Ελληνικά
Some months ago we had the pleasure to meet Jukka Koskinen and Asim Searah from Wintersun, right before we witness their astonishing performance at the Principal Theater Club in Thessaloniki. The interview was caught on tape in the first place, however it turned out to be a disaster, so there you go…
Good evening and welcome to Metal Invader.
Efcharisto! Haha!
It’s your first time in Greece, how do you feel about it?
J: Just amazing! Yesterday was our first time ever in Greece, we played a nice show in Athens, easily one of the best shows of the tour and today in Thessaloniki I don’t know what to expect. It was a great show, and the people were very nice yesterday after all. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much free time but we did today, we had some nice food from our promoter’s mom.
A: The venue looks great! And yes, we had some great food and also a shot of tsipouro (traditional Greek drink), which was really nice. And of course some pasticcio (traditional Italian – Greek food).
You have been touring for about a month now. How has everything been so far? Any bad moments?
J: Yesterday in Athens we had some issues, our bus hit a car and we had some problems with the time schedule. It wasn’t a crush exactly, just a little scratch, we were a bit hectic yesterday, but everything went well! In general it has been a really easy-going tour with nice shows, a new CD and new countries where we had never been before so it is like an adventure for us. Everything is great, this might sound somehow diplomatic, but that’s how it is, haha!
A: We have a great team on tour and two good supporting bands (Black Therapy and Whispered). There are so many good people, there haven’t been any issues and technical problems. It’s just great. The only unfortunate thing is that we spend too much time on the road so we don’t have enough time to see more of some cities as we would love to, like Athens yesterday.
The Forest Seasons just came out. The feedback has been really positive so far. Tell us a few things about the recording and writing procedure of the album.
J: It started a few years ago from Jari. He was in the woods in Finland when he had this inspiration to write a tribute to the forest. It started as one song, but there was then this whole crowdfunding thing and we thought then that one song couldn’t be enough so we decided to do this whole different season concept, like what is happening in the forest in each season and everything related with this and in life in general. Then the inspiration came from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”, not musically exactly. And that’s how it came out afterwards, four different songs for the four seasons. Also as I said, there was this crowdfunding thing coming up so we wanted to surprise everyone with a new album. Maybe some people were expecting another album (s.s. Time II) but it turned out to be something different. I like it more than the previous Wintersun albums to be honest, not many guitar solos (at least from the bass player’s point of view, haha).
A: As you can see from how the whole crowdfunding thing went, there are people out there who believed in us and expected something good from us which was really nice. This album doesn’t sound that much like the previous Wintersun albums, it focuses more on the songs.
It has been a while since the release of Time in 2012, however it hasn’t been that long, like the time between your debut and Time. Why there are such big time spaces between your releases?
J: We want to be sure that the result would be perfect. Think of it as a book author, it takes many years for a book to come out.
A: The thing is that most people have been waiting for Time II but Time was supposed to be one album, not split in two. But there were other thing in the middle that had to be sort out before the release, so that’s why there are such big gaps between the releases. Quality over quantity.
For which Wintersun release are you mostly proud of? What’s your favorite track?
J: Maybe it’s not too objective to say this from my point of view as a member of the band but I think all songs are good, it’s really hard to say. The new album has the new excitement in it, but I think Time is good…for now I have to say Eternal Darkness because it’s completely different from the occasional Wintersun sound, kinda like a black metal song, but still crushing and relentless. But still, on the other hand, the song Time is an all time favorite.
A: As a new guy, I have to say all of them. All three albums are extravagant their own way.
Wintersun had been involved a few months ago in a controversial situation regarding the crowd fundraising of the new album and the studio. What exactly happened? What do you have to say to all those who reacted negatively?
J: In the end, the ones who acted negatively were 1% of the people and are those who are always there to write negative comments about other people on the internet and then it spreads like a wild fire. The result was fortunately that many people understood what we were planning and were too supportive. It was a normal price for a new album, we were not begging for money. After all what we gave in people in this package was way beyond that, it was a silent thank you for those years of support. I do understand that when something new comes up that no one has done before people go like “What the hell are you doing?” Of course it’s too easy to say it right now but everything was good after all. We believed in that from the beginning. We were being honest to people.
Finnish metal scene has some of the most successful bands in the world right now, such as Nightwish and Children Of Bodom. What are your favorite bands coming from Finland? Are there any bands you would like to suggest to our readers?
J: There has been a band for a long time in Finland called Pain Confessor and the singer of the band is probably one of my favorite metal singers. I like a lot of different kinds of music, it’s hard for me to decide. I never worship someone more than others.
A: There’s also another thrash band called Lost Society who are pretty good to me too, especially live.
Speaking of Nightwish, I know that Kai Hahto is on a break right now from both Wintersun and Nightwish. Has he left Wintersun for good?
J: No, he’s still our member, our drummer. The thing is he has some issues with his hand right now. Also, he is busy with Nightwish with whom he’s going on tour in March for about 9 months, so he’s just gone for now. He’s not joining us on tour next year either.
Which are your influences?
A: What got me into music in the first place was Ronnie James Dio at the age of 4. That’s my biggest influece of all. After that comes Whitesnake, Iron Maiden and old good 80’s bands, Rainbow and things like that. But later on in the years I got familiar with many more bands. Wintersun was one of them and still is. Children Of Bodom and HIM also! I listen to Justin Bieber’s first album. After that he started writing his own music, so… I’m not afraid to admit that I love some pop music too.
What’s the next step for Wintersun? Is there going to be a Time II?
J: Time II will come out one day… We’re now here, we’re done with touring next week. Then we go to Asia, New Zealand and Australia in November and during January-February we go back on the road with Arch Enemy, Tribulation and Jinjer. After that, more to come. We’ll try to be really active next year too in order to get a new album out by 2019. There’s a lot of new material already for many new albums.
Would you like to send a message to Greek Wintersun fans?
A: Don’t get stuck in a narrow minded world, expand your mind, open yourself.
J: Agapi mou! (s.s. We love you)
