www.myspace.com/widescreenmode
www.widescreenmode.com
Hollywood Music TV Canada Interviews Wide Screen Mode
Widescreen Mode Janne: You aren't joking! Things are very busy but we are enjoying every minute of it.
HMTV Canada Tina: 2. From your biography Debut Album Until The End features the most innovative and intelligent songs the metal industry has produced in years. Can you tell us about your unique style of music your major influences?
Widescreen Mode Janne: We are very proud about our metal roots. We are all metal heads. Metallica has obviously been a very important band for us. We've always enjoyed some harder metal too, but at the same time it has been important to me to find also some beauty from the music. I think hard sounds harder if there's is some beautiful elements against it. We cherish a certain kind of Finnish melancholy in our music that is made up from those moments that feel so much larger than life - it's what sets us apart.
HMTV Canada Tina: 3. Could you briefly describe your music making process, what kind of recording environment do you have?
Widescreen Mode Janne: We are not that kind of band who tries to write hits. Sometimes we start jamming some riffs and we end up to writing a new song. Very often it's a lyrical idea or a melody. We always write and develop songs together. The first studio session took about four weeks. After that it was very casual. We improved some parts when ever we felt like until the editing was finished. The mixing was pretty intensive process while we spent two intensive weeks for it at the Astia Studio.
HMTV Canada Tina: 4. How has your music evolved since you first started playing music together?
Widescreen Mode Janne: Our music has evolved a lot, when we started, for example, we used a lot more synth in our songs and we were a lot more industrial. Still, the more we play, the more we return to our metal roots! We want to be original, but not follow all the hype of the Finnish rock scene. This album looks like us. There is metal, but there are also softer songs that feature piano and strings. We wanted to show both sides of the band, the beauty and the beast, and I think we did a great job of it. I'm really proud of the final product.
HMTV Canada Tina: 4. Who are the current band members of Widescreen Mode?
Widescreen Mode Janne: The current members are the original members. Three Jannes play the instruments and we have one Samu who kills the vocals!
HMTV Canada Tina: 5. Janne you mentioned that love and war are the most sacred and serious conflicts in our society I noticed that your songs stress lots of these issues that are going on in the world internationally. Who writes your songs?
Widescreen Mode Janne: The band writes the songs as a group, and I write the lyrics. Our goal was to make this album from our heart. We are mostly persons that have been truly moved by the pain of the world and we shouldn't try to be too cool with it. Personally I've been thinking about these issues since I was a young teenager. I've been very concerned about issues like the environment and how the planet is doing while we use the Earth's recources to fulfill our vain needs. We wrote the song "Killed By Vanity" about one year before I saw Al Gore's documentary on the climate crisis. As a whole, people have learned to buy and consume and we have all these artificial substitutes for a real life. I don't belive we really need them all. We could easily slow down a bit and spend less without being less happier.
HMTV Canada Tina: 6. What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Widescreen Mode Janne: Our songs are not just written with international issues in mind. For example "Another Day" is a song that can be translated easily to many life situations. It's written from the heart, with eyes wide open to the world. We didn't write the song particularly about the Asian tsunami disaster, but we were inspired by it. We lost many Finnish brothers and sisters to the tsunami. We lost Aki Sirkesalo there, one of the most soulful Finnish singers. Rest in peace! Still, "Another Day" has different meanings for different people. The song is all about living in the moment. We shouldn't always count on that there will be days ahead when we have more time to be in touch with our close ones. If we really wanna do something, we should do it today instead of waiting for another day to come. We've got hundreds of messages from the people that have been touched deeply by this song. The song has also saved some young people from suicide, if we believe what people have wrote to us.
HMTV Canada Tina: 7. What are rehearsals generally like do you set a time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
Widescreen Mode Janne: We rehearse a lot but there is no substitute for playing live in front of our fans.
HMTV Canada Tina: 8. Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?
Widescreen Mode Janne: Our record will be put out through Dark Sentiments and Playground Music. Dark Sentiments is our own label, something that is very common in the music industry today. We wanted to make sure we would have full control over the creative process, releasing our own music allows us to keep that integrity. Still, we were open to offers from other labels, and that's how we signed a deal with Playground Music to distribute the album. Playground showed the most enthusiasm for the band, and, being a Swedish label, they have more knowledge and experience in the international field, although that knowledge is now starting to spread in Finland too. We have a great relationship with Playground.
HMTV Canada Tina: 9. Why is it hard to get music gigs in Finland what is the music scene like over there for the bands?
Widescreen Mode Janne: It's tough for unknown artists to get gigs in Finland for the same reasons it is in America and the rest of the world. Radio playlists in Finland vary but only slightly and very few stations play unknown artists. Helsinki, the capital, only has one privately owned station that is open to different things. Radio in general is tough for new artists, so if you are not being played on the radio, you have to build your fan base in other ways. Still, the music scene over here is great. Even Finnish singers on shows like Idol play metal!
HMTV Canada Tina: 10. Have you performed any live shows in Finland, do you have any current upcoming shows? Do you plan on touring outside of Finland in the future to play live gigs?
Widescreen Mode Janne: We love Finland, it's our home. We play a lot of shows in cities like Helsinki and Tampere. Our web page, widescreenmode.com, is always updated with the latest information. Our goal is to play all over the world - Europe, the USA, Asia. I'm looking forward to meet all our fans and visit the countries they are coming from. I'm hungry for the atmosphere of live shows.
HMTV Canada Tina: 11. Which songs do you perform frequently while playing live gigs? Do you have a playlist?
Widescreen Mode Janne: We play them all! Our set list will vary, depending on what we want to play that night. Also we like to take suggestions from our fans. We try to hang out before a show, so if a fan approaches me and asks me to play a certain song, we try to do it for them!
HMTV Canada Tina: 12. How has Internet been a huge benefit to helping Widescreen Mode get noticed worldwide?
Widescreen Mode Janne: The Internet has been great to us. Thanks to online communities like MySpace we have made new fans from all over the world. I think the Internet is a tool that bands need to use to be successful.
HMTV Canada Tina: 13. Have your street teams helped Widescreen Mode get air play on local radio in Finland and internet radio on the World Wide Web (Internet)?
Widescreen Mode Janne: Our street team has been fantastic! We have over 4000 members subscribed to our newsletter worldwide. We have street teamers in Finland, in Europe, Australia, and throughout the United States. They have been really wonderful and without them nothing would be possible. We reward them by giving them new music first and inviting them to private shows, like the record release party we are having in November.
HMTV Canada Tina: 14. What has been the biggest challenge for Widescreen Mode and the ultimate direction for your band in the future?
Widescreen Mode Janne: There have been a lot of challenges but it all of it has been worth it. Right now we want to focus on our home first - we have to have success at home before we can share that success with the world! Obviously we would love to play in the United States, all over Europe, and also Asia. We want to share our music and these strong emotions with fans from all over the world.
HMTV Canada Tina: 15. What advice do you have for aspiring young musicians in Finland that want to form their own bands?
Widescreen Mode Janne: One of the good things about Finland, it's a very small and cosy environment, so even new and unknown bands can get exposure in the major magazines and evening newspapers. So there is a lot of opportunity, and there is a lot of talent too. We are a very small country but we can be just as good as other countries not just in music but in other areas.
HMTV Canada Tina: 16. Before closing our interview is there anyone that you would like to acknowledge or any last words?
Widescreen Mode Janne: I think our fans will be surprised by how huge package we've been able to put together. The album is called Until the End and you can pre-order it right now from our web site!
Thank You Widescreen Mode for taking the time to complete our interview for our Online Ezine. It's been an honor look forward to your Debut Album Until the End. You Rock.
Widescreen Mode Janne: Thank you, Tina!
Brought to you by Hollywood Music TV Canada
