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Interviews Music

Peter has a sense of purpose

{mosimage}Swedish metal heads In Flames has been one of the few European bands able to jump the Atlantic Ocean and get also a recognition and big success in America, where they are currently touring. They recently released a new studio album: A Sense of Purpose, and FREE! Magazine had an interesting talk to the bass player, Peter Iwers, who called us from Gothenburg. 

 

 

Peter, the previous album Come Clarity was a big hit even in USA. Were you feeling pressure when facing the release of this new record: A sense of Purpose?

No, no pressure. We have been very lucky that every time we do a new record the record company leave it into our hands, because they know they cannot change the kind of music we are going to make. The only pressure there can be could come from ourselves, that we think we have to be better than last time. We do not want to make a record that we could think “well it is good, but not as good as the last one”.

How was the process of recording the album?

We recorded here in Gothenburg. We were making demos for 2.5-3 months and it was nice because we could take the time we needed and then go home to our families.

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Roberto Laghi also collaborated in the production with you, didn´t he?

Yes. He is an amazing producer. He made me play extremely well together with Daniel and I think he found our energy in the way we had had before so we were very satisfied with working with him.

 

"Finnish people have an excellent taste in music!" -Peter Iwers. Bass player of In Flames-

 

In the official In Flames website you are the only guy who has his own blog: “Peter´s corner”. Did you want to strengthen the relation with the fans or why you are the only member doing that?

I don´t know why. I love doing it. I just felt I wanted to communicate a little bit more.

I noticed reading there that seem like one of your passions is gambling and playing poker… {mosimage}

Yeah, I like it very much!

Do you usually win or lose?

A little bit of both I guess… I try to have fun anyway. I do not play for winning or losing money. I just meet sometimes with some friends, have a few drinks and play a bit, not big sums, like 50 euro an evening and we can play a long time with that.

We have talked to many different Swedish bands in the last months, and they all happen to be very good in their genres. What is the key for this success of Swedish rock and metal? Years ago we used to have these Youth centers where you could go and practice. You could meet a lot of people and play a lot of instruments.  Everybody played and everybody worked and everybody enjoyed the shows. We had a good system back then where they were helping kids who wanted to be creative. But they took away all the funds. It is a shame!

Years ago you released a DVD whose title was Used and Abused. I was wondering of what have you used and abused more in your life?

I would say I used my family and my friends. I used everybody in a way not to feel lonely, because I need people around me. I have not abused that many, because I like to consider myself a “good person” and treat everybody with respect.

You are going to play on summer in a couple of festivals in Finland, apart from other big ones like rock Am Ring and Rock im Park in Germany. What is your feeling when you play here in Finland?

I like Finland. It is a bit darker than Sweden and people with a little bit more of coldness but people seem to have a very good taste in music. Finland seems to be more “metal country” than Sweden. 

Selected In Flames discography commented by Peter Iwers: 

 

{mosimage}-The Jester Race (1995). It was before my time but I was a good friend of the people in the band. I was not still in the band but they needed rehearsal space and they used my space, and that was basically the contact we started to have for when I joined the band later.

 

{mosimage}-Whoracle (1997) When it was recorded, just after their bass player left and I was recruited into the band. I started doing the touring with them and it was really a weird thing because I was waiting for the record to come out!

 

 

{mosimage}-Clayman (2000): It was the second record I was with the band. I am very proud of that record. We connected very well all of us and musicians and were able to bring it on in the performances. 

 

 

{mosimage}-Reroute to Remain (2002): We switched the studio and producer to Daniel Bergstrand.  He pushed us all to the limit. Peter made us do a good album. It was a very good time. It was the first time we were away from home recording. It was the time when we started touring with American bands. Some people were criticizing that we were going to sound like American bands, so it did not matter what kind of music we did, because some people were going to hate it anyway. It is the way it is, we are musicians and we do the music we feel to do. Some people like it, some don´t.

 

{mosimage}-Come Clarity (2006). It was a bit differently recorded.  Jesper and me recorded it in Gothenburg and then Daniel worked with it. Vocals were then added so we really did not hear anything until it came out. The result was really good.

 

{mosimage}-A Sense of Purpose (2008). I love all the tracks. It is a record that shows us together being in the studio at the same time again; everybody having a good time playing better than ever. I think that shows in the music also, that the songs are really “wide”, the influence of something that is recorded united and songs have something in common. 

 

In Flames will be playing in Finland on summer in Nummi Rock the 21 of June and in Rockperry Festival the 18 of July.

For more information: www.inflames.com    

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Interviews Misc

StSanders shreds it!

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Have Steve Vai, Clapton or Gary Moore forgotten how to play guitar? Many people asked themselves the same question after watching some videos in YouTube with awful performances by top rock guitarists, and the answer is: Santeri Ojala aka StSanders, the master of shredding the best solos of our guitar heroes. 

I meet Santeri in a cafeteria in the centre of Tampere. He makes a short escape from his work as multimedia artist to attend the questions of FREE! Magazine. What started as a hobby became a question of discussion in music and guitarists forums all over the world. Was it right to spoof the original work of artists like Steve Vai, Slash, Van Halen, Metallica…? Well, the person himself behind the nick of StSanders, Santeri Ojala, can give his own opinions about the videos circulating in YouTube: 

Santeri, tell us a bit about this phenomena, you started to shred the famous guitarists. How the idea did the idea come up?

It has something to do with the particular faces that the musicians do when they play. So I thought it would be interesting because they really seem to put a lot of effort into their playing, so make it appear badly would turn into very funny.

So this started like a hobby, totally different from your normal everyday work?

Yeah. Well, I do play guitar although my work is as visual artists. I work with pictures, music, visual effects and I also worked in the multimedia installation you can see in the main square here in Tampere. But I am happy with this, and it is fun, when I have free time to do it. I have to record every part of the video once and again, so in the end I spend many hours in the making of every video. And lately I was also very busy with interviews, etc, so I had a bunch of work accumulated.

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Were you expecting the huge response to the videos featured in pages like YouTube?

Well, not at the beginning but I thought that it could become something big very soon.

YouTube has banned your personal account under the nick StSanders, thing that obviously does not make you happy. Did they give you any reason?

Well, they said that they had received emails from 3 different artists and record companies giving complaints about what I do. So when your account receives 3 different complaints, it is automatically shut down. I have sent them many messages, but well, it seems there is nothing to do, so I cannot publish more videos there with that account.

When you choose the artists that are going to suffer this “Shredding experience”, do you follow any kind of procedure; are there artists you especially like or dislike?

Well, I try to pick the famous artists, and also the ones who “make faces”.  Those are the 2 main requisites. 

YouTube has banned my account after receiving complaints about my videos from 3 different artists and record companies” – Santeri Ojala aka StSanders-

So you say you play guitar yourself for quite many years. Do you have to concentrate yourself for playing the songs “convincingly bad”?

Well, if you try to do something like this with singing, it is impossible. For making these videos, it takes in the end as much effort as good playing, because in a way it is good playing, it is intentionally bad. I try to make it sound convincingly bad.

Do you consider yourself a good guitar player when you play normally?

Yeah, I think I can manage.

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Steve Vai took with good sense of humor your spoof. He said something like if he would be able to play like that, he would appear more often on MTV. Are there more artists that contacted you personally to give you feedback?

Not the ones I made the videos about, but other artists contacted me and gave me good feedback, people like Scott Thunes who was bass player with Frank Zappa (and he believed the videos were real) or Mike Patton and some others.

You were invited to Jimmy Kimmel´s TV show in USA. How was the experience there, sharing stage with Slash?

Actually turns that Jimmy himself is a great fan of my videos, so he wanted me to be in his show. They called me to fly there very fast because Slash was coming to the show too and I arrived so tired that I almost did not have time to feel excited. We chatted a bit after the show and yeah, he liked the video, he had no problem with it.

And you even had the chance to share stage with him!

Yeah, we played together a bit at the end. I was not even sure if I had to play good or bad or how…

For more information:

http://www.santeriojala.fi

Categories
Albums Music

Brother Firetribe – Heart Full of Fire

{mosimage}Were you missing those catchy melodies of the American AOR of the eighties? Brother Firetribe’s members certainly were!

When you hear from first time the name of the band: “Brother Firetribe” you imagine just another heavy metal project as the other thousands that try to gain ground in the competitive Finnish and European market. But probably you will get shocked, if not at least surprised, when you see behind this project names like Nightwish´s  guitarist Emppu Vuorinen or Leverage´s vocalist Pekka Heino involved in one of the purest AOR albums that you can have seen released in Finland in the past… history?

Certainly, if you loved that period of music when everything seemed to be more easy going, when groupies adored musicians who looked ambivalent like girls and when Jon Bon Jovi still had a long hair that could make jealous to any model from a Vidal Sassoon ad, then certainly this album is for you.

In their second studio album, the band pays tribute to all the classics of the genre (there is even a genial cover of Mike Reno, Chasing the Angels) and display some epic moments in songs like Heart Full of Fire, with a memorable vocalist duel between Heino and Annete Olzen, the vocalist of Nightwish, or in the catchy I Heard It on My Radio to add the cherry on top of the cake with the final track I am Rock, that totally with blow you off; I played the song 3 times in a row in my CD Player first time I put my hands on the album, being one of those songs that will make you feel like listening to a rock classic instantly.

Many virtues ornate this excellent work by Brother Firetribe, and it is a pity that probably there won´t be many chances to see the band alive, being the members involved in their other projects. Do not give love a bad name, and run to get this excellent Heart Full of Fire!

Rating 5/5.

Categories
Cinema DVD

My Blueberry Nights

{mosimage}Won Kar Wai, the internationally awarded Asian director, is back with a film “Made in Hollywood” in its cast.

I have followed with interests the previous works of Won Kar Wai. Although not falling in love with his films, I was finding quite fascinating the atmospheres that he was able to create and put together and his particular way of mastering the narration. Blur camera movements to condense all the diluted spirit of neighborhoods, small shops and coffees in some Chinese city like could be Hong Kong or Shanghai. Now, it is certainly shocking to see the similar kind of atmospheres and camera movements extrapolated to USA, mainly New York, city where Jude Law (Jeremy) owns a not very popular restaurant.

There, his way will cross with Norah Jones, who after tasting the Blueberry cake (and Law´s lips), starts a trip around the American land working as waitress, saving for a car. Both main actors are far from being convincing in the film. Jude Law is excellent when about being an Englishman gigolo, but far from the image of a hard-working waiter tired of the world around. Norah Jones looks lost and with not many brains during the film, and it is more interesting to see the people she is meeting around her particular tour, especial mention to David Strathairn in a great perfomance as the alcoholic and jealous policeman, who saves good part of the movie. But not even Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman are credible enough in their twisted roles of "Femmes fatales".

A plot with shadows and lights, but honestly, I still prefer Kar Wai surrounded by the lights of Hong Kong instead of the Big Apple of NY.

Rating  3/5.

Categories
Cinema DVD

Orpokoti

{mosimage}Directed by J.A. Bayona and supported by Benicio del Toro, here comes the last hit from Spanish film industry.

Orpokoti (originally titled El Orfanato) continues with the good tradition of international attention and promotion for Spanish films set the previous years by Del Toro´s Pan´s Labyrinth. Belen Rueda is the main star of this thriller with touches of drama and terror, and we cannot say less than she is splendid. Well known for her work in TV series, she has been able to adapt perfectly to working in the big screen (you can see her also in the superb Meri Sisälläni with Javier Bardem) and in her maturity, she still looks naturally beautiful and delightful, but with a strong presence on screen and a big inner force.

Fernando Cayo and Roger Princep in the Laura´s husband and son roles are fresh surprises, although the special mention goes for the short but shocking guest appearance of Geraldine Chaplin.

If you like the same kind of movies than The Sixth Sense or The Others, where the real world and the dimension where ghosts wander get mixed and cohabit, surely you will enjoy with this Orpokoti. Solid acting skills, solid script, solid scenarios and some breathtaking moments that surely will make you feel goose pimples.

Rating 4/5.

Categories
Albums Music

Tom Fuller Band – Abstract Man

{mosimage}From Chicago comes a good breeze of Beatlesque pop/rock released by the legendary US label Mesa/Bluemoon Records.

This is the first rock album released by Mesa/Bluemoon, well known in the past for their jazz artists. And obviously, it could not be any average album, but a little masterpiece called Abstract Man. Opposite to its title, the album is very focused on a pop/rock classy style that can remind you The Beatles or more contemporary bands from the British invasion like Oasis.

Easy going songs that catch you without effort,  uptempo songs that mix ballads with good doses or rock.  Radio Man is an excellent starting for an album well measured, and with a definitive personality and some taste from the new continent in tunes like Lollipop Guild or Only in America.

A little masterpiece that makes you travel to an unique Universe that exhales freedom, passion and sensibility. A must have for lovers or good rock with roots.

Rating 5/5.

Categories
Albums Music

Mar de Grises – Draining the Waterheart

{mosimage}From Chile with love, or better said, with Doom metal, come the 5 components of Mar de Grises.

The music of Mar de Grises suits very well with Finnish taste: dark metal with good doses of melancholy. No wonder that the South American band would be visiting recently the Finnish territory to play on live.  Four years after their first studio album, they release a good, more polished and solid work that is just collecting good critics and reviews from fans and publications all over the world. 

It is not easy from South American metal bands to jump the Atlantic Ocean and make a name in Europe , so it is doubly praising the risky attitudes of Juan, the vocalist, and his 4 fellows companions.  I must recognize that I am not a great fan myself of Doom metal style, and I prefer more classic melodic metal, but for those of you who vibrate with the dark side of the heavy music, no doubt you will enjoy with songs like Sleep Just One Dawn or Kilometros de Nada.

Good luck to the Chilean guys in all their future projects!

Rating 4/5.

Categories
Albums Music

Moon Madness – All in Between

{mosimage}Discover the harmonious voice of Heidi in this nice debut album.

From Tampere comes Moon Madness, a melodic metal band with a female singer, Heidi Bergbacka that can remind you for some moments to bands with similar style like Nightwish. They have been gaining experience touring around Finland with bands like Sonata Arctica, and now comes their first studio album: All in Between. 10 songs that sound mature and directly influenced by the old school metal that these guys have been listened all over the years (Iron Maiden, Stratovarius, Dream Theater…).

Songs like Torn or Too Much to Lose sound musically rich and catchy, and surely would aim at ranking very high at any metal top chart all over the world. The problem that Moon Madness has to face and try to accomplish is the eternal comparison, being a Finnish metal band with a female singer, with others like Nightwish themselves or new bands like Amberian Dawn.

All in all, a very good first effort for the “Tamperelaiset”,  an album well produced and easy to listen and gain a place in your CD collection.

Rating 4/5.

Categories
Cinema DVD

Bee Movie

{mosimage}Discover the sophisticated style of life of bees inside a modern hive in this new animation movie.

Barry is a bee who wants to take all the juice to his life and not being a simple worker in the hive. During his excursion in the outside world, he will get in contact with humans and end up fighting for the universal rights of the bees to own the honey and all the copyrights related to them. This is the plot of Bee Movie, the last animation product from Dreamworks, the creators of Shrek. The voice cast counts with an incredible list of names such as Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman or Kathy Bates.

Some sequences, like the hyper-fast flight of the bees around the park are totally breath-taking; it is incredible how animation technology has advance during the last years to create such a realistic and astonishing effects. There is also a couple of nice winks with the presence as animation characters of the special guests Sting and Ray Liotta. But the movie does not make you as addicted as Shrek. The characters lack of some “punch” and the jokes do not make you laugh so often. The directors wanted to create an animation movie that could cover at the same time comedy and serious aspects, but in the end they have lost ground with many other recent animation productions like Ratatouille, Meet the Robinsons or their own Shrek´s third part of the saga.

Not a bad effort though, and entertaining enough to watch in family, but not the best you can find in the extremely good animation movies scene of the last years.

Rating 3/5.

Categories
Cinema DVD

We Own the Night

{mosimage}Not the title of a vampire’s movie, but a thrilling drama with Joaquin Phoenix jumping on both sides of the law. 

Having Robert Duvall in the cast of a police thriller dealing with mafia and corruption is always synonym of good acting quality. If added to him, we find the great performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg (so far the times of Marky Mark…) and the Latin beauty of Eva Mendes, the ingredients for cooking a dish of good drama and thrilling action are perfectly disposed on the table. That is exactly what director James Gray achieves: a tasteful piece of cinema with characters that look real and authentic, torn by circumstances beyond their control (much more than what The Departed was able to achieve last year).

If we can find a “but”, maybe we should complain that the rhythm declines during the second part of the movie, and Joaquin Phoenix looks more plausible like a fast-living nightlife animal than as a responsible and family cop. Pretty recommendable and enjoyable for all of you who love a movie about gangsters, narcotics and dutiful policemen well made.

Rating 4/5.

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Antonio's blog Blogs

Great Mark!

 I take the train from Tampere on a boring Friday afternoon that soon will turn into an exciting one with the perspective of watching for first time live to Mark Knopfler, the legendary guitarist ex member of Dire Straits.

Already in my same wagon I hear and later join the conversation of two Spanish students who are heading also to the concert. Once in the capital, I head first to salute a friend who works as a waiter in Bar Loose. If you like rock music, you cannot miss this particular bar located in Fredrikinkatu, in the heart of Helsinki. It has a special atmosphere like not so many in Finland, a bohemian place where you can chat with interesting people from all over the world and from time to time share table with a rock star. Anyway, my visit (friends always go first) makes me arrive a bit late to the gig at Hartwall Arena, but once I am able to find my place in the middle of the dark (not particularly helped by the Finnish sense of amiability…) I am ready to enjoy a great show by the Scottish guitar hero, kindly surprised that he does not focus on his last record, Kill to get Crimson, although some of the most remarkable themes like True Love Will Never Fade are part of the set list, but makes a good tour to all over his discography, from his previous solo work, playing Sailing to Philadelphia, to the most expected classics: Romeo and Juliet and Sultans of Swing, with the audience totally on the edge of paroxysm at that point. 

Knopfler is accompanied by a selected group of excellent professional musicians and instrumentalists, and with a not very complex but effective scenario and lightning, is able to put the audience in his pocket.  During the encore, new vibrant moments with Brothers in Arms and So Far Away (at this time of the concert people forget about their seats and run to enjoy the song as close to the stage as possible) and the end that could not be missed, the instrumental Theme from Local Hero to put the cherry on top of the cake. A satisfied audience leaves the Arena, and for me, there is a boring trip of 2:30 hours waiting in the last train (not to Brooklyn but back to Tampere) at Pasila railway station.

Categories
Antonio's blog Blogs

10 Average answers

While doing albums reviews, here goes nonsense like any other I could have written. A compilation of average answers we receive when making interviews. For you, young musician who can face in the future the questions of FREE! Magazine!

1. This is the best album we have ever done.

2. Last gig was excellent! ; full of energy.

3. The audience is not cold. They just have a different approach to the music.

4. We do not have any influence from other bands. We just create the music we want.

5. I like all the songs of the new album equally. They are all my babies.

6. The record company is doing an amazing job.

7. We do not pay attention to the copies sold of the album.

8. I find inspiration from the things that happen around me.

9. We have not changed our style.

10. People did not understand that album when it was released. But it was a great album. 

Now I only need to learn to play guitar, and I am ready to hit the road!

Categories
Cinema DVD

Raja 1918

{mosimage}An emotive historical drama that shows the difficulties of setting a border with Russia after the Finnish Civil War.

Directed by Lauri Törhöhen, and with script of Aleksi Bardy, Raja 1918 is one of the most ambitious projects of Finnish cinema during last year; an epic historical drama that narrates the times of the formation of the new border with Russia after the victory of the Whites in the fratricide Finnish Civil War. To that area is sent a young official of the Finnish army, Carl von Munck (Martin Bahne) who finds himself alienated in a rural area that has had contact with Russia, with no understanding of official borders, for generations. There he will meet and fall in love with a teacher, Minna Haapkylä that happens to hide and be the girlfriend of one of the most wanted outlaws left from the civil confrontation, the wounded Tommi Korpela.

A complex script that involves the mix of Swedish, Finnish and Russian languages, and a naïve Martin Bahne that tries to find his place in the same way that young Finland tries to find its own identity, including brand new flag. The promising start of the film is not kept all along the action, and the quality decreases towards the end of the movie. Some delightful moments, as the special relation of von Munck with his Russian comrade and keeper of the Russian border find a counterpart in some extravagant situations like the final escape of the naked prisoners from the barracks. Especial mention to the short appearance of the most famous foreigner in Finland, who seems to be everywhere, from dancing with stars to writing books: Roman Schatz. 

Bahne´s interpretation is convincing, but the chemistry in the love relation with Miss Lintu (Haapkylä) does not work as well as expected. Not a bad movie though, and highly recommended for understanding a bit better one of the crucial historical moments of Finland.

Rating 3/5.

Categories
Cinema DVD

The assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

{mosimage}Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck deliver one of the best interpretative duels of the last year in this epic unconventional western.

Directed by the relatively unknown Andrew Dominik and produced by the very well known Ridley Scott, the movie is a little masterpiece not easy to digest from the first moment. Actually, I must recognize that I did not enjoy it much the first time I saw it, but I got totally trapped when I gave it a second chance.

Far from the conventional westerns full of action, bullets and thirst to kill or to get killed, the present movie turns into the epic interpretations of Pitt as outlaw Jesse James and his young follower and final assassin, Robert Ford. Both give a supreme lesson during the 2 hours and 40 minutes of the film; Pitt, a silence, maniac, depressed and slippery bandit while Affleck performs so sharply his role as the shy James fan turned into traitor and coward assassin that makes you even feel uneasy and uncomfortable while sitting contemplating his appearances. 

Do not get mistaken, the 2 hours and 40 minutes do not pass by fast, on the other hand the dialogues and action go slowly but smoothly, and every sequence has its meaning. Added to all this, the superb and melancholic soundtrack by Nick Cave (who makes also a cameo) that clearly explains with no need of words that this is not about a happy story with a happy ending. Excellent psychological portrait of men advocated to being what they did not want to be.

Rating 5/5.

Categories
Features Music

Alpha Female

Norwegian Animal Alpha is another good example of the high quality of the bands coming from the northern neighboring Nordic country. Their last album:  You Pay for The Whole Seat but You´ll Only Need the Edge has been widely praised by Finnish music press and ranked at the top of the charts. The guys paid a visit to Finland for a couple of gigs in Tampere and Helsinki, and we had the chance to chat with 3 of its members a few hours before their first show at Yo-Yalo.

If you can have doubts about the role of every member in a rock band, that is not the case for Animal Alpha. While sitting in the backstage of Yo-Talo (one of the mythical venues for small and mid-size gigs in Tampere together with Klubi) sipping a cold beer, it is easy to catalogue Christian, the guitar player, as the brain and leader of Animal Alpha, while Agnete, the singer, remains as the shy, sensual and mysterious muse that lends her amazing voice and Lars, the bass player, acting as the most social, outspoken and friendly of the three. Apart from admiring the collection of graffiti that overwhelms the walls of the messy small backstage, we also have time for a nice dialogue while the band is waiting for some technical problems to be solved to perform the sound check.

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Opposite to what happen to most of the ands that try to find their place in the difficult business of rock music, Animal Alpha did not have problem in signing their first contract for producing Pheromones (2005), their first album. They had a dozen of record companies offering them deals, until they chose one of the smallest ones: Racing Junior “We were playing a lot around Oslo, and we also were the winners of a context for new bands. That made things easier. It was more about spreading the word from people who knew us” explains Lars, their bass player. Certainly success came quick, having the single Bundy chosen to appear in some videogames of mainstream company Electronic Arts. “I have never played to any of those videogames, so I have no idea how sounds there” recognizes Agnete, but Christian promptly pinpoints “Well, when I play and I listen to our songs, I think that makes me even score more and faster!”

Their new album (with that long and weird title extracted from a TV series) counted with the help of Dave Collins mixing in Los Angeles, and certainly, with only 8 tracks (and not for lack of more songs, as the band reckons) is doing pretty well so far. Animal Alpha are not afraid of the direct contact with their fans and audience, and that risky attitude can be seen when watching the performance of Agnete on stage, or in other details as the meeting they have with the public a few months ago, when everyone could choose what to pay for their album. Radiohead´s attitude taking to a new level: “It was more like a meeting with the fans, since most of the people came to greet us or get their albums signed. In general the response was very good” recalls Lars. “There was even somebody who paid like 50 euro! But well, there was another who did not want to pay anything”.

"Finland really feels like our second home" – Animal Alpha-

Guitar player Christian has a lot to say about the style and direction of the band, for example, he was the one who met Agnete and got impressed with her talent, and who decided that lyrics should be in English instead of Norwegian. But there is no doubt that is the special voice and skills of Agnete that are making Animal Alpha a name in the international rock scene “Well, as one of my influences I could name Faith no More. I always liked Mike Patton a lot” the singer tells us.

Coming from Norway, the band does not certainly feel alienated at all in Finland, quite the opposite “Finland is like our second home. That is totally true. We feel very comfortable here. The reaction of the audience is very similar to what happens in Norway” say the members of Animal Alpha, who will be soon playing again in Finnish land in Jurassic Rock festival in Mikkeli.

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The concert starts some hours later delayed due to some problems with the backline. Sinamore opens for an audience that takes it easy sitting on the tables enjoying their dreams. That turns the atmosphere a bit cold, although the guys deliver a good show of heavy metal. A good general impression, especially from their guitar player Tommi and their drummer Miika, but the singer Mikko Heikkilä shows some ups and downs in his vocal skills.

While being afraid that the cold atmosphere can get repeated with Animal Alpha, the venue gets totally transformed once that Agnete is on stage. Nobody would be able to recognize the shy girl we chatted with a few hours ago from the woman who stands on stage on a metal box, disguised like the younger sister of Bitelchus and screaming full of rage, smiling maliciously at the audience and even throwing herself to the floor in front of the first rows. The audience immediately responds and fills the empty space in front of the stage, and there is a great chemistry all over the show with the band.  You pay for the whole concert ticket, but you only need to be in the first row to appreciate the good manners of these Norwegian that have yet a lot to offer.

 

Photos: Eduardo Alonso