Line Up:
Vox principal/Guitar: Lily Black
Guitar: Teemu Harjunen
Bass/backing vocals: Sami Halinen
Drums: Petteri Rosenbom
Well,Friends of Aristocracy!
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will have in all its emotions, the interview 195 of the Aristocracy.This time, we talk with a melodic Finnish band that demonstrates intensity, energy and oriental tones in their album. Interestingly, the band is named after the vocalist, but the structure of the band is stronger than just that. This is the second album titled as Kintsugi.Let’s go to one of their songs before starting this unprecedented interview and a thank you to the band for answering our humble but important questions and to Inverse Records for introducing us to this interesting work.
A1:Talking about the composition work in Kintsugi?
Sami Halinen:After our first Album, Awful Hits for Women,we decided that our next album will be whole rather than a collection of songs.We also made a decision to start making heavier material compared to our first album.We already had some songs in the creative process and we had plenty of time due to the Covid-19 pandemic to compose more songs.Out of those songs we selected 10 for the album to tell real life stories. As we finalized the composition we had an idea that we should compose an intro that starts what the last song of the album ends.Overall it was a tedious process to create the second album but we are very happy with how it turned out to be.
A2:It's not that I don't like Japan, on the contrary. It's a beautiful country and full of culture in the sense of the people and the country as a whole. But I believe the band likes it for different reasons than mine. That's why the question. How and why did japan enter the band's life?
Sami Halinen:We're not specifically into Japan but the philosophy of Kintsugi seemed to describe very well the process and storylines in many of the album's songs.
A3: In some ways, are your personal life cycles also addressed on this album?
Sami Halinen:All songs are based on true stories that the band members or people around us have experienced.
A4:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Sami Halinen:Not on a conscious level but there might be some stuff that has affected the thought process while creating our music.
A5:The fact that the band uses several keyboardists is due to the fact that the band doesn’t have a fixed one?
Sami Halinen:This is a good question, we have discussed this topic among the band many times but we always end up deciding unlike many other rock and metal bands, the role of the keys in our music is mainly a supporting structure and the songs have variance. Hence we have agreed to use visitors as they bring their own unique signature to each of the songs they perform in.
A6:How is Lili different from your previous bands?
Sami Halinen:Our backgrounds vary heavily, some of us are in our first bands, some have toured around the world with previous bands. So obviously there are quite many differences for everyone of us.
A7:How band arrive to Inverse Records?
Sami Halinen:We were looking for a record company that could help us in communications and distribution. We had some common acquaintances and through that we started having discussions with Inverse Records. After discussions we decided to start collaboration with Inverse Records for first releasing some singles and then the whole album. We want to thank Inverse records for providing their help and advice during the course of making our second album.
A8:What spiritual growth can this album give the listener?
Sami Halinen:We think the most important aspect is to awaken a thinking process in the listener. We wish not to give too specific interpretations of lyrics etc because the beauty of music and all arts is in the feelings and thoughts that arise in the person consuming it. So basically the growth depends on the listener’s interpretations and personal history or one can just listen to us without any spiritual growth whatsoever.
A9:What´s the idea behind artwork´s album?
Sami Halinen: The idea of the Artwork is from the Japanese Kintsugi as an artform. You repair items with gold emphasizing that also imperfections can be accepted. The same applies to us humans as time golds our memories and fixes even the shattered heart during time.
A10:What kind of subject don´t deserve a Lili song?
Sami Halinen:Everything depends on the angle and one should never say never. For example, some really dark stuff inspired lyrics can still sound great and can be interpreted in different ways. It doesn't mean that we would support or celebrate the actual event/person/phenomenon but just find that we have something to say about it.
A11:Why do you say your songs have depth?
Sami Halinen:When we started composing the second album we also put some effort on the narrative of the lyrics. From that perspective we have created more story type of lyrics rather than short repetitive lyrics, which seems to be today's trend in music. We warmly recommend checking the lyrics also out with thought e.g from Spotify to understand the stories within the music.
A12:This album is conceptual?
Sami Halinen:We have tried to create Kintsugi as a conceptual album where the story over the Albums lifespan will take people into depths and then bring them back from there through hope and self growth.
A13:How did your songs gain weight?
Sami Halinen:On Kintsugi, we have taken more emphasis on heavier tones and percussions. We have put more effort on keys to bring width to the songs. We also started working with a new mixing engineer that has helped us to sculpt our sound towards the heavier side of rock music.
A14:Who is the Dark Soul Woman?
Sami Halinen:Let their identity remain unknown.
A15:What is Manflake?
Sami Halinen:Manflake is a person who is offended about other people by not tolerating their unsolicited opinions and bad behavior. They possess a narrow view of life insisting that everyone should be living as the old fashioned norms dictate.
A16:The band feel differences between Awful Hits For Woman and now in Kintsugi?
Sami Halinen:Awful hits for women was more like a collection of stuff we did when first starting to create our own music. The styles and genres vary from pop to heavier rock quite radically. For Kintsugi we wanted to create a more solid "storyline" and the music was also leaning towards a heavier rock/metal sound on purpose. The first album was more about doing all kinds of stuff we just felt like doing but the second one is a more designed entity. Also the routine of studio work has evolved into a more professional direction and the equipment available in our studio has taken huge steps forward so the technical quality of the recordings has radically changed for the better. We were also more familiar with each others' ways of working and people and it made the process more fluent.
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