QUICKIE OF THE WEEK

QUICKIE OF THE WEEK: A short interview with LAMORI – June 2020

Pix666: Hello guys. The most important question right at the beginning. Are you well and are you healthy?

Jens: We are doing well, the Aland Islands in Finland is a very safe place to be in these times.
Mikael: We are healthy, still in semi lockdown and social distancing, so no real live gigs are planned right now.
Marcus: Yes, we are in good health. The situation is under control but very strange at the same time.

Pix666: On January 31st your new album ‘Neo Noir‘ was released. How satisfied are you with the result and what is the biggest difference to the albums before?

Jens: We are very satisfied with the result. It’s a much bigger sound difference than before and the songs are more modern and straight to the point.
Mikael: The production was more involved and our sound evolved because of that. We are very happy with the album!
Marcus: We are very proud of ”Neo Noir”. One of the biggest differences is the production and the overall sound, it sounds bigger and better than its precursor. We also worked closer with our label during the whole process.
Matias: There are a lot more wave influences this time around. And we have been leaning more towards bringing in electrical parts to the songs. Overall we all feel that it’s a very fresh sound for us.

Pix666: Fortunately you had finished all the work related to the album before the crisis came, including the shooting of your last video ‘The Devil’s Mark’. But how complicated is it to work together as a band in the current situation?

Jens: In our hometown it’s not that complicated. We live on a very small Island and can do rehearsals every week.
Mikael: We keep going strong, as long as everyone is feeling well we have a lot to do still.
Marcus: For us it has been pretty OK. Different, but OK. We have been able to practise and play a gig that was streamed live so all is not bad.
Matias: the first two weeks after the shit started to hit the fan we were a bit cautious, skipping rehearsals and so. But now we are back to doing them regularly again – as long as all of us are feeling OK.

Pix666: Did you have concerts planned that you had to cancel or postpone?

Jens: Yes we had planned an Easter Tour in april in Finland in three cities and then the 9 day long European Tour in June. And also a big Festival in July.
Mikael: We have had to cancel a lot of shows, but on the flip side we have also had the opportunity to do a live streamed gig, with another one planned in the coming weeks.
Marcus: Yes, we had many cool gigs and two short tours planned, but all is canceled now. Hopefully we can reschedule some of them for a later time.
Matias: At least our Europe Tour is postponed to summer of 2021. So we really hope all this shit will be over until then.

Pix666: Your band exists for over 10 years now and the music is totally cool – but how did you manage to hide from me and my gothic rock friends in Germany all this time? 😊

Jens: Very hard to say. We have always talked about Germany and how to get through to the german fans. But it’s very hard in this business. So much artist and music so we are glad that this album has reached Germany. We know that Finnish bands always have done well in Germany, so we are hoping to make a name there.
Marcus: That’s a good question 😄 We always wanted to visit Germany and play for people there. Hopefully this can lead to some dates there. I think music from Finland does well in Germany.
Matias: We would love to come and play with your home boys Lacrimas Profundere some day!

Pix666: When will your next concerts with an audience take place, and do you think that these dates can be kept? 😊

Jens: Actually we are going to do a digital show in the end of June here at Aland Islands, and we already did one digital a month ago, so that has been very good for us when all our shows and gigs were postponed.
Mikael: all of the gigs have been postponed to next summer, but if the current situation happens to be better earlier, I’m sure we will play earlier as well!
Marcus: We just have to wait and see how the situation evolves. We hope things will be back to normal soon.

Pix666: Why did you change the spelling of your band name from L’Amori to LAMORI some years ago? Was it for marketing reasons? Or is there another reason?

Jens: Yes, marketing reasons. Easier to find us at the social media and music platforms.
Mikael: Yes, a bit was marketing. It is easier to spell correctly when searching for us on the web, but we also wanted to do a little bit of a re-branding when we released the album.
Marcus: Simplicity. Marketing was one reason but also to make things more simple and easy.
Matias: when 8 out of 10 people couldn’t spell our name right we had to do something about it, ha ha!

Pix 666: How are your friends and families? How do you stay in touch with them, what kind of techniques do you use?

Mikael: Luckily, we have not been as affected as other places, because we are quite isolated living on an island. Getting in touch with friends and families we try everything we can, when our guitarist had his birthday we had some whiskey together over video chat!
Marcus: In today’s ”hi-tech” society there are many ways to ”meet” over the Internet. In difficult times like these they are very helpful.

Pix666: You are from Finland – what is the general mood in the country regarding the Corona crisis??

Jens: Of course everyone is worried. But when we don´t live in the mainland of Finland we haven’t seen the situationen with our own eyes. But Finland has reacted well towards the Corona crisis, they have done a very good job from the beginning.
Marcus: It’s a strange situation and we all try to do what we can to help. People in Finland have been good at following the rules and keeping distance. I would say that people are aware of the seriousness but overall in a good mood.

Pix666: Do you believe that this crisis will change the behaviour of humanity in the future?

Jens: Absolutely, I think the whole world will be different. I think people will travel less and think about other people more.
Marcus: Yes, I think we will see some change in behaviour and the way we do things. Hopefully for the better.
Matias: I do hope this will be an eye opener for a lot of us. Hopefully we have learned new and better ways to live our lives in peace with the planet and ourselves after all this is over.

Pix666: What do you think will be the long-term consequences of this crisis for the economy and especially for the music business? How much is a band like LAMORI itself ﬁnancially aﬀected by this crisis?

Jens: The postponed shows weren’t good for us. But we are a very small band and every band member has day jobs. Of course it’s bad for the band with postponed shows but we will just have to wait. We will enter the stage again.
Mikael: This crisis most definitely will have long lasting effects, especially on clubs, bars and other places where a band like ours could play live. So that’s a bit worrying. But we still have hope. And we are all willing and able to evolve with the times and do what we can. We are looking forward to getting back out there, playing and meeting great people! As long as we support the places and establishments we want to survive and see through this, they will certainly fight as hard as they can.
Marcus: The situation has been hard for the economy all over the world and the music business has been suffering like everyone else. Now things are slowly getting back to normal but it will take a long time before it is like we are used to.
Matias: these days live gigs is really what’s keeping a band like LAMORI floating economically. So not being able to play live is a big problem for us. We really hope to get out on the road as soon as it’s safe again.

Pix666: What things, apart from being live on stage, do you miss the most at the moment?

Jens: Maybe travel with the band and play shows, it’s always nice to get away a few days to do what you love.
Mikael: Meeting other bands, fans, technicians, club owners, bartenders. All the people that make touring and playing live worth it!
Marcus: The social part of life. A simple thing like going to a restaurant for dinner and stuff like that. Spending time with real people and not just behind a screen.
Matias: I’m a bit of a loner, so I enjoy the loneliness. But I really miss going to concerts. I also participate in mountain bike races, but all of those have been canceled this summer too. So I really miss the excitement of a race day.

Pix666: Do you have any other news about LAMORI that you would like to share with the fans?

Mikael: Nothing that’s completely set in stone yet, but because we have a bit more time on our hands right now, we want to start working on upcoming projects, as well as complementary stuff for this album. The album is released, but we’re not quite done yet!
Marcus: Well, nothing specific at the moment. But we always have something going on so stay tuned for news and updates from the LAMORI-camp.
Matias: we have the South America and Japan release of Neo Noir coming up soon.

Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting insights into your present life – Stay healthy!

Mikael: Thank you! Stay safe take care everyone!
Marcus: Thank you! Wash your hands and stay safe.

https://www.facebook.com/lamorimusic/