Transcript of an Interview with Sami Hinkka of ENSIFERUM - 18/02/2019. Full article here. ENSIFERUM Interview (Sami Hinkka)
MAL- On the line with me right now, Sami Hinkka from Ensiferum, Sami thanks for taking the time. SAMI- It's my pleasure. How are you doing, Sir? MAL- I'm doing very well. What was the market like for the band in those early days Did you find it hard to sort of make your way with gigs and touring? SAMI- Actually for us well we're one of the oldest times in this whole genre. That was pretty much the time when folk whatever Viking/Battle Metal became, was becoming more popular across Europe. So for us, it all start of course. You know, we play small game, but it really kept growing and growing tour after tour. And it's pretty much the same still. Of course, we're not playing stadiums, but we're still going strong and it feels good. MAL- What recording process works for the band? Are you coming up with song ideas on the road? Or do you have to get home from tour and lock yourselves away? SAMI- We're very slow composers and we tried few times to compose during the tour. I mean, we got like, couple extra guitars and stay in a background of the bus and trying to come up with something. But for some reason, it really doesn't work for us. Because how the process goes for us, it's, you know, everybody can bring their ideas to rehearsal room. And we really love to like twist and turn all the ideas you know, upside down and inside out, but that's something we love to do together so that you have all done you know, all the instruments there so you can straight try like with the different drum beat or change the course of the guitar and you know, it just it works for us it's very slow of course, they will be faster like a like a mastermind who just brings all the songs ready like okay, you play like this and here's the song, here is the structure, but in a way I really liked the way it kind of works because that's, it's a band effort. MAL- Now I googled the studio that you recorded at and lo and behold you're featured on the studio website. Now tell us about this place the Astia Studio, all analogue is it? SAMI- Nowadays I think yeah it's pretty much all analogue. Yeah the previous the last album 'Two Paths', we wanted to have like well we want to have an album that sounds like a very tight album, a 'live' album and that because Ensiferum's a very good live band that we always have good energy of course it's got from the interaction with the crowd also. But that's something we've been really trying to achieve for a couple of albums to have that energy on the album and what we did for this album now we have for the whole band was playing the same time we would record the drums and we even had a software where you didn't use any click track so to have as natural groove as possible and there are a couple songs were drum and bass lines are recorded with one take all the beginning of the lead same time like really old school and it worked. I think the last album sounds really good and yeah, we used analog equipment as long as they were tracks to all drums or bass and all rhythm guitars are recorded on tracks and rest of the stuff was recorded on computer and then everything was mixed to another tape. So we tried to use analog as much as possible but then Anssi, the owner of the studio that even more crazier technologies he has like two machines there don't know yet how it is you can do the whole album without using any computer. But let's see that was really like the thing for the last two albums. So now that we achieved it so let's see where we go now we still haven't really come up come up with the clear picture of the next album's soundscape, how that's going to be we're already working with the new songs. So I guess we have to decide that quite soon. MAL- Because 'Two Paths', that came out in September 2017, which is you know, a year and a half ago now. Now we're into 2019. I'm assuming you've taken some breaks from touring since the album came out, and haven't been touring non stop, SAMI- Hmm, actually not. We just got home like a week ago. We do that. Well, in December. We did that acoustic tour around Europe then we came home to '?'. And then we start a five weeks North America, Mexico, 70,000 tons of metal a cruise tour and yeah, now we've been home like a week. And within a week we should head to Australia and then there should be a tour in Russia. And then it's already festival season. And we're already planning to do another North America tour this year. And somewhere between all these tours we will try to find time to finish the new songs. So it's still quite busy concerning touring cycle, even though like I said the album came out a year and a half ago. But it really keep us busy still, which is nice. MAL- You should take some time to relax. But you'll probably find that when you sit down and relax song ideas will come to you. That seems to be the way it goes. SAMI- Yes,and well, me personally, I like a pretty much a year ago, we started a new band with with the guitarist of '?'. We're both are big fans of power metal. And we're actually now mixing the first album of this new power metal band. So let's see when we get that out and all the gaps are going to be more filled. MAL- Yeah, even less free time. SAMI- Yeah. MAL- You're coming to Australia very soon. How did this come about? What happened? SAMI- Well, we only been in Australia a few times. Well, for obvious logistics reasons. But we always keep reminding our management and booking agents. Hey, how about going to Australia? like can you please take that and yeah, never it really fit the scheduling of our schedule or the local promoter venues scheduled at this time. Unfortunately it's only three shows so we're missing many many awesome cities but better to do even those that they're not coming there again because I didn't know when that next possibility would be. So anyway, we were just super happy to finally get back there because we all have good memories from Australia. MAL- What's in store for the Australian tour, are you bringing a keyboard player? SAMI- No we are still up in some ways at the moment is a four piece band and yeah, we have that the public announcement, people who sent their audition for us but now we close that audition and let's see, I guess later this year we have some announcements to do but at the moment it's a four piece band and thank God for technology we can still manage to sound as good as we would we do with the keyboard player MAL- What's the funniest thing that's happened on tour? I always get some pretty good answers with this one. SAMI- God damn it. Ah so think that it's it's something that you know this happens in a moment than that of course we don't write anything down next to somebody that our booking agent in Finland said, 'You should write down all the stories', the funniest thing well first thing that comes to mind is no names mentioned but a certain guitar player was quite drunk couple years ago in the in '?' and he thought it was because you know we think we have similar culture so this guitar player from a Finnish folk metal band called Ensiferum got pissed drunk and thought it would be a cool idea to get naked backstage you know with all the artists there and try to get selfies with all the artists and of course the other Finnish bands they were ok but then this gentleman spots Danny Filth from Cradle Of Filth you know and of course English gentleman he was not really comfortable being in the same picture wiith a buck naked Finn but he expressed this in very gentlemen-like style so see to get very nicely still, even though he was willing to take the pic, but yeah, usually the funny thing includes alcohol and nudity. MAL- That seems to be a common theme and the answers that I get. SAMI- Yes, I kind of assumed that. MAL- Sami, Australia is looking forward to you coming out here very soon. Great shows lined up in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. Good luck with the tour here and good luck for the future for the band. SAMI- Thank you very much. And hope to see you soon. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorMetalhead who hates bad parking. |