MadCraft

Interviewed by Finnish Underground Radio and a little help from our friends at Vixxen

Where did the name ‘MadCraft’ come from? Where did it start and why is it here…

We had a joke involving Matlock and Lovecraft, who put together make MadCraft. The name was only meant to be temporal, but we grew to like it. Actually the mentioned two guys also accrete LoveLock, a title which you’ll see in use pretty soon!

Speaking of names…Would you ever change your band’s name if a record label wanted to sign you up and said “hey we think your name ain’t that catchy”?

Let’s say it depends on the deal they’d offer. It’s kind of hard to think why would it need a substitute, since we’ve made a huge effort making the name already known. Although, if a company would put in 110% with just us changing the name, then why not. After all the maths is easy, and we don’t care if it was Sherlock and Lovejoy combined into SherJoy.

You guys have a new EP coming out soon, care to share some info? Like what’s the meaning behind the title, “Lovelock’d”? What can listeners expect to hear? Any surprises lurking in there?

We hate secrets and love hyping, so here it comes! Yeah, we have a new 4-song EP coming up by the end of spring. The joke behind the title you’ve already read in the first question… But I guess it still has more to it. One could call it a boy-girl-kinda-thing. You know when you’re with someone you’re kind of stuck with that person. Lock’d if you will. The lyrics are pretty much revolving around that theme.

Listeners can expect a MadCraft version 2.0. We already had all the songs more or less written when we started to record Breakout EP. Thus we’ve almost had an entire year to arrange, test, fail and re-arrange the songs to the point that every second of every song would be as good as it possibly can. Hence a surprise: all the four songs are gonna be splendid!

You guys do usually do covers songs during your gigs, what’s your favorite cover to do? What’s the worst possible song to cover? (There’s a second part to this question but you won’t get that until after you’ve answered this.

Our pockets are overflowing with cover songs, and new ones are learned as often as possible. We try to figure out catchy songs and of course listen to our fans’ wishes too. The favorite covers are the ones we could play with our eyes closed, such as several songs by Blink-182, Telephone by Lady Gaga and I Wanna Be Somebody by WASP. Performing covers live is harder than it seems, so consequently the worst possible cover song is a poorly rehearsed one. And maybe also some all tired, classic rock song.

How did you find the prospect of getting interviewed for a South African magazine? I mean that’s pretty broad based…

Amazingly, they found us. We were blown away by the fact that someone had even heard about us out there! And it blew us even farther away that they made an indepth interview. So to be frank, it was just pure awesomeness!

Does Finnish Pop/Punk differ from other Pop/Punk standards?

Well… I could say that the production level of Finnish Pop/Punk and Punkrock is still living the beginning of 2000′s or even earlier. You really can’t hear anyone doing the modern day Pop/Punk like All Time Low or any of those American bands that are hot right now. I guess you’re not ”true” if you to listen those bands.

When you were growing up, which band did you dream of becoming a member of? Does that band have an influence on your music today?

I think we all had our favorites changing along with our personal tastes of music. Call it Rage Against The Machine, The Offspring, Children Of Bodom or Queen, I bet we would’ve all wanted to be in a band like those.

Maybe the biggest influence of all is the fact that when combined together, the four of us have listened to a really wide range of bands in different genres. So we’re not really tied to a one point of view. We’re never afraid to try something new. Whether it sounds cool is a different question.

If you had to create your ‘ideal’ all-girl band, who would you have in it and why?

Whoa! Didn’t really see that one coming. Let’s see… How about Stalingrad Cowgirls with Lori Linstruth on lead guitar and Haley Williams on lead vocals. And Lars Ulrich on tambourine.

Please explain to us about your ‘weaknesses’ and ‘super powers’… What are they and how do they work? Are they dangerous?

The ones on our website? The weaknesses, they change all the time depending on our current situation. The weaknesses are the addictive things that really hold each of us back. But luckily we have the superpowers! We haven’t really used them after the photoshoots of the Breakout EP cover though. But don’t make us, they’re really dangerous. At least if you’re trying too hard to comprehend our incomprehensible inside jokes.

We googled everyone and came up with some pretty interesting stuff…so tell us how does a bunch of metal heads end up playing superpowered punkpop? And Juho, you’re like a ghost…what’s your hystorical stories?

We’re the kids of the early 2000′s metal invasion in Finland. Back in the day everyone played metal in Finland. I guess it was just difficult to find a working band that wasn’t metal. And hey, metal can be pretty sweet. But I guess we more or less grew out of it and wanted to express ourselves in a more melodic and positive way. And we wanted to depart from the mass. Juho is the only one of us who was never into metal stuff. Maybe that’s the reason for his revenance until now.

In your opinion(s), what is the most important element a band must possess in order to be successful?

Everyone has to know what the band is doing and where you want to go. And most of all, you just got to do it. Everything. All the time. It’s obvious that you’ve got to write and rewrite songs and really learn how to play them. But the hardest part is to learn how to make it sound perfect in other people’s ears. The music although is just one part of being a band. To be successful, get yourself known, get contacts, turn them into fans and play a ton of gigs for them. A band is like a plant that grows boringly slow, and you can never be sure if it ever bears the fruit.

How would you define a band as being ‘successful’? Is it a big label contract, the fans, the number of gigs and where, etc…what? Is it a combination of those or not? Does the success come from within the band or from the outside?

That’s the question I was about to ask you in the previous question, too. And that’s because I really don’t know how to describe success. To start top down, obviously a band is a success if it’s playing stadiums and selling millions. But that kind of success doesn’t come from within or from the outside, but it comes through time. That’s why we don’t think that having a record deal instantly makes one a success. For example our time has ran for only one year now, so today we’re successful if there are people who listen to us and come to see us whenever we’re playing a venue near them. The next level of success would be to start making money doing what we do. How to get to that point, we really don’t know. All we recognize is that it takes a lot of time and no-one’s doing it for us but ourselves.

What do you think is most important to fans in regards to your music?

We’d like to think it’s the energy we have on stage and on tape. And the fact we’re always bringing them something new to enjoy. Be it a live video, pictures or an upcoming gig. We love how our fans interact with us on the internet, and that’s another thing important to them and to us as well.

Because Peter the Pied Piper likes pickles, would you be a prick and swap them for peppers?

I think there is a division here. Tom and Samuli would let him have his pickles, since they think there are enough pricks in the world. On the other hand, Juho and Otto are pricks just like that. With Johnny Knoxville’s laugh.

Last but never in the least…fess up, spill the beans and give us the possibly dirty info…boxers, briefs or commando?

You forgot the long johns, which are an undisputed choice for us! Except Juho, who is too badass to wear them. But does he have the guts to go commando? Maybe this calls for a new YouTube video.

Anything else you guys like to add? Give it to us, we can take it…

Right on! Check out the video teaser of our upcoming EP at http://madcraft.net/lovelockd
Like us on Facebook (http://listn.to/MadCraft) and subscribe to our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/MadCraftOfficial). We’ll be posting cool stuff as the late spring release comes nearer! And if we come to play a town near you, come and say hi and we’ll give you some leftover chocolate!

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