Forget the darkness and doomy thoughts. From Tampere, indie rockers Jermaine (remember Michael Jackson’s older brother) showcases energetic modern rock born after Weezer and At the Drive-In with the goal of taking your troubles away. Refined after many live shows since 2004, the band presents their second album, Hope Dies Last. Guitarist Antti Loponen talks about it and presents the band. Stay positive!
How did you meet and stat working on this project?
It was about friendship and similar tastes in music. Tuomas and the two Petes started the band in 2003 and I joined in through an ad on a local music forum after the first two gigs. We all had some experiences of playing in bands before Jermaine, but once we got this line-up running, it was different than anything before.
How would you describe your music to someone who has not heard anything from you?
We play energetic and positive rock music with influences coming as much from street-credible 90′s post-hardcore as from blatant 80′s bubblegum pop.
Can you tell something about your first gigs back in 2004?
The first gigs were pretty messy because of attempting musical ideas we weren’t capable of yet. We’re also sure not as shy anymore as we were back then.
Why did you choose the name Jermaine?
I wasn’t in the band when they came up with the name, but I know that Jermaine is Michael Jackson’s big brother. It’s a simple and good-sounding name that’s easy to remember. Although I guess Finns have a hard time pronouncing it right.
What does it make you different from other indie / rock bands?
I’m pretty sure it’s the positive energy. At least here in Finland, most of the bands seem to sing about negative things and concentrate on looking cool and gloomy onstage.? Our goal is to just have a good time ourselves playing the music and maybe cheer up someone at the same time.
What are your influences and your all time favourite albums?
Basically the three albums that made this band together are Weezer‘s “blue” album, At the Drive-in‘s Relationship of Command and Glassjaw‘s Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence. We’re all as well big fans of Jonah Matranga and all of his projects including Gratitude and New End Original.? At the moment I think we all are addicted to Kings of Leon‘s latest album.
Which are your favourite Finnish bands?
Traffic Island and Wiidakko.
Tells us about the new album, Hope Dies Last?
What can I say, it’s our best album. It represents our bests sides from punk to pop. We recorded it in 2007 but the release got delayed because our previous label Indie Jones called it quits and it took a while to arrange a new release date with a new label.
Why did you choose that album title?
We just took the title from the lyrics of the song with the same title. It’s a quote from Dawson’s Creek, which actually represents the theme of the album surprisingly well. Also, the whole hassle with the release of the album made us live through the title.
How is this new album different than your first one?
The first album ended up being like debuts usually do, like a compilation of the best songs of the band’s first years, whereas the songs for the new album were written more with the album wholeness in mind. The same goes for the actual recording quality. We had practically no budget for the first album but the new one was made as professionally as we could have done. Hope Dies Last goes further in all dimensions compared to Knives Out. We went quieter with the slow songs, and more energetic with the fast ones, but there’s also other directions, like some unusual arrangements for us.
What are your near future plans?
We are already writing new songs for the next album, but there’s no dates or anything set for that yet. We’ve got some gigs to do as well, that will keep us occupied for a while.
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