Wie versprochen ist die erste Band in unserer „introducing“ Ecke die finnische Visual Kei Band KARMIA. Wir haben die Jungs gebeten ihre Band selbst vorzustellen und herausgekommen ist dabei das:
“KARMIA is a five piece Helsinki based Visual band from Finland. Influenced by the japanese Visual Kei scene and music all around the world Karmia bends the genre boundaries and strives to perfect its own unique style and soundscape.”
Das macht natürlich neugierig auf die Musik, den Look und die Fünf selbst. Zu unserem Glück haben sich Sharan, Ana , Doku, Hypo und KiBa bereit erklärt uns per email ein paar Fragen zu ihrer Band zu beantworten.
Falls KARMIA euer Interesse wecken (und das sollte definitiv so sein!!!), hört euch doch mal ihre Songs auf facebook an! Wenn ihr dann entscheidet, dass diese Musik genau das Richtige für euch ist, könnt ihr ihre Songs auf Spotify, iTunes und über Amazon erwerben.
So, jetzt wünschen wir euch noch viel Spaß mit dem Interview und dann hoffentlich jahrelanges KARMIA Fandasein! (ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)ｳﾝｳﾝ
1) Would you please introduce yourselves and tell us which instrument you play?
Sharan: Hello I’m Sharan and I’m the Vocalist of this band.
Ana: Hi I’m Ana, I play the lead guitar.
Doku: I’m Doku and I play the bass.
Hypo: Hi, I’m Hypo and I play the drums.
KiBa: Hi, I’m KiBa and I play the rhythm guitar.
2) What does your name mean? What does it stand for?
Ana: It’s a Finnish dialect word with multiple meanings. Most Finnish people probably hear it as “horrible” or “shivery” and so on. But it could also be understood as a verb like “to creep”. It is quite hard to explain it in English. (Laughs) And there are more alternative meanings!
3) Have you always wanted to be in a band? For how long have you been playing your instruments?
Sharan: I’ve always wanted to be in a band. I’ve been singing for my whole life.
Ana: Probably since junior high. I have played guitar about 12 years.
Doku: First I played guitar like 9 years but then I started to play bass and now I have played bass about 3 or 4 years. And yes ever since I was 10 years old I have wanted to be in a band.
Hypo: I guess I have played drums for 6 years now. I enjoy playing drums by myself but playing in a band is fascinating as well!
KiBa: I have owned a guitar like six or seven years but I haven’t been playing it regularly the whole time I’ve had it. I started playing to get in a band and have chicks but I’ve accomplished only the first part of my intentions.
4) And then how did you guys end up in a band together?
Ana: That’s kinda long story because the line-up changed many times before we found the right members. But it all started in the fall of 2010 when I posted an ad about looking for a band to join and Sharan answered, even though he had no band. As you can imagine it’s not too easy to find people brave enough to play and dress for this genre, who are also skilled musicians. Anyways a few months later I met with Sharan and San who was our first rhythm guitarist.
Doku: I met the band in May 2011. Karmia was looking for a bassist and I thought that could be a great opportunity for me so I contacted Ana and ever since I’ve been a member of Karmia.
Hypo: Ana contacted me at IRC-galleria, which is Facebook-like social media website. We arranged few rehearsals and after those I was pretty convinced that Karmia was a band for me.
KiBa: I knew Hypo from one of my previous band projects and I like listening to Japanese music and that’s about it.
5) Were you already into Visual Kei and Japanese music when you met, or did you influence each other?
Sharan: I’ve been into Visual Kei since 2007 I think.
Ana: I’ve been into Visual Kei for a decade.
Doku: I think I heard Japanese music first time at 2009
Hypo: Japanese music was a reason for me to start playing drums so I was into Japanese music and especially into Visual Kei years before I joined Karmia.
KiBa: I’m not very specialized in Japanese music. I just listen to it among all other great music. I started listening to it during year 2007 or so.
5) Who writes your lyrics and who the songs? How do you compose?
Sharan: I wrote almost all the lyrics in Origin (except for Deception and Imprisoned Heart). Our new EP is as far as the lyrics go, solely done by me.
Ana: Music of the songs from Origin are half written by me and half by our previous guitarist SAN. The upcoming new material is from me and KiBa. Occasionally Sharan also throws something in to the mixture and comes up with cool vocal melodies. And of course everybody affects the arrangements for their instruments and bring new aspects to compositions and so on.
6) Is there a special venue/festival/… which you absolutely want to play one day? Why?
Sharan: Tokyo Dome absolutely. That is the most badass place to play in Japan.
Ana: Tokyo Dome!
Doku: I have to say the same as Sharan and Ana. TOKYO DOMEEEE!!!
Hypo: Tokyo Dome sounds great to me as well but I would settle for much smaller places also (laughs). For example playing at Nosturi or Tavastia (both are famous rock clubs in Finland) would be a dream come true for me.
KiBa: Any place that has lovely audience and a stage big enough for our whole band to fit.
7) What makes your music special and unique?
Ana: In my point of view our strength is that we don’t restrain ourselves to a certain way or style on how the songs should sound like, which means we can mix together any genres we like. Though some people may think that’s a negative thing.
8) Visual Kei and Jrock are getting much more attention recently, how would you describe the Visual Kei scene (if there is one) in Finland? Could you recommend any other Finnish Visual Kei bands?
Ana: There’s definitely a scene about Japanese VK and their fans. Besides us the only Finnish band I can think of who call themselves Visual is Jenlayn. They rehearse in the same space with us and our drummers are brothers. Though could might be others I’m just not aware.
Sharan: The scene here is not so open minded. Many can’t stand the idea of a band outside Japan being Visual Kei. But yeah Jenlayn for me too.
Hypo: In Finland Visual Kei scene is quite undeveloped. Besides us the only Visual Kei band that comes from Finland is my twin brother’s band Jenlayn. Of course there could be other Visual Kei bands out there as well but Karmia and Jenlayn are the only ones I!/ve become familiar with. Members of Jenlayn are our friends and I recommend everyone to check out their music!
9) Do you know any German Visual Kei bands?
Ana: Through a thing called Visual Unite I think we all know Kogure, Fatal [D]-Vision, Nana:[Shi], Ivora, Angeldust, Rubedo and LaBathory. Visual Unite is a community for visual bands outside Japan founded by Seike of Seremedy. I can’t really say much more about that at this time but you will hear more of Visual Unite in the future for sure!
10) For those who don’t know Karmia yet, which songs would you recommend to get a good impression of what you sound like?
Ana: Hard to say but Origin or Pledged maybe.
Sharan: Origin probably. And (when we release it) “Enigma” from our upcoming EP.
Doku: Origin or Ecstasy Road.
Kiitos haastattelusta! (Danke für das Interview)
Und falls ihr schon ganz verliebt seid und gerade eure neue Lieblingsband kennengelernt habt, dann schaut euch doch auch mal ihre Videos auf YouTube an! Da findet ihr unter anderem auch wunderschöne Akustik Versionen ihrer Songs “Decade” und “Origin”! Es lohnt sich also!
Unser Fazit: We ♥ KARMIA!
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