Interviews

Hi, how are you?

Olli Mattila: Fine, thank you. Just read through our record deal... Can't say the label yet, but have to say I'm pretty exited...!

Leeni-Maria Hovila: Up and down as usual. :-) Do pardon me: I have an unfortunate tendency of answering honestly to rhetorical questions. At the moment, Olli kicks my ass for tarrying; but I'll still just make a cup of coffee and light a candle, thank you for not asking.

As not everyone might know you yet, could you give a short introduction to the band (how it was formed, what music you play etc.)?

Mattila: A few years ago I listened to Ensiferum's second album (Iron) and thought about gathering a band for myself. At that time it would've been a lot slower and less melodic stuff... And I would've played keyboards! =D But the music just got going faster and more melodic. So I decided to turn away from keyboards and started to play guitar. And here we are. I have five amazing human beings and even more amazing musicians around me (or before me ;D), sharing this dream. Not to forget our crew. Four unbelievable dudes who keep working their asses off just to get us on stage in time and looking and sounding good. Cheers to them!

Hovila: ("Not everyone" would be understatement of the year... :-D)
I came into picture last October. By that time, Exsecratus already was a couple of years old but had just lately gotten active properly. The situation was sour, a painful break-up just happened, a hellish training period ahead of us with gigs already settled, including Nosturi, Helsinki, which is, as some of us know, a BIG THING for any band to do for the first time.
First that I heard Exsecratus was the demo "Execute" and yes, I thought “what a Nightwish-ripoff” (shame on me). However, my personal taste aside, I found the music and the musicians quite convincingly good at what they do, and, being a singer, the songs appealed to me as a challenge. Also the energy with which the people involved wanted to work for the band left an impression, as I as well intend to sing seriously - that is, for living.
By now we have cleared Nosturi, a week of touring with Ensiferum (the blonde says hello!) and... what? Three or four smaller gigs? Not to mention conflicts with former members. I am quite proud of us: we have proved ourselves capable of functioning together under some pressure.
Hell, I'll have more of this. :-)

What would you consider your musical main influences?

Mattila: My personal favs are Nightwish, Children of Bodom and Ensiferum. And you can hear those influences in our songs pretty well. But everyone of us has his/her own favourites and bands that influence our songs and playing.

Hovila: My personal favourites, as a singer, would be Peter Steele -one of the two or three male singers I actually like and an amazing composer in the area of anxiety- Sarah Brightman and Jenny Williams (Gjallarhorn) of the singing technique-category, and bands The Cure, Dead Can Dance, Swallow The Sun, Apocalyptica, some power-influenced ones like Stratovarius... Almost any band with enough courage to not go "where the fence lies lowest" but be themselves, even if it means being "weird".

Timo Kauhajärvi: Iron Maiden was the first metal band I got interested in, and it is still by far the greatest band in the whole world. Steve Harris is the main reason I play bass. In Flames got me really into death metal, especially melodic death metal. Manowar taught me the real attitude towards music itself; not to give a f*ck what everybody else is saying, but to be honest to yourself and keep doing what you love. And of course, Manowar's Joey DeMaio is the greatest bass player in the world.

You did a short tour in Finland with Ensiferum in the beginning of the year. How did that come along and how did you experience it yourselves?

Kauhajärvi: I'm sure Olli can tell a lot more about organizing the tour but my own feelings towards these events is that it is one of the greatest things I've done in my life. Thanks to everybody involved!

Mattila: Well it was absolutely awesome to tour with my favourite band. As you can imagine. =) ...I have known Markus from Ensiferum for years now and we've been talking for a long time about doing a few gigs. And now the time was just right for this kind of thing.

Hovila: I was absolutely thrilled to be on my first heavy metal tour ever (I've already been doing classic gigs for a while now). It was definitely not worse than I had imagined (this meaning practicalities - such as living in a toiletless bus in the middle of Finnish winter. Guys don't even have to take their pants off. Bastards.) and in many ways far better: I'd heard horror stories of losing voice and stuff but the singing and the playing seemed to get just better gig after gig, finally it actually started to feel that we are learning to play as one - and then it ended. :-/ One week is just too short.

How were the reactions towards your shows during the tour (considering that most people probably came to the gigs to see Ensiferum)?

Mattila: Well, as anyone can imagine the welcome wasn't too warm at every gig. But as far as I've heard the reactions have been extremely good. As always there are people who don't like our music. But hell, you just can't please everyone.=)

Hovila: Olli has a point there. In the front rows there were usually these true Ensiferum-fans, which were actually really appreciative for us as well. Hell, they were in such good spirits, they probably would have hailed gratefully if M.A.Numminen had walked on stage... :-D I feel the reactions were all in all positive. Yes, there's always someone who goes through the trouble of writing into the guestbook "kick the Tarja-wannabe out". But this is what Exsecratus does, and this is how Exsecratus does it: some like it, some don't, and it really isn't even our problem. We believe in this. Period.

Kauhajärvi: There always are some that dislike our music but I personally think that I'm only playing for those who really are interested in hearing us play live. The rest just isn't as important as those who are there to see the show.

Was there any “highlight” of the tour, any gig that was for some reason more special than the others?

Kauhajärvi: By far, Oulu. Great audience and a great place to play at.

Mattila: My personal "highlight" was actually after our gig in Oulu. It was the first time that people I didn't know asked for my autograph. That was the coolest thing EVER. The gig in Jyväskylä was also great. The audience was just amazing and welcomed an unknown band VERY warmly.

Hovila: This probably differs quite much from the other guys - but I enjoyed Tampere (second stop on tour) best. There was scarcely three rows of people and the schedule sucked - but on stage I felt definitely best of all the gigs. Maybe it was some kind of hometown-privilege. And my little sister was there, as was singer/composer of another project I'm getting involved with (The Body Snatcher). Both were positively impressed, which means a lot to me.
Well. The autographs in Oulu were pretty cool, too. (gloats!)

There was a guest with you on the tour that supported you during the Children of Bodom cover you were playing. Who was that?

Mattila: That young lad is our guitar tech Tony Hentilä. It was in Jyväskylä or the ride to Oulu, when I just asked if he would like to sing that one. He agreed and that's that. He did great and he seemed to be happy about it, too.

Your keyboard player Emmi Silvennoinen replaced Meiju of Ensiferum for the five gigs in Finland – how was it for her to be in a way part of this band for some time?

Mattila: Four so far actually. And she seemed to love doing those gigs, and she is anxious about the forthcoming gigs around Europe. Who wouldn't? ;)

Hovila: A period like that, two gigs every night, is physically stressing (even more when these heroes of ours stumble dead-drunk into the bus at 4am and apparently the booze has made them physically incapable of shutting up.) But she came, saw and did just fine - and we are quite proud of her.

There is another gig with Ensiferum scheduled for March - your first gig outside of Finland as it takes place in St. Petersburg. Have you been there before by yourselves? How are your expectations for the show there?

Mattila: No, we haven't. I've heard many stories about the great audience in Russia. I heard they welcome even new metal bands extremely warmly. I however try to keep an open mind about that. If something goes wrong, it would suck way more if I make some great expectations about it... "Wait and see" would be the right thing to say at this point.

Hovila: I've never in my life been to Russia. I don't speak the language. Tell you the truth, I am slightly terrified. :-/

Kauhajärvi: Haven't been so scared before in my life.

You only have released one two-track demo so far but a whole album is planned to be out in autumn. How is the work for it going? I assume that – judging from the length of your set at the recent gigs - quite a few songs must be done already…

Mattila: There are a few songs that are still unfinished, but also a few new ones are ready. So far we've been playing only "older" songs. Two of them were composed by our former guitar-player E. Vihma ("Puppets" and "End of the line"). Those two will not be on our upcoming album due to unsolvable problems in copywrite department. But that's life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We just keep doing what we love and this is it.

Hovila: This is an Olli question. Let's just say I don't expect there to be a problem in this department.
He is a machine.

Will you release this album by yourselves or do you have a label up your sleeve?

Mattila: As I mentioned before, there is a record deal coming. Some luck at last for this band.=)

Hovila: Brother testifies truly.

Also there will be a DVD from the tour with Ensiferum. What can be expected from the DVD, solely Exsecratus on stage or any other material?

Mattila: Heavy metal and heavy drinking!=D There will be some footage from each gig, and of course the backstage material is necessary.

Hovila: Anything and everything (Godforbid!) that was shot on the Ensiferum-Exsecratus-tour. I'm just sorry I didn't study to use my cellphone camera in time.

Do you think there will be enough demand for this kind of release (considering that you're still rather unknown) or is there the danger of overdoing things?

Mattila: As far as this DVD goes. This is a way for us to give the fans some updated material. Old and new. Since we changed our singer after our demo "Execute" we figured that this is a good way to let people get to know our new singer and material before the album. There are risks doing this kind of thing, but if you refuse to take risks in life, where do you think you're gonna get? ;)

Hovila: Well, at least it's there and ready for the future, if not for now. It's neither necessary nor practical to make a stash of hundreds of DVDs and then sit on them but we'll print by the demand and the material will be there if and when needed.

How important do you consider the “show” a band performs on stage? Do you think it's an important part of a live appearance or is it purely the musical performance that counts in your opinion?

Mattila: Every musician has his/her opinion about this matter but I personally think that the show is way more important than the actual music. People who come to SEE us play should be given the chance to see a good show. Not just six people standing on one spot throughout the whole thing, with an iron pole stuck up in their a**.=D

Hovila: I'd like to say the exact opposite: for me the music is first and most important. But one must realize and accept that the live situation is way too overwhelming and wild to be musically perfect and the show is what matters. Still, personally, on stage I'd like to be first of all a singer. Which means that, first of all, I am there to sing.

Kauhajärvi: I'm not banging my head the whole gig just for the fun of it. Anyways, to me the music is way more important than the show. A good show is a worthwhile bonus, though.

You're from the Helsinki area, how would you describe the metal scene there right now? Some people complain about this area being self-sufficient in the way that it is hard to get attention for bands coming from other parts of Finland. Would you agree on that?

Mattila: It seems to be doing fine. Helsinki is great place for bands to get started ‘cause there are so many places to perform. As for the other matter... I wouldn't know how hard it is to become famous in Helsinki for a band that hails from i.e. Tampere. But that goes both ways. A band from Helsinki might find it frustrating to play gigs in Turku or Lahti when people don't know the band. We know how it feels. We had a gig in Turku last October, and there were only six people watching the show.=D Hail Turku!

Kauhajärvi: There are so many bands to pick from when planning to see a metal gig in Helsinki. The scene is blooming and I see no reason why bands from other regions couldn't succeed in Helsinki.

Hovila: Helsinki and the rest of Finland is like USA and the rest of the world - in every way. This does not mean that the Helsinki metal scene was more lively than elsewhere - quite the contrary actually, the massive supply of bands, clubs and fests causes scatterness as well. Other cities have quite lively underground scenes themselves, with promising as well as experienced bands. These days, when any information concerning music travels so fast so far, I can't really see distances as a problem. Maybe I am a little naive about this.

That's it actually about the questions… is there anything you'd like to add?

Mattila: Just hang tight people. The upcoming album will rock your panties away! =D