interview with Valonkantajat
How was the band formed? Somewhere around 2010 I (Jaake Nikkilä) got really fed up playing Bon Jovi etc. overs in a coverband. I wanted to play again my own songs - much heavier stuff - so I asked the drummer Juha Korpinen and basist Ari Vilkman if they would like to start playing in a new band. They did. We asked local talented solo guitarist Ville Saloranta to join the band, and there we were.
Can you tell about your band? Valonkantajat plays unconventional metal rock. Lyrics are in Finnish. Our current line-up is: Jaake Nikkilä - vocals and guitar Ville Saloranta - guitar Juha Korpinen - drums Jukka Hjelm - bass
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? All the players are from Southern Finland, living in 40-70 km distance from Helsinki.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? To make good music.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Our goal is to make big melodies with harsh backroud. In other words to combine something beautiful with something harsh or even ugly. We sing in Finnish since no other language describes better the Finnish melancholic atmosphere.
Where was your first gig? In Riihimäki, on July 2011 (if I remember right).
Where was the latest gig? June 14th 2014, in Oulu at bar Hevimesta.
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? I do all the music and lyrics except guitar solos, which are usually composed by Ville Saloranta.
What's good/bad with the band?
Good: The feeling you get when playing the music.
Bad: The feeling you get when losing all your savings in order to get your music puplished.
What genre do you feel you are? Somewhere between rock and metal.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? This style just "comes with the music": Heavy sounds with melodic, rather clean singing.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We have sometimes played a cover song in our live set, but many times all the songs in the set are our own material. Our albums include only own material.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? "Tuomittu elämään" 2012, and "Pimentola" 2014. Both of them were released by Violent Journey Records.
Do you have any clips on YouTube?
Yes, clips and whole songs. For instance:
Valonkantajat - Tuomittu elämään:http://youtu.be/1Qls303WuP4
What got you started in music? I started with classical music (flute) when I was about 8 years old. Later on I wanted to change to classic guitar and soon after that came electric guitar and thrashmetal (which, surprise, I could not study in music college).
At what age did you start playing? Flute 8, guitar 12, electrc guitar 13 years old.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? I don't know about the rest of the band, but I played my fist gig with a band (thrashmetal band called Damage) when I was 15.
What year was the band started? 2010.
What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? I guess it will be a mini tour, 3-4 gigs in Finland next fall. Nothing confirmed yet.
Where have you played from then till now? Most of the gigs have so far been in rock clubs in southern Finland, but we have played also couple of festival gigs and one gig in Tallinn, Estonia.
Witch band is the best you´ve seen? There are many great gigs but Type O Negative on November Rust tour with Moonspell 1996, at Pakkahuone, Tampere is one to remember.
Is it always the same songs live? No. Usually we change at least one song in the set.
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Riihimäki Rock festival 2013. We had a chance to play with big Finnish artists at the same stage.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? No. We are looking forward having some day a proper management and gig booking.
How big crowds do you usually play for? 30-150.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? We will record couple of new songs for pre-production and hopefully play some gigs.
Where do you usually play? At rock clubs.
How do you get psyched up for a gig? Good food, some beers and feeling of good gig ahead.
What are your goals with your music? To make so goddamn good songs that we will be remembered.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? We can't go all in for the music: thanks to electronic revolution in music business (and rare gigs), it does not pay off. Fortunately all players have jobs, so we are able to finance this utterly expensive hobby.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Hard to say. I get inspiration from many kinds of music I listen to.
What are your sources of inspiration? All sorts of music. Usually my thoughts go like this: "No, that melody should not go like that. I could do it better."
What's the first step when making a new song? Usually the first step is the melody for chorus. Then verses, C-part etc. possible extra parts for the song. I write the lyrics last.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums?
It's ok as long as the artists get proper payment for their work. Illegal ripping of albums might promote bands, but if artists do not get back any or very little of the money they invested to the the album, eventually the money will run out and there will be NO new albums.
What would be your dreams for the band? More gigs, proper management and gig booking, record company that can share the costs and risks.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Lots of different kinds of music, but at the end mainly heavy sounding melodic music: Tool, Death, Fair to Midland, Gojira, Muse, Coroner, Stam1na, Type O Negative, etc.
What do you hold most dear? My wife and kids.
What would be your greatest fears for the future? To lose my loved ones.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? I don't feel fear while being at the stage.
Have you been in any other bands? I played in a thrash metal band called "Damage" 1989-1996. After that I had a band called "Fleam" for couple of years (1999-2001). Then I played some years in a cover band.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I'm a teacher of biology and geography for Middle School students.
What would you do if there was no music? All the other stuff in my life.
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Some fans have tried and also succeeded to book a gig for us to a venue close them, just to see us live.
How often do you rehearse? Once a week when there's a gig ahead.
Where do you rehearse? At Riihimäki, some 70 km northwest from Helsinki.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment. "Tuomittu elämään" has become a long time favorite. Another one might be a new song and yet unpuplished "Vastavirtaan".
What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Muse.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? This is one fucking expensive "work" for us and we are fortunate to be in position where we don't HAVE to make living out of music. We, or at least I as a financer would be broke.
So what is the sense in throwing thousands and thousands of euros down the drain again and again? The answer is that at the end we are not doing this for money but because we love making music.
Do you have any webpages?
Homesite: http://www.valonkantajat.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Valonkantajat
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Make and play music that you like playing, not the music people like and ask for. That is because most of people want to hear meaningless mainstream crap.
How do you view the musicindurty of today? Sick. Autotuned, over-produced posers are pushed to the front and the genuine talented and independent artists drown to the mass.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Hard competition that comes from surplus of bands/artists. At the same time rock clubs, rock medias and record labels are struggling to survive. It shows as difficulties in getting gigs, media space and recording deals.
What is best/worst with playing the clubs? Best are the clubs that appreciate artists. Worst are clubs that don't, plus have crappy facilities or no facilities at all for artists.
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? Hopefully there will be some gigs at next fall. Many fans have told us that Valonkantajat is better live than in studio album. Maybe the secret is in our stunning looks.