I've had a chance to follow this bands since their first 7" and have been steadily impressed with their music. Alley Gods brings nothing but a fast and angry hardcore with a straight in your face lyrical delivery. Make sure you peep their new album I've reviewed somewhere on this site recently - they still know how to instantly get your anger level high and the blood flowing through your limbs! Check out the interview for some info on the band, new album and hardcore scene in their hometown, Turku.
I've had a chance to follow this bands since their first 7" and have been steadily impressed with their music. Alley Gods brings nothing but a fast and angry hardcore with a straight in your face lyrical delivery. Make sure you peep their new album I've reviewed somewhere on this site recently - they still know how to instantly get your anger level high and the blood flowing through your limbs! Check out the interview for some info on the band, new album and hardcore scene in their hometown, Turku.Correcting Wrong Opinions has been out for a while. Are you satisfied with how this album came out and the response it’s been getting?
O: Yes. We wanted to do a traditional straightforward album without messing too much with the hardcore trends going on and I guess we succeeded.
R: We’ve been happy to hear what people think of the album whether they’d like it or not but the feedback has been mostly positive.
Can you give us an insight of the writing and recording process for the album?
L: Just before we decided to do an full-length album we begun to have a clear image of our own style to work things out. Meaning, the composing part suddenly was so easy and there were solid songs coming out without planning them properly. We were sort of jamming the songs together and that’s when we thought it would be a good time to concentrate to the big picture which of course would be the full-length.
T: The most effective way for us to keep things solid has really been purely to just play and have good time instead of planning too much. Letting the songs just roll on. And what comes to the recording part, it was quite easy aswell cos we already had some experience of how it all works in the good old studio with the good old producer. In the studio we just polished the songs with adding all the little details, but I guess that’s just how it should be in the first place. It was a relatively easy process altogether.
If you ask me, Correcting Wrong Opinions is a perfect example of an old school album that sounds fresh and exciting. What bands you look to as an inspiration?
O: We all have a wide range of music we listen but when talking about hardcore I think it can be heard in the album that besides of old school bands we also know what’s going on in present. The list could be endless but to name a few hot finnish bands of who’ve made an impact; Kieltolaki, Last laugh, Cutdown, Ratface…
T: …Finnish bands because in hardcore going to shows is a big part of it and those are some we’ve heard live and digged.
L: And because our style can more or less be described as old school; Minor Threat, Outlast, Gorilla Biscuits to name a few, not saying we try to sound like them.. I just like bands playing fast. Old or new ones.
O: And to counterbalance the fastness; Kickback, Irate, Integrity and Nasty are bangin.
Explain what the name of the album translates to and how it relates to the music…
L: It’s meant to sound provocative and cocky but you can also turn it over by correcting your own opinions. In hardcore lyrics there’s a lot of principles that people adopt without questioning them. By correcting wrong opinions you can also mean changing them and, indirectly, learning something. Basically it’s just against all too strong opinions cos things tend to have more sides than people want to see or understand. If you find the lyrics radical or offensive, it’s just our side of the coin. We’re not saying it’s the absolute truth that we declare.
I’ve read about The lyrics on the new album are something most kids can relate to, no matter if they’re from Finland, Spain, Poland or any other place. Is it important for you to have people taking something from your music?
R: It’s great if the lyrics are something that people can relate to and get something out of, but mainly they’re our own opinions and thoughts about the things we face daily in our lives. Whether they’re provocative or not, the subjects are not that positive or nice, cos that’s how we see the world.
O: After all the lyrics reflect our personal feelings at the moment written down as an expression of dissatisfaction and anger.
What are some of the songs from the album that are most important to you and why?
R: I’d say the title track and “Generations of hate” because those two show our music’s variability. It’s boring to make songs that fit exactly in to some genre and these songs break the norms of traditional hardcore just right.
L: My favourite is “Still the same” cos it matches my vision of how I wanted the album to sound like, musically and lyrically.
O: Every song has their own meaning to me but to pick one, “Black & white”. It’s about a local football club.
T: I can’t get bored with the song called “Mistakes” because of it’s intro which is never played the same way.
How did you guys get into the whole hardcore thing? What was it about it that appealed to you the most?
L: We all went to the same junior high school and traded punk records at the schoolyard and eventually found hardcore which became more important after getting into the local punk/hardcore scene. We went to gigs and got impressed enough to start a band. HC as its best has got that certain passion that is hard to find elsewhere.
What are some of the headaches you deal with playing in hardcore band?
R: Hangovers.
And what are some of the most rewarding aspects of it?
O: Getting to play. The feeling you get if you got a gig and the crowd is active and the playing goes well. It’s a reward by itself. The satisfaction of getting the anger channeled to something.
T: Recording is also a big part because you can get a concrete proof of your work.
Have you had any crazy experiences when playing live?
L: That’s got to be the gig when we tried to cover “Raining blood” as an intro and I failed big time. One should not play that song wrong. There’s also some gigs in the past that were ruined by playing too drunk but it’s not a problem anymore cos we’ve learned that the satisfaction of playing tight and getting drunk later is greater.
R: Nothing too crazy so far. Just the usual; broken amps and drums falling apart. Girls-only –pit is worth mentioning too…
What are some other hardcore bands in Turku? How is the scene over there in general?
O: Turku scene is doing well except of the recent loss of our legendary venue TVO, which has been the center of punk, HC and bunch of other underground music happenings for ages.
R: To mention a few active bands from Turku: Get Stitches!, Ill Omen, Kylmä Sota, Anvils Drop, .45 Stainless and early mentioned Kieltolaki. The HC scene in Finland is quite small but it’s the reason people from different cities are so connected with each other.
It seems like the emo movement is losing its momentum – what do you think will be the next thing to ruin the good name of hardcore?
R: The trends aren’t really that noticeable in Finland. Seems like people just make the music they want and don’t really give a fuck what’s going on with the latest movements. Of course there is always some influence from the trends going on but it doesn’t affect on us in any way.
Before we finish up, tell us how did you guys come together? How long have you been a band?
R: We started in 2005 when we got to play together at my parent’s garage. At first it was just playing some street punk but after few months when Oskari came to vocals we just started to play hardcore. We all know each other from way back and have been playing together in various lineups at junior high.
Ok, thanks for the interview. Anything you would like to add?
L: Thanks for the interview! There’s been some talk about touring Europe some day so if you’re reading this and feel like you could maybe book us, feel free to contact. Check out our and Poolside Records’ myspace:
www.myspace.com/alleygods
www.myspace.com/poolsiderecords
alleygods@hotmail.com
The band is:
O = Oskari (vocals)
L = Lauri (guitar)
R = Roippe (drums)
T = Topi (bass)
