Joel Hokka tells why he left Blind Channel â HS
Joel Hokka left Blind Channel in spring 2025. Now he tells he was âinsufferableâ to other people. A difficult year followed.
16.4.2025: Here we go again. The mind does not give mercy. Wants me to die. The session yesterday ended after my negative energy poisoned it and today's one was cancelled because of that. I have to go to Viiskulma and arrange therapy for myself. The spring is bad.
For years, the musician Joel Hokka has had a habit of writing down his thoughts as diary-like entries in his phoneâs notes.
He made the April entry after the rehearsals of the band Blind Channel. Ten days after the Spring is bad entry, media announced surprising news: Joel Hokka is leaving Blind Channel.
The band had taken a break a few months earlier so it didnât have to quit. The reason given by the members was exhaustion; being on the verge of burnout.
The previous years had been extremely busy for the band. It had been touring Europe and North America since the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. In 2022, it cleaned up the award table at the Emma gala and then announced that it wanted to be "the next big Finnish heavy music export product".
In April 2025, the dream fell apart for Joel Hokka. The band announced that they would continue with five members without Hokka. Neither party commented on the departure in public.
Hokka didn't give any interviews at all for months. Not until November 11, 2025, when he had news to offer: Joel Hokka, who had left Blind Channel, started a new band.
In addition to the soloist, the band called Hokka was formed by The Rasmus' long-time guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi and drummer Jimi Aslak.
On the day the news was published, Hokka toured the radio to talk about his new band, but he only touched on the past briefly.
Now, for the first time, he is ready to talk about the past year. A year he wouldn't wish even on his worst enemy. "Life brought me to my knees, put a gun to my neck and said that now you will grow. It was that kind of year.â
20.1.2025: Everything that has been dreamed of half of life has been achieved and even more. There is only a gaping emptiness and a lost identity. 31 years old and has experienced ten times more than the average person experiences in their entire life. â â I meditate with breathing exercises, but every morning | wake up to a gaping emptiness.
At the beginning of 2025, Hokka was scared. Blind Channel had played their last gig in Hokka's hometown of Oulu on December 21.
After that, the musician was "completely lost" with the big questions. "Where should I go? What should I do? What do I fill my life with?"
Hokka went to Spain with his childhood friend, drummer Ukri Suvilehto. Three weeks passed in the Spanish sun. During that time, Hokka learned to meditate with the help of breathing exercises.
"That's when I realised how important it is to really stop from time to time," Hokka says.
After returning to Finland, he found creativity in himself. In 2025, Joel Hokka learned more about himself than ever before.
According to Hokka's own words, he had lost it in the previous years due to infernal burden.
"For a long time, life was all about going to the gym, taking sleeping pills, sleeping for a couple of hours and then going to the airport again."
Hokka had been suffering from sleep problems for a long time. And he couldn't eat properly.
Hokka had achieved the international popularity he was aiming for, after all, life should have been a dream. Instead, he wanted to leave.
When Hokka was gone, he started painting after a break of years. Soon he dug out an electric guitar. She spent the first half of the year largely on his own, inspired by his new creativity.
At that point, the idea was still that new songs would be made for Blind Channel. That was not the case.
Talking about the weeks leading up to his departure from Blind Channel or the band in general is still not easy for the 32-year-old Hokka.
However, in April 2025, it began to be clear to Hokka that "something is about to happen". The chemistry between Hokka and the other members of the band didn't work together anymore. There were mainly two options: either the band would break up or he would leave the band.
Hokka repeats that he has not yet gained deep enough understanding of all the events that led to his departure. And he doesn't want to speak ill of the people he respects, who have been his friends for years and with whom he has been making music since he was young.
Hokka wants to make one thing clear. "I screwed up, I raise my hand as a sign of a mistake. That's my message to the whole world," he says. "I behaved like hell, I was an unbearably difficult dude for everyone: the band, the crew, others who were nearby. I think that was also due to how stressed I was."
Hokka is looking for a metaphor with which to describe the matter.
"It's a bit like if you have a pimple on your face and you rub it all the time, it starts to turn red and bleed. Eventually, it must be removed. Maybe I was a pimple."
After saying that, he laughs. It must be possible to joke about even a serious matter.
For a couple of weeks after the news of the breakup, Hokka felt like he was on nothing, âa leftover of a big metal band, a guy who gets kicked out of the band".
There was one person who helped Hokka cope. Just before the end of the Blind Channel journey, Hokka had sat down with Pauli Rantasalmi.
The musicians had met in 2018 at Qstock. Hokka had gone to introduce himself to the guitarist who was still playing in The Rasmus at the time. Hokka had admired the band since he was young.
A few years later, Rantasalmi left The Rasmus, where he had played since its founding.
"Pauli knew exactly what | was going through. He compared leaving the band to a divorce. It causes the same emotional storm in a person."
Rantasalmi became a big brother-like figure for Hokka, helping with practical matters related to money, for example, and urging him to stay out of publicity altogether.
Hokka started calling with Rantasalmi every day and venting his thoughts. In those conversations, he understood his own harmful behaviours and their causes.
"I dived into my childhood and found there how I have suffered from terrible insecurity all my life. I've tried to boost my ego to find validation for myself, so that my dad, my childhood hockey coach, my school bully, or even my ex-girlfriend would see what a tough guy I am,â Hokka says. "With all these streams, I started to get the hang of who Joel Hokka really is."
One of Hokka's key realisations about himself was one that he has not said in public before. Hokka feeling bad has led to the fact that he has never experienced romantic love in his life.
"At some point, I understood that due to my insecurity and constant need for validation, my own blunders on that front have never come to anything."
Hokka has had dating partners, and the singer of the popular band has not had to be alone for years if he has not wanted to. Nothing more serious has developed as Hokka has pushed people away before serious feelings have had a chance to develop.
"When you bring the feeling of inadequacy and fear of rejection into a relationship that comes from childhood, it's not a terribly good concoction. In dating, my own wounded ego has been brought forward, which in no way wants to be rejected. At that point, quite a few people leave," Hokka says.
He has been thinking for a long time that he wants to talk about the lack of romantic experiences, for example, on social media, because he believes that many people could relate to them. He just hasn't found the right way.
At the beginning of the year, his new band released the song Death by Cupid's Arrow. In it, Hokka deals with the theme.
Is talking about the topic now just appropriate marketing for a new song?
"This is the right thing to do. It's been a really important experience for me to be able to tear open those wounds in that song."
Encouraged by Rantasalmi, Hokka continued to write songs. In May 2025, he went to visit him.
He was greeted by Rantasalmi, who had been listening to Hokka's demos and started playing his own version of a song composed by Hokka.
"It was a turning point. That's when I got the feeling that now I can do this."
A few weeks later, Hokka and Rantasalmi went to Jouni Markkanen, who is known as the promoter of the Tuska Festival and runs his own Grey Beard management agency. After they had played two songs to Markkanen, he congratulated the musicians and was ready to sign a contract with them.
In August, Markkanen called Hokka.
The German Nuclear Blast wanted to sign a recording contract with Hoka's band. Nuclear Blast is one of the world's best-known record labels focused on metal music.
"When Jouni called, Paul and I were in the centre of Helsinki. We went to the inner yard gateway to listen to that call, jumping there like little boys."
At the same time, the city of Oulu called. In the city, which will start as the European Capital of Culture in 2026, there had been rumours that Hokka had a new band project underway. They wanted the band to perform at a New Year's concert.
19.11.2025: A week since the ITD release. 113k streams and 73k views. Crazy stuff. Tomorrow I'll shoot Cupid's video. We're going at a crazy speed. Alright!
It was clear to Hokka that he did not want to repeat old mistakes with the new band.
"I knew I couldn't screw this up and be completely fucked up again. I now have another great opportunity in my hands, don't fuck this up."
In addition to going through the pain points of his life, Hokka had left carbohydrates, sugar and alcohol for a hundred days. He had been training harder than ever. Suddenly, he started to sleep for eight hours.
"It's strange that happens when you donât drink white wine and Red Bull every night."
The rest of the year was spent making music, shooting music videos and rehearsing for future gigs.
The announcement of the new band in November made him "nervous". When the information was public, Hokka was pleased to see the encouraging messages he received on social media.
However, there were also angry comments. Some thought that Hokka had abandoned his old band in order to get the spotlight on himself.
âI only did what I could. I was left with no choice."
Hokka expects big things from the new year. The band's debut album will be released in the spring. The first festival gigs have been announced, as well as the gig at Tavastia.
In the midst of it all, Hokka has also had time to continue making visual art. In February, an art exhibition by him and his friend Tuukka Falt will open in Helsinki.
Does Hokka still dream of conquering the world, of being "the next big Finnish heavy music export"?
Hokka falls silent for a moment.
"I'm so happy that I can create and fulfil myself again and I don't have to be just an ill marketing guy who posts on social media and goes to the studio to sing a part of chorus," he begins. "In my case, filling the void and getting validation was at least 80 percent of the desire to succeed, visit the US, and so on. I don't think anyone really wants to be away from home for 200 days sleeping on a bus."
But if the world gets really interested in the band, the frontman won't mind. This time, he believes he will know in time when itâs the time to hit the brakes.
Joel Hokka learned more about himself in 2025 than ever before.
âItâs been great to notice how therapeutic and cleansing it is to make music and art with the pain points of your lifeâ, Hokka says. He was photographed at the studio of his producerJoonas Parkkonen.
Joel Hokka says he doesnât have an obsession to find love right now. He thinks things will happen when the time is right.
titsay
ellievsbear
andulkaphoto
discoholicmusic
snowghoul
baratheonpilled
