MAKEA: "We felt very proud of ourselves"

Hello everyone! Hello 2014! Its time for the 1st interview of the year! They are a very interesting band and their song is one of my biggest favorites on UMK 2014. Here are the answers of Josu from MAKEA:

Name: Josu Mämmi
Age: 20something
Birthday: 29.1.
Zodiac sign: Aquarius
Height: 179cm
Favorite Color: Grey
Favourite food: This is a hard one... Let's say caramelized pork
Shoe Size: 43
Eye color: Green
What do you do in the band: Mainly I play drums
Where are you right now? In a car on my way to a gig
3 things that makes you happy: family, good music and great books
What’s your strangest talent? I'm great at Real Racing 3 on ipad
Do you have any nicknames? Josafat, Josefiina, Jossu, Dear etc
Home alone and you are bored. What do you do? I play Real Racing 3 or make music
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? Dead plants. It's hard to keep them alive...
What are you really good at? Finishing what I started.
What are you really bad at? Playing violin
Childhood idol: Liam Howlett
Childhood memory: First time I drove a go-cart when I was 3 years old. It scared the sh*t out of me.
Tell me something no one knows about you: I am Batman
What would you do if you were invisible? i would play drums and everybody would freak out.
Craziest thing you've ever done:  Choosing a career as a musician
Favorite movie: Star Wars of course.
Favorite tv series: 24
Tell me a super power you wish you had: I wish I could fly.
What is your guilty pleasure? Beer.
Name a song that never fails to make you happy: Pharrell's Happy :-)
Tell me some of your bad habits: Beer and greasy food.
If you were a product, how would you sell yourself? I represent an idea of thinking forward in a positive way and taking chances.
Can you teach me some interesting words in finnish? Makea - sweet/cool, Mämmi - Finnish Easter Pudding, Paino - Weight, Voima - Power, Painovoima - Gravity, Voittaa - Win
If you were the journalist what would you ask to MAKEA? and tell me your answer
How did you become so great?
Well, it feels very natural to us. Greatness is a combination of lots of work and believing in yourself. No talent really needed. Just an ambition and energy to do it.

Hello, how are you?
I'm super, thanks for asking.

Lets start talking about the band, what can you tell me about it? when did you start playing together?
We have played together couple of years now, but the band got it's final form last september. We have worked as session musicians previously and now we are pursuing our mutual dream as Makea. When we work as Makea everything feels very natural and everybody is very enthusiastic about improving and perfecting the band. We are currently making more songs and practising.

How would you describe the band?
We make urban pop music which is influenced by rap, rock and electronic music. We are not afraid of bold decisions in music, such as guitar solos and mood changes. We have Olli who raps and sings and we have Kadi who sings and raps. Jura plays guitar and Jussi plays bass, Everybody in our band participates in songwriting. Also our live show and graphics are based on mutual decisions. Though it's hard to believe considering the greatness involved, every member of our band is human.

Tell me about the name of the band:
It came from a long conversation in facebook. We had approximately 100 names to choose from and Makea sounded immediately best. It gave the whole project more accurate shape.

You are one of finalists of UMK 2014. How did it all begin?
At first Umk worked as a deadline to finish our first song. Olli noticed the deadline approaching and we decided to take the chance. The success of our song Painovoima didn't come as a suprise, though it did give us a boost of self confidence.

"Painovoima" is the title of your UMK entry.  What is the song about? what's the story behind the song? what made you write it?
The song is about knowing what you want and feeling confident about getting it. It has a very positive vibe. Even gravity can't stop you. It's something we feel very strongly about and the theme works great for a first song.

Describe the song with 4 words:
Powerful, Uplifting, Melodic, Epic

We've heard the demo version of the song (I have to say that i loved it! Great job). What can we expect from the final version?
The final version is a polished version of our demo. It has a new guitar solo, couple new guitar and synth tracks and it is mixed and mastered with precision.

How did you feel in the 1st performance in front of the juries?
It felt like the best gig of our lives. Finally we were on a national television performing our own song. We felt very proud of ourselves.

What do you like about Eurovision?
I like the positive attitude of the contest. It's also very facinating that it's so huge. It would be an amazing experience to be part of something that big.

Did you watch Eurovision 2013? Any favorite?
Yes I did and Krista was my favorite of course :-)

Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word:
Moon: Wolf
Watermelon: Hangover
2013: The year we wrote "Painovoima" and changed our lives.
Music: Life
Ding dong: Krista Siegfrieds
Fear: Fear of fear
Eurovision: Huge
Home: Family
3min: A story
UMK juries: To cheer

What are your plans for 2014?
Make more music, make a record, win the eurovision, play LOTS of gigs, write even more songs and be happy.

Is there anything you want to say to close the interview? 

Badass questions, it was fun to answer these :-) I hope you have fun reading them.

Thanks to Josu for the answers! All the best on UMK! GO MAKEA!

Here is their official facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/makeaofficial
Their twitter: https://twitter.com/Makeaofficial
Instagram: instagram.com/makeaofficial

Here are the lyrics of their amazing UMK song:



MAKEA
PAINOVOIMA

Paikoilleen en enää jää – maailman mä nään
Ja nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää
Leijun ilmassa – en tiedä kauanko tää kestää
Mut nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää

20 metrii maanpinnasta, katselen alas, mut vaan
hetken koska taaksepäin ei tän jälkeen oo paluuta.
Tää korkeus ei mulle riitä, en enää mene siitä
mistä ennen oli helppoo pystyn parempaanki ja sen nykyään tiiän.
Kuvittelen huomisen – ja kaiken sen tuomisen
Nyt mitä ikinä mä teenki mä teen sen tyylil’
Oon yläpuolellas mut en ylimielinen
Samalla puolella, mut täysin eri ihminen, ku se mitä
Kuvittelit ehkä olevani – ja mitä mäkin luulin itsestäni
Mut samaan aikaan mä tiesin sen, mä tuun saamaan tän fiiliksen
Tunteen painovoimattomuuden – alas tuu en

Paikoilleen en enää jää – mailman mä nään
Ja nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää
Leijun ilmassa – en tiedä kauanko tää kestää
Mut nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää

Kuka mä olisin – mitä mä tekisin jos en tietäis mitä haluun
Tätä pidempään on turha tehdä mitään ilman tunteenpaloo
Kovemmin paremmin nopeemmin vahvemmin
Pakka täynnä ässii – seinää potkii täysii
Elän hetkessä, elämän heiteltävänä, jo tässä
Vaihees mul’ on hertta-värisuora k-k-kerättynä
Mennään tehdään edetään vedetään vanha paloiks revi-
Tään. Miten muka vähemmän on enemmän?

Paikoilleen en enää jää – maailman mä nään
Ja nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää
Leijun ilmassa – en tiedä kauanko tää kestää
Mut nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää

Oo-o-oo-o-oo-o-oo-oo x4

Paikoilleen en jää – ei painovoima voi estää
Kovemmin, paremmin, nopeemmin, makeemmin

Paikoilleen en enää jää – maailman mä nään
Ja nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää
Leijun ilmassa – en tiedä kauanko tää kestää
Mut nyt mua edes painovoima ei voi estää

Josu made the english translation for the chorus and some lines of the rap:
Chorus: 
I won't stay put anymore
I can see the world
And even the gravity can't stop me

I'm floating in the air
I don't know how long this takes
But now even the gravity can't stop me

Some lines from rap:
20 metres above the ground, looking down but there is no turning back
This height is not enough for me, I wont take the easy way, I can do better and I know that now.
I imagine tomorrow and all that it brings
Now whatever I do I do it with style

Harder better faster stronger
Pack full of aces, kicking the wall with all I got
I live in the moment, tossed around by life
Already I have straight of hearts collected
We go, do, proceed and rip the old apart
How can less be more?

Thanks to MAKEA for this awesome song! Good luck on UMK!