A few days after the release of their latest album King of the North, founder and frontman Tuomas sat down with Jim to have what ended up being a rather long catchup and discussions around the release, the recent reactivation of Before The Dawn, Finnish festivals and his thoughts on how touring is going to evolve.
What have you been up to in the past 2 years?
I’ve had a lot of free time in the past 2 years which I normally don’t have so I’ve had to fill my time somehow. I’ve never been off touring this long since early 2000.
How do you feel King of the North has been received?
I made the clear decision to move more into the direction of Winterborn as that’s the direction I see the band moving. I knew that there was a certain amount of risk to put that number of clean vocals on the album as metal fans can sometimes be very narrow minded. I’ve done changes like this in the past though as the last album (Rise of the Phoenix) had just harsh vocals. Of course, it’s a matter of taste and if you don’t like their voices then there’ll be an issue. It was a risk that was clear, but it’s not backfired at all. I’ve maybe seen one or two negative reviews.
After 5 albums of just harsh vocals, I wanted to introduce something new that fits. If you don’t do any change, then your best music will be the first in that style. If you never steer away from that style, then you’ll end up stuck in your lane. As a composer, I understand the limits of harsh vocals and view them as percussion. Whereas, you can add more melodies with cleaner vocals and offer a range of different sounds.
The theme for this album also made it fun to work on. Having the whole breadth of the Nordic realm to work with allowed me to be a lot more creative. There are so many epic stories compared to the theme of the previous album which was one war that lasted for 3 months. You can underline more aspects of the story with the human voice and it brings a lot more emotion than melodies on other instruments.
This is the first album to have guests as well. How did that come about?
It was kind of an accident and not supposed to happen. Our label got in touch to see if we wanted any bigger names on the album and I said no as I felt as though having Lauri and Vagelis would be enough. Then things happened and we ended up with two excellent guest vocalists. It’s not planned for future albums, but things can happen.
You also recently reactivated Before the Dawn as well…
We’ve already started recording the new Before the Dawn album. I just got some melodies from Juho today so we’re well on the way with that album. I let Juho play as much guitar as possible as I’m not the guitar player in the band anymore. I just play the drums and sit in the background which suits me better. I’ve played drums the most across the Before the Dawn history.
It also helps separate the bands more as Wolfheart now has clean vocals as well. It differs the bands a lot more and I’ll be happier overall. I’ve never really enjoyed the spotlight on the stage, I can do it but if I have the possibility to stay in my own bubble and just do the music stuff, that suits me better. Vagelis and Lauri are also really good vocalists and have a wide range which fits our music really well. They have such different voices as well which means more elements to play with.
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You now have three bands instead of two. How difficult does it get to schedule things?
Before the Dawn has festivals booked for next summer and our new album comes out early summer so there’s some business there. Wolfheart is also getting busy with the schedule and Juho is still in Swallow the Sun which is busy as well. We’re going to run out of weekends in the summer that are free.
I have a list of people who I can ask to help if some of our members are unavailable. We want every band to be able to do all their possible gigs and not have to cancel or reschedule. All our fans have understood when we have sessions guys on stage, and we have never had any negative comments. There is a list because there must be a list. It’s a small circle of musicians and we all know each other.
How do approach composing music for the bands?
I think the idea of writing 20 songs and then picking 10 for the album is weird. Why would you write 10 songs that you are just going to throw away? I’m not saying that’s a bad way, just that it wouldn’t work for me. I tend to get the original idea and that ignites the rest of the album. It can be a problem as I’ve written so many albums! It’s not easy for the industry and the artists either as you’re releasing 3 albums a year which means 2 won’t get as much promotions. When I get to 25 albums, I’ll probably have a little party!
If you were to put together another “evening with” style event, how difficult would it be to pick songs?
I don’t think it would be that challenging to put together. I already have my list of songs that I like playing live from each band and have consolidated it into about 30 or 40 songs. It was 10 years ago since I last did something like that so the challenge would be to perform that more so than picking the songs.
It’s very difficult to get hold of Black Sun Aeon music these days. Is it likely to become easier soon?
I am aware and I’ve been talking to the German label that was involved with the releasing. It’s looking promising that they’ll be released and put onto the streaming sites. Back around that time though, the internet promotion was very new, and we didn’t have a facebook page for the band. Before the Dawn doesn’t have an Instagram page either. But no, we are working on this and hopefully they will come soon. It’s just taking time as everything does.
You’ve got the European shows coming up as well. Are you looking forward to getting back on the road after nearly 3 years off?
Naturally I am excited, but it does feel weird. I’m seeing a lot of the costs going up and the price of certain things doubling, the gasoline that’s getting crazy. There’s a lot of question marks and uncertainty, but our tour so far looks to be ok.
I’ve not toured in 1000 days, and it feels new all again. I’m having to relearn things and haven’t felt this way in 20 years. It feels like the first tour over 20 years ago. I used to have a steady routine as I was touring a lot. I think it will take a few shows for us to settle in, but we know the package rather well. We’ve played together and toured together in the past so it should go well.
If you had to pick your favourite Finnish festival to play, which would you pick?
Probably John Smith and Nummirock. We’ve a long history with John Smith and I played with Before the Dawn several times at both the venues and festival. Nummirock as well booked us early and we’ve always had a good time. I also worked at Nummirock for a few years as a stage manager. I would pick both as they have both been good to my bands and are great promoters.
Nummirock is very special and well worth a visit as it’s connected with the midsummer. The biggest parties are always in the campsite and there are people who may never leave the campsite for the whole festival. There’s a lot of waves in people being around the festival site and doesn’t follow any patterns. There can be bands playing on the main stage to 1000 people or a smaller band playing to 5000 people. It’s one of the most Finnish festivals and always has a good lineup.
You’ve released music with quite a few labels over the years. When it comes to picking one, is it more just a case of deciding which one works best for the band at the time, or is there a conscious decision based on the people?
It’s very much based on the people. Any label can do a good job and any label can mess everything up. You have no control over what your status is in the label when the album is coming out. I think it’s more important to know that the label you are singing into really wants you. If you have someone fighting for you to get you signed, then it’s likely they will fight for you within the label going forward as well. It doesn’t matter about the budget, if there’s no-one passionate about your music in the label, then you’re not going to have the best of time.
These package deals you see are not good either. It’s better to cultivate your friendship with the label and get cycles in place instead of just having the “release and promo” with no real extra. Building your career is a marathon and not a sprint. The quality of the music can be wasted, and the art is lost. Take the time when you’re looking into these and make sure you are ready to release and not just throwing the music out there. Sometimes it’s better to wait and make sure it’s good rather than just putting something out which can end up being a black mark against you.
Are there plans for more tours in the future? I know the UK isn’t the greatest place to tour at the moment…
There’s not a lot of good places to tour now due to the inflation and cost of everything. Russia is off limits and Sweden isn’t that great for concerts so there’s no real “less bad” places.
I think it’s possible we’ll start seeing UK tours which are separate to European tours. With the Brexit and visa thing, it’s likely to make more sense to do a full UK tour rather than just a few dates tacked on at the end of a Europe tour. Doing more focused tours in the UK would benefit everyone as you can build the fanbase more and build the local scenes. The fans would get excited more and it would build up the whole thing. We’ll see if my theory is going to hold!
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Wolfheart’s latest album King of the North is available now.
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Dawn Of Solace: facebook | twitter
Before the Dawn: facebook
