It’s Heaven versus Hell, Luke versus The Dark Side and Orange Juice versus Coke in musical form: please say a hearty (yet slightly scared) 'hello' to Dirty Fingernails!Having upped sticks from Finland to Finsbury Park, Sami and Paivi are gaining quite a reputation for their 'sexually confused, politically inclined drum-machine driven indiepop.’ Mixing heavenly synth-pop with a Scandinavian kick, haunting vocals and dark lyrics, they're destined to shake up the Indietracks festival when they rock up in July. Their first album ‘Greetings from Finsbury Park, N4’ was released in 2007 to numerous rave reviews. Hi Sami and Paivi, tell us a bit about yourselves...
Hi! We're Dirty Fingernails originally from Finland but currently living in London. We're brother and sister but only started playing music together a couple of years ago. Incidentally, until very recently we were still using the keyboard our Dad got Paivi when she was eight years old and some of the keys haven't worked in years. (Sami's theory is: when he used to share a rehearsal studio with a punk band including an ex-member of the Wildhearts, one of them must have poured beer in the keyboard in a fit of rock 'n' roll street cred posturing. Paivi's theory is: Sami spilled the beer and is trying to blame other people as usual. We may never find out...) As a nod to modernity, and also to be able to play all the songs we've written, we have now bought a bottom-of-the-range keyboard which actually works. The funniest billing we ever had alluded to the keyboard and read: "See these Scandinavian siblings fight to the finnish over their cheap childhood christmas present instruments: every day is boxing day!"
Tell us about an unusual place you've played in the past
Last summer we did a double whammy of shows in unusual venues. On May bank holiday we played a village fete (hogroast and all...) in Long Marston. There had been heavy rain in the preceeding days and when we got there on the day, the venue was flooded. Sensibly, a pump lorry had been called and arrived just in time for our set: we played the gig bare-footed in ankle deep water accompanied by the hum of the pump truck.. Later in the summer when we thought it couldn't get much worse we were booked to play what we thought was a festival but was actually a food market. On the plus side, we did get to play to thousands of people as they filed past admiring the ethnic food stalls...
Do any band members have any particular skills, hobbies or claims to fame you wish to share?
Paivi (keys & vocs) has a most stylish Marmite tattoo on her back! And as a long-standing vegan she'd like to remind all the non-meat-eating Indietracks festival-goers of the importance of regular intake of the B12-vitamin, which is only naturally present in meat and dairy products. Two slices of Marmite toast a day is an easy and delicious veggie way of making sure you're getting enough B12!Do you have any surprises planned for Indietracks festival?
Well, we will be bringing the band KISS along with us for the benefit of anyone who might want to have their photo taken with KISS and possibly with us. Please note: if KISS are busy, we'll be bringing a life-size cardboard cut-out..
Fantastic, we'll look forward to meeting KISS! Thanks very much Sami and Paivi. And they've also left us with a free MP3 to download.
Free MP3 Download: Dirty Fingernails - Bruno
Next up: Melancholy pop with ambitions to be cheerful - The Starlets!
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