Don't follow, lead.
“I don’t know if we even realized we had goals. We just wanted to move forward, we wanted to start touring. We looked at the bands that we went to see at shows and just see them sell out our local 500 person venue we went like ‘Oh man if we could be like that, if we could sell this place out we’ve made it!” And we did that and it was like “Okay we’ve done that… Now what?” Where can we go now? Apparently we can just keep going and just take it further.’”

Heavy waves.
Parkway Drive had no real goals when they first formed as a band and they have no real goals now. The 'kids', as Winston McCall still likes to call themselves, just wanted to have fun and try to play the type of music which they never tried playing before. Parkway Drive never aimed to achieve anything in particular, they have just been given the chance to take an advantage of an opportunity every now and then and they’ve chosen to say 'Yeah, let’s try because you only get to try things once and this opportunity here may not come around again' in an opposite to 'We’re here, we want to do this and work towards something.'

Free of rules.
The atmosphere is getting more hectic by the minute as I sit on the legendary backstage of Tavastia in the centre of Helsinki. The band is joking around, drinking soda and changing clothes to match their new promo shots. Most of the guys are only wearing shorts, if that, and the showering room is filled with laughter as one of the band members is being sprayed throughout white to look like a Roman statue. Collarbone is about to take the stage in half an hour.

One of the greatest things about the human experience is the gift of imagination. Many writers have never experienced what they have written about, but their imagination allows them to go there and present stories to the rest of the world that can move, inspire, and compel anyone who hears them. For those with such a gift, experience is non-essential, but for those without it, experience is all they can ever know..

"Why wouldn't you want to do it?"
John Doe Web bumped into Dan Gold, who is mostly loved from the TV show London Ink. We had a little talk with him about his tattooing history and about tattoos in general.

If you weren't in your band, would you listen to your band?
Though they have never won over the mainstream radio stations, Underoath is a band whose name has crossed everyone’s lips at least once. The secret behind their successes isn’t in records sales or UO branded clothing lines, but it's in their passionate attitude, hugely dedicated fan base, being on the headline stage for the most well known touring rock festival to exist and getting the opportunity to turn down major labels just because that’s not the way they roll. They’ve built a whole world of their own; nothing can hurt them and they are untouchable. If you’ve ever wondered how many Warped shows it takes to sound, look, and generally just be perfect live, you might want to ask these guys.

Hell of a death rattle.
There’s a book shelf behind our interviewees full of books and leaflets creating a library sort of atmosphere. A very bright light on the ceiling is targeted straight at them, making me hope that it doesn’t make them feel uncomfortable, make their eyes bleed or blind them forever. This is of course because I don’t want to cause this to any of my interviewees, but especially because this time the men sitting in front of me are such nice guys that it would be a shame if their loss of sight was due to me. Nothing at all at our neat, clean surroundings implies to the fact that the two men sitting in front of me are from a band with such a dirty brutal metal sound. They are of course, Dustin Davidson and Brent Rambler from a band that’s striving to keep metalcore alive; I present to you August Burns Red.

Carpe Diem.
The blog of More To Love and the projects surrounding it employ the girls full time. They’re hosting an own radio show at Spin FM and an own column at Miss Mix magazine in while they’re also the new commercial faces of the shopping mall Forum at the centre of Helsinki. Their success indicates that the world is a playground where the fatties are now ready to play in! The girls are still mostly loved for their brave and positive attitude.

MySpace Revolution
As modern technology offer easier ways to record songs, it also offers new, easier ways to put it out for other people to discover and enjoy. There are a lot of bands born these days and only a handful are not like the next one. Not many of these bands are actually worth mentioning, still, we'd like to present a few mentionable acts; Cady Groves, Jake Germany & Stay.

Esprit de corps.
New Deadline arose from the ashes of Scenic Beauty in 2005 as a new bassist joined in as part of the gang. After the band's new inception New Deadline has since grown to be one of the finest names in the Finnish underground scene. When asked, the guys bounce back and forth with how to describe their sound. "Passionate", says the drummer, Eemeli. "Energetic", says the guitarist, Matu. "Stop & Go –rock", says the bassist, Lauri. "Melancholy, kind of", says the vocalist, Jonas. However, they all agree on the fact that New Deadline sounds nothing like the basic dark bands that Finland is usually known of.

A dreamer.
"I'm just a YouTube kid singing in her living room, still chasing that dream that seems oh so far away. Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Traci Hines, and I am a singer, actress, model, cosplayer and hair and makeup artist from Southern California."
     Traci Hines is most known for her amazing cover (especially Katy Perry, Paramore and Disney) songs on YouTube. Currently she's also working as a model for Hot Topic as well as a Princess character performer for children's parties, events and non-profit functions.

Momentary captures.
Smak is celebrating their anniversary this month; "8 years ago we live debuted at a school Christmas party, and tonight is kind of like a Christmas party too, here in Helsinki", the lead vocalist Kalle Lindroth says and smiles. A lot has happened during these 8 years; the 15 year old boys that they were when Smak first started out have now grown into four fine musicians, who have put out three albums. The latest one, Shopping Mall Religion was released this fall, presenting a whole new pop side of the band.

Extraordinary sounds born in translation.
In spite of fulfilling all visible standards of an ordinary guy, Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen, who usually is mostly established by the name Silas Graae, is in fact not an ordinary guy at all. First off; his name speaks for his Danish heritage as well as his careful accent as he opens his mouth. He's not just another guy from an American pop band. Actually, he plays the drums in a band that's anything, but ordinary.

On the edge of making a difference.
"I feel a little sad; I've had a really great time on this tour and I'm not necessarily excited to go home", he says. "I mean it's always good to go home see your friends and family but I've made such great friends out here and got to play great shows almost every evening. That's kind of what I think I was put this planet to do.".

More than just a guy with geeky glasses.
Inside the tour bus a man sits in front of me at the opposite side of the table; I'm not a tall girl but he's still only slightly taller than me. The fact that he is missing the other one of his front teeth makes him look rather endearing. He has a firm handshake and he seems calm and humble. A minute ago he has introduced himself as Mike Hranica, from The Devil Wears Prada.

The Skyline has finished struggling with their drummer-problems - former guitarist-singer Aleksi Rintala has took over the drums. He will continiue to sing behind the drumset. Jarkko Tiuraniemi will be filling the spot for a guitarist.