RockOverdose and Zisis Petkanas spoke with the bass player of the famous Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani, Jarkko Aaltonen.
Jarkoo Aaltonen commented - among others - on their expectations on their new album “Jylhä” and the evolution of the band through the years.
Enjoy!
RockOverdose: Hi Jarkko and welcome to RockOverdose!
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): Thanks a lot!
RockOverdose: How are you these days?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): Quite fine. Nothing special here. Managed to stay away from that plague going around the world.
RockOverdose: How’s the situation with the pandemic in Finland?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): We didn’t have a lockdown at all. Schools are canceled and theaters, restaurants and ice hockey games are with no audience. The bars are open but they have to close very early. So there’s no lockdown but we have rules … It’s of course quite annoying that we can’t play live, especially when you realize that this is going to last longer.
RockOverdose: So you have a new album, “Jylhä”, where does the name comes from?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): Well originally the album had a different name but we decided to change it and came up to this “Jylhä”, and it was a mistake, cause now everybody is asking what does it mean. We realized there’s no proper translation to English. In Finland, if you say “Jylhä”, everyone will understand it, but to translate it is a bit complicated. It’s in general a way to describe a landscape or scenery which is majestic, rough… something like that. It’s about landscape and it can also be used about music, so it is supposed to be about the music.
RockOverdose: So what are your expectations about Jylhä?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): I don’t know what to expect but I hope it goes well and it gets accept by the people who will hear it. It’s a really good album, I always think every new album is better than the previous one, we have been getting better every time and hope people also realize that and appreciate the staff that we’re doing.
RockOverdose: What about the videos you have released so far?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): We have release some videos, we wanted to do more traditional metal videos, old school videos. That’s why it doesn’t have any plot, it’s just the band playing among ruins, flames, rain and staff like that you see in old school heavy metal videos.
RockOverdose: What about the album cover?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): It’s another standard Finnish landscape related to the song “Leväluhta” and the man holding a knife. The album has actually 5 or 6 songs that are actually about murders or strange deaths. So the album cover leads to that part of the album at least.
RockOverdose: So it’s almost a concept album?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): I wouldn’t say that. The previous album was more than a concept. The lyrics are written by our long time lyricist Tuomas Keskimäki who was writing staff like that this time. On the previous album we were more close to the 21st century, on this album we go back in time to the ‘50s and ‘60s.
RockOverdose: You’re in the band for a long time now, since 2005 I think. How do you see the band’s evolution through the time?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): We are quite different now. We were amateurs didn’t know that we would be professionals, with a group of people around us, like crew, managers etc It’s completely different now. But then again, if we start drinking beers then we become idiots again!
RockOverdose: What are your memories from your live shows here in Greece?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): Actually not that much. I remember the venues, but I don’t have much memories. It’s been a long time ago.
RockOverdose: What are your next plans?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): We had the album release earlier in February and then we had two shows in Finland that were cancelled because of the situation. We have no plans because no one knows what will happen next. Our agents are working for booking shows but everything is cancelled due to the pandemic.
RockOverdose: Any thoughts about live streaming shows?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): We did one already but we lost so much money, that I don’t think we’re going to have another one.
RockOverdose: It doesn’t worth doing it?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): I think so. We put a lot of effort; and because we haven’t been able to do any show last year so we don’t have the money anymore.
RockOverdose: Any other news you’d like to share with the fans?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): I really have no idea. There’s nothing going on apart from the album release
RockOverdose: What should the fans expect from the album release?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): It’s very good heavy metal music!
RockOverdose: Would you like to send a message to your greek fans?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): I’m bad at sending messages. The only I can say is please be patient, the pandemic will go away and we will be able to see you soon.
RockOverdose: How difficult is to use non-english lyrics for people who listen to your band?
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): We are able to express much more in our own language. I think is the same with other artists. You can be much more yourself, much more honest and you sound more convincing. The passion and the power is better and real, than to be in another language where you have to put on a costume and pretend the feeling. I think our fans appreciate that.
RockOverdose: Thank you very much! Hope to see you in Greece any time soon.
Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani): Thank you, hope this happens as well!
For RockOverdose,
Zisis Petkanas
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