Blind Channel - Finland’s new prodigal sons

From Eurovision to Slipknot, we chat to Niko Moilanen from Finland’s latest metal export, Blind Channel, as they prepared for a major European and UK tour.

As Finland’s new prodigal sons prepare to dominate the music scene with their distinctive heavy musical style and lyrics that capture the essence of what Blind Channel is,

The recent release of their highly anticipated fourth album ‘Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous’, Blind Channel continue to show the rest of the world they aren’t a flash in the pan after their renowned Eurovison Song contest appearance in 2021, that brought them into the homes of billions of people.

Their musical talent underpinned by pure determination, self-belief and that middle finger in the air attitude, which led them to take control of their own destiny without missing a beat!.

Talking about the album, Niko, tells us ‘…it's good to have it finally out there. We're super proud of the album. It was the first album we did all the writing, all the producing, completely by ourselves as a band. Like we didn't have a producer. It was just sort of a new thing for us. But at least like when we got it ready, you can love it, you can hate it or whatever. Like this is 100% Blind channel. Yeah, that's it. So we're really happy about the album and I think our fans loved it. And it has even reached some completely new audiences. So that's really that's really nice.’

“We wanted to make a crazy album, because that's what Blind Channel is about, the live shows, the songs, whatever, we want to surprise people.!”

There’s a real sense of self-reflection and emotion crossed with defiance in the album, Niko explains about the track ‘Glory For The Greedy’ and the statement it makes.

‘ Yeah, it's a middle finger to all those labels who didn't sign us up.’

Niko continues ‘Yeah, like a lot of a lot of things definitely happened. And we kind of wrote the album, it’s about that two years, the craziest years in our lives, the craziest years in our career. But like, when we wrote Dark Side, there were also a lot of people who didn't believe in that song. They didn't believe it can be a hit song. And we were like, damn, we love that, we love Dark Side, we’re just going to release it. And the Dark Side, like you said, went really well, like millions and millions of streams. So then we decided that we should do the whole album the same way. And then a lot of people were asking, like, about do we have pressure after Dark Side like, do we have a lot of pressure in writing, but we actually didn't, I felt like with this album, when Dark Side that went so well, we were more confident than ever, we believed in ourselves more than more than ever before. And that's why we just get kept going. And we did the craziest stuff. We wanted to make a crazy album, because that's what Blind Channel is about, the live shows, the songs, whatever, we want to surprise people. So it was a pretty natural process. The only thing was that we really got into touring. So the schedule was pretty tight to make your work. But I think we pulled it off.’

Blind Channel have definitely been in demand on the live scene, playing some of Europe’s biggest festivals, Niko tells us about some of those experiences ‘Yeah, like it's been crazy. Wacken was the special one because it was kind of like a return to Wacken for us because the first show we ever played outside Finland was in Wacken Open Air Festival. We participated in this Metal Battle competition and we won it in Finland. So we got to play the festival, and we only played 20 minutes back then. But it was in front of like 10,000 people. So it was crazy. Yeah. And I remember it was like 2014. And we were thinking that one day, we're gonna come back here. And did we…’ Niko exclaims ‘oh, we were the opener of the mainstage. And after that we headed to KnotFest where we shared the stage with our idols, Bring Me the Horizon and Slipknot. It's been wild, let's just say that.’ Niko laughs.

Blind Channel are a band that always have, and always will be much more than Eurovision, they acknowledge the opportunities such an event creates but are absolute in the fact it will not define who they are or were.

Niko goes on to explain ‘ yeah, it's a crazy story of course that we’re not gonna deny that Eurovision was the big breakthrough for us and like Dark Side became a huge hit even globally it was a significant song. And yeah, that happened but we mostly try to think of Eurovision as one step along the way like it was all part of a bigger plan.’ ‘and then were on TV, we were everywhere. Yeah, a lot of teenagers found Blind Channel. And found heavier music, metal music, we've been kind of a gateway to rock to metal music, but then we did everything the same way as before. Like we like drinking beer. We like partying, we like having fun. We curse a lot and we show our middle fingers. And then like all of a sudden there was this downside to all of it that people started going like you can't do that you're wrong. You're supposed to be role models. You're supposed to be this and that. And we kind of got pissed off about that, all those messages that we should be something else now that we broke through. The point of doing this was always like being ourselves being what we really are.’

Blind Channel are touring across Europe and the UK through September 2022 with fellow Finnish metallers Lost Society. You can check out more on the band at the links below.

Website: www.blindchannelofficial.com

Instagram: @blindchannel

Twitter: @BlindChannelFIN

Article By Steve Harrison