Blind Channel
Blind Channel is a post-hardcore band from Oulu, Finland. The band define their musical style as "violent pop". They represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Dark Side", finishing in sixth place. Career. Formation and early years (2013–2014). The band was initially formed in mid-2013 by classmates Joel Hokka and Joonas Porko who at the time were in as they describe it “rival bands” and decided to join forces. They quickly recruited Olli Matela (who played previously with Joonas in other bands) and Tommi Lalli to play bass and drums respectively. Joel Hokka  has stated that shortly after he was at a house party when he spotted Niko Vilhelm rapping and was so impressed that he asked him to join the band. Now a five-piece, whilst selecting a band name Niko suggested Blind Channel in reference to television channels such as MTV which they all grew up watching and wanting to be on as musicians, however by the time the band formed these channels were only showing reality shows and not so much music based. The band released their debut single "Save Me" (and accompanying music video) in October 2013 which was  picked up by YleX within one week and the band were selected as Ylex's "basement band of the week". Iltalehti, one of Finland’s biggest newspaper media’s also noticed the band’s first music video for "Save Me" and within a couple months the video had amassed over 20,000 views. They performed their first live show in a small rock club in Oulu, Finland in late 2013 before releasing follow-up EP "Antipode" on March 21st 2014, featuring singles "Naysayers" and "Calling Out" produced by Mikko Mäkitalo. The single’s B-side “Naysayers” saw daylight one week before  the actual release, and the A-side “Calling Out” premiered on a local radio station Radio City one day before the release. Section::::"Revolutions" and "Blood Brothers" (2014–2018). In Summer 2014 the band performed at Finnish festivals JääliCityRock, Provinssirock, Ilosaarirock, Qstock & Nummirock where they won the Wacken Metal Battle in Finland, securing a chance to perform at the European rock festival - Wacken Open Air in Germany on The Wet Stage. This was the band’s first show outside of Finland and the largest show they had played to date. Upon winning this competition, Finnish record label Ranka Kustannus also signed the  band and they began recording their new material, later releasing the "Foreshadow" EP on October 4, 2014. Their debut studio album "Revolutions" was later released on September 29, 2016, and includes the singles "Unforgiving", "Don't", "Darker Than Black", "Deja FU” and "Enemy for Me". The band proceeded to tour throughout Finland and surrounding countries following this release. Huge pop music fans, in March 2017 they released a cover of American hip-hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's hit single "Can't Hold Us". They released their second studio album "Blood Brothers" on April 20, 2018. The album includes  the singles "Alone Against All", "Sharks Love Blood", "Wolfpack" and "Out of Town" and track "Elephant In The Room" featuring fellow Finnish rapper Spaz Caroon. They also embarked on several tours both as headliners and supporting acts such as Amaranthe, Royal Republic, Simple Plan, Enter Shikari and in late 2018 completed their first UK tour supporting All That Remains and Sevendust. Section::::"Violent Pop" and Eurovision Song Contest (2020–present). The band's third studio album, "Violent Pop", was released on March 6, 2020. The album includes the singles "Over My Dead Body", "Timebomb (feat. Alex Mattson)", "Snake (feat. GG6 of  Amaranthe)", "Died Enough for You", "Fever" and "Gun". The band had a tour scheduled for autumn/winter 2020 around Sweden and Finland, and festival slots as part of a touring cycle for "Violent Pop" which were later cancelled as the COVID-19 pandemic came into effect. In May 2020 the band performed an acoustic livestream from 45 Oulu, the oldest rock bar in Oulu, Finland which included the live debuts of "Violent Pop" album tracks “Feel Nothing” and “Enemies with Benefits”. Additionally, they performed a tribute cover of Linkin Park’s “Numb” in honour of the late Chester Bennington. In July  2020, they released a studio version of Anastacia’s “Left Outside Alone" and accompanying music video. After meeting DJ and producer Aleksi Kaunisvesi (artist name Alex Mattson) several years prior when Joel approached him to potentially remix a Blind Channel track, the band soon after discovered that they had similar musical directions and began collaborating, eventually releasing “Timebomb” together which featured as a single on "Violent Pop". After a live festival show in October 2020 where the band featured Aleksi on samples and percussion, they officially asked Aleksi to join Blind Channel as a full-time member and became a  six-piece. In February 2021, the band participated in the Finnish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the modern nu-metal track "Dark Side". They won the selection with 54.3% of the vote (the highest in UMK history) and in May 2021 represented Finland in the contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, finishing in sixth place with a total of 301 points. Blind Channel received 218 of their total points from televoting, while 83 points were received from juries. The band painted their middle fingers red for their performance of "Dark Side," after being informed that they could not  lift a middle finger to the audience on the Eurovision stage due to the show's family friendly nature. On 19 May 2021, several days before their first performance at Eurovision, the band signed to Century Media/Sony Music.<ref><nowiki>