Inkakai describe their music as Imperial, sharply dynamic alternative rock with nu-metal & electronic music influences. The masked sextet of professional musicians have previously worked with Max Martin and Steve Vai. In the past, Inkakai featured in movies such as Priest of Evil (2010) and Jade Warrior (2006), released one of Finland's most played songs of 2010 ('Halo'), and won the Best Nordic Song award in NRJ Radio Awards 2007 ('Fate' feat Ana Johnsson). They released their debut album Burns Inside (2006) as Bleak and its follower The Dark Side (2011) as Fireal with HMC/Warner Music Finland. Inkakai are currently preparing their third album Unlite.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hey Inkakai, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What drew you to the music industry?
Hi there, nice to chat with you as well.
For most of us it was “that one band” in our early teens making an impression which inspired and steered us towards a career in music.
For the bass player it was seeing a TV broadcast of The Police performing ‘Walking in the Moon’ live that sparked his dream of someday playing on the big stages himself – a dream he has since fulfilled. He started studying music, rehearsing, and getting to know people in the industry. It wasn’t so much drifting as it was determination to make a career in music.
For the drummer it was hearing Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and feeling he had to get a drumkit of his own immediately.
And for one of our guitarists music was always the aim: he grew up listening to Japanese rock music and wanted to be a musician ever since childhood.
All three have since become accomplished professionals who’ve performed with some of the biggest names on the biggest stages in their respective countries. They’re also the coolest people and easy to work with.
There are also two other band members, but their histories will remain a mystery for now.
The singer-songwriter and founder of Inkakai learned to play and write songs with piano at the age of six and went to study in music conservatories. He was originally influenced by the popular hits of the 80s and artists like Jan Hammer, Bon Jovi, and AC/DC – even Twisted Sister, Mötley Crüe and KISS.
By age nine he had immersed himself in making electronic music with ProTracker on Amiga 500, inspired by Markus “Captain” Kaarlonen’s ‘Space Debris’. His first big influence was The Prodigy and ‘Music for the Jilted Generation’ album. He originally dreamt of a career in the electronic music genre.
At twelve years old, he started studying classic acoustic guitar in music conservatory but eventually ditched the school, preferring the straightforwardness of the electronic guitar. He started to learn songs from metal bands such as Metallica, later shifting his interest towards punk rock with bands like like Offspring and Nirvana.
His biggest inspiration came from Pearl Jam, specifically the album ‘Versus’ and Eddie Vedder’s performance in MTV Unplugged. This, and other alternative pioneers, such as Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Stone Temple Pilots, steered him towards the forming of his own band. This led to the founding of the band that would be later called Inkakai.
How do you balance your time in the studio with other commitments such as a part-time job, family, admin?
We have our own recording studios, so that helps a lot. Our families and girlfriends/wives are very supportive of our jobs. Not touring and taking our time with releasing music has also been helpful. But if things were to get more hectic in the future, we’re sure our loved ones will stand by us through thick and thin, as they always have.
Other careers are always considered when scheduling things. Things are often in motion but there’s always room for some kind of compromise.
Your latest song is 'Drown'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
‘Drown’ was written in 2010, recorded for the first time in 2012, and the release was originally planned for 2013. We partly re-recorded the song in 2020 when COVID hit and messed things up. We planned a release in Spring 2021 with one company involved but decided to back down from it.
Next, we aimed for Spring 2022 but ended up postponing it until Autumn to get the song re-mixed by Tim Palmer. Other failed schedules postponed the release until Halloween, so getting the song finally out has been a big relief.
Overall we wanted to make the song very catchy and melodic without losing dynamic. We wanted to retain some of the modern sound while staying true to the early version from 2012.
What are your songs about?
The lyrics can be often rooted to real life experiences, but they aren’t always about us or our individual experiences. Sometimes they are the stories of others who’ve experienced something that has moved us.
In ‘Drown’ the lyrics are very straightforward which makes it easy to relate to. It’s a prequel to ‘Ariel’ (2011) and one can hear the song is about hurting, feeling sad and depressed. Those feelings lead up to the “events” of ‘Ariel’ which is inspired by a vision, a story. While the vision is real, the story isn’t based on any personal experiences.
Sometimes the lyrics are so cryptic that people have a hard time understanding them. A good example of this is ‘The Smoke’ (2019) which is a “time travel song” that’s related to a bigger concept. The fact that the lyrics were written already as a kid in 1993 makes it even more weird because it connects to a lot of events in the present that would’ve been impossible to predict then. It’s nice that it’s kept cryptic, sometimes it’s best if people find their own meanings from the lyrics. That is, as long as they don’t start twisting words.
We have some songs that are about dystopian views, like ‘The Imperial’, and criticism towards the corruption of humanity – maybe even more of those coming later on – but we don’t want to get too political.
It’s sad how some bands seem to put politics first and the music second, resulting in lesser quality in terms of songwriting when the focus shifts more towards the lyrics. This could lead to crowbarring words into melodies that really don’t fit or making musically unwise decisions to do justice to the lyrics.
To each their own but we feel that music should come first. Everything else should follow.
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
Most likely something that would leave a mark in the world. Maybe some other creative work or something that benefited the humanity and environment. Looks like some of us might be even police officers or in Brussels, working in international politics!
How do you know when a work is finished?
Picasso said one could never write “finished” under any painting. The same applies to music. The trick is knowing when to let go and be fine with how the song is. One has to fight the perfectionist in themselves at some point and understand that not everything has to be “perfect”. And one has to understand what arrangement works and what doesn’t; what can be combined and what cannot.
Some A&R’s have hard time understanding this, especially those who aren’t musically gifted. There’s one incident with a certain Finnish A&R who would be turning the knobs in the studio, infuriating everyone with some minor balance thing that didn’t make a difference – or at least didn’t make it any better.
Clearly the guy just wanted to show off and feel important. So, the mixing engineer would mute the track and the poor bastard would still continue on, trying to “find the perfect balance” until “finding it”. And it was on mute all the time. The engineers must have laughed their asses off afterwards.
These examples are many, so beware of those guys. Don’t let people mess up your music or your band just because it says A&R in their title.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
Hobbies include gaming, martial arts, alpine skiing, badminton, swimming, snowboarding, and skateboarding. Interests are not limited to these but are probably too many to mention here. Creativity and trying to make the world a better place is probably something that connects all of us.
When were you generally fulfilled in your position as an artist?
After having a vision of a song or a piece of art for a long time – and then finally seeing or hearing the finished version of it. It’s an amazing sense of accomplishment to finally see or hear something that’s been in your head for years. It’s also a huge relief.
For some of us it’s seeing people’s faces and reaction from the stage. The relationship between the performer and audience is something magical, sacred even. It can be one of the greatest things you get to experience in the music industry.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
1. If by “footsteps” you mean “being in a band”, then: go for it, it can be great. But beware: it all depends on how trustworthy and talented your bandmates and other people involved are. It’s surprisingly much more important how they are as human beings than whether they are very good or incredible at their jobs.
If by “footsteps” you mean “do what Inkakai has been doing” then: don’t. Don’t make the same mistakes we made, especially with recruiting wrong band members in the past. Those mistakes have cost us dearly, so learn from them.
It’s also perhaps better not to rush into signing on a major label just because they have the money; the most important thing is that the label understands you as an artist and that they actually support your music.
Then again, royalty advances changed some of our lives. You might be working minimum wage day in and day out just to get by, rehearsing in the evenings, writing songs at night, and barely getting any sleep. Of course, nobody forces you to live like that but if there’s a label involved, sometimes it has to be done to make the deals happen.
So, if at that point you as a songwriter get, say, $50k, it really turns your life around. To be able to just focus on music and forget about everything else. Then again, it can make your bandmates jealous, and you might end up regretting it later on. But it’s still money and money doesn’t grow on trees.
Make your own path. It’s good to be inspired by artists but not necessary to be like them. Become inspired by many artists and look inwards to find your own voice, your own sound. No point in trying to imitate others. It’s good to take influences but one has to search for their own thing. Not just becoming an artist “to become famous”.
Remember that everyday drama isn’t normal in any relationship, and this includes bands as well. Creating music through fighting isn’t a “necessary price you have to pay for greatness”, that’s just what certain types of people say when trying to excuse their need to vent out on other people.
Also, avoid people who talk smack about others to you. They will talk smack about you to others when you’re not around – and you can never trust those people. Of course, if you’re one of those people then, well, piss off. But the truth is you can create the best of songs without any kind of discord. If the band environment is harmonic, like it is in Inkakai, it will inspire you to become more creative.
2. Depending on what kind of a person you are, think about whether you will regret it later or not if you invest all or most of your time in music. Moments with your loved ones are irreplaceable, sometimes other life and other opportunities are passing by as you’re wearing headphones behind the computer and making your music.
Think about how important losing that is versus being invested in your music – and make the decision knowing what you’ll gain and what you’ll lose. Because eventually you’ll have to live with that decision.
3. Understanding 2, think about how important the dream of becoming successful is to you? Is success more important than music or vice versa? If it’s the first one, you’ll probably be happier with doing business with music, instead of making music and hoping for a viable business out of it. Both are of course possible.
If making music the way you want it is more important, how long do you think you’ll be able to do it? What if it takes 10 years, even 20 years without bigger success? Consider all that before truly committing.
What is “success” to you? Is it x amount of notability and x amount of money? What is your need to be successful really about? How do you determine success? Is it being able to release music and let people enjoy it, but at most only get by with it, not making a fortune? Or is it actually becoming world-famous and wealthy? The first option is always more realistic.
Try to think ahead what bigger success might do to you, try to understand yourself and what you can and can’t handle. If the career destroys your self-image so much you go under the knife and gradually ruin your face, it doesn’t sound like much of a happy or balanced life. More like “glamorous unlife”.
It would be wrong to normalize that level of desperation for people’s admiration or attention, let alone celebrate or advertise it. It’s something to be unchained from. The core of happiness comes from the sense of purpose, doing something good and receiving genuine love. These contribute to a healthy confidence that will steer you away from doing such things to yourself.
Also, drugs and alcohol are a huge part of the industry. Some people seem to survive the tours only with them. And it’s no wonder that musicians are well-known for having terrible substance and alcohol problems. Remember how many talented musicians have died because of those. Remember and steer clear from that life.
4. You might think it’s mainly or all about music and talent. But sadly, it really isn’t. Making money with music might not have anything to do with the quality or talent in the music itself. Do not see it as “music business” but “business with music”.
Understand that while some A&Rs might give the impression that they really understand the music, they might not have a clue. Don’t expect artistic understanding from someone whose main focus is the cashflow or selling stuff to people.
Hard work is extremely important. That doesn’t mean the “hard work” always lies in “becoming a better musician/songwriter”. You could become the greatest songwriter there is – and nobody might hear your songs, and nothing would change. The work is often related to grinding: touring, networking, selling, building the fanbase.
That being said, we have chosen not to focus on these. Simply because it’s not our thing.
5. Music business is one of the harshest career environments out there, full of backstabbing and scheming, and it tends to draw in horrible people, even really dangerous and mentally damaged people. But it also draws in some really good people, some super talented people. Understand the waters you’ll need to navigate in, it’s a perilous journey so you’ll need to be extra smart about who you trust, who you join forces with.
6. Never underestimate the importance of luck. Things happening to be in the right place at the right time – and then suddenly making a difference, while you feel like you’ve been doing the same thing for months or years on end with no chance. In short: if it’s that important to you, never give up. Keep your hopes and dreams strong. Make some decisions but weigh them carefully.
What are your plans for the future?
We have the songs ready for the current album we’re working on – and actually the next one as well – but we’re still making changes and developing other areas. If the past few years have shown us something, it’s that plans change, regardless how hard you try to stick to them. At the very least schedules change, so as an unsigned “indie band” it’s best not to make big promises on any schedules.
We can say that we currently plan to release more music as soon as possible, preferably next year, next Spring. But plans change and life happens so everything depends on everything. While the delay was too long for our taste with ‘Drown’ – and insanely long with ‘The Smoke’ – the end result is still much better than what we started with. Sometimes the delay is a good one and in our case it definitely has been.
We hope to tour Europe at some point when or if it becomes possible and makes sense. But only time will tell. Next year we’ll be all the wiser. We’re taking it one day at a time.