Rauta / September 2021

SOURCE

 

"Moonsorrow is one of the most inspiring Finnish epic pagan metal bands out there. Jerry had the pleasure to talk to these guys at Nordic Metal Cruise 2021. Tune in for some 30 min of talk."

 

4-Sept-2021

 

Metalluminati / September 2012

SOURCE

"Mitja talks about the difference between touring in the US vs Europe, the latest tour, and the importance of baby wipes on tour."

 

 

BSpix / June 2009

 

 

LINK

 

June 20 2009 (Hellfest - Clisson)

It's without my questions sheet (lost before we came to Clisson apparently) that I consequently ask some things by memory to the very kind MOONSORROW's guitarist Mitja Harvilahti after their performance at the HELLFEST. And the Finnish quartet (quintet in live setting) has a lot to offer with their epic-black-pagan music. Their latest release is called "Tulimyrsky" which is an E.P. including a Metallica cover.

Fab: So are you happy to be here at the HELLFEST 2009 ? How is your feeling after you show here? Mitja Harvilahti: Oh, it was a pleasure to play here because for us, France is always very good. We've been here for a few times, and every time the French audience has been really really good. And we've been waiting to play here in this festival for a long time, so it was really a pleasure. The crowd was very good. Unfortunately (little nervous laughter), I hurt my neck during the third song so I couldn't spin my head anymore at all, because it hurts like hell all the time, but, otherwise, we had a really good time. Fab: And what do you think about the reaction of the audience? Mitja Harvilahti: It was really good. I mean, there were lots of people who probably didn't really know us, but I could see they liked what they heard, and they stayed for the whole show. Also, there were a lot of fans, so the reaction was really enthusiastic.

Fab: How do you manage to perform your very epic songs on stage? Mitja Harvilahti: This summer, we couldn't do the very epic songs. The last tour we had one and half hour. If we have one hour to play, we can play one very long song, and then shorter ones. It's just about to make the songs work. You have to rehearse a certain way so that the guitars might be taken some of the keyboard leads. But I think it works pretty easily after all, even though the songs are very long. We have many kind of different passages and parts in the songs, so, it turns to be very boring (laughter).

Fab: Can we say that your inspiration is still very into Northern Culture? Mitja Harvilahti: Yeah (hesitating), in a way. Note that it is quite abstract mostly. So we might deal with Nordic mythology matters in our feelings, but they always have this Pagan mood by nature, within the music and the lyrics. We have some songs that are part of our Northern, Finnish historical northern culture in general. But mostly nowadays they are more abstract, more poetic. But the feel of the lyrics is very Finnish. So it's definitely rooted into the Scandinavian region in Finland, even though we don't say anything about it. But always we have metaphors, some of that instinct, it does not especially have something historical, northern or something, it's not so straight.

Fab: Have you planned to release a book about all the stories that are inside your lyrics? The finland history, with drawings, etc…with your music as a soundtrack. Mitja Harvilahti: Hum, that would be interesting. Our music is very cinematic so, I think, but if you were just to make a short movie, it would suck (laughter), it wouldn't worked the way that it should. Perhaps, actually, lyrics with pictures, photographs, paintings…it would make sense. Also it would make sense to do a DVD, a live DVD with the pictures and the background, the videos. It would be strong, but to start working on it, it will take a long time to put it together, I think. But we have some ideas about that actually. We have to find the right people to do it. Because if you do something mediocre, it's bullshit, you have to do it well.

Fab: So are you going to release a dvd soon? Mitja Harvilahti: Not right now. We have a lot of material to use as an extra material, but we have to shoot some couple of shows, and we haven't decided how we should do it. Maybe in Finland or maybe somewhere else, but we really need something special. And we have to come up with the idea with the record company and everything. But someday, we will eventually release a DVD within two years I hope. Because when you make a DVD, you have to tour a lot just before the shoot, it doesn't work often when you have some dates in Helsinki and that we just rehearse in the practice room and then go to do it, because if you're not confident enough to go onstage, then it's not going to work out. So we need to find some time, be on the road for a couple of weeks and eventually shoot a DVD. When you do something especially for a DVD, you don't wanna take any risks, people playing the wrong note, or stupid stuff like that, that's something we don't want, that's why it's taking so long to make a DVD.

Fab: What is your thought one year after the release of the "Tulimyrsky" E.P.? Mitja Harvilahti: Yeah, it was an E.P. with one new song for half an hour (laughter), and a METALLICA cover (ndlr: For Whom The Bell Tolls) , a MERCILESS cover (ndlr: Back To North), and two old demo songs, "2008" version. The idea we had was from five years back, because we had arranged the METALLICA cover many years before, and we recorded it in 2005. So, we already had some bonus material, but we didn't find any use for it. So, after our last full-length album, which was a very heavy thing for us to do, we needed something refreshing, something for us to break the chains, and just do something that we enjoy all. That's why we had this idea of a very cinematic half-an-hour, epic song and of course the METALLICA cover. And we wanted to do these two demo songs again (ndlr: Taistelu Pohjolasta & Hvergelmir). We haven't really changed them anyway, but just recorded better. And we chose the MERCILESS cover, the second song, because we already played it in 2000.

Fab: How did you change the METALLICA cover song into something almost completely different but recognizable? And with a strong MOONSORROW identity. Mitja Harvilahti: Well, that's the thing when you make cover songs. If the band is original in some way, if they have their own songs, there's no point to replicate the song. We had played the riffs many years ago in the rehearsal room, and we realized that we could make something special with it, something completely special out of this Metallica song. We changed some of the riffs, the audience will know when (laughter), and we found out that is sounded more MOONSORROW than METALLICA, even if it's a cover. I think it still captures the METALLICA song really well, but it's in our performance. And that's what I think is interesting about covers, playing them almost completely different from the original. Fab: And did you had any feedback from METALLICA about this cover? Mitja Harvilahti: No, not that I know of (laughter). I have no idea if they have heard it. Actually, I should have gave the cd to a friend of mine who just met them a week ago. Maybe I will send it to their management.

Fab: Have you started working on the new full-length album? Mitja Harvilahti: We're just gathering ideas right now, we have one song. Our drummer has made one song but we hadn't really arranged it yet. Henri (Sorvali - Guitar/Keys) who is the main composer, is working on other things right now. He's doing some arrangements, he's finishing with FINNTROLL new album. I can't guarantee when it's gonna come out. This spring, maybe. If it takes more time, then we will have to postponed it to autumn. That would suck because we really want to make it in time for the summer festivals. But it's amusing, when you have people from many bands, like us and fintroll for Henri, how it seems that you always have all release in the same times (laughter).

Fab: Do you usually do the songwriting at home, or on the road? Mitja Harvilahti: Usually at home, at Henri home studio. He's very quick with what he does. We got to gave him some riffs, he would then add some more riffs. He will make a lot of materiel in one day, so, the whole album would take shape within two months, maybe a couple of weeks. We don't really rehearse at the rehearsal room, we just go down into the studio because we work so much on the final arrangements. It's very different from many other bands. We need tight schedule to really squeeze it hard from us. It's always hard to work that way, but that's the way it works for us.

Fab: You need creative pressure. Mitja Harvilahti: Exactly. Henri is amazingly fast. When he's doing the demos at his studio, he can programs the drums with one hand, and I can see his eyes, he's already has some keyboards stuff or guitar's riffs. When he's done the drums, he just grabs a guitar or a keyboard, any instrument and he plays a lot of stuff instantly. So it takes shape really quickly. After a couple of weeks, we already have put a lot of things together.

Fab: Did you ever thought about doing a movie soundtrack? Mitja Harvilahti: Not really. If somebody ask us to, we might do I, itt will depends on the time we had. It would be an honour to do a soundtrack, if it's a good movie (laughter). But we never know. We have some offers from friends, little companies, there were short films and not really interesting. Our music has been used in some movies in finland or television programs, bu we haven't done any official soundtrack. That would be interesting through.

 

Metal Sound / August 2016

 

 

LINK

 

 

MOONSORROW The Return

Marko Miranovic / August 31, 2016

During the second day of Summer Breeze 2016 we met with guys from Moonsorrow (Ville and Mitja) in order to have one interview and chat about their brand new full-length Jumalter Aika which turned out to be one of the best records in 2016 by opinion of Metal Sound’s redaction. Since Moonsorrow has made a great comeback at the scene with their newer effort, and since they moved on a new label  (Century Media), we’ve talking mainly about their new full-length, filming of video clip, their upcoming plans and some other things that follow the band as well.   

As a matter of fact, Moonsorrow’s brand new issue Jumalten Aika has this rawer sound closer to your record Varisakket released 10 years ago…

Mitja Harvilahti: The roots are in early 90s, within black metal scene, when we were growing up, by discovering it. This time we had a chance to explore the sounds and we also quite a lot explored the song writing as well. This was something different for us because we been doing the same formulas for quite a while. So, this time we re-newel the whole song writing method and that was the most difficult part as well.

Ville Sorvalli: I guess that the initial approach that we wanted to have with this album was that we wanted to have some more live friendly songs. shorter and catchier songs that we could easily play live, because this has not happened.  I guess that we have all agreed that we would like to have rawer sounds so that we want to explore more black metal roots. That’s basically everything what we have decided before we have started to write a new material and then the things has just started to happened.

Time distance between your albums is like 5 years. Why did you took so long to record a new album? Was there any special reason for it?

Mitja Harvilahti: There was little bite of everything: some family reason mainly. Actually the problem was with our main song-writer, Henri Sorvalli, who also writes the music for Finntroll as well . Before, it was like he was writing the music one year for Finntroll and the other for Moonsorrow so we have constantly delivered the albums, but now he got first one child, so there was a little break, than he got the another one so there was one more year of break. And, when we started to write a new songs it was not as we thought it would be. So, at the end we finished with five years between our albums.

Talking about black metal influnces…

Mitja Harvilahti: I think that it sounds that we have returned even more deeper in the past. I also think that the influences on this record are way to obvious. I mean, we all in Moonsorrow like different sorts o music but we all agree when it comes to black metal. All the members in the band like black metal bands from Norway, from ’90s. We were influenced by diffrent bands but I think that it’s too obvious which these bands and albums are, we were influnced by some of their records that today they don’t even like.

For the filming of your debut video you were in Belgrade and you have done it with I-code. So, how do you like the video and how do you like Belgrade?

Ville Sorvalli: We were thinking about the first video, and also the label asked for it so we decided to record one video. Yes, we are very satisfied with the video and the final result. I was the only member who was in Belgrade. unfortunately, I was not able to walk though the city this day since we were quite busy filming the video and material but I would like to visit it one day.

As a matter of fact Moonsorrow is now at Century Media so how did it happened that you have changed the labels from Spinefarm to CM?

Mitja Harvilahti: It was actually few years ago. They wanted Moonsoorow to sign a contract with them but, we need to introduce them how this band works. So, we were asking them do you really know how this band works, do you really want to sign Moonsorrow for Century Media.  And, since they said that they really wanted to sign the band for them we have agreed.

Are there any plans for the forthcoming European tour in 2016?

Mitja Harvilahti: Yes, we have already released our touring dates for the most of European countries for 2016. We will make a tour this year with Korpiklaani. I know that for some of you it could sound little weird or strange since our music is quite different, but I think that we are the same coin just with the diffrent sides. We are like darker side of the same thing, while they are brighter. So, I think that at the end this mixture between our two bands will really work. I am quite sure about that actually.

• Interview by Marko Miranovic, August 2016

 

Culture Metal / January 2020

 

 SOURCE

 

Interview de Moonsorrow aux 70000 Tons of Metal 2020

Aujourd’hui, nous accueillons à Culture METAL, une nouvelle contributrice, rédactrice et photographe. SAMM a travaillé dans plusieurs webzines et magazines metal et travaille aussi à Vecteur Magazine qui sort aujourd’hui même un hors-série spécial 70000 Tons Of Metal. Aussi, voilà six mois, à l’époque des voyages et des festivals metal, SAMM nous revenait de la célèbre croisière metal, 70000 Tons Of Metal, avec une chouette interview que voici, de Mitja, le guitariste du groupe pagan/black metal finlandais, Moonsorrow. 

SAMM : Comment allez-vous après ce premier concert à l’Ice Rink hier au milieu de la nuit ?

Mitja : Effectivement, il était très tard, mais ça a été un très très bon concert. Il y avait beaucoup de monde. On a assez peu dormi et malgré cela, je me sens bien. J’espère bien aujourd’hui voir quelques amis et j’attends surtout le concert de demain.

SAMM : C’est la troisième fois que vous venez aux 70000 Tons. Comment vivez-vous cet événement si particulier ?

Mitja : Oui, on a participé à la première édition en 2011 et également en 2017. Je pense que c’est un privilège de jouer ici. C’est un scénario tellement différent de toutes les formes de concerts, de festivals, qu’on est tous dans l’attente de pouvoir jouer ici et ressentir cette vibration. En festival, tu as des espaces en backstage, ici on est tous sur le même bateau, c’est le cas de le dire et ça rend la croisière spéciale.

SAMM : Le dernier album Jumalten aika est sorti en 2016. Avez-vous quelque chose en préparation ?

Mitja : Nous sommes maintenant à un point où nous pouvons préparer quelque chose de nouveau. Ça nous a pris beaucoup de temps. Henri qui écrit la plupart des morceaux et qui produit nos albums, travaillait aussi pour Finntroll. Ville écrit la plupart des textes. Ça, c’est la base mais nous collaborons tous ensemble à l’écriture de nos albums. Mais Henri est le filtre à travers lequel tout est conçu, alors on doit attendre qu’il soit disponible. Actuellement, ils terminent les sessions en studio pour Finntroll. Je pense que nous devons attendre une année avant qu’un album de Moonsorrow soit publié. C’est vrai que cela fera cinq ans mais il y a d’autres raisons à cela. L’une d’elle est que nous voulons trouver un angle nouveau pour chaque nouvel album. Nous sommes comme pas mal de groupes, à la recherche de la recette parfaite, du son que nous voulons avoir et de la musique que nous voulons faire. Tant que nous n’avons pas quelque chose à dire, on ne sort pas de nouvel album.

SAMM : Henri a un rôle important dans le groupe et pourtant il ne tourne jamais avec le groupe. Pourquoi ?

Mitja : Il n’a plus tourné beaucoup depuis 2004 – quelques parties des tournées en 2008 et 2011 – mais il n’aime pas beaucoup tourner. Mais il est un élément très important du groupe. Il y a eu un temps en 2004 où il a voulu arrêter de se produire en public et tous les membres du groupe ont été d’accord avec sa décision. On a commencé à faire appel à Janne Perttilä qui a participé à chacun de nos albums et avec qui nous étions bons amis depuis les débuts de Moonsorrow. Alors on a trouvé là un équilibre et une solution pour tourner sans lui.

SAMM : Les morceaux sont en général très longs. Pas facile pour définir une setlist ?

Mitja : C’est une musique épique qui s’appuie sur une sorte de scénario en quelque sorte et la musique suit cette histoire, ce qui la rend progressive. Forcément, on ne se bride pas et cela peut amener à certains titres très longs. Du coup, en concert oui c’est assez difficile car évidement on ne peut pas étendre le concert en fonction du temps dont nous avons besoin. Alors si le concert dure soixante minutes et qu’on a besoin de cinq minutes de plus, on va plutôt choisir des titres qui entrent parfaitement dans le temps qu’on a et ça oui clairement c’est un problème. Par chance, on sait exactement instantanément quelle durée un morceau doit faire en concert, ce qui nous permet de réarranger certains titres mais ce n’est pas facile et pas toujours possible.

SAMM : Avez-vous changé votre manière de travailler ensemble avec le temps ?

Mitja : C’est toujours un peu différent à chaque fois. En général, on part d’une idée, un contexte où intégrer la musique et les textes. Quand l’idée du texte manque, cela devient très compliqué de faire évoluer la musique. Parfois on peut partir sur quelques riffs mais ça pourrait devenir compliqué au fur et à mesure de trouver les autres éléments si l’on n’a pas un aperçu de ce que sera le morceau en termes de paroles.

SAMM : Vous tournez beaucoup, n’est-ce pas parfois difficile ?

Mitja : On aime beaucoup tourner et on tournerait plus encore si on pouvait. Mais il y a pas mal d’obstacles dans la vie. Chacun, la plupart des membres du groupe ont une famille et parfois d’autres activités. Trouver le bon moment pour tourner devient de plus en plus compliqué chaque année mais on ne va pas s’arrêter. Bien sûr, on se sait jamais ce qui peut arriver dans la vie mais on essaie de faire que chacun puisse trouver son équilibre et nous sommes très présents les uns pour les autres. Ça je pense que ça ne changera pas.

SAMM : Tu parles d’autres projets. Peux-tu nous en parler ?

Mitja : Habituellement, la plupart d’entre nous a des projets en parallèle. En ce moment, Janne est le plus actif avec son groupe Rytmihäiriö. C’est un vieux groupe finlandais de 1988, bien plus agressif et très connu en Finlande. Il a aussi un autre groupe de death metal avec Marko qui s’appelle Barren Earth. Marko, notre batteur a lui aussi d’autres collaborations en tant que batteur parfois. Personnellement, je ne trouve pas le temps pour me consacrer à autre chose que Moonsorrow musicalement car je travaille en parallèle dans le milieu très agité de la télévision. Et puis, je ne voudrais pas prendre le risque de ne pas être disponible pour tourner avec le groupe, de devoir dire non à chaque fois, ce serait horrible, je préfère me limiter à un groupe, c’est mieux pour moi.

SAMM : Vous écoutez d’autres groupes ? Certains artistes n’écoutent pas les autres pour ne pas être influencés.

Mitja : Je n’écoute pas non plus beaucoup les autres, tout du moins ceux qui ont le même univers que nous. C’est dû aussi au fait que quand on a commencé à faire cette musique, ce genre musical n’existait même pas. Alors il n’y avait pas matière à comparaison. On a tous des parcours différents mais c’est assez variable : ça va du death metal à la musique classique et même de la country, par contre on écoute assez peu de folk ou de pagan, je trouverais ça bizarre.

SAMM : La musique de Moonsorrow est belle, profonde et touche le public qui vous est très attaché. Etes-vous conscients de cela ?

Mitja : Oui, sans aucun doute. On reçoit beaucoup du public, d’abord pendant les concerts, il y a un transfert qui s’opère entre le public et les musiciens qui est très fort. Il ne s’agit pas simplement de donner un concert, il s’agit de vivre cette musique ensemble. Et puis, on a aussi une relation avec nos fans qui est suivie et on peut mesurer par leurs retours cet attachement.

Merci beaucoup Mitja de m’avoir accordé cet interview et à demain pour le second concert de Moonsorrow.

Interview réalisée le 8 Janvier 2020 par SAMM
Photos © 2020 SAMM
Toute reproduction interdite sans autorisation écrite du photographe.

 

+ d’infos : la bio mais aussi quelques photos de Moonsorrow au Hellfest 2016 ici https://culturemetal.com/2016/06/30/hellfest-2016-moonsorrow/

Moonsorrow a été fondé par les cousins Sorvali en 1995 à Helsinki, capitale de la Finlande. Mitja Harvilahti et Markus Eurén ont d’abord rejoint la formation initiale en tant que musiciens de tournée et ont enfin été intégrés au line-up. Marko « Baron » Tarvonen a aussi rejoint le groupe en 1999. Moonsorrow, dont le nom de groupe vient d’une chanson de Celtic Frost, Sorrows of the Moon, a sorti plusieurs albums studios : d’abord un premier album Suden uni chez Plasmatica Records en février 2001, puis six albums chez Spikefarm Records : Voimasta ja kunniasta en décembre 2001, Kivenkantaja en mars 2003, Verisäkeet en février 2005, V: Hävitetty en janvier 2007, Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa en février 2011 et enfin un dernier album Jumalten aika chez Century Media Records en avril 2016. 

Moonsorrow en produira en France au printemps, le jeudi 15 avril 2021 à la Machine du Moulin Rouge à Paris.

Nordic Metal / February 2020

LINK TO THE WHOLE ARTICLE with report, photos, videos and whatnot.

My Global Mind / January 2017

SOURCE



Interview with Moonsorrow at 70000 Tons Of Metal — The World’s Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise

Posted on February 17, 2017

Interviewed and Photos by Zenae D. Zukowski



Zenae: My name is Zenae and I’m here on behalf of MyGlobalMind, and I am speaking with?

Mitja: Hello my name is Mitja, I play guitar in Moonsorrow.

Zenae: I saw your performance last night, it was amazing, one of my favorites from the first day.

Mitja: It was an amazing response from the crowd. We weren’t expecting anything because you never know how it’s going to be. It was a full room and everything was great.

Zenae: What is your drink of choice from this cruise?

Mitja: Let’s see.. well, it’s very hard to drink beer on a Caribbean Cruise. You need some cocktails [laugh]. So, I think I’ll pick Mojito or White Russian.

Zenae: I Love White Russians.

Mitja: Yeah.

Zenae: Which bands would you like to see?

2017_02_02_Moonsorrow_70000TonsOfMetal-7 Interview with Moonsorrow at 70000 Tons Of Metal — The World’s Biggest Heavy Metal CruiseMitja: I already saw Suffocation. I would like to see Uli Jon Roth and Grave, Marduk guys I saw yesterday and some friends like Amorphis and such. Those would be my highlights at the moment.

Zenae: Awesome. Have you been receiving great feedback from the crowd with the new material (Jumalten aika)?

Mitja: Oh yeah, very positive. Hardly any negative ones, but yeah mostly the album has been taken very well.

Zenae: It was an incredible album, one of my favorites from 2016.

Mitja: Thanks, we worked really hard for this album, harder than ever. It’s great to hear that people are really into it.

Zenae: Was the writing process different than previous albums or?

Mitja: I think it’s always different for us. This time we tried new methods of arranging for example, and that took a long long time. So, in the past, we might record more straightforward. And this time we were having bits of pieces and trying them in the different order and so long so it took a long long time. But in the end, we worked very hard and we got it together but at some point, it felt frustrating and the process was the longest we ever had. We had a good material, but just to find the right spirit and the essence of music, that’s what’s the most important and difficult as well.

Zenae: Is there a favorite song from the new album (Jumalten aika) that you like to play live?

Mitja: Yeah, personally I like to play “Ruttolehto” (“Ruttolehto incl. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa” ), the second song. It has so many elements we don’t have that much. Usually, it involves Jonne (Jonne Järvelä) from Korpiklaani to sing those dramatic parts and we don’t have him on board so we can’t do it. We did a couple of tours with them, so he would come to the stage every time to sing his parts. And it was amazing to see people actually crying in these parts because it gets so emotional in a way.

Zenae: Would you guys return for another combined tour in North America?

2017_02_02_Moonsorrow_70000TonsOfMetal-8 Interview with Moonsorrow at 70000 Tons Of Metal — The World’s Biggest Heavy Metal CruiseMitja: We have done many times [laugh]. Yeah, naturally, but the last tour it was in 2012 with them and then 2010, I guess or 9. We’ve been touring quite a lot together. They’re great touring companions because we are on the same level. All though the music is very different but it’s so smooth because you know them so well.

Zenae: I can see that you guys working well together with the two different energies.

Mitja: Yeah on and off stage, it’s great and very good, I think. Some people think it’s strange that, because they’re very traditional folk metal kind of, quite happy music, but we’re on this other side of the coin in a way.

Zenae: Yeah [laugh]. They cheer us up before we get really depressed [laugh]. Do you have a favorite Moonsorrow album?

Mitja: Ah, No! I cannot say so. I also don’t have a least favorite. But I’m pretty happy with all of them. They represent different times and different era of our songwriting but I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t listen to our albums at all because when it’s finished you kinda leave it aside and move on but. If I would have to say a favorite it’s either the new one (Jumalten aika) or Verisäkeet because those are the most important right now to me.

Zenae: The new one is very dramatic.

Mitja: Yeah.

Zenae: I relate to it being one of my favorites as well.

Mitja: Cool

Zenae: What advice do you have for the young starting out musicians?

Mitja: Well, what advice which is not the easiest one to accomplish is to find your own voice because every band starts with copying other bands. For example, we still do, we still copy other bands in a way of having kinda tributes and influences, that’s natural and that’s good. But to find your own voice, trying to think okay what makes us this band that’s important, that something that you should think and finds a new angle on stuff. If you want to be a brutal band it’s difficult to find kinda cliff that makes you stand out from other bands. And that’s the most important thing you need to do. Whatever the genre is you need to find your own recipe on how to stand out and...

Zenae: Be original?

Mitja: Yeah, be original and have self-criticism. But still, have fun with whatever you’re doing. Don’t be narrow-minded. None of the bands that are very influential, they’re never narrow-minded. They never just went in a formula of something. They always had something from outside that works in the mix so they became something different. So, when you keep that in mind then it might help.

Zenae: I think that’s really good advice. You do hear a lot of bands that want to sound like someone else instead of trying to be original. It doesn’t help them stand out from the crowd. You guys definitely stand out producing incredible work.

Mitja: Thank You!

Metalpresse / April 2018

Impact Metal Channel / April 2018

23 · IV · 2018
Barba Negra Club, Budapest, Hungary

Metalcry / April 2016

SOURCE






MOONSORROW regresan a las primeras páginas con un nuevo disco después de cinco años de silencio discográfico ¿De verdad pensábais que íbamos a dejar pasar la oportunidad de charlar un rato? Aquí tenéis nuestra entrevista con el guitarrista y cantante Mitja Harvilahti:

“Jumalten Aika” sale hoy 1 de Abril ¿Qué podems esperar de este nuevo disco?

Bueno, es más variado en muchos aspectos. Más Black Metal, más influencias tradicionales escandinavas, con más riffs también. No es tan directo como nuestros dos últimos discos en lo que se refiere a las estructuras.

¿Cómo va a ser diferente de “Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maasa”?

Bueno, musicalmente queríamos crear algo con más giros que antes. Es decir, aún es muy “épico” en todos los aspectos pero esta vez hay más interludios acústicos y cambios repentinos en comparación con VKKM. El sonido también es algo diferente con más espacio para los elementos acústicos ¡No es tan rompedor pero es más canalla!

Este va a ser vuestro séptimo LP en una carrera que ya dura más de 20 años ¿Cómo conseguís manteneros frescos sin perder vuesto distintivo sonido?

¡Buena pregunta! En realidad, nosotros hacemos discos cuando tenemos algo que decir. Esa es una de las razones por las que ha pasado tanto tiempo desde VKKM. Llevó bastante tiempo para que realmente tuviéramos material lo suficientemente bueno como para poder defenderlo ¡Si no encontráramos la música lo suficientemente interesante o buena nos separaríamos o quizás hubiéramos esperado otros cinco años!

Hasta ahora habíamos visto un par de teasers y el video single de “Suden Tunti“ ¿Qué me puedes contar del último?

“Suden Tunti“ es la canción más corta del disco y el tema que toda es muy bueno para un vídeo musical. Hemos trabajado con un magnífico equipo servio para hacerlo. Sabíamos que la animación era la única forma de contar la historia y pensamos que el resultado es todo un éxito.

Parece que tenéis una relación especial con las canciones largas, dado que podemos encontrar cuatro temas por encima de los diez minutos en este disco ¿Es algo que buscáis cuando componéis o simplemente sale así?

Supongo que a estas alturas de nuestra carrera podemos decir que los temas por encima de los diez minutos son la norma para nosotros. La longitud no es importante en si m isma pero si queires crear música épica, hace falta construir los temas. En realidad queríamos escribir temas más cortos esta vez, pero no salió.

“Jumalten Aika” se traduce como “The Age Of Gods” ¿Puedes contarnos algo del contenido lírico del disco?

Claro, con este disco queríamos retomar los temas mitológicos. Básicamente el disco empieza en el tiempo que la gente empezó a crear religiones y creencias para darle sentido al universo. Crearon los dioses para que la gente pudiera creer en algo más grande.

Este va a ser vuestro primer disco con Century media ¿Cómo os sentís con el sello de momento? ¿Por qué os decidisteis por ellos?

Estamos realmente satisfechos con Century Media. Son muy profesionales y no están ahí solo para hacer negocio sino porque aman la música. Esa es la principal razón por la que queríamos firmar con ellos. Sentimos que realmente se preocupan por lo que hacemos. Nosotros ponemos todo lo que podemos para hacer un buen disco así que es muy satisfactorio trabajar con alguien con la misma pasión.

Si un fan entrara en una tienda y tuviera que elegir entre “Jumalten Aika” o cualquier otro lanzamiento ¿por qué deberá escoger el vuestro?

Hmm… Bueno, creo que si el o ella lo escucha, no se abrirá completamente la primera vez. Puedes escucharlo muchas veces y seguir encontrado cosas nuevas cada vez.

Estáis a punto de salir de gira ¿Qué expectativas tienes de estas fechas?

Ha pasado demasiado tiempo desde nuestro último tour europeo, así que estamos muy excitados de poder tocar en esos locales otra vez. Especialmente ahora que tenemos un nuevo disco. Girar normalmente supone grandes momentos en todos los sentidos, así que sienta genial salir a la carretera de nuevo.

El 13 y 14 de Abril tocaréis en Madrid y Barcelona junto a KORPIKLAANI ¿Qué pueden esperar los fans de estos conciertos?

¡Creo que sera un gran concierto! Nos encanta tocar para los fans en Madrid y Barceloa así que espero que sean dos de los conciertos más salvajes de esta gira.

El año pasado fue vuestro veinte aniversario como banda ¿Tenéis planeado algo especial para celebrarlo?

¡Sí! Este álbum nos ha costado cinco años ¡No podría haber mejor celebración que un nuevo disco!

Vuestros discos están claramente diseñados para escucharse como un todo. Teniendo eso en consideración ¿Cómo te sientes acerca de plataformas como Spotify, iTunes o Youtube que, en cierto modo, promueven una forma de escuchar música orientada al single?

Realmente no lo acabo de entender. Desde luego yo también escucho música así, pero no lo disfruto igual. Aún quiero mis discos como un todo. No tengo nada contra estas plataformas, que tienen su lugar y las utilizo todas, pero desde el punto de vista de artista deberían ser más justas de lo que han sido. Aún estamos viviendo un cruce caminos con la industria musical: aferrarse a todo lo que se construyó para los lanzamientos físicos o aceptar que la forma de consumir música ya ha cambiado.

Por último, me gustaría agradecerte tu tiempo y dejarte este espacio para decir lo que te apetezca a vuestros fans:

Al fin tenemos un nuevo álbum ¡y estamos muy orgullosos de él! ¡Así que echadle un vistazo y venid a vernos a los conciertos!

The Metal Circus / April 2016

SOURCE

Mitja Harvilahti (guitarra y coros) nos recibe en el backstage de Razzmatazz 2, y nos sentamos a charlar en la hora y pico que queda antes del bolo. Quizá fuera porque venía entusiasmado por el buen tiempo que hace en la ciudad condal, tan distinto de su natal Finlandia, porque llegaba enamorado de la Barceloneta, o porque justo había descubierto los mojitos del Born, pero nos explicó detalles del nuevo álbum, su viaje personal por la trayectoria del grupo, el motivo del nombre “Finnish Folk Metal Mafia”, novedades sobre "Lakupaavi", y hasta una historia sobre cómo fueron víctimas de una investigación del FBI.

Este jueves, Barcelona era asaltada por la Finnish Folk Metal Mafia, o lo que es lo mismo, las bandas finlandesas de folk metal Korpiklaani y Moonsorrow. Aprovechamos para hablar con los segundos, que es apenas la segunda vez que visitan nuestro país en sus veinte años de trayectoria, y que recientemente han sacado su séptimo álbum, “Jumalten Aika“.

Mitja Harvilahti (guitarra y coros) nos recibe en el backstage de Razzmatazz 2, y nos sentamos a charlar en la hora y pico que queda antes del bolo. Quizá fuera porque venía entusiasmado por el buen tiempo que hace en la ciudad condal, tan distinto de su natal Finlandia, porque llegaba enamorado de la Barceloneta, o porque justo había descubierto los mojitos del Born, pero nos explicó detalles del nuevo álbum, su viaje personal por la trayectoria del grupo, el motivo del nombre “Finnish Folk Metal Mafia”, novedades sobre “Lakupaavi“, y hasta una historia sobre cómo fueron víctimas de una investigación del FBI.

Empezamos hablando del nuevo álbum, que llegó a las tiendas a principios de este mes, después de levantar gran expectación por las redes y cosechar excelentes notas entre las publicaciones especializadas. En palabras de Mitja, “mezcla elementos nuevos y viejos, como el folk escandinavo, pero a la vez también tiene una atmósfera muy oscura”. Nos cuenta que están especialmente satisfechos porque han logrado un álbum muy sólido, “que funciona como una pieza” pero que, a la vez, “tiene muchas variaciones interiores, especialmente con la instrumentación”, y que eso es algo que llevaban mucho tiempo queriendo conseguir.

Las letras del álbum tratan de la mitología y el nacimiento de las religiones: “Empieza cuando la gente está creando la fe, para poder explicar sus propias vidas, y luego caen en creer que los dioses los crearon a ellos”, y acaba formando una narrativa circular, pues “en la última canción [“Ihmisen aika“], los hombres han abandonado a los dioses y sólo se mueven por la avaricia y el dinero”. Pero no se trata enteramente de un álbum conceptual, como ya habían hecho anteriormente, si no que “sigue una historia, pero no completamente. No todas las canciones están conectadas directamente las unas a las otras, si no que sólo se relacionan porque tratan el tema de la mitología.” Debido a esto, Mitja opina que, en “Jumalten Aika“, las canciones “no están muy conectadas las unas a las otras, son más individuales”, pero que tampoco se han alejado mucho del estilo de Moonsorrow, y que “nunca seríamos capaces de escribir un álbum que fuera sólo un puñado de canciones”. En general, Mitja reconoce la influencia de la cultura escandinava en los temas que trata el grupo – concretamente, destaca las Edda, y aunque le gustaría que pudieran tratar más el Kalevala (su leyenda favorita, sobre el asalto de unos héroes a otro país, pertenece a este recopilatorio), bromea sobre que Amorphis ya se encarga de esto.

Una de las cosas que más ríos de tinta han hecho brotar sobre Moonsorrow es la longitud de sus canciones, que pueden cómodamente alargarse hasta el cuarto de hora. Escoger cuándo se acaba una canción “es muy difícil; podemos empezar con una idea, pero luego tenemos que probarlo todo”, nos confiesa, y nos cuenta que “no escribimos de principio a fin de golpe, si no que escribimos algo para el principio, algo para el medio, y luego algo para el final, y empezamos a mezclarlo.” Es algo que, según Mitja, tiene que ver con la forma cómo crean el concepto de las canciones, con una fuerte estructura de motivos recurrentes, pues, “cuando tienes motivos fuertes, se acaban volviendo a entremezclar al final, [aunque] cuando empezamos a escribir un tema no siempre lo tenemos planeado, pero siempre acaba siendo la mejor forma. La forma con la que Moonsorrow funciona”.

Mitja nos relata que, con este nuevo álbum, han tenido especiales problemas para delimitar el contenido de los temas (“No sé por qué, ¡pero fue muy difícil! ¡Teníamos que probarlo todo!”), y que, por ejemplo, con la segunda canción [“Ruttolehto“] “justo un día antes de entrar al estudio, Henri cambió la estructura completamente, y nosotros nos quedamos como “¿y ahora qué coño es esto? ¡No podemos hacerlo!”, pero, por suerte, mantuvimos los cambios”, desembucha entre risas.

Hablando de Henri Sorvali [guitarra, teclados, voz y compositor principal], Mitja nos confirma que tampoco le veremos girar en esta ocasión debido a los motivos que él mismo mencionó en su blog, pero le pedimos que le haga llegar los mejores deseos de todos los fans hispanohablantes y que, aunque entendemos la situación, sería bonito algún día ver llegar a nuestras costas a la banda completa.

Son ya más de veinte años en activo, y con siete trabajos bajo el brazo, puede resultar complejo para los novatos orientarse y escoger con qué álbum empezar a adentrarse en el mundo de Moonsorrow. Mitja os recomendaría enfrentaros a ellos en estricto orden cronológico, para ver la evolución de la banda – “No me gustaría escuchar “Suden Uni” (2001) después de “Hävittety”(2007)” -, una evolución de la que a él le gusta destacar el giro hacia un estilo más intimista y “realista, práctico y humilde”. Señala “Verisäkeet” (2005) como el punto de inflexión donde se dieron cuenta de que no necesitaban tantos elementos sinfónicos, “que en “Kivenkantaja” (2003) nos llegamos a ahogar entre tanta orquestración y arreglos”, y que ellos debían hacer lo opuesto a grupos como Nightwish (en ese momento, en pleno despegue).

Y otro de los puntos clave de su carrera que escoge destacar es el lanzamiento de “Hävittety”, por el hecho de que se trataba de un álbum que contenía sólo dos canciones (de media hora de duración cada una.) “Es el epítome de cuán épicos podemos llegar a querer ser, porque no creo que nunca hagamos algo más grande que aquello”. Pero, ¿fue complicado para la discográfica -que tiene que pensar en la viabilidad económica de las propuestas- aceptar algo tan atípico? “¡Tuvieron que hacerlo!”, exclama Mitja entre risas, para después ponerse serio: “No pueden controlar qué escribimos. No somos un producto, somos artistas. Y si no podemos hacer lo que deseamos hacer, realmente no hay ningún motivo para sacar trabajos.” Por suerte, la crítica y el público les dio la razón, valorando el álbum muy positivamente, aunque Mitja advierte que “es algo complicado de escuchar, requiere mucha energía”.

Recientemente, Moonsorrow ha llegado de una gira por China bastante ambiciosa, con apenas un par de días en Helsinki para descansar antes de enfrentarse a la rama europea de la promoción. Aunque no tienen ningún ritual concreto para encarar los bolos, “sólo un par de birras y ya” (y en este punto de la entrevista ya va por la segunda), Mitja reconoce la labor del personal técnico, que “hacen un gran trabajo, muy profesional, para que no nos tengamos que preocupar de la logística y nos podamos enfocar sólo en tocar”.

Llama la atención que, cuando giran con Korpiklaani, los dos grupos se hacen llamar Finnish Folk Metal Mafia. Justo en el momento de hacer la pregunta, un roadie entra en la sala y los dos se miran significativamente sin apenas poder aguantar la risa. Esto huele a buena historia. “Estábamos en una gira junto con unos otros grupos alemanes y, bueno, nos lo estábamos pasando bien, estábamos ya algo borrachos, y decidimos empezar a robar el bote de los alemanes, y llegó el punto en que nos hicimos llamar Finnish Folk Metal Mafia. ¡Hasta nos hicimos unos tatuajes a juego!”, y nos muestra un tatuaje en su muñeca, donde pone FFMM en tipografía rúnica. “Nos todos lo tenemos, pero algunos sí que nos atrevimos”.

Ahora que ya hemos dejado atrás la parte más técnica de la entrevista, parece el momento de preguntar por “Lakupaavi“, un proyecto en broma con el que Moonsorrow hizo perder la fe por unos instantes a todos sus fans. Ahora que ya han pasado diez años de la aventura, ¿cómo se ve des de la distancia? “Sigue siendo pura mierda”, bromea Mitja. “No, ahora en serio, creo que fue algo genial, muy espontáneo.” Y nos sorprende confesando que “habrá más noticias de “Lakupaavi“, sólo que no sé cuando, y esta vez no tendrá nada que ver directamente con Moonsorrow. De hecho, hasta tenemos ya una canción”.

El sentido del humor es algo que caracteriza a los integrantes de Moonsorrow. De “Lakupaavi” ya hace diez años, pero apenas hará un año, Henri puso patas arriba la comunidad metalera a costa de la marca de ropa H&M. Mitja tampoco acaba de entender cómo fue que todo se salió de madre tan rápidamente – “Empezó como una cosa de Facebook y de golpe la gente se empezó a unir (no puedo decir quiénes eran, pero había más de 40 personas implicadas), y en un día ya había el sello discográfico, las canciones, las portadas, las páginas web…”. El problema, según él lo ve, llegó con las webs americanas, “que malinterpretaron el asunto. Si todo el mundo hubiera entendido que era una broma, no habría llegado a ningún sitio, pero se pensaron que iba en serio, y en dos horas ya se había compartido millones de veces.” Nada que decir, pero, contra el público americano, del que destaca que son “muy amables”, aunque, por supuesto, también hay una historia que contar detrás de su primera gira al otro lado del charco, con implicación del FBI incluida: “La primera vez que tocamos allí fue en un lugar que estaba como conectado a un hotel [cuyo huéspedes da a entender que debían ser gente muy religiosa], y se quejaron, y unos días más tarde, el FBI empezó una investigación y hasta preguntaron a los organizadores si habíamos sacrificado algún animal o algo así.”

“Creo que todo el mundo quiere creer en algo”, nos cuenta Mitja, ahora que hemos decidido hablar un poco de religión. “La gente crecemos y no tenemos una madre que nos siga cuidando, y acaba siendo necesario creer en algún tipo de dios. No importa si es o no es [el] Dios [cristiano], pero se necesita creer en algo, algún tipo de marco que ayude a entender qué somos, de dónde venimos, o qué es sagrado para nosotros”. Unas reflexiones interesantes, provenientes de una banda cuyo miembros se identifica como ateos o paganos.

Para Mitja, algo muy importante (quizá hasta cercano a lo sagrado) es la naturaleza. Nos cuenta que intenta preservarla, que da dinero a diferentes organizaciones y está reduciendo su consumo de carne, pero que por encima de todo es realista (“no me puedo considerar vegetariano”), e intenta no ser hipócrita: “No puedo decir que sea un santo, pero por lo menos intento ser lo más honesto posible. Creo que daño al mundo más que la gente normal porque estoy volando todo el tiempo, y la contaminación que sale de todos los aviones que usan las bandas cuando giran no puede ser ecológica de ninguna manera.”

Finlandia tiene la peculiaridad de que la tierra se regula según los derechos tradicionales de acceso, es decir, así por encima, que cualquiera puede pasear libremente por el bosque y recolectar bayas, setas, u cualquier otro recurso natural, aunque dicho bosque pertenezca a un territorio con propietario. “Simplemente, es de buena educación no acercarse a los edificios donde vive la gente”. Sin embargo, recientemente se dijo que el gobierno finlandés había propuesto una ley que permitiría la privatización de los bosques por parte de las empresas. Mitja nos actualiza y nos cuenta que esta ley ha sido, tristemente, aceptada, y que “realmente es muy jodido. No sé exactamente cuáles van a ser les consecuencias, pero es ridículo. Quién quiera que esté al mando de esto…” Lejos del paraíso natural que pueda parecer, Finlandia está forcejeando con varias problemas referentes al ecosistema, “como los lobos. Apenas hay 100 lobos en todo el país, y podría haber más, pero están dando permisos para matarlos.”

Mitja no lo ve muy claro: “Creo que van a haber manifestaciones. Pero los finlandeses no somos muy buenos con las manifestaciones, somos demasiado amables, y vagos”. Mejor no se fijen en nuestro estilo, de mucho ruido y pocas nueces.

El reloj nos avisa de que queda ya poco para dar inicio al bolo, y dejamos que Mitja vaya a asaltar el catering – nos parece ver restos de paella – y coger energías para darnos un concierto que, seguramente, será inolvidable.

HeavyMusic.ru / March 2017

SOURCE

  It’s been a year since the release of “Jumalten Aika”, and Heavymusic team came back to Helsinki for having a chat with the guys from Moonsorrow again. The secrets of promo photos, old Finnish traditions, the end of the world and more — have a read our exclusive interview!
          
        

          
          So how was the tour going for you?
          
          Ville: Excellent!
          
          Mitja: Yeah, very good! It’s nice to tour in Finland as we didn’t do a proper Finnish tour, just played some festivals, and then we started touring in Europe when the album [Jumalten Aika] was released, so finally we’ve been touring a little bit more in Finland.
          
          Have you received any kind of special treatment from the homeland fans? Is there any difference in mentality?
          
          Ville: I don’t know if it’s different, it was just really good. We got a very good response from the audience, maybe it’s because we don’t do this so often they don’t get tired…
          
          Or they just miss you so much because you usually play in other countries!
          
          Ville: I don’t know why actually.
          
          We’re sitting here like we did almost a year ago. The same place, nearly the same time…
          
          Mitja: Right!
          
          …but at that time we didn’t have a chance to look at “Jumalten Aika” booklet. Now after taking a closer look we can say that your promo pictures have definitely caught our attention. Can you tell us about its making process?
          
          Ville: It was Markus’s idea. He wanted to do this maybe because he doesn’t like us that much *laughs* He wants us to suffer. It was really painful to do. In a way it was fun. How did we do it?
          
          Mitja: We were in theatre with some kind of a pool of mud and dirt.
          
          So you were in a closed space, not outside, right?
          
          Mitja: Yeah, we were indoors.
          
          Ville: We weren’t really at the graveyard or anything.
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Mitja: It was fucking cold at that time of the year, so being outside and trying to dig ground for the hole big enough for the guys…
          
          Markus doesn’t dislike you that much!
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          

          
          How did you feel with all that ground in your hair and even in your mouth?
          
          Ville: Dirty.
          
          Was it tasty?
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Ville: I was the one who had the dirt in my mouth, so I can tell you it wasn’t especially tasty. I wouldn’t use that word to describe it.
          
          You wouldn’t repeat that, right?
          
          Ville: No, probably not.
          
          *At that point Mitja shows us a photo of Markus lying on the ground in the pool half-naked*
          
          Mitja: So there’s Markus.
          
          He is trying to be so stoic…
          
          Ville: He doesn’t have to try to be stoic.
          
          Well, let’s move to the next question. Using of folk melodies has always been a strong feature of your music. Do you in some way rearrange any old Finnish melodies or do you write your own stuff?
          
          Ville: We’d like to think that all those melodies are originals, and that we’ve come up with them. Of course, there’s only a certain number of ways how you can combine these a few notes that are used in traditional Scandinavian music, so every melody sounds a bit like the next melody in a way, but we don’t use melodies that are known as traditional or anything. We try to come up with the new ones.
          
          The new ones sound like the old ones, and it’s really good! Ok, now I want to ask you about phenomenon which can be called “blood memory”. It means a special state of mind when you suddenly feel like traveling back in time and looking on the world with your ancestors’ eyes. Have you ever experienced such a feeling and if yes, what was the reason for it?
          
          Mitja: A good question. I don’t think I have. I tried to, but I don’t think it really happened to me. Although many times I try to depict in my head how things were before and so on, but I haven’t had any experience like this.
          
          Sometimes when you’re listening to music, you can imagine all this stuff they sing about and sometimes it just happens…
          
          Mitja: Well, when I usually listen to the music I see some kind of landscapes and colors but nothing very concrete.
          
          Ville: When I was writing the lyrics, I really tried to see the world with my ancestors’ eyes, but of course it’s a bit difficult, because the surroundings are totally different. Those people didn’t use to live in the cities, for example. They didn’t have running water or electricity or anything.
          
          How about escaping to the forest?
          
          Ville: I was doing some inner research in forests and Arctic areas, but that’s a different story.
          
          Ok, it will be the question for the next interview! Do you have any favorite Finnish traditions or customs?
          
          Ville: Drinking.
          
          Mitja: Customs?..
          
          *At that point our interview is interrupted with a loud “Whee!” from Marko who is riding an equipment trolley driven by one of the technicians. They say “Oh, you’re having an interview! Sorry!” and zoom off. Everybody laughs*
          
          Mitja: I would say… Just fishing *laughs* It’s not really a tradition, but…
          
          Ville: It’s not really a tradition, because it was crucial for quite many people’s living back in those days. You had to fish to get something to eat. Nowadays it’s just a hobby, because other people fish for us, we just go to the supermarket and buy that fish, and it’s actually pretty sad.
          
          The nature has always had a great influence on your music, if not to say the greatest. What do you think modern people should learn from the nature?
          
          Ville: Respect.
          
          Mitja: Yeah. Respect and I think it would be good to anybody to go in the woods by yourself completely alone and stay for a couple of nights with yourself and nature. It teaches you a lot about yourself usually.
          
          Ville: And I think people should definitely understand that even though we have all these big cities, we have these supermarkets that stock the food for us, we have smartphones and everything, we still totally and mostly depend on the nature. All these parts that are used in the smartphones *nods in the direction of smartphones recording the interview* come from the nature originally. So we’re just kind of visitors here. If we fuck up the planet, the planet doesn’t care, I think, but then we fuck up ourselves. People should really understand that before it’s too late. It’s not supposed to be a lecture or anything but that’s what just came up to my mind.
          
          You have developed two concepts of the end of the world on your albums. It will die in the fire or plunge into eternal cold according to “Hävitetty” and “Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleden Maassa” respectively. In your opinion, what will be the real end of the word?
          
          Ville: Stupidity. There are lots of possible scenarios, I don’t think if it’s actually gonna happen but… It’s not gonna happen during my life, I hope. People will eventually reeducate themselves.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, people are lucky enough to live until they do, but I think some asteroid will destroy our planet before we can do it.
          
          So it can be better for us than dying from our own hands…
          
          Mitja: I don’t know if it’s good for anything but... I hope it’s gonna happen soon, maybe tomorrow.
          
          Ville: It would be good for the other life forms on this planet, if we get rid of ourselves, but I’m not gonna get rid of myself, I don’t need that. Some things have gone a bit out of hand.
          
          

          
          Can you guys compare yourself with any kind of nature phenomena?
          
          Mitja: What do you mean?
          
          Anything like rain, storm, snow, Northern lights… maybe rainbow?
          
          Mitja: *laughs* Ok, we’re rainbows…
          
          Ville: I would like to be a stone. They are quite cool. They don’t really disturb anyone.
          
          Yeah, just lying on the ground…
          
          Mitja: Growing some mold…
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Ville: Unless there’s a landslide. Then they disturb quite a lot.
          
          Mitja, what about you? Rainbow was your first answer…
          
          Mitja: No-no-no…
          
          Ville: A unicorn.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, a unicorn. *laughs* No, I would say… mist.
          
          Nowadays many people think it’s important to have a warrior spirit. With regard to all events which are happening in the world what’s your opinion about that and do you consider yourself as warriors?
          
          Ville: No.
          
          Mitja: Not really. You need to have some stamina to go through everyday life, but I don’t value people who are over-aggressive and take whatever they want.
          
          Well, it’s maybe about defending their own interests and even overcoming yourself every day, doing something you don’t like to, but you have to…
          
          Mitja: Yeah, when you need to take stuff in your hands then of course, not just physically but in general. But I value wisdom more than being just a fighter.
          
          Ville: I think that’s one of the most important features of human kind that we actually have, if we want to. We have the ability to coexist and make compromises that benefit everyone. In theory.
          
          This year marks a centenary of Finnish independence. In order to commemorate this event one web-site called musicfinland.fi has made a special playlist which includes one hundred songs of different Finnish artists who has made bright and lasting international impression. Unfortunately, no Moonsorrow songs were included…
          
          Ville: I haven’t checked the list.
          
          …so if you could choose one song to be in this list, which song would it be?
          
          Ville: That’s a very good question.
          
          Mitja: I would choose “Tulimyrsky”.
          
          Ville: Yeah, because it’s the longest.
          
          The next question might be a tricky one, but we want you to be honest. Does Moonsorrow give you enough space for artistic expression, or do you sometimes feel the need to bring your material to any side projects?
          
          Ville: So far it has for me. I don’t really feel a need to do something else. I might do something else now and then just for fun, but I don’t think Moonsorrow limits my artistic expression.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, we all write all kinds of material and every material has its place somewhere, not maybe in Moonsorrow, but we want to write some Lakupaavi [punk/grindcore side project including the members of Moonsorrow] stuff definitely not under Moonsorrow’s name.
          
          Well, it must be continued!
          
          Ville: But no one knows when.
          
          Mitja: Time is also limited. I find it extremely difficult to find the time for other projects, and when I do, it’s always battle against time schedules and stuff.
          
          What kind of projects do you do?
          
          Mitja: Well, I have an old band called Shadow Cut, and we tried to make some new songs but... it’s impossible to find time for it. I have some ideas for other projects, but it never happens because nobody finds time.
          
          Do you at least have any volunteers to help you with this or do you do everything by yourself?
          
          Mitja: Yeas, it’s always with other people. I am not good enough with the computers to make music by myself, it’so slow. After seeing how Henri [Sorwali, the mastermind of Moonsorrow] works and how he can by hands play just drum kit in one minute, and then all the instruments in few minutes, while I’m still trying to struggle with the kick drum, not even be able to make a complete drum feel for one song.
          
          So no majesty of Burzum or Falkenbach for you?
          
          Mitja: *laughs* No.
          
          And now we have two special questions. The first is for you, Ville. Which part of being a musician excites you the most: playing the instrument, writing the lyrics or doing the vocals?
          
          Ville: All of those, really. I’m in a very different mood in all those different aspects. When I play the show, I’m in the mood for playing the show, when I do vocals in the studio, I’m in that mood... I enjoy all of that in a very different way, I can even compare it, I’m really sorry.
          
          The second question goes for you, Mitja. According to some pictures, which have been made during the shootings of “The Home Of The Wind” documentary, one of your hobbies is sailing. Can you tell us more about it?
          
          Ville: And sinking ships…
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Mitja: Yeah, I own a really old wooden boat with a friend of mine. It’s great to have it during the summer because Helsinki and the archipelago around us are really beautiful, and just in a few minutes you’re in a completely different environment. The ocean is a very interesting element for me, it’s quite scary and beautiful and all things at the same time.
          
          Ville: And the constant threat of drowning…
          
          Mitja: Yeah, it’s always there.
          
          Ville: It really puts you in perspective. Man versus the nature.
          
          Mitja: In my case it’s usually man versus the engine.
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Is it that old?
          
          Mitja: Yes. It’s from 60s and the engine looks like… it needs a lot of maintenance this summer, or I’m really gonna drown.
          
          Well, retro style is quite popular nowadays.
          
          MItja: Yeah, they don’t do boats like this anymore.
          
          Ville: I wonder why…
          
          Mitja: I too wonder why, because…
          
          Ville: It’s a nice boat.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, it has spirit. When it’s old and made of wood, it’s so much better to sleep and better to look at compared to fiberglass boats.
          
          We have mentioned the making of your documentary. What is its current state, have the shootings already been finished?
          
          Ville: Yeah, the main guy behind it has just mentioned that now he’s finally finished with all the material. Let’s see!
          
          Mitja: Yeah, it’s in the editing phase right now. He shot the previous week, they came to Tampere to shoot some material, and I’m delivering them some old footage as well, so they started to edit it. I guess they’ve edited some parts already.
          
          Great news! Can’t wait to see the result!
          
          Ville: Me neither.
          
          And which part of the shootings you liked best?
          
          Ville: I only did a couple of interviews so I gave a lot of background information but I wasn’t filmed during that. Interviews and all of that were really nice, they had good questions, and obviously they made a good background work. It was really nice to work with people who know what they are doing and know what band they are dealing with.
          
          Mitja: It feels sometimes like they know the band better than we do.
          
          Because probably you’ve already forgotten some things.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, yeah.
          
          That’s the fan’s nature, I guess, to know everything and even more…
          
          Mitja: But it was strange when every time they asked me to talk about paganism, it always started raining. We had a session on an island, and just when I was starting to answer their questions it started pouring down like hell. The next day we went on a hill and when I was just about to start again, it started to rain.
          
          So you aren’t the mist, you’re the rain!
          
          Mitja: Yeah, right.
          
          Or maybe you have some secret knowledge which is not meant to be shared…
          
          Ville: Or it’s so crappy it shouldn’t be shared.
          
          And now here’s our last question for today. What is the most peculiar thing you can’t live without while being on tour?
          
          Ville: Hmm, let me think… *after a long pause* I don’t have any esoteric artefacts in my bunk in the bus…
          
          Mitja: I do.
          
          Ville: I just have my music I listen to, that’s it. I don’t even have books. I have one book on this tour, but I’ve already read it before the tour, so I just lent it to other people.
          
          What was the book?
          
          Ville: It was a very short book about an American tour from the prospective of a roadie. It was really short and I actually read it. I bought it for the tour, but I actually read before the tour.
          
          Mitja: Well, I don’t really need many things. It happened to me once when all my possessions were stolen from the bus, with all my clothes and stuff. I did have my wallet and phone in my pockets, but everything else I lost. As long as somebody provides you with drinks and food, then I’ll be fine. It was horrible to be in the US without clothes, because when we arrived to Hollywood my clothes looked horrible. It was so dirty after two weeks of touring, and I thought “Ok, I’m gonna go and buy some new stuff from H&M”, but they were closed. It was Sunday or just the late hours, and the only shop that was opened was Armani shop…
          
          Ville: Yeah, in Hollywood.
          
          As long as you have a good credit card you’re fine.
          
          Mitja: I’ve bought Armani sweater and shirts and stuff, and it cost like hell. It was like a completely different person when I came back to them.
          
          I bet you made a lot of fun on him!
          
          Ville: He doesn’t really have to dress up differently for us to make fun on him…
          
          So that’s it! Thanks for the answers and have a good show tonight!
          
          
          Questions: Olga Degteva, Maria Meledyakhina