(VIDEO: Alex ja Armottomat) Alex ja Armottomat live on stage with their Song „Juoppohullun Lokikirjat“.
Alex:
As I mentioned before, I played with totally different people as a trio more than four years ago. However, the drummer moved to Germany and the bass player had too many other projects, so I was left alone. I started to look for some new band members from the Internet and found lead guitarist Moritz and drummer Kristian. Tommi, the bass guitar player, is my colleague. In this constellation we are playing togehter for about three and a half years now. And then last year Juha joined our band with his keyboard, which is pretty cool!
Alex:
I think Moritz is the only one of us who actually studied music and graduated from music school. The rest of us have only been practising music as a hobby.
Moritz:
I was born in Celle and grew up in Mainz. After my highschool degree in Germany, I started to study music in Würzburg and later at Jazz Institute Berlin. I learned to play the guitar, when I was a child and I taught myself the ukulele too. If you know how to play the guitar, learning to play the ukulele is very easy. When I fell in love with a girl from Finland, I decided to move to Helsinki. During this time I started to learn Finnish too.
Sure, sometimes I’m just thinking to move back to Germany, because my family and some friends are living there. But to be honest, Helsinki had just become my second home! Moreover, I started my studies of social work at Metropolia Univesity of Applied Science and I will graduate this year. It has ever been my dream to have a job, where I can help other people but with which I can also combine my desire for music.
At the moment I am working in a reception center run by the city of Helsinki and as a musician and guitar teacher.
(VIDEO: Alex ja Armottomat) Alex ja Armottomat performing the childrens‘ song „Tipsuliini -peloton seikkailija“.
Moritz:
Most of our gigs have been in Helsinki central area. Some individual gigs we have been also playing outside Helsinki.
Moritz:
One of the best locations has definitely been Espan Lava. This is a big outdoor stage in the middle of Helsinki with great possibilities to get new audience, if the weather is good. Very professional staff and a wonderful place to play music. But maybe the best gigs we have had in a small pub called Bar Mendocino. The personal atmosphere there has always been amazing.
Alex:
So far, we have only played in Finland. The challenge is, that we only perform Finnish music. Of course, if it is possible to perform for some Finnish community abroad, for example in Germany, it would be awesome. So definitely we would like to come for a gig to Germany.
Moritz:
In march 2016 we have published one album called „Juoppohullun Lokikirjat“ with five songs and you will find two other singles like „Elämäni Kesä“ on Spotify and ITunes. We have also made one professional music video. Check out the “Sateisena Sunnuntaina -music video” on Youtube with English Subtitles and pay attention to the story. And you will find some pretty nice live videos on our Youtube channel too.
(VIDEO: Alex ja Armottomat) The video of the single „Sateisena sunnuntaina“.
Alex:
We have been practicing lately with our new keyboard player Juha Ahvenainen and also played some gigs with him. We also plan to release Alex‘s song „stalkkeri“ as soon as the music video will be ready…So look out for that!
Alex:
Your’re welcome! Just let us know when you are in town again!
Alex ja Armottoat is a pop-rock band from Helsinki, founded in 2015. The band’s name “Alex ja Armottomat“ means in English something like “Alex and the Ruthless”. And this is exactly the motto of the band’s music and lyrics. The five musicians from Helsinki know how to combine powerful melodies with Finnish wordplays, sarcasm and dark Finnish humour. Their music style is a trendy mix of folk, rock and pop music as well as blues.
Among other topics, most of their songs deal with love, obsession and murder and have this typical dark „ twist“ in the lyrics. Also disabuse of alcohol is discussed in their songs. But two children songs are also part of their musical repertoire. The two songs are “Maailman kuningas” and “Tipsuliini – peloton seikkailija”. The band plays also a nice cover of „Melankolia“, a song of the Finnish folk singer J. Karjalainen.
Alex ja Armottomat is a symbol of the Finnish-German friendship too, because lead guitarist Moritz Cartheuser, who is responsible for the rocking guitar chords, is originally from Germany, but has Finnish roots too. Together with Alex Nylund (vocals, guitar), who writes all the powerful songs, as well as with Kristian Ahlfors (drums), Tommi Mustonen (bass guitar) and Juha Ahvenainen (keyboard) the band has already played in several well-known locations in Helsinki and the whole Helsinki area, for instance in the trendy “Bar Mendocino” in Helsinki as well as on the famous outdoor stage Espan Lava in Esplanadi park in the center of Helsinki. Wherever the five guys get on stage, they fill their Finnish audience with enthusiasm.
(VIDEO: Alex ja Armottomat) Making of „Sateisena Sunnuntaina“
The band released their first album „Juoppohullun Lokikirjat“ in 2016, which means something like “Logbook of a drunkard”. It includes five vivid songs. One of them is the song with the same name „Juoppohullun Lokikirjat“, which is a true story about a captain, who got crazy because of his alcohol abuse. Other songs from the album are Paholaisnainen (Devil woman), Syylistäjä (Accuser), Äänet (Words) and Mua Pelottaa (I am scared).
Moreover, the the five musicians released another single called „Elämäni kesä“ (The summer of my life) and in spring 2018, the band published their first music video of their the new song „Sateisena Sunnuntaina“ (On a rainy Sunday).
If you like to check out the band’s music, just check out their songs on Spotify or I-Tunes! More information about the band also on www.alexjaarmottomat.com as well as on Facebook.