Prepare yourselves as hearts stop as four stunning Finnish gods take the stage at PJ Live Arts this October! Meet Anna, Mia, Jonte and Kasper – They’re the members behind the fusion of a capella and rock ‘n’ roll called FORK.
Just as they arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Lipstiq had a chance to talk to them about their rock ‘n’ roll inspirations and what makes them unique!
Q. Did you grow up wanting to be musicians or singers?
Anna: I did, yes. I found this notebook from when I was 7 years old, and on the first page, I wrote “singer or actress” under Profession. And I’ve lived in the middle of a forest with no MTV, so perhaps it was a heavenly sign!
Kasper: I don’t think there’s anyone who grows up not wanting to be a superstar.
Jonte: I also knew very early that I wanted to be a musician or an actor.
Mia: Well, I was a kid that performed at every single Christmas party, and always making sure that everybody else was performing since I was 10 years old. I did think that I would grow up to be something else, but then when I was done with high school at the age of 18, the only thing I could think about was acting.
Q.What got you influenced to venture into music?
J: For me, there wasn’t a specific moment. As far as I can remember, I just wanted to stand in front of the audience and entertain people and make them laugh. So, venturing into FORK seemed like the obvious choice.
A: I had quite opposite. I love music, but I was a really shy person so performing would leave me with butterflies in my stomach, which made me not want to perform. But I wanted to do music, so I had to conquer my fears to get where I am now.
M: For FORK, I think it’s probably always been that we don’t walk on the safe path. “Take a walk on the wild side” really. Whenever we think something is not possible, we think together “Why wouldn’t it be”. We’re actually here to have fun and the audience helps us in that sense. So, we’re all about trying new things and not following old-world rules, and that is where we compare ourselves to the rock ‘n’ roll world where rules are not allowed.
J: When FORK just started, it was just a hobby and a way for us to have fun. We did that for 8 years and during those 8 years as FORK being a hobby, we got better and our fan base got bigger too. But we couldn’t focus on it 100%, as we had our jobs as actors and Kasper works at night. Then in 2004, we decided that we’ll do this full-time for a whole year, and the rest is history!
Q.Who would you consider to be your rock n roll icon?
M: Michael Jackson
A: There’s like 20 for me, but if I had to pick one, it would be David Coverdale.
K: For me, it would be Robert Plant
J: I listen to a lot of genres and for every genre, there would be an icon for me. Well, I can definitely say it’s NOT Bruce Springsteen! I could say Prince, whose always been a big influence for me, Freddie Mercury too.
Q. What is your favorite record of all time?
M: U2’s Achtung Baby
K: Led Zeppelin’s second album, Led Zeppelin II is the one album that has influenced me the most.
J: I would say, Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
A: This is not a rock album, but mine would be Madonna’s Like A Prayer.
Q. What do you think sets FORK apart from other bands.
M:From other bands, it’s the fact that we don’t use any instruments. And apart from other Accapella bands, we actually sound like a band.
Q. Have you had any experience with crazy fans before?
M: All of them are a bit crazy, I think!
J: Yes, that’s true, but most of them are very well behaved, but we’ve had a few.
A: We were in Sweden, and these young girls asked us to sign their boobs. They were like 15, and Mia and I too signed their boobs.
M: I think that we’re older than 20, people sort of understand the difference between being on stage and being a person in reality. So, we don’t really have any trouble with crazy fans.
J: We’re not really famous as celebrities, but we’re known for being a group and individuals, so we still are able to keep our personal lives private, so we don’t have any stalkers, really. But we sort of did have this stalker in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a woman who has seen our shows about over 30 times. She was a simply happy fan before, but then it got a little excessive, but most of her fixation on FORK was mainly Kasper.
Q. What is your routine before you get on stage? Either as a group, or individually.
K: We don’t have very much routines anymore, really. We’re so comfortable going on stage doing what we do that we just hang-out and have a good time together. We do everything together, so we don’t have separate rooms to hang out and do our make-up together and just have fun.
A: We do this routine where we put our hands together in the middle and raise them up!
Q. What would your word of advice be for young aspiring actors and singers?
M: Well, people should know that it’s hard work, a little bit of luck and friends who support you. I don’t believe that you can just be a star overnight. If you want to be good at something, you have to practice.
A: There was this survey that said you have to practice 10,000 times before you can be good at something.
J: My word of advice would be to take what you do seriously, but not yourself! We try to be the best at what we do, but we don’t take ourselves seriously.
You can catch FORK at PJ Live Arts from now till 28th October 2012. For details and ticket info, please visit Gardner & Wife Theatre’s website or FORK’s Facebook page.
