Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
Interview with Aku Paasu guitarist of Unhoped done by Patrick
1.Hello Aku how are things with you? Please introduce yourself to the readers.
I'm Aku, half of Unhopeds guitars, coffee-overdosed and stoked by this years first warm days here in Finland! Lets go!
2.When did you first get into metal music and who were some of the first bands you listened to?
I was maybe 12 when i heard Ozzy's Blizzard of Ozz. Still one of my favourites.. Sabbath of course! Couple of years later we had a band called Warsova and our bassist got me into Cavalera-times Sepultura and that was it! Those tempos and energy got me for good. All Pantera-related stuff hit me then and still does. Exodus, Slayer and all the violent side of thrash!
3.When did you first meet the other members of Unhoped?How did you all decide to use the name Unhoped for the band?
Kale, Huisko and Samu had broke up with their band at the time and they got a new rehearsal place next to Warsovas place. They needed another guitarist and I sneaked in! I had to practise my ass off cos these guys were couple of years older and a lot faster than me with my sloppyfest playing hahah! Huisko came up with the name and it sounded simple and easy to memorize so that was it.
4.What is the current line-up of Unhoped ? And for the readers who have never heard Unhoped's music how would you best describe it?
5.Unhoped is getting ready to release the bands second cd "Sonic Violence" how long did it take the band to write the music for this release? And does the whole band work on writing the music or does one member usually write everything?
Since 2008 its been Kalle Laanto and me in guitars, Mikko Huisko in drums and Samu Parviainen in the bass. We recorded First Blood in 2010 with Lauri Viertola and after Jyri joined in for the Die Harder in 2011, lineup have been this. Our music is fast riff-based, straight forward pounding and violent mix of old school death and that evil side of thrash. We really dont want you to catch your breath playing live!
5.Unhoped is getting ready to release the bands second cd "Sonic Violence" how long did it take the band to write the music for this release? And does the whole band work on writing the music or does one member usually write everything?
This is acually our fourth physical release! I think Sonic Violence was written in bit over a year. I have part of songs and riffs here and there but Kale takes a big role in writing and coming up with raw-versions of Unhoped songs where everybody adds their stuff in. Demo versions gets tweaked up together but it often starts with Kales idea of the song.
6.Who usually takes care of writing the lyrics and what are some subjects you all write about?
7.In your opinion what does underground metal mean to you?
Best venues to play or hang out! Everybody is there for the love of same kind of music and the fellowship in those situations is huge. But I think its the same thing with every smaller genre of music too right? It happens to be that I like bands that are quite far from that radio and tv stations bullshit but I really listen to the music, not the ug-status you know? I dont really think these things too much haha!
8.Does the band play "live" very often or do you prefer to work in the studio?What have been some of the bands most memorable shows to date?
Jyri writes the lyrics and fits them in to place. He comes up with lyrics that we can relate and stand behind to so its kinda natural way to us to do it. They're about politicians, wars, murderers, religions and assholes in general haha! Theres cool stories in his stuff!
7.In your opinion what does underground metal mean to you?
Best venues to play or hang out! Everybody is there for the love of same kind of music and the fellowship in those situations is huge. But I think its the same thing with every smaller genre of music too right? It happens to be that I like bands that are quite far from that radio and tv stations bullshit but I really listen to the music, not the ug-status you know? I dont really think these things too much haha!
8.Does the band play "live" very often or do you prefer to work in the studio?What have been some of the bands most memorable shows to date?
This kind of music to us is allways as its best at live and we write and record our music with that in mind. Studio working is great too, we record our stuff by ourselves in our own Studio Murakka. We can lay things down whenever the feeling is good and theres no pressures from studio-time spent just scraching balls or something. So lots of scraching there is haha..! What comes to shows, we got slot from Steelfest Open Air couple of years ago, that was killer to play before Sodom and Destruction. Month ago we were playing first time in Estonia and that was good trip! Guys from band called Thrashless were great hosts! My guitar snapped in half and we lost Jyri in the darkness of Tallinn... Fucking amateurs right?!
9.Are their any small tours or shows coming up and if so where will the band b e playing?
10.Other then the new cd "Sonic Violence" does the band have any other merchandise available for the readers? And if yes where can the readers buy the merchandise?
No bigger tour plans sure yet, we continue to do shows as much we can. We keep people informed when the shit is about happen!
10.Other then the new cd "Sonic Violence" does the band have any other merchandise available for the readers? And if yes where can the readers buy the merchandise?
Our first release 'First Blood' we just run out but first full-lenght 'Die Harder', and 'Nuclear Death'-EP theres boxes to go! We have 2 kinds of t-shirts, both designed by Andrei Bouzikov and they look killer! Patches we have lest too and the summer is coming so trucker-caps or something cool is on the way. First round of 'Sonic Violence' just arrived so go for it! You can take contact via contact@unhopedband.com or buy allmost all of our merch from www.recordshopX.com.
11. Aku you handle the guitars for the band when did you first become interested in playing the guitars? Are you self taught or did you take lessons when first starting out?
I was maybe 10 old when i had my grandpa's old russian mandolin. He taught me Finnish old school tunes like Hiski Salomaa's Iitin Tiltu and stuff like that. I tried to play rock songs with it but i realized kinda fast that mandolin isnt that heavy! I learned vocal melodies from Crazy Train and War Pigs with the mandolin and stated I can play all these songs hahah! I am self-taught but when we formed Unhoped I learned lots of good stuff from Kale, that guy had and has crazy-tight picking hand. Its fun to change licks and riffs together and aim to the point where it sounds like theres only one big guitar. But since we are egoistic dummies we fuck it all up with "cool stuff and sounds"= sloppyfest ha! I think you learn to play by jamming, not reading books but everyone got their own thing.
12.Who are some of your influences/favorite guitarists? Besides the guitars do you play any other instruments?
13.Unhoped comes out of Finland's thrash metal scene what is your opinion of Finland's metal scene?
14.Who are your all-time favorite Finnish bands? Are their any new bands you feel the readers should watch out for?
Randy Rhoads blew my mind and still does. Dime, Gary Holt and Wolf Hoffman are big thing to me, all three are diamond-accurate rhythym-players, they can shred like hell and same time keeping things interesting instead of playing book-learned scales up and down as fast you can. Nothing wrong with that, just not my thing. I'm a fan of dirty old stuff too so Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons etc. No dude, guitar only.
13.Unhoped comes out of Finland's thrash metal scene what is your opinion of Finland's metal scene?
I have to admit that I should keep my ears open a bit more to keep up whats happening, I tend to be stuck with my old favourites haha! I hear lots of bands first time in live situation and I like it that way! Melo-death thing is strong here but here is lots of good metal bands too to check. Ranger and Speedtrap for those old-school heavymetalheads etc.
14.Who are your all-time favorite Finnish bands? Are their any new bands you feel the readers should watch out for?
Deathchain made two fucking great deaththrash albums, Sotajumalas death grooves are killer, Torture Killers Swarm-album with Chris Barnes is diamond, Nuclear Omnicide guys are doing killer thrash and I just heard our friends Aratic guys new demo and that was great! Band called Wolfshed is rising its head from our hometown, be prepared for that. Fast and tricky deaththrash. Lots of good metal stuff! Outside of metal, a friend of mine, bassist of Flailing got me into Kingston Wall. Its this psychedelic rock band from 90's and I really dig it.
15.Are any of the members of Unhoped currently working with other bands or projects and if yes please tell the readers about them?
16.Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final words for the readers?
Band Contact
Jyri is in a band called Wanhat Ajat, playing bass and singing some parts. They got this rock/grunge thing going. Kale plays in the old school deathmetal band called Cryptborn, very crushing shit. Samu and I spend time jamming Zz Top/Zeppelin/Sabbath style stuff with Pate from stoner/grunge-band Flailing.
16.Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final words for the readers?
No problem, glad to do this. Take contact, buy merchandise, spread our sonic violence out there and take it easy! Thank you sir.
Band Contact
