Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? Yes, many other bands. Moonsorrow, Shape of Dispair, Magenta Harvest, Dispyt, Imperanon, Whorion, Barathrum to name a few. The list is long.

How is it that you started playing music? It was through my dad. He was/is musician and he pushed me into starting playing. First piano and later on bass.

Have you had other previous members? Somnium on guitar (R.I.P) and Beast Dominator on drums. Katla started as the singer and was replaced by Wilska and after he was fired I joined the band back in 2006.

Did you make music even when you were young? Yes, I’ve been playing in bands since late 80’s. Was probably around 8-9 years old when me and my oldest friend started out first band. It was called Blackout after the Scorpions album with the same name.

Where are you from? We are all from Finland, most from Helsinki. Me and our drummer are both born in Ostrobothnia, like 500km north of Helsinki.

What year did the band form? 1997

What's your style of genre? Finntroll is really hard to define. It’s of course somekind of metal. Metal with lots of influences from other genres.

What inspires you? It can be anything. From great Finnish forests to a crappy pop song from your car stereo. The sky is the limit.

How often and where do you reherse? We don’t rehearse that much. Sometimes it can go months, sometimes not at all, because we have played so much recently and sometimes it can even be two times a week.

How have you developed since you started with the music? Well... Have a listen to the albums in chronological order and you can be the judge! Hehe.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? Of course. We are involved in all kinds of stuff from photography and video editing to golfing and car-tuning.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We are pretty contempt with the one we have right now. Dragon Production. Nothing bad to say about them!

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? Nope. Century Media is treating us well!

What made you decide to make this music? Alcohol. It all started out after one drunk night with Somnium, Katla and a keyboard. In the beginning it was more just for laughs and eventually it turned into a real band.

What are your songs about? I guess they were pretty Anti-Christian in the beginning. Nowadays they are more anchored in myths and legends written in our own way.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? It’s mostly Trollhorn and Tundra who does the composing, but of course with a helping hand from Routa. Katla is still writing the lyrics.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Usually with the music, but it’s happened the other way around aswell a few times.

Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Naah... I guess inspiration can strike anywhere!

Have you done any covers live? Yes, a few. We have some covers of Hedningarna, Windir, Metallica, Oingo Boingo and Pet Shop Boys

What language do you sing in? Swedish

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? Once in Albaquerque, New Mexico only 14 people cam to the show, but it was still so much fun. Everyone was in the mosh-pit! Biggest show was, I guess, Wacken 2006 with over 65.000 people in the crowd.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? I would dare to guess that 50% are between 18-30 years old.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We vary quite a bit. Only trying to always have something from every album.

Do you have a regular place you play live often?  Germany...? Hehe.

What was your first gig like? My first with the band was Rock Hard festival in 2006. I was pretty nervous. I was used to audiences around 30-100 persons and all of a sudden there were 5000 looking.

What was your latest gig? Last one was 2017 in Russia. St. Petersburg. One gig of a Russian tour we did.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Yes, unfortunately. It has never been our fault. Usually it’s been something wring with the organisation. Last one was Novosibisk in Russia.

Where have you played live this year? Not yet, but next weekend we are off to the Nordic Metal Cruise.

Where do you plan to gig the comming year? We have some German festivals coming up, otherwise I think we will take it pretty easy this year. Waiting for the new album to be finished.

Where can people buy your merchandise? http://www.kapanen-production-store.de/

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? It kind of sucks when you put so much time and effort into an album and people just don’t seem to care about that. The music business is rotten nowadays. It’s getting a bit better since the torrent scene is getting less and less attention due to Spotify and the likes. Atleast that generates some money.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? People don’t put the same value in a record as they did 20 years ago. Also weird that some bands actually have stopped doing records and only releases a singel every now and then. The only way for an artist to survive these days is play gigs and hope to sell some t-shirts.

What do you think of my work? Cool, that somebody is still there and promoting bands.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Never really thought about it. I guess both.

What have been your biggest obstacles? Not being quick enough making new music. It always takes us years to get some inspiration and finding that sound we seek for our next album. This time around that seems even harder than usual.

How do you get psyched for a gig? Vodka...? Well, we don’t have any rites we perform before the gig. I think a good pick-me-up is when you start to hear the audience coming into the venue and the room fills with antisipation. Quite cheezy yes, but it works.

Do you have any new material? We have some songs brewing right now. Some really kickass stuff, if I may say so.

What are your web sites? www-finntroll-music.com

How can people reach you? Through our official Facebook is a good option.

What are your plans for the future? New album first, then we can start dreaming again!

Do you have something to add? Hang in there, the new album is coming!