Daggerplay is a Finnish punk rock´n´roll band formed in Helsinki in the end of 2011.The band´s sound is a a mix of raw punk rock spiced with 50´s & 60´s rock´n´roll and hard rock with a touch of vintage pop.Daggerplay consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Pekko Mantzin, guitarist and backing vocalist Tommi Luostarinen, bassist and backing vocalist Ville Ahonen, and drummer Sirpa Immonen.The debut album “URBAN CAMPFIRE SONGS” was released on 20th of September 2013 and the digital single “Forest Hills / Ruhkarannan Juhannus 1976” was released in April 2014.Daggerplay are currently recording a new album which will be released in early 2017.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Daggerplay: We are Pekko and Tommi, guitarist-singers of this four-piece punky rock´n´roll group Daggerplay. Sirpa is the drummer and Ville is the bassist. Apart from Ville, who´s from Espoo, we are smalltown guys and Sirpa is a smalltown gal. From Ristiina and Joensuu we are from. Sirpa and I, Pekko, ended up in moving to Helsinki after spending a quite a few years in London so in Helsinki we met each other. Ville´s band had split up and Sirpa and I were in the same situation. Ville knew Tommi briefly and we needed a guitarist so Ville then gave Tommi a call. Tommi turned up for the rehearsals and everything kinda clicked in. Easy it was. All of us have been playing with many bands and projects since we were kids so for us the music is the way of life.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Daggerplay: Puukkobulevardi. That´s the inspiration. That means dagger/knife boulevard in English. The great late Finnish poet Arto Melleri wrote a book called Puukkobulevardi. Puukkobulevardi is the nickname of street, Vaasankatu, here in Kallio, Helsinki. Well, Daggerboulevard didn´t sound that good in English so then thought Daggerplay and it sounded better.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Daggerplay:Yes. In fact we like to give quite lot of our music away for free and we don’t mind at all if someone shares our music online. It´s just good promotion for us. We do believe that it’s more important for us to get more potential listerns in that way than selling a few records. Plus people actually do buy the music when you let the them decide how much they want to pay for the music. Our debut album “Urban Campfire Songs” is available to be downloaded onhttps://daggerplay.bandcamp.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Daggerplay: Concentrate on writing good songs, practise a lot, be true to yourselves when it comes to image and writing the songs. Spend your money towards good quality recordings instead of wasting it in crappy studios. And don´t give up!
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Daggerplay: The melodý comes first. Then gotta find the chords and after that it´ll be time for lyrics because that´s the toughest part of the process. When all that is done we start to play the songs smoothly with acoustics and brushes. Very enjoyable indeed! And after that it´ll be time to add some or hell of lot tempo and volume. Also very enjoyable!
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Daggerplay: Yes indeed and here´s a few where Daggerplay can be found
Bandcamp: https://daggerplay.bandcamp.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Daggerplay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Numberonemusic: http://www.numberonemusic.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/
Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Daggerplay: Definitely I would travel around the world and of course I would also buy some new guitar gear. That´s Tommi. I´d spend hell of lot of money for promoting our forthcoming album and then I´d spend money on touring. I´d love to tour especially in America and in UK. That´s from Pekko.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Daggerplay: Twitter is propably the best place to find contacts and communicate with people. That´s where we have met really cool and friendly people. Individuals and bands. Also through Twitter we have gained a lot radioplay on various online stations. And that´s just superb!
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Daggerplay: We are right now recording our new album and it´s going really well! Fifteen songs altogether and it´s quite a lot, we know. That´s why we´re still thinking should we release some singles and a vinyl album or cd or two maxi ep´s.. At least there are some options which is a good thing!
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Daggerplay: All of us do have day jobs as well. Couldn´t survive without..
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Daggerplay: No juggling needed really. All of us work in day time so there´s plenty of time in evenings and weekends. Of course sometimes when we play a gig for example on Wednesday night, it is quite hard to get up in the morning at 5.30 am.. But not complaing about it. It´s still all fun!
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Daggerplay: There will be gigs of course and maybe a couple of singles and videos but next year when the album will be out, there will be more new, fresh, fast melodic, punky rock´nroll around so be well and stay tuned!