Interviews

White Flame have been keeping busy lately with the release of their album "Yesterdays News", filming and releasing the amazing single and video for Hour Of Emptiness, and a current European tour with fellow Finns Lovex. I managed to catch Vince for a brief chat.

Suzi: How are things?

Vince: It's quite hectick at the moment. I've got studio duties, monitary issues and a whole lot of packing to do. But I'll survive.
 

You're currently working on your next White Flame album due out next year. What can fans expect to hear on the new record?

V: It'll be more bluesy than the first one but at the same time very connected in the late 2000's. Big will be bigger, soft will be softer and mean will be meaner. And you can expect a bunch of great stories just waiting to be heard.
 

You've recently released Hour Of Emptiness as the first White Flame international single. What does that mean for the band?

V: All I can say is; FINALLY! We've always felt a little bit like outsider in the finnish rock market and that we should take our music to areas that naturally understand classic hard rock. We just hope that our foot went between the right doors and people will find us.
 

Throughout October you're touring Europe promoting your album "Yesterday's News" with Lovex. That sounds like a whole bunch of troublemakers in the same place at the same time ;) What kind of pranks and jokes are going on backstage between the bands?

V: Personally my plan is to team up our Sammye and Lovex's Julian and get them wasted because they are the two most unpredictable. That tandem should keep us entertained night in night out. Other than that, I think White Flame will be improvising tons of crazy songs that will drive the Lovex boys nuts, and have them singin' along in no time.
 

What do you look forward to most when on tour?

V: I'm interested to see all our european die hard fans and giving them entertaining shows.
 

Who gets the most attention from female admirers within the group?

V: It would seem that Sammye has a talent for getting along with german ladies so he's my guess.
 

White Flame hold a few fan competitions where the prizes are cool merchandise packs. That's a great idea! How important is it to keep fans involved directly with the band?
 

V: Fans are the ones who make or break a band. If no one digs your stuff there's no hope for us to make our music. And I dig the idea that the band is accessible and easy to approach. We don't want to seem like some hermits living in a cave and only coming out to play some tunes and then disappear. We want to interact with those who understand and appreciate our music. And then we want to party with them!
 

You guys have pretty much the coolest band website ever! (check it out

www.whiteflamemusic.com). It obviously ties in with the "news" theme from the album title etc. How much input do you get in designing sites, logos, merch etc?
V: We pretty much do it all ourselves. The ideas, designing.. even execution. Of course we need a huge helpin' hand every now and then, but everything we can do ourselves we do. It's time consuming but that way all the stuff around the band is on cue to our vision.
 

Your video for Hour Of Emptiness is awesome. Job well done to all involved! However will you top it when you release your next single?

V: We had an unbelievebly fantastic opportunity to make a movie-like major production for H.O.E. But next time around we'll most likely do something totally different. We always want to try new stuff and push ourselves to a different direction. Depending on the next single... we'll come up with some new tricks for sure.
 

And finally, the all-important question: Would White Flame ever be persuaded to perform at Eurovision?

V: We are an easily persuaded bunch so if someone asks we'll consider it. But it's not something I feel the need for a band like us to do. I'd much rather see White Flame trying out for the Olympics in synchronised swimming.
                                                                                                                             Suzi Pike