Finnish metallers have always played a big role in the metal music industry, no doubt about it. From symphonic rock to black metal and traditional heavy metal to death metal, Finnish metalheads raise the flag, fists and the horns. Recently our Chief Editor discovered a new Scandinavian true heavy metal outfit, SOULHEALER, hailing from Kajaani, Finland. So, Mohsen conducted an interesting interview with the band’s guitarist Sami Mikkonen, which is now available to read below.
Sami Mikkonen
Hello Sami, thanks for Accepting Metal Shock Finland’s call for this interview. How are you doing?
Hiya! No problem at all, my pleasure. I’m doing fine thanks. SSDD you might even say you know hoho! To begin with, would you please introduce your band and describe your music for people who don’t know SoulHealer yet?
We’re SoulHealer, a tremendous live metal band from Finland! We’re a five-piece who play melodic metal made in Finland. Catchy tunes, big choruses, guitars solos…everything you thought you left behind when the Eighties ended.
Can you tell us more about your favourite music, influences and where your metal comes from?
My favorite music…well, you could say that if has a good melody, heavy guitars and/or a guitar solo in it, I’m in! But in all honesty, I grew up in the Eighties. So that era of music has a special place in my heart of course. I do listen to all kinds of music, so if it’s good, I like it! I reserve the right to judge what is good and what is not though hahaha! My biggest infuences…well obviously Iron Maiden’s got a huge influence in my playing and songwriting and everything, as have all the bands from my teens, Ratt, Dokken, Accept, Helloween, Judas Priest…that list is endless! But I do count The Shadows and The Beatles in my influences as well.
You recently released your newest album “Bear The Cross“, how has the reaction been from your fans and critics so far?
Tough question… the album comes out on October 17th, so we haven’t seen or heard the fans’s reaction that much yet. Although the new song “Dead Man Walking” has received pretty damned nice reactions! The reviews have been very, well, promising in the lack of a better word. The people who’ve listened to the album have liked it very much.
I would like to know more about the process of recording your music, would you please tell me who is/are more responsible for writing and recording? Also I would like to know how you arrange writing lyrics?
So far we have relied very much on Teemu Kuosmanen’s songwriting. I mean the majority of songs we have recorded, the music and most of the lyrics are by him. I’ve penned a few tunes as well on our previous efforts, usually teaming up with Teemu. The recording part we usually do together at first, the basic tracks like drums for example and then the respective instruments by ourselves. Vocals are done by Jori & Teemu or Jori & me or Jori & Teemu & me. Or at least that’s how the process has been so far.
Now the topic of lyrics is an interesting one in itself. I mean, writing the music comes very naturally to me, and I’m sure it’s the same with Teemu. And he has a knack for good melodies in my opinion. He writes catchy stuff! But you really can’t have a metal band without vocals, so you need lyrics. And for me it’s always been really, really hard to express myself or anything in that kind of limited space like a song lyric usually needs to be. So you could say they’re a necessary evil if you will. As said earlier, Teemu does write most of the lyrics to his own songs, but sometimes he may ask me if I would have an idea for this or that tune, he might have the chorus worked out or some bits and pieces for the verses, you know? I take it from there and by some kind of strike of magic squeeze the lyrics out of my head hahaha! I mean there’s nothing magical about it at all. The songs need lyrics to be ready to be performed and we need to provide them. The inspiration can come from anything or anywhere, I remember writing Dead Man Walking when I took my daughter to skating school one cold Sunday evening… had the melody playing in my head and it just hooked in my head with the lines in the chorus. The whole lyric was written in like 30 minutes after I started typing on my phone. I guess what I’m trying to say that inspiration for lyrics can strike anytime, and the inspiration itself can be anything. A few lines of words you hear on TV, read somewhere etc or get pissed off enough that you need to let it all out verbally hehe.
The album was released through Pure Steel Records, a company which supports heavy/power metal. How did you get support from them, are you happy with what they did or are doing? (You can talk honestly with us) And what is the band’s relationship like with the record company?
So far so good I’d say. The first label we’ve ever been on too. If I’ve understood correctly, they’re expanding their territory to the Finnish market and we’ve been one of their “spearhead projects” in doing so. So there have been some minor hiccups on both sides but all in all, what more can one ask for from a record label these days? In my opinion the band’s relationship with the label is a good professional relationship.
Ok, almost everyone knows that now is not a good time in the music industry. Can you tell me how you see this industry and its difficulties? And what are your plans to face them as a serious group of heavy metal musicians?
I guess you want an honest and straight forward answer?
Yes, absolutely!
I personally think the record industry or the music industry in general is in big trouble if it doesn’t change it’s attitude towards all this new technology. And the whole culture really. As for any plans to face the music haha, well, we’re prepared to work from the ground up, basically do the same we’ve been doing the last five years, in fact whole our career. You need to work, you need luck, you need to be in the right place at the right time probably. As a musician, what else can you do? Just work your ass off and believe in yourself. May be a cliché but that’s all there is.
How do you see SoulHealer in the future; 10 years from now for example?
In 10 years SoulHealer will have outgrown Madison Square Bedroom sized venues and are playing at least Madison Square Livingrooms hahahaha!
No, kidding aside, I’ve not thought about things that far ahead. But now that you ask me…I’ll be a bit older than now. The band has released at least four more studio albums and a double live album along with the appropriate DVD release. Couple of hundred gigs at least more under our belt. We’re enjoying the fruits of our hard work with the band and can even turn down a gig every now and then if the money or time isn’t right. You could say we’ve earned our independence in a way. Yeah, that sounds about right!
Our readers are from almost everywhere, from Japan to the Middle East and Europe to the USA. So would you tell those who are not familiar with the Finnish metal scene, how is it going there and can you tell us about the current state of heavy metal music and its fans and musicians in Finland?
Man! I really haven’t got a clue of the current state of anything here in Finland! From the band’s point of view things are slowly getting better in terms of getting paid gigs and audience at the gigs, if you know what I mean. But it seems there’s a global trend going on actually, that smaller gigs don’t attract audience in the same way it was a few years ago, and that trend is pretty well seen here as well. The big names, in any genre really, they fill the icehalls and stadiums and clubs etc but the underground bands struggle to get audience. Locally, there’s not that many metal musicians in my opinion, it looks like kids want to either play with their smart phones or themselves rather than play an instrument. But there’s always the few who carry the torch!
Thanks for giving me your time, any final words?
Hey, it’s been my pleasure, thanks for having us! Anyone who reads this, check out our new album “Bear the Cross” from your preferred (legal!!!) music outlet, be it iTunes, Amazon, local mom & pop music store. I’m sure you’ll love it. If you have the chance to check us live we’ll blow your socks off and then some! Sin Chee Clearly Anymore!
Formed in 1996, Polish Tech Death masters DECAPITATED have built a reputation over the years as one of the international leaders of their genre. Throughout their near 20-year career, DECAPITATED has released five studio albums, which are considered to be some of the most influential death metal releases of the 21st century.
For their sixth full-length record, “Blood Mantra”, the band returned to Hertz Studio, located at Bialystok in their native Poland. Recording the new creation has proven to be an extremely demanding process for DECAPITATED, as they have never before faced a challenge so testing as the new songs turned out to be. The band cross-bred various styles and sounds, setting the bar higher with this new release. Flirting with various tempos, mixing Death Metal with Grindcore, Black Metal atmosphere with more groove laden beats and Stoner-Rock vibes, there are also modern Metal rhythmic riffs on DECAPITATED’s latest output that hark back to their 2006 release, “Organic Hallucinosis”.
“Blood Mantra” is set for release on September 26, 2014 via Nuclear Blast, and that was the main topic during the interview Tarja Virmakari had recently with the founding member Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka. But of course Tarja and Vogg talked about the band’s first years and the metal scene at that time and how they have changed over the years. To discover more about it and much more, please join the chat below.
I’m sitting here with W.A.S.P.’s lead guitarist DOUGLAS BLAIR aboard the HMS Bore, his Turku hotel residence while in Finland. It just so happens the Bore is a retired cast-iron 1960’s-era ferry ship, a fittingly odd place to live for this gypsy rocker.
Hello, Douglas, how are you today?
I’m great, Tarja! Thanks for coming over! What do you think of this cool heavy metal boat that goes nowhere? It’s actually bolted to the pier …
Oh yeah, it’s a different place for a meeting for sure. You’ve had quite a busy summer with W.A.S.P., and there are other things in the works. Tell our readers what you’ve been up to?
It’s been an amazing summer! We did 17 shows: 6 warm-up headlining shows in Russia, and then 11 festivals including Sweden Rock, South Park, Graspop and Wacken. All of them were killer, and the audiences ruled! I got to see Alter Bridge, Apocalyptica and TNT, Alice Cooper and Sabbath… it’s like going away to summer camp with only your rock friends!
I also have three new ESP guitars that I’d been tweaking and customizing for over a year. I’ve never had brand new guitars to tour with before, and I’m pretty sure that they helped me play better… they completely rock!!
What’s next for you with W.A.S.P.? The new CD is highly anticipated.
Yes. I’ll head back over to Los Angeles next week to finish recording leads for this thing. The delays have been unfortunate, but out of our control. I’m not even playing the same way as I did in ’12 when I first tracked! None of us are even the same people, but that could turn out to be a really cool thing. Whatever natural evolution there has been, it’s all gonna’ be in there!
I’ll have my 80’s-90’s studio guitars, but this time I’ll also bring a trusty old stage guitar, recently retired, the Washburn N4 with the illuminated stained-glass church window. It has a rare acoustic ‘sustainer’ system built into it, that I’m suspecting will work very well as the tape spins.
Douglas Blair – c.2014 Palo Zubeck
Can you tell us a little bit about your recording experience there?
Well, right after I re-joined the band in ‘06, we dove straight into Dominator lead recording work. So, it’s always been a main part of being in this band for me. I’m really proud of the collaborative recording process that has evolved between Blackie and I: he gets my best notes and performances onto his old-school 2” Studer tape machine by not only engineering, but by also listening objectively, and being there as the singer. Because, as a lead player — and I’ll use Neal Schon (Journey) and Keith Scott (Bryan Adams) as perfect examples — your highest goal is to best compliment the melody and vocals, while trying to make a statement with the lead, that can also stand on its own. Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme/Rhianna) and Ronnie LeTekro (TNT) are also winning champions at this.
I feel we’ve really achieved this on leads like ‘Heaven’s Hung In Black’, ‘Live To Die’ and ‘Crazy’. On the other hand, sometimes the best takes are just the ripping first-timers with absolutely zero thought involved, just going for it! ‘Thunder Red’ is one of those.
Also, I’m given TWO tracks on the machine to work with — that means I’m looking for takes with continuity and pacing from front to back. We can get in and fix stuff, but there’s no reason to record anything that I naturally would not or could not do. So, once we get a good one, I’ll try to outdo it on the other track, and so forth. This is so opposite of the typical current mindset of infinite, endless tries “until it’s perfect”. Fuck that — it has no heart, no life! It’s tougher this way, and can get frustrating. But I really love what we decide to go with over time. It’s more genuine, pimples and all.
As an American from the East Coast, what makes you decide to ‘hang your hat’ here in Finland?
Well, my contacts here, all initially found through W.A.S.P., have expanded to encompass many cool opportunities from recording to performing, guitar design and education. And they keep growing, a perfect example being you Tarja, at Metal Shock!
And, ever since first being turned on to H.I.M. by one of my guitar students, I’ve grown more interested in Finnish culture: not only the prolific music scene, but also instrument builders and the overall attitude of design and creativity here. Music tastes are wide and diverse, and with quality: Opeth, and Devin Townsend, for example, enjoy a high level of respect and regard. So, when I finally traveled here to play in ’06, it really felt like a place I wanted to stay longer. It’s been great to be able to spend so much time here. It reminds me of the New England (US) rock scene when I was growing up, from which so many current players came from.
c.2014 Rock Academy Finland: L to R Mark Bertenyi, Tomi Arvas, Douglas Blair
For a while now, you’ve been involved with Rock Academy Finland based here in Turku, for whom you are a visiting professor. So, please tell us the story behind this?
By coincidence, Mark Bertenyi, co-director of this program, was working as stage manager at W.A.S.P.’s last Turku show back in 2012, at an awesome venue called Logomo. This place has a giant rolling wall of seats that adjusts the room capacity for any audience size! Anyway, I mentioned that I’d been thinking about arranging guitar clinics while touring, and his eyes lit up: “well, you MUST check out what we’re doing here!” At the end of the tour, I flew right up there and did a clinic for them. I’ve been coming back ever since!
In short, it’s an Arts and Culture Ministry-funded social/music project that focuses on organized bands, which is right up my alley. After teaching individual players for so long, I’ve finally found a great way to start giving back some valuable wisdom, if you’d call it that, to the next generation of bands.
It’s well-known that Finland has invested heavily in their education and youth, and it’s really apparent to me, and to the band, when we play here. The independence of the kids, their confidence… it brings to mind a cool video, “Let The Truce Be Known” by Orphaned Land showing kids growing up with guns instead of guitars. Our wish is it will always be guitars, or paint brushes, pens or cameras, or whatever. The Academy thrives on the accelerated development of these young musicians, and it’s only a matter of time before one of these band breaks out.
Working with this motivated team has lit a fire under my ass, and opened up many other doors as well. And the program has now grown to 8 national cities, and will soon cross borders into other countries. These will all be places I’ll visit, to work with their groups.
Many of our readers obviously know you as a guitarist in W.A.S.P. But, let’s talk a bit about your own project SIGNAL2NOISE. It’s not a new project, as your debut album “Fighting Mental Illness” came out back in 2007, but for your several commitments, it has stayed somehow in the background. Soon you will introduce it here in Finland… why now?
I’m finally set-up logistically, and have slowly flown my s2n gear over from the US. There are many reasons why now, but a big break from W.A.S.P. through the winter means I have some good down time to be productive. And I just love those Finnish winters …
Seriously, I feel it will be accepted and appreciated here.
GuitarCross – c. 2014 Evelyn Steinweg-Photographie
Tell us about the instrument you play, the GuitarCross.
It’s simply a double-stringed guitar, in which you press and play the string pairs together, but they’re amplified separately. That’s the trick, and one string of the pair is a bass string, while the other a guitar string. As far as I know, this hasn’t been done before in this way. You can fake it with electronics, of course. But there’s nothing like real strings.
Most of the music I grew up listening to, and practicing as I learned how to play guitar, was blues-based rock and usually had guitar and bass intertwining, trading roles, playing together and apart in rythym and chords. Much of this came from early boogie-woogie blues piano. What’s really cool about the GX — and Charlie Hunter’s 7- and 8-string guitars — is that two parts can be played together, just like on a piano. So, you kind of go around full circle, but plugged into this generation’s world of analog and digital in/out.
And as a side-note, the GX is not made to just be ‘tapped’ with two hands, it’s made to played just like a guitar or a bass… with all the possibilities you can imagine. There are many stringed instruments with multiple outputs, but most are tapped.
You call Signal2Noise a ‘power duo.’ That’s odd — please elaborate.
Well, I grew up on the classic ‘power trios’ like Hendrix, Robin Trower, Frank Morino, Rush, Triumph and even Led Zep if you’re talking instrumentally. It’s logical that we’re following a similar path of power with dynamics — ‘light and shade’ — to quote Jimmy Page, acoustic and electric instruments, and primarily live execution. I’m really striving to reach the Opeth/Devin Townsend/Porcupine Tree sphere of diversity and power.
Composing on this machine is no different than on an acoustic guitar: chords and bass lines must be interwoven, making open tunings quite useful, and forcing you to be very clever to create compatible parts that are effective and playable. s2n has been my writing outlet since 1995, first as a trio, and then as the power duo, playing the GX. Playing leads on the GX is possible, but it’s not a priority or a necessity — and because of that, I can focus exclusively on playing lead guitar in W.A.S.P.
Also, because s2n is quite divergent from W.A.S.P., there’s no musical conflict — it’s easy to keep them in two separate worlds, and working with one totally inspires the work of the other: perhaps similar to being both a painter and a photographer.
Why this project-name?
The ‘signal-to-noise ratio’ is just an old term for the measurement of actual audible sound compared to plain noise. Of course, digital audio has almost made the term obsolete, so I figured we’d steal it: signal2noise. I also like the metaphor of something sounding like music or clear sound, then devolving into pure noise, like fading to black, if you will…
It’s obvious that you think ‘outside the box’. What drives you to do this?
Well, it seems to me that so many follow what everyone else does, instead of trying to find their own way. I’m definitely inspired by the pioneer-type people that take a big chance on something that may fail. And I’m an Aquarian, so by nature compelled to see and do things rather differently. You have to get good at failing, and moving forward.
You mentioned that part of your inspiration for s2n has been Apocalyptica and a man named Charlie Hunter … please tell us more about how they have done this?
Both have envisioned, and created a genre out of thin air, meaning where there was nothing like it before. Charlie made a guitar he could play both bass and guitar upon, then taught himself how to play it for 10 years. Now, he has an indescribable style and technique that no one can even get near, or begin to understand. Apocalyptica did the same thing by applying concert cello technique and attitude to guitar amps and metal music. Who would ever have thought it could work? That’s the stuff that drives me with s2n, and otherwise.
Dreams In The Witch House – c.2014 Happy Creative Photography L to R Douglas Blair, Chris Laney, Alaine Kashian, Mike Dalager
You’ve gotten involved in several other musical projects of late. What is Dreams In The Witch House all about?
It’s something I heard about from a Swedish colleague, that’s really turned into a super project. Co-produced in Los Angeles and Stockholm, it’s a rock opera adaptation of a very twisted 1933 H.P. Lovecraft short story based near where I grew up in New England, and released on CD and double violet-colored LP! I played leads on two cool songs, along with Bruce Kulick (ex-KISS, Grand Funk) on two as well, and many other guest musicians. The record has been very well-received, and we’ll have some excellent press and interviews in an upcoming Sweden Rock Magazine issue. I think I’ve done five international events with them, so it’s growing at a nice pace. The goals are theater performances, rock festival appearances, a full-length feature movie, and some record sales, of course. And it’s kind of a perfect compliment to W.A.S.P.
Dreams In the Witch House – c.2014 Mohloco
And, please tell us about your recent collaboration with Germany’s Lord Of The Lost. How did it all come about?
I finally checked out the Trash Fest, a notorious goth fest held in Helsinki, last October, after hearing about it for so long. My ex had turned me on to Lord Of The Lost, who I contend may be heirs to the Rammstein throne — they are so motivated and totally slam!
They also play these insanely beautiful guitars built down in Hamburg that I wanted to see. So, I got the ‘mother lode’ as we call it — saw the band, checked out the guitars, and met the guys… my head almost exploded! Turns out they were working on a new record, so back in the US, I made sure to stay in touch with the guitarist a bit, and they welcomed my offer to solo on a track.
The “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead” lead was recorded in my rehearsal room with on GarageBand — the cheapest, most ubiquitous program ever! It’s what you hear on their new CD “From The Flame Into The Fire” and I’m really proud of it. It was a kinda’ dark time for me, and gave me a great outlet for some tension. I really want to do more of this ‘guest ambushing’ with more of our peers like Apocalyptica and Deathstars! I think it’s a cool thing to do, that brings the scene a bit closer together. Kirk Hammet guesting on the new Exodus record is so sweet! Things like that.
Douglas Blair and Lord Of The Lost CD
Original W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes has recently been seen in various interviews commenting about his reasons for leaving the US for Europe. In regards to your own gradual relocation, what are your thoughts on this?
Well, even if we don’t articulate it in quite the same way, I’m with him all the way — in fact, I started making my move long before he told me that he wanted to. My reasoning may be a bit more, well, positive — as you can see, I’ve been able to find a variety of cool side work over here that I coudn’t find at home. Also, I’m not quite so anti-US … I percieve the scene here being just much healthier and diverse — for our particular genre of classic rock. It’s simply a matter of working where the market is best for what you do.
Boston, for example, is still extremely active musically, only with a new generation of bands and players that us rockers don’t quite relate to as well, that’s all. Just a different style — but absolutely vital none-the-less. So, the US will always evolve faster — which is critical — and it’s the only reason any of us are here playing our kind of music in the first place, right? Otherwise, we’d still be playing big band or something!
I think Chris is a cool guy and great guitarist, and I wish him all the luck getting going over here. There’s a lot of opportunity to be harvested, that’s for sure — and he’s an icon.
Do you have any strange road stories to tell our readers?
Well, I was once invited to see Opeth play not too far from my home. I got an sms from the guitarist, Fredrik, asking if I’d stop and pick up some ‘fresh vegetables’ … not thinking it could mean anything else, I indeed stopped at my local grocer and grabbed some brocholli, greens, string beans, etc. and drove down to the show. I showed the guys a few guitars that I’d brought as they chomped away quite happily on the veggies, which were apparently overlooked by the venue’s hospitality team.
Well, it turns out that the guys had actually meant some fresh ‘weed’, and they thought I was making a joke on them — the joke was on ME, because I had no idea that Swedish slang for marijuana was vegetables!! And obviously they had found some!
And a final statement to the Metal Shock Finland readers?
Thanks for reading — and like Metal Shock FI, fully support the bands and talents that you dig, or they won’t be around tomorrow! See you all out on the road in the near future! Peace.
Thank-YOU, Doug, for this pleasant chat and good words! Take care, and see you again and soon on the road, too! Peace! \m/
“Thanks for reading, and like Metal Shock Finland… “
There are bands who never give up, they are always there, ready to take back their rightful place in the Olympus of HM-bands and rise again to the headlines. One of these bands is undoubtedly OVERKILL led by a cast-iron duo D.D Verni/Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth. They are once again back in style, with the new “White Devil Armory”, out on July 18th via Nuclear Blast, ready to put stages to fire and swords across the world.
And with great pleasure, therefore, Tarja Virmakari managed to reach Blitz by telephone to verify and certify the health status of OVERKILL‘s renewed enthusiasm. Tarja and Blitz talked extensively, of course, about the new album, but also about OVERKILL‘s 35 years career and upcoming tours and plans. Blitz revealed also what he would like to do if Overkill didn’t exist… to know about this and much more, join the chat below.
To read this interview in italian, on Truemetal.it, go HERE.
After being member of such legendary bands as MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND, THERION, DIMMU BORGIR, MEMENTO MORI, DREAM EVIL, NOTRE DAME, SABATON and others – where SNOWY SHAW appeared as a vocalist, guitarist, bassist and drummer, it’s time to go on with his solo career. On July 22, SNOWY SHAW released a digital single titled ‘Dusk’, which is taken from the forthcoming – and much awaited – live DVD/CD package titled “The Liveshow: 25 Years Of Madness In The Name Of Metal”, due for release in September, and which can already be pre-ordered, HERE.
“The Liveshow” DVD/CD, which will be released by Wunderwurld Music, includes more than 3 hours of amazing, high quality material, recorded during two special theatrical shows, and featuring very special guests from the KING DIAMOND band, MERCYFUL FATE, MEMENTO MORI, ILLWILL, OPERA DIABOLICUS and Snowy’s backing band featuring lead guitarist Kristian Niemann (THERION), Mannequin De Sade III (NOTRE DAME, ENGEL), Mark U Black (DREAM EVIL) and Vikki Valkyrie (ICE AGE). “The Liveshow” has a one of a kind track listing, as well as playing his own originals, SNOWY SHAW performed with his band all his personal favourites from his former bands, including classics such as “Eye Of The Witch”, “Halloween” and “Sleepless Nights” (KING DIAMOND), “Evil” and “Black Funeral” (MERCYFUL FATE), “The Book Of Heavy Metal” (DREAM EVIL), “To Mega Therion” (THERION) or “The Serpentine Offering” (DIMMU BORGIR) and much more, in a truly theatrical way.
Just a couple of days ago, Tarja Virmakari had a chance to interview SNOWY SHAW, talking in detail about the upcoming “The Liveshow” DVD/CD, but being the vastly versatile artist SNOWY is, the topics also extended to other fields. To know more about this and much more, read the interview below.
1. Hi Snowy, I’m Tarja and welcome to Metal Shock Finland! It’s my true pleasure to interview you! 🙂 so, what are the first 3 words that come into your mind right now?
How about, “Hello there Tarja”.
2. lol, nice ones, approved! 😉 … You’ve been a member of such legendary bands as MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND, THERION, DIMMU BORGIR, MEMENTO MORI, DREAM EVIL, NOTRE DAME, SABATON and others… so it’s fair enough to ask, what are your best memories of these acts?
My best memories? How much time do we have here, a month? Hahaha! Well, I guess you have wait to “read all about it in the Book of Heavy Metal”. All I can say is they’ve all been great and I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to play with them all, and it’s been an invaluable good learning experience for both good and bad.
3. What about the other artist co-operations? I know there are many of them, so go ahead, please tell me about your most significant moments…
Yeah, it’s been quite a few over the years. More than I can remember actually and for the most part it’s fun and rewarding hooking up with good friends playing music, but there are a few nasty exceptions of course. One that sticks out among the rest as one of the more bizarre ones was an album recording I came to do with Nicolas Cage’s son Wes and his band Eyes of Noctum I think there were called. Me and my then girlfriend were doing some late Sunday evening grocery shopping when producer Fredman rang me up and asked me to come down to Studio Fredman the next morning to coach and assist some drummer who’d spent a week in the studio without getting anything down on tape. Why the hell would I do that, what’s in it for me? I said. Name your price, money is not an object. It’s Hollywood celebrity actor Nicolas Cage’s son and his band who’ve flown over and booked the studio for 2 months says Fredman. Ok, for 800 € a´ day I can be there to give advise and coach him, see you in the morning I said and hung up. When I arrived the next morning the studio was crowded, because their entourange included a private chef and two drivers, managers, an assistents and another assistent to the assistent, 6 guys in the band and Shagrath from Dimmu who would be the co-producer and was dating the mother/manager who was some sort of actress with the most notable role being the blonde who gave Jim Morrison/Val Kilmer a blow job in the elevator in the feature film The Doors from the early 90s. Anyway, I had no clue how this coaching thing would be done but since the drummer was short on ideas I sat down behind the drums and they put on the music and I just played along to what I heard, coming up with a number of suggestions, variations and ideas on the go. Perfect! that’s a keeper shouted Fredman through the talk back – Next song! And so it went on that we patched ourselves through each song. I had never heard the songs before or the outro when I was recording the intro. At first I thought we were just making sketches for the drummer at that point but then I heard they were gonna keep it like that with me as a ghost drummer. Fine by me, I was just a tool and would sit there and wait while they had long discussions whether there should be a ride or hi-hat beat on various sections, or a splash or china cymbal here and there and so on. Take your time I said. I was in no hurry and would leave at 6 O´clock everyday after a day’s work regardless. When the songs weren’t good enough, they just said “play the fastest kickdrums you can muster and it’ll be cool”.
I spent maybe 5 or 6 days in the studio and then they flew in Hellhammer from Norway too who recorded his versions on two of the songs I had already done. I was kinda fun and very casual and the financial back up was no issue apparently. I just wished I had renegotiated the paycheck since I was later on listed as the drummer, but it was good easy money anyway.
I guess in a way it evens out the scores if you think about all the times you’ve done session jobs with a promise of getting paid once the album is released, money that I’m still waiting for with recordings done in 1997 and shit.
4. By the way, when did YOU find the music and all these instruments in your life? And, if it’s possible to choose, which is the favourite one?
Oh that’s a long story..
it was KISS Destroyer that destroyed me. Blame it all on them! Hahaha!
I discovered that album as a 7 year old fan of horror and superhero comics, and from that moment on it changed my life sorever although it would take several years before I actually put a band together by more or less forcing some mates from school and we would all pick an instrument each to learn. What previously had seem completely inconceivable and unattainable was made a little easier at the time around 1980 with the new wave of rock/pop/punk bands singing in our native tongue swedish. Bands like Noice, Gyllene Tider, Snowstorm, Magnus Uggla and so on. You gotta start somewhere and since I couldn’t speak english I saw this window of opportunity and jumped to it and started my band and began writing lyrics for songs. None of us could play a single note, didn’t own any instruments, or for that matter had barely seen any in real life. But you gotta start somewhere and one thing lead to another, and once the word got around I met other aspiring musicians and soon replaced the ones that wasn’t as dedicated as I was and soon we got the band going, played gigs in school and in the many youth centers around Gothenburg, won a couple of bandstand contests and built a reputation and a following locally. We weren’t more than 13-14 and were like the local mascots with a promising talent ahead. However, me and lead guitarist Mikael Myllinen wanted to play heavier music and somehow foolishly decided to break up the band to form another, went through a number of constellations without much success, and we both started playing with others separately and soon drifted apart. Later on he ended up in King Diamond as Michael Moon for a short period in ´87 and I joined two years later.
In my teens I surrounded myself with aspiring musicians who wasn’t always as driven or had any song ideas, so I used to hum or voice out the ideas from behind the drums. Eventually I got tired of it and picked up the guitar or bass just to show my ideas and gradually I got a little better at it. I soon realized that drums wasn’t the ideal choice of instrument if you wanted to write songs. Finding good instrumentalists was never a problem, but finding a proper singer seemed impossible. So every single band I formed with great ideas, songs and concepts would invariably soon start deteriorate because without a singer one couldn’t take it to the next level of playing shows or make recordings and this was very very frustrating for me.
Had I not been the drummer I would most likely have tried singing myself, but it never even crossed my mind until I was in my mid 20s. Because who wants a singer in the back who can’t really interact with the audience. Not to mention the difficulties with leekage from the drums and so on. So that too originally came out of necessity rather than desire. Above all I’d say I’m a creative visionary and all I’m interested in is writing music as well as every single aspect of the concept and presentation. The whole multi instrumenatlist is a bit blown out of proportion I must say. Don’t get me wrong, I like playing guitar, bass, drums and singing but you’d be surprised to know how little I actually get to play due to everything else I’m doing with administration, organizing and whatnot. Again, not by design as much as by necessity, I could very well be the ultimate posterboy for the D.I.Y mentality.
5. After these experiences, it was time to return to your original plan: solo career. So, please tell me what’s blending in your head while writing new music, entitled “Snowy Shaw”?
As little as possible actually. I’ve found out long ago that the best ideas pops out when I’m just there in the moment without any pre-conceived ideas for direction or whatever. Disconnect your brain, play with your gut or crotch and just sorta “be it”. At least that’s what works best for me cause I’ve learned that if one try to construct songs after a given pattern or specific mold it tend to end up contrived and unnatural. I also get a pretty good feeling of the overall arrangement on the outset for all the instruments, which is of course something you can work on trial and error style later for at the actual recordings. Normally I always sing or grunt along the vocal lines in some sort of non language and in the best of cases I come up with the title and parts of the lyrics right there, and then the rest of the lyrics I can polish, write and rewrite later on until I’m satisfied based upon that first initial title or chorus line I came up with. Like Book of Heavy Metal for instance, Hmmm, I wonder what could the topic of that lyric possibly be about? Well, that’s usually how I work when I write my own music.
Influences and topics vary vastly depending on the song and style in question. Everything from ABBA to Entombed to Uriah Heep to Rammstein to Satyricon to Danny Elfman and John Barry. Furthermore, that “return to your original plan: solo career” was phrased a little unfortunately and taken out of context in a recent press release, as if I’ve harboured that grand idea all my life, which is not the case. The return was after my year with Sabaton, who contacted me offering me permanent membership as a drummer in September 2012. I had by then quit Therion and everything else in order to concentrate a 100% on my own thing, so naturally I also turned down the offer from Sabaton, regardless of how utterly retarded that decision may seem from the outside with Sabaton being the fastest and biggest rising star in metal since Metallica or something. I told Joachim that as tempting as the offer is I must say no, because I really need to do my own thing before I get too fucking old, which he fully understood. But after some coaxing I agreed to sit in as the live drummer for 6 months, as the offer was really too good to resist. Then we got along so amazingly and had a tremendously great time together that I extended the contract for another 6 months. To be completely honest, I was actually quite sad when I left knowing that I would probably never again be with such a great band of brothers.. and I cursed myself for having all these ambitions to make my own music. Otherwise I could have taken the easy way, surfed along and had a perfectly good and convenient life among some of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, or having meet as a matter of fact. But!,.. there’s always a but isn’t there? Like the saying goes, A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
And besides, I’m not exactly known for taking the easy road in my life, in the past, so why start now? Needless to say I’m not in it for the fame and fortune, and I’ve reached a point in my life with a tremendous desire to create my very own thing if so it’s the last thing I ever do. What my music will sound like under the flag of Snowy Shaw?.. well, that’s for me to know and for you to find out. In time you’ll see, or hear 🙂
6. Yeah, and I cannot wait 🙂 but please tell me, how would You describe your gengre?
I know it sounds pathetic when artists get that question and answer something like ” Oh, it’s hard to describe what kind of music we play and to put a label on it” but believe me, with the very special musical projects I have up ahead it really is. Each individual style yes, but just as impossible it is to describe all of my former bands with just one comprehensive overall genre. Hell, it’s even impossible to describe the music of Notre Dame in itself. I know I must sound a little vague and cryptic here, but trust me, the fog will clear eventually when I released the albums(s).
7. Your digital single “Dusk” came out on July 22, it’s taken from the forthcoming live DVD/CD package titled “The Liveshow: 25 Years Of Madness In The Name Of Metal” which will come out in September… so please tell me what has been the feedback from your fans and critics, so far?
It reached number 1 on Itunes rock charts. Normally I don’t pay any attention whatsoever to that kind of thing, but I must admit that it made me pleasantly surprised and very happy.
8. The DVD/CD will be released in limited edition of 666 copies… nice numbers 😉 anything that you would like to add to this?
That’s a bit of a misunderstanding. The 666 limit was actually just for the super deluxe Fanpack offer that one could pre-order through my webshop. From September on the DVD/CD box can be ordered separately through my shop and in various other stores and places in the world, hopefully. We’re still under negotiations with a number of distributors for various territories all over the planet. As you know it’s incredibly hard to sell physical products these days, and every day a record store goes belly up and shuts down. These days record companies are extremely anxious and cautious because if they make the slightest wrong decision it might cause them their job and what brings food to their tables. So eventually I decided that sooner or later I’m gonna have to grab the bull by its horns and take care of it all myself, like I always do in a D.I.Y kind of way. it’s inevitable unless I’m gonna settle to be a slave without any creative freedom, so I now run the operation with a little team of my own. In the present moment I’d say the safest and best way to get hold of my DVD/CD box is simply to order it from the source/artist itself, in other words my well-stocked webshop, where you can also have your copy personally signed among other things. Pay a visit to http://www.snowyshaw.net/webshop
It’s also available at the Hellsinki Store & mailing order in Helsinki, I might add since I’m talking to Miss Finland right now 🙂
9. The DVD/CD includes more than 3 hours of high quality material, recorded on two special theatrical shows… having a huge amount of material, was it a tough job to choose the songs to this release?
Yeah, I must say it was a tough bit of “Kill your darlings”. We edited it all but then had to make a selection where we weight in all aspects for best entertainment value. The shows themselves were much longer and we had probably 5 hours of filmed live material but you just can’t put out a 5 hour DVD, so I decided to make a good varied selection. That goes too for the planned audio CD, this whole “Kill your darlings” operation I mean. My initial plan was also to release also a double vinyl album including several songs that couldn’t fit on the DVD/CD. For example, Heathendom alone, a song I wrote and recorded for Memento Mori 20 years back was now performed live for the first time ever, and in its entirety. It’s over 12 minutes long, so like I said I had to make a choice and choose instead to include 3 other songs of normal length.
10. It’s featuring special guests from KING DIAMOND band,MERCYFUL FATE, THERION; MEMENTO MORI, ILLWILL, OPERA DIABOLICUS, what can you tell me about these co-operations?
It was just great and I’m delighted they wanted to join me on stage as guest stars. That feeling was very mutual by the way. I can tell you it sure wasn’t easy organizing all this though. Most musicians aren’t the typical orderly 9-5 guys and to try to logistically arrange it all was a pure nightmare. My old buddy Sharlee D´Angelo for example, who should join me on stage doing an old illwill song, but he never showed up. But what else is new? In our teens when we grew up, I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I claim that I’ve waited for that guy for a full year if you put all the hours together. It’s pretty much common knowledge by now, so I dare say that Messiah Marcolin was just his normal difficult self and neither did I have the time nor energy to deal with it, so I just let it slide. But for the most part, with all who showed up, it worked beautifully. Doing the encore of the M.F classic Evil with all of the guests up on stage is a memory I’ll cheerish all my life. It was unbelievable. Surely a night to remember, times 2 🙂
11. Let’s talk about the title, “The Liveshow: 25 Years Of Madness In The Name Of Metal”… what this “madness in the name of metal” means to you and your everyday life?
My life’s been one helluva crazy ride of ups and downs, not to mention my professional life with all those bands and projects for the past 25 since I joined King Diamond in the summer of ´89. I think it’s safe to say that most people consider me a bit crazy, and frankly I don’t mind it at all. It’s all probably for the simple reason that I do things my own way and I’d be lying if I say I lie awake at night worrying about what others may think. I don’t seek the approval of others and I’m not afraid to try my wings, or to make mistakes for that matter. To some people that equals madness I guess, while in my book it’s ,..strength, for lack of a better word.
12. Hypotetical question, what if, for some weird reason, Metal wouldnt exist in your life, how would you spend your time?
I assume to mean music and not just metal. Something creative I’m sure. Then I would definitely have developed and finetuned my skills for art, drawing and paiting which I had natural from childhood, and sadly for that reason I disregarded as in “easy come easy go” kinda way ya know.. Yeah, I would definitely have engaged and devoted my life to that, and also worked with animals in many ways. Then on the side, I would probably be doing MMA. Generally I’m not at all into sports, but some individual branches has begun to attract and move me in later years. Guess I’m a lonewolf and not so much of a team-player generally speaking, and the older I get the more I prefer the company of animals.
13. I read that you also work as a photographer and designer for bands and artists… so I just gotta ask you to tell me more about this, and please give me some links where we can see your designs?
Apart from my own stuff you mean? Since I have this very clear and distinct vision of how I want things to look, I realized that it would be a lot easier if I somehow learnt how to operate these type of programs and stuff myself. More work definitely, but also less teeth grinding, arguing and disappointment. Again, this old Do It Yourself kinda thing. People liked what they saw and started contacting me to do photos for them, design logos, artwork, props and all kinds of stuff. It’s so extremely hard to make it the music biz and people would always turn to me for advise and connections. It suddenly occured to me that I possessed some sort of gift and the kind of knowledge that could come handy and be benificial to other bands and artists and began offering that service as coach, stylist, designer, illustrator, photographer and together with a collegue we even started a company for it in 2008-2009 something. We did album covers, video trailers and arranged photo shoots etc, but it was just too much hassle for the money and my heart wasn’t really in it, so before too long I pulled out since I was anyway too busy touring and with my own stuff.
So it’s now been several years since I provided this kinda service for others, but occasionally I do help out if there’s anything that interests me (or if the paycheck convinces me ;-).
I also designed stage props and decor for myself and other bands. You can see that on my new Live DVD as well as on Live Gothic with Therion for example. Before I even joined Dimmu Borgir as a musician they were gonna hire my services to take care of the visual presentation on stage and to some extent their image. But once I joined the band I’m afraid their manager saw to it that I had no say in anything in that area…
14. Would you like to tell us more about “Snowy Shaw against animal cruelty”…?
I suppose you’re referring to the image I posted on my personal Facebook page, that immediately took on a life on its own and was shared by hundreds, if not thousands of people. Right away people asked me to print posters, wallpapers or banners of it. I wasn’t prepared for that reaction and was overwhelmed by it. To say that I’m against animal cruelty is like stating the obvious. I was raised to be kind and show respect and compassion for every living thing in the animal kingdom and nature. Not to take advantage of the smaller and weaker like animals, kids and women. Many people meant that it was admirable for a public figure to make an active standpoint for the animals and a nobel cause like that. I was sick to death of seeing the internet and facebook flooded with clip after clip of all the cruel and sadistic acts against poor animals, the meat industry and neglected, mistreated pets by dumb asses who should never have the right to owe any in the first place, and how they get away with it without any consequences whatsoever, due to the lame laws and rights system. So I just took a wicked photo of myself holding an axe and put the text ” Be kind to Animals – or I’ll kill you” on top of it. Then I just posted it my personal FB page with no intention of being some sort the posterboy for that or anything, but at the same time I certainly don’t mind it.
So eventually I did arrange to have some T-shirts made of it and sold through my webshop. I’m now contemplating donating the profit to the right kind of Animal rights organization. Just haven’t decided which yet.
There’s a biker gang in the US that not only help and support a shelter for dogs and cats, but track down the sadistic assholes and have them persecuted or just beat the shit out of them. As far as I know there’s no gang like that here, or in Scandinavia or Europe. Too bad, if I had the time, I’d love to join them.
15. What is your opinion about the general status of today’s heavy metal scene? And how do you see it’s developing in the near future?
Not to be a pessimist BUT,… Hahaha! Just kiddin´. I’d say that in Europe and Scandinavia it is still blossoming, and the metal fans are generally very loyal compared to other styles of music I think. If people don’t start supporting the younger unestablished bands by buying their stuff it’s gonna be even harder than it is now for the next generation of bands. Also because if everything is so easily accessable and can be downloaded for free, it falls under the “easy come, easy go” principle where few bothers to take the time to listen to a full album and instead just go cherry picking the songs on the top list among the mass of bands.
I’m convinced however that rock music or metal if you prefer always gonna survive in one form or the other. There’s an essential need for that kind of primal rebel attitude and expression. At least I hope so.
16. What would be the question, you would never want to hear to be asked from you?
Wow! Impressive Tarja, that’s a very good and creative question that I’ve never ever had before. But for obvious reasons I’m not gonna answer it either.
17. lol, fair enough 😀 … so what can you reveal me about the next things to happen in your musical life?
Now once the lion share is more or less done with all the hard work of the live DVD, then finally at last I can start preparing to start recording all my new music. In the near future I will also record two other albums, namely the sophomore opuses of Opera Diabolicus and Mad Architect.
18. When we’ll see you on stage next time?
If things go according to plan I’ll be starting off by doing some summer festivals next year.
19. Who are the artists/bands with whom you would like to co-operate in the future?
There’s a bundle of people I admire and have high respect for, and that I’d love to work together with on some kind of project or something but for the moment except the ones I just mentioned the only artist I’d like to collaborate with is me, myself and I. However there’s a number of good producers that I’d love to collaborate with on my own music. There’s actually quite a few super talented swedish musicians/composers that I’m a secret admirer of and that I’d like to get to know and work with some day, like Niklas Frisk, Sonny Boy Gustavsson, Nicke Andersson, And of course, if I had a time machine I’d sell my soul to go back and work with Bob Ezrin in the mid 70s.
20. Ok, I guess this gotta be the last question… so how would you like to finish this interview? And what’s your message to your fans and Metal Shock Finland readers?
Well, I’m not trying to kiss up or anything but I love Finland and finnish folks which always strikes me as tougher, more genuine than most swedish pussies. I really wish to bring my show to Finland and play festivals next year, so listen up all you festival promotors, ok? In fact I wouldn’t mind moving there permanently and I’ve already starting to improve my finnish a little further than the standard phrases like Kiitos, moi, Vittu, Kyrpä, Koskenkorva and Satana Perkele of course, how about this ? Hakkaa päälle suomen poika! Verta hattuun! 😉
Hahahahahahahah, and I could say that’s the basic Finnish ABC everybody should know 😀 …Snowy, a big thanks for this interview and your time! I wish all the best for this year and to all what this release will bring along! and no need to say, but i wish to see you soon on stage, also here in Italy 🙂 Cheers, and take care! \m/
SABATON is a heavy metal band from Falun, Sweden, formed in 1999. It consists of five members- Joakim Brodén (vocals, keyboards), Pär Sundström (bass, backing vocals), Chris Rörland (guitar, backing vocals), Thobbe Englund (guitar, backing vocals) and Hannes van Dahl (drums). The band’s lyrical themes are based on war and historical battles. The group has released seven studio albums with “Heroes” being the latest one (it was issued in 2014). “Heroes” proved to be a hit and made #1 on the official Swedish album chart.
SABATON is known for developing a close relationship with their fans, who they often call friends rather than just fans. Their admirers bare many names, such as WolfPacks, Panzer Battalions, Saboteurs etc. They are very well organized and connected and often tend to look like the band’s own army. They come to concerts with flags, body armour, plastic rifle guns, good spirits and memorized lyrics. Without them the band would be unable to educate young (and old) people about the importance of history. This way, through music and with the help of their fans, they make history seem fun, interesting and easy. Over the years their fan base has been expanding rapidly.
We were lucky to have been able to catch up with Joakim Brodén on July 25th in Slovenia during the MetalDays festival. So far, during interviews, you were always given a chance to hear facts about SABATON‘s music and their projects, but this time, we have decided to introduce you to a person; not just a musician. Joakim is an extremely intelligent, talkative and grounded man with an excellent sense of humour who has never suffered from “the big rock star syndrome“; but instead despite his fame, continued being the normal, chatty guy whom everybody likes.
If you want to know more about his personality, most embarassing moments, his thoughts on groupies, relationships and much more, watch the video below.
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
You recently released your newest album “Bear The Cross“, how has the reaction been from your fans and critics so far?
