COMETRON – Exclusive Interview
COMETRON is a Finnish cover project founded in 2021 by One Morning Left vocalist Mika “Miksu” Lahti and singer-producer Rami Nykänen. The band performs well-known pop hits in heavy metal arrangements, transforming them into energetic and brutal versions
COMETRON first made themselves known in 2021 by releasing a cover of Ricky Martin's hit “Livin' La Vida Loca”. The newly formed band consisted of two members: producer and vocalist Rami Nykänen and Mika Lahti, best known as the frontman of the metalcore band One Morning Left. According to Mika, starting a cover band had been his dream for years. So far, COMETRON have released four singles, the latest being “SexyBack” — originally performed by Justin Timberlake. According to Rami Nykänen, their version of “SexyBack” can definitely be considered a banger. Like their previous singles, “SexyBack” was accompanied by a music video, which the band shot together with director Andre Rodriguez. Although the video was filmed in a single location, it turned out to be really versatile and even... hot.
Congrats on the release of your new single “SexyBack”! This is one of my favorite songs from the beginning of the millennium, it was great to hear it performed by you. Are you satisfied with the result? What are you feeling right now?
Thank you! It's a banger song for sure! “SexyBack” had been requested by our fans for a long time and it was nice to see people digging our version of it. Overall I'm very proud and happy how “SexyBack” and all our previous covers too have turned out. I've poured every bit of my sanity into them! Of course as a creator I tend to be my own worst critic when it comes to something that I've spent a lot of time and energy with. It's something I've gotten used to though. The music video I think is the best we've done so far. We spend a good amount of time refining it. Biggest thanks to our director André Rodriguez!
How do you choose the songs for covers? The four songs you've chosen are all completely unpredictable.
I know this is a very vague response but whatever feels right. “Mambo No. 5” seemed like a nice continuation to “Livin' la Vida Loca” since it had similar vibes and both are 90's songs. With “From Paris To Berlin” and “SexyBack” we wanted to do something a little different. Go a bit darker and more serious you know. In the start you don't want to do so different songs that people have hard time recognizing what your “thing” is. But at the same time you want to show that there's diversity to your sound.
Have you ever had the urge to cover a ballad or a slow song?
Absolutely. I would love to do a ballad. The time hasn't been right yet but I can promise you we'll do some eventually.
Thank you! It's a banger song for sure! “SexyBack” had been requested by our fans for a long time and it was nice to see people digging our version of it. Overall I'm very proud and happy how “SexyBack” and all our previous covers too have turned out. I've poured every bit of my sanity into them! Of course as a creator I tend to be my own worst critic when it comes to something that I've spent a lot of time and energy with. It's something I've gotten used to though. The music video I think is the best we've done so far. We spend a good amount of time refining it. Biggest thanks to our director André Rodriguez!
How do you choose the songs for covers? The four songs you've chosen are all completely unpredictable.
I know this is a very vague response but whatever feels right. “Mambo No. 5” seemed like a nice continuation to “Livin' la Vida Loca” since it had similar vibes and both are 90's songs. With “From Paris To Berlin” and “SexyBack” we wanted to do something a little different. Go a bit darker and more serious you know. In the start you don't want to do so different songs that people have hard time recognizing what your “thing” is. But at the same time you want to show that there's diversity to your sound.
Have you ever had the urge to cover a ballad or a slow song?
Absolutely. I would love to do a ballad. The time hasn't been right yet but I can promise you we'll do some eventually.
The music video for “SexyBack” is crazy! I like how you were able to realize the idea using basically one location. How was the filming? Why did you decide to make the video this way?
It needed to have tension and vibe that the original song has. I actually wanted many things to differ from our previous videos. It would've gotten too messy if there were more people involved and a complicated story to follow. But there's still a lot of things to make it interesting like the glass cabinet which was one of our directors ideas. He built it with his friend and it was actually very flimsy! I was a bit afraid it would collapse in some point. The filming went quite smoothly this time around. Everybody was super easy to work with. All our earlier videos have been way harder to do so we had a good feeling even though it was a super long day once again.
Last year you collaborated with other musicians for the song “Energiaa”. Do you have any ideas or desire to collaborate with someone again? Who would it be?
Fun fact: That song actually was recorded way before COMETRON was formed. Miksu had done a feature on some of his friend's track and they asked me to master it (basically finalizing the song file). I also laid down some of my screams and guitars in the background. Then when the time came to release the song, COMETRON had been a thing for while and we decided to put our “band name” on the track. But yeah, we would really like to do collabs with other bands! There has been talks but I guess it's one of those things that just waits for the right time and place. A female voice could be a cool contrast to our covers. A rapper or an electronic music artist could be cool. There's so much you could do!
Can we expect COMETRON to have songs of your authorship or is this project 100% created only for covers?
Well, COMETRON was founded to be a cover band and while diverging from that initial plan wouldn't be the end of the world, I think it wouldn't make sense to come up with an original song I'm afraid. Unless people start rioting haha! Never say never but there's no such plans at the moment. I don't have a good response for this.
It needed to have tension and vibe that the original song has. I actually wanted many things to differ from our previous videos. It would've gotten too messy if there were more people involved and a complicated story to follow. But there's still a lot of things to make it interesting like the glass cabinet which was one of our directors ideas. He built it with his friend and it was actually very flimsy! I was a bit afraid it would collapse in some point. The filming went quite smoothly this time around. Everybody was super easy to work with. All our earlier videos have been way harder to do so we had a good feeling even though it was a super long day once again.
Last year you collaborated with other musicians for the song “Energiaa”. Do you have any ideas or desire to collaborate with someone again? Who would it be?
Fun fact: That song actually was recorded way before COMETRON was formed. Miksu had done a feature on some of his friend's track and they asked me to master it (basically finalizing the song file). I also laid down some of my screams and guitars in the background. Then when the time came to release the song, COMETRON had been a thing for while and we decided to put our “band name” on the track. But yeah, we would really like to do collabs with other bands! There has been talks but I guess it's one of those things that just waits for the right time and place. A female voice could be a cool contrast to our covers. A rapper or an electronic music artist could be cool. There's so much you could do!
Can we expect COMETRON to have songs of your authorship or is this project 100% created only for covers?
Well, COMETRON was founded to be a cover band and while diverging from that initial plan wouldn't be the end of the world, I think it wouldn't make sense to come up with an original song I'm afraid. Unless people start rioting haha! Never say never but there's no such plans at the moment. I don't have a good response for this.
What was your main goal when you created the band? Has anything changed since then?
To create the most epic metal covers ever, entertain people and have fun doing so!
What is the most difficult thing you face in the process of creating new covers? How did you overcome these difficulties?
I think most of the time it's just that pop songs are very simple in terms of instrumentation and song structures. Metal on the other hand can be quite chaotic genre. You have to balance between the two make the pop song appeal to metal fans while still retaining all the aspects that make the original song a hit. Often times you have to change the rhythms, melodies and structures a little bit, raise the tempo and add a bunch of extra ear candy to make it unique.
What are COMETRON's plans for the future? Do you want to release an album or will you continue to release only singles?
Releasing singles and music videos seems to be still logical for us at this point so our fans don't need to wait years for new music but the album is coming for sure!
To create the most epic metal covers ever, entertain people and have fun doing so!
What is the most difficult thing you face in the process of creating new covers? How did you overcome these difficulties?
I think most of the time it's just that pop songs are very simple in terms of instrumentation and song structures. Metal on the other hand can be quite chaotic genre. You have to balance between the two make the pop song appeal to metal fans while still retaining all the aspects that make the original song a hit. Often times you have to change the rhythms, melodies and structures a little bit, raise the tempo and add a bunch of extra ear candy to make it unique.
What are COMETRON's plans for the future? Do you want to release an album or will you continue to release only singles?
Releasing singles and music videos seems to be still logical for us at this point so our fans don't need to wait years for new music but the album is coming for sure!
Your music is quickly gaining popularity. Are you currently working on something new? Can you hint which songs or musicians are already in your plans?
There's a few Euro-Pop hits and a few international hits on the table. We can't give away too much just yet unfortunately!
Looking at your cool videos, I'd like to ask, do you set boundaries for yourself? What would you never do/sing/say?
I think pretty basic ethics and good manners apply here. So far the songs we've covered have basically been about having fun and being entertaining. In terms of music videos it comes down to everything being consensual to everybody involved. We obviously would’t want to harm anyone by our actions and singing. I don't have a good response for this.
Are there any positive or negative experiences related to the music industry that you could share? Something that could help other musicians in the future.
It's getting harder and harder to stand out in the music industry since there's new artists coming up all the time. You have to constantly release new music trying to reach new audience. The songs have to be great though and the production quality needs to be top notch. I think Spotify gets too much shit even though it's a awesome platform to be discovered as an up-and-coming artist. Lastly, don't focus too much on the numbers. Just keep doing you.
There's a few Euro-Pop hits and a few international hits on the table. We can't give away too much just yet unfortunately!
Looking at your cool videos, I'd like to ask, do you set boundaries for yourself? What would you never do/sing/say?
I think pretty basic ethics and good manners apply here. So far the songs we've covered have basically been about having fun and being entertaining. In terms of music videos it comes down to everything being consensual to everybody involved. We obviously would’t want to harm anyone by our actions and singing. I don't have a good response for this.
Are there any positive or negative experiences related to the music industry that you could share? Something that could help other musicians in the future.
It's getting harder and harder to stand out in the music industry since there's new artists coming up all the time. You have to constantly release new music trying to reach new audience. The songs have to be great though and the production quality needs to be top notch. I think Spotify gets too much shit even though it's a awesome platform to be discovered as an up-and-coming artist. Lastly, don't focus too much on the numbers. Just keep doing you.
December 5, 2023
- Tuuli TalvinenFounder & Editor-in-ChiefInterviewer