Interviews

Emotions are a part of human life. Deep emotions are the privilege of the intellectually distinguished. So different in their texture, the emotions comprise the Astral Body of a human being. This Body is constantly developing, morphing into various shapes, and today it takes the Shape of Despair.
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We thank Jarno Salomaa who took pains to answer our longish questions.
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So, to begin with, a couple of serious questions about your work and in particular a question about the last album.
Is this self-titled album that has just been released a possibility to commemorate your works of the past, considering that the year 2005 is your 10th anniversary? Was it done on purpose or is it just a coincidence?

Jarno: Mainly Spikefarm's manager wanted to do this since quite a long time ago but wasn't sure when. Now it seemed a great opportunity to do this since we had this Sleeping murder song waiting to be recorded into somewhere as it represents abit different side of Shape of despair.
To put it more better, 10years of existence and a progress is always nice to put on one album.. not to celebrate it but to look more into it.

Having recorded only 4 albums so far, over a 10-year-period, you cannot be called a very prolific band. Is it some special policy like “quality over quantity” or just the way things go?

Jarno: It's more of the way things go. I mean, we are passionated with Shape but we don't push it to people. I take my own time with composing songs to Shape and I haven’t taken any rush with it and will not either. This composing is something where I’m totally with the flow, taking advantage of situations suitable at the moment.

You are now a well-established band, with lots of experience. In Russia, however, there are not many bands, which achieved any significant point. What would be your practical recommendations for bands that really want to make something of their artistic life?

Jarno: To be true for themselves and for the matters they create. I think people know what they are doing and if they believe into it, passion drives things forwards. Mainly as I am in most parts the one who creates everything for Shape, I take my own time and create music the way I totally like it.. freedom of making the music and filling the space of need in music you hear.

Have you ever been to Russia? In any case, I hope that you know at least something about this country and don’t suppose that we all here drink vodka 24/7, use samovar for making tea, and hunt bears for dinner. So, am I right about your knowledge?

Jarno: Closest for what i've visited is Estonia and i were only about few hours on land. Russia is something we’ve had suggestions of making shows.. but as you may know our live situation isn’t something I would speak of at the moment.
I think drinking vodka is a legend for you as well as drinking gherkin’s juice for hangover.. I quess hunting bears isn’t that far for you either.

Would you ever consider playing a gig here, perhaps the very first one?

Jarno: Well why not, but not propably the very first one.. we’ll see.

For some reason, I find that there are less and less bands that are worth listening to nowadays, do you find that the tendencies are the same, or that vice versa-there are plenty of good new bands, which you would recommend to listen to?

Jarno: I think i'll follow you on this one as well. I tend to listen more music which i've been listening for years now than searching new bands. It's not a bad thing, it's just that there is too much to offer and you get mixed up. You should listen this and that and something should listen like a band you know from 10 years ago... and next there's few hundred bands on your list to check em all out.. But Swallow the sun f.ex. is a good "new comer". And one interesting would be C.O.D. which recently signed on Firebox. This band plays doom as well and there are couple of guys from the studio we use, Hellhole."

I have some experience playing doom, namely slow, very slow and grim music, but sometimes, while listening to Shape of Despair, I start wondering how is it possible to play extremely slow and keep the sense of the rhythm at the same time especially when playing live? Is it all about having a good slow :) drummer?

Jarno: Well rhythm-sense is important but you know, you don’t need it that much to play doom.. It really depends what kind of doom you play and what kind of song structure you have. In our case it’s quite important to keep yourself in pace as we still play hugely together with drums and bass.. rest is quite laid back on background.. but I think practise will help a lot out on this.


There is an alarmingly well-pronounced dependence of the amount of doom in music on the geographical position on the planet. Basically, in terms of early Katatonia, it can be defined as: “Want more doom? Go North, my child!”. Of course, there are some exceptions (like Mar de Grises from South America) but the main tendency is clear. What do you think is really responsible for that: the local climate, you know, weather conditions and blah-blah floods or draughts; the level of the sun radiation - the number of sunny days per year; the presence of snow? Do you think bands from the North Pole (let us imagine there are such species) would be playing mostly Megaultrafuneral Mournful and Crestfallen Doom Ever?

Jarno: As these things mostly speculate, I have no idea what so ever of about this.. this is usual that someone asks about this, but what I could say? May It be climate what affects your personal state or wether it be stronger liguid.. ?! hard to say.

Let me ask you about an issue, which worries me more and more as the time marches on. I am talking about so-called musical experiments, for instance - mixing styles, especially, which, at the first glance, can not be mixed at all: Disco and Doom, Black and Latino, or forgetting about consonance allowing for example minor key in major, playing in odd meters (like 8/9 or 4/5, yeah-yeah they do exist, hell me be!). I must admit that we are facing a spread of all abovementioned Discoblack8/9 beasts, and that nearly scares me. So what do you personally think about this and what is your personal preference: a rapid and shocking experiments or slow and natural evolving of a particular style?

Jarno: I think these super-styles are just an groups who pops in and pops out soon after.. it’s always natural choice what keeps on going, people know what they like of. Then again, there’s huge amount of crap flying out there..

Allow me to step aside our musical discussion please. I bet any zine team can state that one always finds among the readers those who are interested in musicians’ personalities. Although sometimes that hurts and it’s better to keep everyone’s own story, but (this annoying “but”) I’ll risk my neck to ask you what Shape of Despair clan people do for living (again if we all are allowed to know!)? (Aside: Honestly, I don’t think the police is going to read this interview, so don’t be afraid! :) And if you do something for living except of Shaping the Despair, what is more important then: work, music or both?

Jarno: Ah well we work and study alongside this band, and others well… do what they do. We work in not interesting places with low income and study more or less interesting subjects.. eh, maybe I’m just too embarrassed to reveal some of our daily routines, music is what we all like here and we are trying to manage around to make it.

Do you think that getting married and having a child is equal to the murder of an artist?

Jarno: It depends whole lot of that person itself.

Aren’t you getting bored answering all these long interviews? Same (sometimes completely moronic) questions… annoying people, bloody aspects of promotion. No I mean I, personally, hate this “goaway” crap…

Jarno:Hah well, I almost didn’t send you this back.. it’s just too boring and time consuming believe me.
Honestly, it’s boring if you make dozens of interviews per day and say the same answers all over.. but otherwise it doesn’t bother at all, it depends much of the interviewer itself what kind of feedback they get. I hope you get in touch later again.

So, that’s practically it! Thank you very much for your time and patience. Just the last thing to settle. Would you mind saying some words to the readers of our zine, ThyDoom?

Jarno: Thank you for this interview and please visit our forum and speak yourself out. We thank for the support you people give.

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Questions by the Master and Demona