Fear Of Domination – 18-10-2008

Interview with: Fear Of Domination
By: Sabine van Gameren

As we are in Helsinki, on 18th of october 2008, we planned on visiting Metalorgy. A festival with some crème de la crème when it comes to promising metal acts. We were lucky to catch up Fear of Domination for this interview.

When we walk in we seem to be early, the band finishes their dinner and we crump up on some comfortable couches. Fear of Domination, coming from Rajamäki (Finland) is here almost complete. It seems hard to find a lot of information about the band, as if they do not have a complete biography online. “Well, we started in 2006” the band starts telling us. “We are not much different form other bands when it comes to our story, we just wanted to do something we loved”.

Johannes, their guitarist adds: “I was not there from the beginning, their former guitarist left…” some comments about the former guitarist were made before he continues: “So I joined the group in 2007. All my other bands were on hold at that time. I decided I wanted to join and they wanted me.”

We were wondering if we might know Johannes from one of his other bands, but it seems to be that none of them were much of a public band. “Those other bands were just for playing music, in music school. We just played covers, so it was not really a band. The other guys did not have bands before.” he explains.

Wondering how they came together was just too easy and we did not even have to ask for it since Johannes already tells us “We are living in the same place, so that is how we know each other”.

The restaurant of the venue closes down so we were forced to move to another place. “On an evening at Saku’s (vocalist) place, we were a little drunk and Saku mentioned that he always wanted to have a band. We have jammed together in the garage and we decided: ’let’s start a band’. We needed a bass player and a guitarist.” They explain.

Lauri adds how he joined the band: “I just walked by the store. And they asked if I wanted to do the bass.”

Besides all the guys standing here, I already met their keyboard player Niina Telén which is not joining in the interview. She is mentioned on the bands last.fm profile, but not on their MySpace. Saku says about her: “We do not have her in the recorded songs yet, she is fresh.” Someone adds the comment that they were too lazy to upload their myspace before Saku continues: “We needed a keyboard in our music, and she brought the final industrial touch to our music. And definitely melodies, I think our songs are quite awesome now. I like them better now. We reached another level when Niina entered the band”.

The band recorded a demo “Perfect World” before, as they told us before, it is not done with Niina. “If we have any money, we’ll do a new one”

Tonight, Fear of Domination, mainly Saku, is organizing the Metal Orgy festival. “Of course, the owner of this place helped a lot, but I organized it mainly. Every band has been contacted by me” says Saku.

How does a band like them get involved with organizing such a big festival evening, we wondered. It seems like it is the ambitious part of them who got them to start this off. Saku tells: “We are playing now in Nosturi before we go in the army. We wanted to have something big before that. Bigger than little bars or youth houses. It is just a surprise that Turmion Kätilöt came along. We did not know each other before this and now we are friends. Velcra, Jessi Frey, lovely lady! Also friends… and the other bands: friends of friends. They just came along and now here we are. 618 tickets are sold just before the gig. I think I have succeeded and know I am proud of these guys, something that we have achieved.”

So now, when this has been done, what will be next? No one has a magic boll of glass, but what Fear of Domination expects in the future is what we want to know. “Well, a record deal is what we hope for, we do not expect. I want to make this mostly for fun. I don’t like it if someone comes to tell us ‘you must do this, you must do that’. People, who see us live, say that they can see that energy on stage and that is why they come to see us.”

Links:

Fear Of Domination MySpace