Lastout: The Epic Future of Metalcore and Hard Rock

Slamming into the music scene in nothing short of an epic way is a young band named Lastout from Finland.  With wide ranging influences including metalcore, progressive, and hard rock, Lastout unveils an absolutely thrilling auditory experience.  From the passion and wonder found within Asser Driouach’s expressive vocals to the sonic intensity and imaginative delivery of each and every band member (Oskari Saikkonen – guitar, Lauri Länsisalo – bass, Jan Mäkiharju – drums, Frans Kyösti – guitar) Lastout delivers in both the recording studio and within a live setting.  Selections such as Empty Eyes, Irate, and Make Amends are destined to enrapture music fans all over the world.  Lastout is signed with Ranka Kustannus – an independent record and publishing company established in 2013 by Riku Pääkkönen, the founder of the legendary metal and rock label Spinefarm Records, which put Finnish metal music on the map in the late 90s with bands like Nightwish and Children of Bodom.  Highwire Daze recently caught up with two of the members of Lastout via the magic of Zoom to find out more about this amazing band on the rise.  Read on…

We’re here with two of the members of Lastout. Introduce yourself and tell me what you do in the band.
Oskari: I’m Oskari and I play the guitar and write some songs.

Asser: Hello, I’m Asser and I’m the singer of Lastout and also write songs.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
Oskari: Our band is based in Tampere. It’s a town in Finland and I think we have a decent metal scene here.

Asser: Yeah, I would say so.

How did you wind up signing with Ranka Kustannus records?
Oskari: Actually, our Make Amends music video was shown to Riku Pääkkönen and then he really liked it and was like, “yeah, I’m going to sign these kids.“

How old are both of you?
Asser: 18.

Oskari: Yeah, we’re both 18 and all in our band are 18.

You guys started the band probably like when you were like 15 or 16 or something like that. How supportive have your parents been of your band?
Oskari: I think our parents have been very supportive from the beginning. Actually, we started at like nine years old.

Oh, wow.
Oskari: Yeah, and we always got the equipment we needed for our music hobby. And they have been in the journey with us.

Asser: Yeah. I feel like we’re in a special place because I think not a lot of people have what we have, supportive parents when it comes to doing music and how far we’ve gone. So, I think this is really special for us.

Let’s talk about a few of the songs and the inspirations behind them.  Your new single is called “Empty Eyes.” What is the story or the concept behind that song?
Asser: When I wrote Empty Eyes, I had this vision for when in relationships, not just romantic, but also platonic. I think people are often not allowed to make mistakes and often are just expected to be perfect. And I think oftentimes, we expect more from people. We give people a lot, but then we don’t always get the same in return. So, I think that’s what I wanted to convey, kind of asking for forgiveness and also giving forgiveness for others.

Before we go on to the next song, I wanted to ask about the video for Empty Eyes. Where was that video filmed? There were a lot of people there.
Oskari: Yeah, it was actually at the new arena in Tampere, Nokia Arena. And it was Blind Channel’s arena gig, and we got the support slot over there.
It was a crazy experience.

Asser: Definitely.

There was an insane amount of people there. Were you guys nervous at all?
Asser: For sure.

Oskari: Yeah, it was definitely our biggest gig. And there was like 4000 people when we played. So, people came in really early and came to check us out. And yeah, we were really excited for that.

Make Amends, give me a little background on that one.
Asser: Well, it has been so long since I wrote Make Amends. But I remember I watched this series called All of Us Are Dead. It’s on Netflix. And then I just had this idea. I like the lyrics in my songs to have this sort of thing that people can easily relate to, but also have something special to them. So, I think that kind of almost insane or like sick vibe from the series “All of Us Are Dead” mixed with just like normal people stuff.  Making mistakes and having to confront yourself and then making amends with them and yourself and others. I think I like mixing those special things and then kind of normal things together.

Irate. Give me some information on that one.
Asser: Yeah. Irate was a song kind of difficult for me to do because of the screaming parts. And I had to go into like my inner self for it, like kind of go into that deeper. I don’t want to say rage, maybe just like dig deeper for the feelings inside.

Oskari: Yeah, I remember when we were recording Irate that me and the recording engineer had to really push you for those screams. I think they came out really unique and powerful. I think it adds great variance to our music because we don’t have screams that often.

Is that something you would like to do, scream more?
Asser: Well, it’s definitely something I would like to do if I had the proper technique. But also, I think what makes us unique is that we don’t have a lot of screaming. But also, it obviously sounds cool when you do the screamo. But I think from the majority of our songs, I would like to keep clean.

How close is the band to writing or recording an EP or even a full length?
Oskari: Yeah, we’re actually recording a full length, but it has been a very slow process. But we are constantly working towards the album release. And it will come very soon. At least we hope because it has been quite long already.

Asser: Yeah. And we’re eager to just release music.

Blind Channel actually has played out here a few times in Los Angeles, including at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip. You guys opened for Blind Channel. What was that experience like? And did you get to meet or hang out with them at all?
Oskari: Yeah, we did.  We’ve seen the Blind Channel guys at Ruisrock and Nokia. And we also have the same label. So, there are all kinds of connections with us and Blind Channel.

Asser: Very nice guys. Definitely.

What was the experience like playing Ruisrock in Turku?
Oskari: I think it was a great experience and quite unique because nowadays Ruisrock is very pop and rap. And there’s almost no metal over there. So, us and Blind Channel were quite… how do you say it?
It was not expected to have metal bands at Ruisrock. And people were coming from the pop bands and then walking next to our stage, and everyone was just like, “what the fuck? What is this?” But it was really nice because some people also stayed at our gig and started vibing. And everyone was open to all kinds of music.

If Lastout could open for any band, either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Oskari: Well, I would say Spiritbox because they’re a hot name at the moment and they’re growing really fast. And they also have quite similar style to us. Very much clean singing, but also those heavy riffs and those kinds of moments.

Asser: I would say maybe Bring Me the Horizon just because I want to experience a Bring Me the Horizon concert. So that would be good for me. Well, maybe Blind Channel again, because I feel like the guys were nice. And I feel like the Blind Channel fan culture is great because the fans of Blind Channel are amazing. And they’re just very supportive and come to every gig and buy the merch and are very enthusiastic.

And I think what made the Nokia Arena show great was, like even though the people didn’t know our music and they didn’t know our songs, they would still just keep their hands up and scream with us. So that was awesome.

Would you guys like to come out here to the States and play some shows? Is that something you’ve considered?
Asser: Of course.

Oskari: Yeah. I think that’s a dream to our band, but maybe not yet because we’re still at school and have that kind of stuff to do.

Asser: Maybe in a few years.

Oskari: Yeah, of course.

Asser: Hopefully.

Oskari: Someday we’ll come to the US. I would say so.

I recently interviewed one of your label mates, Beyond Awareness. Do you know Beyond Awareness, and have you ever done any shows with them?
Oskari: Well, not actually because they’re also just starting out and they’re still waiting to release their first album. But they live here at Tampere too, but we haven’t really done anything together. But with Ranka, we have been talking about doing maybe some kind of collabs or gigs together or something like that.

What’s up next for Lastout? What’s in the future for you guys?
Oskari: I would say now we’re finishing our album. Just finishing the rest of the songs and when we have the album out then we will gig a lot.

Asser: I feel like the thing is, right now we need to just focus and focus on making the songs and making them just as good as we can so we can be the most proud of the album that we can be. Just like you can only make the first album just once, you can’t do it again. So, I think we’re really just trying to make this perfect.

Do you have any messages for metalcore or just music fans here in the States who are reading this now?
Oskari: In the States, I would say that we’re an upcoming band and so every metalcore fan in the US will hear from us. And for metalcore fans in Finland, the metalcore scene hasn’t really blown up here in Finland because everything here comes a bit late, but I think that they will also come when metalcore will be at its peak in Finland.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Lastout is:
Oskari Saikkonen – Guitar
Lauri Länsisalo – Bass
Asser Driouach – Vocals
Jan Mäkiharju – Drums
Frans Kyösti – Guitar

Lastout on Instagram