WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: THE 69 EYES ON RECORDING IN L.A. VERSUS RECORDING IN FINLAND

Back in Blood (The End), the new album from Finnish goth punks the 69 Eyes, finds the band working with producer Matt Hyde (Slayer, Rob Zombie) for the first time. In this third installment of our four-part interview, frontman Jyrki 69 discusses working on the record.

REVOLVER Why did you choose to work with producer Matt Hyde?
JYRKI 69 Naturally, his C.V. was impressive with Slayer and Monster Magnet, even Ian Astbury’s Holy Barbarians. Many of our favorite artists had worked with him. He seemed to understand immediately what the 69 Eyes were about and had a clear vision in which direction the new album should go. Working with Dave Wyndorf, he was also a comic and horror movie freak, too, which was naturally very important for me when trying to share the dreams and nightmares.

What ideas did he bring to the table?
He wanted the band to rock like we do and sound live…no extra keyboards or programming, and in the classic rock way, more AC/DC, Zeppelin, and Steppenwolf—more guitars, more drums, and more screaming! Sounded perfect for us!

How was the recording process different on this album, compared with your previous records?
Since it was done in Los Angeles, it was very different. We’ve done all our previous eight albums in Helsinki, Finland, which means that we’ve always stayed at our homes and hung out our regular bars, etc. We wanted to get rid of that comfortable zone and throw ourselves straight into recording and nothing else. It could have happened anywhere else but the fact that it happened in L.A. of course got it more exciting and one of those rock-and-roll dream kind of things come true.

To read part one of our interview, click here; for the second, click here. For the opportunity to win a 69 Eyes prize pack, click here.

Photo by Ville Akseli Juurikkala