind of dynamics I’d like to hear more in today’s music.
Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Absolutely live.
During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
Finding a certain mood when you just pick up a guitar and start to play trying to forget everything you’ve learned. In the best case the results are something truly original that really represents what you are. And sometimes it can be quite frightening stuff…
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song?
It’s quite impossible to say, but “Let There Be Rock” by AC/DC is a quite perfect rock song. It succeeds in conveying the energy of the young men with the will to be something even bigger. And Bon Scott doesn’t leave room for doubts about who is the king of the hill in rock’n’roll.
What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
It’s an unbelievable channel for promotion and makes it possible for anyone to share and advertise their music. It is of course unfortunate that records are being downloaded from the internet months before they are published and especially for
new bands the situation can be quite difficult if their album is not selling enough and because of that there may not be a second chance. I still believe though that if a record is good enought it will be bought. But, if you download an album, listen it and find out that it hasn’t got more than that one good song you ain’t going to buy it no matter how good looking the package might be.
What are your projects ?
I myself and our bass player are working only with Fokker, but our drummer plays also in a band called “Pohjoinen Kuri” and our singer has a band called “Ratas”, which is just about to release it’s second album. He also runs his own record company, Pajula Records Oy, and makes music videos and web sites.
What “image” do you have of French music?
I have to admit that I don’t know much about French music, but according to Myspace.com Apocalyptica is a French band! 😉 Of course I’ve heard from my friends that Air & Phoenix are great.
Is there one French song that you prefer? If so, what song is it?
It’s probably on some Emmanuelle-soundtrack… (I really need a lesson in French music)
Interview by Vincent Lefran�ois – 2006