KINGS OF MODESTY
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 5th May 2010.
Kings of Modesty was formed in 1994 by guitarist Samuel Hjelt and drummer Raino Simoinen. Henrik Tuura was added on bass and Samuel’s older brother Mikael on keyboards, and in 2005 vocalist Jason Flinck (Brother Firetribe) joined. Their excellent 2009 release Hell Or HIghwater was the band's first full studio release.
Jason joins us to answers questions on the band's behalf.
Hi Jason, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Jason: Thanx for askin Jon, me and the rest of Kings are fine!
Kings Of Modesty has been around since the mid 1990s, yet your first album only came out recently. Why such a long time without any releases?
The rest of 'Kings' had this band over 10 years before I joined, so why they didn´t get a deal earlier is beyond my knowledge. I knew the guys from our mutual friends and the music scene, so when I got Into the band the chemistry was already there and everything went down well straight away. We did a promotional EP in 2007 but that didn´t gave us deal.
Why was the time suddenly right to create Hell Or Highwater?
Jason: In 2008 we sat down with Samuel and decided that the KoM time is now or never, heh! We knew that we had a handful of great songs and decided to do a few more, then push things forward with attitude! We had this kinda slogan which came as a title of the debut. Come Hell Or Highwater, we are going to make it!
How and when did the various members of the band come onboard?
Jason: Like I mentioned earlier, the rest of the bunch had been playing together from 1994. After a couple of lead singers, they called me up. Two years of being 'off the saddle', the guys wanted to gear up again so Kings Of Modesty was born in this form. We wanted to change the band´s name...to move on from the past and look to the future...kinda “new era”…so Henkka came up with this name which is awesome if ya ask me, hah!
Some, if not all the members have other bands on the go. Would you describe Kings Of Modesty as a full time band, or is it more of a side project?
Jason: KoM is 100% the full time band for all of us and yes, we have side projects for keeping fun and makin’ some extra money...along with our day jobs. Until now it’s all been about putting our own money and asses on the line to make the breakthrough. We have been lucky also on the way to meet some great people...and the stars have been on our side most of the way thus far. But still, it's been a hell of a lot of work - sometimes 24/7 - with our only 'pleasure' being that we can make and play the music we want. We just want the chance to get an album out there for people to hear.
It would be nice to pay the bills someday with this job! Hahah….
How does the writing process work? Is there one main creative force or do you all have an input into the music?
Jason: With those 4 older songs from the promotional EP, the whole band was involved in the writing process. With the 7 new tracks it was bit different. Samuel usually came in with riffs and I did few too. After we had discussed and arranged demo structures I made lyrics and melodies...and again after that we got together to finalize the songs. During the process the other guys came in to tell us their visions in arranging the songs...so that part was teamwork also.
Maybe this happened at the time because Samuel and I were unemployed back then, and we were focused on making this debut happen. Now, with the writing of new songs for the 2nd album, it´s been more like a 'whole band' thing again so far…
How would you describe the sound and style of Kings Of Modesty?
Jason: Clean – intensive – powerful – melodic -…modest…???
Was your sound a deliberate decision, or is it simply what happened when you put your respective talents together?
Jason: Mostly just what happened. Of course we wanted clear melodic choruses and a certain atmosphere through the whole album. Big thanx also to Torsti Spoof and Jari Mikkola who put a lot of hours and personal effort into our debut to get the sound we wanted on the album!
How quickly did the various parts of the album come together?
Jason: We spent about 8-9 months in our rehearsal studio, most of the time with Samuel. Some drum tracks were recorded at Finvox. This amount of time covered all the writing and recording of the album…
How does "Hell Or Highwater" compare to your debut EP from a couple of years ago?
Jason: The EP was just a promotional tool and it wasn´t released as an official EP. I think there’s no real comparison there. We just printed few hundred copies for the labels and radio and stuff, but we didn´t get a deal back then. That’s why we decided to do the whole debut album from start to finnish and then try to get a master deal, as we knew nowadays its kinda policy in labels…for unknown musicians at least…
Is there a theme to the lyrics on "Hell Or Highwater", or are they all standalone tracks?
Jason: Standalone tracks. The timeline in which I wrote them was long, and I never considered doing a 'theme' record. Maybe someone can find a string or some similarity in words, but mainly ‘cause there’s so many songs about relationships, difficulties in them and in life…random feelings, some just pure imagination.
Where do the writing inspirations come from?
Jason: When I write lyrics it comes from life experience and sometimes from anger towards the things that happen in the world, in somebody else's or in my life… Its usually pretty dark but it does me well to get the shit out so, heh…
When I write guitar riffs, it more like lightning in my head. It just flows out and bang!
Did you try anything unusual sound-wise during the recording process, or do you follow a fairly straight-ahead music-making process?
Jason: With the debut we did mostly straight-forward rockin’ the shit out, but with this second one there’s gonna be more thinkin’ and experimenting sound-wise in all areas. More symphonic – bigger in all ways… Lets see, heh…?
After a while we might find ourselves doing a blues record, hahahah…NOT! Although, I like all kinda music so…
All in all this debut album deserves all the attention now and we wanna do a LOT of touring and playing for it so lets not look too far ahead just yet!
There's a big different in power between the heaviest and lightest tracks on the album. Is that variety something you strived for?
Jason: It just came out that way, heh... We have our softer side and the opposite side. Some days you just wanna shred the guitar harder, and some days you feel like makin' love nice and easy (as a figure of speech...hah!).
Do you have any favourite parts or tracks on the album?
Jason: It varies every day, but I love them all, and in every song there’s some of that feeling we had in the process of doing it. I dig the contrast in 'Hourglass'…the rough riff and melodic vocals, and the rhythm between those… It's weird but still somehow so clear… I laughed my ass off when I wrapped this at studio by myself! Wadda fuck I just sung…?
How is the album doing so far in terms of sales, airplay and feedback?
Jason: I haven't heard any figures, but seemingly it gets airplay in stations all over Europe. It'll be great to see what happens after our release in the U.S., Canada and Japan during the summer of 2010!
Feedback has been mostly good so nothin’ to complain about!
Have you made videos for any of the tracks?
Jason: Yes, we shot a video for 'Never Touched The Rainbow'. It’s edited and now we are doing press releases about it through our PR agency ChipsterPR Inc. So it´ll be online any time now.
You played quite a few live dates in 2009. Any plans for a big tour in 2010?
Jason: Yeah, we had great opportunity to get on the road supporting Finnish metal queen Tarja Turunen when we had the European release of the album in September 2009. We are really hoping we can get on the road for the album again. Let's keep our fingers crossed that our management get their magic done so we can get out there and play everywhere! It's the most rewarding thing in this business!!!
What is a Kings Of Modesty live show like?
Jason: 110% pure energy with melodies…it's always fun on stage...I’m addicted to it!!!
Any question you love being asked that I've missed? If so, what's the answer?
Jason: Where's the after party???
What are you up to once you've finished answering these questions?
Jason: I'm going to do another interview…this time at home, hah..day job is over…
Anything else you would like to mention?
Jason: Wake up the promoters near you and ask KoM for a gig !!!
Thanks for your time Jason!
Jason: Thanx Jon, anytime, my pleasure. Have a great upcoming metal summer 2010!
Thanks again to Jason for his time. You can check out the Rock Realms review of Kings Of Modesty's latest album Hell Or Highwater by clicking here.
http://www.kingsofmodesty.com/
http://www.myspace.com/kingsofmodesty
