Finnish symphonic metal band Amberian Dawn have just released their excellent follow up to 2012's acclaimed record 'Circus Black'. Mastermind and keyboardist Tuomas Seppälä answers our questions about "Magic Forest"...
First, congratulations on a fantastic album! “Magic Forest” has been in heavy rotation around the office here. Is this your favorite album so far? Did it turn out exactly as you envisioned it?
Tuomas: This is one of the favorites albums of mine. We did a lot of pre-production with Capri and co-producer Mikko P. Mustonen before going to studio so I had quite clear vision about the album even before the actual production process started. Magic Forest introduces our new singer with new songs and also the direction in AD’s musical evolution. I don’t want to do the same kind of music all the time.
The album has great melody, not only musically but vocally, it's spectacular. Every song has great hooks. Do you write the songs with the vocal melody in mind first, or is it the music comes first, and then the vocal melodies come later?
Tuomas: My way of composing music varies a lot with different songs, there’s no “one recipe” for the process. Sometimes I start with a melody (vocal or instrumental) and sometimes with a guitar riff or with a chord pattern for example. Very often I get ideas for songs when I’m just playing freely & improvising with guitar or keyboards. I think I still use more keyboards than guitar nowadays with songwriting process an it’s probably also hearable on AD’s new music.
While listening, I was slightly reminded of classic albums like Rainbow's “Bent Out of Shape" was there an 80's influence while writing?
Tuomas: I wanted to achieve more vintage sound on Magic Forest and the keyboard sounds was one of the key elements to achieve that goal. AD’s music has earlier been more guitar-driven and now I wanted to give more room for keyboards than before… and also for vocals. I’m a big fan of Rainbow’s music so there’s definitely some influences from that band too, that’s for sure. “Bent Out of Shape” is one of the best Rainbow albums. I like Joe Lynn Turner as the most suitable singer for Rainbow. I hope that Ritchie would put the band together again with JLT on vocals.
It's my opinion that Capri is the best singer Amberian Dawn has had yet. She has the technical ability when needed, but also a raw rock and roll quality that kicks ass. How did you meet her? Was she someone you knew already?
Tuomas: I was looking for a new vocalist for quite long time but I didn’t make it a public matter. I found Capri with help of my musician friends. I got a hint of Capri and that she’s an awesome singer. I got some demo songs with Capri on vocals and I just loved it right away. Then we met and everything happened quite fast after that. I don’t want to compare any singers in general. Both Heidi and Capri has their own strengths (and weaknesses)
The “Magic Forest” video is beautiful. Where was that shot? It looks pretty ambitious. How long did it take to complete it?
Tuomas: We contacted a director called Markku Kirves and he was the guy who wrote the synopsis for video and also shot & edited it. We just gave him the lyrics of the song & the audio track and discussed a little bit about our own ideas first. Mr. Kirves did an excellent job with the whole production and we’re all very satisfied with the results. We shot the band playing parts in studio in Helsinki. The acting parts were shot outdoors in Hämeenlinna, Finland in authentic environment. The band & actors were needed for only a couple of days but making the digital effects & editing took maybe a month or something.
If you made another video for a song of the new album, which song would it be? Any plans?
Tuomas: Making videos are quite expensive so I don’t think that we’re able to do an other video with this album release. But if we could do it, maybe the opening track “Cherish My Memory” could be a nice song for a music video too.
Have you ever toured in America? Do you think we'll get to see an Amberian Dawn show in the states any time soon?
Tuomas: So far we have toured only in Europe. We hope to get chance to play in US and also all around the world. Doing live shows are absolutely the best thing. So far we don’t have any tours in sight.
Amberian Dawn "Magick Forest" Out Now on Napalm Records
No comments:
Post a Comment