Blizz Of Rock - Interview with Kings Of Modesty

Jason: Well thanx to ya man, it..s great to do this so that people get to know us !

First of all Jason, I’m honored to talk to the lead singer of the great progressive metal band Kings of Modesty.

Jason: Well thanx for the compliment…feels weird to a guy this modest as me,hahahahah? .-)

Jason: Hhhmm, infact other guys have been playing together since 1994, but I joined the band about 4 years ago and then we changed the name to Kings Of Modesty. Band..s name was earlier Face of Modesty but we changed it for the new beginning…kind of a New Era….and it has really shown that nowadays this band Is totally on different level than earlier ! …and there..s great ironic sound to it right! .-)

If I’ve done my homework you released your first EP in 2007. The Ep was made at Emppu’s studios. (Emppu Vuorinen who’s the guitar player in Nightwish) How did that come about?

Jason: Well, Im a member of Brother Firetribe too, so when we first decided to do promo EP with Kings Of Modesty it was obvious choice to go to Emppus Emajor Studio to do it. He shared some visions In production and the result was great. Only the last mix was a bit different we had in mind but it was planned as promo so we didn’t mind about little details back then...
Well, we didn’t get a deal at the time and after my duties with BFT we hit our heads together with Samuel and decided to announce: Hey, Kings, now we do this so well and with bloody heart and mind and stay so focused that we..ll fuckin do it! We did 7 new tracks and produced it by ourselves and we got our great friend Torsti Spoof from LEVERAGE band to mix it.
That was the whole key to success to do a great album which we are about to promote now in all over medias and doing tours etc. We are so on fire at the moment that Im almost afraid to go to the stage to see my head explode for just pure joy of playing,hahahaha….!?...

Rumors has it that 2009 and your upcoming tour will be with Tarja Turunen who is one of my favorite female vocal singers of all time. How did this happen?

Jason: Yes, its amazing thing right?...we haven’t even released our debut album yet and we are going to tour with Tarja for major tour around the Europe! Great way to celebrate our debut of course, we have 3 gigs before the actual release date so most of a tour is after releasing which is great.
And how this happened after all? Well we called up Denise Love and hired her to help us out with everything and she..s been sooo great. Proffesional with a CAPITAL P !!! she..s been in the business like 20 fuckin years so she really knows how these things should go, what and where and when….Queen of touring managers, if ya ask me !..everything has gone so smoothly and under her knowledge of this crazy business so we cant be anything else but blessed !

Your latest album is to be released soon. What can you tell us about “Hell or Highwater”?

Jason: Latest,heh, yeah debut! Hell Or Highwater is pure melodic metal/heavy/hard rock album. There..s Samuels tight riffs all around and I have tried to salute them with melodic tunes of vocals and of course some more aggressive feelings if the vibe of the songs asks for it. Other guys brought their stakes in with a great proffesionality and we produced the whole cake with Samuel and finally awesome wizard touch was Torsti Spoof and Jari Mikkola in the mixing! They made it even to a higher level so special mention for those crazy muthafuckas too!
Gotta mention this…some label said that we are the TOTO of metal..??? Well that’s an honour to hear, gotta say…great feelin if our music touches people in any level. Its best price ya can get in this business!

Jason: As I mentioned, this IS OUR DEBUT,heh !...and fuckin great one, is my humble personal opinion…We..ll stand behind it 100% and there's no weak songs in the album…

Jason: Yes, infact we have already few demo parts for our next album. Which is great even our debut isn’t released yet,heh?....when ya get your vibes going its better get your ass into studio to get it in…we have studio equipments at our rehearsal place so its easy to get ideas to harddrive and work on them later on.

Where may we find the albums, where could we buy the music from Kings of Modesty?

Jason: We have now deal for europe release thats all I know at the moment,heh. I..ve seen pre-orders in some online stores, but I think this dilemma will clear up when the release date comes closer! :-)

Jason, you also play bass in the band Brother Firetribe, how did you get the idea to set the bass aside and grab the microphone?

Jason: Well at first I played 8 years drums when I was kid in school. Our class was first musical class kinda try out at that time. Then I found myself playing drums and singing in a trio band. That was a start in singing. After that I joined to a band called Deep Silence as lead singer. Hell I can say I was pretty fuckin far from lead singer at that time hahahahaha….attitude level 120%...skill level 20%, bwaaahahaha! Guys in the band then were in the army everyone in a row 3 years so once guitarist was in army I played guitar and when bass player was there I played bass so there was my crash course to those instruments . After that I played years with our KoM bassplayer “Hellraiser” in a trio called Done where I was guitarist/vocalist…we didn’t get anywhere then and one day Rane Simoinen KoM drummer calls me:
Hey Dude, wanna come to try out some lead vocals with us?...I was like, hell yeah! I knew these guys way back and they were helluva players with much more progressive style at that time. So I went to their rehearsal place and that was it. Instant chemistry was there and here we go today!
…Helluva ride and fun!:-)

Is it possible to see Kings of Modesty live on tour? Where can we find the dates?

Jason: KINGS OF MODESTY here you can find our latest news and tourdates. Our official website is under construction at the moment, but now when we have artwork and all done we hired a guy to do those for us so people really could get the info in realtime etc. Myspace is great for promo and all, so before we get those pages up you are welcome to visit our myspace site. We update it instantly when something new is happening, we can release in public!...its always cooking something….

Jason: Wow, theres soooo many! You can see our favourites from our site and even there is not everything,heh….I..ve been listening Kamelot a lot lately so theres fuckin great band for example!. It would be great to tour with those awesome musicians someday…

If there was one place in the wide world that you could play Jason where would that be?

Jason: The day when I was a kid and I did hold my Kiss Alive II album in my hands. The speakers were shouting it out, I decided that one day Im in the band and if God of rock let me, I..ll play at Madison Square Garden! It would be my one BIG dream come true! …well ya gotta have fantasies right?

A few months ago we had an interview with another band from Finland, “Tears of Magdalena”. They recorded their album in Nightwish’s studio. Do you know this band? Magdalena Lee has a beautiful voice as well.

Jason: No, I don’t know the band, but gotta find out and listen…its always great to find new bands and talents.

Kings of Modesty is a progressive rock band. Where do you get your influence? Do you feel that Kings of Modesty have their own style?

Jason: Influencies…we,ve been suckin them all our lives, but of course there is vibes from our favourite bands, but still I can say we have own unique style to deliver this kinda proggishmetal/hardrock whatever you wanna call it…Samuel has his own unique style to play guitar and I think I have unique voice to deliver my melodies which sometimes are catchy and familiar and sometimes they are flying in their own levels..so I can say that we sound like Kings Of Modesty, that one and only.

I agree with Elvira that “Hourglass” is a great song. What is the main message in this song?

Jason: Shortly: You get your heart broken in a releationship sometimes and then you probably feel worn out in every way. But you gotta push and push and find that light back into your life and really let it come back into yor life. Cause all the lifetime is learning to live in every way, shouldn..t waste your time in darkness and let time slip away…enjoy the life while you can!
….well, it wasn’t that short,hahahaha…???

What would be your worst nightmare on stage? Or what’s been your worst nightmare on stage hahaha

Jason: Of course if I would lost my voice during the show…thank God it hasn’t happen…at least yet…and in some places during the years couple of monitor mixerman haven’t had any clue why the monitors are there for,heh…its hellish to try to rock if you don’t hear a fuckin thing…Nowadays we have professional guys for that so it wont happen again!

Jason: What you think???...hahaha…for me its always been there so but if its comin more mainstream and religion of the world, Im up to that!

Would you like Blizz Of Rock Radio to play your music?

Jason: Hell yeah, I have heard that somebody is even asked for Hourglass ?...great, lets keep Kings Of Modesty on the air and spread the word out about our upcoming European tour.

What sort of age group are you attracting with your music?

Jason: Good music is attracting people so it doesn..t matter what age group you are in my opinion….

If you got the chance to have a concert in Norway, what could we expect from Kings of Modesty?

Jason: 120% Energy with power and melodies !...and smile in your after the show…

Any instruments you would love to learn how to play, that you don’t?

Jason: Keyboards/piano…and tenor saxophone…and of course I..d love to play better these others bass,guitar, drums and vocals too…its learning all the time…

Is there a funny story you could share with us?

Jason: ….after the our Hell Or Highwater European Tour 2009!...I quarantee ! :-)

If you could turn back the time and choose a new date to start a band, when would that be? And why this year/decade?

Jason: Cool question! .-)...well it would be 80..s to me cause I was young kid back then and this kinda thing we are doing now would..ve been awesome to do already then. And why? Rock scene was big then in melodic side before grunge came and flush it to toilet...Although one of my favourite singers is Chris Cornell but I consider Soundgarden more heavier back then...

Chris Cornell

What is the highlight of your career as rock musician?

Jason: European tour with BFT was one dream come true, but now after year of hard work with KoM I think highlights are ahead of us and this is just a beginning for one helluva ride! So future will show us.... :-)

Anyone you would love to meet, that you haven’t met yet?

Jason: Huh, theres that list on our myspace site...hah, I..d love to meet all our favourite bands and artists of course...cant name just one...

What is your opinion about Blizz Of Rock? (www.blizzofrock.com)

Jason: Ya fuckin ROCK! What kinda of a question is that,bwaaahahaha?

Who would you like Blizz Of Rock to make an interview with?

Jason: Masterplan!...they live exiting times now when Jorn Lande (awesome singer, one of my favourites) is back in the game! Cant wait their new release together!

Masterplan

Thank you so much Jason and Kings of Modesty for using time to answer these questions.

Jason: My pleasure man! Ya and all the melodic rock lovers, see ya on european tour 2009!

Blizz of rock wishes Kings of Modesty all the best, take care Jason

Jason: Thanx...take care ya all there too...watch out Hell Or Highwater !!!