Finnish female-fronted rock band Ginger Evil’s debut album, The Way It Burns, is out now on Frontiers Music Srl. As is a new video for ‘Black Wave’.
“Our debut album The Way It Burns was released six weeks ago,” reflected the band, noting: “There have been expectations, of course, but the reception has exceeded all of them. We played the album release show last weekend, and it became clear that we have created something that touches people’s emotions. Something that rock fans have clearly been missing”.
“As a thank you for that, here is a small sample of what Ginger Evil is, what it looks like, and how it feels live on stage. Huge thanks to everyone who has embraced us. It feels good, hopefully, we’ll see you soon, wherever you are!”
’Black Waves’ has slowly but surely become one of the band and fan favourites,” said guitarist Tomi Julkunen.
“It resonates within a soul and has a message, especially now when the world is what it is today. The message is simple: never give up hope, and never let those black waves wash you away. You’re not alone, there is always someone who cares and loves. And we all should care.
“Never let the storms and feelings of hopelessness in your head take over. The line between what’s real and what is not is really thin, and sometimes it’s really difficult to tell the difference. Is it real, or just my imagination? Just keep hanging in there, and never lose faith. The storm will be over eventually.”
Ginger Evil began as Moonshine Inc. in 2005, in a rehearsal room in Helsinki, Finland. After a couple of years of rehearsal and composing, a fruitless search for a singer meant the songs were put on ice.
Meanwhile, guitarist Tomi Julkunen and bassist Veli Palevaara continued gigging in Finland with The Milestones, including arena shows with Deep Purple and Whitesnake. In the aftermath of their fifth album, those Moonshine Inc. songs from a decade back emerged from hibernation, so the search began again for a vocalist.
The pairing knew about vocalist Ella Tepponen from numerous theatre and music projects, while drummer Toni Mustonen was already familiar to everyone. Jamming together, they found a shared musical passion, and a group creative process soon flourished. Thus, Ginger Evil was born.
“The main reason for forming Ginger Evil was to have a safe place as a band, where the song is the boss. Not the production, not the so-called perfect sound, not the number one single,” said Julkunen. “Keith Richards said once ‘Smile is the boss’. For me, that is the ground rule; to make yourself feel good. If someone else likes the song, it’s an added bonus. I guess that pretty much sums up Ginger Evil”.
“From Foo Fighters to Fleetwood Mac” is how the band hears their music, with singer Tepponen bringing a whole new kind of twist to their rock expression. Everything was coming together. Music producer and film director Richard Stanley, known for his work with The Who heard demos of Ginger Evil and was inspired to write lyrics.
In early 2022 Ginger Evil signed a deal with Deadfall Artist/Band management and a half year later with Frontiers Music Srl. (Def Leppard, Toto, Whitesnake, Journey). For the recording of their debut album, The Way It Burns, Tepponen brought in Teemu Aalto (Insomnium) as a producer, who also handled the final mixes with final mastering by Grammy-nominated Svante Forsbäck of Chartmakers (Rammstein, Volbeat, Sunrise Avenue, Apocalyptica).
Tracks featured on the album are: ‘Rainmaker’, ‘Dead On Arrival’, ‘Shame Old’, ‘Flames’, ‘Hands Move To Midnight’, ‘Arrowhead’, ‘Better Get In Line’, ‘Black Waves’, ‘Whispers’, ‘Not Your Fool’, ‘Last Frontier’ and ‘Wake Me’.
The Way It Burns can be ordered here.
Previously ‘Wake Me’ came out as a single and vocalist Ella Tepponen described the track thus: “Wake Me’ is a powerful and frail ballad about heartache on fading love, layered on top of some beautiful acoustic guitar strumming and keys. The lyrics tells a story of a relationship that’s at its end, but the narrator isn’t quite ready to let go and wants to stay still for a while longer.”
“It’s a summary of thoughts how two people can drift so far apart from each other while staying right next to each other, underlining the question where does love really end”, she added.
