Kilpi

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Interview : Pete Kilpi from Kilpi

When and how was your band created?
Apprx two years ago I went to the bank for taking a loan enough to purhase required equipments to build up a home studio. Then I finally had a opportunity to compose songs in the way I wanted.

After that when I made some music ready I called to my old friend Taage and asked if he could come and sing the vocal parts. Then we noticed the results were so intersting we decided to continue composing more songs and when we had demos enough we contacted to rest of the guys we have in KILPI band and they all were very enthused to join this team .

Shortly this was the start.

First we released a cd-single from the song "Nerokasta Ikävää" and for our luck it raised to the playlists in YleX station ( www.ylex.fi ) and as well in Radio SuomiPop ( www.radiosuomipop.fi ). The song was in quite a heavy rotation in both of these stations and after that we feel it was time to record a full album.

And the KILPI album "Sähkönsinistä Sinfoniaa" came out in the beginning of June 2003 The album raised immediatily to the official Finnish Top40 album chart and stayed there four weeks .

Were is the name of the band coming from?
My name is Pete Kilpi so . . .

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
There's too many to mention . But as a rule the influence are coming from the hard/heavyrock bands from 80's. Judas Priest, Accept, TNT, Iron Maiden , Dokken , Queensryche, ...

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician / singer (in Finland)?
Never thought about this thing. Only thing at the moment which popped to my mind is in practise level when bands are touring in Finland , the distances are quite huge because Finland is so long from south to north .

How could you qualify your style of music?
80's oriented hard/heavyrock in Finnish. ( not metal ! )

Have you ever considered the possibilty to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
I haven't considered.

What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
Dare to be individual with own thoughts and opinions.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
It changes all the time. I guess at the moment it's Antakaa Aikaa .

Do you tour regularly? Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
After the gigs we have made we are absolutely better on stage . Now we are going to make a tour during Oct - Nov and visit in all the bigger cities in Finland and I guess we'll do that again on spring time . The some festivals on the summer 2004....after this I think we are quite willing to perform in a studio again ;-)

During the process of making an album, what is the moment that you prefer?
I prefer to arrange songs by myself in my home studio . As well it's nice to record the first vocals into the songs .

Why?
...because then you finally hear the song with it's moods and feelings.

What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
I don't listen music much . Daytime at work I listen normal "hitradio" stuff with no pity .

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
Dokken - The Hunter . . . I think

Why?
...for my ears it's just complete . Beautiful guitar riffin' intro , so nice song melodies and harmonies , smooth and enjoyable guitar solo by George Lynch.

Internet is something interesting for musicians because it gives them the opportunity to touch a larger audience but it is also a threat for them (regarding the copyrights). What is your opinion regarding this medium?
You're right . Actually I don't know what is my opinion . I haven't had time to think about this . And I guess now I will think this a little bit different way than earlier because we have released the album...I'll come back later to this issue ;-)

What are your actual and future projects?
KILPI , KILPI , KILPI and KILPI
Interview by Vincent Lefrançois / 2003