The Rock Metal Podcast: Screem Writers Guild with Mr. Lordi of LORDI

In this episode of The Rock Metal Podcast, we're chatting with Mr. Lordi of the band Lordi about their new album ‘Screem Writers Guild’ via Atomic Fire Records.

During our chat we touch on a lot of great tips for musicians, such as having patience to see your goals and dreams through. Mr. Lordi talks about losing band members over the years, while sticking through to his vision.

'Screem Writers Guild' was Produced by Mr. Lordi with Mr. Mana and Janne Halmkrona; Mixed by Ilkka Herkman / Ilusound Oy; Mastered by Pauli Saastamoinen / Finnvox Studios

The band Mr. Lordi is for fans of: Battle Beast, Powerwolf, Sabaton, U.D.O.

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Guest Resource

Lordi.fi - Connect with Lordi!

Guest Music Video

3 Heavy Hitters

1. Have confidence in yourself, because you’re the best person to be you.

2. Be able to do what you love to do - never stop working towards your goals and dreams.

3. Have patience with your goals on the road to success.

Show Notes // Transcript

Jon Harris: Mr. Lordi, thank you so much for coming on to The Rock Metal Podcast today. Go ahead and say Hi to all of our beautiful listeners.

Mr. Lordi: Hello. Hahaha. Hi, how you doing?

Jon Harris: Well, we're fabulous now that you're here. Now this new record Screem Writers Guild play on words, of course. What was the greatest moment for you producing this record?

Mr. Lordi: I don't know. The first five months. No, over twelve. We did it in five months. I mean, I love the process of creating, from writing the new song, from recording and to even painting the album cover and everything. I love every single moment of making a new album and creating something. So to pick just one, like the best or proudest moment, I really can.

Jon Harris: It's like, yeah, you love all of your beautiful children from writing the new songs

Mr. Lordi: Yeah, of course.

Jon Harris: To recording, coming up with the album artwork. I guess that then you said you did the whole thing in five months. Is that pretty typical for you or is that a little bit longer?

Mr. Lordi: Yeah, it's pretty typical. This happened in the time this was recorded, actually a year ago. I got a call in January 2022 from our manager that to start writing a new album. Sure. And so by the I'm trying to think, by the mid June 2022, the album already went to Greece, mastering and no, it was already mastered. So, yeah, we did it in five months, including writing and everything. So it is pretty typical for us. I mean we can do it pretty fast but most of the times why it takes longer is because you are gigging you're doing shows at the same time so you cannot do the whole album back to back in row like days like that because you have to travel with shows, festivals or whatever quite fast. This album was so easy to make it felt like that we're only making a mini EP or something because when I got that call that hey, start writing a new album. Sure, it was only two months after when we just released seven albums at the same time so now doing one album, just one it was like okay, it feels like doing a single or something.

Jon Harris: Hahaha, I was going to say getting a phone call and then a few months later having an album to print. Do you have a catalog of stuff at the ready that you're just sitting on?

Mr. Lordi: No, I'm usually writing everything. I'm very productive and I'm very creative. So when I sit down and usually if I start writing a song as a side project, as a side effect, I will have side product, I will have two other songs. If I start writing one song, in the end, I will have three. That's usually what happens. And some people ask, how is that possible? Well, I'll tell you I have a chorus melody I'm writing that I'm playing guitar or keyboards, I'm working with that. So then I'm just listening to my inner radio that is playing in my head. So how would the song go from there nothing special. I think many people are writing like that. I think that what would be the best way that how would they hear song go to the next part of the song. Okay. So then I come up with them. Usually I don't have any writers luck or anything. I come with the next part, I put it down. Okay, there it is. And then I listen to it. I thought, oh, it's a great part, but it actually isn't really exactly what I'm looking for. So I put that aside, that part, and by the end of the day, when that one song is ready, I have material for like two other songs already from the put aside parts. So that's how it happens. That's how come that's why it happens. I already forgot your question, by the way.

Jon Harris: It's okay. My next question, though, is what was the biggest challenge for you on this record?

Mr. Lordi: I don't remember actually having any challenges with this one because this was insanely easy and naturally flowing process. The whole writing of the whole recording, everything. I don't remember having actually any kind of challenge. Even logistically, it went smooth as fuck. Everything went so well. I'm sorry there were no challenges. Really easy. It was that easy.

Jon Harris: Yeah. No, that's fine. I mean, why is that, do you think? Is it just because you've written so many songs and albums up to this point? You know what you're doing?

Mr. Lordi: Yeah. And of course, it's also because I'm getting more confident every time when I'm writing and we're doing stuff. After I started producing our own albums, it really boosted up my level where it's a little bit too much even, I guess.

Jon Harris: HAHA!

Mr. Lordi: But at the same time, I know what I can do and I know what our band can do, and I know we can do exactly what we're aiming for. So that makes it easy and that makes it somehow it is very enjoyable to be able to create something the way you want it. And you are very satisfied with the end product. This is exactly what you here's the many people you know. Usually like critics when they listen to any Penny Artist album, but in this case, Lordi, it sounds shitty. And why does it have that many critics? Usually they forget that, at least in our songs, how they sound like. And the self confidence is something that and you know, you can do what you're trying.

Jon Harris: Okay, now, something that strikes me as interesting is I would imagine that to do what you do takes a degree of confidence, I guess. What was it that or when did the confidence start to ingrain in what it is that you're doing?

Mr. Lordi: I think I've always had that because I know that I'm the best me that anybody could be. Many times I've said this. I'm a huge fan of KISS. I'm a KISS fan addict. I'm one of those KISS fanboys collectors and KISS crazies. And I wanted to be Gene Simmons when I was young, but now I understand that even Gene Simmons, who I look up to in every possible ways, who's my iron and probably the main reason why I wanted to be Gene Simmons. But when understanding that even Gene Simmons couldn't be better Lordi than I am Gene Simmons as Gene Simmons or anybody. That something that is really understanding that after you already are having fans and you have your fan base. And your followers who are really into your band and understanding that whatever you're doing when I write stuff, when I create stuff, I have only one person target audience, and that is myself. I'm doing everything to please myself. And if anybody else, any anybody else likes it, it's a plus. If they don't, fuck them, what do they know anyway? I think that certain amount of self confidence is a good thing to actually, you know, I'm the worst teacher. I could not teach or tell anybody else how to do their shit. But if it comes to my shit, what I'm doing, I am the God and the dictator and the goddamn almighty. I know how to do my shit. And I get really angry and I get really offended if somebody tries to tell me how I should do things. Because I'm like, what the hell do you know? I'm not telling you how to know. You know, masturbate, you know?

Jon Harris: Yeah, that's right. Strokes and strokes and strokes. Okay.

Mr. Lordi: Yeah. Whoo.

Jon Harris: Now, the EPK that I got from Atomic Fire says that the record itself is not a real concept album, but plays with the overall cinematic theme. So take us through that Screem Writers Guild. What is this record about?

Mr. Lordi: Well, it's another Lordi record, really. Atomic Fire guys, they need say something in the press release, don't they? What it is about is I always write music first, and then the lyrics come after that, depending on how you count it. But it's actually our 19th studio album, already 19. And most of the songs on every single Lordi album are about horror. Horror genre, our horror stories. There's something, and I just wanted to find sometimes it gets really difficult to find out find a new angle in the in the horror genre, you know? What can I you know, what could this album be about? And then I just thought, that okay, why not? Trying to focus on the classic vintage horror movies like those Universal Monsters and shit like that, that was the starting point for this whole thing. So when I was trying to come up with some sort of a new angle to write songs and what would be the main concept of this album. So then I thought that while this is our music, that I wanted to do, is do an album that would be like reset, like returning or resetting the factory default settings of Lordi, like going back to the first three or four albums, trying to do very different kind of standard, classic Lordi album, usually. So then I thought that also lyrically and thematically, it should be something very classic Lordi and I thought that, okay, well, funnily enough, we really haven't touched the subject of old vintage horror movies yet, or horror characters. So that's where the idea came. Okay, let's go to the root of cinematic horror and try to get some influences and try to get some ideas from there. Well, all of the songs are not influenced by those, but clearly there's like, the Bride song, it's about Frankenstein, and there's like, in the Castle of Dracula, of course, and it's plain words again, but vacuum. There's like a tropical island, which is wolf, naval werewolves and shit like that. So it's like, more or less, all the songs have something to do with some classic horror movie or some classic horror movie character. Is, while that being said of Cocktail, there's a lot of Lotus songs that have a lot of reference to other horror movies. Like, especially Evil Dead. And Evil Dead, too, because, I mean, I'm a huge Evil Dead fan this time. I told my co-writer, Tracy Lee, by told this time, let us try not to have an Evil Dead reference on this album. Because usually we do. At this time we don't.

Jon Harris: How hard was it to not have an Evil Dead reference?

Mr. Lordi: Very hard. Very hard. And baby and pulsing.

Jon Harris: Yeah, fantastic.

Mr. Lordi: Because, I mean, the Evil Dead references, they come so naturally and they come like they sneak in whether you want it or not. So it was really difficult, but we did it.

Jon Harris: Very cool. Very cool. Is there a classic? Like Dracula, werewolves? Frankenstein? Is there a classic that you love the most or identify with the most?

Mr. Lordi: I think Frankenstein. Frankenstein. I'm a huge Marvel Movie fan, too, and my all time Marvel favourite characters, incredible heart. And as any geeks or coming would know, that Stan Lee's version of Frankenstein monster is actually the heart. So clearly, Frankenstein monster is my favourite classic monster. Know. Yeah, like a stylist.

Jon Harris: Okay. Very cool. Very cool. 19 studio freaking albums. How would you define success at this stage of your career?

Mr. Lordi: Being able to still do what you love to do? Enough to go to nine to five work. Because I have never worked nine to five in my life and I would suck at it. I would suck ass and balls if I would fight to do a normal job. So I am a lucky fucking bastard to be able to do that isn't success. I don't know what is. I mean, I'm doing what I would do anyway. I'm doing what I always wanted to do, and I'm doing everything. I know I'm stressing myself out and I don't have enough rest and everything, but I do. Everything you see and hearing Lordi is the outcome of things that I think I know how to do and the things that I want to do, whether it's writing the music, whether it's making the masks, the costumes, the painting, the album covers, creating the graphics, doing the merch, everything, deciding everything. So that's I just love doing this artsy fartsy stuff about monsters and horror, and that is my personal success.

Jon Harris: Beautiful. What advice would you give to Mr. Lordi? 19 studio albums ago?

Mr. Lordi: Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it. Because I was very impatient. I remember I couldn't believe because I was so full of myself as a kid, and I couldn't believe that when I was sending the demos to record labels and sending the demos to some critics in music magazines, and they didn't like it, and they didn't see the geniuses that I am, I was offended. I was like, what the fuck do these people know that they should actually change their they don't see a good thing that they should. So I would say patience. Young Ada one, because it's like and it took ten years, and most of my bandmates at the time, it was like, revolving door. Like, people joined my band and then they quit because life gets in the way. They got children and work and stuff, and people just lost their faith in this thing because after you're in a band for a few years and then nothing goes, and I'm just, like, blindly believing that someday we'll get a record deal. But it took ten years. It took full decades to actually have it. So I would say, patience. It'll happen.

Jon Harris: Yeah, very cool. What was the breakthrough point, do you think?

Mr. Lordi: Meeting our first manager. Because then I realized that all those times sending the demos, labels and shit, it doesn't really or I don't know how it is today, but then, like, 30 years ago, 25 years ago you can send all your fucking demos as much as you want, but unless you have a contact who will actually go and put your demo tape in front of the line, you're fucked. You're going to be buried there with the other demos. So I would say meeting our first manager, who actually was in the music business, Finland, and a big shop there and who had some credibility not some credibility, a lot of credibility. And people were trusting him. And when he came the labels and showed us, look at this band, listen to the demos, that's when the door started opening. Because, I mean, I, you know, that that's the most important person that things started happening. This was like and even for him, it took like, like two or three years to get us through. Because the problem with this bag was, and still is to some people, is that the concept that the music versus the image is so for some people, it is really a tough lot to swallow because we look the way we look and we sound the way we sound. And for a lot of people, those two things, what you hear and what you see, they don't match. Through the whole 90s I got the response from most labels. I got it. Like, okay, the look is cool, but you should change your musical style to black metal or death metal or something like that because your music sounds and it's too melodic and it's too dated and it's too 80s and it's too poppy or whatever. Because you look like you should be playing black metal or something. And then the other response was like, okay, we love the music, but you should change singer because singer shouldn't be singing this kind of stuff. You should have somebody who sings high and clear, of course, without them realizing that it is me, the main guy. And then also that you must lose the image because the image looks like that it's some black death metal band and it shouldn't sound like this. I mean, this sounded bad. So that was very difficult thing.

Jon Harris: Yeah. Okay, what's the number one thing you want people listening in right now to the podcast to do?

Mr. Lordi: Put your hand in your pants and enjoy the soothing voices you hear.

Jon Harris: Wow. Okay. All right, so put your in your pants and enjoy the soothing voices.

Mr. Lordi: Yeah, well that's one way to do it.

Jon Harris: Yeah. Okay. Is there a particular maybe website you want them to go to in particular? What's your favourite way for them to consume the record? Do you want them to go buy the vinyl? Do you want them to listen? Does it matter?

Mr. Lordi: Well, I'm an old school guy. I'm an old school guy and I tell you something, I've never been on social media one second in my life. So I'm such an old school gig teaser. I would rather of course people buy the actual physical album but I know it's not 1989 anymore. Whatever the way it's most convenient for you, go check it out. Google Lordi and find us out wherever. But of course I still think that the way that we're doing albums that I think is their albums are like entireties they are meant to be consumed as a whole, not like one song. There one song here. Every single audio album should hold you as a full experience, not just one song. It's the same thing that you don't watch a movie that just go to the scene number twelve and then maybe all girl like to see number six. I mean you kind of like miss the whole point if you don't watch the whole movie. And of course also visually, of course, the actual physical vinyl of the city gives you so much more than just listening. But well then again just want to enjoy the music. That's fine too.

Jon Harris: Okay, we'll go ahead and head over to TheRockMetalPodcast.ca. There you can stay in touch with everything Lordi and go ahead and go to the show notes for today, the transcript for this beautiful interview, as well as some music videos. Mr. Lordi, thank you so much for coming on to The Rock Metal Podcast today.

Mr. Lordi: Thank you. Absolutely. My pleasure. This was –.

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Friday, June 16, 2023

Screem Writers Guild with Mr. Lordi of LORDI

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3 Heavy Hitters

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