Amorphis
Tomi Joutsen is the new
voice of Amorphis and I believe he did an excellent job, as you'll have
the chance to listen to for yourselves once you buy their new album. Moreover
I think that "Eclipse" is their best or at least among their top releases,
since it embodies all the well known Amorphis elements up to now. So, read
below what we discussed about with Tomi and have a nice time!
1. CONGRATULATIONS ON “ECLIPSE”! IT’S AN AMAZING
ALBUM!
-YES! QUITE MANY TIMES.
-HOWEVER, I’D LIKE TO KNOW THE CREATOR’S POINT
OF VIEW. ARE YOU CONTENT WITH YOUR CREATION?
Of course! I’m really happy about this album
and I think it’s perfect! So, just let’s see how it goes! Hahaha!
2. OK! NOW, I’D LIKE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED
IN THE AMORPHIS CAMP FROM THE RELEASE OF “FAR FROM THE SUN” TILL NOW?
-I KNOW YOU ARE THE NEW MEMBER OF THE BAND, SO
TELL US WHAT HAPPENED AFTER YOU WERE ENROLLED…
When I came to Amorphis we almost immediately
had a tour in the States and then we came back to Finland and we started
rehearsing and writing new songs. We went in the studio in the summer and
now we are here! We also did some shows in Finland and in Russia, so most
of the time we were involved with this record…
3. DO YOU KNOW WHICH THE REASONS THAT LED PASI
TO DEPART WERE? I MEAN WHAT THE OTHER GUYS TOLD YOU AT LEAST…
I don’t know! I think you should better ask
Pasi about that! Haha! But the stories I have heard is that Pasi wanted
to make heavier stuff, so perhaps he didn’t have so much motivation any
more…
-ARE YOU AFRAID THAT SOME FANS WON’T “ACCEPT”
YOU EASILY?
Yeah! Of course, because it’s difficult when
a lead singer leaves the band, but it has been amazingly easy for me so
far, because the fans have been so kind to me! They have accepted me really
well!
-WASN’T IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO GET ON STAGE AND
PLAY LIVE, WHEN MOST OF THE PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW THAT PASI LEFT AND YOU WERE
THE NEW AMORPHIS SINGER?
No it wasn’t! I tried to do my best and I
think it wasn’t so difficult after all. First of all you have to believe
in yourself and the songs you sing!
4. YOU KNOW I’VE TRIED COUNTLESS TIMES TO COMPILE
A LIST OF MY FAVOURITE SONGS FROM “ECLIPSE”, BUT I’M INCAPABLE OF DOING
SO…
Hahahaha! So, you don’t know which song you
like the most…
-YES! SO, COULD YOU DO IT IN MY TURN? I MEAN WHICH
ARE YOUR MOST BELOVED TRACKS?
I think that at this moment my favourite song
is “Perkele (The God Of Fire)”, because it’s so powerful…
-YEAH IT HAS BOTH HARSH AND MORE MELLOW MOMENTS.
Yeah, yeah exactly! And I can’t wait to sing
this song in a live show! I think it will be special!
-WHICH ONES DO YOU THINK WILL APPEAL MOST TO YOUR
FANS?
I don’t know! Hahahaha! I don’t really know,
but I think that “House Of Sleep” for example is a really catchy
song! I think it will be one of our fans’ favourites.
5. WHAT I’VE ALWAYS LIKED IN AMORPHIS IS THE FACT
THAT YOU EMBODY IN YOUR SOUND VARIOUS ELEMENTS. HOW DO YOU DO THAT AND
YET MANAGE TO CREATE SUCH A HOMOGENEOUS RESULT?
Haha! I don’t know! I don’t really know…
-DID YOU CONTRIBUTE IN THE COMPOSITIONS AT ALL?
I didn’t write any songs, but I made some
melodies with our producer. I was free to do the vocal melodies the way
I liked them best. It was really nice, because I wanted to make my own
sound and I’m really happy about it!
6. AMORPHIS WENT FROM AN EPIC DEATH/DOOM METAL
HYBRID ON EARLIER RELEASES TO A PSYCHEDELIC/MODERN ROCK BAND WITH LOTS
OF ORIENTAL ELEMENTS IN ITS LATTER “EDITION”. THE CHANGE IN YOUR SOUND
WAS DRASTIC! WHY?
I think it’s because the guys have always
wanted to do the music they like the most at a given point in time. So,
I think it has something to do with this. Esa and Tomi like 70s stuff like
Pink Floyd and they have strong influences from that scene, which they
use. I think it’s really nice when a band can create its own music.
-BASICALLY I ASK THIS BECAUSE ALL OF YOU ARE INVOLVED
IN OTHER BANDS AS WELL. SO, WHICH ARTISTIC NEEDS DOES EACH BAND FULFILL
TO YOU? FOR EXAMPLE YOU ARE AT THE MOMENT IN FEELINGS AND FUNERAL JACKET,
BESIDES AMORPHIS. RIGHT?
Yes! I play the drums in feelings and Funeral
jacket is more of a death metal band and Sinisthra is mellow…
-ARE YOU STILL A MEMBER OF SINISTHRA?
Yeah, of course! And I think it’s really nice
if you have the opportunities to do different things and different styles
of music, but of course at this moment Amorphis is number one for me. Amorphis
is my first priority, but we are still working with the other bands, but
they are more of projects.
-HOW DO YOU FIND TIME FOR SO MANY BANDS? I MEAN
THEY ARE FOUR!!!!
Yeah! And you know Sinisthra is the band I’ve
mainly given my time up to now. You know I also have a family… Hahaha!
-WELL, THIS MAKES THINGS EVEN HARDER. I SUPPOSE
YOU ALSO HAVE A DAY JOB. RIGHT?
Hahahaha! Yes! I have! It’s hard sometimes,
but if you like what you do…
-YOU MUST BE RUNNING ALL THE TIME…
Yeah! I’m always running… That’s so very true!
7. ARE THERE ANY ELEMENTS YOU’D LIKE TO EXPERIMENT
WITH OR ADD IN THE FUTURE?
Yeah! There are some elements I like a lot!
You know I like the music to have sad feelings in it and I want to bring
my emotions in my music, so I hope I have the chance to add hard stuff
in my music. I want to use different styles within the songs…
8. “ECLIPSE” IS AN AMAZING ALBUM THAT CONTAINS
THE ESSENCE OF “ELEGY”, “TUONELA” AND “AM UNIVERSUM” WITH SOME INTENSE
TINGES FROM THE MORE DEATH METAL ERA OF THE BAND “TALES FROM A THOUSAND
TALES”. SO, WE COULD SAY THAT ON “ECLIPSE” AMORPHIS MADE A STEP FORWARD
WHILST GAZING AT THE PAST. DO YOU AGREE?
Yes, sort of, because it might be a step back
in that way, but at the same time we are going forward too. Of course we
have our roots and we have to remember that!
-YEAH IT’S GREAT THAT YOU USED DEATH METAL VOCALS
AGAIN AFTER ALL THIS TIME.
9. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE ASKED TO WRITE
A REVIEW FOR “ECLIPSE”. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS
POSSIBLE? SO, HELP ME PLEASE AND DO THE JOB FOR ME!
Hahahahaha! OK! I’ll try. I think it’s epic
and I think we made progress and it’s really catchy. There are some fine
melodies from the guitar and keyboards. It’s a concept album with the lyrics
being from Kalevala once again. You know the Kalevala?
-YES!
OK! Also Santeri who played the keyboards
did an excellent job in the studio, he used some new sounds, which are
really great! I think the songs are different, they are really catchy like
“House Of Sleep” and it also has a quite brutal material. So, I think that
if you are an Amorphis fan, then you will definitely like it! Just give
it a chance!
-YOU HAVEN’T SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE NEW SINGER
IN YOUR REVIEW…
About me?!?!! Well this is very difficult!
Hahahahhaha!
-YEAH I KNOW! I WAS JUST JOKING!
I had the help of our producer Marco Hietala
from Nightwish. We did some really nice choruses with him and I think we
managed to do that because it’s really nice when you are on stage to have
catchy and easy choruses, so the people know it and participate.
10. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART
IN YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU?
Hahaha! I don’t know! The best thing might
be… we are from Finland and we have developed a local/national Finnish
character in our sound. I think that’s the really good thing about this
band. We don’t sound like Linkn’ park… hahaha! And that’s one good thing,
but I don’t know what’s the worst thing… Hahaha! That’s a difficult question!
-NO WORST PARTS THEN…
No at least at the moment…
-OK! I WILL ASK YOU THEN THE SAME QUESTION THE
NEXT TIME WE DO AN INTERVIEW AND SEE WHAT YOU’LL TELL ME THEN…
Hahahaha! Yes! Then I’ll probably have an
answer about the worst part in our music…
11. WHY DID YOU NAME THE ALBUM “ECLIPSE”?
I think it’s a good title, because we tell
the story of Kulerva (note: I don’t’ speak Finnish so I don’t know if I
got the name right. Sorry!). It tells the story of a man who lives in a
wicked world. His story is really sad, so “Eclipse” is something that tells
about his stories and it fits really nice.
12. MY NEXT QUESTION WAS ABOUT THE LYRICS. YOU’VE
ALREADY TOLD US A FEW THINGS, SO IS THERE ANYTHING MORE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY
ABOUT THEM?
Yes, it’s a concept album. It’s a story about
Kulerva, these stories were written by a Swedish author (note: Didn’t catch
the name.) back in the 70s and they were translated by (note: a Finnish
name again!), so we actually used this version of the story. It’s a good
story, it’s something that you’ll understand if you are a man living in
Finland. Is what we men from Finland see and live in our everyday lives.
-SO, THIS MEANS THAT I CAN’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!
Hahahahaha! You don’t have the lyrics?
-NO I DON’T! THE PROMO CD I GOT DOESN’T CONTAIN
ANY LYRICS.
Well, it’s not a whole story, but they are
short stories of the life of Kulerva. When we were writing the songs, we
were thinking about the songs. We didn’t want to make a concept story,
but we wanted lyrics that would fit to the music.
13. YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD SIMPLE BUT BEAUTIFUL COVER
ARTWORKS. HOWEVER, I THINK THAT THIS ONE IS EXCELLENT WITH REALLY BEAUTIFUL
COLOURS. ACTUALLY I THINK IT DEPICTS PERFECTLY THE ALBUM’S MUSIC! SO, WHO
DREW IT?
It was Travis, you know the guy that makes
the Opeth covers for example. He likes Amorphis a lot. We wrote to him
and asked him if he was interested in drawing our cover artwork and he
wanted to do it! It’s been a big and beautiful work.
-DID HE GET TO LISTEN TO YOUR SONGS OR DID YOU
JUST GIVE HIM THE ALBUM TITLE?
We were talking via email and Travis had several
ideas and he discussed everything with the band. Of course Travis has his
own style, but Esa has given him some ideas about the album and its concept,
but I don’t think he listened to it. I’m not sure…
14. THE ALBUM WILL ALSO HAVE A BONUS TRACK CALLED
“STONEWOMAN”. DO YOU WANT TO TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT IT? WILL IT BE
ON ALL CDS OR ON A LIMITED EDITION?
Yeah! It’s only on a limited edition and I
think it’s also coming with the single too. I think it has the same music
more or less with the rest of the songs. It’s another story of Kulerva
and… Have you listened to the song “House Of Sleep”?
-YES!
Well, it sounds similar to that song I’d say.
15. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS?
Yeah, actually we have one show coming up
next month here in Helsinki. We are going to do a tour in Finland and maybe
hit Europe and in the summer I hope we’ll get the chance to play in some
open air festivals too.
-ANY CHANCE YOU MIGHT PASS BY GREECE?
Let’s hope so! I don’t know yet! I only know
the Finnish cities.
16. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE?
Emotion? Hmm… When I’m listening to the album
it feels like dreaming, like having some visions when you close your eyes.
I know it’s not a felling, but…
-WELL, IT’S NOT, BUT IT CAN CREATE FEELINGS.
Yes! I think it’s powerful, maybe sad, because
the story is sad… What about you?
-HMMM, WELL I THINK IT SEEMS CALM, BUT AT THE
SAME IT HAS A HIDDEN POWER IN IT. IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD AND IT RELAXES
ME.
One other thing I like about this album is
that it’s not too long.
17. IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
I think Travis drew the perfect painting for
this album I like the colours a lot! I think it shows desperation.
18. I SUPPOSE YOU DID QUITE MANY INTERVIEWS BY
NOW…
Well, actually this is my 4th! Haha!
-WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST QUESTION YOU’VE BEEN ASKED?
Hahaha! There haven’t been any weird questions!
They were nice people I suppose! Haha!
19. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION AND I FORGOT TO ASK YOU?
No! I think we covered everything! I hope
the new and old fans like this album, because it’s really nice and catchy.
Let’s hope we meet with our fans in ours shows! Hahaha!
20. LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE OLD AMORPHIS FANS…
I hope they give me a chance! Hahahaha! And
give the album some time, because my way of singing is quite different.
I think they must give some time in order to get used to my voice.
-OK! BYE, BYE AND DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!
Christine Parastatidou
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