Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART) on RockOverdose: “I have already started writing music for the 6th full length and that keeps me motivated to push thru the pandemic!”

 

Mastermind of Finish metalers WOLFHEART, Tuomas Saukkonen, the band’s singer, guitarist, and songwriter, spoke about their new EP "Skull Soldiers" released on the 5th of March via Napalm records.

"Skull Soldiers" is a sequel to their latest album "Wolves of Karelia" (2020) which truly sums up the range of emotions from  2020.

Enjoy!

 

Follow

WolfheartRealm


 

 

RockOverdose: Hey guys, how's things right now in Finland with Covid-19?

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): Hey! Sadly things are not looking too good. During summer things looked great and we were able to play even few festival shows here but now we are hitting record numbers weekly and heading into most severe lockdown measures since the beginning of the pandemic. We hope things will turn to better soon.

 

 

RockOverdose: How was the reception for 'Wolves of Karelia' worldwide? Do u think that after Covid you should tour for promoting this album of 2020?

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): The feedback from the album was really good and it scored good chart positions in Finland, Germany, Switzerland, USA and Canada and we were super excited to start touring but ended up loosing over 100 gigs during last year. And the way things look now we will have a new album out in 2022 when the touring comes back. Depressing facts BUT I have already started writing music for the 6th full length and that keeps me motivated to push thru the pandemic.

 

RockOverdose: We are expecting a new release on 5th of March! A brand new EP called "Skull Soldiers" with new singles and rarities. Were those tracks some bsides and bonus tracks from your previous album?

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): Both new songs were written for the EP and I started planning and writing the songs in fall 2020 when it was clear we would not be touring 2020. Also both bonus tracks are there for a reason. This was a good opportunity to test more softer approach and let Lauri our bass player lead with clean vocals on the acoustic version of "Aeon Of Cold". Live version of "The Reaper" ties ep and pervious album together since "Skull Soldiers" is a sequel to "Wolves of Karelia".

 

RockOverdose: Do you believe that releasing a new EP will keep your fans waiting for more in the near future from Wolfheart and keeping in touch with your audience till you guys will go back on tour?

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART):  I think it is really important to be able to offer something new to our fans during these fucked up times. We have done 2 streaming gigs but it is not even close to the real thing so being able to offer brand new music to our listeners is as "real as it gets" during these times. So far the feedback from the fans about the new songs has been really good and since I am already on writing mode for the 6th albums at least it will be worth the wait since next time we will tour we have sooooo much new music to play to our fans.

 

 

 

RockOverdose: Do you think that things will go back to normal again soon? I mean for bands, band promoters, crew in general or will be more restrained referring to the audience number in post covid era and people being more cautious and afraid for chosing live, festivals and attending to the shows?

 

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): Than is very tricky question. At the moment I am optimistic that we could start touring in early spring 2022 but for that to happen the vaccine distribution would need get faster and more efficient. Each new version of the virus will add obstacles also and nobody really knows what is the status of the music business when the tours come back. How many venues, agencies, promoters, buss companies, march companies etc are still standing. So many question marks.

 

 

RockOverdose: Do you believe that releasing a new EP will keep your fans waiting for more in the near future from Wolfheart and keeping in touch with your audience till you guys will go back on tour?

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): I think it is really important to be able to offer something new to our fans during these fucked up times. We have done 2 streaming gigs but it is not even close to the real thing so being able to offer brand new music to our listeners is as "real as it gets" during these times. So far the feedback from the fans about the new songs has been really good and since I am already on writing mode for the 6th albums at least it will be worth the wait since next time we will tour we have sooooo much new music to play to our fans.

 

 

 

RockOverdose: Do you think that things will go back to normal again soon? I mean for bands, band promoters, crew in general or will be more restrained referring to the audience number in post covid era and people being more cautious and afraid for chosing live, festivals and attending to the shows?

 

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): Than is very tricky question. At the moment I am optimistic that we could start touring in early spring 2022 but for that to happen the vaccine distribution would need get faster and more efficient. Each new version of the virus will add obstacles also and nobody really knows what is the status of the music business when the tours come back. How many venues, agencies, promoters, buss companies, march companies etc are still standing. So many question marks.

 

RockOverdose: Do you miss the shows? Also did quarantine brought back bands together, for creating more quality albums and releases at the same time?

 

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): I do miss touring and travelling a lot. I haven't been much in contact with other bands but the ones I have been are working with new music. Hard to say is this fully a positive thing since a huge part what we love as musicians has been taken away and so there is a lot of frustration in the air. And it is a conflicted feeling to work with new music without the certainty that touting would be an option when the music is released. If you mean bands working with other bands I have seen only some YouTube collaboration cover videos. for me there is enough work with W material and too much damage control with our career to focus on anything else.

 

 

RockOverdose: What's the future plans for Wolfheart?

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): Focusing on the writing process of the 6th album and slowly starting to plan the recordings. Probably will make the album before winter 2021 but no idea about the release yet. I just got the next Dawn Of Solace album mastered so will start working soon with the videos and the release in general.

 

 

RockOverdose: You have a Greek member, Vaggelis Karzis in your line up! Would you like to tell as a few things about him and tha story behind your co-operation?

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): First time I saw him was 3 years ago when we played in the same festival. He was there with Rotting Christ and I went to check their gig for a bit and was blown away. Literally thought he is the coolest guy on stage ever. I asked him one year later if he could have filled in for our bass player on our North American tour but he was busy with RC at that time. Eventually I learned that his main instrument is a guitar soon we needed a session guitarist on Euro tour and his schedules fit with our and rest is history. Vageliss is not the first Greek warrior in Wolfpack. Alexi Keito from Athens has been our sound guy in Europe and North America, an awesome guitarist called George Than has played few tours with us, Our graph who has done all our cover/merch etc graph for past 5 years is from Crete. Cold Blooded Fins and hot blooded greek make a really good team 🙂

 

RockOverdose: Final question turns out to be a special message to your Greek fans...

Tuomas Saukkonen (WOLFHEART): Time is on our side. Eventually tours will come back and we will see then!

 

 

For RockOverdose,

Zisis Petkanas

 

Comments