By Scott Alisoglu
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Prior to 2005, few outside of a loyal melodic hard rock/’80s metal segment of the European music community had even heard of the theatrical shock rockers. And yet Lordi had been in existence since 1992, releasing three albums, including 2006’s The Arockalypse, which saw a North American release on The End Records in March of this year.
Funny how winning a hugely popular European song contest can change a band’s profile, isn’t it? Forget about the fact that Finland had never won the long-running Eurovision Song Contest; Lordi did it as a hard rock/metal band with the catchy anthem “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” Even more surprising is that the group entered the competition with absolutely no expectations of moving beyond the Finnish rounds, much less winning the whole damn thing and ending up with the highest score ever.
“We thought that we’d go in there and get some free promotion on TV because our album was coming out a month later,” explains Mr. Lordi (real name Tomi Putaansuu), still amazed at this new level of fame, which includes a Lordi soft drink (Lordi Cola) and credit card. “It was two years ago in 2005,” he continues, “and we were in the studio recording The Arockalypse guitar parts when our A&R guy called from the label and said, ‘I have a strange suggestion that came from the Eurovision delegation from the Finnish Eurovision Board. They would like to invite you to the contest.’ And our guitar player Amen said immediately, ‘Hell no! That is the last thing we will ever do.’ We talked about it and eventually we got to the point that if there was a rock band in Finland that should do it, it’s us.”
It certainly had nothing to do with the singer’s love of the contest or any degree of admiration for what he views as the contestants’ cookie-cutter approach to songwriting.
“Eurovision is a pop song contest,” says Mr. Lordi. “Something that has always been said around Europe is that if you want to be taken seriously as a musician the last thing you do is enter the Eurovision contest. It’s a joke. Basically, it’s the same song all over again played by different artists who still look the same as the ones the year before.”
And what began as a nothing-to-lose proposition with free marketing potential became not only a launching pad for the band’s career, but also a hard rock shot heard ‘round the world. And Lordi did it playing an often critically maligned style of music that the band freely (and proudly) admits is directly influenced by American acts like KISS, Twisted Sister, and Alice Cooper. The group is even managed by legendary KISS manager Bill Aucoin, not to mention that Mr. Lordi is President of KISS Army Finland.
“We have always been really honest and open about our idols and our influences,” says the front man. “But at the same time by praising our own idols, even before the record deal and after, it has brought us more bad things than good things in a way, because we are still paying tribute to those great bands. Mainly it’s the critics here in Europe, especially in Finland, who don’t think too much of those bands. They say it’s so dated and so silly and stupid, and they have always failed to see, with those kinds of bands with strong images and pop-ish melodies, that there are actually really strong professionals behind every band, and they are really doing what they want to do. It’s the same thing with us. We just want to kick ass [laughs] with great melodies and be visually striking.”
As much as Eurovision has done for the band’s career, Mr. Lordi is the first to admit that the significance of the Eurovision victory goes well beyond personal career aspirations or Finnish pride. This one was for the fans.
“One thing some people didn’t realize was that we weren’t representing our country in this competition, we were representing rock music, rock people, hard rock fans, heavy metal people, and even the diehard metal people. People didn’t understand that when the metal community wakes up it is really strong and it’s loyal. That’s why it was a landslide. Metal fans don’t know any borders, they don’t care if they live in Finland or if they live in the U.K. or Spain or Greece or Estonia or Russia. It’s the same thing with KISS fans, it doesn’t matter where you come from, you are part of the family and you stand for your favorite band.”