Hello to the readers of Winter Torment web-zine.Here is a new interview with Finland's atmospheric,female fronted band Amberian Dawn the band plays a mix of atmospheric metal with touches of other styles mixed in.If you are a fan of this band or of atmospheric metal then defintly take a few minutes to read this interview with the main music writer and band founder. And pick up a copy of the new cd "Innuendo"
enjoy the interview and take some time to check out the other reviews and interviews up on the site.
Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
Interview with Tuomas Keyboardist,guitarist of Amberian Dawn done by Patrick
1.Hello Tuomas how are things with you these days? please introduce yourself to the readers?
Tuomas: Hello, I'm Tuomas Seppälä, the founding member of AD. I compose all AD's music and also play keyboards & guitar in band. Living here in Finland. Besides making music I love to travel in visit differnet countries.
2.When did you get the idea to form Amberian Dawn? What is the current line up of the band?
Tuomas: AD's story started at time I was playing keyboards in Finnish powermetal band called Virtuocity. Singer Peter James Goodman told me that I should start an own band after hearing some of my guitar instrumental demos. Also our bassist Tommi Kuri engouraged me to start a new band. So with Tommi we founded a band which originally had Goodman as vocalist. Later we decided to recruit a female singer and that's how it all started. Our current lineup is: Capri – vocals, Tuomas Seppälä keyboards & guitar, Emil Pohjalainen – guitar, Joonas Pykälä-aho -drums and Jukka Hoffren – bass.
3.How would you say Amberian Dawns music has changed over the years? Who are some of the bands biggest influences?
Tuomas: AD's music has changed a lot during all of these years. At beginning the music was more guitar driven and we had a different kind of singer. Nowadays I think AD is more keyboard & vocal driven. As composer I don't want to do same kind of music all over again. I want to try different kinds of styles and mix some new elements with those ”traditional AD-elements”. My biggest influences are probably from classical music. Besides that I like those old classics like Rainbow, Deep Purple and Dio for example.
4.The band is getting ready to releas the new cd "Innuendo" how long did it take you to write the music for the new release?I believe yo write the music for the band.How long does it usually take you to write one song?
Tuomas: The whole recording process took almost for a year. We started the pre-production last fall and we went to studio in early spring 2015. In summer the album was ready for mixing. The time I spend with one song varies a lot. I might use a lot of time with arrangements and it's possible that I've spend several hundreds hours of time with one song only. With some other songs on the other hand I may have needed time for just 5-10 hours with full arrangements.
5.Who usually writes the lyrics for Amberian Dawn?What are some subjects you all write about?
Tuomas: AD's lyrics are always written by vocalist since I want to concentrate just on music and I don't have anything to give relating to lyrics. So it's Capri at the moment handling that job...and as far as I'm concerned she's doing a great job with it too. I think her themes are quite common subjects like ”Love”, ”Hate”, ”Fantasies” etc..
6.Are there any plans to make a video for any of the songs off of "Innuendo"? Do you have a favorite song off the new cd you would like to make a video for?
Tuomas: So far there's already online a lyric video of ”Court of Mirror Hall”. Also just a couple of days ago we put online a music video of ”Fame & Gloria”. It's a great video and it's directed by the same producer who's behind our previous music video ”Magic Forest”
7.Are their any tour plans in support of the new cd? If yes where are some cocuntries you all will be playing?Who are some bands you will be sharing the stage with?
Tuomas: We're starting an European tour next week with our label mates Delain and The Gentle Storm. We're going to do 12 shows together all around Europe. We're going to visit Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
8.Amberian Dawn comes out of Finland's atmospheric metal scene what is your opinion of Finland's metal scene?
Tuomas: Metal music has been popular here in Finland for long time. We have a lot of traditions on that scene and a lot of good bands have made a worldwide breakthru. I think modern metal music here is heavier than before...But I don't listen to music so much anymore and also don't follow the scene so much so I'm not able to describe this matter more closely.
9.Who are your all time favorite finnish bands and artists? Are their any new bands or artists you feel the readers should check out soon?
Tuomas: From Finnish bands I've always liked Stratovarius the most. It's a great band and full of virtuoso musicians. I'm happy that I've got Timo Kotipelto singing on one AD song (Cold Kiss 2012) and also Jens Johansson to play keyboards on many AD's songs (2010, 2012, 2014).
10.Thank you Tuomas for taking the time to fill this interview do you have any final words for the readers?
Tuomas: I would like AD to tour in US someday. I've been once in New York and spent some holiday there. It was a great city and I have some friends living there. I would like to visit that beautiful city again, maybe even next year already. I'm hoping that metal scene would stay strong in US, I know there's different kind of music in trend now. But I hope you all Stay Metal !!
