.45 STAINLESS Interview

.45 STAINLESS (FIN). Simple, slow and really heavy Mosh. Beatdown. That`s it.


First off we would like to thank Danski (Drums) = D, Tuomas (Guitar) = T and Markus (Vocals) = M for taking the time doing this interview with us!

So please introduce yourself and the band. Can you give us a short summary how you guys met and how you started the band?

D: We´ve known each other for several years and in 2009 Markus, Heikki and our other original singer Niko wanted to do the hardest beatdown band ever. That´s when the others joined the band.

M: Yeah, so me, Heikki and Niko wanted to do heavy hardcore band and we asked all the other guys, if they were interested and things fit together pretty fast and thus was the first line up of .45 Stainless born.


Did anyone of you play in a band before .45 STAINLESS?

D: We all have bands and projects before .45 STAINLESS.


Who came up with the name “.45 STAINLESS”? And what does it stand for?

M: I had to check this from our other original singer, he came up with the name and if i remember right, it's a line from some Ice Cube song, Niko always had thought that it would be a great name for a hardcore band.


We know that lots of people going through the band and it took some time to find a stable, solid line-up. What do you think? Is the actual line-up the best one? And who is in it now?

D:This is the best line-up! Markus and Pirkka on vocals, Heikki and Tuomas on guitars, Topi on bass and Danski on drums.

M: We're now stronger and more determined than ever. After Niko left the band in quite early stage, Pirkka joined us and completed the band's core line-up, with him and me on vocals and all the players in place. After that we had a couple tries to do the band with 3 singers, but that didn't work very well. We were kind of trying out, how it would work out and sound, but i think it's better now with only two vocalists. I agree that this is the best lineup we've ever had.


What inspired you to play the music you play?

D: We´ve all been listening to hardcore and beatdown for several years and this kind of music has never been done before here in Finland.

T: We just wanna have fun.

M: Like Danski said, i think that this kind of beatdown hardcore hasn't really yet been made in Finland, i mean we got loads of HEAVY hardcore bands that take influences from beatdown as well, but .45 Stainless is strictly focusing into being as heavy as possible. I think this was very clear vision for us, when we started talking about doing this band and how we'd want it to sound.


And which bands are your main influences?

D: SHATTERD REALM, IRATE, NASTY, BULLDOZE.

T: NEXT STEP UP, COLD AS LIFE...

M: All the above and i could add couple; FURY OF FIVE, SPECIAL MOVE, ONE SECOND THOUGHT, TWO B YFOUR... all that good HEAVY and hard shit!


How often do you visit your rehearsal room in a week?

D: 1-3 times. It depends if we´re having a show coming or we're working with new songs, something like that.


Describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before in just one sentence.

D: Manly version of scorpions, only hits!

T: Exactly.

M: The humorists have had their say, haha.... but for real, something like this maybe; "Heavy, well made, metallic beatdown from the cold shores of Finland". One sentence, that's fucking hard to come up, with only one sentence.


How many shows did you play yet?

D: 5?

M: Yeah something like that, there exactly ain't really a huge market of this kind of music we do, here in Finland at the moment. We hope to play as much shows as possible.


Are there any plans for playing in other countries than Finland?

M: I certainly hope so, i'd like to go play anywhere! We've been talking about Sweden and probably Germany as well later this year. Maybe Toni BDHW might have something in his sleeves planned up... don't know yet?


What was the weirdest shit happened at a show?

D: Poetry reading between bands.

T: And some guys acted puppet-show.

M: If you want weird mosh stories or something like that, we don't have any, sorry. But what my boys here talk about, did happen. We played a show that featured; hardcore bands, poetry / singer-songwriter artists, (i think politically charged?) puppeteering acts and punk rock bands. That was the weirdest thing that has happened to us at shows, maybe also some naked people moshing?


And the best event thus far?

M: Lohja shows, we've played couple times there with help of our brothers in YOU CAN`T KEEP ME DOWN, they've hooked us two shows in their town, both being really good times.


Actually you guys are storming the studio for recording a full-length CD. Will there be a demo CD before or directly the album?

D: We are going to do directly a CD. It will be released by Beatdown Hardwear records 03.06.2011.

M: Yea, BDHW Records stepped up and took us under, it's really fucking great thing and we can't wait to get this cd out!


The name of the upcoming CD is “O.G.B.D.” What does these letters stand for?

D: OriGhetto BeatDown. OriGhetto is where we´re from!

M: Our rehearsal place is at OriGhetto and we play beatdown...


Is there a fix date for that release?

M: Like Danski mentioned the CD will be out 03.06.2011.


If you could have anyone do guest vocals on one of your next tracks, who would it be and why?

D: KICKBACKs singer?

M: Ismean a.k.a. Stickman of FURY OF FIVE, BOXCUTTER and DEEP ROOTED HATE (his new band, check it out!).


What are the main themes in your lyrics?

M: Loads of different stuff, i can lay couple examples from the record. We got one song strictly about moshing and having fun, it's called “Violence For Violence” and it's about getting all the frustration and agression out, swinging all you got in the pit with your best friends, having a good time at shows hanging out with people. Another song is called: “Endless”, it's a story of a soldier who went to "keep the peace" and kill people, just to come back home with his head so fucked up by nightmares and shit, that destroys his mental health. It's just a story but that kind of shit happen in real life a lot. Mostly our lyrics are influenced by hate for this world and all the shit it is filled with, i'm not the most negative guy, but i'm definitely not near the most positive either, so i won't be writing any "let's all be friends and hold hands" -shit. Life is hard and i think that we just want to try to cope and do our thing, have fun and meet new people like us while doing it.


We think that in Finland isn`t such a big hardcore scene like in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, other European countries, the US and so on, isn`t it? What do you think?

D: Finland has a small but very intense and close HC scene.

M: Yeah we got pretty tight little group of people in our scene, but what i have to address is that we have so many real quality bands in almost every bigger city of this country, that has any hardcore kids in it. I don't mean to sound cocky or anything, but i think European and US -both, kids should check out Finnish scene and bands that come from here, there's so much good stuff. You might be surprised of what you might find!


Please tell us something about the scene in your area.

M: Our hometown Turku is pretty small place, we are quite a small group of people here who are doing bands and setting shows. So many people share bands here, but it's all good. There ain't shows that often it used to be, but i think that's about to change, we have a lack of venues at the moment.


In general, what do you think about the European hardcore scene?

M: From my impression the European hardcore scene is thriving and doing well, also growing all the time. I've seen shows in Sweden, Norway, England & Germany and it's obvious that things are in much bigger scale outside Finland, but it ain't a bad thing as long you have dedicated people who aren't just going to shows for a year or two and then dissappearing never to be seen again. In hardcore, integrity, dedication and commitment to the scene are the most important things if you ask me, i've been into hardcore and going to shows around 9 years and as example Daniel in our band, has been into this thing many year longer than me, i don't claim we're old timers or anything cause there's people who've already been into this for life! There's of course bit more segmentation in Europe, cause there's lots more kids, there's lots more people who get into just one distinct style of hardcore in example; beatdown or youth crew or metalcore etc. whatever. I don't see a problem in it if i'm listening to the CRO-MAGS, SHATTERED REALM, JUDGE andE-TOWN CONCRETE and love all those different styles in hardcore, but there is people who arent into everything and i understand that, i don't either like every band i hear! In the end, i think that kids should just stick on with what they love and support hardcore, if they are true to it for real.


And are there any finnish bands that we have to check out?

D: ILL OMEN, GET STITCHES!, RECKLESS CREW, ALLEY GODS, BECOME A THREAT, HAMMERTIIME, THIRD MAN DOWN.

M: ST. HOOD, BOLT, FORESEEN, ANOTHER ONE DEAD, END BEGINS, LAST LAUGH, WORTH THE PAIN, DOWN MY THROAT and COLD INSIDE, are just few i came up with quickly.

T: CUTDOWN, NO ONE IS SAFE, YOU CAN`T KEEP ME DOWN.


ST.HOOD played a lot of shows in Germany. What do you think about these guys?

D: Absolutely amazing and really good friends.

T: Actually Antti Malinen from ST. HOOD recorded O.G.B.D. and he did a great job. Album sounds really good for my opinion. Thanks to him for that!

M: One of my favourite finnish bands ever, really good guys.


Do you know any german hardcore bands?

D: SCOOTER, SCREAMIN`SILENCE.

M: There's some real good bands in the past and we also know many of current German bands such as; RYKER`S, NASTY (well they're half-German!), TRUE BLUE & WORLD COLLAPSE, EMBRACED BY HATRED, IN BLOOD WE TRUST, CHEAP THRILLS, SETTLE THE SCORE and so on.


In the whole world there are a lot of beatdown bands. What is the difference between .45 STAINLESS and the rest?

T: Nothing else than us.

M: That's true, this is just our version of the music we like. Maybe also the fact that we're from Finland makes it bit more interesting?


Being “Straight Edge” is a big deal in the scene. What do you think about this lifestyle?

D: Some of us are, some of us isnt. we think it´s everybodys own business how they ruin their life.

M: I'm the only straight edge guy in this band. I don't judge people, it seems that some of people who are sxe do that and i hate it. I think everyone makes their own choices, i'm not anyone to say what you should do, eat, drink or smoke. Pretty much all my closest friends smokes or drinks or both, so what? We make our own choices and that's that.


Some last words?

M: Thanks a lot for paying attention to us and making this interview! Check out Beatdown Hardwear and their other bands and listen two tracks off our album at http://www.stereokiller.com/45stainless


But before we gonna end this: Brainstorming!!

This interview?
D: Interesting.
T: Your questions were too difficult to me.

Your favourite movie?
D: First Blood
T: Kuutamosonaatti
M: Evil Dead

And TV series?
D: Band Of Brothers
T: Marienhof
M: The Wire

Coca Cola or Pepsi?
D: COCA COLA!
T: CC

Violence at hardcore shows?
T: Depends who is target.

Porn in the world wide web?
D: Isn't that good that it has been.
T: Keeps me going.

ACAB?
D: AC/DC
T: Maybe.
M: Fuck the police!


For further info check:
https://www.facebook.com/45beatdown
http://www.pahardcore.com/45Stainless