A Q&A with Radioactive Pineapple

California-influenced skate-punks from Finland – Here’s Ozzie from Radioactive Pineapple…

What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
Our latest album is called YES!. A truly proud DIY production. The album has a special place in my heart because I made it from start to finish while I was on an apprenticeship program learning about audio production. I have some fond memories of that time.

What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
The hardest part of it was to learn all the skills needed to get it done. I did the recording, editing, mixing and mastering without too much prior knowledge about music production, but in the end I think we got some cool tracks out of it. It was all worth it in the end, even though it’s by no means perfect. But who wants to hear perfection? Not this guy, perfection is boring.

What do enjoy most about producing your own material?
I enjoy the challenge of having to figure it out all on my own, although there can be some periods of burning out. But overall it’s an interesting and valuable learning experience, especially if you have some new elements to work with.

What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
I want to convey a message of authenticity and honesty. We are trying to stay as original as possible and I try to keep my lyrics as honest as I can, especially when I write about my life and experiences.

How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
Usually I write some song ideas by myself with an acoustic guitar and record the ideas on my phone. I also write all the lyrics on anything I can get my hands on, it could be some random piece of paper, an old bill, basically anything I have at the moment. I forward the ideas to the band and then we start to sculpt the song together.

What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
Basically the whole California punk scene has influenced us in some way or another, but the bands that come to mind are: Green Day, NOFX, Blink182 and Alkaline Trio. Those bands are probably the biggest culprits. Green Day was the start for me when it comes to being in a band. I got inspired by them to start my own little band after I watched some live performances of them on YouTube. It’s really hard to explain why that made me want to pick up the guitar again and begin to write songs, but it just magically pulled me in. Pure magic.

What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
No specific venues come to mind, but I would love to tour Germany, Britain, the U.S., Australia and Japan. Japan would be a dream come true, I’ve always liked the Japanese punk scene. There’s some super interesting bands and there’s so many things to see.

If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
People seem to enjoy the song Burden, so I think I’ll go with that one.

What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
I believe that we’re pretty down to earth. We don’t think that we’re going to be the next Metallica or something, I guess our view when it comes to success is to have a great time and try to make this somehow economically viable. I just want to make things and have some cool experiences in the process.

Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
I jokingly say that you are now permitted to leave or something along those lines, or just “go home it’s over”. It’s not as funny when I write it down, haha.

For more info visit: facebook.com/Radioactivepineapple