Memoremains is a band from Finland. And yes we already know that Finland has the most metal bands of all the countries in the world. So is this again a common heavy metal band? Let’s just ask the members of MEMOREMAINS.
(Memoremains): No we are not a heavy metal band, you can call us a pop metal band. And yes, you are right, Finland has a lot of heavy metal bands. But they haven’t much bands like us. Mixing metal and pop is not so common and having a female vocalist in this music genre is special.
Can you tell us something more about Memoremains?
(Memoremains): Sure we can. We are from Seinajoki which is in the middle of Finland. The band has five members:
- Mikko Kujanpaa (keyboards)
- Aapo Timonen (bass)
- Eemili Timonen (drums)
- Johanna Ahonen (vocals)
- Aleksi Makela (guitars)
We started when Mikko and Eemili wanted to have a band which plays more pop music. Until that time they played in bands which were much heavier. Both guys were drummer in their previous bands so Mikko decided to play keyboards in this new project. Not that it was his first choice but just because it was very difficult to find aa keyboard player in this low inhabited area of Finland.
And the rest of the band was founded piece by piece from the Finnish website “muusikoiden.net”. On this website bands can put free announcement if they are looking for band members or can individuals search for bands. A kind of Tinder for musicians.
So we found each other and in the autumn of 2016 the current line-up was ready. And with all those new band members we had a lot of challenges coming up. So Johanna starts to write lyrics which was something completely new for her. And the English language made it obviously more difficult. And I (Aleksi) started to play guitars in this band but I was a bass player in my previous bands.
So at that moment you had a band together. And how did it go from that moment on?
(Memoremains): We started to write songs. We didn’t have any gigs because we want to give great experience of our shows for our fans. That’s why we haven’t rush for any gigs. We want to practice our songs and make it all as good as possible. Making new songs and recording them also takes a lot of time so we have been busy to release new stuff.
It seems that you are very busy with writing and recording. What has the band released so far?
(Memoremains): We have released six songs. One of them is with a music video ( Ballerina) and now we are releasing a new song, which is called “Time is running out”, also with a music video. Although we had no gigs the songs got very good feedback and we have already got fans all around the world.
All our songs are well recorded and Aapo’s band mate Atte O Pohjonen has mixed all of them very well. We think that’s the reason why we have already so much attention even that we haven’t toured at all yet.
Can you tell us something more about your EP?
(Memoremains): Sure we can! “Time is running out” is the first song of our upcoming EP. In that new release we want to show different sites of MEMOREMAINS. So it will contains four different songs. The EP will be released later this year.
Can you tell us something about the recording?
(Memoremains): All the instrument parts for “Time is running out”were recorded individually in our own rehearsal room. Mikko has equipment for recording and he knows how to use them, because het worked with them for several years. The vocals were recorded at Atte’s home studio. So we get more ideas for the backing vocals and to find out different ways to sing the song.
I hear you talking a lot about your new song “Time is running out”. What can you tell about it?
(Memoremains): “Time is running out”was born when Mikko wanted to write a song that hits you from the beginning till the end. Our previous songs had more atmosphere and the climax at the end. “Time is running out” is a song that hits you right away. The idea for the lyrics came up when Johanna and Mikko were talking together about how busy they are with all kinds of things they have to do, to collect for themselves and how difficult it is to say “no”. So the song is about how you can push yourself to get the best out of you and show to the world and yourself what you really are. Before the time is running out.
You also told us that there is a video of “Time is running out”. Can you tell us something about the video?
(Memoremains) : The idea for the music video was long process. We knew for a long time that “Time is running out” will be the song that we want to make a music video of . It took some time to figure out what kind of music video it would be. We wanted to perform in a stage that has chairs for an audience. We also wanted to build some story around it. It wasn´t easy to find a place that would be impressive enough to film this music video. But after a while we found a place “Seinäjoki-Sali” where normally classical music will be performed . For the story we had to find an actor. Some of us had seen a musical produced by Johanna. From that musical we noticed a girl named Venla Sippola. Her acting skills were impressive, and Johanna told us that she is nice person. So we asked herif she would come to act in our music video. She said right away “yes”.
The main idea for the music video was that Venla is having a dream and she steps into the theatre, where we are having a performance. Music video´s cameraman and director, Riku-Pekka Lappalainen invented a lot of details for the music video. We played the song in a slower and faster tempo then normally and Riku has speed up or slow down the video from the parts where the band is playing. This effect makes it look more like a dream.
The whole music video was filmed in eight hours. Riku filmed a lot of material from different positions to make the video look as good as possible. Even though the day was long, Riku and Venla had lot’s of energy and it was nice to see them working so enthusiastic.
What can we expect of MEMOREMAINS in the nearby future?
(Memoremains) : In the future we want to make more music, have gigs and make the band serious business. We still want to challenge ourselves and see how far we can go with this band. We still have a lot to show to the people and musical ideas to release.
Are there things you want to tell us and I didn’t ask?
(Memoremains) : Yes there is one thing. A kind of fun fact with MEMOREMAINS and the Netherlands is, that two of our members has been in a student exchange in Enschede (Aapo in 2016 and Aleksi in 2017)
And people can find us;
ONS NIEUWS MUSIC 
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