Spirit of Metal / September 2012

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Interviews Moonsorrow - September 2012 “Well, really, when we started the band we had a goal in mind: to have a record contract, someone who is actually paying for the making of the album and releasing it. We got that! Then, we got some shows here and there. And then we were thinking like: it would be nice to tour… it grows all the time, in our own heads. But, fundamentally, we are happy that we got the first record deal. Everything else is just bonus.”
Check out the chat that SOM had with Ville Sorvali (bass and lead vocals), Marko Tarvonen (drums) and Markus Eurén (keyboards) from Moonsorrow!!!

You guys will be playing tonight with Korpiklaani, Metsatol and Tyr. This is an incredible lineup. Was this planned between you guys (the bands) or was it planned by “management”?
Ville: Blame the manager. No, no… seriously, we don’t really make those decisions but it is always nice to tour with people who are actually friends and not just “other bands”.

Marko: Korpiklaani was about to do this tour and we were invited as a direct support for them. We said: “Yeah, why not?” We’ve been together for many tours before. It is a good combination, really.

Ville: It is the fourth tour [we do] with them.

April 2010 was the last time you had toured North America. How much has the band changed in between these couple of years? Do you feel like you have grown since then?
Ville: We party less… we are getting old (laughs). I can already see that.

Marko: And we have new material out to play in the States, we have a new album. Well, actually, it is not out in the States because the record labels fucked up the whole American release. It is only available in iTunes and that’s a very sad thing. We really can’t do anything about it because it is about the corporate and stuff like that. We kind of got into the crossfire of two different labels and the new one, Century Media, was willing to put our latest album out for this tour, in the States but the previous one, Spinefarm, somehow fucked it up with the licensing contract, blabla… It is all legal stuff…

Ville: The business part of it…

Marko: But, as for your question of what has been changed from the previous tour, it is really nice to play the new material here and to actually see the people liking it. It doesn’t necessarily matter if it’s released physically or not; people are downloading it and stuff, and they are still coming to the shows, buying t-shirts. So, it is very cool to see that we still have a growing fan base over here.

The other side now: Has your fans and public in general changed since last time?
Ville: I think that the turn outs are increasing tour by tour. People get to know us and tell their friends.

Marko: It’s better than with Finntroll [previous tour in North America]. Actually, somehow, it is more fanatic during this [current] tour, the moshpits and everything…. it is more intense.

Markus: It is because of the set list (laughs).

Marko: Well, we really tried hard to put on a set list that kind of “moves” people, actually.

Ville: That actually has everything… we have two songs of the new album that takes half of the set already… (laughs)

Marko: It is always really hard to pick the songs from the past catalog that “fits” with the new songs, together. I think that the set list that we’ve been doing on this tour is working very well.

Ville: Yeah, it’s working.

From 70000 tons of metal to label change. This year has been a “big” one for you guys. Any new big things coming up until the end of the year?
Marko: No… when we finish this tour we still have one occasional festival concert in Holland coming up in October but after that there’s really nothing. I think we have to prepare for the new material…

Ville and Markus: Yes.

Marko: That’s always…

Markus: …challenging.

Marko: A big challenge and a big discussion!

Ville and Markus: Yes! (laughs)

Ville: We have been touring for this album for one and a half years now.

Marko: Quite many shows…

Ville: [It is] better to start concentrating on new material soon…

All or most of you guys have side projects. How do you split your time in between these projects and Moonsorrow?
Ville: It is quite easy. The word “side” project already involves the concept of priority. Actually, none of us is spending time in other serious bands except for him [he points out to Marko] and Janne [Perttilä], who are in Barren Earth. The other ones just have projects. Pro

jects can be done at anytime when you are not playing with your band.

Marko: And personally, I think that we are spending more time with our personal lives than on the side projects; our personal every day life, going to your “normal” work. That takes more time out of Moonsorrow than the other bands because we don’t get paid so well for this [playing]. So, we cannot afford to quit our day jobs. It’s [just] like that…

Is it too hard to have your day job and the band?
Marko: It is hard and it is not… it depends. At the moment, I have this “alternation leave”, that we have in Finland that allows me to take, for example, 6 months off from work to do touring. But, it is not every year it is like, after 10 years working history behind you, then you can apply for this leave, which I did, and I got it, and I’m really happy about it.

Now, I have been able to tour 3 tours with Moonsorrow and one with another band. So, it is kind of cool to spend a little bit more of this “rock n’ roll life style”. (laughs). But then again, on October 1st , I need to go back to work and have the normal daily routine again.

You have mentioned that you have changed labels (from Spinefarm Records to Century Media). How big is this change for you guys?
Ville: We haven’t done anything with them [Century Media] yet so, it is hard to say. It seems that we have a very good relationship already, on a personal level. They were interested in signing with us. We had a couple of meetings before even talking about the contract. They were just like, trying to figure out where we stand. I’m really happy with that. They came to shows and just wanted to meet us.

Markus: Like yesterday, we met for the first time their US staff.

Marko: And also some friend’s bands like Finntroll, Insomnium and Turisas: everything that we’ve heard from them about Century Media is positive. So, that’s something we can trust on.

You mentioned earlier that you are planning to start working on a new album. Any ideas of what directions will be taken for this next release?
Ville: Yes and no. We’ve been in discussion about it, but…

Marko: Like [I] said: it is a big discussion first and then it is a lot of work.

Ville: The point where the direction of the album is actually determined is the point when you actually start writing it. When we have the first material at hand then we know where it is going.

So, when can your fans expect the new album? Any idea?
Ville: Before 2020 (laughs)!

Marko: I think it should be out the end of next year/early 2014.

Markus: Yes, something like that.

Marko: Something we don’t want to do is to work with schedules. We hate the schedules, we hate the record labels setting certain dates that: this must be finished until this date. There’s when usually things get fucked up, like on the last album, the German release got fucked up because the schedules went wrong. It wasn’t our fault, we delivered everything on time, but labels fucked it up in the end.

Ville: They didn’t communicate.

Marko: They had a schedule for us and we delivered everything by the schedule but in the end they fucked it up. So, what is the point of having those schedules?

Ville: And the thing with Century Media is that already, at the early stage, our artist and relation person told us that he know our band very well (he has been following us since the beginning) and he knows that we don’t work with schedules and he respects that. So, he is not pushing us to make a new album like, right now. He accepts that the new album will be ready when it’s ready.

About these schedules: could they hurt the creativeness of the writing process, in case you get closer to the due dates? For example, the time you had the schedules with Spinefarm?
Ville: Actually, in truth, I wouldn’t like to be talking shit about Spinefarm. They didn’t make those schedules, we made them. They just asked us to make “A” schedule. We told them that we needed time and they also respected that.

But talking about anybody: if someone asks you to set-up these schedules and you end up getting tight, would you have to sacrifice the creativeness because of that?
Marko: Not for the music. Usually, if we have to sacrifice something it’s the promotion mainly and maybe some parts of the cover art or something like that.

Ville: Yeah, because the schedules are made so you have the product in your hands at least 3 months before the release so, you can have to promote it. If we set these schedules in stone, which we always have to do in the end anyway, if we delay the finalizing of the product then the times is taken off from its promotion. We don’t sacrifice the music.

Markus: No… never.

Marko: We hardly book the studio before the album is written.

I know this question is the basic standard one but I can’t resist! I have to ask you: you guys have been growing so much the past years, getting more and more known around the globe. What is your personal goal out of this? What would be your ultimate goal that would make you feel as you are an accomplished musician?
Ville: Well, really, when we started the band we had a goal in mind: to have a record contract, someone who is actually paying for the making of the album and releasing it. We got that! Then, we got some shows here and there. And then we were thinking like: it would be nice to tour.

Markus: [It would be nice] to do some gigs out of Finland.

Ville: Yeah… outside Finland. Then we got that. Then we started to think about touring and then suddenly we got a booking agency, we toured Europe a few times…

Marko: And somehow we got some money and that was the turning point (laughs).

Ville: Yes. And then, after touring Europe a few times we thought: “It would be nice to tour outside Europe as well”. And then we got an offer to do an American tour. We came here, did that and then we said: “We want to come back here again! And actually we want to see some other places than Europe and North America!” Then we got an offer for Japan and China. And now, we are talking about other continents then these 3… it grows all the time, in our own heads.

But, fundamentally, we are happy that we got the first record deal. Everything else is just bonus.

Marko: In the end, if this was supposed to end tomorrow, we would still be happy that we got the first record deal.

Ville: Yeah… especially that (laughs)… they screwed us over so bad!!

Marko: Seriously, we are very down to earth we don’t have big plans…

So, it is milestone by milestone…?
Marko: Day by day…

Ville: Whatever happens, happens…

Marko: There are other people who may have some schedules and big plans for us. Well, they may discuss about them… we are all ears but, we are very good saying “No” to things. We have always been…Since the beginning, we were offered so many bad tours. For 5 years, we were offered such bad European tours we just had to say no.

Ville: We just had to wait and see if somebody would come up with a reasonable offer and we did that. We basically did the ground work with only a few shows here and there.

Marko: And I think we were very wise with that decision, to not take part of those crappy tours.

Ville: Yeah, because we would still be in debt if we did 2 or 3 of those tours. It’s what it costs.

Any messages to the SOM readers?
Ville: It is always pretty hard to answer this question because I don’t really have “last words”, I have so many words to say before I die so, I would’ve like to finish it here (laughs).

Marko: Kick ass!!! Drink “metal” (laughs)!! Freeze hell! Come to the shows! Have some good time with Moonsorrow, we are very friendly and nice and… come to see us after the shows and have a party.

Ville: Offer us some alcohol!!!

Marko: Cheers! (laughs) We are able to drink all your money!!! (laughs)

>

Interview done by Deesse_de_la_nuit

Soundi.fi / September 2014

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Right before the show in Virgin Oil Co., Helsinki, which became the longest in their career (just over two hours). September 13th, 2014.

Moonsorrow lupaa harvinaisesta keikastaan: Itku pitkästä ilosta

Eeppisen (pakana)metallin suurnimi Moonsorrow soittaa erittäin harvinaisen Suomen-keikan Helsingin Virgin Oilissa lauantaina 13. syyskuuta. Virgin Oiliin oli myyty jo ennakkoon reilusti yli kuusisataa pilettiä, joten viiisikko pääsee esiintymään täyteen pakatussa ja taatusti kuumassa konserttisalissa.
Alkuillasta Virgin Oilissa on luvassa komediafestivaali Helsinki Comedy Festival 2014.
- No, meidän keikkamme aikana ei ole luvassa komediaa, ainakaan toivottavasti. Ennemminkin konsertti on osastoa "itku pitkästä ilosta", sanoo basistilaulaja Ville Sorvali.
Paikan päälle todellakin kannattaa mennä, sillä luvassa on ensi vuonna parikymppisiä juhlivan Moonsorrow'n historian pisin konsertti. Soundin suorittaman treenivisiitin perusteella muun muassa puolituntinen Tulimyrsky-jättiläinen saattaa hyvinkin löytyä helsinkiläisyhtyeen settilistasta.
- Sellainen parin tunnin veto siellä taitaa olla tiedossa, mutta eihän biisilistaan silti kovin monta numeroa mahdu. Yhdeksän tai kymmenen varmaankin, kosketinsoittaja Markus Eurén sanoo.
Entä se seuraava studioalbumi? Loistava Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa saapui meidän kuolevaisten keskuuteen vuonna 2011, joten hiljalleen tässä jo odotellaan...
- Erittäin kovia riffejä löytyy ja vähän valmiimpaakin tavaraa. Pääsisimmeköhän studioon ensi vuoden alkupuolella? No, eiköhän se pitkäsoitto ensi vuoden aikana ilmesty, vaikka sitten parikymppisten kunniaksi, rumpali Marko Tarvonen miettii.
Entä keikat? Loppuvuodeksi on ilmoitettu pari Japanin-konserttia ja ensi vuodelle norjalaisfestivaali. Mitä muuta on suunnitteilla?
- No, ainakin Suomen-keikkoja, mutta sen tarkempaa informaatiota ei ole juuri nyt luvassa. Mutta lupaamme aktivoitua jatkossa vahvemmin myös esiintymisareenoilla, Sorvali hymyilee.

Die Metal Krieger / September 2012

13/09/2012 CA - Santa Ana, The Observatory (USA)





TRANSCRIPTION

Hello, this is Markus from Moonsorrow and you're watching Der Metal Krieger!

This is Carol from Der Metal Krieger and we are here at The Observatory in Santa Ana, just a few hours before Korpiklaani's headlining Manala tour, and here with us we have Moonsorrow, who are supporting them tonight. We have Ville, Marko and Markus from the band. How are you guys doing tonight?

[Various jokes]

I think you are a little more than halfway done with this North American tour. Tell me a bit about what you've seen as far as the energy of North American crowds versus what you guys are used to out in Europe.

Ville: I wouldn't compare, because I can't remember that far, but on this tour the energy of the audience has been outstnding.

Marko: Even quite fanatic at some venues. In San Francisco it was mad.

Markus: Way better than in the previous tour.

Marko: I don't know what the reason is, maybe it's our setlist.

So did it surprise you? I definitely know that sometimes, especially here in L.A., one kind of gets the feeling that people are sitting there with crossed arms, but it seems like you guys have definitely gotten good responses.

Marko: Yes, very intense, with moshpits and all.

You had moshpits here?

Marko: Several.

Really? That's very interesting, considering some your newer material, which we'll certainly talk about later. Your newest album is called As Shadows We Walk in the Land of the Dead, it was released in February via Spinefarm, and since then you've had some time to get some feedback. What has been the general feedback?

Ville: Critics like it, and audiences like it as well, judging on...

Marko: Even we like it!

What do you guys think?, you have evolved quite a bit from your folk metal roots, in your  Chapter V: Ravaged album you took on this huge black metal. How are you guys feeling as far as the evolution of Moonsorrow goes?

Ville: We just do what we want to do.

Marko: It's been very natural since the beginning, the whole development of things. For example, on the third album we got those progressive rock elements besides all the traditional folk stuff or metal in general, and during 2005 or so we just got the idea that we had to make our sound much rougher and grimmer. Then we sort of went back in time to the roots of Moonsorrow, to the demo period...

Markus: Yes.

Marko: ...and we are still continuing in that way, that path of mixing the sound of the early days, that was based on mostly symphonic black metal, and... and... I don't know, there is this blacker stuff and progressive stuff, and lately, the traditional influences have been put away a bit.

Ville: They appear in a different shape. We still have a lot of that folky stuff over there, but...

But it's harsher, it's something like Chapter V, where there was this distinctive very black metal.

Ville: Yes, but it had folky elements as well, it's just not as prominent as with the other bands in the same league.

Marko: It's not that happy joy-joy oompa-oompa fiddle fiddle. It's darker, it's more intense... In Finnish traditional folk music, the majority of it is very dark, very sad and melancholic, and we always took our folk influences from that kind of music. So that's why we sound so depressive. :)

Ville: We are depressed.

One thing that does add to the depressive mood is the length of your songs. I was going through your discography and you realize that once you get to album 4 you guys started to get bold and brave with your 12-minute, 15-minute—the longest is 30 minutes and 25 seconds, I believe. How do you keep your energy when you're playing to live audiences, and how do you keep the energy of your audience too?

Ville: It just happens...

Marko: Eating healthy food, [everyone laughs] try not to drink so much before the show...

Just say that alcohol puts you in a trance or something so that the 12 minutes go by.

Marko: I think people, the crowd, are just acting very naturally to our songs. The energy from the crowd comes very naturally. We almost don't have to do anything. If we just stood there, shoegaze, whatever, they would still be doing the moshpit.

They did moshpits here, that I find very interesting.

Marko: But then again, we don't shoegaze. We headbang a lot and...

Ville: We have a lot of energy on the stage.

Marko: It's like doing exercise or something, like workout, really, for me.

Markus: For all of us, somehow.

Marko: It's good sport, you lose weight and everything.

All your records have been released on Spinefarm. However, you've recently made the switch in April to Century Media. Why did you make this change, and what do you think Century Media is going to do for your future records?

Ville: The answer to the first question is that sometimes you just...

Marko: The contracts run out.

Ville: ...you need a change. Contracts ran out several times and we re-signed to Spinefarm a few times, but sometimes you just need a change, and we felt that this was the right time.

Marko: I would confirm the Spinefarm era as a marriage that after certain years is just not going anywhere, you know... I don't know if you're married or not, but... [in a mocking voice] I've been married for one year and I can feel it now! It doesn't go anywhere! [everyone laughs]

There's a whole other interview to tell Marko's personal life!

Marko: But you know the expression. We somehow felt like it didn't go anywhere. The promotion was always the same, very... there was something, but not really anything special.

Okay, I totally understand you.

Ville: With Spinefarm we all have to realize that they certainly helped to establish the band, they actually made us what we are now. It's not out of disrespect to them or anything, but we felt that we needed a new kick to the butt, and we all thought that with Century Media it might be possible. They have been really interested, we had a few meetings before they even directly asked about the signing.

Now comes a question from a fan on Reddit. Asator wants to know if the shift from the folkish sound was fully intentional and if we can expect a return of your folk elements in the future.

Ville: You never know. [laughs] We never know ourselves. We just do what we do.

Marko: I think on the next material there will be more dynamics. The way I see Chapter V and Like Shadows, they're very like... you put the CD on, they are like CHVVVVV [separates his hands vertically, moves them to the right while he makes this low-pitch "white noise", joins them again at the end] and then it ends.

Ville: Yes, it's a crushing wall of sound.

Marko: But for the next one I'd like, we would like, to do something more like this [moves his hand from left to right drawing a wave in the air].

Something more unpredictable?

Marko: ...probably...

We never know! You know what? Who will come and interview us, they will know! [or something like that]

Markus: That's true.

Marko: At the same time, we want to have our listeners crushed under the wall of sound and fierce blackmetalish blast beats and everything. We want to include as much as possible. But still to keep it within some limits and not to go too far, too psychedelic-progressive or too fast, I don't know, Darkthrone.

Oh, no, please! We'll have an intervention if that happens.

Marko: In Moonsorrow it's easier to say what we cannot do than what we can do.

Ville: And we can do a lot of things.

Marko: It's easy to say that there will never be any kind of industrial elements in Moonsorrow, or electronic.

Ville: But it's as easy to say that in Moonsorrow you haven't seen anything yet.

But we're all looking forward to seeing it and seeing you guys progress! Thank you all so much and good luck with your show tonight.

Transcribed on 22·II·2021.

Heavylaw / April 2008

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Moonsorrow
Type : Mailer	Interviewer: DreamSlayer	Date : 2008-12-00
PREMIERE PARTIE Paris, un soir d'avril 2008. Le bus devant récupérer Moonsorrow après le Pagan Fest est en retard. Les finlandais ont l'air de s'ennuyer, donc je sors le dictaphone et j'entame la discussion… -Pourquoi avoir sorti l’EP Tulimyrsky, un peu plus d’un an seulement après votre dernier album, V? Henri Sorvali: On avait envie de sortir un truc, mais on ne se sentait pas de composer un album entier pour le moment. -Pourquoi ces deux reprises ? Ville Sorvali : Nous étions avec Henri dans un groupe avant Moonsorrow où nous reprenions essentiellement du Bathory, mais on avait eu envie de reprendre For Whom The Bell Tolls de Metallica, un morceau qu’on aime beaucoup. On en a reparlé en 2001 et on a même fait une version démo de la reprise, mais c’en est resté là jusqu’en 2005, où on s’est dit qu’on devrait peut-être enregistrer cette maquette qui traîne depuis un moment ! L’enregistrement fut bouclé en une journée mais le résultat est resté dans un tiroir parce qu’on ne savait pas trop quoi en faire. On a enfin eu l’occasion de le publier, donc on en a profité. On l’a juste re-masterisé. Quant à Merciless, c’est un petit groupe suédois que Henri affectionne tout particulièrement, il a toujours eu envie d’en faire une reprise. -For Whom The Bell Tolls est un standard, était-ce difficile de l’amener dans l’univers sonore de Moonsorrow ? Henri : Non c’était même très facile en fait, j’ai arrangé le morceau instinctivement, sans réfléchir, dans ma tête ça devait sonner comme ça. -Le résultat est incroyable, c’est une franche réussite ! Lord Eurén : Oui, je pense que c’est une bonne reprise car elle ne colle pas à la version originale. Ca pourrait être un morceau de Moonsorrow. Henri : C’est en tout cas l’impression que nous voulions donner. -Un EP de 60 minutes, vous voulez rentrer dans le Guinness ou quoi ? Henri : Non, Reverend Bizarre a déjà fait plus long ! Et un EP sous forme de double-album de surcroît! Lord Eurén : Il n’y a en fait qu’un seul nouveau morceau, donc quelque soit sa durée c’est plus honnête de considérer Tulimyrsky comme un EP, et de fixer le prix en conséquence. -Belle preuve d’intégrité artistique ! De quoi est fait le futur pour Moonsorrow? Lord Eurén : Il nous reste 12 dates à jouer dans le cadre du Pagan Fest, puis nous rentrons glander à Helsinki. Nous allons faire quelques festivals pendant l’été, après je ne sais pas. Nous ne savons pas du tout quand est-ce que nous ferons le prochain album, il n’y a pas encore de studio réservé ni de morceau composé, rien du tout. - A quoi est due cette rupture stylistique entre Kivenkantaja et Verisäkeet? Ville : Après Kivenkantaja, nous avons fait un break pour réfléchir. Kivenkantaja était un sommet musical, nous ne pouvions pas faire un album plus grand ou plus puissant. Pour éviter les comparaisons, il nous fallait changer de direction. C’était la seule manière de continuer à progresser et surtout de ne pas nous répéter. Tous nos albums sont différents, c’est quelque chose dont nous sommes fiers. - V - Hävitetty est un album monumental, mais vous avez fait un pari très risqué… Henri : Non, il n’y avait pas un risque pour nous car nous sommes imperméables aux attentes extérieures. On n’en a rien à foutre que nos albums marchent ou pas, l’important est de faire la musique que l’on aime. Après, si nos albums plaisent aux gens c’est du bonus. Les trois derniers morceaux que j’ai composés durent une trentaine de minutes, mais rien ne dit que ça va continuer comme ça, je n’en sais rien. - Il y a sur Tulimyrsky les passages les plus violents de votre discographie… Henri : C’est vrai et c’est peut-être quelque chose que je vais creuser d’avantage à l’avenir… J’ai envie de m’orienter un peu plus vers le black. -Vous étiez déjà venus en France l’année dernière, mais dans des lieux assez improbables… Lord Eurén : Oui, en fait nous avions quelques jours de repos dans notre tournée européenne et on nous a proposé de faire ces concerts. Il n’y avait pas grand monde, peut-être 200 à 250 personnes sur les deux dates ! Nous n’avons rien gagné sur ces escapades, nous avons même certainement perdu de l’argent, mais bon… DEUXIEME PARTIE J'ai continué l'interview avec Ville uniquement, par mails interposés. -Quelle est la question des journalistes que tu détestes le plus (j'espère que nous n'aborderons pas ce point dans la suite... ) ? "Que pensez-vous de votre nouvel album?" Pourquoi les gens demandent-ils ça? Que suis-je sensé y répondre? "Euuuuh… je trouve qu'il pue, mais au moins il est sorti."? Il y en a quelques autres, mais celle-ci m'est venue à l'esprit en premier. LE PAGAN FEST -La tournée du Pagan Fest vient de s'achever. Quelles sont tes impressions? Au fait, comment êtes-vous arrivés sur cette affiche? Ouaip, ça va bientôt faire six mois maintenant (mais c'est entièrement de ma faute, encore désolé pour le délai de réponse). J'en ai d'excellents souvenirs, c'est quand même la plus grosse tournée à laquelle nous ayons jamais pris part. Nous avons joué dans de nombreuses salles affichant complet, nous avons découvert de nouveaux endroits, nous nous sommes éclatés avec de bons amis, anciens comme nouveaux, et nous n'avons bien entendu pas oublié de boire une honnête dose d'alcool chaque soir… Nous avons pu prendre part au Pagan Fest parce que l'organisateur de la tournée avait transmis une proposition à notre agence de booking. Nous n'interférons pas vraiment dans ce genre de décisions, il vaut mieux laisser les professionnels s'en occuper. -Comment votre concert de Berlin s'est-il passé au final? Il n'y a eu aucun problème. Antifa avait fortement menacé d'organiser une manif sur place, et nous avions peur que dans le pire des cas notre tour bus puisse prendre feu, mais en fin de compte il n'y avait personne. Quelques policiers pour vérifier que tout se passe bien (la police est obligée d'être sur place lorsque Antifa menace de manifester), et c'est tout. Ce fut un très bon concert, et nous en avons tous pris notre pied. En plus, un assez gros journal local avait publié un article prenant notre défense, donc les agitateurs étaient restés à se tourner les pouces… -Aviez-vous déjà été stupidement qualifiés de nazis auparavant? Ces accusations vous ont-elles surpris? Non, ce n'était pas une totale surprise, parce que nous avons déjà été confrontés à ce genre d'accusations. Les gens interprètent visiblement très facilement de travers dès que l'image d'un groupe est ne serait-ce qu'un poil emprunte de romantisme national (ce qui n'a rien à voir avec le nationalisme) et qu'il y a dans le logo un quelconque symbole employé par les nazis (dans notre cas la rune S, qui est apparue dans l'alphabet scandinave quelques milliers d'années avant la période nazie…). Ils pourraient peut-être se cultiver et même potasser quelques bouquins d'histoire avant de balancer pareilles conneries. -Que penses-tu de cette sorte de persécution que subissent de nombreux groupes en Europe de l'Ouest? Toute cette affaire est une grosse blague. Beaucoup semblent associer paganisme et nazisme, alors que ces concepts n'ont absolument rien en commun. Comme je l'ai dit, les gens devraient se renseigner ou bien se taire. -Envisagez-vous de faire une vraie tournée européenne en tête d'affiche avant le prochain album? Nous n'avons pour le moment rien de prévu qui aille dans ce sens, et les projets pour l'année à venir sont d'ailleurs encore très vagues. Moonsorrow est en cela un groupe excitant (pour nous aussi) qu'on ne sait pratiquement jamais à l'avance ce qui va se passer. LA MUSIQUE DE MOONSORROW -Comment l'enregistrement de Tulimyrsky s'est-il déroulé? Avec qui? Nous avons tout enregistré en quelques semaines sans incident notable. Notre manière de travailler est très simple: nous répétons tous les morceaux suffisamment bien avant d'entrer en studio, donc nous n'avons plus qu'à y jouer chacun nos parties. Personnellement, j'étais encore en vacances à New York pendant le processus d'écriture des morceaux, donc quand je suis arrivé au studio, j'ai écouté le morceau, j'en ai écrit la partition et j'ai joué presque tout en suivant la feuille. Le disque a été enregistré et mixé au studio de notre mixer live Jukka Varmo, à Helsinki, et derrière la console s'affairaient Jukka et Henri. -Pourquoi avez-vous privé le morceau Taistelu Pohjolasta de sa magnifique intro (par rapport à la démo ), alors que vos morceaux tendent globalement à s'allonger toujours plus? Notre intention était d'enregistrer la version live de ce morceau que nous jouons depuis des années déjà, et qui présente d'ailleurs quelques autres différences avec la démo. Nous n'avons jamais joué l'intro en concert, donc nous l'avons logiquement laissée de côté sur ce disque. -De quoi parlent Tulimyrsky et Taistelu Pohjolasta? Et quid des morceaux de V - Hävitetty? Tulimyrsky est la suite de l'histoire développée sur l'album Voimasta ja Kunniasta, où le frère du personnage principal trahit son propre village envers un autre village (le personnage principal meurt dans la bataille qui s'en suit). Tulimyrsky est une expédition punitive: les hommes du village dévasté ont compris d'où provenait l'attaque, et les rôles finissent par s'inverser. Taistelu Pohjolasta est en plein dans l'ambiance classique "chassons les chrétiens", j'étais tout de même 10 ans plus jeune en l'écrivant. Les textes restent bons, quoiqu'un peu simplistes. Hävitetty est basé sur une réflexion profonde sur le vide de la vie humaine et la fin du monde, le premier morceau étant plus personnel alors que le second traite du sujet d'un point de vue plus universel. Pour plus de détails, les traductions anglaises de nos paroles se trouvent sur notre site internet. -D'où vient généralement ton inspiration pour l'écriture des paroles? L'inspiration naît en fait le plus souvent en s'arrêtant pour réfléchir à toutes sortes de choses. Je n'ai pas eu besoin depuis fort longtemps de livres ou de films. Marcher dans la nature et dans l'air vivifiant aide évidemment, mais un environnement urbain et son propre salon ennuyeux peuvent également stimuler la naissance des bonnes idées. -Vous n'avez à ma connaissance jamais mentionné le Kalevala, t'intéresserait-il de te l'approprier à la manière d'Amorphis? J'ai évidemment lu le livre, et j'en ai sans doute tiré des influences. Nous n'avons cependant jamais songé à l'exploiter directement - ne serait-ce que parce qu'Amorphis l'a déjà fait si brillamment en son temps, et que nous n'aurions rien à ajouter. Tu as donc en quelque sorte répondu à ta question. -Tu as déjà écrit un morceau à propos de Lalli, as-tu envie de parler d'avantage de l'histoire finlandaise? Nous avons disséminé des références à l'histoire de la Finlande par-ci par-là, mais elles sont pour la plupart à lire entre les lignes. Köyliönjärven Jäällä était en fait une tentative de bref cours d'histoire (bien entendu embelli). Mais je n'ai pas été charmé par cette manière de faire au point de continuer dans cette voie. Je préfère laisser aux lecteurs matière à réfléchir plutôt que des "vérités" toutes prêtes. -Ecris-tu tes paroles en pensant à des morceaux terminés, ou bien les processus d'écriture et de composition sont-ils indépendants? La plupart des paroles s'ajoutent à des morceaux finis, car l'histoire développée par le texte peut alors être arrangée directement en fonction de la structure du morceau et les lignes peuvent être écrites de manière à correspondre aux arrangements vocaux (qui sont parfois définis à l'avance). Cependant, pour Tulimyrsky, j'ai dans un premier temps ébauché l'histoire, et Henri a composé le morceau en fonction de cette trame, en quelque sorte comme la BO d'une histoire. Les processus d'écriture et de composition ne sont donc en aucun cas indépendants, parce que quelque soit l'ordre dans lequel ils se déroulent, le second doit toujours s'adapter au premier. -Votre musique est très "visuelle", pourrait-on imaginer Moonsorrow faire un jour la totalité d'une BO? Je pense que ce serait alors l'affaire de Henri, pas tant du groupe. Je ne crois pas que nous autres aurions grand-chose à apporter à une BO menée par un orchestre symphonique, dépourvue d'instruments électriques. Mais l'idée est séduisante. -Quelle BO aurais-tu rêvé de composer? Probablement celle du Seigneur des Anneaux, parce que je suis un grand fan du livre, et que composer de la musique sur cette base laisse certainement beaucoup de place à l'imagination. -Envisagez-vous de jouer d'autres reprises? Quelles reprises aimerais-tu faire? Nous n'avons pas prévu de faire de nouvelles reprises pour le moment, parce que le prochain album suivra de nouveau le schéma normal, c'est-à-dire qu'il ne contiendra que des morceaux à nous. Nous ne jouons d'ailleurs pas beaucoup de reprises en concert, donc en l'absence d'un album spécifique ce serait assez vain d'en faire. Si je devais faire une reprise, ce serait vraisemblablement une version lente, "moonsorrowienne", d'un morceau de Slayer, ou alors je me reprendrais moi-même et je ferais une version totalement différente de Pakanajuhla. -Il y a beaucoup de parties acoustiques dans vos derniers morceaux, envisageriez-vous de faire un projet entièrement acoustique? Il n'en a jamais été vraiment question, parce que nous avons tous l'idée commune que Moonsorrow est censé faire du metal. Les parties acoustiques s'intègrent bien à nos morceaux, mais parce que leur rôle est de créer des contrastes, je ne pense pas qu'un album acoustique soit aussi convaincant qu'un album de metal de Moonsorrow. -Quels instruments traditionnels avez-vous utilisés jusqu'à présent? Depuis le tout début nous manions l'accordéon et la guimbarde, et ils n'ont pas l'air d'avoir envie de disparaître. En outre, la flûte, le violon, le kantele et le nyckelharpa s'invitent sur Kivenkantaja et Verisäkeet. -Quel est l'oiseau que l'on entend au début de Jotunheim? Un plongeon arctique (Gavia arctica). MOONSORROW EN LIVE -Comment vous débrouillez-vous en concert avec vos morceaux de plus de 20 minutes? Avez-vous déjà joué Tulimyrsky? Cela nécessite toujours des petits arrangements et une attitude appropriée, mais jusqu'à présent nous nous en sommes tirés honorablement. En tant que musiciens nous aimons le défi que représente l'arrangement de morceaux épiques en versions jouables en live. Nous avons joué le début et la fin de Tulimyrsky en tant que premier et dernier morceaux du set. La partie progressive du milieu est restée de côté pour l'instant, mais nous aurons bien le temps de la répéter un jour. -Avec qui rêverais-tu de tourner? L'un de mes plus grands rêves était de tourner avec Primordial, et il s'est réalisé il y a quelques années. Depuis cela m'est assez égal qui s'entasse dans le tourbus avec nous. -Y a-t-il un DVD live de prévu? Il en a été occasionnellement question, mais nous n'avons jusqu'à présent pas pu mettre nos plans à exécution, principalement pour des raisons financières. Peut-être un jour, on verra… -Quel est l'endroit le plus étrange où tu aies joué? Sans doute une combinaison bizarre d'une discothèque et d'un bunker à Osijek, en Croatie. Une salle incroyablement longue, où les projecteurs éclairaient tout le temps le public, du coup on ne voyait rien sur scène. Il y en a eu d'autres, mais leur étrangeté tenait surtout dans l'état des backstages ou dans des manières des plus curieuses de gérer les balances. LE FOLK METAL -Que penses-tu des groupes qui font du folk metal en anglais? Je n'ai rien contre ça. L'anglais est la langue universelle de la musique, et se produire en sa propre langue est uniquement un remarquable bonus. Je suis d'avantage dérangé par les groupes de folk metal qui ne prennent pas la peine de faire de la bonne musique. -As-tu le sentiment d'appartenir à une scène commune avec les autres groupes de folk metal finlandais come Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Turisas, Ensiferum, … ? D'une certaine manière oui, d'une autre non. Tous dans la "scène folk metal" finlandaise sont en tout cas de bons amis, et nous nous voyons souvent même à côté de nos occupations musicales. Je ne considère cependant pas que les groupes que tu as cités soient musicalement similaires. -As-tu une quelconque explication au grand succès actuel du folk metal? J'aime penser que ce succès provient d'un sentiment de nostalgie des gens et de leur envie de sortir du système de valeurs biaisées et matérialistes de la société d'aujourd'hui. Mais la vérité est que je ne peux pas répondre à cette question. J'espère que la majorité des gens qui font partie de cette mouvance, le sont de tout leur cœur et de manière sincère. TOUT LE RESTE... -Quel effet cela fait-il de voir Tulimyrsky dans les charts, coincé entre Madonna et Ari Koivunen? C'était un instant d'extase. Je regrette seulement que nous n'ayons pas réussit à dépasser Madonna. -J'ai appris récemment que tu as été rédacteur en chef du magazine Inferno, comment en es-tu arrivé là? Pourquoi en es-tu parti? J'en suis arrivé à ce boulot parce que j'avais écrit pas mal de textes divers depuis 1997 et j'avais par la suite été également rédacteur à Inferno. Alors lorsque le rédacteur en chef précédent a décidé de prendre du recul, il m'a demandé de le remplacer. Je n'ai pas osé refuser. Je suis parti parce qu'une assez grande maison voulait racheter le journal, et que mes services n'avaient alors plus d'utilité. -Henri fait également partie de Finntroll, cela engendre-t-il des problèmes d'organisation? Henri ne joue à vrai dire dans aucun des deux groupes en live (seulement certains concerts de temps en temps), donc nous n'avons pas encore été confrontés à des problèmes d'organisation. Par ailleurs, les albums des deux groupes ne se font généralement pas en même temps, donc le bonhomme a suffisamment de temps à accorder aux deux. -Y aura-t-il une suite pour Lakupaavi, ou bien était-ce une blague d'un seul album? Oui, Lakupaavi est toujours en vie! -J'ai remarqué que beaucoup de groupes finlandais quittent Spinefarm après avoir percé à l'étranger, tout va bien avec Spikefarm de votre côté? Notre contrat porte encore sur un album, et il n'y a aucune raison d'aller voir ailleurs avant cette échéance. Mais on ne sait jamais ce qui peut se passer par la suite. -Quels groupes écoutes-tu en ce moment? Des groupes de tous poils. D'après la liste "écoutés récemment" de mon ordinateur, il s'agit de Kristiina Wheeler, Sólstafir, Primordial, Hail Of Bullets, Thyrfing, AC/DC, Porcupine Tree, Julma Henri & Syrjäytyneet, Francine et Pantera. -Quel est ton avis sur le téléchargement illégal? Internet offre encore des opportunités considérables pour les petits groupes, parce qu'une partie des gens ayant téléchargé illégalement va aux concerts et achète du merchandising, que l'on ne peut pas télécharger. Bien sur, les maisons de disques y perdent de l'argent. Il s'agit d'un sujet tellement polémique que j'aimerais voir des statistiques neutres et impartiales à propos de l'impact du téléchargement illégal sur les ventes de disques avant de commenter la situation plus en détails. -Qu'aimes-tu en dehors de la musique? Le foot, les voyages, le temps passé avec les amis et la famille… tous ces trucs ennuyeux qui font partie d'une vie normale. -Quelles études as-tu fait? J'ai étudié dans le temps les maths à l'université dans l'optique de devenir prof, mais avec les groupes et la multiplication d'occupations de toutes sortes c'est resté complètement à l'arrière-plan. Mes études sont pour le moment en suspens, mais il n'est pas exclus que je retourne sur les bancs de la fac un jour. -Quelque chose à ajouter aux lecteurs de HeavyLaw? Merci d'avoir lu jusqu'ici, et en particulier merci énormément à tous ceux qui sont venus nous voir au Pagan Fest!

Fan questions / Second half of 2001

Link

A bunch of fans' questions, answered by the bandmembers, from newer to older.

Tomas asks "I am just curious as to what bands are your main influences? Also who is your favorite drummer?"

Baron answers "As a song-writer I guess the most important influences are Bathory, King Crimson and say, Bal-Sagoth maybe. But I actually don't think we should do songs reminding these bands. We just make the music we love. My fave drummers are Bill Bruford, Phil Collins & Keith Moon. From the metal genre I can mention Pete Sandoval & Gene Hoglan." (10.01.2002)

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Sami asks "Hail! I've listened to "Voimasta ja Kunniasta" quite many times now and always the same thought crawls into my mind... I mean, where did you get the inspiration to create pagan metal in the first place? And to which themes and eras does the album relate, what is the inspirational source in your lyrics? When I checked the album "Tämä Ikuinen Talvi", I noticed that at least you have some Finnish influence, so I ask do you recognize any of it in your style (e.g. Kalevala or primordial Finland)? And when I looked at the gig list I was amazed that you have only been in Helsinki? How about a gig in Oulu? That would be cool!!" (translated from Finnish)

Ville answers "Where did we get the inspiration to create pagan metal in the first place? We just felt like it, for the sake of Iki-Turso! :) I think it was quite natural considering that we have pagan values and we like metal music. And yes, we recognize a lot of "Finnish influence" in our style. Thematically "Voimasta ja Kunniasta" is circling around the Finnish iron age, or perhaps more of the latter period, that is from year 1000 to the christian invasion. About gigs, no we have not played only in Helsinki. We have also played in Turku and soon also in Hämeenlinna. Nitpicking aside, we do however wish to conquer the whole Finland. Book us. :)" (04.01.2001)

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Demon's vision asks "Was it you who created the music for that humanoid hombres from planet horror movie? An amusing flick by the way. =)" (translated from Finnish)

Mitja answers "Yes, I'm responsible for the "UFO-intro" and some other stuff. There were also two other guys making that crappy music." (30.12.2001)

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szyna asks "When you will play a concert in Poland?"

Henri answers "To this and all other "When do you come to [insert your country here] to play a gig?" - We come if someone arranges a gig there, asks us to play there, pays all the expences etc.... use common sense! :) But anyway, no gigs are planned outside Finland at the moment, sorry." (28.12.2001)

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Paulo Ricardo da Silva asks "Hello there... this is a brazilian fan of moonsorrow, since 1991 i'm a fan of BATHORY and since that time i have aways looking for new bands with that heathen vibe, so i found vintersorg, thyrfing, finntroll... but MOONSORROW is absolutely the best one, great lyrics and musicians, so my question is: Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics? Are they all based on historical events? you have any tour booked? and of course... What you know about the brazilian metal scene? Thanx and stay metal"

Ville answers "Well hello. 1. Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics? - Mostly from my own feelings and from the music to which I'm writing the lyrics, I think. All of our lyrics are not based on historical events, of course, but history is certainly a major source of inspiration even in fictional texts. 2. Do you have any tour booked? - No. 3. What do you know about the brazilian metal scene? - Something at least. During the years I was more active in the underground circles, I got acquainted with quite numerous Brazilian bands. And of course I am rather familiar with the old legends Sarcofago and Mystifier. Thank YOU and stay metal." (27.12.2001)

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Kimmo from HML asks "What do you guys think of the Hämeenlinna-based groups Cadacross and Turisas? I'm not sure if you already have heard Cadacross, but at least Turisas must be familiar to you... I think these bands hold a lot of potential... and Cadacross' "So Pale is the Light" is brilliant as a debut album." (translated from Finnish)

Ville answers "Haven't heard Cadacross yet, you got that right, but I know the name. Turisas plays some nice muzak and as they really seem to put effort in all that they do, they're in danger to become one of my favourite bands in Finland. Potential, as you say. I'm definitely looking forward to checking out both bands in Stormbringer 2002." (19.12.2001)

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Ukkosen ylistäjä kysyy "Mitenkä tuo teidän keikka politiikka, koska rupeette heittään rundia ympäri Suomen synkkiä kaupunkeja? Ukkonen jyrähdelköön päällänne."

Baron vastaa "Tuskin tämmöisellä musiikilla mitään rundia on järkevää tehdä Suomessa, kun ei tämä kuitenkaan ole se maamme myyvin hevibändi, mutta keikkoja tehdään juuri niin paljon kuin joku niitä meille myy." (18.12.2001)

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Janne Tulkki asks "Reveal the secret recipe of warmead (krigsmjöd)!!" (translated from Finnish)

Henri answers (17.12.2001) - Recipe for Krigsmjöd

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Antti asks "Have you got any t-shirts for sale?" (translated from Finnish)

Henri answers "T-shirts are not available at the moment, but we are most definitely planning to do some." (17.12.2001)

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Jupe asks "ÖÖÖÖRRRRRGGGGHHH. Has Henri possibly been making any synth music, it would be nice to hear that!!!!! YEAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!! PERRRRKKEEELLLEEE!!" (partly translated from Finnish)

Henri answers "Yes....but it is not available right now. I'm working with a full-lenght album (or been have working with it for three years, heh) but nothing is available until I have made that one ready. It will be worth waiting, however.... :)" (17.12.2001)

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Unnamed asks "When shall you make a music video!? And do you believe in SANTA CLAUS???" (translated from Finnish)

Ville answers "A sort of a live video clip is on the works, and it shall appear on this page when it's complete. And yes, that fellow exists for certain, albeit Santa Claus is NOT his real name. :)" (16.12.2001)

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M. Mikael Tutti asks "Say there, good Baron: as I understand, you use your computer to write the Gorewinter stuff. Exactly what software/methods do you use?

Baron answers "Pretty much the same way as we´re doing in Moonsorrow with Henri. First we put the drums (midi) and synths to seq (I use Cakewalk 8.0), then recording the whole shit to a multitrack-studio softw. (CoolEditPro, Logic Audio, Cubase... they´re many, I prefer CoolEditPro ´cause it´s simple and fast to use) After this we record the real guitars & bass straigth to the computer through preamps, mix the shit and burn the cd. Voila! A Moonsorrow-demo is done! A week before we go to TicoTico, we rehearse a bit! ;) Trackers suxx big time! Öhhh..... except Acid by SonicFoundry which is cool to play some very weird shite! If you want more info about trackers, just send e- mail with subject "Dj Vermo & Trackers" to mitjaharvilahti@hotmail.com and you´ll know everything about ´em!

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Pyry asks "Is the picture on the background of the lyrics of \"Köyliönjärven Jäällä\" on the \"Suden Uni\" album actually taken from Köyliönjärvi?" (translated from Finnish)

Ville answers "I admit there are grounds for doubt, but the impression is the same altogether." (04.12.2001)

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Mike asks "Since i must ask a question i will ask this....How's the weather up there? I'm from Montreal Canada and the real reason i'm writing this is to express my gratitude for creating the most original and inspiring metal i've heard in a long time. I hope that one day you'll be able to tour on this side of the world, I hardly ever get a chance to see the bands i really like. This is probably a long shot but just incase your interested check out braveconcerts.com, they're the local promoters who get all the metal bands from europe out here. Keep thrashing!! p.s: bring finntroll along with you"

Henri answers "Thank you for the nice words you enlightened our day with! Playing in Canada sounds actually pretty good, if not counting the "several" miles between us as a problem... :) You see, it isn't actually rather cheap to fly there, etc.....but we'll figure something out. Maybe when we have sold 50000 albums someone is willing to pay the expences, heh. Anyway, the weather today (WHAT a question,huh?!???!?!??!??!!!??) is a major disaster, as all the snow we got a week ago is being washed away by RAIN.

:( Damn this coast weather! And yes....we'll keep (metal) thrashing (mad)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (29.11.2001)

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Oliver \"Wolfchild\" Wolf asks "Hello, Lord Eurén, I have a few questions for you: 1. Is it possible that Moonsorrow will come to Germany? 2. How good can you speak German? Good enough to answer my questions? If not English is also fine. 3. I really like Viking Metal. Are there any interesting bands in Finland? 4. What does \"Wolf\" mean in Finnish? That would be all, for now. I think its great that a band is taking care of their fans, if they answer their questions, even if there are some senseless ones. Very much greetings from Germany."

Lord answers "1. Nothing is impossible, but I think not very soon. 2. Es ist besser, daß ich nur Englisch sprechen. 3. There are no "viking metal" bands in Finland. 4. Susi (es ist Susi)." (14.11.2001)

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Vethor says "Hail!! tammikuussa sit h:linnassa pistetään tukat pyörimään!!!"

Baron answers "Alrighty then!" (14.11.2001)

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Lord McJake asks "Are you going to play many songs from your new album on your Nosturi gig? Vihreällä Valtaistuimella is an absolute must." (translated from Finnish)

Ville answers "It is a release gig so there is no excuse for not performing as many songs from the new album as possible. :) We have never rehearsed Vihreällä Valtaistuimella, let alone played it live, so I'm afraid we will not hear that one on December 7th." (04.11.2001)

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Oliver \"Wolfchild\" Wolf asks "You describe your music as \"Epic Heathen Metal\". What kind of music is that? Is that some kind of Viking Metal or something? I also want to know where I can order your CD's, and which languages can the whole Band speak (German whould be great)."

Ville answers "Epic Heathen Metal is, as the title indicates, basically metal music with epic proportions and a heathen content. It does somewhat resemble the style one would call Viking Metal, however that is not the term to describe Moonsorrow.
We all are Finnish natives and as far as I'm concerned, all of us also speak rather fluent English. At least I, Henri and Mitja can also handle a bit Swedish and Lord has let us comprehend that he knows some German.
As for our cd's, take a look at the Memorial page on this very same site." (10.10.2001)

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Leadjade Heavy asks "Exactly how many bottles of Koskenkorva does it take to sleep peacefully in Rock Café Maestro?"

Lord answers "Depends on the size of the bottle. Usually from one to seven." (02.10.2001)

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Frititis asks "Just one question, could we someday see you play here in Guadalajara Mexico?? Please think about it, Moonsorrow rules!"

Mitja answers "Hi! A gig in Mexico would be one of the greatest things ever! But unfortunately we don't know so much about any gigs yet. Let's see what happens when the new album comes out!" (02.10.2001)

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Peikkolaps' Eikkoti-Peikkoti asks "There wouldn't be any of your mp3's available, would there? Moonsorrow and Finntroll rule PERKELE!!!" (translated from Finnish)

Henri answers "Nope, no MP3 stuff at the moment. I promise that they will come before next christmosh, but nothing is sure before that, I guess. :)" (23.08.01)

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Tindra asks "When will you come again to Nosturi for a gig?" (translated from Finnish)

Mitja answers "If someone offers us a gig we'll be there for sure!" (21.08.01)

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Vandala asks "When will there be new gigs? Could Tampere be one of those places where you will be seen during autumn?" (translated from Finnish)

Mitja answers "There has been some discussion about a small tour, but no dates or places are known yet. Tampere could very well be one of those places." (18.07.01)

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Raadelman noidat asks "Are you Mitja intending to use that lovely rivet collar on future gigs as well?" (translated from Finnish)

Mitja answers "As you wish Kirsi! No, actually it almost strangled me during the gig at Nosturi, so I don't think I'll wear it anymore. What a shame!" (18.07.01)

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Worgathor asks "Have you planned playing a gig in Lutakko, Jyväskylä..? It would be nice to see you guys live... I mean Helsinki is quite far away so I can't get there anyway..." (translated from Finnish)

Ville answers "Yes, we have been talking about actually touring Finland for quite a while now but we would just need someone to organize it. If and when it comes true, we definitely hope that Jyväskyl" is one of our stops. Hereby I would like to invite everyone interested in booking us outside Helsinki to get in touch." (15.07.01)

Rafa Basa / March 2006

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MOONSORROW – Ville Seponpoika Sorvali, Markus ”Lord” Eurén y Mitja Harvilahti

En el Atarfe Vega Rock 2006 tuvimos la ocasión de entrevistar a uno de esos grupos que, a pesar de no estar al nivel de popularidad de GAMMA RAY, STRYPER o TESTAMENT, si levantó una gran expectación su inclusión en el cartel. Parte de ese pequeño pero ruidoso contingente de la musica extrema en este festival, MOONSORROW daban su primer concierto aquí en España desde que llevan existiendo (casi diez años, cuatro discos). Adalides del Viking Metal, tuvimos el placer de charlar con Ville Seponpoika Sorvali, voceras y bajista, con Markus “Lord” Eurén, teclista, y con Mitja Harvilahti, guitarra (este ultimo se nos unio a ultima hora). Entre cervezas y unas olivas, y de forma muy amena, charlamos sobre un poco de todo. Aquí teneis el resultado.

- Primero de todo, felicidades por el concierto. Cómo habéis visto a la gente aquí en España?

El público ha estado bien, no esperábamos ver tanta gente aquí. Hay gente que ha hecho 1000 km para veros… Eso está bien.

- Tenéis cinco grandes álbumes y es la primera vez que venís a España, ¿por qué?

No lo sé, sólo hacíamos conciertos en Finlandia en los primeros 3 o 4 años. No nos ofrecían nada en otros países. Ahora ya tenemos algunas y cuando nos ofrecieron venir a España, por supuesto lo hicimos. Siempre es bonito tocar en países por primera vez. Pensáis volver pronto? Quizá el próximo año? Claro.

- Tenéis canciones como “ Pakananjula ” y “ Drinking Music ”, más alegres y bailables y otra como Jotunheim , más tristes y lentas. ¿A qué se debe esto, de qué depende?

Bueno, queremos hacer este tipo de música, estamos cansados de la música alegre, queríamos hacer algo distinto. ¿Ya no os gustan ese tipo de canciones? Si, apoyamos al 100% todo lo que hemos hecho, por supuesto. Sólo queríamos intentar algo distinto. Para hacer algo distinto, ¿habéis pensado en empezar proyectos paralelos? En realidad no tenemos otros proyectos, estamos concentrados en MOONSORROW .

- “Verisaaket” es un disco más lento, ¿continuaréis este camino?

No lo sabemos todavía. Será una sorpresa incluso para nosotros. Cada álbum que hemos hecho ha sido distinto. ¿Haríais algo distinto como LAKUPAAVI, vuestro proyecto de grindcore? (risas) no, no en ese sentido, pero será algo diferente.

- Hablando de LAKUPAAVI, empezó como un “fake” sobre vuestro último álbum, ¿qué os pareció?

Lo hicimos por diversión, fue una broma de borrachos, no pensábamos que se iba a ser noticia, la culpa es de Blabbermouth o de quien lo publicara.

- Blabbermouth siempre están sacando rumores falsos. Siguiendo con esto, ¿de dónde sacásteis esos nombres tan raros, como The Sieg Heil Man o Pave Perestroika?

Nos lo inventamos cuando estábamos borrachos, supongo. No habríamos hecho nada en este proyecto sin estar borrachos. ¿Lo hacéis todo bajo los efectos del alcohol? Ayer IMPALED NAZARENE estuvieron todo el rato bebiendo. (risas) sí. Bueno, no somos alcohólicos, cuando nos ves estamos borrachos porque cuando tocamos estamos básicamente divirtiéndonos con amigos. ¿No es el estilo de vida finlandés? (risas) No bebemos así todos los días.

- Sobre la naturaleza, habláis del tema pero ¿hacéis algo para proteger el medioambiente?

Somo pro-naturaleza, por supuesto, aunque no tenemos mensaje político. Puede haber algo en las letras, pero no estamos aquí para dar charlas a nadie.

- En Finlandia hay mucho bosque, es un país poco poblado. ¿Tiene esto algo que ver con vuestra actitud ante la naturaleza?

No sé qué decir. Finlandia no tiene mucha gente, hay mucha naturaleza desde los tiempos antiguos. La gente siempre ha respetado la naturaleza, muchos prefieren vivir en la naturaleza antes que en las ciudades. Creo que es una forma finlandesa de pensar.

- Practicáis el reciclaje?

(risas) Bueno, reciclo lo que puedo, cristal… (Señalando el botellín)

- Siempre decís que no tocáis viking sino pagan, ¿es porque el viking está muy masificado?

Es algo que queríamos hacer con esta banda desde el principios. Algunos de nosotros somos paganos de confesión, es el concepto de la banda y es algo muy cercano a nosotros. Y de política nada… No, nada.

- ¿Cómo conseguís que una canción de 20 minutos se haga corta?

No podemos hacer canciones cortas, nos salen así. Habéis tocado siete canciones en una hora, una media de 8 o 9 minutos. No es música corta (risas).

- ¿Creéis que habéis perdido fans por cantar sólo en finlandés?

Bueno, no creo. Me parece que la música y la atmósfera es suficientemente fuerte, si te puede arrastrar lo hará incluso si no entiendes el idioma. Creo que lo hemos probado tocando aquí. Si no llegamos a algunos fans por esto es su problema, no el nuestro.

- ¿Por qué en el último disco no habéis traducido las canciones en el libreto, sólo en la web?

Dejamos el libreto muy simple, habría sido demasiado grande con las letras traducidas. Es una forma de que la gente visite vuestra página… No sé, no tenemos compromisos en nuestro concepto, es una forma de demostrarlo. Esto es lo que hacemos, lo tomas o lo dejas.

- En Finlandia el metal tiene más importancia que en otros países, habéis dicho en alguna ocasión que esto no os parece bien, ¿por qué? ¿Quizas por que es como en los ochenta, que la gente lo escuchaba por moda y lo dejó en los noventa?

Tenemos a los fans del metal, siempre los tendremos. Los fans que compran el metal que está en las listas de ventas son lo que compran cualquier cosa, compran metal ahora porque es lo que toca, pero después comprarán cualquier otra cosa? Como dicen MANOWAR, “if you’re not into metal, you are not my friend”… (risas).

- ¿Qué grupos os influyeron en los primeros tiempos y qué escucháis ahora?

Oímos cosas muy distintas, en caso de MOONSORROW siempre nos ha inspirado BATHORY y el black metal noruego.

- ¿Qué sentísteis cuando murió Quorthon?

Fue algo trágico, claro. Lo que hizo Quorthon significaba mucho para mí personalmente pero no lo conocía. No conocía al tipo que murió, pero hizo algo que para mí fue importante.

- Quorthon se declaro influido por MANOWAR, ¿os pasa a vosotros también?

Oh, sí, creo que lo estamos. Todos lo estamos dentro de esta música.

- Ville, tú no compones, ¿por qué? Todas las canciones están compuestas por tu primo Henri, ¿por qué?

No compongo porque se me dan mejor otras cosas, ellos hacen muy buena música. No les hace falta que yo les distraiga, me fío de ellos.

- ¿En qué te inspiras para escribir las letras?

Bueno, en lo que veo todos los días, cosas que leo… respuesta típica.

- ¿Qué lees actualmente? ¿Algún autor favorito?

Ya no leo mucho últimamente, solía leer cosas diversas, supongo que influirían en mi forma de escribir los poetas clásicos finlandeses. ¿El kalevala? El Kalevala y, por supuesto, Tolkien.

- (a Lord Eurén) ¿Y tú que sueles leer?

La verdad es que no leo mucho, sólo periódicos.

- (aparece Mitja) Muy buenas, encantado.

¿Qué pasa? ¿ Qué tal? ¿Está bien la cerveza? Está bien ¿Es mejor la finlandesa? No sé, no he bebido mucha cerveza española. Tienes Alhambra, Mahou, Cruzcampo… La cerveza finlandesa no es muy buena. ¿Es mejor que la alemana? Me gustan la inglesa y la checa. ¿Y la Guiness ? ¿La negra? O, sí, es genial.

- En “Verisaaket” usáis instrumentos tradicionales. Íbais a meter gaitas pero al final no lo hicísteis, ¿por qué? ¿Quizá en el siguiente álbum?

Teníamos grabadas las gaitas para una parte del disco, pero pensamos que no pegaban.

- El arpa de boca, el acordeón… siempre relaciono el acordeón con Finntroll.

Nuestro acordeón es de verdad, Finntroll lo hacen con el teclado. ¿Os oiremos tocar polka con el acordeón? No, nunca, no haremos eso. Preferimos tocar como una banda de rock, no queremos tener alrededor más gente saltando y golpeándose. (risas)

- ¿El sonido de “ Pajananjula” y “ Drinking Music” está reservado a grupos como FINNTROLL?

Son canciones antiguas en realidad, las escribí hace más de 10 años. Son la únicas canciones de beber que tenemos, ya no las hacemos, por alguna razón ahora hacemos canciones más épicas.

- Para terminar, ¿cómo encontrar vuestras dos primeras demos?

Las teníamos en la web pero las tuvimos que quitar porque no teníamos espacio, quizá las volvamos a poner. Están agotadas para siempre. “Thorns of Ice” ya no existe, se perdió a los pocos días de grabarla. Está grabada pero nadie sabe donde está, alguien grabó encima (risas). ¿Fue como cuando grabas encima de algo que no te gusta? No, fue un accidente (risas). En aquellos tiempos estábamos arruinados y sólo teníamos unas pocas cintas. Seguramente alguien pensaba que grababa en una cinta virgen y era una demo de MOONSORROW . (risas).

- Por último, ¿qué os parece este festival?

Por el momento muy bien, nos gusta el sitio, el tiempo y la gente…

- Ayer tocaron IMPALED NAZARENE y hace unas horas TO/DIE/FOR. ¿hay una convención finlandesa cerca de aquí?

Tiene gracia, que IMPALED NAZARENE toquen hoy también, BEHEMOTH han cancelado. Porque han perdido el vuelo. Que esto no salga en la entrevista.

- ¿Qué os parece tocar en el mismo festival que STRYPER?

(risas) Nunca he visto a STRYPER, va a ser interesante. ¿Creéis que se vestirán de amarillo y negro? Sí, pero son cristianos (risas). Esa es la moda cristiana. Yo quería ver a TWISTED SISTER pero STRYPER…

- Tengo entendido que iréis al Ragnarok Festival, ¿cuándo y dónde será?¿quién toca?

En Alemania en Abril. También hay un Ragnarok Festival en Noruega, tocaremos en el alemán.

- ¿Quieres decir algo para el público español?

¡Muchos Nachos! Los nachos son mexicanos… Ya lo sé. Lo siento. Perdón. Buenos Aires. Buenas Noches. Sierra Nevada.

David Lázaro

Fotos: Diego L. Pérez

Finnish Metal / April 2006

Link 1 | Link 2

This interview with Moonsorrow was done by Sankarihauta, Grave Sista & Socke
at Ragnarök Festival, Lichtenfels, April 7th, 2006

Well, first of all: How are you?

Mitja: Great! Really good, no hangover or anything. (laughs) Yeah, we just had a couple of gigs before this so we're still in good shape. Quite well.

Playing at the Ragnarök festival is one of the first times you play in Germany because most of your gigs take place in your home country Finland. What is the reason for that? Isn't there enough interest in your music in other countries?

Mitja: Well, there is quite a lot of interest but we haven't done any proper tours yet. That is kind of a first tour for us because of various reasons nowadays, when people are getting kids and stuff. We have to arrange so many things to get on tour.

Marko: We have been in Germany a couple of times, for example in Hamburg and Party San Festival last year.

What does it feel like playing outside Finland ? Do you prefer playing in your home country or anywhere else?

Marko: I prefer playing abroad.

Ville: Yeah, it's always different and we have seen Finland already. We have been living there for, 26 years is the minimum, so we prefer to be here to see new people and play for new people.

Mitja: Yeah, also at the moment the situation is that we are getting more offers from abroad than in Finland. We don't have so many dates for many Finnish gigs right now.

Marko: There are only like five or six cities where we can play in Finland, so it's not such a big deal actually. We usually do those cities once in a year. And that's it.

Mitja: You can do other cities but it's like playing at a pizza place. We don't want to do that.

What do you think about such big tours like “Heathen Crusade”, the one you're doing at the moment?

Mitja: So far so good! Yeah, it's great! And it's very nice. It has started pretty well. The first gig in Hungary was very good for a starter. Yesterday we were in Vienna at a very interesting venue. Very small.

Ville: Very small, less than hundred people... it was totally packed.

Marko: Yeah, right!

Ville: It was packed and maybe the first row could see the band actually. All the others were looking at the heads of the people in front of them.

You've played in Canada and the US in January. What were the reactions to your shows like? Have they even heard of Moonsorrow there?

All: Yeah!

Ville: Yeah, I guess they have, because we had about five or six hundred people in the States, so probably someone has heard the music.

Janne: Yes, obviously, because they wanted to organize that kind of gig. And Montreal was pretty surprising because it was Tuesday when we did it and there were over 200 people still and it was a very fanatic audience.

Mitja: Also in the USA we had people from all over the continent, even from Mexico flying to the very north part of the USA.

Ville: All the credit for this of course goes to this one crazy American organizer, Chris, who actually started the whole thing and wanted us to get there.

Janne: And now he's with us here, selling our T-Shirts and helping out.

How important is the communication with the audience through the lyrics? Because they are sung in Finnish and aren't understood in every country…

Ville: Well, I guess people don't understand them, of course. But it doesn't seem to be any problem. The people like the music, in many places abroad they actually even try to sing along. I don't know if they actually do know the lyrics and can pronounce them. But there are many people who are singing along. So it's very cool!

Are there certain rituals before the gigs? What about the blood in the face stuff for example?

Mitja: Well, yeah. That's really a sad story. (grins)

Who has been slaughtered? (laughs)

Mitja: It starts with killing a cow, somewhere in the butchery where we buy the blood, so it's very sad for the cow that we play.

So you leave some victims behind...

Mitja: Obviously yeah.

Markus: The trail of the death.

Marko: We have no rituals. It's just a stupid show.

Do you go on with being the persons you're on stage also in private life?

Marko: We see each other almost once in a week, drinking together. I don't know if we are so good friends to each other but... Especially I don't know Mitja at all! But he seems like a nice guy. (all laughing)

Mitja: Yeah, that's funny, we have known each other for six years and you still don't know me. I'm surprised...

Marko: Actually I'm not that interested. (laughing) Yeah, Mitja got professional and we just play with each other for the money. (laughing) That sounds kinky!

You've planned a new album. Will there be any new arrangements or elements on it? Will it be more epic or rather back to the roots? Can you already reveal anything about this?

Marko: It's gonna be epic as fuck.

Ville: And still back to the roots. It's gonna be surprising.

Mitja: Yeah, a nice surprise.

Marko: Always different than the previous one. Longer songs - again (laughs)... maybe only three songs lasting one hour. We don't really know yet.

So one song will last 50 minutes?

Marko: Well, some day that will happen!

Mitja: We are still at the pre-production of the songs.

Ville: We haven't made all the songs yet, so we can't tell what it's gonna be like.

Marko: It's gonna be somehow a concept album with some... I don't know... some themes?

Janne: Themes.

Marko: Themes. I don't know what they are but...

Ville: We haven't made the album yet.

Where does the band's name come from?

Marko: From Celtic Frost's song “Sorrows Of The Moon”. That's all. Put it in a different order.

Mitja: That's the whole story. There's nothing deeper behind it. It's just a Celtic Frost song.

Marko: Yeah, just a stupid band name.

All: Yeah!

Mitja: But a band name doesn't have to be good.

Ville: Bands just have to have names. So that people can differ bands from each other.

Marko: What the hell is Moonsorrow?

Mitja: It's a really bad name actually. (all laughing)

Ville: Credit to Henri, who came up with that name.

What are the lyrics inspired of? Are they related to something special in literature like for example Edda or maybe even the Finnish Kalevala story?

Ville: Mmmh, not really. The lyrics are inspired of that mythology and stuff like that, but I don't really take any straight stories from there. It's quite whatever comes to my mind. They are just the product of my uncreative imagination. At least I am very uncreative at the moment, I can't even answer this question. It is too complicated for me right now.

Marko (teasing Ville): Shut your mouth if you want and drink your beer!

On the ‘Voimasta Ja Kunniasta' album there is a quote from the Hávámal (Edda)…

Ville: Yeah, that's very true. But that's the only one. I stole it but it's not taken from any Finnish translation. I kind of came up with it myself. Tried to translate Icelandic which I don't have any clue about. (laughs)

Which parts of the Finnish history fascinate you the most?

Marko: Well...

Mitja: Civil war.

Marko: Yeah, that's actually very unspoken that Finland ever had a civil war in the beginning of the nineteenhundreds whenever it was.

Mitja: 1918.

Ville: You know, that's actually of course the Iron age and history that was in Finland before any region history. Times when nothing actually happened. People were just farming and hunting, living in the forests.

Mitja: We have very huge story to write about. About doing nothing!

Marko: Day one. I was hunting a reindeer. Day two. I have gone fishing – didn't get any. That's Finnish history. (all laughing) Then came the Russians and we fought them. Then came the Swedes – we fought them. Then the Russians came again – and we fought them. Went back to fishing. (all laughing)

Ville: Now, when there's peace we can concentrate on fishing.

Markus: And go into the bar.

Ville: Yeah.

Janne: We are proud of our freedom but we don't write lyrics about it. We are not that patriotic.

Markus: And it's been done so many times.

Janne: We leave that for Impaled Nazarene.

Which non-Finnish culture fascinates you the most? Are you also interested in Scandinavian mythology and stuff?

Markus: Israel. (all laughing)

Marko: Obviously, I like Irish. Like Ireland as a country and things about Celtic mythology and stuff.

And also the symbols you use for Moonsorrow – are they also from the Celtic Culture?

Marko: No, those are ancient universal symbols, used in many cultures. Whatever it was.

Ville: It's like every symbol we use has also been found in Finland in some period of history.

What does it mean to you to sing in Finnish?

Ville: Well, of course it means a lot, it's the whole concept of the band!

Marko: And it's the most beautiful language on earth, so why not?

Ville: With Finnish I can do whatever I want. I can't speak any other language so fluently. In Finnish I can express myself in the way I really want to do it. So it's very natural.

Mitja: It's a very usual language as there are so many ways to tell.

Marko: Yeah!

Mitja: And also if more or less the songs and music is still situated in the Scandinavian region it makes sense to sing in your own language rather than in English or anything else.

And I think that Finnish fits perfectly to metal music because it is sort of hard in sound.

Mitja: Yeah, that's true.

How important is the image and identity issue to you?

Ville: The national identity or to be Finnish?

Markus: This is controversal. Apparently we have no identity issues.

Mitja: I guess the national one is the most apparent.

Ville: Of course it is very important to us, we are all very distinctly Finnish, proud to be and stuff like that. Still not in any nationalist way. It's just something we have within ourselves. We are not really trying to spread it around. We are Finns – end of story.

Do you consider yourselves patriotic?

Mitja: Well, no.

Ville: Somewhat, but when I say stuff like "I'm patriotic, I'm proud to be Finnish... bla bla bla" it's always misunderstood. I rather prefer not to say anything.

What is your opinion on being compared to bands like Bathory?

Ville: That's always a great honour if someone compares us to Bathory.

Marko: Yeah, but sometimes it's getting annoying...

Ville: That's true.

Mitja: Well, I don't know, of course we still rip off some Bathory in our songs but...

Markus: Everytime.

Mitja: Everytime a little but not the riffs, but maybe the same feeling in the songs.

Ville: It is still not as annoying as to be compared to Finntroll.

Janne: Yeah. I hate it when we are compared to Finntroll, because there is nothing the same. Maybe the accordion, musically it's very different.

Mitja: And of course if you think of the songs, we have the same guy doing the music for Moonsorrow and Finntroll and he is been using the same keyboard sounds and stuff like that. So that might make people think that we are more related to each other than we actually are. Just musicwise we don't have so many things in common.

In which category of metal would you put the band yourselves?

Marko: Heavy Metal!

Mitja: Yeah, I hate this.

Ville: We always say pagan metal, that holds. It doesn't have any musical explanation to be pagan. It can be whatever. That's what we are, pagan metal.

Mitja: It doesn't matter if at least the people do call us folk metal, because in a way everybody knows how black metal sounds or death metal sounds but nobody can say what pagan metal sounds. So if we have folk elements then it makes sense that people call our music folk metal. But we don't. For us it is just pagan metal or metal anyway.

Markus: If you need any words.

How do you judge the rivalry throughout the Pagan/Viking metal scene?

Janne: Rivalry?

Marko: Is there some?

Ville: Well, everyone of us... we are like a bunch of people who actually spend some freetime drinking together, making music for our bands. No one is competing.

Marko: That's true.

Ville: Most of us are friends. That's all.

Mitja: Yeah.

Is it hard to compete with other bands and to be still innovative in this category of metal? What do you think about the hype going on at the moment? Is it a big chance or an unpleasant state to you?

(everyone thinking)

Ville: About the competing – we don't compete and...

Marko: Actually the hype has gone away in Finland. I don't know about Germany, maybe it's getting huge here, but in Finland, well, we were the first ones who were doing this kind of stuff, so the first ones among a few other bands.

Ville: There were three bands in the beginning: Finntroll, Ensiferum and Moonsorrow.

Marko: We're in the situation we don't need to think about those things. And it's important just to do our own stuff and not to think about what the other guys are doing, the other bands... so it wouldn't make any sense. Just doing what you feel is right. That's important.
We don't watch so much our record sales because we don't do short songs. Our music hardly gets any radio play, we don't have music videos, because if we would do a music video lasting 15 minutes no channel would show it.

Mitja: And it would be no good spending 10 or 20 thousand euros for a video that nobody shows.

But wasn't it you who made the video for the Suden Uni re-release?

Mitja: Yeah, that was done for free and it was supposed to start with the words “Now, this is spinal tap” but Henri disagreed.

Marko: We will never do that again. Any video.

Ville: We just concentrate on being ridiculous otherwise. We don't need any videos for that.

Marko: No.

What do you think, shouldn't there be more bands singing in their mother tongue?

Ville: Yes. Definitely. That's the answer.

Mitja: Yeah, I don't get it why people don't. They think it's easier to go abroad with their music and English sounds cool because it's the language of Rock ‘n' Roll music historywise. There is no point if you are from the Netherlands or from anywhere you wouldn't use your own language if it fits to the music.

How much can singing in English be linked to commerce?

Ville: It has a link because there are bands which have changed their language from their native language to English, mainly because of like one thing to break through abroad. I don't think that's honest in any way.

Mitja: You get a lot more exposure if you're doing it in English if you are a good band. But it's easier in English, I think.

Marko: I think some people abroad think Finnish sounds very exotic and they like it. I've seen it... when people in the audience at some places are singing our songs together, so what the fuck?

Ville: Yeah, I actually think that... (get's interrupted)

Marko: They shouldn't know any Finnish but may have studied something. In Hungary there are many who can speak some Finnish. They are very interested in that language.

Ville: Well, English could be aid our success abroad. I think at the same time the fact that we are doing the thing in Finnish has also aroused some interest abroad. There are some people who are coming to the shows buying the albums because of that. They got interested in the band because it did something different, whatever you want to call it.

You have this other "band" Lakupaavi, which seems to be rather kind of a joke band.

All (laughing, protesting): No!

Well… can you tell us something about that? What is it all about and who came up with the idea of founding the project?

Ville: Even to talk about Lakupaavi you need to drink forty beers and that's basically the whole story behind the band. We came up with the idea when we were drunk. We actually realized the idea and made the album – while we were drunk. It's the other identity of these (looks at his band mates) nice looking gentlemen here. (all laughing)

Marko: It turned out pretty good actually. I don't know, there are some very good songs in it. People just think that it's just a joke but it has a lot of black humour.

Mitja: Of course it's about humour but there are some deeper meanings in some of the lyrics. (some laughing)

Marko: In what way?

Mitja: In a political way.

Ville: There is a lot of political sarcasm, stuff like that. Actually there is, yeah.

Marko: It's about punk.

Ville: And it's a thing you do for fun after drinking 40 beers.

Mitja: And we will do another album and release it free on the internet of course, but I don't know when.

Is it something like you need a contrast to Moonsorrow? Like Moonsorrow is your serious band and you need another project like Lakupaavi to joke around?

Mitja: Nooooooo.

Ville: Not really, of course it's good therapy. We have our creative side also outside Moonsorrow. Everyone of us also wants to do different stuff, I think. Lakupaavi is not for that purpose. It's just what we do. If there is some pressure for any of us to create something that doesn't fit Moonsorrow then there will be a side project or another band or whatever.

Mitja: Yeah, we have always had lots of them, everyone of us.

Marko: Lakupaavi started as a joke but when we started to think about doing this whole album it became more serious. We even rehearsed the songs, but we recorded it totally wasted. We started the recording session in the morning by doing a cover song of Metallica, which is not released yet, but then during the evening we started making Lakupaavi stuff and a lot of the songs... many of them are recorded like 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. or 9 until 10 a.m. where everybody was so wasted that we couldn't even stand at all.

Janne: We couldn't even talk!

Mitja: He tried to play the drums and on some songs you can hear it like he even couldn't half do any basic beat. On the “Homo Jesus” song especially.

Marko: It's so hard to play. (knocks the beat on his thighs). You wrote so hard beats.

Mitja: I know! (laughs)

Is there anything left to say?

Janne: What should we say?

Anything you want to state to our readers?

Ville: Thanks for the bratwurst, we have eaten more than enough of it and there are still nine more days after this to go, and since six of them will be in Germany we will be eating more than enough of bratwurst.

Janne: And schnitzel! Every day schnitzel!

Mitja: That is how the day starts... with a schnitzel and fries and with a bratwurst. So it's a very unhealthy tour and diet. It could be Atkins diet because we drink beer and don't workout.

Markus: We drink booze.

Janne: Lots of meat and booze.

Mitja: Yeah, it would be actually a very good thing if you wanna lose weight. So you come to Germany on tour, you just eat meat and drink booze... not beer but strong alcohols so you lose weight at the method of Atkins. So that's what I recommend to every reader. That's very deep.

(some more discussions about this diet)

Thank you very much for the interview and have fun on stage!