To/Die/For
Folie A Deux

04.12.2014

Finland’s To/Die/For, “melodic rockers”, as they call themselves, have a one-off gig in St. Petersburg in just a few days. This show is not part of the touring cycle in support of their latest CD, “Samsara” (2011), therefore, we were wondering what the Finns will surprise their fans with at such an “irregular” event. Moreover, there were other reasons to seek communication with the band. For example, To/Die/For announced recently that they are getting ready to the recordings of a new album, which is even more intriguing. Therefore, we set out to find out more details first-hand, and got the band’s frontman and mastermind Jape Peratalo on the phone to tell us about the progress in songwriting, the overall mood in To/Die/For and the issues the man has to tackle…

Hi, how are you?

I’m okay, just trying to record some keyboards. I’m recording some new demos for the next album. That’s all I’m doing now.

Yeah, we’ll definitely speak about your new music, but first of all I’d like to discuss the show you’re going to play in St. Petersburg on December, 6. Do you feel at home with your Russian audience? Are they different in any ways from your Finnish fans?

Yeah, I think the Russian audience is a little bit more active than the Finnish audience. In Finland you often feel like the people are… how should I call them?... rock’n‘roll policemen. (laughs) They’re standing there and looking at you and trying to find some mistakes. The Finnish audience is also good, but they have to be drunk – after that they are good, but if they are sober, they are very silent. (laughs) But if the band is really big, of course, they are different. It depends. But in Russia our audience has always been very good. Even thought last time there wasn’t that many people, it was still okay.

Do you expect many people to come this time?

We don’t have any expectations. I think it’s not gonna be a very big audience, but we’re gonna play, of course, all 100%, no matter if there is 10 people or 100. It’s all the same for us. Let’s see what happens.

Do you have anything special planned for the upcoming shows?

Yes, we’re gonna play our new songs. We already played some new stuff for the first time on stage a couple of weeks ago in Estonia. And all the other songs are gonna be mainly some very old songs from our first and second albums. For about three years we were playing more songs from the “Samsara” album and we don’t want to play the same things anymore. I think until next year we’re gonna play more like our old stuff and some very new songs.

Yeah, talking about your old songs, I read somewhere on the Internet that your new album that you’re going to record next spring is going to be like taking a step back to your origins as a band. Why is that? Do you need a “new beginning” or something like that?

That’s because this kind of style is more natural for me as a songwriter. When we were recording “Samsara”, many things were done differently and it was more difficult for me personally. That kind of songs didn’t come out in a natural way. And it was a very slow project too because of that kind of songs. Of course it was my own mistake as I chose to create something that doesn’t come naturally. So when I started to make some new demos, I found out that it’s faster and more natural if I do the kind of music that I’ve always done. It feels much better.

What were the reasons that made you compose your previous album the way you did it? Were you tired, or bored, or did you want to change something in your life?

When we started to record “Samsara”, we had had a two-year break. I didn’t even know if I would continue To/Die/For. So when we started to do it, we were thinking like, “Let’s do something different”. And one of our guitarists is a die-hard fan of the 1960s and 1970s music and is very influenced by stuff like Pink Floyd and everything… That’s very good, but that’s not right for To/Die/For. We should start a new band or something if we want to do a different kind of music… So we had this two-year break and were very exited to be recording again, and we wanted to try something different. Also during the recording session, we were very drunk all the time, so we didn’t think about it all that much. (laughs) I don’t say that “Samsara” is a bad album. But somehow I don’t feel it’s the right album for To/Die/For. Or it isn’t a To/Die/For album at all.

How many songs are ready for your new album?

Now we have a lot of songs, much more than we actually need, because I think we will only put nine or ten songs on our next album. And we’ll also record a couple of bonus tracks, one for the European release and one for the Japanese release. We’re still writing some stuff and by March, when we’re gonna record the album, we’re gonna have too many songs and we’ll need to choose just nine or ten new songs.

Is it difficult to choose?

Yeah, it is difficult because we have two kinds of songs. We have some slow and dark stuff, and then we have a little bit more like “rocky” stuff, a bit faster. So we’ll see what we’ll have in the end, more fast songs or more slow songs. It depends on what mood we’ll have.

So you don’t know yet…

No, I don’t know yet.

You have a new song out titled “Screaming Birds”. Is it going to be on the album and does it somehow represent the direction you’re following with your new material?

“Screaming Birds” is just the first song we recorded for our next album. We didn’t do it as a song that must represent the album, it’s just the first song recorded. But we’re going to shoot a video for it on Friday. And I think it will be released in December.

What makes a good music video for you, by the way?

I don’t know. As for me, I don’t watch music videos that much. So I don’t have any clear opinion about music videos. But our fans would like to see something, that’s why we will do it. I even don’t know what it’s gonna be yet.

Do you think some visual aspect is important for a band (at least if they’re trying to become famous), or is it just music that is essential?

Well, for me music is always the most important thing. But I would like to see some videos that have a message, which are more serious, you know. Not just “shake your hips”. I don’t like that modern American kind of music videos, that’s not for me.

Talking about becoming famous, you’ve already mentioned that not so many people come to your shows, and even though your band has been around for a long time, you haven’t become as big as many other Finnish bands (at least here in Russia). What do you think you may “lack” in some way as a band? Do you think there are some things that don’t let you become really big?

One reason is that we don’t have a manager. We don’t have the “right” people to help us, we don’t have some power behind us, we have to do everything by ourselves. And apart from that, I don’t really know. Some years ago we were eager to be more successful, but now we’re okay with that, even though of course we’ll be happy if we can make To/Die/For bigger, if our audience grows and we have more fans. But I don’t know the reasons, really.

You write your band’s lyrics as well as your music and I remember you saying in one interview that melodies come to you first and then you think of some words to fit them. So is it more difficult for you to create lyrics?

Yeah, actually, it’s not difficult for me to do. Somehow I just cannot write the lyrics when I’m expected to do it. I always need some real themes to write about. That’s the way I take all the art, there must be some truth behind it. I need to feel it, and that’s why I write about my life, my personal experiences. If I do it so, t happens naturally and easily. Of course I do write songs about love and death and everything in this gothic style. But they always have some reference to events in my life, so maybe for myself they mean something else. Like for example there’s a song called “Vale of Tears” from our second album “Epilogue” (2001) – I wrote it to my daughter when we had our first tour. I was writing about how I want to be close to my daughter at night, and some people were asking, “Who is this ghost that you’re writing about?”

On your website you invite your fans to write to you via e-mail. You say you don’t guarantee that you’ll reply, but still. Do you really write back and what kind of letters can make you do so?

Actually I always write back. I try to reply to everyone because I don’t see any reasons why I shouldn’t do that. I always write to people, I answer their e-mails and Facebook comments and all this stuff.

You’re looking for a new bass player, right? So what qualities should a person possess to get accepted?

We’ve always had cool bass players and we hope the new one to be at least almost as good as the other guys were. And it’s important the he likes to play the same kind of music that we like to play. If a person comes and starts trying to change everything about your music, that’s very annoying. So he needs to be into our style. That’s all, actually.

I know that you wanted to begin your solo career at some point. Do you still bear some solo projects in mind?

Yeah, well, it’s always been my dream. I really want to release a themed album.

What kind of music would you like to make as a solo artist?

I think because with To/Die/For I’m doing more like melodic and heavy stuff, I would actually do more like rock’n’roll or whatever, or it can be some more slow and emotional kind of music. But I believe that there’s one thing I can tell for sure – it is gonna be melancholic. Apart from that, I don’t know exactly what it’s gonna be.

Okay, my last question is: what is To/Die/For music about in your own opinion? How do you describe it for yourself?

Well, a lot of people have been asking almost the same thing, like how our music can be identified. And all I can say is that it’s not 100% gothic rock or metal, and it’s not love metal. We’re something like melancholic melodic rock band. And I can’t describe it any better. But that’s just my opinion and that’s a very difficult question, really.

To/Die/For on the Internet: http://www.todieforband.net

Special thanks to Anastasia Yakhontova (Backstage Club) for arranging this interview

Ksenia Artamonova
November 19, 2014
© HeadBanger.ru