| Kunstner: Silentium - Interview med: Tony Lahtinen, Guitar | ||
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Revolution-Music: Hallo. First of I would like to congratulate you on your new album “Seducia” witch was released the 27th January.
Tony Lahtinen: Thank you very much Revolution-Music: Could you start out by introducing your self and tell us what part in the band you have? Tony Lahtinen: I'm Tony the guitar Revolution-Music: How and why did you come up with the name “Silentium”? Does it have any special meaning? Tony Lahtinen: We've always adored the latin language. Being the mother of almost all European languages is not a small thing to do. There were quite many alternatives for the name one being “Symphonia Silentium” (or something like that). Someone just said why not use only the word Silentium, and that was it. Revolution-Music: How did you all come together, and became the band you are to day? Tony Lahtinen: In the beginning everyone knew everyone somehow. Me, Sami and Juha had been on a same class for 7 years. Sami and Matti played in a same band they've just slained then. They had seen Jani playing keyboard in a local band and knew he also played violin. Jari played drums in that very same band. Now after some alterations in a lineup the things are not the same, but we have Jari back on drums and the new femalesinger Riina, have played in a same band with Matti few years back. Revolution-Music: This is your fourth album right? And is released trough Dynamic Arts Records, how did the contract get established, and how are they to work with? Tony Lahtinen: After Sufferion we felt we didn't get the support we needed from Spinefarm. We thought our possibilities and decided to change the label. In Spikefarm we were small band in a large label's sublabel. No in DAR we are big band in a small mainlabel. They've done amazing things. We've got more promotion than our previous four records got together, and things are only getting better. Let's hope we're all worth it. Revolution-Music: Why did you choose the title “Seducia” for this record, does it have any special meaning? Tony Lahtinen: At the moment we were deciding a title for this record, Sami got an idea to use title of some song on the record. Matti suggested Seducia and we all agreed. What comes to that word, Matti tends to create the words of his own. You can't find this word in any encyclopedia, but you all are pretty sure what it means. Revolution-Music: When you started working on this album, how long did the process take from the first step to the final product? Was it hard to write new material for this record or did it come naturally for you? Tony Lahtinen: Well, the first demoversion of a song was ready at the May 2004 and the record was published January 2006, so quite a long time. Sami wrote all songs by himself and times were quite hectic as te studio dates were coming near. Well we had all the songs rehearsed and recorded on time and you can hear the result. Hope you like it. Revolution-Music: Where did you record the album, and who produced it? Tony Lahtinen: We recorded the album in the very same studio as Sufferion, the studio SundiCoop, Finland. We didn't use any producer outside the band, but Sami and the recording engineer did the job. Revolution-Music: How was it to work with him? Tony Lahtinen: Very easy. Tuomo Valtonen (engineer of the studio) was familiar for us because of the Sufferion. He is just hilarious guy and he can get the best out of each musician especially vocalists. And with Sami there was no problems at all. Revolution-Music: Are you trying to express something through your music? Tony Lahtinen: Hard to say. Maybe the situations in our lives reflects to our music somehow but it's not intentional. Some say he's expressing this and that, but personally I think they'll walking on the edge of bullshit. Feelings to art don't come when trying. Revolution-Music: How has the album been received by the press, the critics and the fans so far? Tony Lahtinen: Reactions have been of course positive and negative. Somehow Silentium has always gained more positive feedback than negative, but at the moment I have red only one Seducia review that doesn't give over 75%. Must be pretty happy on that also. Revolution-Music: What is your view on the group’s position in today’s music scene? Tony Lahtinen: Well, we're still learning and gaining ground. We have a solid fanbase, but somehow the great breakthrough keeps us waiting itself. Of course we've done things common man can only imagine and that cannot be denied, but we wanna go as far as possible. I think after Seducia, the name of Silentium will be known by a lot more people. Revolution-Music: How would you compare the material on “Seducia” to your previous material? Tony Lahtinen: Seducia is easier for the listener. I mean in the first half of the record the classic Silentium twisted hooks might be a bit minority, but they'll show up in the end. If you know what I mean. Revolution-Music: How do you think old and new fans will react to the album? Tony Lahtinen: I think new fans will like the songs like Frostnight or Hangman's Lullaby but when they'll listen further, they start to like different songs. Old fans who've listened us a longer period, might bow for other songs. Revolution-Music: A lot of metal artists are releasing a lot of documentary and live DVDs, do you guys have anything like planned for the future? Tony Lahtinen: Actually we've doing a show in a festival next summer and there's a possibility to record a gig to a DVD. So why not use that. Will it be sold on the stroes? Well time will tell... Revolution-Music: What kind of stuff did you grow up listening to, and what kind new music do you listen to these days? Tony Lahtinen: Well quite a usual story. I grew up listening the older bands like Black Sabbath, Kiss, Iron Maiden, WASP, Metallica etc. Hard rock like Guns n' Roses and Mötley Crüe and stuff like that. Not too special for a guy of my age. I still listen those bands every now and then but nowadays there's more metal bands on the market and also in my CD shelf. In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, opeth, Amorphis, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor just to name a few. Sometimes even the Misfits, Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Foo Fighters. Revolution-Music: Have any of these bands been source of inspiration for the album? Tony Lahtinen: Sami, who composes our songs, is a huge Opeth fan and it can be heard in some particular riffs and songs. Sami's a great guy, he takes influences from here and there and then mixes them into a one song and no one can tell what have been the source of influence. Revolution-Music: In your time as musicians, what is your biggest musical achievement so far? Tony Lahtinen: Signing a record deal. It opened a lot of doors to us and is still opening. Revolution-Music: Could we expect any European tour and maybe se the band in action here in Denmark any time soon? Tony Lahtinen: There have been some plans for a European tour but nothing for sure. We truly hope we can make a tour later this year or in the beginning of the next. If it comes reality some day, I can see no problem popping into Denmark also. Revolution-Music: How did you think the music scene is in Europe, compared to the scene in the US? Tony Lahtinen: Metal scene in Europe is in very healthy state. Lots of smaller record companies have gain ground and their work is starting to pay. Some Finnish instance ranked the Dynamic Arts Records and Firebox to be the most potential record companies in Finland. I don't know much about the US scene. But what can be red on the charts, there isn't so much metal as in European scene. Especially here in Finnish chart, there've been several metal bands in every top10 this year and usually also the number 1 have been metal band. Revolution-Music: What would be the ultimate tour, festival or show for you to play at? Tony Lahtinen: At the moment the TuskaFestival in Helsinki this summer. When we've conquered that one, the next target is Wacken... ;-) Revolution-Music: Do you have any breaking news with the bands? Tony Lahtinen: Nothing we can tell about. Check our site at regular basis, and you'll see what'll show up. Revolution-Music: That’s all we’ve get this time, do you have anything that you'd like to add or say? Tony Lahtinen: If this interview was made in a bar, I'd wanted to hear a question “want to have a beer?” But now I'll just wish all the readers all the best and hope to see you on tour. Revolution-Music: We would like to say thanks a lot for you’re time. And we wish all you guys all the luck in the future whatever it might bring. And thanks to Dynamic Arts Records for setting this interview up. |
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