Korpiklaani is a Finnish band that combines metal and traditional folk elements. It's filled with both party anthems and mellower songs. Bass player Jarkko Aaltonen fills Rock Overdose in on their upcomming release "Manala" and their tour plans...
Rockoverdose.gr: Jarkko, welcome to Rockoverdose!
Jarkko Aaltonen: It's good to be on Rockoverdose. It's the first time we're doing an interview for your country, if I remember correctly.
Rockoverdose.gr: That's great. So, a new album named Manala, right? Could you tell us a few things about this album and its recording?
Jarkko: We did the album and wrote the music in pretty much the same way we had done for the past few albums. Musically, the music is pretty much the same as the previous ones. I gave more of a thrash metal theme on the album, but then again, some people may feel differently. This is the first album with a new violin player, there's some really natural violin work on the album, which was lacking from the last couple of albums. We recorded the album again in two different studios, drums. Much recording as well took place in the Petrax studio in Hollola, and then the rest in another nearby studio again.
Rockoverdose.gr: When is it going to be officially released?
Jarkko: In the beginning of August. If I'm not mistaken, the 3rd of August. It may vary in different countries, but just about there.
Rockoverdose.gr: What exactly is the theme of the new album? Does it have to do with Finnish mythology?
Jarkko: Let's say we focused on the Underworld of Finnish mythology, the "land of the dead" where dead people go. The original title for the album that we had published was called Kunnia; the Honor. But then we realized that one of the songs was darker. Many of the songs sounded more like Manala and not like Kunnia, so we changed the album name to Kunnia. We have songs that are quite closely related to the Underworld, and the shamans and the spirits traveling between the different worlds, this world and the underworld. It was probably a more fitting title than this one.
Rockoverdose.gr: As we know, the Special Edition also includes an English version of the album, right? Why did you do that, and how difficult is it to write in two languages?
Jarkko: We just really wanted to do that. Two years ago, we had the idea that, just for the fun of it, we could release the album as two separate albums, the Finnish and the English one, so that we would see which one people would actually want to hear. If the English sold ten times more copies than the Finnish one, we'd know that the people want to hear the English one.
Rockoverdose.gr: Maybe it's easier for people to understand it!
Jarkko: Then we came to our senses! The album price will the same now, even though it's in DVD form. The music on the album is the same; the only thing different is the language. I still think that the English and Finnish albums are different albums, because Jonne's vocals are totally different in when he sings in English than when he sings in Finnish. I feel that there is quite a lot of passion going into the Finnish version, more than the English one. Then, of course, the languages are differently structured, that forces the rhythm of the language and the melodies to be slightly different as well. Even though they are supposed to be a different album, they sound a lot different.
Rockoverdose.gr: And you prefer the Finnish version, I suppose?
Jarkko: Personally, yes, But we have one song on the English album, we actually had two guest vocalists on that one, and I do like that version, because that is so different, again, than the Finnish one. I like that; I like to hear those guys singing that song.
Rockoverdose.gr: Would you like to reveal the guest musicians?
Jarkko: Yes, they are American, one is Joey from the band called Tornado and then we have Pat Henry from Swashbuckle. Joey has cleaner vocals, and Patrick is doing the growling, thrash metal work on that. That's quite a nice version of the song.
Rockoverdose.gr: That's very interesting. So, since 2003 that you have been together as a band, your course has been ascending. How hard is it for a band with your sound to be developed in our time?
Jarkko: That is difficult. Musically, we do what we want to do. We are not deliberately trying to dig a lot into any direction. For the last ten years, the band has been growing, and everything has become more professional, around the music and everything. That's why we're working more these days. It's basically taking a bit out of the fun. In the end, we're supposed to be enjoying ourselves and having a lot of fun. But when you also have the official business that you have to take care of, it can be annoying at times.
Rockoverdose.gr: Have you ever thought to use elements of traditional music of other countries, like Greece, maybe?
Jarkko: I do feel that there is at least one song on the new album that has a lightly Eastern feel to it, in the melody. It was not deliberate; it just happened to sound a bit exotic. I think we are quite happy with working with our own history. I think if we started to deliberately change our music, that wouldn't be us anymore; it would be some other band.
Rockoverdose.gr: I get your point. Do you know anything about Greek music?
Jarkko: Actually, I don't really know about it, I don't know about your rock music scene either. I cannot name any Greek rock bands!
Rockoverdose.gr: There are a lot of Greek rock/metal bands, like Firewind, Rotting Christ, Septic Flesh.
Jarkko: Oh yes! They are all familiar names; I just didn't remember where they're from.
Rockoverdose.gr: It's difficult to know where every band comes from. How do you see folk metal at an international level?
Jarkko: I don't know, I don't think of us as something strange as folk metal. I think of us as a rock band, writing songs that sound like whatever people want to hear in them, and we're trying to make the best out of that. Some people call it folk metal, some people call it heavy metal, other people call it something different. I think that the most important part in this music is the good song; the good, catchy melody. That's universal. A good song, it doesn't matter if you play it in Finland, Greece, or the United States; a good song is a good song.
Rockoverdose.gr: Are there any plans for a tour?
Jarkko: we just returned from South America two days ago. We have a few festivals in the summertime, and then at the end of August, we travel to the USA for our longest tour so far, about five weeks. Then, after that, from the end of September, we'll be home for about three weeks. After that, is the Highland fest European tour, for about two or three weeks. So that's about eight weeks of touring left this year.
Rockoverdose.gr: That's great for promoting the new CD. I suppose there are no plans for visiting Greece?
Jarkko: As far as I know, though. I know there were some festivals in Greece, but we weren't able to do them for some reason; it was impossible to travel there at that date. But no, no planned dates for Greece.
Rockoverdose.gr: We hope to see you here in the future.
Jarkko: I'm sure it will happen.
Rockoverdose.gr: You must know that you have a lot of fans here, and it's the greatest thing for a musician to know that there are fans on every corner of the planet.
Jarkko: That's good to hear. Whenever we go to places we haven't been before, we're always a bit nervous. Then we go to places, say Germany, that we have been so many times, and we sort of know that there will be people watching our show. Then when we go to a new place, we have no idea; we think no one will be there. There's going to be six people and a dog in the audience! Just like last week, we played our first time in Denmark. We were happily surprised at how many people came up to see us. We have this Finnish mentality to be ready for disappointment.
Rockoverdose.gr: Have you ever been disappointed from a live show?
Jarkko: When you prepare for the worst, you don't get as disappointed.
Rockoverdose.gr: Have you ever played before a very small audience?
Jarkko: We've had good luck in our career; that has never happened except for the first few couple of years when we were playing small clubs. Still, even after ten years, we're always nervous when we go somewhere we haven't been before.
Rockoverdose.gr: Your unique sound has the natural result of changing band members for various musical instruments, which are not so close to metal. How hard is this procedure?
Jarkko: It wasn't really hard at all. All the people playing those instruments in the band are professionals. When we compose, we use a keyboard, because the people that write the music in the band don't play instruments like the flute or the violin, so we compose the different parts, so many times, when we bring that part to the violin player to play it, he will say that it's impossible to be played with the violin! Then he says, "Well, how about that?" and he arranges it again into something playable; may change it into a more folky style as well sometimes. It comes out naturally; we don't have to force it out of us.
Rockoverdose.gr: What are your plans for the future? Shall we wait for a live album, or a DVD? Any ideas for the next album?
Jarkko: There's nothing planned for the next album yet. Actually, this will be our last album for the recording contract we have with Nuclear Blast, so we have to negotiate a new deal, and that kind of thing. We have thought about a live release, but we have no definite plans of any kind. Basically the plans we do know about are pretty much the tour dates I already told you. Now we will do a few festivals in the summertime, then in August it's the album release, then in the remaining year are the two tours, the North American tour and the European tour. What happens after those tours is not really clear for us yet.
Rockoverdose.gr: Which is your message for your Greek fans?
Jarkko: I was never good at this kind of message, since we have never been to Greece before! All I can say is that you have to be patient, and very sure that we will play in Greece as well.
Rockoverdose.gr: I want to thank you very much for this interview. We're looking forward to the album, and hope to see you here one day in our country, Greece, which is really suffering nowadays.
Jarkko: Yes, we will work on that. Have a nice evening!
For RockOverdose.gr,
Zisis Petkanas
Transcription: Vicky Denaxa
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