On the occasion of the announcement of the new album of Wintersun and their crowdfunding on 1st of March, we had the opportunity to talk with the bassist Jukka Koskinen.
Rock Overdose: Allow me to start with the lyrics of one of my most favorite songs…” Time will go on and we are drifting away in the night, I’ve been searching so long but I will find you even if it takes my whole life…”, and welcome you to Rock Overdose!
Jukka Koskinen: Thank you thank you!
Rock Overdose: It’s been a long time since your last release. Finally, after 5 years of waiting you come back with a new album! It was a really long break, wasn’t it? ☺
Jukka Koskinen: Not so much, since the last break between the albums was 8 years…Now it’s only 5! We are progressing Feels great that we were able to put all this together behind the curtains and surprise everyone this time, and no one expected this “time”
Rock Overdose: “The Forest Seasons” will be the title of your new release, and as you’ve already said, it will be your version of Vivaldi's “The Four Seasons”. Give us some further information about the songwriting & recording process.
Jukka Koskinen: Our version of Vivaldi is that the four seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter - inspired us to make a concept album of “The Forest Seasons”. Of course there’s a lot deeper meaning in every song than just telling about an actual forest. The inspiration came from the forest since Finland as country is a one big forest, a lot of beauty and characteristics. The idea behind the album also started when our fans actually told about the idea to do a crowdfunding. A mystery song came out, that we already played live in 2015, that is now known “The Forest that Weeps”, the second track on the new album. We wanted to create something special for the fans and of course naturally the inspiration took us to the point that we had a one full album ready by now!
Rock Overdose: Are there any (basic) differences between the new album and the previous 2?
Jukka Koskinen: Well there’s new music on the new album Mostly, the songs on the new album focus more on the feeling of each song and serve that. Before, we have been very progressive from slow to fast in a song. This time not so much, there’s a clear feel to every song on the new album. Totally four different songs, with unique feel in all of them.
Rock Overdose: Which is (are) your favorite song(s) from “The Forest Seasons”? And why?
Jukka Koskinen: Have to say all. Why? Because they all sound so unique and different from each other that I can’t say which is better from the other one. Like I said we have four songs:
The spring song, “Awaken from the Dark Slumber”, is about when everything comes to life after the harsh winter darkness. It’s also how you yourself wake up from a sleep that you have been in your whole life perhaps. This song is split in two parts and is uplifting though it has a very dark first half, presenting the awakening.
The summer song, “The Forest that Weeps”, is a gigantic male choir driven atmospheric song that shows the harshness of the summer that can happen in the north, greyness and rain – hard for your head mentally.
The autumn song, “Eternal Darkness”, is by far the most brutal song by Wintersun. This monster is about all dying, dark dark times like in the autumn, very very hard for your head mentally.
And the winter song, “Loneliness”, is slower tempo song with beautiful clean vocals and pop kind melodies. A song about loneliness, melancholia though somehow a peaceful feel in it.
Rock Overdose: The lyrical themes of your songs mainly refer to subjects as space, dreams, time, emotions.. Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration?
Jukka Koskinen: That can come from wherever, everything you see around you. This time it was the beauty and mystery of the nature, and how life itself reflects from the forest seasons figuratively.
Rock Overdose: Do you consider lyrics to be as important for a band as the music itself?
Jukka Koskinen: Both make a whole of everything. The music of course has the melodies but if you would sing total nonsense it would make everything look quite unconvincing don’t you think..
Rock Overdose: There will be a Wintersun crowdfunding at the beginning of March. Tell us a few things about it. What are the pros (or the cons)?
Jukka Koskinen: This idea came from the fans in the first place. We started to think about it and here we are now just about to start our crowdfunding campaign on March 1st. In general it is a very transparent and honest way of offering perks/items. It is not asking for help or asking money from people, it’s selling a product that is pre-paid (in our case the item is already ready). People can see where the money is going and why. We have been a very unfortunate situation by not being able to fulfill to our true vision with best production for our music. Wintersun albums are massive productions and we can’t afford making them in a 3rd party studio. Our own studio is cost worthy option and the best option to release future albums with our true vision and more efficiently. That’s why we want to launch the crowdfunding to make this happen. We are offering a huge package with reasonable price (normally would cost more than a double) with multi content including our new album. We want to give something very special for our patient fans! This way it is a win-win situation for the fans and for us.
Rock Overdose: In your opinion, what are the biggest obstacles for bands?
Jukka Koskinen: Nowadays it’s hard for many bands to survive financially. There’s a lot of bills to be paid and the income (which can be quite small) comes from live shows and merchandise. >Even record labels are struggling nowadays since cdss do not sell that much. There’s also a lot more competition and the amount of bands is huge. It’s great that many people can compose music at home studio but then there’s so much to choose from nowadays that at least I am confused. Wintersun albums is an exception though, a merely impossible albums for regular home studio. That is our obstacle.
Rock Overdose: Which are your show-schedule plans for 2017? Any upcoming concerts or tours?
Jukka Koskinen: Yes we are activating again and have already announced a few summer festivals. More to come and at the moment we are looking into the possibilities of touring in the autumn.
Rock Overdose: It was a great pleasure to have this interview with you! The last words are yours.
Jukka Koskinen: Thank you for the interview and everyone check out our crowdfunding campaign starting March 1st. Our new music has a lot of diversity so new people, unfamiliar to Wintersun, listen our music at Indiegogo home page soon! Regarding our current fans, you will love it!
For Rock Overdose,
Elena Darzenta
https://www.facebook.com/wintersun/?fref=ts
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