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.......INTERVIEW
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.......INTERVIEW
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| . | with Janne ‘’Lo Q’’ Lounatvuori, keyboardist of Progressive Rock band HIDRIA SPACEFOLK |
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by
Sergio Motta,
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
Sergio
Motta - Just to start off our interview, I would firstly like to make
you the following
Janne Lounatvuori: It comes from the sun, from the wind, from the rain, from the snow, from different kind of situations, different kinds of feelings, bad and good. If you are meaning bands, I can`t name those because there are so many.As far as I know you have accomplished countless jam sessions before climbing the stages. By the way, did you ever perform self-composed songs, or did you also begin performing cover songs? Janne Lounatvuori: Jams usually then, and still, start with someone’s riff or rhythm and sometimes jams end up a song, but not always...When I came to Hidria, they had couple of riffs already "composed" and we started with those (they were ‘’Sindran Rastafan’’ and ‘’Amos Ame’’) We jammed also that time Pink Floyd`s Set ‘’The Controls for the Hearth of the Sun’’, but that was the only cover song we played. Nowadays we have played couple of times Steve Hillage`s ‘’Looking for the Spark’’ with a singer friend. So we play our own stuff normally.According to my slant, you have mostly been taken for concert performers than a studio band, whereas you often express a huge pleasure in performing live. Would you say therewith, that Hidria Spacefolk has built a loyal audience ever since? Janne Lounatvuori: In concerts it is more easy to improvise and play the songs differently every time and people who have seen us many times normally do hear it and they come to say after the gig that it was different, better than the last time, and they are meaning the mood, the feeling which they get, but not the actual difference in the song. And this thing has led to that many people come again and again to our gig. We try to do it better everytime we play live. It is a kind of psychedelic submessages we try to send to audience via music; hey! do you notice? this is more freaked out than last time! And the audience has a big influence for us, more dancing=more freaking out.Seen that the music proposed by you generally emphasizes atmospheric and space climax, I personally think it requests any kind of visual apparatus that can properly provide a combination between image and sound throughout the live performances. Do you make use of anything in this sense as stage effects and so forth? Janne Lounatvuori: Yes we do. We have two visual apparatus called Tatu Marttila and Sami F. who try to fit their art to our music and it has worked out fine for so far. Tatu has made our album covers, website and he does the video dj:ing on gigs and Sami does the decoration on gigs. We try to improve this along with the music.I know that ‘’HDRSF-1’’ is an EP, and that it was also the very first recording of the band. What became of this material right after being released? Did you sell it to local fans, or was it firstly kept by you with a view to be introduced to any record company opportunely? Janne Lounatvuori: That recording was only made 1000 copies and it has been sold out for almost two years now. It was actually ribbed out of the hands. We sold it by ourselves and in few record stores here in Helsinki. And it found its way to Seawolf studios/Silence who released the second album ‘’Symbiosis’’. (and they are releasing our third album ‘’Balansia’’ in August).I have also been told about another material recorded by you called ‘’Violently Hippy’’ only released over there in your homeland, and I suppose this recording has rather become a rare material nowadays, hasn’t it? Speaking of it, how many copies were issued altogether? Janne Lounatvuori: "Violently Hippy" is a remix album where finnish machine music makers has remixed our songs and it was released in May. And it is not a rare material! If it runs out they do it more:) you can order it from the exogenic records (www.exogenicbreaks.com) and hopefully soon from other webshops.You, yourself Janne has formerly teamed up with other bands like Bigband, Jazzka among others. Would you say the experience in performing along with the Hidria Spacefolk’s personnel has been different from the previous bands? And to what extent has it been different in fact? Janne Lounatvuori: Hidria differences a huge from those kind of music you named above. In Jazz and in Bigband kind of music the solos the jams etc. are almost always write in the notes which you are playing, it is always planned. in Hidria we don`t use written notes or any kind of classic music therms, no "college" jazz things.As far as I can see each one of you has been previously performing in other bands, thus turning all of you into experienced musicians until then. According to your viewpoint, which of these former bands should have predominantly exercised any influence upon the Hidria Spacefolk’s musical direction! Janne Lounatvuori: In my opinion, non of those previous bands has straight influenced Hidria, this is something else. But they do influence...Teemu and Viiru played together already in early 90`s Metal influenced sound, Mikko has played Punk, Rock, Progrock, Kimmo has played Jazz, Progrock and I played in Techno band just before joining to Hidria. So figure out from there...On writing a review about the ‘’Symbiosis’’ album, I remember taking the sonority of your band very close to Ozric Tentacles’, and I did express it openly. By the way, have you heard quite the same comments by other people with regards to that? Janne Lounatvuori: Yes we have. But I think we difference a huge from the Ozrics, they are better players;) Ok, of course it is nice that people compares us to Ozrics but In my opinion they have their sound and we have our`s. And there is a difference, but in good way meaning no competition between. And there is a BIG room for spacerockers in this planet, because there are not so many, at least good ones. For example playing Poprock is much more harder to difference from the millions of the same kind of bands.Can you please, let me know about your band activities’ today? I mean, have you been currently working upon a new project, doing gigs and so forth? Janne Lounatvuori: In this minute (27.6.2004, 13.35) we are or at least I am waiting for the Nearfest gig in Bethlehem, USA which is coming on July 11st. My first time in the States and a very big gig for us. In the meanwhile we have played in festivals here in Finland and having a couple of club gigs in June and August before releasing our new album ‘’Balansia’’, which is coming out here early August and hopefully soon everywhere in the Web and in the stores near our fans. We have been lucky so far, they are releasing it in France, Spain and in Italy very soon. And for all the people who are coming to Nearfest we have a good news: you can buy the new album ‘’Balansia’’ from the festivals, a month before the others!I have got recently the latest Muséa’s catalogue and found the ‘’Symbiosis’’ album herewith, and it has been very usual nowadays to have an only album released by two labels, I would then like to know if this album is also going to be released by Muséa, such as it was previously by Silence? Janne Lounatvuori: No, isn`t Muséa a distributor? Silence is our label now and always.Just to close our interview, would you like to impart any message for the proggers who will probably have the chance of reading it, and also knowing a bit more about the story of Hidria Spacefolk? Janne Lounatvuori: Our music is the story, you can find it there from the albums. We are just planet hidrians who are trying to satisfy each other in musical way along with the listeners. Keep on rocking and do it in your own way! BOM. |
Kimmo
Dammert - Bass
Discography:
Hidria
Spacefolk Home Page
The band started to form at Hiidenlinna community in 1999. After some endless jam sessions they decided to start doing live gigs and to record their first single called intimately as HDRSF-1 (author’s edition). The record was mostly home made with an eight- tracker. 2002 they made their first album for a label called "Silence". It’s a small record company with good people, and it’s co-operating with one of the best studios in Finland. The album "Symbiosis" is for the most part recorded, mixed and mastered at Seawolf-studio in Suomenlinna between december 2001 and july 2002. It came out in august 2002. In
near future they’re giging in Finland and probably in some near countries.
They are also making new material for their forthcoming album (hopefully
out 2003-2004).
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