I/O
The newcomer band I/O was the opening act of this year’s Kiirarock. Everything you need to know about the young Progressive Metal band from Tampere, you can read in our interview!
Who is I/O?
Pekka – Drums
Viljami- Vocals/Guitar
JC- Lead guitar/Back vocals
Julius- Bass
How did you come up with your band name? And what does I/O mean or stands for?
V: I came up with it originally. If I have known at that time, how difficult it was for people to understand and you can’t write a website with that. But it stays for Input/ Output interface. I just wanted a name that has something to do that represent my passion for recording and producing music.
Describe your music in 3 words.
JC: Fucking awesome shit. (All laughing)
V: Here you go!
How did you meet? And how did you form your band?
V: JC and I met in a music college and there we met our former bass player. And through him we met Pekka. At first I ask JC to feature a guitar solo on the EP. And then we thought like : “Fuck it. He is clearly good!
JC: I think we were drunk and like: Let’s form a band! (All laughing)
You will release your first EP soon. Tell us a bit about it.
V: Well, we are really excited about it because it’s gonna be our first anything done together as the whole band. Because the first EP was something like to get the ball rolling, to get the band together. And now we came together and really collaborate together. And that is very exciting for me. The song writing was JC has written half of the vocals/songs and I did two songs and we arranged them together.
JC: Basically, it’s me and Viljami who write the songs and lyrics. And then we show it to the other guys and jamming them out. We writing songs always in the rehearsal place and jamming them out. Because I live in Jyväskyllä, we can’t rehears every day. And it actually starts like I start write songs at home. Then I send them to Viljami and he says what he things about them.
V: As I said recording music is a big passion for me. And that is a really big part of our life. I record it and I jam it out. Then I send it to JC. This is how it goes.
Where do you get your inspiration for your songs?
V: A lot of things inspire me and even things I don’t even know. When I write music, I just take the guitar and I see if it is good I put it in. We don’t think before like :”Let’s do this kind of song”
JC: I get inspired by a lot of music and lots of styles. And usually I start jamming, playing some solo funk song and then I go like: How would that work in our songs.
V: And we have so many influences. JC likes a lot of artists, I don’t like. And vice versa. But I think that is a strength. It is a positive thing because we have a wide variety.
How did the dynamics of the band changed after the change of your bassist?
JC: we don’t know yet.
V: Yeah, it is kinda fresh. But it is a good fit. We started recording the EP in December and around that time I was asking Julius: “Would you be interested in joining?” And then we just started to throw him in.
JC: And he pulled it off.
V: And he sticked with us.
JC: And we will see how he will cope.
J: I am excited.
What do you think is neccessary to be a successful in the music business?
V: Of course it is really tough. Especially for new band. But then again, we weren’t successful artist in the 80’s /90’s, so we don’t know of any better time. We can’t think back of the good old days. But nowadays, it seems to be like you need to put a lot of work into it. You need to be lucky and know a lot of people.
JC: You also need to have passion and faith in yourself. You know that it will break.
How do you see the music business in 10 years?
V: It is a really tough question. It is the most fast changing industry in the world. Streaming providers are on the ride. What I like to see is that the situation is more developing into giving artists more compensation from streams and such.
JC: Everything can happen.
Do you have any rituals before a show? Which one?
JC: We have this huddle and screaming. The basic shit.
V: We do? (All laughing) No we haven’t.
JC: We have nothing special. Just normal stuff. We are still a new band. And every gig is a step towards getting better and getting more routine.
What kind of music or songs did your parents “torture” you? Or did you like that songs/music and still listen to those?
V: Christmas music all through the year. And German Christmas music. (All laughing)
JC: I got a lot of Gospel music and Soul music. Maybe some kid songs.
J: My dad used to play some Jazz and Blues. But that is kinda positive.
P: My parents weren’t that musical. But I got it from my old brother, he was into Metal.
Was there a special moment that influenced you to make music? Which ones?
JC: I was like twelve years old, when I got my first guitar. And I didn’t have any friends and I just start playing. And I had my first show at school and I haven’t been bullied again and had some few friends. And then I realized that I am pretty good at it and I learn fast. So I wanted to do it.
V: I was in lower secondary school, I think, like 7th grade or something. And I listened to Children of Bodom “ Hatebreeder” album for the first time and I was like : “Yeah that is awesome!” And that’s why I started to play the guitar and listen to Metal. And the desire build up from there.
J: I was in lower secondary school. And with a group of friends, we picked instruments ant there was just bass left.
V: You were doomed! (All Laughing)
P: It was actually the same older brother for me. He was playing drums in school.
When did you start making music?
J : I started with piano lessons at the first grade.
JC: I actually started to play drums when I was 7 years old. And then switched to guitar.
V: I actually started with drums too. But I can’t remember what age I was. It really kicked of when I started to play the guitar when I was 14 or something.
P: When I was 10 years old.
What is your favorite song from the 80’s?
V: “Kyrie” by Mr. Mister
JC: “2 minutes to midnight” by Iron Maiden
J: I’m actually not listening much to 80’s rock.
P: I have nothing.
