The sixth song of this year’s Uuden musiikin kilpailu (UMK) has been released. You can listen to the song Dark Side by Blind Channel here:
Blind Channel is a band that was founded in 2013 in Oulu, Finland. The band has six members: Joel Hokka (vocals, guitar), Niko Vilhelm (vocals), Joonas Porko (guitar, backing vocals), Olli Matela (bass guitar), Tommi Lalli (drums) and Aleksi Kaunisvesi (samples, percussions). The band tells that their music style is “violent pop”. Blind Channel has made international career, and played for example in Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival, which is one of the biggest metal music festivals in Europe. The band has also done international tours and played as a warmer band in different international artists concerts. So far, Blind Channel has released three studio albums.
Blind Channel told in the interview of Voice.fi, that they are bringing hard rock back to UMK. In that interview they also told that while they have fans especially in Central Europe, they now want to become more familiar in Finland: ”Our support has always been mostly outside of Finland. We decided that now or never is the right time to take part in UMK”, tells Niko Vilhelm, one of the band’s vocalists.
In the interview of Voice.fi Blind Channel also tells that international fanbase could help them in Eurovision. On the other hand, the band also knows the fact that Finland has done well in Eurovision with hard rock, since Lordi won the contest in 2006 with Hard Rock Hallelujah and also Teräsbetoni and their song Missä miehet ratsastaa managed to qualify in 2008.
According to Yle, Blind Channel’s UMK-song Dark Side is ”the soundtrack to an underground party and serves as the perfect distillation of Blind Channel’s message”. The band tells Yle the following about their song: ”We want to show everyone that even if your life isn’t ideal, it can still be fun. This song is dedicated to everyone who has ever felt excluded or unworthy, to those who just want to flip everyone off and scream bloody murder. We’re here to say that we’re not alone in this world – and the Eurovision Song Contest is all about unity, no matter how you choose to express it!”
What do You think of Dark Side by Blind Channel? Would You like to see it winning UMK and representing Finland in Rotterdam? Let us know in comments of our social media channels!
