Turisas

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M = Mathias
T = Twilightheart
W = Wiebke

T > This should be the first time for you at Party San. How do you like it?

M > It seems very nice because it´s very tight, even if it´s quite many people. But it´s not a very big area. So you run into people all the time. That`s nice. 

T > With how many people did you arrive? Is this female guest musician with you, maybe?

M > No, we are 7 in the band +  2 technics people. That woman who was with us in Wacken was something done very spontaneously for the show. She is Emmanuelle Zoldan, who also appeared on the album we did. She is from France. We don`t usually do that, but it was a special extra for Wacken.

T > Does she have her own band?

M > I think she has done some additional vocal stuff for bands like Tristania and so.

T > Do you agree when the Germans just call your music “party-humppa”? Or do you see it more serious?

M > Yeah… but then again playing live we try to get a good feel, get everybody having a good time together, so live-shows tend to go more to the party-side. But I wouldn`t just see it as making fun and running around. It´s both: serious, but not dead-serious.

T > I don`t understand too much of the lyrics. What are they usually about? Only battle themes?

M > Most of it is tied to battle field, ancient time, not so much for the kind of fantasy approach that some bands do. We have more like a historical background. So: history, battle, drinking.

T > How well-known are you in Finland actually?

M > We´re not really popular in Finland at all. We haven`t played live in Finland for 1 and a half years at all, I think. We´ve been touring Germany and UK, not much more. But I hope it will change with the new album. But it has really been quiet around us in Finland.

T > That`s strange. I really thought people in Finland love that kind of music. I was even thinking about asking, if you have beaten to Finntroll already. 

M > I don`t see it that way anyway. We are not competing with bands like Finntroll. They do their thing and we do ours. Other bands do their thing.

T > It was more meant about fan-reactions, not musically. I just think you have the potential to make the fan crowd at your gigs as wild as it is in Finntroll gigs for instance.

M > I think we have a special thing going on when playing live. Some like it and some don´t. I don´t think every band should be like that. We have a different approach and do things differently.

T > Do you have a new band member now that Georg Laakso had to leave the band after his accident?

M > We don`t have a replacement for him. We had 2 guitar players earlier. We were 8 in the band and now we are 7. So we have only 1 guitar at the moment.

Wiebke > I read Georg`s letter on the homepage. As I´m a nurse and studying medicine I know how terrible his injuries are, as someone that I know suffered the same.

M > People ask about that a lot. The situation ain´t the brightest, but I think in spirit and attitude he´s quite okay. I can`t really say, as I can`t look into somebody`s head. 

Of course it`s strange to see it on some level drifting apart just for something like this. But we still have the band working and tight. On some level we haven`t been in touch that much, which is sad, but also pretty normal.

T > Are you doing something to honour Georg as a thank you for his time in the band, like dedicating a song to him or anything?

M > Yeah, we have done that for the few last shows. We will probably do this at Party San, then we do Summerbreeze, and once more a show and then that`s it for the summer. After that I think we´ll take a break and work on the new album. So, even if we did it already, I think we´ll dedicate one song to him tonight and for the rest of the shows. And then we probably won`t be out for live shows before a new album next year. 

T > Have you already toured Germany? I guess I missed it. 

M > Yeah, we toured and supported “Die Apokalyptischen Reiter” in the last year.

T > When do you think will the new album be finished?

M > We hope to enter the studio in mid November and probably we´ll drag it until the end of January. So we`re hoping for getting it out before the summer like April/May 2007, maybe.

W > Have you made a decision where you wanna record it? Will you go to France again?

M > No, I think most likely we´ll be staying in Finland, recording it, because of all the logistics and things like this. We rather spend money on more studio days instead.

T > Would you ever leave Finland permanently for your music? If you`d be very successful in any other country and some manager suggests to move there to be at the place of job and success… would you consider it, or would you never leave your home country?

M > Well, I´m not really tied to ANY country in that way.Then again, I don`t know if I`d like to live in Germany for a longer period, though it´s nice to visit. I don`t see why we can`t live in Finland but still do most of the shows and spend most of the time abroads. It´s just more travelling then.

T > Will you have time to see any other bands at the festival today or tomorrow?

M > I don`t think we´ll have time to see any more bands tonight. We´ll stay here for the weekend, so we`ll probably be around here tomorrow, maybe on Sunday as well. We´ll see… I don´t even have a clue who is performing.

T > Nifelheim, Cryptopsy, Enslaved, Kataklysm, Naglfar, Hypocrisy, Setherial, Thyrfing, Marduk, Six feet under…

M > Maybe I´ll check out a few.

T > You`re not very enthusiastic!

M > I´m not really an “extreme Metal” fan. I enjoy it, but then again, you get tired of watching bands.

T > So, what music do you listen to?

M > It varies. Some Metal, some weird Ethno, Crossover-things, Jazz, some classical… not very much anymore, all kinds of Pop, Rock.

T > Will you do some sightseeing here in Germany? 

M > I don´t know. We just came here a few hours ago. I don´t know anything at the moment. We´ll probably see what time we get up tomorrow and then we´ll see. We don´t have any plans.

Wiebke´s description of the beautiful city Weimar, which is near the Party San area, which was supposed to cause some will for sightseeing in Mathias, dissapeared somewhere in the wind… unheared! ;-) Anyway, it was nice to talk to the band, also later at Summerbreeze festival…  as you never know if this will still be possible after their tour with the new "trend band" Lordi! ;-)

Mathias Nygård/ August 2006:

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