Your latest album shows an evolution of the traditional Sonata Arctica sound - was this a conscious decision from the start, or did it come naturally through the songwriting process?Tony : Well, kind of both - we knew that we wanted to take the tempo down, and the rest of it happened naturally. We all feel that this (makes fast drum beat noise) power metal thing is over for us, and we dont want to write any more songs like that.
Will future albums follow in the same vein as this one?
Tony : You never know. I had no idea when I recorded Reckoning Night that the next album was going to sound like this. We just write what makes us feel happy - we want to keep doing this as long as possible. The only way to do that, and keep on doing it, is to do something that we like ourselves, to please us.
What were some of the lyrical concepts you cover in the album? I know some fans would like to hear the explanations behind some songs, including The Vice
Tony : Hmm, yeah, well its about vices basically. Then again, people usually come up with much better explanations for the songs than I do, so thats why Id rather not explain the songs. A lot of them are humorous subjects, and love stories of course, and the death of someone who you cared for dearly - normal things. Not so much of fantasy subjects, they are not my thing really. Although The Vice, that song kind of is disguised as a fantasy thing. My Dreams but a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare especially, its a really weird song. But that song is all about omens and signs you can have in dreams, like you may dream your teeth fall off or something, and that supposedly symbolizes death -someones gonna die. I went to the library and read all those books about omens and dreams and thats all the bad things that can happen combined in My Dreams but a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare. Theyre really weird, totally fucked up.
Are the lyrics based on your own dreams?
Tony : Actually, I once had a dream where all my teeth fell off. A dog of my friends died a couple days later, so yeah. Coincidence!
How did your collaboration with Finnish Idols winner Ari Koivunen come about?
Tony : Ah, Ari! Yeah, the label basically asked me if I was interested in writing a song or two for his album, and I said yeah, sure, its cool. Nice to do something different, its not so bound to Sonata Arctica
Its good to see that youre recognized outside of the metal community in Finland.
Tony : Absolutely! Personally, I am not from the metal scene myself, as a kid I listened to pop music mainly. Like Queen was the hardest thing for me, just like wow! (laughs). Ive come to listen to all kinds of music as I got older, from classical to black metal.
What type of stuff do you listen to nowadays?
Tony : Hmm, well at the moment I dont have anything huge, but the biggest things that keep me within the last two years are Ray Charles and Johnny Cash. But, I still listen to all stuff like classical and black metal. Ray Charles and Johnny Cash were kinda new to me, so I had never explored that kind of stuff before. Theres still reggae and blues for me to discover.
Concerning your home recording setup, I know that there are people out there who would like to know the details of what software and hardware you use - care to elaborate?
Tony : Ah yeah, well I cant even really call that a studio. I have a computer with Cubase SX3, and I have an FX preamp, a T-bone mic, and thats about it. I have a really crappy M-Audio soundcard,
its kind of buggy. Theres something wrong with it, you have to reboot the computer every now and then. Im getting a better one for next time.What are some of the differences you find between playing in Europe and America?
Tony : Well, the difference is the same between playing in France and Germany, it depends on the place. So many stages, and every stage is a bit different from each other.
Are the fans different in Europe and America?
Tony : Generally speaking, no. Not really. Like in France in Europe, its a pretty wild area, we are doing pretty OK there, the crowd is pretty wild. And the same thing you can find from French speaking area in Canada, its the same thing, but they speak better English than actual French people. But you can find everything from here. When youre playing South here, a lot of Mexicans come to see the shows.
How was the experience of your first Mexican tour?
Tony : It was great, surprisingly good actually. In Mexico city we had more than 2000 people there - 2300, yeah. Quite a huge turnout, we were a bit surprised, and the rest of the shows had good attendance. 1100 and 700, I believe.
Do you prefer playing large festivals or intimate club shows?
Tony : Well, I like both, if I had to choose one, its really impossible. If I had to choose one, Id play all the clubs and no festivals. But Id rather play both of course! Playing-wise, its better to play in a club, where you have your own techniques, and a better sound check, and your own setup and everything. And festivals, you get to meet people, you meet lots of bigger crowds, there might be 20,000 people there, except maybe 19,000 have never heard of you! (laughs) And for me, the biggest thing of the festivals is to meet the other bands, and people you usually dont see elsewhere.
Your new documentary, Songs From the North or Something, debuted at the Oulu Music Video Festival last week. What can you tell us about that?
Tony : Well, it started as the story of one song, Paid in Full which became the video. So the documentary shooting started with the last show of Reckoning Night in Kemi, and then the guys shot at some points when I was writing the song, and then we started rehearsing it. The idea was to go on until the master was in my hand, we make the video, and play it for the first time live. But then the Jani thing happened, and it kind of mixed the whole thing up. That year, the documentary changed pretty drastically.
When promoting the documentary on the Oulu Music Video Website, they said that viewers can also witness how a surprising piece of news drives the band members on a collision course with each other - would you like to explain that?
Tony : Well, Jani was just unable to take care of anything anymore. He was in jail for one month, for example, for avoiding the military service. Theres no way hes out of it yet - that was spring this year, in April, that he was one month in jail. He got out of there to do the civil service thing, and the last I know he was in training for that, some kind of training. The service thing is a year, or a little bit more - 395 days? Well, one day in jail counts quite a few days in civil service, so I dont know actually. I havent been in touch with the guy, its been impossible, you know. That was also one of the main problems, no matter what you do, send him a pre-stamped answering letter with an envelope and everything, and you dont get that back. You SMS him, and get no return. Hhhhhh Its just impossible, and he obviously just didnt want to be in the band anymore. For me, it feels like when youre dating a g
irl, and you want to split with her, and youre not man enough to say it right there. So, you start fucking things up, and eventually the girl says I dont want to be with you anymore. Rather have the girl leave you, than leaving the girl and be a man. Thats only my point of view.
Elias: So Tony, how does it feel to be a girl?
Tony: (laughs) We can talk about this later on!
Are there any plans to release the documentary abroad?
Tony : On DVD, later on. I think in 2009 we are compiling some sort of extreme DVD, because its 10 years since our first album came out, so thats a good point. I think we are off tour also, unless something weird happens, unless Iron Maiden asks us to go on their world tour, or whatever! (Laughs) Anything can happen, but of course, the idea at the moment is to have that year off to write the next album and work on the DVD at the same time.
The documentary also claims to explore the significance of northerness in the bands music - how exactly does this influence you?
Tony : Well, its nature and cold climate, stuff like that. More of that mystique, we cant really see that when were there, so its for the other people. This is one of those things where it sounds like a publicity stunt, I dont know. Im unable to see that kind of thing. I enjoy living there much more than I would enjoy living in southern Finland. I like to be in a quiet place. Well, everybody knows us there because its so small, but still, its kind of private anyways.
Concerning the Sonata Arctica videogame Winterhearts Guild, how involved is the band in its development?
Tony: Well, weve been ready to be involved more than we actually have been, thus far. The idea was we would do our voice-over things, but we havent heard from them in a while. Its a lot of work, and theyre not exactly the biggest company, theyre not exactly Blizzard! (Laughs)
The scheduled release date for the game was the end of 2007, is it on track?
Tony: I dont know. If I had to say, I suppose it would be sometime next year. Because we havent had anything to do with the game in the longest time, but they are developing it constantly. Its starting to look like a game, Ive seen some demo clips
The videogame is intended to have an instrumental soundtrack composed by you guys, are you going to release the music separately?
Tony: At the moment, we havent had time to do anything like that. And the idea was that Jani was into this more extreme kind of music that they wanted to have - I tried asking Jani to do that, back when everything was still okay-ish, but he didnt react in any way. So, I dont know whats going to happen with the music department. I could do it myself, but doing something like Children of Bodom on an album, its not Sonata Arctica anymore.
What are you plans for Sonata Arctica in the near future?
Tony: Well, touring until sometime late next year. Were coming back to America in February, we have released a few dates at the moment, but there will be more definitely. Maybe later next year, in the fall sometime, we might come here again still. Definitely heavy touring, and with the summer festivals, it seems we dont have much time home. But then well have a lot of quiet work with the DVD and the album.
Well, thats all the questions I have to ask. Anything else youd like to say?
Tony: Hope to see you all, and more! Bring all your friends to the shows and check out the albums of course. I have to advertise that much!
Thank you for the interview!
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interview réalisée par Jay Valena
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m'enfin oui une traduction en français ne serait pas de refus ^^
Bonne journée a vous !!! C'est bien le week end ^_^, pioufff il était tant !!
A pluche !!
Flaky =)
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