Clarkkent

FROM POP TO ROCK – FROM ROCK TO PUNK.
Clarkkent continues on the path of political punk-rock.

Clarkkent (Helsinki, Finland) was founded by guys from various bands that toured together in the late 90's. A group brought together by a love of rock music, the passion to play, and a mix of influences, such as Bad Religion, Nirvana, Radiohead and Pantera.

Thru vigorous touring and various demo releases the band developed fast and, after a successful warm up tour for The Rasmus, the demand for a debut album was strong. Even though many record labels had shown interest in the band during those first few years none were ready to sign the band yet. The band didn't want to wait. They decided to do it themselves.

Clarkkent's strong belief in their own material convinced Jukka Backlund and Samu Haber (Sunrise Avenue), from the production house Sonic Kitchen, to take the band under their wing.

The first ever Clarkkent single In My Arms (2008) was voted the #1 most wanted song on Radio YleX (Finnish national radio station) and got A-listed. In My Arms ended up staying on YleX's playlist for 20 weeks. The debut album This Is Personal was released in March 2009.

By the time of the production of the second album in 2010 it became clear that the chemistry of the band wasn't what it used to be. Suddenly Clarkkent found itself to be a trio with a half-ready album written for a four-piece band. Also, the co-operation with Sonic Kitchen didn’t support the new sound the band was looking for so the guys decided to start their own record label, Johnny Get The Rifle. They really wanted to finish what they had started: a rock album with a much more aggressive sound than the first album. The title of the second album Three was a reference to the changes in the line-up.

Singles from Three were well received. I Do was on YleX's playlist for several weeks. The second single Rewind Erase Relive was picked as the theme song for a reality show on Facebook called NISSAN Rumble. Made in collaboration with Radio Rock, the show gathered more than 400,000 likes, posts and comments in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The third single Rch Grl climbed to #14 on the official Finnish Download Charts, even though it was released after the actual album.

“After all that had happened with the band and the label we really grew together as a band. It was easier to take our music in the right direction”, says guitarist Jukka.

By the beginning of 2013, Clarkkent had opened for Biffy Clyro, Shinedown, The Subways, The Rasmus and Sunrise Avenue. In the spring of 2013 it was finally time for their first European tour (Latvia - Lithuania - Poland - Czech - Germany).

On their third studio album Passenger Clarkkent renewed its sound again. Life experiences affected the songwriting process resulting in much more political lyrics.

“Without any commercial pressure we were able to concentrate on making decisions from an artistic point of view. The result was a heavier, more progressive and punk rock sound than listeners were used to hearing from us,” says Jaakko.

The album’s title single Passenger got into the top 5 of the official Finnish download chart.

By the end of 2015 Clarkkent had made three European tours resulting in a growing fan base, for example, in Germany.

In 2016, when CD's are more of a collectable item rather than an actual way of listening to music, the band decided to release future songs and albums in digital format only. Clarkkent also started to release their next album in a series of singles. A method that has mostly been used by pop artists and was exceptional for a punk rock band. At the same time Clarkkent toke a more direct and up-to-date political tone.

The first songs in the double single series Refugee and Followers (April 8th 2016) dealt with the Syrian refugee crisis and the rise of right-wing populism.
Quickly Refugee became the bands most popular song on music streaming services.

In september 9th Clarkkent continues on the path of political punk-rock with the release of the second double single Real Life Monopoly. The title song Real Life Monopoly is about the power that money and global companies hold over society. “Money creates more money and the wealthy end up distorting democracy because of greed. We should demand equality and work towards a world in which wealth is spread more evenly to all”, says Clarkkent’s singer and bass player, Jaakko Rikko.

Signs is a song about the irrationality of religions and the intentional manipulation of their followers. “Although it’s easy to think this criticism is only directed towards radicalized Islam – it’s not. It's about how all religions try to manipulate the minds of people by enforcing beliefs over facts. Shit, we’ve even got evolution denying christians as members of the Finnish parliament”, says the band’s guitarist, Jukka Aaltonen.

Clarkkent’s music is developing in an unusual direction.

"During our debut album our music was leaning towards very generic pop rock influences. But by the time of our third album we definitely kicked that mud off our shoes", says the band’s guitarist, Jukka Aaltonen. He continues: “We’ve always been balanced between underground and mainstream without really being either. Now our music is clearly focused on current issues, more outspoken and more punk." Also, their life situations and the age of the band members have raised the band's awareness on social issues and responsibilities, and this can be clearly heard in Clarkkent’s new songs.