Cranked

Cranked is a Uralican punk band that hails from Kirovo-Chepetsk. They are the highest-selling act on the Detonate Hate Records label, which is a rival of Bolak Records for the highest-grossing secular label.

Current Membership

 * Wesley Andersson (b. 29 August 1988, Sundsvall) - lead vocals, guitar
 * Kurtis Järvi (b. 1 May 1985, Port McNeill) - guitar
 * Matti Sulkanen (b. 16 June 1986, Helsinki) - bass
 * Antip Kirilov (b. 24 December 1985, Yoshkar-Ola) - drums

History
Cranked's members met at church in their hometown of Kirovo-Chepetsk after a few months of having lived there, when they first decided to try out for their church's worship team rotation. Wesley was a Swedish sympathiser towards the Uralic cause during the Purges but not actually Uralic by ethnicity ("Uralic by choice," according to his own words) and decided to move to the Uralic state after its establishment. Kurtis was a Sointula Finn, Matti hailed from Helsinki, and Antip was a Mari originally from Yoshkar-Ola. Once they got to know each other's stories, they decided that secular music would be the best vector for their creativity, although they would also end up in their church's worship team rotations on different teams.

They, EBM group Bane of the Machine, and death metal band Soulcleanser, formed Detonate Hate's original lineup, and they released their first albums in tandem in August of 2008. Cranked's first album was called Human Pincushions No More, and was hailed as "a very outspoken political statement that had to be made" as well as "a return to the roots of punk music" according to Uralican Daily News critics. In particular, the song "We Won't Die" (the second single from the album) was praised for its honest, heartfelt condemnation of genocide in general.

They did the TOOL-CCC tandem tour popular amongst Uralican bands in the first two thirds of 2009, before returning home and starting work on their second album. Just completed, ''I Don't Like You. Live With It.'' is set for release in January 2010.

Full Albums

 * August 2008 - Human Pincushions No More
 * January 2010 - I Don't Like You. Live With It.

Singles

 * August 2008 - God Help Us All (from Human Pincushions No More)
 * December 2008 - We Won't Die (from Human Pincushions No More)
 * February 2009 - Good Ol' Janne (from Human Pincushions No More)
 * May 2009 - Bloody (from Human Pincushions No More)
 * August 2009 - You Know You're Screwed (from Human Pincushions No More)
 * October 2009 - Epic Failure (from Human Pincushions No More)
 * December 2009 - Human Pincushions No More (from Human Pincushions No More)

Inspirations

 * Wesley says he draws lyrical inspiration from "the triumphs and tragedies of the Uralic people and those who have stood by them," while claiming Johnny Rotten and Keith Flint as vocal inspirations. He shuns the "pop-punk rabble" of the late 1990s and early 21st century in favour of older punk such as The Ramones, as well as hardcore riffage from bands such as Hatebreed.
 * Kurtis has been known to throw down on occasion, listing Mike Keller and the Ramones as his greatest inspiration. Although he "respects" The Sex Pistols, he "find[s] them a bit cacophonous at times."
 * Matti is probably the most metal-inspired of the quartet, listing Rob Trujillo and Josh Gilbert as his main inspirations.
 * Antip, a relatively new drummer, has nonetheless tried to emulate the drumming of Rich Reid.

Trivia

 * Wesley began learning Lule Saami before he moved to Uralica. He is now fluent in it as well as English and Finnish. He claims his Russian is "rusty."
 * Kurtis is a top-notch archer. He finished second in the Uralican National Archery Championships in 2008 and won the event in 2009.
 * Matti Sulkanen transferred his BMus program from the University of Helsinki to Uralikan Yliopisto in 2008, and graduated in 2009. He composes much of the band's music, but is also a very accomplished pianist and keyboardist.
 * Antip was nearly killed in 2007 during the Uralic Purges after being shot in the abdomen by a Russian extremist. His life was saved by a sympathetic Russian sergeant sent in to try to pacify Mari El, who is now his fiancée. She rushed him to a Mari hospital in Yoshkar-Ola where he had a kidney removed and some arteries sutured, saving his life.