Under the late-summer sky of Hellsinki Metal Festival, just moments after Luna Kills had torn through their set with raw energy and cinematic emotion, we sat down with the band’s frontwoman Lotta for an honest conversation. Between laughter and post-show adrenaline, Lotta opened up about her jazz roots, the band’s love for gaming soundtracks, perfectionism in the studio, and the creative fire driving Luna Kills toward their next era.

-You started your musical journey as a jazz solo singer before stepping into the modern metal world. How has that jazz background shaped your vocal style and stage performance in Luna Kills?

–When I first started singing and taking vocal lessons, I went into jazz because I thought it was really cool. I didn’t actually perform much as a jazz singer — I was mostly just learning how to use my voice — but it definitely shaped how I sing today.
For example, my belting, my vibrato, all those techniques come from that period. You don’t really hear that kind of vocal approach in metal that often, and I think that background actually helped me move toward extreme vocals too. They share some of the same principles in how you use your voice, especially when I’m singing super loud and pushing the sound.

-Your sound blends alternative/nu-metal with video game-inspired electronics — how did that unique vision come together?

-We’re all avid gamers, so we’ve always listened to a lot of soundtrack music — both video game and movie soundtracks. I’m also a huge movie buff myself, so that kind of music is something I love very dearly.
It’s a really natural blend for us when we’re songwriting, because we’re combining two things we’re passionate about. We’ll often get these vivid mental pictures — like, this song could totally be in that game or that movie — and that just makes us super excited.

So in the end, it all comes from our passion for both worlds and how naturally they come together.

-“Deathmatch” is your debut album — which track best captures the band’s current identity, and why?

That’s a tough one! Personally, I’d say “Sadist,” because it really has a bit of everything we do as a band. It’s got clean vocals, a super poppy chorus, screaming, and some really good riffs — plus a guitar solo.
So yeah, it basically has everything. I think “Sadist” is the perfect song to start with if you want to get to know Luna Kills. It’s like a great first bite into who we are.

-You design your artwork and merch yourselves. How does that DIY ethos influence your music?

-Well, I think it’s the other way around, maybe. When the music is finished, I usually start working on the visuals and everything. Of course, visual identity is really important to me — I’m a huge fan of music videos, cover art, and art in general when it comes to all bands and creative projects.

Usually, I start by thinking about the song’s identity and imagining how it would look visually. I think a good music video, for example, can really add something to the music itself. You can even have a not-so-great song, but if it has a strong video, it can make the song hit harder.

So yeah, visuals are super important when it comes to anything related to music, but my process always starts with the song.

And when it comes to merch, I like to keep it coherent with the current artwork style we’re using — but at the same time, you just want sick-looking clothes and good designs. Basically, if it looks good, it goes on a T-shirt.

-The song “slay ur enemies” came from creative chaos — can you share that moment from inspiration to recording?

-It’s a fun story now — but it definitely wasn’t fun back then. We had just one day before going into the studio, and we were supposed to record four songs. We only had three that we liked, and one that just wasn’t working.

I was actually having a panic attack about it, because we’re all huge perfectionists — and I might be the worst one. I needed that fourth song. Everyone else was saying, “We can just do the three, don’t worry about it,” but I couldn’t let it go.

So I started going through old riffs and demos that Samuli had sent me, and I found this nasty riff we’d never used. I was so frustrated that I just started screaming over it — still in the middle of my panic attack. After I calmed down a bit, I listened back and thought, okay… this might actually work.

I sent it to Samuli and he said, “Yeah, this is good, let’s do that.” That became the first verse of “slay ur enemies” We wrote the whole song in about four hours, went to the studio, and recorded it exactly how it was on the demo. Sometimes things just happen like that, you know?

-Many tracks shift from heavy riffs to dreamy melodies to electronic pulses — how do you balance those textures live?

-This is an interesting one, because I don’t think we actually think about it that much. We just write music that we really like. Of course, we have a pretty critical process when we listen back to the tracks — asking ourselves if something’s missing, if there’s too much, or if it just doesn’t blend together.

It’s all part of the process: you add something in, you take something out, and when it feels done, it’s done. For us, that kind of balance comes naturally.

We really love songs with a wide dynamic range — those moments that start really quiet and then grow into something massive. Personally, I love tracks that feel epic, that evolve into big musical pieces. So we just listen to what the song needs. If something feels like too much, we take it out; if it needs something more, we add it in.

-You’ve included Finnish lines in “get mad”.

-Well, it actually has a story, because the song was a little bit written for, you know, maybe the Finnish music industry a little bit. Because throughout our musical journey, we’ve heard many times that we should make songs in Finnish. When we were scouting for labels or partners or collaborators, we usually got the feedback that if we made songs in Finnish, it would be great.

And we were like, but we want to make international music, and we want to write the lyrics in English and everything. We were really frustrated for the longest time because we thought nobody understood us.

So “get mad” is basically just a nod to that. There’s this Finnish line, “suutu jo, get mad.” So it’s a little bit of a joke, you know.

-You’ve bridged metal and gaming culture (e.g., Beatstar feature) — how important is that crossover for your sound?

-Well, I think it is our sound, so I think it’s really important. But I don’t know, maybe someday we’ll move on to different hobbies and then they’ll crossover to our sound, I don’t know. But I think as long as we keep making something that is authentic to us and have that sort of thing that we are excited about, it’s game on.

-Looking ahead, what’s next for Luna Kills — more albums, evolving sound, or pushing your visual identity further?

-Everything. We’re obviously starting to write new material, and we definitely want to release more albums.

We’ve already booked shows for next year, so you know — we can’t stop. More live shows! But I think every live show and every song we write moving forward is always a learning experience for us.

We want to perform at the highest level we can as a band. So, you know, we want to take on everything there is to do. As long as we have the power, the will, and we’re not too tired, we’re going to do everything.