here is a interview that i was lucky enough to get with tomi of the
mighty battlelore.i have been a fan of this band for years now.if you
have never checked out this band for whatever reason. do it now!! a
great mic of epic,melodic and some brutal death metal. the duo of tomi
and kaisa are probably some of the best male/female vocals i have ever
heard and both compliment each other nicely.
i hope you enjoy what you read.
regards,
patrick and winter torment web-zine
http://www.winter_torment
interview with tomi mykkanen vocalist for battlelore.done by patrick
1.hello
tomi first off thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule
to fill this out. please tell the readers a little about yourself.
-
Well hello Patrick! No, thank You for the interview, mate. I'm Tomi,
vocalist of Battlelore. I'm an old geezer who grew up with Maiden. I'm
musically quite active but I don't have enough time to let all the music
come out.
2.when did you first start listening to metal?who were
some of the first bands that caught your attention? who are some of
your "current"favorites?
- As I said I was grown up with Maiden. I
was a young dude and I remember liking Joan Jett's I Love Rock'n'Roll
and Stray Cats but then I heard The Number of the Beast from my cousin
and that was it. I remember that I needed to save the money for the LP a
long time and I was so proud when I finally got it. I think I was 7 or 8
years old. After discovering all the good music I used to first listen
to all this heavy metal stuff that came out like Dio, WASP, Accept, Def
Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest and stuff like that. Then came
thrash. And then death and black stuff. After that it all fused up and
nowadays I listen to whatever I feel like. I'm not too puritan with my
music. Hah! From early delta blues to black metal. Lately I've been
listening a lot to early 90s death metal
3.you joined
battlelore in 2004. how did you come into contact with the other members
of battlelore? who were some of the other bands you worked with/sung
for before joining battlelore?
- Actually I was in a fishing
competition when Jyri called me and asked if I was able to come on their
tour to fill in. I asked him if he or Jussi are not going... he told me
that they're both going. I was pretty "what the fuck?" as I'm a guitar
player myself. So, then I thought that Miika is not going and they need
someone to play the bass. Then Jyri told me that I'd need to fill in for
Patrik. I was really surprised and asked him why he called me. I'm no
singer. I had done some backing vocals in Evemaster-gigs and some vocals
in our Slayer coverband but nothing more. Jyri told me that he had seen
me live with Evemaster and he'd like me to try with Battlelore. Then I
told him that I need to think about this for a moment. After a day or do
we talked again and I said that I'm upto trying a few songs with them.
After a slow start it all started clicking and on the tour I was.
4.at what age did you become interested in singing?who would you say are some of your influences/favorite singers?
-
As I told you, I never actually did come interested. I think that
lately I've become more interested in it and I'm actually looking for
the studio session for the next album in 2 weeks. Hahah! There are a few
death metal -related vocalists whom I appreciate a lot like Dan Swanö,
Barney Greenway, Jan from Gorefest, Mikael Åkerfeldt (mainly for his
cleans), Tomi Joutsen from Amorphis... As you can see I'm not into these
deeper growlers and that's why I'm myself more a shouter than growler. I
just like that style more.
5.do you do anything special to keep your throat healthy?besides singing do you play any other instrumnents?
-
No, I don't do anything for my voice. I never even open my voice before
gigs or recording. Just start shouting. I know that I should but so
far, so good. My main instrument is guitar but I'm able to play some
keys, bass, drums. A few licks on harmonica as well. Hahah!
6.battlelore
released their 5th album through the mighty napalm records.how long did
it take to write/record songs for this release? are the band members
happy with how the songs turned out? how was/is the response from the
press and fans?
- It didn't take that long to write that album. I
think it's about 6 months of work and then we are quite ready for the
recording. I think that we all are still very satisfied with that album.
Of course it's getting old for us as the recordings for the next album
are already underway and we are concentrated on those songs now. The
main work and demoing for the new songs started early this year and
studio session started early June.
7.i know over the years the
bands has done many tours/shows throughout europe. who are some bands
you have played with? if you could set-up a "dream" show/tour who would
you love to play with? are their any countries that battlelore hasn't
played yet that you would like to?
- I'd like to tour USA and
then play in Japan. Those are the dreams. Of course we have lots of
countries we haven't played in yet and they would probably rock. But
I've had these "dream steps" when I started my musical life, you know
like, first rehearsal, first gig, first demo, first album, gig abroad,
tour, US tour, Japan. Then I think I'd be pretty much done. Hahahah!
We've played with so many cool bands that it's hard to mention anyone. I
have to say that Leaves' Eyes were extremely cool and nice people.
Still keeping in touch. 2 weeks ago we played with Grand Magus and Wolf.
Excellent guys even though they come from Sweden. Hahah, just kidding.
8.as
mentioned in previous question the band has been doing alot of touring
but have you all had time to begin work on the next battlelore
release?do you know how many songs will be on this release? any idea of a
"release" date?
- Yep, sessions started for the new album. I
think we have 11 or so songs to be recorded plus some intro/outro-stuff.
I think not all of those songs will be on the album. Napalm will
probably release some extensive digi-pack again and we'll probably use 2
songs on that one. Not sure yet. The album should be done by the end of
July and then Napalm needs about 3 months for promotion so I'd say the
album will be released around October 2010.
9.one thing i have
always enjoyed about battlelore's music is that each album is completly
different from the previous one.is this something the band tries to do
each time it begins writing a new song/release or does it just come
naturally? just curious do you have a "personal"favorite battlelore song
and release?
- It comes out naturally as we all grow musically.
We don't have any idea how the next album will turn out to be before all
the songs are done. I think that these new songs are a bit old
school-ish Battlelore. Lots of grinding guitars. Can't really wait to
see how the album will turn out to be. Probably a bit heavier and faster
than The Last Alliance.
- It's a bit hard for me to say about
personal BLore-faves as 2 first albums doesn't feature me so I'm looking
those more from "a fans view" than the other ones. But if we think
about the live situation then I do have some favourites... for some
reason I love Fangorn. It's really easy for me to do vocals for and it
drives forth nicely. We Are the Legions is also always very cool in
live. We've done Khazad-Dum 1 live a few times and it's extra cool as
well. And Journey To Undying Lands even though it's a bit "too played"
but still it works very well. That song oozes Battlelore. Hahah!
10.finland
to me has always had a strong metal scene.whether it is
death,doom,black etc. and their own sound/identity.would you agree with
this? what is your opinion of finland's metal scene?
- Well, I
think that we do have many cool bands who strive to originality. Of
course we have also many bands that are joining whichever bandwagon is
moving. Hah!
11.who are some of your all-time finnish metal
bands? are their any new up and coming bands you think the readers
should watch out for?
- Damn hard question! Xysma were great and
pioneering in many ways. Amorphis of course. Impaled Nazarene and
Beherit. There are many new bands coming up but not sure if any of those
are still able to hit it big. I'm now listening to Moonsorrow and they
are cool of course.
12.you have been a part of the metal scene for many years now. how do you feel the scene has changed over the years?
-
Well, internet changed everything in the late 90s. Before that I was in
the tape-trading, snail-mail sending -circuits and they were very fun
times. Everything exploded when internet came. Nowadays it's easier to
form bands and record your own stuff and release it that this of course
generates loads and loads of shit released. So, it's harder to find the
good stuff. Or maybe the thing has changed that you are waiting nowadays
more from a new band... I don't know.
13.coming back to the band
for a moment the bands main lyrical inspiration has been j.r tolkien
and the lord of the rings trilogy.what is it about this author and the
series that inspires yourself and the band so much?
- It's not
about LotR that much actually, most of our stuff come from Silmarillion
and the world created by Tolkien. It's just so huge and magical. Of
course the Kalevala references are very fertile ground for us as Finns.
On the coming album we are concentrating on Turin Turambar and his
tragic journey. Turin is somehow based on this character from Kalevala
called Kullervo. Very sad and tragic tale.
14.are their any other fantasy writers you enjoy reading? if yes please tell us a little about them.
-
I don't personally read that much other fantasy stuff. Jyri, Jussi and
Maria are more into that stuff. I like reading some horror stuff like
H.P. Lovecraft. I also enjoy biographies. Lately I've read stuff like
Keith Richards' bio, Dirt (Mötley Crüe), Lemmy, couple of Jimi Hendrix
books, The Lords of Chaos, Pink Floyd, Heroine Diaries by Nikki Sixx...
stuff like that
15.when the dark day comes {i personally hope it
NEVER comes} that battlelore lays down their swords and the band breaks
up.how would you like the fans to remember you and battlelore?
-
For the live shows. I know that this day will come but we've had a fun
ride so far. I hope that our fans remember us as the fun-loving,
beer-drinking guys and gals. And of course for the many good songs we
wrote!
16.you are also in the side band evemaster. when did you
get the idea to create/join this band? how would you say evemaster's
music is different from battlelore's?
- Evemaster is not a side
band, Battlore is more like that. Haha! I formed Evemaster in 1996 when I
did couple of songs that didn't fit to either my bands active then
(Mortal God and SoulSet). So, me and Jarno (vocalist of Mortal God)
decided to record the songs by ourselves and released the demo early
'97. Then we did the first album, second album and our newest album
"III" was released a week ago in Scandiavia. Excellent stuff! It's very
different from Battlelore. First of all it's a lot harder and of course
there are no female vocals on it. It's more guitar oriented stuff
compared to BLore.
17.does evemaster have a new release coming
out anytime soon? will you work with napalm records or have you found
another label to work with for evemaster?
- Yes, like I said
earlier our newest album "III" was released a week ago in Scandinavia.
Rest of the world will follow later in the autumn. It's not released by
Napalm as they didn't want to release it. I think Jarno's tits are not
beautiful enough for them! Hahaha! The album is released by Supernova
Records from Sweden lead by Johnny Hagel formerly of Tiamat and Sundown.
18.besides evemaster are you or any of the members of battlelore involved with side-projects? if yes please tell us about them.
-
Yeah. I have also a few bands/projects I'm working on like Elephant
Bell. Maria and Timo have their old Elderthrones. Timo has a few other
projects as well. Weird stuff. Jussi is playing in his old punk band
Armija Krajova. Jyri has some projects running all the time. Henkka
plays also in couple of different projects. So, there are something else
happening all the time. Haha!
19.when not working with the bands what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
-
Well, I have a house. That takes some time. Of course all of us are
working for living so it takes most of the time. We also have families
and stuff so there's not that much time to spare really.
20.well
tomi we have reached the end of the interview thank you again for doing
this interview with me. do you have any final comments for the readers?
-
Excellentos! Thanks for this review. Hopefully I was fair-worded
enough. Hah! Have fun and check out our new album later this year. If
you see us coming close to you don't hesitate coming! Cheers!
to keep up with all the latest battlelore news and upcoming show dates check out the bands sites.
battlelore "official"myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/battleloremusic
battlelore "official" web-site
http://www.battlelore.net
