Now that 2022 is coming to a close, it’s good to look back at what this year has looked like. We invited a few artists to talk about how 2022 has been for them and what the future holds. Naturally, we had to catch up with Finnish industrial act THE FAIR ATTEMPTS, who spent part of 2022 crafting their upcoming record, “Lotus Head,” out in February 2023. Check out our interview with Friendly Timo below…
What musical goals did you set for 2022? Did you achieve them?
Even though I don’t feel [as though I’m] super organized in what I do, I still have plans for sure. I set up to produce our next album during 2022 and I’ve certainly nailed it and feel very happy and proud of what we’ve done here.
Were you able to dedicate as much of 2022 to your project/band as you had hoped?
Hell yes! THE FAIR ATTEMPTS has been my pet project ever since we started in 2018 and I’ve spent creating and developing our art basically every day since then. I always have something going on. Always! Actually, I started writing an EP I have a vision for, only to start writing another completely unrelated piece that I also [had] a vision for. You have to get these things done when you’re in the zone. Some say it’s a blessing, some say it’s a curse. I don’t know. I feel like it’s some voice from the future that is whispering these things into my ear.
What were some of the highlights you realized in 2022?
Our first single, “My Frozen Heart,” from our upcoming album, “Lotus Head,” got a super warm welcome. It broke my personal record of 1,000 plays within the first week of publishing and later on got an Official Spotify Playlist placement in the Metallia Suomesta -playlist. I don’t know how that happened but we got the official email notification and all and we’re in a bit of disbelief at it all. Oh, and it was especially neat to have the song played on the X3M Metall -radio program in YLE. Getting Inferno Magazine to premiere our music video for “Rose Tattoo” was another one of those highlights of this year for us for sure. It was such an honor to be featured like that and I am eternally grateful for that.
Is there anything you learned during 2022?
That I suck and I need to get better. I tell this to myself every year. I see this music thing as a personal challenge to myself. There are constantly new things to learn along the way and I think you can hear that from my productions if you listen to my past releases up until now. Some artists don’t like their old records, since they’re not “up to par” with the quality they do today, but I see them as neat little time capsules of how things were back in then. I guess you could say I have learned to trust my intuition and be comfortable in what I am doing and expressing. I’ve been such an introvert and I feel as if I’ve been opening myself to the outside world the most I’ve ever done so far. I even have this nagging feeling of having to start doing gigs. I even might in the future.
Have you (re-)discovered any new music during 2022?
I watched ESA‘s (ELECTRONIC SUBSTANCE ABUSE) gig at Hellsinki Industrial Festival and ever since, I’ve been quite into their production. Good style, good production, and vibes that resonate with me.
What can we expect from you in 2023?
We have been working throughout 2022 on our next album, “Lotus Head,” and it will be released on February 24th, 2023. That’ll be the major event and it’s exciting because it’s right down the corner actually! The rest of the year, I will be spending time plotting new plans and working on more art I got going on. Maybe some art video projects!
