Interview: Kings of Modesty – Ready to Rock - STALKER MAGAZINE inside out of rock´n´roll

Kings of Modesty – Ready to Rock

Many of you might already know these guys from Finland, if not with their band Kings of Modesty then with one of their other bands like Brother Firetribe or Ancara. The band is currently planning to release their debut album so it´s the right time to introduce you to those charming guys and whet your appetite for a rocking album coming in 2009. One thing´s for sure, after reading this interview with singer Jason Flinck (bassist of Brother Firetribe) waiting for more stuff from this great band will be real pain.

How are you doing today?
Thanx for askin I´m fine and happy!

Who are the Kings of Modesty? Please introduce each band member shortly.
Kings Of Modesty are:
Samuel Hjelt - guitars
Mikael Hjelt - keyboards (Samuels brother)
Raino Simoinen - drums
Henkka ”Hellraiser” Tuura - bass
Jason Flinck - Vocals

What kind of music do you play?
Well, I guess we are in the category of melodic metal....

How did the band come together in the first place? What was the reason for wanting to start a band?
The guys had this same band for almost a decade with another singer and then it was called Face of Modesty. The singer left the band and the guys kept a low profile and after a couple of years they got their inspiration back and asked me to join the band. I tried out and the guys liked what they heard. We felt that a little change in the name was appropriate now when we had a ”new band”...and the Kings Of Modesty were born! We did a bunch of new songs and a little bit of touring in Finland and a couple of gigs in Switzerland. Everything went great and the feeling was amazing! (laughs)...we had a little pause after that cause Samuel was doing his other duties in a band called Ancara and I was busy with Brother Firetribe. Half a year ago we got back to the rehearsal studio and the flame filled our souls again. We´ve been writing new stuff in our studio and in a couple of months we are going to do finals and hopefully everything goes as planned and the Kings Of Modesty debut album will see the light of day in early 2009. (laughs)

What was your motivation to form the band and do music?
For me the motivation was to be the lead singer in such a great band as Kings Of Modesty...

Do each of you have some side projects or other bands you are playing in? If yes can you shortly explain what kind of projects those are?
Hah, shit, I seem to have answered beforehand every question you have, hehehehe....But shortly: Samuel plays guitar in a melodic hardrock band called Ancara. Our bassist Hellraiser is in band called Killer Kachina (melodic metal, too) and I am bassist and backing vocalist in melodic hardrock AOR act Brother Firetribe....

What was the strangest place you´ve ever played?
In our first rehearsal place, hahahah...5 guys and all the equipments in a room that´s not bigger than an ashtray! (laughs)...I think the strangest gig places are in the future. The places we´ve been playing live for now have been ok and even great I might say....(laughs)

What are your major musical influences or what´s your inspiration?
Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Queensryche, Disturbed, Faith No More, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Iron Maiden, Jorn Lande, Masterplan....just to name a few of our influences. Our inspiration is to create songs that we like and of course it´s great if heavy music fans would like them, too. So far, we have got great feedback from the people and on our myspace site from all over the world so I think we are on a right track here. It´s also important to us that we can stand behind every track we create 100%. If anybody doubts for example arrangements in the studio, we bang our heads to the wall so long that every ”King” is 100% satisfied with the result.

How does the songwriting work? What do you strive for when writing a song?
Sometimes it starts from a guitar or keyboard riff in rehearsals and we jam from there till the song gets its form or sometimes Samuel has done a rough demo in the studio and then I come in to write melodies and lyrics...all the arrangements are done by Kings Of Modesty so that we get a result we all like 100%!

What, do you think, is the best song ever written by any artist, by you (so far)? Why?
I can honestly say there are soooo many favourites that I just can´t name one particular...The world is full of great musicians and songs and I think we all are blessed for that. Without music, there´s no life! (laughs)

Your website is still under construction so it´s hard to find out something about the band, if I understood it right you have released a record with a few songs already can you maybe tell us a little bit more about this record?
We did a 4-song promo EP and now we are writing the rest of the songs for the upcoming debut album. Yes, the website has been under construction for too long...but before the debut release we are going to get it up and running again for sure.

So is there an album coming in the near future?
...hopefully in early 2009 as planned.

You already have been touring with the band - where have you been and how did the crowd react when you were on stage?
In Finland and in Switzerland and the crowd was more than welcoming! Great! (laughs)

Are you planning a new tour? When will we see you on stage?
When we get the debut out, after that it´s pretty obvious to do promo gigs and hopefully also around the world if the God Of Rock is in our corner, hah...but in this business there are so many angles that should be in the right position for big things to happen. But we trust in ourselves and in our music and we are confident that it´s doing the talking so...(laughs)

What are you doing besides the music?
Everybody´s got their day jobs... I´m doing adds for mags and marketing stuff like posters etc in one media company...as long as it´s something creative I can stand it, heheheheh....

What comic/cartoon character would describe each member best? Why?
I can only speak for myself but maybe I am like Roadrunner...spontaneous and always on the run! (laughs)

What are your ambitions with the band? What are you willing to do/sacrifice for success?
Getting to the big league and with that I mean we´d love to get to play all around the world. We´d sacrifice ourselves to the God Of Rock!!!! Hell yeah!!! (laughs)

What are your plans for the near and remote future?
To make it happen what we´ve been talkin about here....

Do you have any final words for our readers?
Kings Of Modesty is coming in 2009 with their debut so keep your minds and hearts and ears open then. Take care all beautiful people out there and hopefully we´ll see someday soon in the musical castle of the Kings Of Modesty!!!!!!!!! (laughs)

Thank you for your time.
Anytime, Sandy ! Thank you!

Author: Sandy Mahrer, photos: Kings of Modesty
Date: 2008-10-08

Read comments: Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /var/customers/webs/stalker/www.stalker.cd/inc/kommentar.inc.php on line 8 0 Write comments