Interviews

Metalbrothers, welcome to the questionaire of Metalreviews.com!

A: Thank you!

J-V: Much greetings to you all.

Describe Machine Men musically with five words or less?

A: Hmmm…Metal, great metal, fucking great metal and the fucking best. Was that four? I’ll give a sixth or the tenth. Bloody brilliant!

Your latest album, Circus Of Fools has just been released. What are your vibes like right about now?

A: We are feeling excellent right now. Of course the record isn’t that new to us anymore, because it was mastered already four months ago, in November. It’s nice to have it finally out there.

J-V: Of course we are excited to see how the new stuff is received. Luckily we can finally start touring again, because that is the best thing about this whole thing.

Is Circus Of Fools your best album yet?

J-V: Absolutely!

A: Yes!

Why?

A: Because it has our best songs to date.

J-V: Sounds too simple, but it is just true.

Now, I am a fan of hidden meanings and symbolics, so I will have to ask about a couple of your songs. Circus Of Fools – are we talking about your band here or what does this circus represent?

A: Well, the song is about dumb people, to be blunt. So definitely not about us boys in the band, because we are a bunch of damned rocket scientists *laughs*. You can usually find these ignorant persons from every corner bar in any given town. Of course they are everywhere but bars and pubs seem to have strange concentrations of these dummies. It’s about the kind of people that aren’t willing to accept you as who you are, how you look, etc. and say it out straight to your face. They cross this very delicate line by blurting things out in the open. Of course we all dislike other people, I know I do, but I don’t cross the line by getting in some ones face with it. I keep it to myself. I don’t seek conflict with a purpose, where you’d be head to head with some clown.

Indeed. Now then, the first single is called No Talk Without The Giant. What’s the giant we are talking of here?

A: The lyrics themselves are about how hard it is to get some label off yourself once you have received one. If you are stuck with some kind of label, that’s what you will be remembered for. For example, if you play metal for years and then switch to jazz, people will still know you from that certain thing. It’s like a shadow that never leaves you. As a matter of fact the song is about our band. I haven’t met an interview yet that would not have had any mentions about Iron Maiden. Do you have any questions concerning Maiden? I would assume so.

Well, actually, there are not. Would you have wanted some because we can improvise?

A: *laughs* No, no, no need for them. It’s great actually have an interview like this for once.

Let’s dig the musical elements a bit. Your style has gone down a more aggressive and hard-edged road since Elegies. How did that happen?

J-V: It was a natural progression for us and a necessary change for the band. It just felt good to head down a heavier path and in retrospect it was definitely the right decision.

A: During recordings there was a feeling that we had a lot of suppressed anger waiting to burst out. We were talking among the band that after the gigging for Elegies had been completed, we would start writing more aggressive stuff. It was indeed natural because when we are live on stage, our old songs have sounded much harder than on record. The riffs started turning meaner and so did the lyrics.

How is a typical Machine Men song created?

A: Our drummer Jarno is still the main songwriter. He makes all the music at home, sends me mp3s, that may have some suggestions for vocal melodies done with guitar. When we head to rehearsals, a song is usually 90-percent done, so we don’t need to do that much arranging at that point. If there was an outside producer, he could possibly have a lot to say about the songs, mut if we produce an album ourselves, it doesn’t change much once it’s brought into rehearsals. If it works, it stays till the end. If not, then we just take the parts that we like, scrap the rest and build a new tune.

So considering this method, did you have any leftovers on the studio floor or did you use all of the stuff composed?

A: There really wasn’t much left outside the final product. Even parts that didn’t really with the complete picture, were moulded to do so. So in the end, I could say nothing was left out but used accordingly.

The lyrics on the record are definitely mean. Do you have any specific or favourite topics for lyrics? Any honey bees or meadows filled with dandelions anywhere?

A: For this album, the lyrics became much more personal. Then it is much easier to stand behind the stuff that you wrote, if compared to completely fictional stories. Of course, the new album is full of stories, but they were built through personal experiences. For example, you might have heard something that happened and that thing was built through ones own mind. What could have happened? There are also more stories about myself and the band as well. It’s much more comfortable to sing stuff like that.

Let’s offroad. How are the touring schedules shaped for you right now?

J-V: Looking good. March is spent burning through Finnish clubs, the biggest cities and some smaller ones too. Then in the end April we join Tarot, Finntroll and a couple of other heroes to make a gruelling but fantastic sprint of Europe. 17 gigs in 17 days.

By George, that’s quite the pace. Is your voice shuddering already?

A: Well, it is right now because of a flu, but hopes are up that come April, everything will be in top form. The summer is beginning to look awesome as well, especially the special guest honor that we have warming up for Heaven & Hell at the Helsinki Ice Hall in June. There we will have a wet dream of us all fulfilled. I mean, warming up for Black Sabbath – it just boggles the mind.

I can barely imagine, an experience that should be off the charts. Now, about making a set list for the shows – is it hard now that you are at the point of your third album?

A: Personally, I don’t consider it that hard. In the end, you want to play those new songs as much as possible. With some older ones of course, but I don’t think it will be hard.

J-V: This is a good point to consider how nice it would be to have longer playtimes, as then we could cram in more tunes, older ones too. The relations will be seen on stage but we are more pumped up to break out the new material.