Meet Eesti Laul 2016 participants I Wear* Experiment
The 2016 edition of Eesti Laul continues this Saturday with the second semi-final. The fourth act to perform will be electronic trio I Wear* Experiment.
Hando Jaksi and Mikk Simson have been making music together for many years in a variety of projects but growing up they thought of each other quite differently.
"We went to school together and both thought the other was a total douche, so we never spoke," said Simson.
"Then one day my girlfriend, who was Hando's classmate, introduced us and we became friends within half an hour."
The two ended up in a band together alongside future I Wear* Experiment vocalist Johanna Eenma for a time, but it wasn't until both Jaksi and Simson found themselves single and depressed that they began to work on what would become I Wear* Experiment.
The duo became a trio when Jaksi built up the courage to invite Eenma, who had already recorded some demo songs for the new band, to formally join.
The name I Wear* Experiment came from simple beginnings but over time the band has added meanings to their chosen label.
"Hando thought of the name in school for a video project and it just kind of stuck," explained Simson.
"We have around ten different theories to explain what the name means now though."
The reasoning behind the addition of the asterisk to their band name drew quite a passionate response from Simson, "It's accentuating the 'wear' part. Many performers are dictated what they should do and how they should be in order to succeed and we wear ourselves with pride!" he declared.
"That's a good one!" responded Jaksi.
"It's getting better every time we answer it," laughed Simson.
Throughout the interview Jaksi and Simson frequently finish each other's sentences and add information to each other's stories and it is this symbiosis that runs into a song writing process they describe as "organic".
"Hando is the mastermind and I am the co-pilot. We spend a lot of time together in the studio," explained Simson.
The song writing process is not exclusive to the boys though, with Eenma having her fair share of input.
"Johanna is the most critical of the three of us," said Jaksi.
"She has a very strong intuition. She can just feel what is wrong and right and that is a beautiful thing to have in a band," added Simson.
I Wear* Experiment will take part in Eesti Laul with their song 'Patience'. The lyrics were drawn from their own experiences as a band.
"Previously we had released three EPs and it was very much we would have an idea and release it straight away. This time we had the idea to create an album and take our time to and master everything very carefully, so we educated ourselves to have more patience," explained Jaksi.
"Secondly the opening lyrics speak of patience mastered overseas, and this is like a thank you note to our team behind the scenes for giving us so many ideas to develop the band and make better music. We have an excellent team, our producer, our sound guy, our light guy, it's a big family who helps us."
The band's biggest hope from participating in Eesti Laul is that people will know that they exist and want to listen to their other songs.
"Patience is a very slow building song whereas live we usually like to be more intense and aggressive. Patience requires more patience!" joked Jaksi before continuing, "We don't have as high expectations that we're going to Stockholm or anything."
"But we would be really happy to get to the final," added Simson.
Of the other competing entries the boys were divided on which songs they preferred. Simson rattled off a list of entries, stating that he liked the songs of Jüri Pootsmann, Meisterjaan, Mick Pedaja, Cartoon feat. Kristel Aaslaid before adding that in the last week he had finally understood the song from Go Away Bird.
Jaksi was much more reserved in his appreciation, affirming only that he liked the entry of Púr Múdd because it reminded him of Norwegian band A-ha.
After Eesti Laul the band plan to release the album and perform in Tallinn Music Week before launching into a multi-nation European tour that will see them tour the Baltics, Central Europe and the Benelux nations.
I Wear* Experiment perform in the second semi-final on Saturday 20 February.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn