Fall
Of The Leafe
Fall Of The Leafe is one
of the most interesting, original and unique sounding bands. Lately they
released their 4th studio album entitled "Volvere", which is filled with
sentiments and it has a really special approach to the atmospheric, progressive
gothic hard rock sound. So, here we have the band's vocalist Tuomas and
the band's bassist, Miska revealing many interesting stuff regarding the
band and their perception on things and life in general.
1. FIRST OF ALL, I’D LIKE YOU TO POINT OUT
THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND AND INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO THE
READERS…
Tuominen: I think there are three basic types
of important moments that have happened to this band and have in one way
or another shaped its future. Firstly, we have released four albums so
far and each release has to be regarded important. After all, we are around
for the rock n’ roll itself, so valuing this lesser than anything else
would be bollocks. Next, all the two thousand line-up changes we have gone
through must have played a role in shaping this band. For example, when
our guitar player Kaj left the band for an extended break, or on the other
hand, when his good friend Matias joined the band. While the line-up changes
have been sometimes exhausting, it was the arson of our rehearsal house
six years ago that almost knocked this band down for good. However, we
managed through that and today this band is operated by Jussi Hänninen
and Kaj Gustafsson on the guitars, Petri Hannuniemi on the keyboards, Matias
Aaltonen on the drums, Miska Lehtivuori on the bass guitar and finally
myself, Tuomas Tuominen, vocals. A comprehensive band history is of course
available too at our website, which all are invited to visit.
2. IF I ASKED YOU TO INTRODUCE YOUR ALBUM YOURSELVES
TO THE READERS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM? IF YOU HAD TO BE THE REPORTERS,
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ABOUT YOUR MUSIC, TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE…
Tuominen: To reporters, I would not even attempt
to do an objective description. It would be impossible, simply because
I have put my soul to it. Trying to be objective would seriously make an
ass of me. But I lie and improvise nicely, so I would come up with some
way of narrowing down the roof term rock music. For example, Fall of the
Leafe plays melodic metal music with touches of gothic and progressive
rock. That is neutral enough. Then I would move on to the readers, tell
them we play some of the best melodic metal with touches of gothic and
progressive rock. After saying this, I would encourage everyone to go check
out our blend for themselves, not because I am a lazy ass bastard, but
because music is a matter of taste.
Lehtivuori: To readers I would comment also
that if I didn’t play in this band, I would be a fan.
3. GIVE US SOME GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING
“VOLVERE”. WHERE WAS IT RECORDED? WHO WAS THE PRODUCER? HOW LONG DID IT
TAKE YOU? ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT?
Tuominen: Of course "Volvere" is a fine piece
of music. While this is true, there are naturally things there that we
think could have been done better or differently. But this is irrelevant.
"Volvere" serves as the best example of what we sounded like in a given
point and time and it is enough. The recording process itself was far easier
than we experienced with our third album "Fermina". This time everyone
was more comfortable, much more confident and none of us needed medical
attention during recordings. We recorded and mixed "Volvere" in numerous
short sessions during September and October 2003. We produced the album
ourselves, while Mika Haapasalo worked as our studio engineer. The mastering,
however, was done at Finnvox studios by Mika Jussila.
4. FILL US IN ON THE BAND’S RELEASES (DEMOS INCLUDED).
WHICH ARE THE MAIN SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES AMONG THEM?
Tuominen: Our first demo, "Storm of the Autumnfall"
was recorded in 1996 by a young, enthusiastic death metal band. Together
with the pre-production promo of 1997, these two are the path that led
to Evanescent, Everfading which is a piece of, safe to say, hugely melodic
death metal. A turn for slightly harsher expression was taken on our promo
recording of 1999. This led to our co-operation with the Argentinian label
Icarus Music and our second album, August Wernicke. Still melodic, still
very death metal. A more drastic change took place during the years between
August Wernicke and our third album Fermina. Harsh death metal vocals were
gone, giving way to a more melodic, perhaps more soulful approach at the
vocals. Furthermore, Fermina featured a very different atmosphere than
its predecessors. While August Wernicke’s moods were openly oppressive,
Fermina was not so black. It was grey. Volvere, then again, carries on
with similar approach as Fermina. Only, it is more straight forward than
Fermina and blends more elements from gothic rock and straight forward
in-your-face riff rock.
5. YOUR MUSIC IS EXTREMELY MELODIC AND IT HAS
A SAD ATMOSPHERE. USUALLY PEOPLE SAY THAT AN ARTIST HAS TO WITNESS PAIN
OR LOSS IN ORDER TO CREATE SOMETHING VERY SENTIMENTAL OR COMPOSE A MASTERPIECE.
DOES THIS STATEMENT APPLY TO YOU?
Tuominen: No. Melancholy can be an integral
part of one’s creative process without the suffering of pain or loss. I
believe all it takes to make music soulful is the ability to recognize
and understand emotions, feelings and blend them into music. Having said
this, I have to admit I would not know about how pain or loss contribute
to creation. With lives as lame and grey as mine or Jussi’s, Fall of the
Leafe’s music cannot stem from loss. Else we would mock people who are
seriously in hardship.
6. YOU HAVE CREATED QUITE AN ORIGINAL MUSIC. NOT
MANY BANDS PAVED THE WAY YOU WALK UPON. SO COULD YOU NAME SOME OF YOUR
MOST BELOVED BANDS AND ALBUMS? WHICH ARE THE MUSICIANS THAT MADE YOU REALIZE
THAT THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO IN YOUR LIVES?
Tuominen: When it comes to musicians influencing
our decisions to make and play music, I doubt it is possible to name pick
out any. But thank you for the kind comment on our originality. I appreciate
it. Generally speaking, we are all very different kinds of persons in this
band. Therefore we also have a variety of different tastes in this band
and I cannot really speak for every one of us. I have, however, discussed
favorite artists with my fellows and with our main composer Jussi and over
the years I have also come to share quite a few with him. Anyway, these
are some of the artists Jussi has mentioned as influences. New Model Army,
The Smiths, Cure, The Mission UK, Pogues, Katatonia, Dark Tranquillity,
Carcass. When it comes to the rest of the band, I know our other guitar
player Kaj has been digging Spiritual Beggars and Phil Anselmo’s Down a
lot. Miska is a big fan of classic heavy metal. Matias, then again, plays
and likes a load of different kinds of music. For example, he likes Alice
in Chains, Pearl Jam, as well as the Cult. The latter, by the way, is an
excellent band in my opinion too. I also like straight forward rock music
in the way of Hellacopters, Radio Birdman, Sonic’s Rendezvous Band and,
say, Hydromatics. So there. And since we do not live in a vacuum, influences
seep into our music from everything we do and listen to.
7. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FEEDBACK YOU’VE
GOT SO FAR? WHICH IS THE MOST FLATTERING COMMENT YOU’VE HEARD AND WHICH
COMMENT DO YOU THINK CAN HARDLY REPRESENT YOU AND YOUR MUSIC? IS THERE
A COMMON STATEMENT YOU SEE REPEATED IN ALMOST ALL THE REVIEWS YOU RECEIVE?
Tuominen: All feedback is alright, so we are
just happy when it comes down our way. There has been no common statement
in all the reviews and other such that I have come across. Moreover, the
reviews and comments have been very diverse this time around. While I do
not have any at my reach right now to quote, some have praised us to high
heaven, some have cursed us to hell. I think this is very good. We do not
leave listeners cold.
8. TELL US A FEW THINGS REGARDING THE ARTWORK…
WHAT DOES IT SHOW? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT?
Tuominen: The artwork is all made by our old
friend Giuseppe Ferrillo who does design work also under the monicker Temn0
Graphics. The design follows a guideline of incorporating song themes together
with machinery and blending these with a slightly surreal touch. The artwork,
I find, is generally speaking a bit extraordinary and like I mentioned,
does include lots of symbolic elements referring to the songs themselves.
9. WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK COULD BEST DESCRIBE
FALL OF THE LEAFE AND YOUR MUSIC IN GENERAL?
Tuominen: Atmospheric, unpredictable, harsh
at times.
10. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT
SHOULD THE FANS EXPECT TO SEE FROM FALL OF THE LEAFE?
Tuominen: Yes, we have booked some one-off
gigs for the summer and the coming fall. We are also currently discussing
the possibility of making our first appearance outside Finland either next
year or even later on this year. And we are also always on the look-out
for new live opportunities because they are seemingly scarce for us. What
people are going to see at our shows is a simple, no bollocks rock gig.
On stage there are no balloons, no dead animals, just a bunch of down-to-earth
blokes performing honest music. I would of course love to have some girls
singing background vocals and shaking booties but sadly that is not happening.
Lehtivuori: People are going to see one hell
of a live band. Live situation brings entirely new life into our songs
and there is always action, atmosphere and even a hint of humor. Hard to
explain but I recommend our shows to everyone.
11. FALL OF THE LEAFE IS A VERY STRANGE NAME.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH IT AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
Tuominen: It was originally my predecessor,
Jani Lindström, who came up with the name Fall of the Leafe. From
what I know, the fall season used to be referred to as Fall of the Leafe
a few centuries back.
12. IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET AN IMPORTANT
PERSONALITY (DEAD OR ALIVE), WHO WOULD THIS BE AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE
TO ASK HIM?
Lehtivuori: Steve Harris. Couldn’t say a word,
but could drink a nervous pint or two.
Tuominen: This is difficult. I don’t like
meeting people in the first place. I would probably accidentally run into
Santa Claus in his civilian outfit and ask him how it’s going with ZZ Top
these days.
13. WITH WHAT CRITERIA DID YOU SELECT RAGE OF
ACHILLES? WHICH ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES THAT A LABEL SHOULD HAVE
ACCORDING TO YOU?
Tuominen: Rage of Achilles had to offer a
fair recording deal and had a good reputation. They were also located in
Europe, unlike our previous labels. Since everything works fine with Mr.Dinsdale
and Rage of Achilles, it is safe to say it was a good choice. The most
important constituents of a good record company must be reliability, fairness
and effectivity.
14. CAN YOU CONSIDER YOURSELVES BEING UNABLE TO
COMPOSE AND PLAY MUSIC? IF SO, HOW AND WHERE WOULD YOU CHANNEL YOUR CREATIVE
ENERGY?
Tuominen: I am happy this is all speculation
that does not mean anything. I cannot say on behalf of Jussi how he would
manage. Personally, I am afraid I have no absolute drive to create. In
my creative process I tend to touch issues that are more of a pain in the
ass than sheer pleasure to deal with. While it can be enjoyable too, I
could drift away from doing creative work when it comes to writing. Singing
and generally playing in a band, however, would be far more difficult to
give up. If however, such a situation rose up, I would spend most of my
time reading and listening to music. There would be no further need of
channeling creative energy away from me. I would be the target of creative
energy. And who knows, maybe a happy bastard at it too.
15. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Tuominen: Alright now. This interview is reaching
levels where I usually make an ass of myself. If Fall of the Leafe were
a painting, it would probably show a locomotive on a paved city street.
Perhaps a bit of sleet from a dark sky as well. I cannot imagine our music
as an emotion. It would hopefully be all of them.
Lehtivuori: Fall of the Leafe would not be
an emotion in the first place. It would be a state of mind – manic depression.
The Fall of the Leafe painting would be, at a distance, totally black.
At a closer look, there would be full of beautiful and intricate details.
16. AND SUDDENLY ELECTRICITY CEASES TO EXIST…
WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN TO HEAVY METAL?
Lehtivuori: It would not cease to exist. I
would still be around, singing heavy metal classics out loud like no tomorrow.
17. THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING
AND YOU’D LIKE TO MENTION? LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE…
Tuominen: All are invited to buzz in at our
website at www.falloftheleafe.com
.
Peace everyone.
Lehtivuori: Tumbo is a weird son-of-a-bitch.
Tuominen: Oh yeah? Well fuck you Miska. I
know where you live.
Christine Parastatidou
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