Korpiklaani
Life Through A Wanderer's Eyes

16.08.2018

It's been nine years since we last interviewed Finland's finest folk metal exports Korpiklaani. A lot of things have changed in the band since then, suffice it to say that the band member who responded to our question this time around, violinist Tuomas Rounakari, wasn't even a band member back then. Apart from line-up changes, Korpiklaani have subsequently expanded their discography, releasing three full-length albums, with yet one more record, "Kulkija", scheduled for release in early September. Another good reason to do this interview was the Finns' upcoming Russian tour, one of their biggest in this country so far. The band is set to visit a total of 13 cities, starting with St. Petersburg on September 7 and Moscow the following day and going eastward as far as Vladivostok. Here's what Tuomas had to comment on the latest news and events around Korpiklaani...

Korpiklaani have been to Russia many times, visiting a lot of cities and towns. What do you expect from your upcoming Russian tour this September? Are there any places you are especially looking forward to play/see?

We have mostly played in Moscow and St. Petersburg until our last tour in December 2016. Moscow has always been a special place for us, as we always draw a big crowd over there and people are so wild and enthusiastic. The last tour was exceptional for us in many ways. It was heartwarming to see fans in remote cities that had waited 10 years to see us live.

What has been your most memorable gig in Russia so far? And why?

That would be either Moscow or Vladivostok. Moscow because of the incredible audience, Vladivostok for the feeling of reaching one of the so called edges of the world (if you look from the world map from Finland) and still reaching so many people with our music.

Last year director Kimmo Kuusniemi launched a crowdfunding campaign to be able to edit a full-length documentary called "Korpiklaani - Made in Russia". The campaign failed to reach its goal, and I haven't heard about this documentary for a while now. Do you have any information about the progress of the editing or the future fate of this movie?

It is being edited as we speak and the crowdfunders will receive a copy as promised, in fact they have received a three-hour version to review and give feedback. Now it is being cut to a shorter 60-minunte version and we wait to see what the next step is. Hopefully we can update soon.

I was lucky to attend Korpiklaani's night gig at the Masters of Rock festival in the Czech Republic in 2016, which is now immortalized on DVD. How did you come up with this concept of having additional violin and accordion players at this show? Do you have any plans to do more shows in such "extended format"?

Masters of Rock is a sort of home stage for us, as we have been playing there many times. That has also created a special relationship between us and the Czech fans. It is as a festival with 25,000 fans giving all they got to party together. That's why we also want to do some extra once in a while for them. This year we had a brass section with us from the Lahti Symphony orchestra. Fiddler Tero Hyväluoma also sublets me occasionally when he is busy drinking reindeer blood in Siberia or something else. And that has lead to a few occasions when we have played a gig together. Sami again has a twin brother who plays accordion also, so we thought of putting it all together for once. Folk musicians are much cheaper than pyros or other special effects too.

I heard this year you had another interesting adventure at Masters Of Rock. Could you tell me more about how you ended up on stage together with Gene Simmons?

Mr. Simmons was pretty unprepared for his show for an unknown reason. And so it happened that he lost a bass string during the show and needed a replacement. Our guitar tech was close by and took Jarkko's bass for him and he played the rest of the gig with it. To thank Korpiklaani he invited all of us on stage and Matson (drums) who is a big Kiss fan was finally living his dream, singing together "Rock 'N' Roll All Night" with Gene Simmons on stage. It was also really funny that Gene had not given his autograph to Matson backstage before. After all this Matson got his most wanted autograph.

Let's now talk about your new album, "Kulkija". It's your first record with producer Janne Saksa. Why did you choose him, and how did the involvement of Janne change the way Korpiklaani works in the studio?

We were looking for a producer with a more versatile background to bring forth the acoustic instruments in a new way. Janne was an excellent choice for that and the whole album has a more natural feel to it. He chose a lot of first takes from Jonne (vocals), Sami and I that creates a more organic feel and all of us really felt that this album brings forward our authentic selves more than ever before.

The new album is once again fully sang in the Finnish language, and not everyone in Russia is able to understand what it is about. Is there any general theme that runs through the lyrics, or is it a collection of standalone songs? Do you have a favorite track on the album from the lyrical point of view?

"Kulkija" means a wayfarer or a wanderer and in this album life is seen through a wanderer's eyes. With all the beauty and terror, ups and downs. Sometimes he is in the mood for a party, sometimes he just keeps moving on for the love of the road.

A few years ago you did two versions of the "Manala" album (2012), one with English lyrics and the other with Finnish lyrics. It was the first time and the last time you did something like that - how do you now look back at this experiment? Did the English version attract its own audience? Is English completely abandoned by Korpiklaani now, or will there be more English songs on your albums again someday?

Some songs have been in English throughout the Korpiklaani history, even though we are always using primarily Finnish. The idea with "Manala" was to help our fans to broaden the understanding of what we actually sing about. But it was a lot of work, much more than anyone anticipated and eventually it did not pay off that well. Music is a universal language and emotions are better expressed in once native tongue. Also Jonne uses Tuomas Keskimaki for lyrics and he is like a modern day poet and very difficult to even translate from Finnish. When you have someone like this, it is better to keep in the original text. Jonne has a good relationship with him and they can quickly write text to a song together.

"Kulkija" has the running time of 71 minutes, which is almost like a challenge to against present-day trends in the music industry. Aren't you concerned that there will be "too much music" for some of your audience, as today people's attention span has become very short?

We don't worry about such things. We simply felt that all of the songs were so strong that they deserved to be on it. We could not decide which once to drop. At the end it was a big relief to be able to publish all of them. The album has a beautiful flow from one song to another and it does represent a skill of doing an album, not such a collection of songs. Albums should be viewed as independent art form. The playlists and mix tapes have always existed along with albums and you are right that the playlists are more common today. But an album is and will always be an album.

I have seen the video for "Harmaja", and it's really beautiful and very atmospheric, but I've also read that making this video was very difficult. What was the reason why such a difficult location (Maritime Safety Training Centre in Lohja) was chosen for the video shoot? Did you consider any other (not so cold and wet) options?

A man's got to do what man's got to do. In Finland we don't really have warm waters to swim in at that time of the year. In these productions the actors just have to abide by the needs of the film crew.

I have seen photos from a "pagan clinic" that you held a while ago. Could you tell me a bit more what kind of event this is? And who are the people who attended it?

This started as a Korpiklaani style alternative to guitar and bass clinics offered at the 70 000 Tons Of Metal cruise. I have a long history with Finnish myths, also worked together with many indigenous tribes, also in Siberia among the Khanty, Mansi and Nenets people. Jonne, on the other hand, has been living with the Sámi in Finland. Through the pagan clinics or other open lectures and workshops we can offer our fans something unique, something that goes deeper into their lives and opens up the mythological backgrounds of our music.

Another thing I have seen online: Korpiklaani Lager Beer. Where is it available for purchasing? Can it be purchased from outside Finland?

Hopefully soon. The first brew of our beer was sold out in no time and now we are waiting for the brewery to do more. Pyynikin is a small brewery in Tampere and they have not yet been able to provide it enough to go global. But this will hopefully change soon and if we are lucky we can start offering our own beer at least in some festivals and shows.

A few years ago Korpiklaani recorded a song for the FC Lahti football team. How did this cooperation come together? Are Korpiklaani members football fans? If yes, did you follow this summer's World Cup, and what do you think of it?

Lahti is Jonne's home base and an important city for the band. We have participated more and more in communal work to give a positive feel and promote folk-metal in unexpected places. For us it's all about a good feel and music, not so much about crying like a baby in green fields.

Apart from your own band, what other folk metal/folk rock/pagan metal bands do you appreciate and enjoy listening to? Have you recently discovered any new bands in this genre that you would recommend checking out?

The ones that we have been listening lately are not that metal to be honest. Some of the best Finnish folk players have released new material lately and we have been enjoying those, such as Antti Paalanen, Mäsä Duo, Kiharakolmio and many more.

Now it's time for your final words to HeadBanger.ru readers, Korpiklaani fans and those who are planning to come to your upcoming shows in Russia…

Come to party with us and bring your friends! We are really looking forward to be there again.

Korpiklaani on the Internet: http://korpiklaani.com/

Special thanks to Maxim Bylkin (Soyuz Music) for arranging this interview

Roman Patrashov
August 13, 2018
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