Ville Laihiala & Sami Lopakka
Sentenced
•
June 13, 2005
Ville: Ah, I would rather say that the good times were after everything was done, because it was more or less - mentally - the hardest one to do because we knew it would be the last album, so during the whole recording and writing process I personally would not call it that much as a fun time. More or less it was stressing times before we finally finished the album. For example, this happened more here [on this album] but I don't mean that we did not have any fun at all in the studio, it was like a kind of mixture of feelings to do this album. But I guess the fun and enjoyment of playing can be heard through the music and even though it was a hard process to record you can clearly hear the hard mental moments we had.
Ville: Yeah, exactly, it is a mixture of emotions.
Ville: It is quite hard to give you a specific answer!
Ville: No, it has nothing to do with our music. More or less throughout our entire career we always wanted to take a step further and the amount of sacrifices we had to make grew more and more. Also our personal lives started to grow because some of us got married and have children.
Ville: Yes and I have 2 children.
Ville: Thanks! So, that is already a big sacrifice and personally - to me - being in between the band life and the family life was too much at the time.
Ville: Yeah, I mean it has nothing to do with the music but with all the other stuff - living in the bus and so on.
Ville: No! I am saying it for the third time! It has nothing to do with the music!
Ville: Yeah! Touring-wise I am quitting.
Sami: The future things on that issue will be at least on a smaller scale.
Sami: Yes, less, at this level. It is going to be easier for us that way.
Panagiotis: We would like to wish you all the best, OK? Even though it makes us feel a bit disappointed, on the other hand there was a song in the Down album called Keep My Grave Open [All Laugh]... which might mean that even after death has come there is a hope for resurrection and life carries on. I mean that what we consider to be dead sometimes is not and it is going to live again! Isn't it so?
Ville: No! It will not live again! [All Laugh] I mean the way we will live, will be through our albums. They won't ever disappear.
Orpheus: What are you going to do? Maybe solo bands?
Panagiotis: What about Poison Black [Ville's project]? About your Love Infernal video clip...
Ville: Ha! You know something? It sucks! [Laughs]
Ville: Ok and what is the question? [Laughs]
Ville: The second Poison Black album was already recorded 8 months ago. So, it just needs some more work to be done before it will be released but it will be released at the beginning of October. So, to me, playing music and touring will continue for 2006 but if you asked me a question if there would be a third Poison Black album I would say no.
Ville: I am interested in producing and recording albums because I produced the first Poison Black CD and I am also producing the forthcoming album. So, I am more interested in learning more about production and stuff like that. Maybe I will continue making music, maybe in this way - professionally - but there will always be a therapy, meaning I will go to some place and play with a band.
Sami: Not the tour. But live shows are always special. Special moments where we share the intensity of a live show with the audience. But touring is not just that. It's a pile of shit of more... other things. But I don't think we will miss that very much. We never felt being so much a part of that Rock 'N Roll culture. We did not see any glory in that because we were always in just for the music. You know, it is not about wearing sun glasses and stuff like that because it does not make you a special person anyway.
Sami: We always give our best when we record but especially at this last time everyone recognized that this was the last chance to record so it was a very emotional and exhausting period. But on the whole it purified us. I agree that Mika [lead guitars] did a fantastic job with the solos and reached new places.
Sami: Yeah, I do not solo that much.
Sami: [All Laugh] So you get all the credit!
Ville: Yeah! You have to hit the bottom before you rise up again!
Sami: We have had response from people who were going through hard times.
Sami: Yes, exactly! Our music and the fact that we had dragged ourselves out of a sea of misery had finally helped and purified those people. It is a very nice thing to hear that even if we are so dark and negative sometimes, we help people find some answers to their problems.
Ville: I do not think it follows us any more than other people that have problems in their lives and we are lucky enough to have this way to get rid of those feelings through music. I would not say that we are happy, happy people but simply happy people. [Laughs]
Ville: I used to play punk and classical guitar - and I really persisted on that for one whole summer!
Ville: No because that music did not appeal to me.
Sami: When we started I was 14 years old and I was into bands like Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax... far away from stuff like Madonna. I immediately got into that music and I liked the idea of giving aggression through the music.
Ville: The first band that I really paid attention to was KISS and the album Destroyer. Then I had a couple of beers, went to my local record shop and bought the Ride The Lightning album by Metallica.
[Ville suddenly yells after a phone call!]Yeah! The Finnish team I support in hokey won the championship!!!
Ville: Thank you!
Ville: Kippis!
Ville & Sami: Kippis! Or... Keep pissed! [All Laugh]
Ville: He is like a photographer. He takes many pictures and he is a very creative guy in that way and he has an artistic approach. Also, if you are talking about Sentenced he gives his own musical perspective.
Sami: He did all the artwork for the Cold White Light album and also for this one. I think he did a fantastic job capturing the finality of the goal by creating different images for different songs. I think he is not only taking photographs for this or that or for newspapers but he also has this artistic side in him. He has also put out some of his own exhibitions with pictures and stuff like that.
Ville: It is Finnish and it is quite hard to explain. I have been trying to explain it to myself too! [All Laugh]
Ville: Ha! No! It is about a barren field that has rocks here and there and looks so obsolete.
Sami: Yeah! The song itself had existed from even before the Crimson album. We just hadn't found the right place for it. But for this one it really works out very well. It is a really calm song and it calms everything down. It serves the whole atmosphere of what was before and what will be after.
Ville & Sami: [Lots of Laughter!] Yeah it is very nice to be in the grave!
Sami: Yes. It will not be a festival; it will be an indoor show dedicated just to Sentenced. We will have many days to prepare for it and finally, there will be a live DVD from it.
Sami: I am expecting it to be sold out quickly.
Ville: Yes Well Done Agency (sic) in Finland. That is where they will find tickets.
Sami: There is a place called Theatreia which can hold around 3000 people. There will be a very special show with every sense of the word. Since not everybody can go there we will issue a DVD so everyone can see what the final moments will be. We had never released a live album before so now is a great chance.
Ville: Maybe, we just do not wanna talk about what is going to happen! [Laughs] It is going to be a surprise for everyone attending the show! Maybe we will just appear naked for 2 hours! [All Laugh]
Ville: I use it in a way to get information or if I need something from it, but if you're refer to downloading or porn...
Ville: The new album is already on the Internet. There is a lot of shit but also many good stuff on the Internet. I try to be away from the shit except from the porn. [All Laugh]
Sami: He likes shit! Sex on the shit! [Laughs]
Ville: Oh no! Their pussy is so small! Or a hamster! [All Laugh]
Ville: It is more like on a personal level.
Ville: Not that much. But we know the bands because we tour together with them at many festivals. We have beer together; we're not in war with them. For a small country like Finland it is a big scene throughout the world! (sic)
Ville: We don't really think about it.
Ville: The worst case that ever happened to me was when I had a really bad diarrhea [Laughs]. I was sitting on a toilet for half an hour and there was brown water coming out of my ass. [All Laugh]
Sami: Show-wise something worse happened! We were touring America to do a headlining show and we finally played for 15 minutes.
Sami: Yeah, it was at the New Jersey Metal Meltdown and it really was a meltdown of expectations! We were supposed to be headliners but we finally played only 4 songs! There was someone stupid enough playing with fire and finally lit himself up!
Panagiotis: Was he roasted?
Ville: He did not die but there was police everywhere so the show was fucked up! Soon after we were going to play the fifth song they pulled out the electricity and everything stopped!
Sami: Yeah, we traveled 17 hours to play just for 15 minutes! We calculated that we traveled one hour for each minute we played on stage!
Sami: That is impossible to answer! [Laughs] Every album is unique and special in its own way! Every time is a new beginning since we are constantly changing. We really do not feel like putting them into any special order. Maybe in 5 years from now some albums may mean more but not now since we are putting the band to the grave!
Ville: To us this band will end with this last album and I think the label will release a compilation album but I don't give a fuck!
Ville: Yeah but to us I put more effort into scratching my balls because compilation albums do not have anything new to offer and I am not even going to think about it.
Sami: They just want to make money. So, the message is Don't buy it! If you already have all the albums you do not have to buy it.
Orpheus & Panagiotis: So, would you like to leave a message for your fans? This is your funeral answer!
Ville: Fuck you! [Laughs] There have been hundreds and hundreds of messages on our website, which is really overwhelming and great to see that this band means so much to so many people. There are messages from people that are sad or angry or thankful that this thing is ending. This makes it even harder for us to go through with this decision plus all the other reasons - but maybe what we want to do is thank them and anyone who is capable of joining us in our last shows.
We hope to see them there - even though this sounds like a cliché. But even though we are ending this band, it is not a situation to mourn about but it is time to see it in a more joyful way. Eventually everyone will see this is still the end of a band and not the end of the world!
Ville & Sami: Thank you!
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