Line UP:
Henrik Haarlo - Vocals
Janne Hartikainen - Guitars
Albert Myllykangas - Bass
Jani Blomerus - Drums and percussion
Well,Friends Of Aristocracy!
We speak directly from our newsroom. Where, from now on, in all your emotions, we will start the sixty-fourth interview. Our interviewee is the vocalist, but in a comprehensive way, we speak with the Finnish band Womack. The band makes a beautiful mix of classic metal with Stoner.Mixed and mastered by the legendary Hiili Hiilesmaa, the album does not have an intro. It goes straight to the third album called III-Songs Of Downfall & Deliverance. Released today via Inverse Records. Before introducing the band and talking about their previous work.
I would like to thank Joni, the owner of Inverse Records who recommended this band to me. His previous albums were: In 2014, Prehab and in 2016, we had Strays. Henry answered our questions, let's go to the full album and then our chat with he!
A1:Talking about the composition work in Songs Of Downfall &Deliverance?
Henrik Haarlo:Some of the songs on this album are based around ideas Janne & Albert have had around for years, basically. They were sort of left lying around when we parted ways with our original drummer, and we spun them back and forth for the whole duration of the acoustic trip we had, and during the making of Strays, the second album.Those song ideas were finally made into actual songs when we plugged our beloved Orange amps in again and started to make more noise as a group. The first song we wrote together for this album was Back On The Hooch, then known by its working title “Comfort Zone” because it came together so easily after the acoustic thing! We were back, making the distorted guitar-heavy music that comes naturally to us, and things just started rolling forward from there.We were really flirting with heavier stuff before, even during the making of the first album, because we have always been really into those 90´s heavy bands that we grew up listening. But things really took a big turn into that direction when we got Jani behind the drum kit. We love that dude so much, and he really encouraged the move forward into that direction, since he was always super excited when we introduced a heavier riff or were throwing around ideas for some heavier grooves. He has such a great style of playing stuff like this and he really embraced his spot as a composer for this band. We got so much new direction and new opportunity to seek new ways of being Womack after first working on the acoustic stuff with this amazing musician, and then going back the full-on heavy rock and even metal territory with him. So, you could definitely say that the biggest change in our composition work was Jani, and the new direction he opened up for us by being so supportive regarding where we wanted to take things.The actual songs were basically made in our rehearsal space, during the course of hundreds of play-throughs, dozens of rehearsal tapes and about a million re-writes! We left some wiggle room for studio work, but basically we wanted to go in there with a really clear idea of what we want to record and what we want it to sound like. It took god damn long, and a whole lot of work, but we got there.
A2:Was the album's opening song re-recorded?
Henrik:No, it was not. It was touched up a bit, really subtle remix fixes and a new remaster to make it fit the rest of the album better. But no, it was not re-recorded.
A3:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Henrik:Sure, loads! We love movies, especially American ones, like, real Hollywood stuff! We love the gritty, dark, thriller stuff, and action-filled popcorn movies. Movies like Seven, Fight Club, 300, and such are so dear to us we can´t help if they influence our art. A lot of the time, my lyrics are also influenced by video games, which are really close to my heart too. And comic books, of course! Stuff like Kick-Ass and Preacher, oh man, they are almost like guidelines for making a good Womack song.
A4:Explain the song three,please?
Henrik:Drag Direction is a break-up song. It´s about that really gloomy, depressed mood you´re left with when another love of your life has packed up and left their key on the kitchen table. There really is no feeling like it, when you just sit and stare at the wall and wait for someone to come show you what the hell you´re supposed to do next. You know, when you´re afraid to do anything because you´re scared you´ll fuck things up again!So, you have no choice but to wait for the feeling to pass, which it always does, or wait for someone to show you the right direction, grab you by the neck and drag you there.
A5:How the band arrive to Inverse Records?
Henrik:We were approached by Joni of Inverse Records a bit before we released our first album. We had a three-song EP online, and I remember getting an e-mail from Joni saying he likes our stuff, and explaining the concept of the company, and we knew right away that was for us. We could not be happier with our choice, since we are pretty obsessive with our art: we don´t want to lose our freedom, and we definitely don´t want anyone telling us what to do! We love our stuff, and it´s always honed to perfection in our eyes. What you hear is the exact sound we wanted, delivered in the exact way we wanted, because we never let go of a song until it´s finished. Inverse has always embraced our way of doing things and honored that. So, you can imagine I was scared shitless when I sent Joni our second, acoustic album Strays! I was certain he would not want an album that anti-metal, but he seemed to like it, and we are proud to say our work under the wing of Inverse continues. Huge thank you to them.
A6:Can we indicate that this album is the closing of a trilogy?
Henrik:Of course, it´s natural to see it that way, and already it is clear that the next record will not sound like this one. We spent the duration of the pandemic writing new songs, and at least to us, they touch a bit different subjects, and sound a bit different. So in a way, this album is the end of this six-year long phase we spent making it, and the next album will be the beginning of something else.
A7:Why the band have this name?
Henrik:It´s from a movie that me and Albert were watching many, many years ago. There was this character that was a complete dick, and the main character despised that character really visibly. We got a kick out of that, and made a sacred pact that if we ever end up in the same band again, we would name it after that tasty character. The character was named Womack, and if I had known back then that there was this dude called Bobby Womack… I would have carefully reconsidered that pact. But it is a great name, not our fault if someone had it first!
A8:How is Womack different from your previous bands?
Henrik:Womack is everything those bands wished to be! We are an actual, functioning unit, where everyone stands behind the work we do one hundred percent. That is rare as hell, and we are very lucky to have that.Besides that, there are more obvious differences, our former bands were never this heavy, and this is the first band I have sung in English with. Before I only wrote lyrics in finnish, and even Womack started out in finnish! That lasted for about three days, and then we switched to English.
A9:If this third album is not the end of a trilogy or not, answer. What differences can we point out in Strays and Songs Of Downfall & Deliverance?
Henrik:Well, the really obvious difference is the lack of electric guitars on Strays, but other than that, we like to think it is the exact same Womack you get on album number three, only later in life. The “III” in the title was originally added to make it clear that this is really our third album: Strays was not some rushed busywork or a crazy project between albums, it is a legit second chapter in the story of Womack, and this is a straight follow-up to that.Other than that, I think we learned a lot about song writing during the acoustic trek, because we could not rely on a huge wall of sound to make us sound good. It was a really hard lesson to learn, especially when it comes to the arrangement phase of the songwriting. That is the most important phase in the making of a Womack song: we like to really spit-shine them until we´re all pleased with the results. That way of thinking stuck with us on the new album, even though we switched back to full rock n´ roll magic.
A10:Why and how was Jani Blomerus hired?
Henrik:Because he´s our dear friend, the sweetest dude alive, and an absolutely wonderful drummer with he´s own kind of style, which we love. He was always headbanging and smiling and drinking on our gigs in the early days, and when we were left without a drummer, we knew who we wanted! But boy, we were afraid to ask, because he was in another band back then, and a busy man. But when our original drummer left three weeks before a booked gig, and we decided to go full acoustic in the flick of switch, we asked Jani to come play some tambourine and light percussion for our acoustic gig. He kindly refused, and told us he would instead bring his whole kit, and learned our acoustic set in a few days! And it was love at first sight. The first song we played together was “Snakebites” and it worked so well I got teary-eyed from the first second. Thankfully Jani stuck around, and stayed with the band, it was definitely the beginning of a whole new Womack.
A11:What´s the idea behind artwork´s album?
Henrik:We haven´t always had the smoothest ride, and we have had our fair share of misfortune along the way. So, the artwork is at its core an angel trying to safeguard our travels, and the Devil trying to fuck things up any way he can! It´s about balance, and staying on your course, even the Devil is right on your heels.
A12:This album is conceptual?yes or no and why?
Henrik:Strangely, yes! I noticed somewhere along the way that a lot of the lyrics I wrote for this album are about getting knocked out and getting back up again. About sticking to what you want to do, even when everyone is trying to make you give up and things refuse to go your way. Falling down and getting back up. Those were the two themes, and in a way maybe I was writing letters to our band, trying to keep us going, because let´s face it, things have gotten pretty damn dark in a matter of a few years. You´re always wondering if people will forget about you the second you stop posting selfies on Instagram or releasing a new single every month. We have never been about that, we wanna take our time, and we want the focus to be on the music. We´re not exactly social media influencers, and never wanted to be that. We got into music because we love playing and writing our own songs, and we hope that even though it took a long time, and we were definitely gone a long time, that these songs will be enough to redeem us! We were gone, but we were not resting, we were making music for you guys to listen to!So, we sort of had our downfall, and now it´s up to the World to show If this album is enough for our deliverance.
A13:Is there any Sludge influence on you?
Henrik:Definitely, always! Our bass player Albert is a huge part of our sound and he´s the biggest fan of that kind of stuff you will ever meet! We all love that kind of sound, and we absolutely adore all forms of “desert rock”, meaning stoner stuff, sludge, doom, whatever you wanna call it. Our hometown shares so many similarities with those quiet desert towns where that movement began, we could make a ska record, and we would still have half of our heart in the desert!
A14:Explain the eight song,please?
Henrik:We See Better With The Lights Out is once again a song about overcoming obstacles and learning to stand tall even when everything seems to falling apart. It´s obviously a reference to being in the dark for a long time, when your eyes adapt to the dark and you literally see better with the lights out. So, when you waded through hard times for long enough, your eyes adapt, and the darkness becomes your everyday life. You´re immune to the darkness, and nothing it throws at you can hurt you anymore.The song itself was probably the last one we wrote for this album, and it´s a strange cut in our catalogue, at least to us. It feels a bit different to play, and we were on the fence for a really long time about including it on the album. We decided to give it a chance, since we´re all pretty proud of how it turned out.
A15:Based on the songs on the album and your personal opinions, answer: Has today's technocracy created a more deceitful world than in the time of our fathers?
Henrik:Oh my, yes. Everything around us is photoshopped version of the true world, and the whole world seems to be in a non-stop competition with everyone. Who is the healthiest, wealthiest, fittest, and most importantly: who is the most alive! If nothing happens to you for a day, you have nothing to report and you fall off the map. Strange times, and we truly hope people don´t forget how to happy in the process of trying to show how happy they are. You owe your followers nothing, but you owe yourself to take a breather once in a while and dare to be boring. Not every day has to be an epic adventure to share with the world.
A16:Explain the song ten,please?
Henrik:Twenty-One is a letter to the band, pure and simple. It´s disguised as a story about gambling addiction, but later I realised it´s really about the hardships we face as a band, and simply wondering what has kept us going all these years. I would be so damn easy to give up, and not do this. It would be really sweet to lay on our back and take another spin of Friends or Futurama, but something in us just keeps us coming back and making this noise for the ones that support us time and time again. Things are not easy for bands, and you have to be kind of twisted in the head to keep it up for half your life, but it is rewarding. When it´s good, nothing comes close. We love it, we are obsessed with it, and that is what keeps us going, even though the dealer seems to hold that twenty-one every single round. But we shall prevail, and we thank you all for sticking with us.
A17:What´s bands influence ours?
Henrik:Lots and lots of bands ranging from Led Zeppelin to Godsmack to Pantera, to Down to Korn and all the lovely stuff we grew up with. Janne is really into newer stuff like Architects and Periphery and Jani loves more melodic punk rock stuff, his favorite band in the world is Social Distortion. Every day we find new stuff to keep our imagination going and we´re constantly looking for new bands to throw into our collective pot of influences. We bring all that to the table and keep stirring until we´re all satisfied. Keeping your ears open all the time is the secret to evolving constantly.
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