MY DYING BRIDE's ANDREW CRAIGHAN Says Things Are Going 'Great' With New Singer MIKKO KOTAMÄKI: 'This Is How We'll Continue Until We're Done'
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In a new interview with Australia's Heavy, MY DYING BRIDE guitarist Andrew Craighan spoke about the band's decision to recruit vocalist Mikko Kotamäki (SWALLOW THE SUN) to front MY DYING BRIDE for its live appearances in 2025 after an apparent dispute with MY DYING BRIDE's founding singer Aaron Stainthorpe. Asked how the collaboration with Mikko came about, Andrew said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, he was chosen because we found ourselves vocalist-less, if that is such a word. I have to admit, we didn't know quite how deeply Aaron's solo aspirations were — let's politely put it like that — which I kind of understand. People, you get to a certain age and you wanna make things happen and you wanna make 'em happen quick. But obviously it had an effect on us. We were left without a vocalist. And we weren't ready for it. We didn't have a plan — well, mainly because we didn't know. And so we found ourselves in disarray, but we were sort of shocked at this. So once we'd got over the shock and we realized we really didn't have a vocalist — [Aaron's] got his new band, and it sounds like he's putting another band together as well to enhance his solo career — we had to find a vocalist. And I think it was either Neil [Blanchett, rhythm guitar] and Shaun [MacGowan, keyboards, violin] or the combination of Neil, Dan [Mullins, drums] and Sean, who were very fond of SWALLOW THE SUN and they know Mikko's history, 'cause I think SWALLOW THE SUN, very early in their early career, were influenced by MY DYING BRIDE. So he knows us. He knows what MY DYING BRIDE is, he knows what the ethos is and he knows what it's about. He won't have any delusions of grandeur because he knows where MY DYING BRIDE come from and where we presently are. And then the most important thing, we looked at his vocal range and his death metal's different to the way Aaron would sing it, but his vocal range is very much what we needed. So we thought, 'We'll try that guy first.' And he just said yes. And it was that simple. And then within a couple of weeks of him saying yes, we flew him across to Halifax and we had a meal and a meeting and we did some rehearsals and it was just easy. It was really quite something."
Elaborating on how Kotamäki has been accepted by his new MY DYING BRIDE bandmates and fans, Andrew said: "He's got a very dry sense of humor, a phenomenally dry sense of humor, but he is very, very professional, to the point where we, we were quite shocked. We were, like, 'Oh, fuckin' hell. We're gonna have to get professional now. This is what professionalism looks like.' We weren't ready for any of that. So, yeah, we all pulled the socks up a little bit. And it just works. We've just done three shows. We did one in Slovakia, one in Hungary, and one in Finland, in his hometown — well, not his hometown, but his home country at least — to great success. We had some equipment issues, but nothing musically or personality-wise. We all got on. We had a great time. And despite the shock of people… They knew Mikko was singing, and I'm not sure what they expected, but when he walks out on stage, they cheer. The joke in the band is that I've been in this band for X amount of years and they don't fucking cheer for me."
He added: "No, it's been great, I have to admit. But it was strange beginnings, and we weren't really sure what was gonna come out, but it's been great. So this is how we'll continue until we're done."
Last month, Andrew talked about a possible follow-up to MY DYING BRIDE's latest album, "A Mortal Binding", which came out in April 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records. He told the Everblack podcast: "We're always writing. Well, I'm always writing. We were in a little mini studio recently in Huddersfield. It's a great place called Vibration, and we put some new stuff together there just for fun. And we we're just sort of toying with ideas of where we wanna go next. I mean, it'll still be us, of course; we're not gonna be breaking out into any strange hip-hop or anything like that.
"We've nothing to lose — we've really nothing to lose at this stage — so we are kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't," Andrew explained about MY DYING BRIDE's new material. "So we're thinking of maybe even going back to, say, bringing back some of the early death metal stuff off the first album. Maybe do another '[The] Barghest [O' Whitby]' where we deliberately write a song so you can't have a B-side because it's 30 minutes long and we don't like B-sides…
"But, yeah, I'm certainly always writing, and I've got plenty of ideas," he added. "And there's some riffs that didn't quite squeeze on to the last album that for some reason just didn't make it on that we can always use those to springboard the next session of writing. So, short answer is yes, we're writing. There's nothing complete — maybe bits of three songs. But I wouldn't wanna play it to anybody right now because it's too soon."
In July, Andrew spoke in more detail about MY DYING BRIDE's decision to recruit Mikko, telling Metalirium: "Despite all the problems, the band was willing and ready to perform the remaining shows in 2024, but, unfortunately, there was no willing singer. The band only discovered this at the very last minute, which led to the cancelation. Given that the album had just been released, the band was not prepared to be sidelined. As a result, a meeting was organized to discuss the possibility of a replacement. Mikko was the unanimous first choice."
As for Aaron's current status with MY DYING BRIDE, Andrew said: "As Aaron has, in truth, distanced himself from the band, we are only aware of his activities through social media and online interviews. The band contacted him in March 2025 to enquire about his intentions with MY DYING BRIDE, but he has not responded. We first learned through social media that he was on a hiatus from MDB. Although he states online that he is still part of the band, he has not engaged with us since April 2024. So, in response to your question, the band does not know what his plans with MDB are."
Kotamäki has already played three shows with MY DYING BRIDE in Europe, at the Rockmaraton Fesztivál in Hungary, the Pit Of Metal in Slovakia and at the Dark River festival in Finland.
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
