Lordi. Mr. Lordi

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Mr. Lordi became interested in monsters, special effects and horror movies at an early age. He was an avid fan of The Muppet Show and E.T. Mr. Lordi also illustrates comic books.

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Lordi was formed in 1996 after a KISS concert in Stockholm, where they had gone to see Kiss perform (Mr. Lordi being leader of the Kiss Army Finland).

www.kissarmyfinland.com

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Mr. Lordi describes Lordi's desired sound as a song made by Kiss back in 1983, covered by Pantera in 1992 and remixed by Puff Daddy.

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The Finnish five piece has been on top of things starting with the 2006 Eurovision victory; the release of their own horror film (Dark Floors), two European tours, two American tours (one of these was thanks to Ozzfest 2007), visits to Japan and New Zealand...

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RiCo, for CZB: How did you get the nickname Lordi?

Mr. Lordi: My friend's mother gave it to me 1988. She thought I looked like a Lord with all the metal studs and shit.

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CZB: Lordi played its first gig on 8 December 2002, in Helsinki. The band never played a gig in the original line-up. I don't understand. You formed the band in 1996 and you just did rehearsals for six years... what were the reasons things happened this way?

Mr. Lordi: I formed the band 1992, not 1996. Fucking Wikipedia ha! ;) and there were plenty of lineups that never got on stage. Well, my idea was not to play any shows in any small pizzerias or in the corners of one room sized bars, and never play as an unknown act. I wanted to have the buzz for the band before we would hit the stage. I wanted the audience to know us and know our songs from the first show. I wanted the band to be anticipated and wanted to be seen by the people.

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CZB: With the stage name Mr. Lordi, the album title Bend Over And Pray The Lord or songs named Hard Rock Hallelujah, should I get the point that you are against modern day religion? Have you chosen to promote this kind of message, which some people may consider to be blasphemous, simply to spur controversy regarding Lordi?

Mr. Lordi: You could not be more wrong. First of all, the Finnish word lordi does not mean god or anything religious, it means lord, as in Lord Vader, you know? Kinda like Sir, Count or King or whatever. Hard Rock Hallelujah is NOT against religions, neither is Rock the Hell Outta You or any of my lyrics. Quite the opposite, if you read them carefully.

We're on a good side.

To prove the point, we have a song Devil Is A Loser, too. That doesn’t really fit the satanic agenda, now does it? ;) Sadly soooo many people choose to believe what they want instead of using their brain and opening their eyes.

Idiots see our pictures, decide that we are satanic, and nothing we ever say or do can change the fact that they still want to believe that we are satanic. Just because they want us to be. For some reason. Idiots.

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CZB: When and how did you start the Kiss Army Finland? When did you stop acting as president of the Kiss Army and how many members did the club have at that time?

Mr. Lordi: In 1995. I did not stop on any precise day, I just got too busy with Lordi, and I was and still am completely lost with the internet. Some younger fans asked somewhat 10 years ago if they could build a KAF (Kiss Army Finland) site and I said of course!

Aaaand thats that!

I actually never gave up my title, officially, since no-one asked me! ;) New guys just took over without me even knowing it for years!! But I am not bitter or mad, they're great people and I wouldn't have the time anyway, not to mention the skills to run a club in the web.

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CZB: You interviewed Gene Simmons for Inferno magazine; you got to do songwriting sessions with Bruce Kulick (ex-Kiss)... In 2006, Bill Aucoin, best known as the original manager of Kiss, became Lordi's manager. What was it like for you to get to know your idols so well and how were you influenced by the experiences of meeting most of the band figures, past and present?

Mr. Lordi: To put it simply: the greatest honour you could have is to be acknowledged, recognized and respected by your own idols, and treated as colleagues. You know then that you are doing something right, and could not care less about critics. :)

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CZB: Have you ever thought of doing a tour with Gwar, who started promoting the costume and mask concept in the States in 1984?

Mr. Lordi: No. But they have asked quite a few times actually. Would not work, and could not work. The only thing that we have in common is that both bands dress up as monsters. Musically, and on all the other levels, Gwar and Lordi could not be any further apart.

From my point of view, one of the main differences is that Gwar is more like a performance group, acting like monsters 24/7, and whenever in the public eye.

We take off our costumes at night when we go to bed, and never claim otherwise. We have stage personas. If I've understood correctly, Gwar's gimmick is to never admit that they are not real monsters... Which I think is a great idea, but it has to be hard to keep it up!

Gotta respect that!!

Funny thing is that, most of our band members had never even heard of Gwar before 2006..!!

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CZB: Some of Lordi's scenery is now designed by the Weta Workshop of New Zealand. The workshop has also designed scenery for movies such as The Lord of the Rings and King Kong. How did you get in contact - and decide to work with the Weta Workshop?

Mr. Lordi: We played a show in New Zealand, and the Weta people saw us and invited us to their workshop.

Great people, nicest folks ever!

We did some stuff for Deadache there, yep. It was a great learning experience.

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CZB: Were you considered sissies by music colleagues in Finland when it was announced that you would try to compete for Finland's bid at Eurovision 2006?

Mr. Lordi: Hahaha! I honestly dunno.

I guess they thought we were sissies already before that, hahaha! ;D

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CZB: Lordi was congratulated on its Eurovision victory by both Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen. How did you feel when this happened?

Mr. Lordi: Uuummm. Good, I guess. Bit weird, but good. :)

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CZB: You got married to your long-time girlfriend in August 2006, although the marriage was initially set for May 2006. This important personal event had to be postponed due to the overnight European success of Hard Rock Hallelujah. What was it like having to make this decision and was your present wife understanding about it?

Mr. Lordi: Aha! Wikifuckingpedia strikes again I see. We did not postpone or re-schedule anything. Dates were set a year before already.

Some idiots in the media made it up.

I guess they got pissed off at us because we were not gonna let them as close to our civil lives as they thought they had the right to, us being in Eurovision and all.

So they started making bullshit like that up.

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CZB: I read on Wikipedia that you were assaulted once because of wearing heavy metal clothing, in Rovaniemi's Sampo Square (renamed Lordi Square after 2006!). I cannot believe this can happen in a metal loving country. How old were you and what impression do you have of this, looking back now?

Mr. Lordi: Well, Finland was not as metal loving then as it is now. Well, actually, it is not as metal loving anymore again as it was just a few years ago. I was 14 or 15, and literally just one of, like.. less than 10 people in Rovaniemi who had the guts to look like heavy rock dudes in public...

Oh, I see that Wikipedia got one correct..! ;)

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CZB: Babez For Breakfast was recorded in early 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee and is the first time you have worked with a string orchestra and a gospel choir... Why do you consider European bands that want to be successful in the States have to record albums over there and how has your perspectives on music changed after the string orchestra and gospel choir recording experience?

Mr. Lordi: The reason we went to the U.S. to record was not because we just wanted to record in the U.S. It was because the producer, Michael Wagener, works, lives and has his studio there and we wanted to work with him. And still do!

The strings and choirs could have been done in Europe too. Just being in the U.S., it really didn't change anything that was planned already. We knew already what kind of an album we were gonna make, before deciding where we are gonna make it.

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I don't think you can automatically manipulate success just by recording in this or that studio, or country or continent, you know? It's just that the world is getting smaller, and opportunities for bands to work everywhere they want are increasing.

Bands have a lot more choices on how and where they wanna work nowadays.

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A CZB Interview, conceived by RiCo

8.DEC.2011

The Artists

• Mr. Lordi (Tomi Putaansuu, lead vocals)
• Amen the unstoppable mummy (Jussi Sydänmaa, guitar, vocals)
• Awa the vampire countess (keyboards, vocals)
• Ox the hellbull (bass, vocals)
• Otus (drums, vocals)

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The Albums

• Get Heavy (2002)
• The Monsterican Dream (2004)
• The Monster Show (2005)
• The Arockalypse (2006)
• Deadache (2008)
• Babez for Breakfast (2010)

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www.lordi.fi

www.facebook.com/lordi

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This is Heavy Metal. Babez for Breakfast (2010)

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Lordi's Christmas single. It Snows in Hell

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We did this interview because Lordi was supposed to play in Romania for the first time on 17.DEC.2011, in Oradea. Band Management never confirmed the concert date because of faulty communication with the local organizer.

The official Lordi Romania Fan Club was (at least for a while) the only website in Romania that announced the event cancellation.

http://lordiromania.com/

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