École
When and how was your band created?
Mr. K. Popp: The story of Apezone started in the spring of the year 1997. We first got the idea for the band with Bengt Boy the bass player, when we realized that we both wanted to start creating music that would combine heavy metal with groovy elements from funk and hip hop. We were in that sence lucky from the beginning that all the musicians in the band were already friends and shared the same ambitions and interests.
What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
Mr. K. Popp: As a musician my first real influences came from the British heavy metal -70´s and -80´s from bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden etc. Later as a song writer in the 1990´s grunge and hip hop stood out more and more.Especially bands like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill shook my world big time. There influences can in some ways still be quite distinctinely heard in our music.We don´t anyhow see our music being strictly based on any specific bands or styles but we have very open-minded and versatile approach to making music in general.
What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician / singer (in Finland)?
Mr. K. Popp: In Finland the first positive aspect that comes to mind is that live gigs are guite easy to get, even for small and guite unknown alternative bands but at the same time the venues , audiences and demand for obvious reasons remain guite modest. The general atmosphere amongst musicians is relatively supportive and here in Finland are a lot of good unknown bands but the possibility of major breakthrough is very limited due to tough competition and the fact that the finnish record companies tend to stay on the safe side and follow the commercial trends of the USA and the hit lists in general., and often several years behind. However, this situation has recently slightly changed, thanks to the commercial breaktroughs of a few Finnish bands like HIM and Bom Funk MC´s.
How could you qualify your style of music?
Mr. K. Popp: As mentioned above our music is an open-minded crossover of various styles of music. I often say when I´am asked this guestion that our music is somewhere between Black Sabbath and Beastie Boys, We let the listener decide.
Have you ever considered the possibilty to change totally your style of music? If so, what style of music would you choose?
Mr. K. Popp: Once again, we are not strictly committed to any style of music, we might sometimes in our live performances even slip into reggae jam sessions, to tell one example. But if we were to change the style completely, I can only say that the change would be guite radical, something totally different.
What are stories/topics you tell/treat in your songs?
Mr. K. Popp:Well, the topics and emotions in our songs are maxim to another. On one hand the lyrics are up-to-date depictions and obversations of the world as we see it from our male perspectives or then they might reach out to absurd, even perverted fictive imaginative mind flow tales of not so ordinery events.
What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
Mr. K. Popp: As far every musician, I think, it´s almost impossible to lift one song over another. Some more energetic songs are nicer to play live, some work better in other conditions. And of course the new songs are interesting to play live cuz then see how the audience respond to them.
Do you tour regularly? Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
Mr. K. Popp: We definitely enjoy more playing live and We play gigs regularly. We have toured in Finland all bigger cities and rock venues, but We haven´t however reached the stadium arena level yet.
During the process of making an album, what is the moment that you prefer?
Mr. K. Popp: When it comes to play in the studio, to be a bit sarcastic, the best phase is when the album is ready. For critical musician as ourselves, playing in the studio can sometimas be painfull but somehow it is also rewarding.
What kind of music / What artists do you currently listen?
Mr. K. Popp: Currently, there are no mainstream bands that would have struck out, the last album I´ve purchased was latest Red Hot Chili Peppers album. So I mainly still listen to my old favourites mentioned above.
What are your actual and future projects?
Mr. K. Popp: At the moment We are mostly concertrating in promoting our new single and starting to play more gigs again, after short creative break.
A stupid question but… what is among all the songs you’ve been listening in your life the BEST song? Why?
Mr. K. Popp: Again, this is impossible, My opinion is that good music is good music and bad music is bad, no matter if it´s folk or heavy metal.
Internet is something interesting for musicians because it gives them the opportunity to touch a larger audience but it is also a threat for them (regarding the copyrights). What is your opinion regarding this medium?
Mr. K. Popp: Our experience is that the internet is a good media expecially for new bands to reach new audience and in our case this has proved to be rather successful. Of course in a larger scale this cannot be very produtive and it can turn against the musicians themselves. As long as music stays an artistic ambition and a hobby internet is a good thing but naturally if one should make a living out of music, it becomes a different thing altogether and commercial aspects have to be thought more carefully. By the way people check us in the internet in www.apezone.net
Do you use computers or home studios during the process of making an album or a song?
Mr. K. Popp: We are our own producers, We have our own studio equipment which gives us the possibility to experiment more and without any strict time tables. Computers are a natural part of studio processes these days, also for us.
