Interview с Korpiklaani : DARKSIDE.ru

Your new album is called “Korven Kuningas”. Why such a title? Does it reflect the concept of the album?

Not really, but surely it has the connection with the album itself as there is also a song called “Korven Kunigas”. And then there are some songs on the album, especially the song “Metsamies” which is about lumberjacks, about the people in the 18th or 19th century, 18th hundred something working in the Finnish forest, and floating those lumbers down the river. I think that has been going on in Russia as well. And there are also songs about this kind of romantic adventures whatever it is, and in this way the title and the cover are connected with the album itself.

This is the first album in your career which will be released via Nuclear Blast records. Why did you choose this exact label and has anything changed for you personally and fr the band in general since you got signed to this label?

With our previous label Napalm Records we had a deal for four albums and we did that and then when the forth album was coming out, but not released yet, we had some offers from different labels. They sent us some messages saying, “We know that your contract or deal is ending now and we would like to offer you a new contract.” There were quite big companies and quite good offers and we began discussing what variant would be the best. And we all agreed that NB is the most interesting and beautiful label for us. But we always thought that they are not interested in us there and they don’t like this kind of stuff. But it was only like two or three weeks later that we got a message from NB that “Hey, guys! We would like to work with you!” So it was quite easy after that, cause they wanted us and we wanted them. (laughs) And now we’ve already been working with them over a year and it’s a real pleasure to work with them. It’s so easy to work with them, cause everything is so personal, you meet people and the call you, they e-mail you and they ask you how you feel and it’s really strange, because with the previous company we never had such relations, though they were a smaller company, and still we didn’t have any personal contact. Everything was really difficult with that no so large company and not with such a big company everything is so much easier. That was a kind of surprise, a positive surprise.

On your previous CDs there were songs about shamans, spirits… What themes do you touch upon on your upcoming album?

The lyrics are quite the same and of the same subjects. Still mostly about the Finnish traditions, Finnish folklore and Finnish beliefs. So there are no big changes in the terms of lyrics.

On the cover artwork of the new album we see our old good acquaintance. This time he has gone in for surfing. Why did you touch upon a water theme this time? You are a forest clan, why water?

(laughs)Yeah! But Finland has lots of both – of forests and water. And as I said – some of the songs are about this lumberjack culture. And this is the way how they traveled – they used rivers to travel. They were standing on a log and it’s quite appropriate to have water on the cover.

Where did you take this symbol of yours, this old man Vaari?

On the first couple of Korpiklaani albums and on the previous Shaman albums we were using this logo – a shaman. That logo is a rock’s carving, it has been found on many places around Scandinavia and part of Russia as well. An

d that’s what we used as a logo and after a few albums we decided that this logo should come to more alive, to get some more flesh and we presented idea to the cover artist Jan "Orkki" Yrlund who actually changed this shaman symbol to that old man. So that man is based on the shaman symbol. And he has been with us for three albums already. Probably he’ll be even longer.

Speaking about the upcoming album Jonne once said that this time cover artwork will be painted in oil paints on canvas. Why did you take a decision to use oil paints this time?

The idea came from the cover artist. It was his idea that the cover will look better if he paints it with the real oil paints. Although the idea was that he’ll do the graphics on the computer. And after that when the picture is done, someone would paint this or rather copy it ob the canvas. That’s how it was done.

And you worked with the same cover artist this time…

Yeah, Jan "Orkki" Yrlund has already done three covers for us. And we’ve been very happy to work with him. And we just didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be using him this time and for the next album.

You write and release albums very quickly, every year. And I think that any band could just envy this capacity of yours, as the quantity doesn’t affect the quality. What’s your secret?

I don’t know the secret to that. But we have always thought that if we have enough good songs then we can make an album, because there is no point writing the songs and then saving them and not using them. We have now two composers in the band and Jonne is the main composer here. And all the time he writes more, faster and better and he works quite a lot. And there is also Juho (Kauppinen – ed.), our accordion player who becomes more and more productive and more and more creative. We are constantly getting new songs from them and they are good songs to make an album. So it’s quite simple for us.

On the new album the majority of songs are written in Finnish. And how do you usually distribute the quantity of songs – how many of them to write in English and how many – in your mother tongue, Finnish?

It happens quite by chance. This time it was that we had plenty of good Finnish lyrics that we could use and this time it happened this way. We’ve been moving more and more in this direction – to write in Finnish. It so happened this time, but it doesn’t mean that the next album will be completely in Finnish. You can never tell such things beforehand. We don’t even sink that far ahead, we don’t plan things that we’re gonna write a song about that and we’re gonna write a song like that – a song in Finnish or English or in Russian or whatever language. We don’t plan things and everything is just, you know, happens. We make an album with the songs that we have – and if they are all English or all Finnish, that’s how the next album is going to be, let it be so.

For the first single from this album you chose a song “Keep On Galloping”. Was it your idea to choose this song? Why this song?

That’s about a horse that has some kind of magic powers. And this song is loosely based on the Finnish tradition. It was not our idea, it was the label’s idea. And the main reason, I think, is that the song has English lyrics and the single will be released outside Finland as well. Maybe they wanted to have an English language song on the single.

And will there be the second single?

I don’t think there will be one more. We haven’t even thought about that.

And what about video clips? What videos do you have in stores for us?

We’ve already shot a video for the song “Metsamies”. And the second video is for the song “Keep On Galloping”.

Could you reveal the plot of these clips?

(laughs) Not really, cause I don’t know them myself. With the song “Metsamies” it was that we just went there and did what they told us and for the second clip we were just where they told us at 9 o’clock in the morning ready for orders. I have so many other things to think about that I don’t want to bother with it myself. I don’t want to understand just how to make a video, I’d better come a do what I’m told and let them do the thinking.

And what if the band members don’t like the plot, chosen by the director?

We shoot them! (laughs)

And who usually decides for what song you should soot a video. Os it the band or the label?

I think it’s quite obvious for both that we should make a video. So that’s the reason for “Keep On Galloping”. And with “Metsamies” it was a different thing, because we had an offer from one director who wanted to do a video with us for that song. So it was his idea again. And that’s how we chose the songs for the video clips at least for this album.

In your clip for the song “Tervaskanto” from you previous album there are some people who make some tricks with fir. How did occur to you to make a video with fire? And where did the shooting take place?

I have to admit that the band had nothing to do with the video. We were not there and I don’t know where it was shot. It was basically the video that the record company wanted to shoot.

And why fire? Does the fire have anything to do with the lyrics of the song?

I don’t know about the lyrics of this song (laughs) Strange as it might seem, but still. I’ve just seen the whole video and that’s it. And to be really honest I don’t really like that video. (thinks) I shouldn’t comment any more on that.

What has happened with the festival "Rock At Sea" which was to be held on a ferry? There was information that it was cancelled…

It wasn’t cancelled. We were there. But yes, there was information that it would be cancelled. There was some misunderstanding and that’s why this information was for a while on our web-site. And the person who gave such information on our web-site was punished severely.

Did you like the festival? Was the show a success?

It was not the first festival on the water so to say, there are many of them As for the festival – it was total crap. One of the shittiest things we’ve ever taken part in. I don’t know what was the problem with the promoter, but there were such shitty things about the organization, there was a total pain in the ass all the time. And it sucked. It was like ... well I would probably hit the promoter in the face in I had seen him. Just shit I would tell you if you asked me, and you asked.

Many people miss the times of Jonne’s firs band Shaman where the texts were closer to shaman themes and where there were more joik-singing and the music was more melodic. Is there any possib

ility that we’ll hear more elements of that band in the music of Korpiklaani?

I don’t know, because as I explained earlier we don’t usually plan. I don’t really know, but you know many people think that Shaman and Korpiklaani are distant bands, but when the first Korpiklaani album was recorded it was still the third Shaman album. Shaman went to record its third album and then during the recording the band got a message that they have to change their name, because of the other band called Shaman. So Shaman’s music would have changed anyway. So the name change has nothing to do with the change in the music r style. Some people seem to think that there was some connection between the changes in the name and in the style, but it’s not true.

You previous album was released (beside the original edition) in a limited edition which contained a bonus DVD. And on this DVD there are Korpiklaani performing in the Wacken Open Air Festival. Why didn’t you wait a little and didn’t release a full-length DVD?

It was not our decision, it was a decision of our previous record label. And the record company insisted that we released it in such a way. The band was against this, because it wasn’t produced properly. That performance was just meant for the screens at the Festival and not for the DVD release. There are a lot of bands who don’t want to release something, but their record companies just make them do it this or that way. We were going to shoot one show last summer for the DVD release, but we were negotiating about contract, because our deal had ended already then. We had to do another record deal. We wanted to record a DVD, but we didn’t do it after all. But I’m sure it will come put at one point.

You seem to be the only band member who speaks good English. Aren’t you tired of giving neverending interviews for the whole band? Don’t you want to make Jonne learn English?

(laughs)I think almost all bad members speak English to some extent. Jonne and other band members do all the written interviews and I do all the phone interviews. And you are number 20 this week and 4th tonight. This is quite hard work actually. Talking to different people around the world and like with the previous interview I could understand half of what the journalist was saying, because of bad line and everything. And on the other hand, when the language is not so perfect and the line is bad, then I always have to ask “Excuse me, will you repeat it?”

You visit to Russia coincides with the release date of your new album. Is it on purpose or again quite by chance?

Again this is a coincidence. Actually the release date has been set before the concert.

What does Russia mean to you personally and for the band in general. Our nations have much in common and the Russian people welcome Korpiklaani very warmly…

Yeah! We’ve noticed that and we had a really good times in Russia! All people are friendly, open and crazy as we are (laughs). And this feeling of hospitality that are Russians are famous for. People have been really nice to us and the audience is truly wild I’d say. Sometimes it looks even violent, so it’s really interesting to be in Russia. It’s a great country.

Korpiklaani have very quickly become one of the leading bands in this style. And many young bands orientate themselves on Korpiklaani. Do you feel a kind of responsibility?

No. That

would be ... I can’t be responsible for other people’s mistakes.

But you can be responsible for the material that you release. If people consider you a kind of Idol you should release not just good, but excellent albums.

Yeah, but one shouldn’t begin thinking about things like that. It you start thinking about what other people think of your release, then you’ll stop being honest to yourself. And the only thing that you have to take care of is to be honest to yourself and be sure that you yourself are happy with your work and that you are proud of music that you release. That’s the most important things. Because if you try to make everybody happy, you’ll never get everybody happy. Always there will be someone who would complain, “Why did you do that and didn’t do this?” And then you are not happy yourself anymore. I think that the most important thing is to make ourselves happy with what we do. And we shouldn’t release something that we ourselves don’t like just to make someone else happy. This is dishonest. And that goes to other things as well, not just with music. It’s a general rule of life. Be honest to yourself.

What is more important for you personally in Korpiklaani – music or lyrics?

I think the most important thing for the band is playing live concerts, that’s the reason I think why people begin playing music.

You have also the video for the song “Kadet Siipina”. Could you tell what is this song about? I ask, because the video clip impressed me greatly. Who is this young boy who, you found dead?

I can’t really remember the plot of this video. And I can’t even remember the last time when I heard this song. I remember we heard it about two years ago and I doubt that I listened to it since then. (laughs) I’m sorry, but I can’t answer this question.

Don’t you listen to Korpiklaani albums at all?

No, I don’t listen to them at all. I do it only if I have to learn some song which we decide to perform at this or that concert.

Do you have to work somewhere beside music?

Yeah, we all have to work, as we don’t get as much money from music. But I don’t think I should speak about it, as it’s a personal life and I’m not going to talk about other band members personal lives.

At every gig of yours there are horns that are fixed on Jonne’s microphone. When did these horns appear as the symbol of live concerts?

I can’t even remember that. But I remember it was a joke at first. It was like, “Oh! We have such horns! What shall we do with them?” “Let’s put them on the microphone!” And it so happened that these horns were traveling with us all around the world. They have been to Japan for example. I think these are the most traveling horns ever! (everybody laughs)

How long in your opinion will Korpiklaani have such energy and power to create excellent albums?

How could I ever predict such things? I have no idea.

Didn’t you think of making a cover of some band?

Yes, we have some ideas in this regard. Yes, we have such plans, but I don’t know what song will it be, though I’m sure there will be something. On the last tour in December we finished the night with Motorhead “Iron Fist”, it was the last song of the night.

Soon you’ll perform in Moscow

and St.-Petersburg. What do you expect from these concerts?

I expect a good party and a lot of alcohol again, drunken people (laughs)

Could you say a few words to the fans of Korpiklaani in Russia?

I don’t have much to say to Russian fans, because they have been really perfect all this time. So I can say just – stay live!

Interview by Ksenia “Wolfin” Khorina
Questions also composed by Blindman
18 мар 2008 the End


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