Interviews

AARNI is the curious brainchild of one very experimental Finn - Master Warjomaa. Bathos, his latest album, is at the epicentre of that experimentation: warped, meandering doom with an avant-garde finish and BURZUM-esque mood swings. If you don't already have it in your collection, order it from Firedoom records post-haste! But, keen to find out more about the person behind the creativity, I managed to get an interview with Markus, and he turned out to be a very obliging, interesting guy indeed.

CMCG: First of all, your album 'Bathos' is rarely leaving my CD player. Was it always an ambition of yours to make such unique music?

MW: When I first learned to play a musical instrument, my goal was to use it as a tool for creation rather than just to play along with my favourite artists' songs. But isn't that every musician's intent? Composing music has a very practical function for me - as a form of therapy, I guess. Apart from that, I also want to make original material as opposed to copying the style of my current role-models, whoever they might be. After all, an original approach is better for everyone involved... Having said all that, I feel 'Bathos' doesn't portray AARNI at its most "original". It was a conscious decision, as I wanted my debut album to be somewhat approachable, even commercial to some extent. This I did in order to be able to release more unique material in the future. I don't know how well my devious little plan worked out. In any case, what I consider to be more unique stuff will follow.

CMCG: Who would you cite as the most important influences on your sound, and why?

MW: I guess conscious influence from artists such as BLACK SABBATH, CANDLEMASS, MY DYING BRIDE, JOE SATRIANI, OZRIC TENTACLES, CAMEL and PIIRPAUKE are more or less apparent in some of my musical arrangements, because I am, or have been, fond of their style. Perhaps the rest of my influences are unconscious...

CMCG: Reviewers seem to be fairly divided when it comes to describing Bathos. How would you describe the sound?

MW: "A somewhat under-produced mixed bag of styles", "antinomian music", or something unlike that.

CMCG: Which bands did you listen to growing up?

MW: KISS and classical music in the early '80s, followed by the mandatory IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA and BLACK SABBATH. From 1990 e.v. onwards came PANTERA, PARADISE LOST, CANDLEMASS, KING DIAMOND, MY DYING BRIDE and ANATHEMA. In the last couple of years I've been mainly listening to such acts as CAMEL, YES, AMON DÜÜL, HAWKWIND, KING CRIMSON, and FOCUS. I've also been irregularly listening to folk, ambient and even jazz my whole life.

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