Suruaika
It´s almost Halloween so I thought I would give you ghouls an early treat, interview with the lead singer of the Finnish postpunk/deathrock band Suruaika. Let´s see what Matthew had to say...
Hello Matthew, how are you doing?
- I´m fine, thank you. Sitting at home listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
after visiting the library.
I heard that Suruaika is taking a break, reasons behind this decision?
- To be honest, I got sick with the whole fucking thing by the time we were doing the shows for our latest album
early this year. Sure we had a blast with Varjo and so on, but I felt that something was just wrong.
Hard to say what exactly, it´s been and gone now. This is just my personal opinion.
As a band though, we felt that we had a good reason to take a break after Pexte left.
It would have been a pain in the ass to start looking for a drummer right after that so why not take a little breather
while we´re at it? The Lumous Gothic Festival gig we played with Ykä (Knuuttila, Shadowplay, ex-Musta Paraati)
was cool though, it would have been stupid to turn down playing there! And yes, we had a great time that weekend.
Suruaika was formed in 1997 and I assume that the road has been long and rocky, best and worst memories?
- Yeah, it´s been a long road! Some of the best memories for me have been playing some amazing shows
during the last few years and working with Ykä, who I mentioned earlier.
Also meeting Glenn Danzig and giving him our CD was pretty cool.
Too bad it was our debut which we´re not too proud of but hey, it´s the thought that counts!
Some of the worst memories have been the countless line-up changes and certain _very_ traumatizing road trips.
Everything happens for a reason so I try not to dwell on the bad things which are in the end outweighed by the good ones.
Your latest release "Pelkäämme vain toisiamme" was released couple of months ago,
are you pleased with result?
- It´s a good album but to be honest, I don´t listen to our own records that much.
I already know how the songs go so I concentrate on writing new stuff.
I like the album musically a lot but it doesn´t take a rocket scientist to figure out that most of the lyrics are about
me being sick and tired of being in a band...
On "Nimesi jää elämään" EP there is a Danzig cover song, how and why did you
end up doing a cover of this song?
- Before recording "Pelkäämme vain toisiamme" we went into the studio to record a few covers just to remind us
what studio work is like incase we´d forgotten. The two other tracks were Killing Joke and Ratsia covers.
The whole session was fun to do.
Wasn´t that song supposed to be on a Glenn Danzig tribute CD?
- Yes, there was talk about that. After thinking about it for awhile we decided to put it on the EP instead
because we thought it would be easier for our fans to get it that way.
Haven´t heard the tribute album, is it released?
Leaving Danzig behind, personally speaking, who are your biggest influences?
- Besides the obvious ones (Killing Joke, Joy Division etc.) and all the Finnish postpunk bands of the early 80s
I´d have to say two britpop bands, Suede and Pulp, among tons of others.
In the last couple of years one of my biggest influences has been Michael Gira (Swans, Angels Of Light)
who´s music changed a lot of things for me last year.
I listen to a lot of different stuff, always have done, and enjoy broadening my musical tastes.
Following the previous question, since "Tales" is very horror oriented, favourite horror movies?
- The best horror movies of the recent years (you all know the classics) in my opinion are 28 Days Later
and surprisingly the remake of Dawn Of The Dead. You can´t go wrong with angry dead flesh!
I also liked Creep which had the same guy who played Ian Curtis in 24 Hour Party People as the monster.
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose made me afraid of the dark for a week.
My LEAST favourite horrorflicks of the last few years are Land Of The Dead (Romero really fucked that one up)
and each and every film where the scariest thing in the world is supposed to be a black-haired little girl
stuck in a hole or something. Ha!
Back to Suruaika, what can we expect next?
- We agreed that we´d start rehearsing again in january 2007.
We still don´t have a new drummer but we´ll cross that bridge when the time comes.
I´ve been writing new songs during the last few months that sound quite different
but still have the kind of "Suruaika vibe" to them.
I won´t tell what direction they´ll take but what I can tell you is that we´re NOT gonna "go metal"
or start lip-synching EBM stuff. You can trust us on that!
Little about touring, tell us your dream team, favourite bands to tour with?
- Pretty much any cool band that has our friends in the line-up.
It would also be cool to support bands like Killing Joke if they ever bother to return to Finland.
The main thing I dream about when it comes to gigging (we´ve never done a proper tour) is to get paid each time,
have a clean minibus and a place to sleep at night after drinking our beers.
Once again, thanks alot for the interview, as usual, last words are yours.
- Thanks you for the interview and many thanks to our fans for supporting us during the years.
I hope our next releases and gigs will be worth the wait!
http://www.suruaika.net
http://www.myspace.com/suruaika
*Pictures taken by Veli-Matti Rintala www.koiruoho.com
All text contained herein; © 2006-2007 Talesfromtheshadows. All Rights Reserved.
Hello Matthew, how are you doing?
- I´m fine, thank you. Sitting at home listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
after visiting the library.
I heard that Suruaika is taking a break, reasons behind this decision?
- To be honest, I got sick with the whole fucking thing by the time we were doing the shows for our latest album
early this year. Sure we had a blast with Varjo and so on, but I felt that something was just wrong.
Hard to say what exactly, it´s been and gone now. This is just my personal opinion.
As a band though, we felt that we had a good reason to take a break after Pexte left.
It would have been a pain in the ass to start looking for a drummer right after that so why not take a little breather
while we´re at it? The Lumous Gothic Festival gig we played with Ykä (Knuuttila, Shadowplay, ex-Musta Paraati)
was cool though, it would have been stupid to turn down playing there! And yes, we had a great time that weekend.
Suruaika was formed in 1997 and I assume that the road has been long and rocky, best and worst memories?
- Yeah, it´s been a long road! Some of the best memories for me have been playing some amazing shows
during the last few years and working with Ykä, who I mentioned earlier.
Also meeting Glenn Danzig and giving him our CD was pretty cool.
Too bad it was our debut which we´re not too proud of but hey, it´s the thought that counts!
Some of the worst memories have been the countless line-up changes and certain _very_ traumatizing road trips.
Everything happens for a reason so I try not to dwell on the bad things which are in the end outweighed by the good ones.
Your latest release "Pelkäämme vain toisiamme" was released couple of months ago,
are you pleased with result?
- It´s a good album but to be honest, I don´t listen to our own records that much.
I already know how the songs go so I concentrate on writing new stuff.
I like the album musically a lot but it doesn´t take a rocket scientist to figure out that most of the lyrics are about
me being sick and tired of being in a band...
On "Nimesi jää elämään" EP there is a Danzig cover song, how and why did you
end up doing a cover of this song?
- Before recording "Pelkäämme vain toisiamme" we went into the studio to record a few covers just to remind us
what studio work is like incase we´d forgotten. The two other tracks were Killing Joke and Ratsia covers.
The whole session was fun to do.
Wasn´t that song supposed to be on a Glenn Danzig tribute CD?
- Yes, there was talk about that. After thinking about it for awhile we decided to put it on the EP instead
because we thought it would be easier for our fans to get it that way.
Haven´t heard the tribute album, is it released?
Leaving Danzig behind, personally speaking, who are your biggest influences?
- Besides the obvious ones (Killing Joke, Joy Division etc.) and all the Finnish postpunk bands of the early 80s
I´d have to say two britpop bands, Suede and Pulp, among tons of others.
In the last couple of years one of my biggest influences has been Michael Gira (Swans, Angels Of Light)
who´s music changed a lot of things for me last year.
I listen to a lot of different stuff, always have done, and enjoy broadening my musical tastes.
Following the previous question, since "Tales" is very horror oriented, favourite horror movies?
- The best horror movies of the recent years (you all know the classics) in my opinion are 28 Days Later
and surprisingly the remake of Dawn Of The Dead. You can´t go wrong with angry dead flesh!
I also liked Creep which had the same guy who played Ian Curtis in 24 Hour Party People as the monster.
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose made me afraid of the dark for a week.
My LEAST favourite horrorflicks of the last few years are Land Of The Dead (Romero really fucked that one up)
and each and every film where the scariest thing in the world is supposed to be a black-haired little girl
stuck in a hole or something. Ha!
Back to Suruaika, what can we expect next?
- We agreed that we´d start rehearsing again in january 2007.
We still don´t have a new drummer but we´ll cross that bridge when the time comes.
I´ve been writing new songs during the last few months that sound quite different
but still have the kind of "Suruaika vibe" to them.
I won´t tell what direction they´ll take but what I can tell you is that we´re NOT gonna "go metal"
or start lip-synching EBM stuff. You can trust us on that!
Little about touring, tell us your dream team, favourite bands to tour with?
- Pretty much any cool band that has our friends in the line-up.
It would also be cool to support bands like Killing Joke if they ever bother to return to Finland.
The main thing I dream about when it comes to gigging (we´ve never done a proper tour) is to get paid each time,
have a clean minibus and a place to sleep at night after drinking our beers.
Once again, thanks alot for the interview, as usual, last words are yours.
- Thanks you for the interview and many thanks to our fans for supporting us during the years.
I hope our next releases and gigs will be worth the wait!
http://www.suruaika.net
http://www.myspace.com/suruaika
*Pictures taken by Veli-Matti Rintala www.koiruoho.com
All text contained herein; © 2006-2007 Talesfromtheshadows. All Rights Reserved.
posted by talbot138 at 1:26 AM
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