Would-be The Breathless Sleep / February 2015

 

 

 

TRADUCCIÓN AL ESPAÑOL (aproximada)

¿Cómo va esta mini gira?

Estuvimos, sobre todo, viajando y esperando. Parece un solo día muy largo. Tocamos ayer y hoy parece el mismo día por los vuelos y demás. Estamos muy cansados.

Oí que Marko tiene un problema en la rodilla.

Sí, lo operaron al principio del año y puede tocar siempre que tenga cuidado.

Hace poco sacasteis la tremenda caja. ¿Cómo surgió la idea? ¿Estáis satisfechos con el resultado?

Creo que fue hace unos dos años cuando empezamos a hablar de ello. El sello Blood Music quería hacer este bicho y nos moló la idea y nos pusimos a recopilar material. Quisimos hacerla de modo que nadie se pudiera quejar.

¿Y te gusta cómo quedó?

Sí, es tremenda. Tengo una en casa. Estéticamente chula, pesa mucho, suena guay. Hay cosas inéditas. Dos maquetas perdidas y luego recuperadas. El material perdido sigue perdido, aún hay dos canciones que grabamos pero no existen, pero juntamos todo lo que teníamos para la caja.

Thorns of Ice se perdió, pero ¿por qué no sacasteis Promo en su momento?

El sonido era horrible, como se puede comprobar. Henri hizo lo que pudo con ella. El sonido era horrible. No sé qué pasó. Pero no teníamos mucha experiencia aún. No pudimos sacarla, era horrible.

La caja era muy cara. No discuto que el precio esté justificado, pero ¿no es un poco injusto que quien no se la pueda permitir no tenga acceso a esas maquetas?

La verdad es que no creo que sea difícil encontrarlas en internet si alguien quiere escucharlas.

Lleváis años reuniendo material para sacar un DVD en el futuro. La caja incluye un DVD. Supongo que eso no es todo lo que teníais, pero ¿esto iba a ser parte del DVD grande futuro?

Sí, eso se suponía, pero decidimos meterlo aquí porque se centra en la gira del quinto disco. Es un año de gira. Digamos que completa el paquete. Ya haremos otra cosa para el DVD. Tenemos mil movidas, pero ni idea de cuándo saldrá. Somos épicos por una razón: todo lo hacemos despacio.

Hablando de lentitud, ¿cómo va la composición del séptimo álbum?

Pues por fin tengo buenas noticias. Ya tenemos un 60-70% listo y lo vamos a grabar este año. O sea, que saldrá. Ahora lo sé y puedo confirmarlo.

¿Va a ser conceptual? ¿Retomará el concepto del anterior?

No, será distinto. Conceptual, puede, pero con historias diferenciadas, para mantener el interés. Hemos hecho discos muy pesados.

Hace menos de un año que empezasteis a tocar Aika, a pesar de que la canción tiene catorce años. ¿Por qué no os decidisteis hasta ahora?

Sinceramente, no lo sé. Cuando planeábamos repertorios el año pasado decidimos que había que añadir algo, aunque no tuviéramos material nuevo. Entre las canciones que no habíamos tocado, elegimos esa. No sé por qué no la tocamos antes. Creo que suena bastante guay.

Pocas quedan que no hayáis tocado, ¿no? Varjojen virta...

Esa no la vamos a tocar nunca. Demasiado compleja. Y aburrida.

Hiidenpelto...

No creo que metamos mucho esas canciones de 30 minutos, porque queremos tocar más temas. Sí, Hiidenpelto es otra... Pero no quedan muchas. Haaska es otra. Hemos hablado de tocarla. Ya veremos.

Espero que tenga más éxito que Karhunkynsi. Me encanta esa canción. Creo que me dijiste tú que a la gente no le gusta.

No fui yo, fue Mitja. Está convencido de que no gusta. No sé. A mí me gusta tocarla. Pero igual se hace pelín aburrida. No sé.

Tiene una parte súper rápida... Bueno, es igual.

Súper rápida y súper larga.

¡Sí, pero mola!
¿En qué se inspira Aika?

Tiene que ver con el fin de la Era Vikinga. El año está mal, de hecho. Debería ser 1066.

Sí, esa era otra pregunta. ¿Fue un error?

Probablemente. No lo puedo decir. Seguirá siendo un misterio.

Ahora mismo, en este momento estamos muy cerca de Stamford Bridge [el lugar donde se libró una importante batalla en 1066]. ¿Pensáis visitarlo?

Nah, no tenemos tiempo, por desgracia. Hoy nada fue como planeábamos. Tuvimos que esperar un montón para el hotel, esperar un montón para la prueba de sonido, la cual fue bastante mal por fallos técnicos... No tuvimos tiempo para hacer turismo hoy. Es una pena. York es una ciudad interesante.

Y ahora están con el festival vikingo anual. Mi pregunta es si para vosotros es especial tocar en este festival aunque no hayáis tenido tiempo de verlo, pero formar parte de él.

Sí, claro que es especial, aunque no hayamos podido ver nada. Pero mola ser parte de los eventos. Para acabar con el tema del turismo: hay que aceptarlo como parte del trabajo. Nos pagan para dar conciertos, no para hacer turismo. Si hay tiempo lo hacemos, pero si no, trabajo es trabajo. No parece trabajo, claro.
Y viajar... Viajar es peor que trabajar.

Otra canción de tema vikingo es Tulimyrsky. Por lo que sé, la canción cuenta una historia. Háblanos de esta historia. ¿Es real? ¿Dónde tuvo lugar?

No, no es real. Para el álbum Voimasta ja kunniasta me inventé una historia sobre un ataque a una ciudad vikinga, y Tulimyrsky es la continuación. Los vikingos van y se vengan. Es todo inventado, cero elementos históricos.

O sea, ¿que el Voimasta es conceptual?

Sí, eso se supone.

Ya que sólo son cinco canciones, ¿puedes decir brevemente de qué va cada una?

Va de dos hermanos. Uno se deja cegar por el dinero: en un saqueo se queda en el pueblo saqueado, se pone a negociar con los locales, les da consejos tácticos sobre cómo saquear su propio pueblo y le pagan por esta información. Luego, en Tulimyrsky, esta gente va a vengarse y continúa la sangría.

¿Volveréis a hablar de vikingos algún día? ¿O ya os llegó de eso?

No sé. Los vikingos son interesantes pero creo que ya hemos hablado bastante de ellos. Puede que hagamos otras cosas en el futuro, puede que no. Ya veremos. No quiero adelantar nada del nuevo disco, pero probablemente no habrá vikingos.

¿Alguna vez os apeteció hacer algo acústico, o sinfónico, o alejado de lo habitual?

Si lo hiciéramos, sería con otro nombre. Si alguien tiene interés puede hacerlo como mejor le parezca. Probablemente sería Henri el que hiciera algo así, pero no sería como Moonsorrow. Nosotros tocamos rock and roll.

¿Qué piensas de la loudness war?

Es una bobada. A mí me gusta el sonido de los 70.

Aun así, el rango dinámico del Hävitetty es bajísimo.

Sí, ya sé. No fue decisión mía. Estoy muy disgustado con eso. Pero es lo que hay.

¿Fue cosa del sello o del grupo?

Henri es el que se encarga de la producción, así que eso hay que preguntárselo a él.

Pasando a cosas menos serias: ya no sales desnudo al escenario. ¡Pobres mozas!

Yo creo que es mejor para ellas. Podrían traumatizarse de por vida.

Para acabar, ¿qué podemos esperar hoy?

Canciones. Un buen e intenso repertorio munsorriano. ¡Nada menos!

Vice / March 2015 (Strong Scene Productions)

SOURCE

We Spoke to the Guy Who Tricked the World Into Thinking That H&M Were Selling Neo-Nazi Metal T-Shirts

Henri Sorvali helped create an ingenious fake campaign poking fun at how metal subcultures are mass marketed.

So, the last 24 hours have been fucking weird. When I woke up this morning, it looked as though everyone's favorite source of cheap belts, H&M, had been sussed out for creating online profiles for a load of fake metal bands, peppered with the occasional bit of neo-nazi imagary, all in the interest of flogging some t-shirts.

In a news story that originally appeared on Metal Injection, and has since been reported by Fact, Complex and innumerable other sites, H&M had come under fire for potentially unleashing "one of the more ill-advised marketing campaigns in recent history."

They reported that H&M are currently selling a series of t-shirts with the logos of what appeared to be obscure metal bands on. However when you looked up the bands, they could all be traced back to a collective called Strong Scene Productions. If you visit their Facebook page, you do indeed see the band names from the shirts (MORTUS, MOTMROS, LANY, MYSTIC TRIANGLE et al) littered everywhere, alongside gig posters ($250-300 for an underground one day festival), biographies ("The purpose of Mortus is to serve the almighty Sathanas and spread the black semen of the holy goat onto all lands") and artwork that features a goth'd up version of the models featured above. But all of this was created en masse within the last week.

Metal Injection reported that some of these invented bands had ties with the National Socalist Black Metal scene—that is, to put it bluntly, raving neo-nazis. So, if this was all a marketing ploy by H&M, then somebody really, really fucked it. However, given that this time last year, H&M were forced to withdraw a line of vests featuring the Star of David with a skull in the middle following accusations of anti-semitism, the idea that someone from marketing sacked off the research aspect of their job once again didn't seem all that unlikely. Even so, something about it all didn't quite add up.
In now turns out, H&M had absolutely nothing to do with the making of these bands whatsoever. It was all a giant parody by those behind Strong Scene Productions who are, essentially, genuine metal fans who took one look at H&M's most recent “metal-inspired” items of clothing—complete with fake bands and patches that work from a brief of “generic heavy metal imagery”—and thought, "I'm done with high street chains badly commodifying my music." They decided to play a deep and brilliant joke on H&M, by actually creating the "bands," making them really right wing and then spreading them across the internet for the world to join the dots.

Henri Sorvali of Finnish metal band Moonsorrow/Finntroll is one of the people behind the idea. So, I got in touch to chat with him about the marvellous media shitstorm he helped create for one of the world's biggest retail outlets.

(Some very legit artwork for a totally real band, taken from Strong Scene Productions' Facebook page)

Noisey: OK real talk, Henri—do any of the bands on Strong Scene Productions actually exist?
Henri: No. Every single band was created on the basis of the patches in the H&M spring collection clothes.

Is this a backlash against the commodification of metal by mainstream retailers?
Partially, yes. But we also wanted to point out the fact that you cannot commercialize a subculture without actually knowing all the different aspects of it. Knowledge on your product is essential in marketing, and Strong Scene supports self-awareness and education for everyone on the matter. And no, I also haven't been hired for a job by H&M either, which the wildest rumors claimed!

This all seems like a lot of effort just to troll H&M. So the real question is, why bother?
The purpose of the group (consisting of literally tens of people from different areas of music and media around Scandinavia) was to create discussion on the fact that metal culture is more than just "cool" looking logos on fashionable clothes, and has many more aesthetic and ideological aspects in different subgenres than what some corporations are trying to express. The metal scene is varied, controversial and a sort of a wolf you can't chain into a leash and expect it to behave on your terms like a dog. Strong Scene as a collective has absolutely no political nor ideological intentions, and is only bringing the conversation to the level it should be discussed at. Think of us as the one-time "Yes Men" of metal music.

You're in a metal band yourself—Finntroll. Any connection between the subject matter on the albums (battling trolls etc) and the online trolling we see today?
While this would be a rather clever place to actually drum for Finntroll´s media publicity, this has nothing to do with that. You call this trolling, we call it cultural jamming. And Finntroll just kicks out the jams in other things!

Thanks Henri!

Metal Crypt / October 2015

SOURCE

Interview date:  October 10th, 2015.

Interview with Mitja Harvilahti, Marko Tarvonen and Henri Sorvali

Interview conducted by Luxi Lahtinen

Date online: October 24, 2015

Interview, studio pictures and other crap by Luxi Lahtinen

Finnish Pagan Metallers Moonsorrow earned a reputation as a cornerstone of the Folk/Viking/Heathen/you-name-it genre in recent years. Every album that they have put out has been an event. The band's latest work, Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa, a concept album about life on earth after a nuclear war was released on Spinefarm Records at the end February 2011 and marked the end of an era for Moonsorrow. They have been composing material for their forthcoming as-yet-untitled seventh studio album ever since and it has been a painful process for the band due to a number of different reasons.

The Metal Crypt had the privilege to be one of the first media publications to get an advance taste of what is to come from the Moonsorrow camp. Because the album is still far from finished only snippets were heard at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, Finland, but it's safe to expect no less than a mind-blowing and epic journey from these Finnish Pagan Metallers. The album features five songs with one around seven minutes in length and the remaining four each surpassing the 10-minute mark. As usual, magnificently catchy, made-for-humming choruses and melody lines and clever compositions that ooze both testosterone-filled power and beauty, are present on this forthcoming opus. Frankly, it doesn't sound like it could get more epic and adventurous than this! In a nutshell, another earth-shattering masterpiece is on its way, believe me.

Let's have Mitja, Marko and Henri share their thoughts and feelings about their latest creation. Horns and swords up - and read on...

Luxi: Let's get straight to the main course. Can you tell us something about this new album, how this new material sounds to your ears and how it differs from everything you've done in the past?

Mitja: For starters, I guess it should be mentioned this album has been two long years in the works. At some point during the songwriting process we basically threw most of our old ideas out of the window and started with a clean slate because we weren't satisfied with the stuff that we had come up with. After that, when we knew the direction we wanted to take Moonsorrow in it took some time to find the right balance with the new stuff and how we wanted this new album to sound. With this record, the composing process wasn't finished until the final chalk line but we are very satisfied with what we have done. 

Marko: The very last song that we finished for this record was completed just two days before we started recording drums. I didn't have as much time to rehearse the song as I originally hoped for. Most of the songs took final shape during the last week before we entered the studio and started the recording process.

Luxi: When you were composing songs for this forthcoming album did you feel that you needed to shed your skin and not repeat any of your other albums?

Marko: Yes, in fact it's always been that way for us when we start working with a new Moonsorrow album. There's no sense in repeating any of our old stuff really and it's important to progress and find new ways to express yourself musically, you know. I mean, it would be very easy to make a near copy of your most successful albums - like making Kivenkantaja II – because that way you would surely keep your fans satisfied and your record label would undoubtedly like it as well. But it neither serves anyone nor feels right because the bottom line is you always want to challenge yourself as a musician and come up with something different every time. There's no point in repeating your past stuff over and over again. Then again, there's always something that you could have done better on earlier releases but that's part of the musical evolution as you become a better player and musician. You start finding new ways to avoid the "mistakes" that you made on past releases.

Anyway, people should keep in mind that Moonsorrow isn't the same band that it was let's say 10 years ago other than we still have the same guys in the line-up. The stuff we did 10 years ago is radically different compared to the stuff we do these days, I would say.

Luxi: That's all true, yes. Then again, if you change too radically, as some bands have done over the years, die-hard fans may raise their middle finger and eventually stop listening to your stuff, if you know what I am trying to say here...

Marko: Yeah. The basic elements of the "Moonsorrow sound", in which epic melodies meet aggressiveness, have always been there on each album and they won't go anywhere, that's for certain. With this forthcoming album, I believe the main emphasis is more on those aggressive elements. In the very same breath I must also add that this new album will probably contain some the most folk-orientated elements that we have ever done for a Moonsorrow release, though they won't dominate the songs. Our new album is arguably a Metal album and not a Folk album, that's for certain. In my opinion we have also reached out to the extreme end on this new Moonsorrow album.

Mitja: I have to agree. Both sides are well represented on this new Moonsorrow record, both the folk side as well as the more extreme side. I think this album will have more Folk-orientated stuff than any of our previous albums. Perhaps our third album, Kivenkantaja, comes closest to this new album in terms of folk-orientated parts are concerned. I think finding the right musical balance on this record was really hard because some of us wanted to incorporate more extreme Black Metal elements into the songs but our new songs aren't extreme Black Metal in the true sense, you know. We struggled to get this album to sound like us which we eventually did, in my opinion. For example, just two days before we were supposed to enter the studio and start recording, Henri (Sorvali) wanted to turn a recently finished song totally upside down and basically strip all the folk influences down. We had a huge argument about this inside the band, I can tell you. The rest of us were totally against modifying the song because all of us felt like it's just perfect with some truly excellent elements in it. In fact, I believe it will become the most meaningful number off this new record for our fans. This particular song wasn't so Black Metal orientated in the first place so there's no point to make it sound like that although this burning argument took place in our camp because of the musical direction. This has been one of the reasons the making of this new album has taken such a long time. Sometimes it's easier to accept the fact that a song tends to take a certain format and everyone should be happy with it and not try to fix something that isn't broken, you know. However, I am confident enough to say that we have managed to pull together a very satisfying album once again.

Marko: Yeah, I agree but after many not-so-beautiful twists and turns I would add.

Luxi: Do you think that this new album is the most diverse album compared to your previous works where you have gone from one extreme to another?

Mitja: Hmm, in my opinion we still had the biggest musical contrast on our Verisäkeet album, but this new album comes pretty close to it when it comes to musical diversity. This forthcoming album will have a lot of blast-beat stuff, sheer rawness and such but we have a good dose of symphonic elements too, so the album will be a very diverse, which is a great thing.

Luxi: How did you share the work load with this album? Who did what and how much?

Marko. Henri is the primary motor when is comes to songwriting for Moonsorrow. It's always been that way and will always will be. Everyone in the band is of course allowed to contribute to the songwriting process with either musical or lyrical ideas but Henri is still the main filter that either approves or rejects stuff. He has the final word about everything when talking about Moonsorrow's songs. However, this does not mean that he is king of the hill with all the power over our stuff. Each of us is able to discuss our own ideas on a constructive level even if sometimes we cannot completely avoid twisting some arms. Little arguments between the band members are constructive to the songwriting process because they have a tendency to open our eyes as to where we are with our material and whether the musical direction is right and so forth. The thing for us has been that sometimes we have been totally lost with our direction and when we have tried to force ourselves back into a certain mold it has never sounded good. Eventually this has put our backs against the wall and at times has deepened our fights inside the band regarding what we should do and what we shouldn't. Sometimes if you are not getting anywhere with your stuff it is easier to call it a day and start all over the next. If you desperately try to get things done you may lose your musical vision and the result ends up sounding like crap. Plus, arguing with everyone in the band does not help that situation. Eventually you may start arguing about things that are not even related to making music. This holds some water when it comes to the writing process for this new Moonsorrow opus. In all honesty this new Moonsorrow album hasn't been an easy project for us. It's absolutely been our toughest and sweatiest album to make. Of course we are happy about the fact that when we entered the studio to record this opus we had all the material ready so the recording process itself has been quite smooth.

Mitja: Yeah. Actually a big difference between the making of our previous album, Varjoina... and this one is that Henri was able to compose the songs for that previous record at his old workplace. He did almost the whole album from start to finish alone. For the rest of us it was tough to get there and give our input. With this new album it's been totally different as all of us have had a chance to arrange the songs at our own home studios. We have made quite a few visits to his home during the past few months and it's been good because Henri has been craving input from the rest of us. This album definitely feels more like a collective work than Varjoina...

Marko: Exactly, or our V: Hävitetty album, which was far from a whole band effort, I think.

Luxi: Will this new album be a concept album, at least partly, in which the songs have something in common to each other lyrically? 

Marko: No, it's not the kind of a concept album people think of although there's a faint connection between the songs lyrically which you may want to discuss with Ville (Sorvali). But in the sense of a concept album, where each song tells a story from one to another, it is not that. I prefer saying that each song has a story of its own.

Mitja: In fact, this was also one of the most challenging issues for us, when we decided not to put out a concept album this time around. We really didn't want to write songs the same way as we used to. Adding bits and pieces into a bigger whole that way prevented us from seeing the forest for the trees, if I can put it that way. We wanted to clarify our song structures on this new album because adding more and more parts into one song does not make much sense at all. We put more emphasis on the song arrangements so that the songs would stand out better than ever before. To be honest we haven't worked that way in 10 years or so. Finding the kind of right mode was also quite a challenge for the band.

Marko: It was very refreshing for us to work that way, which was totally different from how we used to work. Even though it's been a tough journey to get all of these songs put together for this album it's been somewhat easy for us to work in the studio environment with this material because we already knew how the album was going sound, which put us in high spirits. Getting to the recording stage has felt very good for the whole band, I think. I remember thinking two months back that this project was doomed. We were stuck in a miserable hole with no way out. Then a miracle happened within the last month or so and before we were about to enter the studio things started really flowing for us regarding our visions about the material (the starts in the night sky were in a favorable position for us, bla-bla-blaah, haha!!). It's really hard to put a finger on it and say what actually happened but things really started locking into place. Something definitely magical happened because all of a sudden things got drastically easier for us with regard to this new material.

Mitja: I have to agree. Somehow we found this nice flow and balance for our new stuff. Each of us was very secure about getting the right vibe and needed nuances incorporated into this record. I have a good example. Yesterday Jonne Järvelä (vocalist of Korpiklaani) visited the studio and did his special Shaman-type of vocals for one of our songs. He nailed it perfectly because when Henri heard what he did he was truly touched. We all agree that Jonne was the right man to sing this part. None of us would have sung that particular part as perfectly as Jonne did so we were really fortunate to have him sing it.

Luxi: Moonsorrow really isn't the kind of band that releases a new album every year. I was wondering if while in the middle of the songwriting process one or more of you have started flagging heavily for the kind of either musical, lyrical or conceptual ideas that would cause there to be a gap of 3-4 years (or more) between albums?

Marko: I would not say that has ever happened to us. It's basically been about personal matters as to why fans cannot get a new album from us every year. Plus, people should keep in mind that we don't make our living from this and we personally don't feel the need to keep Moonsorrow in that type of a strict release routine.

Mitja: That would be almost impossible for us...

Marko: Yeah, exactly. Why should we release a new album every second year or so? I just cannot see any point in it. We would rather take our time and work carefully and determinedly with it until we are 200% satisfied. Like with this album, we had almost an album's worth of material done but we weren't quite satisfied with it so we decided to clean our table and start all over again for better results.

Henri: I also have to admit working with the material for this new opus hasn't really offered any sweet honey. As Marko said, we did have a whole bunch of material composed for this record but eventually decided to throw it in the trash can. This has been a really difficult process for me to get the songs done for this album due to a couple of different reasons. To begin with, as Mitja and/or Marko has told you already, I used to compose stuff for Moonsorrow at my old workplace. I simply haven't had much time for anything due to long days at my current job plus my family has eaten up a good share out of my spare time as well. Also, my band mates have been coming and going to my place actively during the entire songwriting process so nothing has been easy for us with this album. Hopefully the fans can appreciate our efforts with this record when they get a chance to hear it eventually because I am truly happy with everything that we squeezed into the songs on this album. I have to say I am extra-happy with the last song that we finished for this album.

Mitja: Me too. It's going to be the most significant track on this forthcoming Moonsorrow opus.

Marko: It's going to be a true cornerstone of Folk Metal, haha!!

Luxi: When you signed a deal with Century Media Records this year, and congratulations for that by the way, how much pressure did they put on you regarding the promotion (interviews, playing gigs around, etc.) they expect you to do? Do they understand that you all have day jobs, families and stuff so promotion may be limited especially when it comes to doing longer tours?

Marko: Of course we want to play around as much as possible within some perhaps limited resources but we will definitely play as many shows as we just can. We understand that labels want to keep their bands on the road as much as possible from an album sales perspective. If you don't go out and play it's hard to get any recognition, that's for sure. Playing gigs is probably the best way to get your band promoted and that's something we are aiming to do when the new album is out.

Luxi: As this new album will be released in early spring 2016 will some summer Metal festival slots be your main target?

Marko: Our gigs are getting booked for the next year already. Some festivals have already been booked. I believe by the end of this year we will make more announcements. Germany, Holland, etc. - and Finland, hopefully – will most probably get their share of Moonsorrow, but we'll see. Tuska festival wanted us to play this year but we had to turn down their offer because we wanted to get the new album done and out first.

Mitja: When the new album has hit the stores everywhere we will want to tour in Europe plus a bunch of gigs are planned for Finland as well. We have a tour coming up in China which we will do before this album comes out. It was booked a long time ago. We are also hoping to tour in the States during the fall of 2016 but all this will depend on our other schedules in life. Normally, in the past anyway, whenever we have toured Europe we have also toured the States. Touring is always nice and cool and I have to say that I personally look forward to getting back on the road again.

Marko: I want to point out that changing from Spinefarm Records to Century Media Records hasn't changed a thing as far as our touring plans are concerned. When we were on Spinefarm they didn't pressure us to tour and it will be the same thing be with our new label. I don't believe they will push because they should already know that Moonsorrow isn't the kind of a band that puts the food on our tables. We all have our jobs outside of Moonsorrow.

Luxi: Surviving in the music business is a tough game. Money is tight and the markets have changed drastically due to the digital revolution with illegal downloads being a big part of the picture. In that sense I can understand why labels are under so much pressure nowadays as they are constantly striving to survive and to keep their boats afloat. 

Marko: Yeah, like you said, they are all under a lot of pressure. The whole music industry has changed so much over the past few years. The album sales have gone down a lot and to survive you have to sell something else besides music like band merchandise in its many forms.

Mitja: It's going to be interesting to see how well this new album will sell as the times have changed within just the last five years. What is a positive signal though that people, especially those with more metallic tastes, are still buying music in a physical format. Even vinyl has made a comeback, which is nice of course.

Marko: I also find it great that people who have been there for us since the very beginning are still there and supporting our band which we are grateful for. Many of them are older than us and this older generation of Moonsorrow fans seems to have some money to spend because they all have jobs so they are still buying the physical formats, which is cool. 

Mitja: They seem to understand that if they buy a physical release it supports bands releasing new stuff. They would rather pay for a physical copy than listen to Spotify accompanied by an annoying amount of commercials.

It's going to be five years since our previous album came out so I am more than ready to put some effort into promoting this forthcoming opus; as much as possible, definitely! It's about time to get something out for our fans. They deserve this album for sure.

Luxi: As many of us already know, the creative process can be a real pain-in-the-arse if you don't want to repeat the same concept over and over. It naturally takes a lot of time, patience and nerve to give birth to a new album so can we assume and/or predict that the next album after this one won't come until 2018 or 2019, perhaps?

Mitja: That's really hard to tell of course but you never know. It depends on so many things and it isn't necessarily that hard to get back into the songwriting mood again if a great idea for a concept album occurs all of a sudden. Sometimes it helps if you have a concept or idea for your forthcoming stuff. It makes it easier and faster to compose and come up with the kind of stuff that fits the concept, you know. For example, when we had the idea ready for the previous album, Varjoina..., we knew right from the start how we wanted it to sound. It helped a lot to have the concept in our minds and build the songs around it. We all had an "advance script" about Varjoina... going through our minds which helped us finish the songs pretty fast. If we know in advance what a Moonsorrow album should be all about musically, visually and thematically it helps us reach goals more efficiently. With this forthcoming album we didn't want a concept album and that's one of the main reasons it has taken so long to get it finished.

Marko: And while we are at it, talking about album concepts and/or themes, we don't know for certain where we are at with this band as far as our musical ideas in the future are concerned. We might well record an album that is not a Metal record, who knows. It could be a 100 percent folk album with no Metal elements to it at all. As a single idea it would be worth trying out. It's not something that we would completely rule out, not at the idea level. It would be interesting to see how the response for that kind of an album would be.

Luxi: Finntroll did a fully acoustic/experimental EP (Visom om Slutet, in 2003) some years ago...

Marko: Well, I would not be so much into doing an acoustic album with Moonsorrow but perhaps something along the lines of Opeth's Damnation album with all these Metal elements being stripped out of it, you know. I think they also wanted to dig up some elements from their past releases but leave out the striking Metal elements. It turned out to be a very successful attempt from them in terms of releasing a genius progressive Rock album. We in Moonsorrow could pick up all of the folk parts we think we are pretty good at and progress from there to see what we could do without any Metal elements. That might be interesting in my opinion. But IF we ever did something like that, it would fulfill some of our personal ambitious, I guess. It would all be done with good taste without getting into an embarrassing Spinal Tap situation. I would be ready and open-minded enough to try out more experimental things under the Moonsorrow moniker. It would not be any problem for me personally. It could even be a synth/ambient/soundtrack type of thing that might work under the Moonsorrow's name with big choirs and stuff.

Mitja: Yes, actually I have been thinking the same thing for some time now.

Marko: In a way it's good to keep your mind open to new ideas. We may never carry out these plans any further than the idea level, but never say never. It would be easier to list the type of stuff you'll never hear done under the Moonsorrow moniker; Industrial music and shit like that. 

Luxi: Or maybe some "famous" Finnish Rap artist would make a guest appearance on a Moonsorrow album, haha!!

Mitja: Mysterious are our ways... haha!!

Marko: We already did a project combining Kalevala with Rap music but it won't be released under Moonsorrow's name.

Mitja: We are planning to let people hear it at the Eurovision Song Contest one of these days. The line-up for this project features some known names but it will remain completely secret until 2050, haha!!

Marko: When Europe is ready for it (*laughs*).

Luxi: What could you tell us about the Moonsorrow documentary that is currently in the works? It's going to be put together by a couple of true Moonsorrow fans from Spain, if I am not mistaken...

Marko: Yes, that's in the works indeed and I believe the fellows that are putting it together will be travelling to Finland in November to do some interviews.

Mitja: One of these guys has taken the time to put together basically everything about us with little details taken from old interviews we have done over the years. I believe this documentary will be based on interviews about us so we also want to make sure that the band members put some serious thought into it because obviously the fans of Moonsorrow want it to be as in-depth and informative as possible.

Marko: Also, this forthcoming document is supposed to feature material from behind the scenes; people who have been involved with this band in the background for many years and so on.

Luxi: Do they have a deadline as to when they are trying to get this documentary out?

Marko: Nope. They are using a crowdfunding campaign to get it financed and released as far as I know.

Mitja: The most important thing is that they get the kind of a documentary out that everyone involved will be 100 percent happy with. There's still a lot of work to be done before it's finished. It comes out when it comes out. We will find out soon, I suppose.

Marko: The guys want to see some of those studios where we have recorded our albums when they come to Finland and have some promotional pics taken of us and so forth. Plus, they want to see where each of us live, etc. so they will also get a peek into our private lives.

Luxi: Ideally it would be great timing if the Moonsorrow documentary was released in March 2016 when your new album comes out but I guess that's impossible considering timetables and stuff...

Marko: Ideally it would be a good promotion for this new album, that's for sure, but it won't happen. I believe it will take a while before it's ready for the pressing plant.

Luxi: Where are you going with the album cover artwork at the moment and who's going to be responsible for that?

Marko: An artist named Tuomas Tahvanainen from Nucleart Design is working on it as we speak. He's a guy we have worked with before for some t-shirts. He has done many band logos, album covers, etc. for bands like Impaled Nazarene, Ensiferum, Barren Earth and Deathchain just to name a few. He has mostly done work for Black and Death Metal bands.

Mitja: Tuomas has been around for a long time and is well known for his work because he has been there since the beginning and is a friend of many bands. He has known both of the Sorvali brothers since their teenager days, especially Ville.

Marko: Yes, in that sense he's quite familiar with Moonsorrow because both Henri and Ville know him so well.

Luxi: Did you give him some sort of a sketch for how you want the cover art to look or the album title so that you'd get what you want?

Marko: Well, we told him what style we are looking for plus we sent him the lyrics of our new songs to help him to achieve the result we want for the album cover. We have liked his past works a lot and that's the reason we chose him.

Mitja: We have always had a different artist for each Moonsorrow album and we wanted to continue this tradition for this new Moonsorrow album. We have also used different photographers on each Moonsorrow album because we wanted a different approach as far as photos, graphics, etc. are concerned. It's been refreshing for us to work that way and avoids routine. We always get something new incorporated into this band.

Marko: All this has worked just fine for us, changing the people that have worked with us in the past because each of our albums has been quite different from the others. In a way, the album cover for this new album should reflect the era we are at with Moonsorrow today.

Mitja: Now this reminds me and I cannot recall if we have even talked about this in interviews before but there's a somewhat funny episode related to the Kivenkantaja album which I would like to share with you. We wanted to order a real runestone from some Finnish craftsman just for the album cover. Eventually it was delivered to us in Helsinki by van and our plan was to get some promotional shots of the band taken at the same time. We wanted to find a nice spot for the runestone, a scene with some forest in the background and stuff, and when the time came to lift that runestone out of the van we faced a major dilemma. It was as heavy as hell and even with six people trying to move that mountain-heavy runestone away from the van this whole scene started looking like some hilarious Spinal Tap moment. Just try imagining six not-so-bodybuilder-looking musicians swearing, sweating and looking like dorks, desperately trying to get this stone moved out of the van with eventually ending in disaster, sort of. It was funny when we finally got that piece of rock moved out of the van and placed it on the wheelbarrow we brought. First, it made the tire burst and then the whole wheelbarrow started getting crushed into one miserable chunk of metal by the weight of the stone. I bet Henri's poor mom must have been happy as he borrowed it from her. Anyway, the story goes on and we finally, somehow, got that huge piece of rock placed on the ground in a way it looked alright. We filmed it using a high resolution picture format which we were somewhat happy with. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the work that Spinefarm's ex-graphic artist in those days did with the pictures. He simply photoshopped the cover in a way that it looked like was made with some cheap computer program which wasn't what we were originally looking for. He pretty much ruined it for us.

The stone was left where we originally dropped it, at least for a little while because Spinefarm Records, who had paid for it, raised quite an argument with us as we didn't give a shit about returning to the Spinefarm office. We did not. Eventually some of the guys from their staff came and picked it up and took it back to their office building.

Marko: They left it in their backyard and after a while the stone was full of cracks because some construction workers weren't too careful with the stone. There's was some facade renovation going on at that time near by the Spinefarm Records headquarters. The stone was truly in bad shape and bits and pieces were missing. Some of those pieces ended up going to a bunch of Moonsorrow fans, at least that's what I heard.

Also, we didn't have enough guts to return the crushed wheelbarrow to Henri's mom but dumped it in a landfill instead, haha!!

Luxi: Spinal Tap moments, I see...

Mitja: All of those tiny, embarrassing moments that can happen to a band in the Spinal Tap movie, I have experienced myself in the past 10 years or so while touring with Moonsorrow. We have even had a Stonehenge-type of thing onstage, not with midgets but some of the guys from Swallow the Sun instead, covered by some folio-made outfits and shit. It was hilarious as hell during the gig. This happened in Leipzig, Germany, in 2007. This can be found on the DVD that came along with the Moonsorrow vinyl box set (titled Heritage: 1995-2008 - The Collected Works, released by Blood Music in September 2014).

Marko: Swalow the Sun thought it was such a great idea that they decided to do the same thing to all other bands they have toured with on the very last gig of every tour. They are such nice fellows indeed, haha!!

Luxi: That was the perfect ending for this conversation, so thanks to both of your for your time. All the best finalizing the recordings for the new Moonsorrow album.

Mitja & Marko: Thanks to you, too.

Other information about Moonsorrow on this site

Review: Tulimyrsky

Review: Tulimyrsky

Review: Verisäkeet

Review: V: Havitetty

Review: Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

Review: Kivenkantaja

Video: Aurinko ja Kuu (Fan Video)

La Grosse Radio / March 2015

SOURCE (with some cool photos actually)

Mitja Harvilahti et Ville Sorvali de Moonsorrow au Cernunnos 2015

[ INTERVIEW ] METAL - Ville Sorvali, Mitja Harvilahti, pagan metal, Finlande, interview

Vendredi 27 Mars 2015 à 16h00, by Thomas orlanth

Entrevue avec Mitja Harvilahti et
Ville Sorvali de Moonsorrow – Cernunnos Festival 2015

Pendant que nous rations les joyeux Compagnons du Gras Jambon, nous avons pu discuter avec deux membres éminents de Moonsorrow, à l'origine du groupe. L'interview a été menée en duo par Thomas et Camille, spécialiste des langues finoises et anglaises, ce qui tombait drôlement bien !

----------------------------------------------

LA GROSSE RADIO : Votre dernier album est sorti en 2011, et maintenant vous sortez quelque chose de très spécial : un coffret avec  14 vinyles. Pourquoi ce choix ?

Mitja Harvilahti: Oui, 14 vinyles et il n’y en a déjà plus en stock. Ces vinyles ont été réalisés par un label appelé Blood Music. Ils nous ont contactés. J’ai rencontré le mec qui gère le label il y a quelques années. Il a eu l’idée de sortir un coffret Moonsorrow avec tout ce qu’on a fait. Ca a pris 2 ans pour le faire.


LA GROSSE RADIO: Et pourquoi avez-vous choisi de faire ça ? Est-ce que vous vouliez revenir sur tout ce que vous aviez déjà fait ?

Mitja Harvilahti: On voulait avoir une version vinyles de tous nos albums et la partager avec les fans. Seuls le premier et le dernier album sont sortis dans une version vinyle correcte.


LA GROSSE RADIO: On peut donc dire que vous avez une âme de collectionneurs.

Ville Sorvali: C’est le cas de notre batteur.

Mitja: Je collectionne aussi, mais pas des albums. Je collectionne plus des guitares, ce genre de choses.

Ville: Je collectionne les souvenirs, ce qui n’est pas forcément une bonne chose. Quand je serai vieux, toute ma collection sera perdue.


LA GROSSE RADIO: Ce coffret va faire partie des bons souvenirs ?

Mitja: Oui. Ce coffret s’appelle Heritage et c’est vraiment notre héritage musical dans un coffret.


LA GROSSE RADIO: Si vous appelez ce coffret votre héritage, est-ce que cela signifie que vous voulez arrêter la musique, ou allez-vous continuer ?

Ville: On fera de la musique aussi longtemps qu’on vivra. Je ne sais pas ce que sera le dernier album de Moonsorrow. On n’a rien prévu de particulier mais on fera de la musique jusqu’à la fin de nos jours.

LA GROSSE RADIO: Avez-vous prévu un nouvel album? Est-il déjà en cours de composition ?

Ville: On a déjà commencé à composer… il y a longtemps en fait… il y a deux ans.  On a composé quelques chansons mais on les a toutes jetées. A un moment, on s’est rendu compte que ce n’était pas le genre de musique qu’on voulait faire, donc on a tout recommencé. On est presque au bout de ce deuxième essai. L’album est presque complet. On sera en studio d’ici quelques mois.

Mitja: Il sortira au début de l’année prochaine.


LA GROSSE RADIO: Le fait que vous ayez tout jeté pour recommencer, est-ce un signe d’évolution dans votre musique, ou est-ce que les morceaux étaient trop différents de ce que vous faites habituellement?

Mitja: On veut toujours évoluer pour chaque album mais cette fois-ci ce qu’on a fait n’était pas assez bon. Ça ne sonnait pas comme étant un parfait album de Moonsorrow.

Ville: Quelque chose n’allait pas, sans savoir vraiment quoi.

Mitja: Oui, ça n’avait pas le bon esprit.


LA GROSSE RADIO: Dans vos chansons, vous parlez de paganisme et de la culture finlandaise. Est-ce que vous avez des activités en parallèle qui sont liées à cela, comme de la reconstitution historique, par exemple ?

Ville: On ne fait rien de païen et nous ne sommes pas religieux. On a seulement un grand respect pour la nature qui est à la base de tout. Nous ne serions pas là si nous n’avions pas une réelle connexion avec notre planète. C’est la source de tout.

Mitja: On ne fait pas de reconstitution. On laisse ça à d’autres qui aiment ça beaucoup plus que nous. Cela doit être super de revivre certaines choses que l’on ne peut pas trouver dans la société actuelle. Mais on ne ressent pas le besoin de faire ce genre de choses. Mais cela ne nous empêche pas d’avoir de l’intérêt et du respect pour l’Histoire.

LA GROSSE RADIO: Quel livre est posé sur votre table de chevet en ce moment ?

Ville: Je ne sais pas lire ! Enfin si, je sais… mais je dois l’admettre, et c’est plutôt honteux pour un intellectuel prétentieux comme moi, je ne lis pas tant que ça. J’ai beaucoup lu fut un temps, mais aujourd’hui je lis seulement des articles sur internet. Je lis toujours beaucoup de choses sur l’histoire et la mythologie. Je me rappelle encore du dernier livre que j’ai lu. C’était pendant un voyage pour le Japon. C’était un petit livre sur la vie en tournée, écrit par un ami et je l’ai lu pendant le vol.

Mitja: Je suis un train de lire un roman russe intitulé "Cocaine Novel", un truc comme ça. [NDLR: il s'agit probablement de "Novel with Cocaine" d'Ageyev] C’est du 19° siècle je crois. Je ne me rappelle plus qui est l’auteur, mais il est russe. C’est un roman sur un jeune homme dont la vie s’écroule. C’est drôle et triste à la fois. Mais le style est plutôt classique. Un bon roman russe.


LA GROSSE RADIO: Imaginons que vous ayez des fonds illimités. Quelle serait la chose la plus folle que vous feriez pour le groupe ?

Ville: Jouer sur la Lune. Personne n’a jamais fait ça. Et ça serait vraiment difficile d’obtenir un son sur la Lune à cause du manque d’atmosphère.


LA GROSSE RADIO: Dans notre interview précédente, nous avons posé la même question aux membres de Cruachan et ils voulaient aussi jouer sur la Lune mais ont finalement décidé qu’ils joueraient sur Mars.

Ville: Ok, donc on ira sur Jupiter ou le Soleil.

Mitja: Non, il va faire trop chaud pour Marko. Il déteste le chaleur. Ce sera Jupiter.

Ville: Non! Ou alors on pourrait embaucher quelqu’un qui nous construirait une véritable machine à remonter dans le temps qui marche et on jouerait pour les vrais Vikings. Je serais curieux de voir leur réaction… Ils nous tueraient probablement.

LA GROSSE RADIO: En parlant de choses folles. Quelle est la chose la plus folle que vous ayez faites sur scène ?

Mitja: Je ne sais pas, mais je sais très bien quelle est la chose la plus folle qu’il m’ait faite sur scène! On jouait en Hongrie, et je faisais un solo de guitare et soudain, il a chopé mon caleçon et a commencé à le tirer vers le haut. Il voulait craquer mon caleçon ! Il a essayé de le tirer si haut qu’il aurait pu me le mettre sur la tête. Il a essayé de m’étrangler avec mes propres sous-vêtements !

Ville: Oh… Ce n’est pas ce que j’essayais de faire, mais oui ça aurait pu être potentiellement dangereux. Je pense que c’est la chose la plus stupide qu’on ait faite. Oh et j’ai vomi sur scène mais ça c’est normal. Et j’ai pissé dans mon pantalon… Mais c’est normal aussi. Vous savez les sets sont longs… et on boit beaucoup de bières avant…

Mitja: Quoi?! Tu t’es vraiment pisser dessus?

Ville: Non … une fois… accidentellement

Mitja: ça va faire les gros titres !


LA GROSSE RADIO: Oui probablement !

Ville: J’avais pas vraiment prévu de mouiller mon pantalon. C’est plutôt inconfortable !


LA GROSSE RADIO: Maintenant, passons à la question la plus difficile. Pouvez-vous définir votre groupe un seul mot ?

Ville et Mitja: SATAN ! C’est la question la plus facile.

Ville: Apportez-nous du vin, s’il vous plaît !

Mitja: Tout d’abord, venez nous voir en concert, et apportez-nous du vin !

Camille Morisse et Thomas Orlanth

Photos © 2015 Thomas Orlanth : www.thomasorlanth.com
Toute reproduction interdite sans autorisation écrite du photographe.

The Unchained / March 2015

SOURCE

Interview Moonsorrow

31 March 2015 cindyunchained Leave a comment

Pendant la Cernunnos Pagan Fest 2015, alors que les festivités battaient leur plein à la Machine du Rouge, nous avons pu rencontrer Ville Sorvali et Matja Harvilahti de Moonsorrow. Agréables comme peuvent l’être les finlandais ils ont répondu à nos questions .

Pouvons-nous parler des nouvelles du groupe ? Un nouvel album de prévu?

Ville : Il va y avoir un nouvel album effectivement.  Je ne te dirai pas quand! Ce sera probablement dans un an.
Matja : On en a déjà composé une bonne partie, on va entrer en studio et ça sortira sûrement l’année prochaine.
Reviendrez-vous à Paris pour en faire la promotion ?
Ville : On le souhaite oui ! On projette de toute façon de faire une tournée dans plusieurs villes françaises pas seulement à Paris. Le public est bon partout.
Matja : La France est devenue un des meilleurs pays où jouer, tout comme dans le sud de l’Europe.
Ville : Bizarrement, il (Matja) voit la France comme un pays de l’Europe du Sud….
Matja : (rires) Non !
A propos des paroles de vos chansons… Le prochain album sera aussi en Finnois ?
Ville : Oui ! Jusqu’à la fin des temps… C’est l’âme du groupe. On ne peut pas vraiment dire pourquoi.
Matja : Pourquoi devrions-nous ? L’anglais n’est pas une meilleure langue que le finnois qui est très poétique et expressive.
Ville : L’anglais est même plus pauvre, il n’y a pas autant de façon de s’exprimer. Je considère que mon anglais écrit est très varié il y a plein de mots et d’expressions mais je sens que je ne peux pas exprimer tout ce que je veux en anglais.

Quelles sont vos influences ?
Ville : On en a beaucoup comme …
Matja : Satan ! (rires)
Ville : Et bien disons que Bathory, Enslaved, King Crimson ce sont les trois principaux. Il y a bien sûr plusieurs groupes de Black Metal, Death Metal, la musique traditionnelle scandinave…
Matja : Le black Metal est très important on a tous grandi avec et c’est une grande partie de notre musique. C’est peut être une des seules choses qui connecte tout le groupe, c’est le seul sujet concernant la musique sur lequel on a le même avis.
Concernant le Pagan Metal, pensez-vous qu’un festival  comme la Cernunnos regroupant que des groupes de ce style est une bonne chose ?
 Matja : Pourquoi pas ? Il y en a tellement, des bons et des groupes horribles ! Il y a de quoi faire un festival ! Et c’est une bonne idée d’avoir ce festival au milieu de la ville au lieu d’être au milieu d’un bois ! C’est grand.
Ville : C’est très bien situé ! C’est central.

Vous jouez dans d’autres festivals de ce genre ?
 Matja : Oui tout le temps, la plupart des festivals qu’on fait ont un lien avec le Folk Metal.
Ville : Il y a deux jours en Europe on a vu de vrais vikings ! Ils étaient habillés comme ça et marchaient dans la rue, c’était un grand festival viking.
Pouvons-nous parler des paroles de vos chansons ?
Ville : On parle de beaucoup de choses, de la nature, la philosophie générale c’est le Pagan c’est dur d’expliquer plus que ça. Parfois ce sont des histoires, parfois juste des descriptions il y a beaucoup de choses. Le dernier album a de très bonnes traductions, cette fois je ne les ai pas traduites moi-même.

Vous faites beaucoup de concerts en ce moment…
Matja : Oui… enfin ça dépend, cette année par exemple on n’a pas été beaucoup en tournée. Et l’année dernière non plus, on en a pas fait tant que ça, mais de très intéressantes par contre, comme en Asie, un voyage au Japon.
Il y a un endroit où vous préférez être ?
Ville : Chez moi…  Non c’était une blague ! Quoique pas tant que ça, j’aime beaucoup jouer chez moi.
Matja : Je déteste jouer chez moi !
Ville : J’aime aussi être en Europe, il y a tellement d’endroits bien pour jouer, la France par exemple si c’est ce que tu veux entendre !
(Rires) Non pas forcément !
Matja : Il y a des villes qui sont toujours bonnes pour jouer comme à Montréal, ça a été excellent à chaque fois, et les villes de l’Amérique de nord en général. Et en Europe…
Ville : La Hongrie, c’est là où la première fois on a eu une séance de dédicace et on avait jamais vu cette forme de folie ! En Finlande l’année d’avant, on avait déjà vu une ou deux personnes venir avec un stylo et un bout de papier mais jamais comme ça.
Matja : La Finlande est très bien aussi, on a jamais eu de mauvais concert à Helsinki, la Suisse aussi c’est bien et la France.
Ville : Le sud de la France est plus fou que le nord ! Un de nos concerts les plus mémorables c’était à Toulouse et c’était fou ! Il y a avait un sonomètre que je regardais pendant qu’on jouait et parfois au milieu des chansons je demandais au public de faire un putain de bruit, et ils criaient même plus fort que le groupe ne jouait !
Si vous pouviez choisir les groupes pour une Pagan Fest,  ce seraient lesquels ?
Matja : Je crois que je voudrais Enslaved parce qu’ils ne jouent pas beaucoup dans ce genre de festivals, je crois qu’ils prennent eux-mêmes de la distance sur ça. Mais ce serait cool de les avoir donc je dirais Enslaved, Amorphis, Thyrfing. Peut-être nous aussi ! (Rires)
Voudriez-vous dire quelque chose au public français ?
Matja : On aime vraiment jouer en France, et on espère revenir quand notre album sera sorti et tous vous voir.
Ville : Et boire votre vin !
Matja : On aime beaucoup le vin donc ramenez-nous du vin rouge et du vin blanc !

Merci à Ville et Matja pour ce moment et à Sarah de Dooweet !
Texte : Cindy Tucci
Photos : Aurélie Margerin

Power of Metal.dk / February 2015

Link

February 27th 2015, Joensuu, Finland. Interview by Haydee G.

TRANSCRIPTION

How is it going?

Pretty good. It's been a busy week or, how would I say, three weeks? We've been touring quite a lot. We're mostly recovering from last weekend. It was fun, but a lot of shows and a lot of travelling. But it's right to finally tour in Finland as well.

What about Marko, your drummer? I heard he got hurt doing martial arts or something. How is he doing?

He's still limping like an idiot, it looks stupid but he plays pretty well. It doesn't really affect his performance, it's just that we cannot do the fastest songs, he cannot do that kick drum thing very fast for a long time, but otherwise... yeah. Ville is sick today, he sounded like an old granny, with screechy voice, forty degrees of fever and so on.

That's why you're doing the interview.

Well, yes.

What can we expect from the show tonight? What are your expectations? I mean, you haven't been here [in Joensuu] since Ilosaarirock in 2003.

Yeah, it's amazing how long time it is. One in 10 years, and it seems like only 5 years passed. We are as enthusiastic as I hope the people are here as well. So we're gonna give our best show.

You've been touring so much, after this you'll be heading to Jyväskylä and after that you'll be going to lots of festivals abroad and of course Nummirock. Which of the coming events excites you the most?

I'm not lying if I say all of them, because I don't have any preferences, it's just that we get to play—for example, we have a couple of shows in Italy and they're both headlining shows, so of course they're exciting for us. And then the summer festivals always have a special atmosphere. Nummirock especially is a midsummer festival. Festivals in Finland are different from, let's say, German festivals.

How so?

There's something about Finnish summer and the nature and everything, when you finally get to play in such remote places like the Nummirock festival, which is in the middle of the woods, and so on. It has some special thing.

Will you be touring more after the last festival in June?

Actually will be just concentrating on recording the album, which will happen in August or something, so we're pretty busy with that. I don't think we're gonna tour that much before we release the album, and that's going to be either very late this year or early next year.

That's nice to hear, because I will ask you more about that. [laughs] By the way, how do you make the fake blood that you put on before the shows?

It depends, because usually we use real blood, but it gets bad after a certain period of time and you can't really use it unless you're playing in Watain, so then we use theatrical blood on tours. But in Finland, or if we're just a couple of days abroad, then we're just using real blood.

Wow.

It's much better actually, because the fake blood sticks in the pores of your skin and you look like a cancer patient after a couple of days. It's really horrible how people are looking on the tour, like they're terminally ill or something.

I was expecting you would give me some kind of recipe. [laughs]
Your lyrics are mostly in Finnish and when you're playing the crowd sings along. Which country do you think sings the most accurately outside of Finland?

Definitely Hungary.

Hungary?

Yes.

Wow.

Because there's a small link between Finnish and Hungarian languages, very small, very remote, but still they have been the most enthusiastic at learning Finnish. When we were there for the first couple of times we could hear so many people singing completely accurately all the lyrics. That was impressive.

What are some of your activities when you're not touring?

Well... living from the music is difficult and... I Never thought that we should live from the band or anything, because I have many other interests in life as well. I work as a cameraman and photographer, I do lives for all kinds of TV stuff. And then I have hobbies like sailing, I have a boat with a friend of mine, and I'm travelling quite a lot.

Do you still do the camera stuff for TV shows?

Yes, actually...

What TV shows?

Everything from the news to TV feature films and some commercials. And I also do commercial photography, when I can.

How have things changed since you signed with Century Media in terms like touring, making the current album and such?

You know... nothing has changed, because we still haven't released an album with them! We're still on the process of releasing the first album for Century Media, and then things might change, but we're waiting to get ready and they're waiting for us to be ready to release. We've met them, they're really nice people, and they seem to know pretty well what they are doing and how to work with this band. It's been very enjoyable to discuss with them.

Last year you released a boxed collection through Blood Music. It must have been so satisfying to know that your work from '95 to '08 is stored in one compilation, and it kind of re-introduces your beginnings to some people. How was that experience, and what was involved in making that happen?

I met the owner of the company about 4 years ago and he brought up the idea, we were just discussing something in a bar. I thought it was a crazy idea, that it wouldn't work, but he was very persistent. He had already done the Strapping Young Lad box, so he had an idea of how to work it. Then he approached the whole band, we started working on it, putting things together, seeing how it would go. It was a lot of work, it all took two yearsand a lot of involvement from the band and from him. Every single detail has been checked and redone, and it's a very particular way of working when you have to go through everything so many times, there are so many box sets, every layout is different, every set is different, millions of factors that have to be right. So we have a lot of respect for him.

Is it true that it's limited to only 100 copies?

No, there were about 400. There are 4 different sets, each 100, and one of them is 150. The "die hard" set is 150. It sold out pretty fast. I would never exp—

It sold out already?

Yeah, it sold out just... within a month or two the last copies were gone. There are still some few copies at some stores or eBay, but they are really expensive, so I don't know if they're ever gonna move.

Is it true that you've spent most of 2014 writing your new material, or do you think you'll be writing more?

We did and we ditched a lot of material. We had a lot of songs ready but it just didn't click. We thought that it wasn't perfect, we can do better, and we just ditched those songs and then started all over again. That was good, now the material is really good, it's gonna be a great album. We're all really satisfied with the material so far.

You mentioned that you don't want to do the same formula over and over again. Black metal, traditional Scandinavian music, progressive rock and nature: those elements will always be a part of your music. What are some new elements that will distinguish the new album?

Once again, there is a new kind of mix of those elements. It's hard to say how it's so different. The whole tonality of it is different. It sounds different compared to our last album, or any of them. But it's more like... There are so many elements. It's not as streamlined as the previous album, that was produced in the same kind of mood all through, but this time there are a lot of passages, there are a lot of metal parts and a lot of very black metal-ish parts. So I think it's going to be quite interesting for many people, actually.

[in the most unexcited voice possible] This sounds exciting, definitely.
I read that the new songs won't reach the usual epic lengths of the old songs. Is there any truth to this?

Depends on how you look at it. There are no 30-minute tracks, but mostly they are 15-minute tracks. It's not going to be any really short songs or anything. We're trying to have actually one shorter song also, because...

You're actually trying to make short songs now?

Yes, but we don't want to force it, it's stupid to try to force yourself.

Will you tell us if it's going to have any kind of cover, like on Tulimyrsky?

I don't think we will... We don't really like doing those, unless there's a perfect match that we really want to put out, but definitely not with the album. It will be some bonus.

Any estimation on when we can get our hands on the new album?

It's still in the talks. I would say very early 2016. It's possible to have it this year, but I'm not sure it's wise, because it needs a certain time for promotion, or preparing the cover art and everything, so it might be better to have it next year.

Your side band, Lakupaavi—how's that coming along now?

It's coming along all the time. It's stupid how many songs I, for example, have written during all these years. I have some 30 songs or something. Most of them I already have forgotten, or I really have to think to remember them, but there is some brilliant stuff. But we just never did it. Right now we are discussing that we should do it.

So you never had time since the last?

Or it just didn't feel right. The Lakupaavi album was done very spontaneously, it was just an outburst of whatever shit we were feeling and wanted to bring out. It should be done in the same way, or maybe in a totally different context. Maybe it won't be a Lakupaavi album, but something else. But I really wish to do it, because I have some really great songs.

Maybe different from Moonsorrow.

Yes, of course. It's this punk/grindcore stuff.

I read online that you're not drinking any more, well, you're drinking right now, but...

Who said that?

It must have been from an interview, I can't remember, that you don't drink any more... but you are drinking.

[looks at his beer can with sadness in his eyes] Yeah... I mean...

Who stopped drinking?

Nobody! (laughs) What the fuck is that?

Must have been a joke, then.

Yeah.

So, last question. Is there any message to our readers, your fans, out there? 

Yes, there definitely is, because we are really waiting for having the opportunity to tour again all over the world, so wherever you are, if we are coming near you, please come to say hello and come to the show.

MTV Iggy / February 2015

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Feb 19th 2015

Moonsorrow Goes Beyond Folk Metal, Talks Neopaganism

Photo courtesy of the artist

"we have a very deep connection to nature, even when it's not mentioned in our lyrics. None of us are religious pagans, but there's a core of paganism and it is nature"

By MTV Iggy
March 16, 2015 

By Julia Neuman

Finland’s vast forests, plentiful lakes and icy winters bring forth some of heavy metal’s most powerful tales of paganism and nature. No band recounts these tales quite like Helsinki’s Moonsorrow. The quintet, founded by cousins Ville and Henri Sorvali in 1995, channels their admiration for the great outdoors into epic sagas sung all in Finnish. Their songs are chocked full of heathen spirit and intricate musicianship, sometimes running for as long as 30 minutes.
The band often gets lumped into the larger category of folk metal, but in reality, they’re forging their own legacy. When folk metal’s popularity exploded in the early 2000s, Moonsorrow didn’t waiver in their style to match the trends. We caught up with bassist and vocalist Ville Sorvali and guitarist Mitja Harvilahti in Bergen, Norway, just before their 2:00 AM set at Blastfest, where they talked about Finland, their unique role in the folk metal craze, and the direction of their new album due out later this year.

How did you first develop your deep connection with nature?

Mitja: We were born in Finland, so we still have that kind of connection within the country. It’s not very hard, even if we live in big cities, we still have a bond with nature. One part of Finnish culture is that almost every family has summer cottages. Either they own one or rent one.

When you started Moonsorrow, what else was going on in your lives and in Finland in terms of music?

Ville: With my cousin [Henri Sorvali], we had a lot of musical projects going on. He had some sort of recording equipment at his parents’ garage. We basically went there every weekend when we didn’t have school. We recorded whatever ­– and Moonsorrow was actually one of those “whatevers.” We decided we were gonna do something more with it.

M: Yeah, and a little bit later, when we were in our late teens and early 20s, there were already bands like Ensiferum, for example. Many of the bands like Finntroll were emerging as well. We were already connected with a lot of the bands who were already playing. And the Finnish metal scene hadn’t grown that much yet in the year 2000, so when we were releasing our first album, it was still going up and catching on with the bigger bands like Children of Bodom and Nightwish.

At what point did you decide you wanted to separate yourselves from the genre of folk metal or viking metal?

V: If I’m to be blunt, it was the point when they started doing the same thing in Germany. But that’s not the whole story. We basically got tired that the whole thing got so popular within its own circles. Suddenly everyone started making music that tried to sound like us, or Finntroll, or Ensiferum. No one was really bringing anything of their own anymore. So we decided – because we always made stuff that sounded like ourselves – that now it’s time to do something different because there are already bands that sound like us.

How do you want to be known in the context of heavy metal?

V: I would settle with doing something that people remember after we’re done with the band. It doesn’t matter how they remember it, but if they remember it when the band is gone, then we’ve done something we wanted to do. I wouldn’t want Moonsorrow to be remembered as “the band who made the 30-minute songs,” because we’re much more than that. [Laughs] It’s become a bit of a burden, actually, that we made those three half-hour songs. Now people are asking, “When are you making an album that has 60-minute songs?” We did that and it felt right in the moment but it wasn’t the only thing we did.

There are some neopagan movements happening in Finland. Do you see yourselves as a part of that?

M: As far as I know, we’ve been an inspiration to people. I can understand that because we have a very deep connection to nature, even when it’s not mentioned in our lyrics. None of us are religious pagans, but there’s a core of paganism and it is nature. To worship nature is to respect and take care of it and find the deity in nature itself. In that way, we are very pagan.

V: When it comes to the old gods, back then when people couldn’t explain what was going on, they came up with these gods. And I can understand it perfectly and I respect it, but I’m way too scientific to start thinking that whenever there’s thunder, Thor is up there throwing lightning bolts. [Laughs] Back in the day, it was their own explanation. There is no reason for people to believe in that anymore, but it’s a good symbol.

How does Finland embrace your kind of music?

M: Well it does. Finnish metal is an export and public image of Finnish culture. It became so popular that the metal bands are one very important part of Finnish image. There are stupid awards that are given to the bands, but…

V: Yeah there’s also the Finnish Grammy for the best metal act, and we were once even nominated, because it’s a PR stunt. They always nominate one band outside of the mainstream just to make themselves look more credible. Those bands never win anything.

M: But we don’t have to be nominated or credited. It’s not about them giving us some respect. We are doing what we do, if we tour abroad, people like it somewhere, then that’s it.

A lot of metal bands wear blood, but what does it symbolize to you? Why did you start using it?

M: We started it in 2001. We had a Bathory cover show.

V: We were thinking, what would Bathory have done if they did live shows? Then we came up with the blood. Yeah, now that I remember it, it’s nothing more mysterious. [Laughs] It’s actually a very important part of the preparation of the show, at least for me. I can be very tired before the show, nothing interests me — I have just enough power to go to the fridge to grab a beer for myself — but then when I start putting on the makeup, and especially when I splash the blood and it’s cold, it kind of wakes you up. Oh yeah, I’m here to play a show!

What are you doing for your new album at the moment?

M: We have about 70% of the album ready musically. The whole process of just composing it has already taken years, and we ditched everything at some point. Within a couple months now we put together most of it, so it doesn’t require so much anymore to finish the songs, and then we’ll start writing the lyrics and stuff. But our way of working is very different from other bands. We don’t rehearse at a rehearsal room.

What kinds of vibes are you getting from writing?

V: Norway. We have a lot of influences from a lot of places, but it comes up every now and then that we were all brought up music-wise during the ’90s with Norwegian music. You can probably hear that again on the new album. Enslaved was basically our main influence when we started the band.
M: But otherwise, it’s quite variable musically.

V: Yeah, there’s a lot of progressive rock. Just not so in-your-face that you would actually recognize bands like King Crimson or Yes, but there are a lot of hints in chord progressions.

What’s your drink of choice?

M: Hmm! Right now I feel like gin and tonic.

V: For me, it’s usually beer, but gin and tonic is healthier.

Soundscape Magazine / February 2015

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February 20th, 2015. York, England. Click the link above, because the interviewer doesn't seem to want it compiled.