MR. LORDI Says 'It's Getting Harder' For LORDI To Put On A Quality Visual Live Show: 'There's Way Too Many Restrictions And Rules And Laws Now'

In a new interview with the Music Matters With Darrell Craig Harris podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist Darrell Craig Harris, LORDI founder, lead singer, songwriter, visual art designer and costume designer Mr. Lordi spoke about the 20th anniversary of the band's 2006 international breakthrough by winning the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". They are Finland's only winners to date and they earned more points than any other artists in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest up to that time.

Regarding his original vision for LORDI, which formed in 1992, and the group's longevity, Mr. Lordi said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I gotta tell you the secret. So I've lasted for all this time. The rest of the band has — the lineup has changed quite a few times, actually. It's like Jon Bon Jovi and BON JOVI. It's like that.

"The whole thing, LORDI — I mean, Lordi is my nickname, since the late '80s — it was given to me by my friend's mom — and it's also the name of the band and name of my alter ego," he explained. "And it's a combination of things that I love — it's melodic hard rock or heavy metal, if you will, or classic rock nowadays, I guess, it's called, the style. And with monsters. I'm a big horror and sci-fi fan and monsters and SFX [special effects] fan, so it's a combination of all these things put together through the grinder. That's what it is. To put it in a nutshell, that's what it is."

Asked to name some of the bands that he loved growing up, Mr. Lordi said: "KISS, the main influence, obviously, KISS. I wanted to be Gene Simmons. That's why I'm here today. Well, I could be still here today without Gene Simmons, but not as LORDI. Well, I mean, for sure we wouldn't be doing this little chat now without Gene Simmons and the influence of KISS. But, of course, also TWISTED SISTER, Alice Cooper, so on, so on, so on."

Mr. Lordi also talked about the evolution of LORDI's live show, having always highlighted both the band's visual style and musical power.

"Let me put it this way. I've always been a guy that I don't wanna go see a band if there's nothing worth seeing for, if you know what I mean," Mr. Lordi explained. "Any band sounds better on your stereo, from CD or vinyl or whatever you use, fucking MP3, whatever, it sounds better than live. I mean, that's just my humble opinion. You don't go to hear a band. In any language, you don't say that, 'Hey, let's go listen to a band.' You go see a band. There should be something worth seeing for. And I've never been into the bands — musically, yeah, sure — but I've never been into going to see a band when I know that there's nothing worth seeing for. So that's where — well, then again, my influences, like I said, KISS, Alice Cooper, TWISTED SISTER, W.A.S.P., all these bands, they have something worth seeing for. And that's what we're trying to do."

Mr. Lordi continued: "It's getting harder and harder all the time because of all these restrictions and rules in every single country and the venues and the rock clubs and the arenas and whatever, ice rinks and shit, there's all these new rules and restrictions all the time. And the craziest thing is that the days of using pyro at a rock club, those are long gone. So then we are, 'Okay, let's use smokes. Let's try to do some effects with smokes and confetti and fake blood' and stuff like that. But even now, those are forbidden in many of the venues. You couldn't believe it. It's, like, 'Why can't I throw a confetti?' 'Oh, because of the cleaning fees. Because it gets stuck in the ventilation system, and it's a fire hazard.' 'How? Clean it up.' 'Well, we don't wanna clean it up. We have to pay overtime for cleaners.' And it's, like, 'Why can't I spray fake blood?' 'Oh, it's a cleaning issue.' Well, you have fucking 1,000 people spilling beer on the floor and the floor is so sticky and nobody has mopped the goddamn venue floor in a decade. So you mean that a few cups of fake blood would make — 'Oh, oh, that would be terrible. That would be terrible.' And shit like that. But you know what I mean? It's so stupid. And then even the smoke bombs. And now — this is the insanest part — in some venues, in some cities, in some countries, a normal smoke machine is already too much because it is considered a pyro, and it's just fog. It's vaporized fucking water. It's not smoke. Nothing's burning there, but it's considered as pyro effect. And that is so stupid. I mean, there's way too many restrictions and rules and laws now. And it's getting harder."

Mr. Lordi added: "If I look at some clips from our shows, like let's say 20 years ago, or even 15 years ago, we could do so much more than we are allowed to do today. It's just insane. And it's sad."

The members of LORDI never appear without their elaborate ghoulish skeleton and zombie masks and makeup.

LORDI caused a sensation by winning the 2006 Eurovision with "Hard Rock Hallelujah", which in turn made the band's third release, "The Arockalypse", a hit throughout Europe. On the back of their Eurovision win, they scored a lucrative series of promotions including LORDI-branded cola, boiled sweets and credit cards; and played live at the MTV European Music Awards. A square was renamed in LORDI's honor in the Lapland city of Rovaniemi; a LORDI-themed postage stamp was issued in Finland and the group starred in its first film, called "Dark Floors".

LORDI's 19th studio album, "Limited Deadition", was released in March 2025 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM).

Recorded at IluSound Studio and Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, "Limited Deadition" was produced by Mr. Lordi, mixed by Ilkka Herkman and mastered by Pauli Saastamoinen. As always, Mr. Lordi took charge of the album's artwork and layout, channeling his passion for '80s memorabilia into every detail.

The thematic heart of "Limited Deadition" lies in Mr. Lordi's lifelong obsession with collecting, inspired by the action figures and toys of his childhood.