“Blind Channel” is a popular rock band that was founded in Oulu in 2013. In 2021, the Finnish team had a unique opportunity to represent their native country in the Eurovision Song Contest. According to the voting results, "Blind Channel" took sixth place.
Formation of a rock band
The band members met while studying at a music school. Even then, the guys pursued the goal of “putting together” a common project, but due to lack of experience, they did not know where to start.
Singer Joel Hokka and musician Joonas Porko have been involved in different bands for a long time. Later, they joined forces to make quality music together. Gradually, the duo began to expand. Olli Matela and Tommy Lally joined the line-up.
Niko Moilanen became the last member of the rock band. By the way, it was he who suggested that the rest of the band perform under the banner of Blind Channel.
The creative path of the rock band
The musicians rehearsed in the garage. The guys sincerely did not believe that success awaited them in the future - and even more so, they did not even dream that they would someday represent their country at Eurovision. Almost immediately after the formation of the band, they became participants in the concert at 45 Special, which already spoke volumes.
A couple of months later, the band's maxi-single premiered. The debut work was called Antipode. The maxi-single consisted of only two tracks. We are talking about the musical works of Naysayers and Calling Out. Some time later, the guys performed on the Wacken Metal stage. Then they got the opportunity to perform at the prestigious German festival.
The team behind the scenes won the title of one of the coolest Finnish groups. The musicians delighted their compatriots with live performances at large concert venues.
Tour of the group “Blind Channel”
In 2015, the guys toured through Belgium. In the same year, the premiere of the mini-album Foreshadows took place. Further, representatives of the Ranka Kustannus label became interested in the musicians' work. In the same 2015, the musicians signed a contract with a recording studio.
It soon became known that the musicians were working closely on the creation of a full-length studio album. In 2016, the album Revolutions was released. The collection was warmly received not only by fans, but also by music critics.
In support of the debut album, the musicians went on tour. In parallel with this, the guys were engaged in the creation of the second Blood Brothers LP. The release of the album defined a new sound. According to the good old tradition - the team went on a long tour.
At the end of the tour, the musicians returned to the recording studio, where they started working on the Timebomb track. Alex Mattson took part in the recording of the musical work. Note that Alex held several concerts with the rest of the group, and later became the sixth member of the team.
In 2020, the premiere of the third studio LP of the rock band took place. We are talking about the record Violent Pop. In support of the collection, the musicians planned to hold a tour, in which the guys wanted to visit the CIS countries. However, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, plans had to be postponed.
In quarantine, the musicians recorded a cover of the track by the singer Anastasia - Left Outside Alone. A video clip was also filmed for the track. The novelty was incredibly warmly received by the “fans”.
Blind Channel: Our days
In the first month of 2021, the musicians announced their intention to take part in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu to fans. As it turned out, the winners of the musical event will be able to represent their country at Eurovision. For selection, the musicians chose the track Dark Side. Even before the start of the competition, Blind Channel predicted victory.
In the end, the rock band took first place. On stage, the musicians showed a real performance, showing the audience the middle finger. Later, they explained their behavior on stage as follows: "We are angry with what is happening in the world." The rockers said they recorded the piece of music in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the results of the Eurovision semi-final, the rock band entered the top ten countries that made it to the final. On May 22, 2021, it became known that the musicians took sixth place.
