Category: Music

Forget the metal and hard rock for a while, the indie and electronic scene in Finland is getting popular. I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper is one of its representative best. Behind that twisted name hides the project of Pasi Viitanen, who drifted from a heavy metal adolescence to noisy electronic indie songs. This Friday the band presents live its new album in Tampere and Pasi tells about it in FREE!

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What is your approach to music? How did you start making music together?

In the beginning IWATSW was an imaginary band, a one man project. I made up two characters who were in the band and put some songs in the internet for the people to download, and they liked it! I guess at that point only few knew it was a fake band. It was supposed to be a some kind of an art project but  then there turned up to be some offers for gigs. I thought: damn it – why not,  and asked two of my pals with me. First there were three of us, later also a drummer came in.

You have a very original band name, so i cannot help this question. How did you come up with IWATSW?

It refers to the 50’s B-movie names like I Was a Teenage Werewolf etc. It is also a tribute to my own heavy metal past, the time when I was 15 and my parents were slightly concerned when I decorated my room with black bin bags. My band mates do have very similar memoirs of their own teenage time.

Could you tell our readers a little bit about the new album?

It is called The Lemonade Ocean. It is very noisy and melodic and it has various of different styles in it. There is guitar oriented indie pop songs as well as very electronic songs. While it's a mad mixture of different genres, it's still sounding the same band all the time. I’m quite excited of it.

How is it different from your previous albums?

The former record, called Whatevernights, was very focused on a one particular concept and the first EP, called Bees & Honey, were bit more like a single collection. The new record is somewhere between these two. This time I wanted the concept to be much more loose and I wanted to let my imagination explore freely.

The first single, OMG Techno Chicks, sounds very oriented to electronic? How will these sounds be reflected in your concerts?

We have a sampler and synths on stage and our drummer is playing with a click. Playing with the machine is fun, it feels like there is a movie going on and we are playing on it. It has a certain irreversibility in it.

What is / Where is The Lemonade Ocean?

It is a mental place which turns up when you’re drunk on afternoon and you’re head is full of great ideas you will regret the day after. It’s that when it’s 33•C and you’re drifting around with people you don’t know.

The stereotype says that Finland is a heavy metal country, how do you think your music fits in Finland?

We fit in fine. We have a song called ”Heavy Metal Nation”, by the way,  and it’s of the subject. Metal music reflects the Finnish mentality. Though I do not like it, It does not disturb me, it is just an eurodance of the decade.

I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper

Friday 29.2
Album release party – Klubi, Tampere

Tour

7.03. Gloria, Helsinki15.03. Bar 68, Jyväskylä
22.03. Semifinal, Helsinki
28.03. Dynamo, Turku
03.04. Klubi, Tampere
04.04. Klubi, Turku
05.04. Virgin Oil, Helsinki
10.04. Bar Kino, Pori
11.04. Amarillo, Vaasa
12.04. Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki
16.04. Henry´s Pub, Kuopio
17.04. 45 Special, Oulu
18.04. Seurahuone, Kokkola

www.iwatsw.com
www.myspace.com/teensatanists

FREE! Magazine has access to all areas! This time, we entered the backstage at Jäähalli in Tampere to meet Andreas “Whiplasher” Bernardotte, singer of Swedish metal sensation Deathstars.

I have an appointment with the singer of the new Swedish sensation in death metal scene: Deathstars. An interview scheduled early in the evening, since the band is the first of the three that will appear on stage at Jäähalli. The heading band is legendary American Nu Metal Korn. Actually, it is so early that I find difficulties even in getting inside the venue. Finally, I am able to contact the tour manager, and meet “Whiplasher” in a tiny room close to the showers of the Sport Hall. The singer looks tired, probably consequences of a hangover after a party night in Helsinki. Deathstars played in the mythical club Tavastia the previous day, heading the show there. Quite different from what we can enjoy in Tampere, since the tight schedule let them time to play hardly six or seven songs. In any case, Andreas is a very interesting character, who has traveled and worked all around the world, and conversation turns to interest him specially when focused on topics not directly related to music business

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You were playing yesterday at Tavastia in Helsinki. How was the gig there?
It was great! It was really fun!

In most of the tour dates you are playing with Korn. But there at Tavastia yesterday you were heading, so I suppose that it was a great feeling. Were you playing much longer there?

Yeah, with Korn we play 7 songs and with our gigs we play 15 or 16. It is a bit different, but you get the best from both of it. You get club gigs and also the arenas, so it is a good variation.

How has been the tour so far in general?
Very, very, good! Absolutely fantastic! It is very surprising the reaction of Korn´s fans, that we get the response that we do.  It has been good like hell!

How did it happen that you got involved in this tour with them? Did they choose you?
Yeah, Jonathan Davids really likes Deathstars, so he called and invited us to come and join them on tour.

Any special venue that you remember during the tour?
Together with Korn we had a gig somewhere in England, I think it was in Plymouth, with 4000 people and they pretty much knew every song, because we are quite big in the UK. There were a lot of people; we had never played there before, and it was really nice.

And in Finland, had you played before here?
Yes, we played before in Tuska and Ruisrock summer festivals last summer.

 “As long as in Deathstars we don´t know what the fuck is going on, it is perfect!”

You are pretty big in Sweden, but looks like your previous company, Universal, did not promote you well enough in the international scene. Do you feel that things are getting balanced now with international promotion in this tour?

Yes, of course!  This is perfect for us! It is a big promotion. We were in a mainstream label and they really did not know where we came from, so they did not know how to promote it. Nuclear Blast is maybe better in that way. But still, we have just started. Termination Bliss is just the second album, it feels like the first album for us, and the band is starting to “increase”.

You come from underground Swedish metal, being former members of bands like Swordmaster or Dissection. And your sound evolved to what you call “Death glam”. How did this change of style come up?

I don´t know really… We never really said that “this is how we should do it”. As long as we feel stimulated by it, and we feel entertained by it. As long as we don´t know what the fuck is going on, it is perfect! We are just idiots! It is all about ourselves, about “us” in the band. We don´t keep updated with new bands, it is very internal matter. It is more like a rollercoaster ride. It is just crash, bum, and bang!. Darkness, chaos, party… and then let´s see what happens. That´s it.

Your second album Termination Bliss was darker and with topics like pain and death much more present than in the first one Synthetic Generation. I know that your guitar player went through a lot of personal problems. Do you use music as a catharsis?

I think that sounds so pretentious to say that, but yes. It is of course what you reflect upon. You write music to understand yourself, and you write music to understand others. You reflect about things, but in the end you do not get any answers, but well, it helps.

During that album, so many people died around us and a lot of break ups. It was tough, that it reflects that time. It has been a couple of years since we did that album, and now I can really look back and see it better.

I heard that you have been working on the new album during last months.

Yeah, we have been recording in New York, but I think we will continue recording after the tour. I don´t know if it will be in Sweden or anywhere else. Nightmare (their guitar player) has been living in NY for quite a while and he is producing all the stuff, so it was practical for us to go there and work in the studio there.

Is the new album going to be “lighter” than the previous one?

No, no. It is going to be very dark. This band takes care of your dark side! So I guess that it is a bit more outgoing, straightforward, but also more “Deathstars”, feeling the progress we have done. It is difficult to talk about something that is not completely finished.

Why is Bone, the drummer, not coming with you on this tour?

Because he had to take care of his kid, his son. He said 1 year ago that he could not follow us during January-February, whatever we would be doing. It is nothing bigger than that, it is just for this tour. It is nice to have Adrian stepping in. He is a great drummer.

Your music, although being death metal, has a “sexy touch” that attracts to a lot of female fans. It comes to my mind, now here in Finland, the reference to H.I.M. that also uses a strong link between death, pain and love. What is your opinion about them?

I can´t really say that I have, because I never listened to HIM. It would be stupid to say something about it, but it seems to be very successful. Maybe a bit too soft music for me to listen to, but I respect them, of course. We played with them in a festival, but I did not get to see them. It was EXIT festival in Serbia, a huge commercial festival there with people like Pet Shop Boys and Billy Idol, not a metal festival.

I know you have worked as a journalist also. What did you exactly do?

I was working in the Middle East. Writing about every day situation, writing chronicles for TV4 in Sweden and filming for the news.  I am still a TV producer, but now it is getting harder and harder to fit that in, because of the band. But it is interesting, I love telling stories. I happened to work in Kosovo, in Albania, in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey…I have also worked in documentaries about the Maoris, been in Tonga, and also in the Atlas mountains. I was in Moscow doing a documentary about new rich people 3 months ago.

How do you feel about that? 

You have seen a lot of hard situations happening in the world, and you are also in this rock world that can become sometimes very superficial.

Do you have a different perspective?

Yeah, I think we are spoiled, to have it like this. It is not something in the band, it is nothing really, and you do not challenge yourself that much. I have a lot of respect for people who do not have it so easy. But walking on the stage… I think that maybe people have too much respect for musicians. Then again, music is an international phenomena, it helps. What I mean is that waking up on stage every night is not like working in a grocery´s shop in Jerusalem. You do not have to put so much effort in it. Music is very important, so as long as people gain something from it, it is important. Hopefully we do something right in the end… For me it would be nice to combine those jobs more, but for now it is tough.

-We get lost for some minutes talking about Russia, the censorship in Scandinavian countries, the double moral here, and our love for Estonia and Estonian women (Andreas´s girlfriend happens to be Swedish from Estonian family)- Russia and particularly its capital Moscow seems to hypnotize him:

There is a lot of about Moscow and Russia in the new album; a lot of about conflict. The place symbolizes very well the state of mind of the band, the scenarios there. Russia is portrayed as “the bad boy of the world”, but that makes it interesting. It is so complex…I was hanging out with this young girl. She was 16 years old and she had 2 limo cars, her own driver, her own hummer vehicle, you could not see the road from the back seat because there was a huge flat screen there all over, and her name in diamonds and pink leather seats. Just going from one saloon to the other and partying… It was very weird. It is another world!

Sounds totally crazy!

Moscow is fantastic. I would love to live there, but my girlfriend does not want too. Maybe I should break up with her and start a relation with a Russian…

But your home city Stockholm is quite nice too. I have been there several times and I love it!

Yeah, it is very nice. I just moved back there from London. I have been living in London. But I think I will move back to London in the future.  Stockholm is very beautiful. I have a lot of friends in London. When being on tour is not so important where I live, as far as my girlfriend is ok with it. I am away for 2 months and then coming back and then leaving again…

“My future project after the tour is to practice sex as much as I can”

I know that you are a great Kiss fan. Actually your nickname: “Whiplasher” comes from a Kiss ´song, doesn´t it?

Yes, it is true. Kiss is the best!  They are so big! They represent so much! I think I worked extra when I was 6 years old to buy Kiss albums. I had everything when I was 7. They are the reason also why we started to use make-up on stage.

What are your future projects when the tour is over?

I am going to practice sex as much as I can. I want to get as possibly can get. That is the main thing. And then we have to focus on the album and trying to get that just perfect as soon as possible.

Do you have any confirmed release date?

It was supposed to be released on May but we don´t know now. We will see. I don´t know how the summer festivals and the next tour will look like.

For more information visit:

www.deathstars.net

“The Beatles!” This is what Asmo (singer & organ)
and Topi (guitar & keyboards) of Downstairs first tell me when I ask them
about their influences. Listening to their raw and edgy music, it might be hard
to imagine such an answer. Indeed the band defines its music as “fat drumbeats
and cactus-like vocals up your bleeding ass”. Not really all-you-need-is-love
type of music.

Downstairs is the latest product of the Fullsteam
Records factory. They just released their first album, Oh Father and they start
appearing in most of the music magazines. Their indie punk rock might not be
suitable for everyone. Even their live act can be a weird unpleasant pleasure
with Asmo singing his guts and redeeming the darkest demons of the fun house.

But don’t be afraid, Downstairs also presents one
catchy first single (Peephole City), which should be part of the next Suomirock
compilation.

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Everything
is going fast for you lately: a deal with Fullsteam Records, last year and now
a lot of hype around the album release. How do you feel about it?

Asmo: We feel happy obviously. We want to get noticed.
We want people to know who we are and what we do.

Topi: The whole media seems to be quite interested on
Fullsteam Records as a label and its bands. They have so many bands that have
grown from there, new bands that they signed and went big. This is interesting
for the media.

Were you
expecting a call from Fullsteam?

Topi: I think we were a bit surprised. The other bands
there are a bit more mainstream. But we’ve known a few of the guys that work
there for a long time. Anyway, I guess you can say that we were surprised.

"They were afraid we were going to screw up the album and make a very clean sound"

Tell me a
little bit about the recording process of the album.

Asmo: We were writing for the record when we got
signed. We were about to release it ourselves, but as we got signed we kept on
writing the record. It happened naturally.

Topi: We agreed doing the contract a long time ago,
but it wasn’t made public until October. So, we officially put our names on
paper in October but the album was recorded in September at Finnvox Studios.

Did you have
any pressure from the label to make the record like they wanted?

Topi: No. We did some demos of the album. When they
heard we were going into Finnvox Studios, which are one of the best in Finland,
they were scared that we were going to screw it up and make a very clean sound.
So they wanted us to record more stuff sounding like the demos: garage,
distorted and other things like that. There was no pressure for us.

It looks
like it was the opposite you would expect from a record company?

Asmo: On Fullsteam, the bands do whatever they want.
They might come to the studio to check, but they don’t interfere.

What is the
meaning behind the album title, Oh Father?

Asmo: There are tons of meanings. Whatever you want to
make of it. Obviously father is father, but it can also be god or just our way
of saying what the hell is going on. It is just a phrase. It has an open
meaning. It fits differently to every song individually, but it fits to all of
them as a whole too.

What about
the songwriting? You have pretty interesting song titles and lyrics. Where all
these ideas come from?

Asmo: All the ideas come from everyday life. I might
see something in the news that I don’t like or I might write about my personal
life. Lyrics are pretty obscure. They are not meant to be understood
completely. Just make up whatever you want from them.

Where is
Peephole City? What is it?

Asmo: It is a classic escape song. It means that you
want to go somewhere else.

Topi: It is like Gotham City!

Some of the
bands you mention as your influences are not so old (At The Drive-In, Fugazi,
…Trail of Dead). But do you also listen to the “classics”?

Both: Beatles!

Topi:Also Black Sabbath, 70s Alice Cooper: Billion Dollar
Babies, School’s Out.

Asmo: I like Rolling Stones, The Clash, MC5, Iggy Pop
& The Stooges, Led Zeppelin… the first bands that I got into. You might
not hear them in our music, but they are there. We listen to all kinds of
music.

There's a
pretty interesting indie / alternative scene in Finland at the moment with
bands like Rubik, Lapko, Sweatmaster… Many of them are your label mates, what
do you think about this situation?

Asmo: It’s great. Most of those bands are in
Fullsteam, which is kind of a phenomenon in Finland. They release good music.

Topi: All the people at Fullsteam they operate kind of
underground. They go to see gigs. If we are on tour with a good band, we’ll
tell them check out this band. Finding new bands that have potential before
major or other record labels find them. That’s one part of the reason why so
many promising and talented bands come from Fullsteam Records.

Asmo: They don’t sign a band that they think will sell
millions of records. They sign a band they like.

Topi: They let the band grow. They don’t say that if
you don’t sell 200,000 records with your first album, you will be kicked out of
the label. They give their chance to grow. For a long time all the successful
bands were heavy metal bands. There were no indie bands known. But Fullsteam is
doing a good word spreading the word.

 

Jack Knight, Mike Henry Leak and Z Rivers are the members of The Bluestation. No, even with those artistic names, they do not come from Mississippi Delta, but just from our old beloved Finland.

Not only are their names typical “made in USA”. If you take a look at the biography of the band in their official site, you can find an incredible story full of humour. You cannot deny that these guys have a certain doses of originality in all what they do:

“We decided not to come up with some traditional type of bio where all favourite colours and foods are listed. Furthermore, we are quite boring guys in real life so we decided to put little extra into story. Of course there are bits and pieces of truth in there but I not going to reveal which parts of the story are true. I leave you guessing…”

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How did the three of you agreed to start with this project?

Well it all started on friends having fun together. We were basically jamming and having good time until things got serious. That happened somewhere around 2004 when we played our first gigs and started to work with our début album First Blood.

Why the name: The Bluestation? Can’t be misleading, so people think that you are a Blues band?

Yeah we have run into this name issue many times and maybe it’s good. We have got feedback after playing gigs for audience who doesn’t know us that “Hell Yeah, I was expecting some crappy blues band but this is a good shit”. The name kind of surprises people and hopefully makes us bit more interesting.

What can you tell us about the new album: Over the Top?

Over The Top album was recorded during 2006/2007 and it was mixed and mastered on 2007 so all in all it was quite long and painful process to get this album ready. Nevertheless, we are very satisfied with the album and it is very difficult to choose favourite song from album. Basically we love them all

How is the response of the Finnish audience to the album? Do you have also people who follow the band abroad?

I have had good response from audience and also from media. The album was reviewed by all major Finnish music media and webzines and almost every review have been positive so far. Currently we don’t tour abroad so we don’t know yet how album is going to go abroad. Anyway, there is a plan to release this album abroad as well so let’s hope this issue about touring abroad will improve very soon.

"In small towns people are more open minded for music than in Helsinki"

 Is it in small pubs where you feel more comfortable for playing, or you just do not mind?

We don’t really mind where we play: pub’s, clubs, stadiums anything goes. Of course playing in small pubs and clubs somewhat enjoyable as atmosphere in those venues is more intimate.

Your style is very American, at least in the way you dress, and in the music, with that southern touch. Why that influence?

Well all of us three have listened to American music from very beginning when we started to understand something about music. In other words, music that we are doing comes naturally and each band member brings in own ideas and own background to the music.

Where in Finland is the best audience?

Definitely in small towns. It looks like people there are more open minded than in Helsinki, for example.

Is there any Finnish or international band that you admire, or you would like to play with?

As mentioned earlier, we don’t listen to Finnish music much but there are few bands that we admire. Bands like Free, Mountain, Kyuss, Unida or Fu Manchu can be brought up as those are the bands that most probably have influenced us most. Of course there are more but just to mention few.

What are your future plans?

In a near future we are going to tour as much as possible and then of course we start to work with new album at some point. There isn’t any fixed date when new album is going to be released but we already have some “killer” ideas for the next album.

Any message for the FREE! Magazine readers?

Nothing much except that come to see us on our gigs on buy some records, you won’t be disappointed!

For more information about the band:

www.the-bluestation.com

www.myspace.com/thebluestation

Photos: Juho Juntto

{mosimage}Masterstroke is one of the new Finnish metal bands deserved to be highlighted. These guys from Tampere bring good melodies and a classy style with their new album: Sleep. Jussi, the keyboard player, tells us more about them.

Tell us a bit about the origins and foundation of the band.

Masterstroke was formed in 2002 when Janne Juutinen and Niko Rauhala wanted to do something of their own, after having been in different bands for few years. The band started out as more "traditional" power metal band (same line that Gamma Ray or Stratovarius) but our style has been moving towards more aggressive styles. We've gone through some line-up changes over the years, but now we have a band that just works.

You are from Tampere, aren’t you?

Yes, we're from Tampere! We've done shows in Hellä and Rusty Angel is a sort of regular haunt for us (and especially Marko…).

What are your main musical influences?

My background is in electronic music, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, Jarre, Tangerine Dream, etc., but now I've been listening to Evergrey, Katatonia, Symphony X, Ayreon, In Flames… I like metal that has a lot of feeling to it and strong melodies, harmonies etc.

What was the reason for Niko leaving the vocals, and coming back later again in substitution of Jani Tiura?

Niko never left the band, he just concentrated on playing the guitar while Jari was singing. When Jari left, it was obvious pretty soon that Niko should start singing again. We did try a few other singers, but they just didn't seem to feel right for us.

Tell us a bit more about that experience of having your debut album only published in places like Russia and Japan. Was it frustrating?

It was really frustrating, because we had no way of knowing what was going on. It was doubly frustrating for me, since I had planned to use it as a sort of calling card for more recording and mixing work… We've been talking about releasing the album again at some point, but so far it's just been talk, nothing concrete. It's pretty hard for any band from Finland to go and play in, say, Japan, much more so for a relatively new and unknown band like us. So we didn't get the chance to play there… yet.

Is it too hard the competence in the Finnish metal market? It seems that nowadays 1 out of 2 Finnish young guys plays in a metal band. Do you have other activities apart from music?

I think it is since there are a lot of bands. But I feel that since competition is hard, only the best and those who are willing and able to work for what they believe in will succeed. I've pretty much dedicated my life to music, but I try to find time for books, movies and friends.

Any favourite tracks in the new album.

At the moment I like Final Journey, for the feeling it gives while playing it. That might change tomorrow however…

I see that you into the voting process to be selected for playing at the Sweden Rock Festival. Are you excited about it? It must be the best metal festival in Europe (if not in the world) and an excellent promotion for you.

I have to admit being totally oblivious to the whole European festival "scene" so, sure, I'm excited if that comes true, but only because it would be great to get out and play in festivals.-How has been the popular response to Sleep?

Are you happy with the results so far since November?

It's still too early to tell any numbers and all that and I haven't even asked. So far the response and reviews have been positive, a bit reserved. That's natural for a beginning band such as us.

What can the people expect in your incoming live shows?

Good music and a kick-ass show!

Any plans in the long run?

Gigging, making new songs and a new album somewhere in the horizon. Oh, and world domination in 2014, of course!  So Support your local metal-scene! Come to the shows and buy the records! Check out our website and write to our guestbook!