Interview с Machine Men : DARKSIDE.ru

“Elegies” is your first album for Century Media Records. How did you get the deal? And have you already noticed the difference between Dynamic Arts and Century Media?

Our management, Continental Concerts, handled the whole thing, they made the deal. Of course, Century Media is a much bigger label than Dynamic Arts. They both are good labels, even though Dynamic Arts is a small company in Finland, but it doesn’t mean they are bad. When we were with Dynamic Arts, they handled our affairs very good, but Century Media are much bigger, so we have a better chance to move on with them.

The album cover and the album title to me look like two opposites. When you say “Elegies”, you usually mean something quiet and peaceful, and the faces on the cover are rather scary. What meaning did you want the cover to convey?

The album cover and the title are two different things. The title is a dedication to our friend - that’s a different story, and I don’t wanna talk about that. But the cover is a graphic expression of the lyrics – if you read the lyrics, you will understand the meaning of the cover. It fits to the lyrics very well.

You changed the studio for the recording of this album. Why did you choose to work with Nino Laurenne (also a guitarist of Thunderstone – ed.), and how much is his studio different from Studio Audio, where you did the first two recordings – “Scars & Wounds” and “Machine Men” mini-album (2002)?

Actually our manager told me that Nino would be a better choice for us. We had met Nino before, we had played together with Thunderstone a couple of times, and we asked him if he was interested in producing our album, but he didn’t have much time, as he had just completed Thunderstone’s third album. Both studios are pretty good. Sonic Pump is much smaller, it is located in a basement, but it’s a fucking great place, it has a really good vibe. We had great feelings while recording there, but the new one is also a great studio.

For you personally, what is the hardest part in the recording process?

Oh, that’s a difficu

lt question, let me think. The hardest part is to get the feeling when I start to sing, especially if I sing a slow or emotional songs. A couple of times me and our guitarist J-V had a pretty bad hangover (laughs), and it was quite hard to get the right feeling in such a situation. Apart from that, the whole session was really great. We had made demo versions of the songs before we entered the studio, so it was kind of easily to record them.

Why did you decide to cover “Freak” by Bruce Dickinson for this record? This track is not an obvious choice…

Our album’s running time was too short, and our management and label said that if we want to get better deals around the world, we should record a bonus song. “Freak” was a quick choice, and I don’t like it. I mean, I do like the song on the “Accident Of Birth” album, but I don’t like it on our album, because I had a really bad singing day. It’s the only bad thing on the new album, but it’s there, so what can I do? (laughs)

For the first album you and drummer Jarno wrote most of the music. Was that different this time? And in general, how do you usually work on songs?

Of course, Jarno is still the main writer, he wrote six songs for the new album. I wrote two songs, and J-V wrote another one. In general, the situation is nearly the same as on “Scars & Wounds”.

You are still the author of all the lyrics for Machine Men. Where do you get the inspiration for lyric-writing?

I’m inspired by this world, by what I see here, by my experience, my opinions. This world is a pretty good place to live, but there is a lot of bad things here, such as war, violence and hate. This kind of bad things inspires me. (laughs) I like to write sad or cruel stories, and all of them are about this world.

For instance, the song “Betrayed By Angels” from the first album – is there a real story behind it, or is it just the work of your imagination?

It’s a product of my imagination. It’s a story about choosing a wrong way when you are a teenager. When you are real

ly young, about 15 or 16 years old, you don’t know what you want from your life, and you can choose a wrong way easily. It’s a fictional story, but my real thoughts are behind it.

As far as I understood from the lyrics on the first album, you feel quite bitter about religion and god. Is that correct, and if yes, what makes you feel this way?

I’m not a religious person. It doesn’t matter to me if you believe in god, it’s OK if you believe it. But I don’t like it if you call me and say that I’m a bad guy and promise me that god will punish me, blah blah blah. On the first album there’s a song called “The Beginning Of The End”. The story of it goes like this: a couple of years ago some religious man called me and asked me if I believe in god. I said, “Why do you ask me this?” But he continued, “Do you believe in god?” And he went on to say that god had spoken to him this morning and told him that I am doomed. I said, “Fuck you!” and hanged the fuck up. I was so pissed off about that. It’s OK if you believe in god, and this belief makes your life better, but don’t come knocking on my door. It’s bullshit, I hate that.

There is a very interesting hidden track on the “Scars & Wounds” album, it’s another version of the title song, and it is very different from the rest of the material that you’re playing. What is the story behind this hidden track?

(laughs) The idea came from our guitar player J-V. We were in the studio, we had a couple of days left, and he said, “What if we make a hidden track?” We were like, “What the fuck? What do you mean by a hidden track?” And he said, “What if I play keyboards and you sing this song? We’ll have a string version.” I agreed, because we had a few hours left in the studio, and I really like the result. Even though it’s a kind of joke, it gives a good feeling to the album. But I don’t know whether all the people who have heard the album know that there’s a hidden track.

By the way, I cannot but ask your opinion about the recent wave of the so-called love metal bands from Finland. Do you ever listen to this type of music? I mean, you

r voice on this hidden track sounds very love metal-lish, so to say…

Like I said, this track was only a joke, but I tried! On the new album there’s a cello song called “From Sunrise To Sunset”, where I’m also singing pretty low.

Now comes a very stupid question – why did you decide to name the band Machine Men?

(laughs) I don’t know. The idea came from our drummer, and I don’t even remember where he took it from. I think it’s from a Bruce Dickinson song on the “Chemical Wedding” album.

What kind of music were you playing during your demo times?

Those demos were pretty much in the same style that we play now, but they were more like 1980s heavy songs. Actually there were a lot of elements from different decades in our music: there’s a little bit from the 1970s, a little bit from the 1980s, a little bit from the 1990s. But now I think we have found the right style. I hope so. (laughs)

I know that your guitarist J-V is also playing in a black metal band called Funeris Nocturnum. Does anybody else in the band have side projects?

Actually no. And Funeris Nocturnum do not exist anymore either, they now have a band called Atakhama. Their new album has just been released. I don’t like death or black metal, I’m not a fan of this kind of music, but it’s a good band. We do have a cover band called The Tank, where we play Ozzy Osbourne songs. A couple of months ago we did three gigs in Finland. But apart from that J-V is the only one in the band who has other projects.

And with Machine Men, what are your touring plans? Will you do a European tour or some festival appearances in the near future?

Yeah, we will play two gigs in Germany this summer, at the Earthshaker festival and at Wacken Open Air, and we have a gig at the Metal Wave in Spain in August. We might have a European tour with Sonata Arctica in September, but this is not sure yet. Anyway, we will have a tour in September. I’m looking forward for these events, because the Earthshaker festival will be our first gig out

side Finland. So far we have only toured Finland, we did about 15 gigs last year, and that’s quite a lot for a small heavy metal band in this country. I hope we will have a chance to promote our album in the rest of the world.

Where does the intro for your shows come from? For instance, the one that you used at the Sauna Open Air festival two weeks ago…

It’s from the “Omen” movie. Our friend made this intro, it’s a combination of songs used in that movie.

Nearly everybody in the band names Iron Maiden among your favorite bands and your biggest influences. How did you first discover the music of Iron Maiden?

My elder brother is a metal fan, too, and about 16 years ago I heard Iron Maiden for the first time. I was six years old, it was back then when “The Seventh Son Of The Seventh Son” album came out. I don’t know about other guys, they started listening to heavy music later, I think. But Iron Maiden wasn’t the first heavy metal band I started listening to. WASP was one of bands I was listening to when I was really young.

What do your family and friends think about Machine Men? What was your parents’ reaction when you decided to become a metal musician and got a record deal?

(laughs) They like what I do, they accept that. I’ve always told my family that this is the thing that I want to do, and I don’t want to work at some fucking factory. I’ve always said that I just want to sing. I have just one life, so I want to try this. My family accepts totally what I do, they are very supportive. And friends like it very much.

What are your ambitions with Machine Men? What goals would you like to reach with the band? Or is it more like you’re having fun and letting it go as it goes?

(pause) Of course, there’s a lot of bands in this world, so it’s very hard to move on and become famous. It’s really hard to get loyal fans. We just move on day by day, we play gigs, we write new songs and hope that we get a chance to record our next album. Of course, we have dreams, but the dreams are dreams, if you know what I mean. It’s great if you have a dream, but it’s hard to realize it in this business. We’ll see.

And now please say a few words to your fans and potential audience in Russia…

Wine is fine, but vodka is quicker! (everybody laughs)

Special thanks to Kyra Bartkiewitz (Century Media) for arranging this interview

Interview by Roman Patrashov
Live photos by Felix Yakovlev
June 23, 2005
18 июл 2005 the End

Machine Men

Dream & Religion