written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hey Janne. Thanks for your time. How are you doing these days, are you alive and well? How are the other guys of My Favourite Nemesis?
Janne: Hey! Thanks for doing this interview. We are all alive and doing very well!
Pix666: Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. How did you meet and what was your inspiration to become a musician? What kind of music does My Favourite Nemesis make?
Janne: Well, I joined the band somewhere around 2013 and they asked me to join the band as a guitar player. I politely declined and told them if they needed a vocalist, I’m their guy. The current lineup has been the same from 2014. I’d describe our music as modern metal with a kick-ass attitude and riffage that’s sure to hit you like a double barrel.
I have always been personally very interested in making music, but I think the biggest inspiration sparked for me when I was a teenager and I got more into metal music.
Pix666: You’ve been on the road with My Favourite Nemesis for some years now. What have been the best experiences and milestones so far?
Janne: That’s a tough question, because there’s so many great moments and experiences. But I would say when we were supporting Suffocation and Skeletonwitch in Germany back in 2018. Those shows and that whole experience of getting to play with these amazingly talented musicians is something I’ll never forget.
Pix666: Your single ‘Decadence‘ was released some weeks ago. How were the fans’ reactions to the song? Are there any differences to your previous releases?
Janne: It’s been doing great! People seem to really like the song, which is always good. I’d say Decadence is a bit more easy to get into compared to our previous stuff. It’s very simple and catchy and in my opinion it’s kind of a rock n roll song, atleast in terms of a metal song.
Pix666: When you release new songs, an album is usually not far away. It’s the same with MFN – the debut album ‘Rift’ will be released soon. How far has the work progressed, is there already a release date or can the album already be pre-ordered?
Janne: Well, as of this interview, there’s no release date set in stone as of yet, but it will be announced very soon. What I can say is, it will be available on all major streaming platforms and physical copies, so stay tuned for that!
Pix666: How do you create your songs? Is there a certain procedure or a distribution of tasks?
Janne: Usually our songwriter and lead guitar player Joel comes up with a few demo songs. We all then sit down and start discussing ideas and arrangements. I write all the lyrics and for the most part all the vocal arrangements too. Our drummer Tomi and second guitar player Janne usually arrange all the clean vocal parts, and they might change the lyrics here and there if they serve the song better.
Pix666: When new songs come to light, a band would like to present these songs live in front of an audience right away. Is it already worth planning live shows or is the situation around Corona still too uncertain?
Janne: I would say it’s very important to plan everything ahead. The situation is still very uncertain, but who knows, maybe in a year or so bands are able to play live again.
Pix666: How important are live performances for My Favourite Nemesis? Did you have to cancel or postpone many concerts because of Corona? Tell us how stupid this situation is for musicians, when you are sitting on packed suitcases and the concerts don’t take place.
Janne: Playing live is very important to us. We all love it and I don’t think there’s a better feeling in the world than playing live. And yeah, covid sucks dude, we had to cancel shows last year, but on the positive side we got to play atleast twice when the restrictions were lifted here in Finland.
Pix666: How big is the support from the fans in these difficult times? Do they buy more merch than usual? What do you actually have on offer in your shop?
Janne: Well at the moment we don’t have much merch available, since we sold all our stock last year and because of covid messing things up, we didn’t really restock all that much. But we’re coming up soon with some new merch with brand new designs.
Pix666: Your songs were streamed in more than 90 countries last year – do you actually look at all these statistics about how often your music is listened? In which countries outside Finland are people in love with your music?
Janne: Yes we like to keep an eye on the statistics as often as possible. Outside of Finland most of our listeners are from Germany, United States and Russia.
Pix666: What is the current situation in Finland and especially the mood among the people?
Janne: I think people are pretty happy at the moment. Summer is well on it’s way and the pandemic seems to be slowing down.
Pix666: As a musician, you certainly spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to get your mind off things – are there any interesting hobbies that you pursue?
Janne: I like to play video games and read. I’m a huge history nerd and I usually read history pretty much every day. And I play guitar almost every day, besides doing vocals, guitar is one of my biggest passions.
Pix666: Do you have any other news, that you would like to share with the fans?
Janne: Thank you for the support over the years and stay tuned for our upcoming album!
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck with the new songs and stay healthy!!!
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photos © by Jani Kormu/Kormugraphy
