Tuska webzine / August 1999

Link

My first opportunity to hear the music of this great band was couple of years ago, when I ordered their "Metsä" demo. I was little of disappointed, but after their releasing "Tämä Ikuinen Talvi" i was wordless. The music had developed a lot, it was more melodic, faster and the usage of electronics were great. Now Moonsorrow has recorded their new album called "Suden Uni", and it will be soon out. This interview is also quite old, the first interview i have made but...

When will your new cd be ready?

[Ville] We will hit the studio in February 2000 for a week, and the result of it will supposedly be out by the following spring.

Any plans after that?

[Ville] Haven't thought so far ahead to be honest. And we won't spend a thought on a new contract whatsoever until this one's fulfilled anyway.

What is the label your on?

[Ville] Plasmatica Records from Sweden. It's a new label with a debut release just coming out, but to me it seems very promising. I've been in contact with the label long before "Tämä Ikuinen Talvi" was even out, and I can tell you they're honest.

How did the "Tämä Ikuinen Talvi" sold?

[Ville] We made a pressing of 200 which sold out immediately, and after them we've spreaded 150 copies in addition by now. Not bad I think, but nevertheless I cannot perceive any profit...

You use drummachine, will there be any chances with that in the future?

[Ville] Fortunately. Baron Tarwonen from Gorewinter will do the beating for Moonsorrow from now on, so we shouldn't have any problems on that field anymore. After all, at least I am not playing the drums...

I think the cover of "Tämä Ikuinen Talvi" was very good indeed, did it cost much?

[Ville] Thanks for the compliments. We did the covers one by one with an inkjet printer hoping to have them cheaper that way... afterwards calculating they've cost us about 2 - 2.50 FIM ($0.4 - 0.5) each.

Ville, you had also other projects, how is things going with them?

[Ville] Everything's more or less passive now. My Black Metal turning to whatever (is it a surprise?) band Thornfrost hasn't rehearsed for a long time and is suffering from some internal disagreements, and my "pop metal" group May Withers works only at half speed nowadays. All the other projects of mine (Ahti for example) have been totally inactive for ages and it's not certain that they'd recover at all. Well, at least I can concentrate more on the bass now (I'm the drummer in the mentioned projects)...

How did you come up with the names you use?

[Ville] Such names were used in the historic Finland, and thus I thought they'd suit the concept of Moonsorrow well.

How do you see the future of blackmetal?

[Ville] A part of Black Metal is getting more and more commercial all the time, while simultaneously the other part is going deeper underground. But I'm not a prophet to tell what exaclty does this lead to, and neither do I care. The better bands will survive anyway, and the fate of the rest doesn't interest me.

You sing in finnish, will it chance in the future?

[Ville] When I started to write lyrics for Moonsorrow, I chose Finnish as the language because of its magnificent expression value. Since then I've only fallen deeper in love with my mother tongue, so I'm pretty sure that I will keep Finnish as the main language of Moonsorrow. I may write a few verses in a foreign language if I ever feel it suits the concept of a song or a part of it better than Finnish, but never because it would "sell better than Finnish".