Interviews | above the weeping world | metal maniacs
1. How do you feel “Above the Weeping World” compares to your previous albums? The music seems more active (not progressive) and less somber.
Niilo Sevänen: The new album is more aggressive, violent and tighter than our previous works. This time we really took lot of time to make the arrangements so that there would be no dead moments on the whole album. There are less acoustic parts than on the previous album but I would still say that we are as somber and dreary as always :)
Ville Friman: We also wanted to push our limits to new direction with this album and adding speed was something we hadn’t done before.
2. Tracks like “Mortal Share” and “The Killjoy” are a little rougher, more up-tempo than songs on “Since the Day it All Came Down” and “In the Halls of Awaiting.” What do you attribute this to?
Niilo: Well, we wanted to make a faster and more aggressive album this time. There are fast songs on “Halls” and “Since” but also some pretty slow material. Usually the faster songs work better live so that is one reason for the development.
Ville Friman: The Day it All Came Down was the last song I wrote to our second album and it turned the fastest one on that album. So, in a way we started doing faster songs already back then and the songwriting just developed naturally to bit faster direction. Mortal Share was the first song I wrote to this new album after “Since”. As it worked really fine in the rehearsals we just went to more aggressive direction with the rest of the songs as well.
3. How do you feel Insomnium has grown as songwriters since the first album?
Niilo: I think the basis of the music is still the same but we have learned to make better arrangements and we have also taken new elements to our music. I think we now have much better idea of how to make a good song or a good album.
Ville Friman: Yeah, I agree. Now we know how to make songs to work out.
4. What did you learn on “Since the Day it All Came Down” that you didn’t want to repeat on “Above the Weeping World?”
Niilo: We learned a lot about what not to do in recording phase…
Ville Friman: Yeah, I think the recording phase was really painful and heavy experience. We had lots of time, but we did also progress a bit too slowly and went through dozens of draw backs with computers, equipments etc. In a way we lost a point and direction with that album because we had lots of stuff to record that time (lots of guitars, cellos, synths etc.) and eventually we lacked time. Also the lyrics weren’t ready before entering the studio and we had to finish part of the song while recording. Everything was just too stressful. So basically we planned everything more carefully with this new album, made everything ready beforehand and went to studio and just recorded it.
5. What are some of the hard lessons you’ve learned along the way?
Niilo: Music business is hard. You might make great albums but still you need lot of luck to make some kind of breakthrough. It’s a lot of work and you never know if you’re going to get any pay-off. We have been very fortunate that we have got this far and we must be grateful for that.
Ville Friman: Success doesn’t come in one night but through hard, continuous work. And of course you always need also luck because you have to have good timing. So, for us the main thing is to enjoy playing live and composing music. If we get more known it’s great but if don’t, we won’t become suicidal because of it. Life goes on.
6. Do you have a specific example of something you wished you would’ve known about before you had to deal with it?
Niilo: There are always people who want to put you down. Well, I guess I knew this beforehand but still it always hurts when someone is treating you and your music unfairly. There are people who never even want to give you a chance.
Ville Friman: I think it’s mainly because of competition and people just being jealous to each other. But you learn to put that all aside, for me it’s enough that there are 4 people in this band that believes in what they are doing.
7. Do you feel on “Above the Weeping World” you’ve completed an album that accurately represents Insomnium at this point? Why is that?
Niilo: Yes, I think this is an album that we can really be proud of. There are always some tiny things that bother you after the album is ready but this time those things really were insignificant. This album shows what we are capable of. No need for excuses.
Ville Friman: We are really critical towards everything we do and of course there is always thing you can do better. This time we worked really hard for this album. I use to wake up 6 am and work with the songs for 2 hours before I went to work. When I got out I came to home, ate something and continued working with the material. It’s really great feeling personally that all the work paid off this time.
8. What is “Above the Weeping World” about?
Niilo: The album doesn’t have a big theme but it is rather comprised of individual tales. Gloomy tales of love and death, longing and grieving, hating and forgiving. The usual Insomnium stuff :)
Ville Friman: Yeah, basically stories from the down sides of life. But there’s also glimpse of hope hidden in the lyrics and kind of message that you are in the control of your own life.
9. How is it tied to your personal lives?
Niilo: Not very tightly I would say. Of course the things you have experienced always effect your writing but these stories are not about us or our lives. Well, actually, I think “Devoid of Caring” is the most personal song on this album but I won’t analyze it here because it’s Ville Vänni’s lyrics.
Ville Friman: We haven’t experienced most of the stuff ourselves of course, but most of the lyrics are inspired of what you see happening around you and about things that affect you as well in some level. In that sense there is always personal perspective to all subjects we deal in our lyrics.
10. How has the band impacted your personal lives? Sometimes it may be tough to choose a band lifestyle or a 9-to-5 work lifestyle. Or worse yet, manage both.
Niilo: The band has played a big part in our lives for about 9 years – basically it has made us the persons we are now. We have grown from teenage years to manhood along this band. And we have chosen the hard way in trying to have a normal life and a band at the same time. So far it has really been the only option since this hasn’t actually been a goldmine. If we would only want to get rich then we wouldn’t be playing death metal.
Ville Friman: In a way it’s a lifestyle. We do it because we enjoy it and it gives some kind of meaning to our lives. Of course our wives, girlfriends and families have had to adjust to our lifestyle and they have made so many sacrifices for us and for this band. So we are grateful for all these people that have supported us to get here where we are now. It hasn’t been the easiest path but still all worth of it.
11. You’ve had the same line up since “In the Halls of Awaiting.” Are you guys still getting along?
Niilo: We just returned from a 6-week European tour and we didn’t have to fight with each other once even though we basically spent all this time together. I think that says it all. It would be extremely hard to make any line-up chances to this orchestra.
Ville Friman: We have had our clashes but because of them we know each other really well and respect every member as a person who he is.
12. According to your website, you’ve taken some influence from Hölderlin, Bourdillon, Poe and Leino. What is it specifically about these four that inspired you this time around?
Niilo: Well, there are more that have influenced us, but the list is long enough like this. What connects these poets is the way they can write about dreary and melancholic themes – and actually they were pretty gloomy persons all of them. So, suitable material for metal music :) Hölderlin’s poem “Hyperion’s Song of Destiny” is arranged to a new form in “Mortal Share”. Finnish poet Eino Leino and one of his poems have directly influenced “In the Groves of Death.” Bourdillon and Poe have both been influencing the song “Drawn to Black”.
13. Tell me about the cover art and how it fits into the album title and music?
Niilo: We wanted to have this red and black theme this time. Autumn mood for an autumn album.
Ville Friman: I think the album art work suits really well with mood of the music and also with the lyrics. Basically we gave the designer (Ville Kaisla) free hands to do what he wanted. He had unmastered version of the album and the lyrics and then he just went with the feeling. Part of the cover art is also Drawn by Olli-Pekka Saloniemi and everything was then joined together in photoshop.
14. The colors are very autumnal. The browns, reds, oranges, yellows and blacks are all autumn colors. The changing of seasons. Care to comment on that?
Niilo: Autumn is probably the season that best fits our music. There is more sadness and melancholy in autumn than in any other season. Especially in Finnish minds this is true because here the sweet summer is so short. There is a profound sense of loss in every autumn.
15. There’s a tree theme on all three of your album covers. Is this coincidence?
Niilo: We’ve had this nature theme that runs through our lyrics and album graphics. Our music and lyrics are in a way very Finnish and the landscape for this music is definitely the Finnish forest. In the new album you can see that trees are mentioned in many songs.
Ville Friman: If you ever come to Finland all you see is trees. So you write and depict about what you see :)
16. Do you think Insomnium is distinctly Finnish? What traits would you classify as Finnish?
Niilo: Yes, we certainly are. We have this certain kind of melancholy which separates us from the Swedes and Norwegians and the rest. There are a lot of Swedish traits in our sound but still our melodies are clearly Finnish.
Ville Friman: And I think we are lyrically clearly Finnish, more desperate and suicidal than Swedes :)
17. How did you get Aleksi Munter (Swallow the Sun) and Antti Haapanen (Nuomena) involved in “Above the Weeping World?”
Niilo: We know them both and they are our good friends.
Ville Friman: We had made lots of keyboards parts to our demo version of the songs and we wanted to use someone who actually understands more of that than we. Aleksi lives in the same town as I and is really good friend of mine and when I asked him he was really enthusiastic to compose and arrange the keyboards to our songs. I must say that he really made really good job with them. Antti Haapanen is also good friend to us and he just popped to studio in the middle of our recordings and did some background vocals to few songs.
18. “Mortal Share” is your second video. What was it like this time around?
Niilo: This time it was very professional. The budget was minimal but still we got a crew of 15 people and a director who really knew what he was doing. Usually we are never instantly happy with anything which someone else does for this band (graphics, photos, videos, websites etc.) but this time there was absolutely nothing to complain about :)
Ville Friman: We shot our playing parts during the night in old train garage and it was really freezing weather. Basically we stayed awake all night but it was really worth of it and the video turned out just amazing! big thanks goes to Jussi Lindgren and rest of the Mortal Share crew.
19. What is the character in the video attempting to do? How does it relate to the lyrics?
Niilo: It’s the director’s vision but I presume that the character dreams of everything what happens in the video after he takes the electric shock. Lyrics deal with the uncertainty and wantonness of life; we are but hapless shadows trying to grope through this life. There are no gods or higher powers watching over us but we are left here on our own.
20. You debuted the “Mortal Share” video on YouTube. How do you feel places like YouTube help Insomnium?
Ville Friman: I think Youtube is good venue to put your video in. It’s free and people know it already really well. It would be also hard to put the video to your own site if you get 24 000 hits during two months. Your site would be down all the time because of transfer limits.
21. Then there’s people posting live videos of the band on YouTube. Do you feel this is a positive trend as part of the promotion of a band or album?
Ville Friman: Of course most of the live videos are crappy sounding but personally I don’t care about them that much. I think it’s a thing for fans who want to share experiences and stuff like that. I think no sane person makes any conclusions from a band on basis of those video clips.
22. Also, an interesting trend is people interpreting/playing along with music and recording it for the rest of the world to see. I heard one individual performing “Daughter of the Moon.” What do you think of that?
Ville Friman: I think that video is really something :) Personally I find it pretty cool and feel also bit honored that people want to interpret your music. You have to give some points always even from an effort!
23. How do you think social networking sites like MySpace are benefiting musicians and bands around the world? How have you used MySpace in the promotion/advancement of Insomnium?
Ville Friman: I think MySpace is really good place to advertise your music and let the fans to know everything new what is happening currently. I think it’s really beneficial to most of the bands. You can also advertise the bands that are your friends to many people, which is nice. We actually uploaded samples from our new albums to only Myspace as well the new video from Mortal Share.
24. Switching gears, how did the recording go this time around?
Niilo: Basically everything went quite smoothly. There is always some hassle in the studio but this time there were no major problems. Except for one broken guitar head… Studio engineer Samu Oittinen is a real professional and a great guy to work with and most likely we will use him in the future.
Ville Friman: Yeah, basically we had everything ready when we entered the studio so we only had to focus on getting it all in tape properly.
25. You changed studios and the recording engineer as well. What prompted the change?
Niilo: We wanted to try something different – partly because we were not totally happy with the sounds on the two first albums. Now we had more money to spend so we could afford another studio.
Ville Friman: Money gives you more opportunities and we wanted to try something different this time.
26. Candlelight’s made Insomnium a priority. What’s on the horizon for the band?
Niilo: Well, let’s see what that priority really means in practice :) Hopefully we can gain new fans and make Insomnium known around the world. Let’s see if we can soon tour places like North America and Japan. That’s one thing I’m really looking forward to. I think people can expect a new album at 2008 autumn at earliest.
Ville Friman: Let’s see how things turn out. I have already started to work with new material but it will take some time before you can get new Insomnium album to your hands. We don’t want to rush with the music but really focus on the new album carefully.
27. Do you think it’s realistic for Insomnium to make it to North America in 2007?
Niilo: I’m not sure. Depends how well our record starts selling. If Candlelight feels that the time is ripe then most likely they will arrange something. Maybe next autumn…
Ville Friman: I’m really looking forward to get there as soon as possible but of course we have to be bit more known to get decent pay for the shows. Working licenses, traveling and all other stuff costs band good amount money as well. But hopefully we get there already with this album!
28. Any last comments?
Niilo: Greetings to all our American friends! We’ll come there as soon as possible. And all those who yet don’t know us: check out our website www.insomnium.net and see what this is all about. Fierce and melodic metal at its best!
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