Category: Music

FREE! Magazine is honored in publishing this interview (that appeared originally in our partner´s website www.hardblast.com)  with this great artist, Liv Kristine, lead singer of the German band LEAVES EYES.  With her former band, THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, Liv created a new style, a new concept in heavy metal that used to be called 'Beauty and the Beast', mixing her sweet voice with a man´s guttural and aggressive singing. What makes her so different? She was the first lead singer and not a background one. Until the band´s debut in 1994, there is no record of female leading singers on this specific style of doom metal.

LEAVES EYES is getting ready to release a new album, NJORD, produced by Liv´s husband and band partner Alexander Krull and here you will read everything about it besides knowing a little more about this great and admirable person, owner of huge culture, great ideas, intelligence and talent.I hope you enjoy it! Stay rock!  

You showed up to the world singing in the band Theatre of Tragedy in 1994 and created a new style that in those years was called "the Beauty and the Beast". You  were sharing your sweet vocals with the guttural and aggressive man´s voice of your band partner and was the first woman to do leading vocals and not only a background in this kind of band. It was a mix of heavy metal, death metal and classical elements with a lot of atmosphere and has influenced many other bands. What has inspired you to create this style?

I actually grew up with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Iron Maiden, and later I discovered Paradise Lost, Anathema, Cathedral and Type O Negative, so I've kind of always been into metal. On the other hand, I learned to love Edvard Grieg, Bach, Tchaikovsky and Mozart from a very young age. I mainly formed Theatre of Tragedy with my ex-boyfriend back in 1994 to be able to combine classical music and metal. we were pretty amazed by the songs that came out ourselves, and suddenly European labels and fans opened up their eyes. I believe we were probably the first ones to do this kind of musical constellation, especially the beauty and the beast image and the set-up of contrasting elements in metal. Some yearsago I had a nice chat with Tuomas from Nightwish. He told me that Theatre of Tragedy was his inspiration for founding Nightwish – and that really touched my heart!

When did you realize that even though you´ve got a very sweet voice you could be a Metal singer?

Well, I sang along to Black Sabbath when I was a little girl, and I spent hours in front of the mirror with my hairbrush practicing, when the other kids were playing at the play ground. i was pretty sure at the age of seven that I would some day be singing in a metal band on big stages. That was the wish of my heart, and my wish was obviously heard!

What has attracted you to music?

Singing and composing is something I've done since I was five or six years old. I learned to sing before I talked properly. I am sure I got attracted to music inside my mothers belly, because siblings are able to hear inside their mother's womb. My son, Leon, was born only 3 hours after I had finished my vocal recordings for "Lovelorn", the Leaves' Eyes debut.Believe me, he knew these songs by heart even before he was born. This music has a very calming, dream-like and positive effect on him.

Unfortunately we cannot see a large number of women really working as musicians in the rock scene. What do you think about it? Did you suffer or still suffering prejudice?

Lita Ford and Joan Jet were probably the first women in metal who stood up against all those predicting, conservative complaints. They certainly opened up for us who came a few years later. However, after the release of the first Theatre of Tragedy album, some journalists were upset about my strong presence in the band's music ("Liv kristine should better
do backing vocals"). Anyway, the fans voted for the band to be the "band of the year" in a number of magazines, and that really made me happy. Rock attitude in music should be non-sexual! Today, I am very lucky; the men I am surrounded by (e.g. musicians, journalists, fans, crew) are wonderful guys. On one hand I am the "boss", we even compete each other doing push-ups on the tour bus or I beat them in running or swimming. On the other hand, at home in the studio I love to bake and cook for the guys, and I'm always there if someone needs to talk. They are like my family (they use to say "thanks, Mum").

If you could make a short brief talking about you career along these years, what would you say to us?

I would say that I've worked extremely hard, however, I've been very lucky. I've got a fantastic support from my fans and friends from the very first moment I entered a stage in public. This is the essential power that has kept me going on and loving music when times were extremely tough. One label even tried to make me stop singing and went to court to crush my personality and singing voice. After this, I've really learned to see how cruel the music business is. it's all about money. Some people obviously saw me as a nice and friendly, naive, young Norwegian blond with a huge dollar sign on my forehead. Nowadays I sing, write lyrics and compose only what comes from the heart, for my fans, friends, and for myself. Entering the charts is an enormous bonus, however, first of all I need to be in
balance with myself and feel good with what I'm doing.

“Tuomas from Nithwish told me that Theatre of Tragedy was his inspiration for forming his band. That really touched my heart!" – Liv Kristine –

Tell us some of the best and memorable moments of your career, some of your big hits!

The release of the first Theatre of Tragedy album, secondly, years later the recordings during my pregnancy and the release of "Lovelorn" (the Leaves' Eyes debut). Being nominated for the American Grammy with Cradle of Filth's duet "Nymphetamine" was one of the highlights, too.

What´s the daily routine of Liv Kristine the mother, the wife, the rockstar?

Well, my day starts with a cup of tea, and then I go for a run through the forest and pick up some fresh bread at the bakery shop on my way back. Then I wake up Alexander and Leon and we'll have breakfast together. I'll be busy in the studio until I pick up my son from school. Then I cook dinner for everybody and we spend the rest of the day together playing,
visiting friends, going for a swim or playing drums. Yes, the laundry and cleaning the house and the studio is part of my daily dues, of course. There is little time for shopping, actually. I sometimes do that on tour if I need to get away from tour life.

What advices would you give to those who intend to follow the same path you did?

Listen to your own heart and wishes! Listen to what you inner voice is telling you about whom to trust and whom to better keep a distance towards. But you should open up for advices, and consider them, if they come from honest and friendly people.

Which bands or solo artists do you admire most? (not necessary to be rock)

Ozzy, Madonna, Liza Gerrard, Enya, Dio, Devon Graves (Dead Soul Tribe) and Tarja.

I don´t know if you´ve got a play list but could you tell us your moment top 5?

Soundtrack to Madagascar 1 and 2, soundtrack to "Chocolat", the latest albums of Midnattsol and Lamb of God.

Leaves Eyes is on studio now recording a new album. When will it be released? What can you tell us about it?

This album "Njord" (producer: my husband Alexander Krull) has a power to it that even is more intense than any previous production I've been part of. Technically, we constantly have new ideas and aims. We have our own studio and therefore we have the opportunity to specialize in technical tasks concerning album and DVD productions. "Njord" has even a more bombastic but delicate sound that "Vinland Saga", because techniques allows it. We recorded the classical parts in Minsk (Lingua Mortis, supervised by Victor Smolkski), we had a complete local choir (Al Dente) singing the choir parts, a special artist playing solos on special instruments like the uillean pipe and the whistle. The lyrics are written in eh…8 languages (English, middle-high German, old-English, Gaelic, Norwegian, Icelandic, French and one "self-made" fictional language)…I even sat down to study a bit French to be able to write one French lyric. Yes, "Njord" was an even more complicated recording process than the album before, but that is part of our work as artists and composers – always getting better!
Concerning the concept, I've used two main sources for my lyrics; northern mythology and the Viking's history. The lyrics mainly deal with characters from northern mythology (e.g. Njord, Fröya'sTheme, Nine Wave Maidens, Ragnarok,), or with places and historical happenings (e.g. Scarborough Fair, The Battle of Maldon, Emerald Island, Irish Rain, Les Champs de Lavande). This is why I found it necessary to deal with all these different languages. "Vinland Saga" is based on Leif Ericsson's discovery of America, even the EP, Legend Land, which followed soon thereafter. "Njord" has a much broader concept.

Summer is coming in Europe and the concerts season too! Will you go on a tour?

We'll have to consider if we tour Europe or America first. Anyway, a tour will come up in autumn, spring this year. Now I have already started the recordings of my solo album. which I want to finish first.

Please, leave a message to your fans!

Thank you ever so much for being with me through all these years!

The author wants to thank Liv Kristine for being so lovely and Ben Aichelburg of Napalm Records for intermediating this interview. We´re honored by your support.

For more interesting features and articles about metal, you can visit our partners`site at:

http://www.hardblast.com

In less than half a decade, Sunrise Avenue has achieved what most of the new Finnish pop-rock bands just dream about: an astonishing international success with a second studio album just recently released into the market: Popgasm. Samu Haber, their charismatic lead singer, had time while travelling around Germany to kindly answer our questions and give opinions about the superfast growth of the band, the expectations for the future or the internal painful changes that they experienced when Janne did not continue with them.

Hello Samu and thanks a lot for answering our questions. What can you tell us about the new second album of the band Popgasm? Any favorite tracks?

Well… sure you have your favorite tracks but since we made all the songs on PopGasm with the guys, all the songs are like our babies and therefore it’s impossible to rank them that clear. Maybe Welcome to My Life is the track if I have to pick one. It’s such an honest description of my life.

Was it easier now to work again together with producer Jukka Backlund?

Working with Jukka is never easy, but that is the catch ;) He is a personality that flies around the room and you just gotta wait for the results to come out from him. Sure we knew us better now but getting too close to the producer is not always only a good thing. It’s a great thing that he left the band and is now focusing on production.

You got an amazing success with your debut album. Do you feel now like being “on the way to wonderland” in real life? Were you expecting so many good sales and audience’s response when you started with the band?

No, honestly I didn’t. I was hoping that music could become as my career and it did. But it got far bigger than I ever let myself dream. Sure I believed that if all the winds blow our way, we could go very far, just like now with the second album. But it’s always up to 50% luck anyway, so the best you can do is do your best and see what comes.

Every month dozens of new Finnish rock bands release their debut albums. The market is overcrowded. What is the formula and advices you can give to connect so quickly and successfully with the public as Sunrise Avenue did from the beginning?

There is no recipe. You just gotta try hard and try to make your own thing. The copy-cats who copy bands that are already famous, are pathetic.

Getting such doses of fame and recognition in such a relatively short period of time… Do you notice that has affected you in any way as human being? I mean, do you have the case that friends or relatives could tell you things like “now you are an asshole and you have changed a lot”, or do you think you keep your feet on the earth as a good Finn?

No. Not really. Some of the people you used to know want to have a little piece of your success and the story by hanging next to you at the clubs but I personally hate those wannabe’s. They wanna introduce you to all their friends and they think it’s cool. Sad. The REAL friends haven’t changed their behavior at all and that is something that makes me really happy. And if I’d ever start behaving like a “super star” I know my real friends would kick my ass BIG time! That is their job in all this and I know they’d do it for my own best.

You released a live DVD Live in Wonderland shot in Germany during your first tour. Was not risky to launch such a product with only one studio album released? Why you did not want to wait longer to do it?

Risk… This business is only full of risky moves. I think the experience was extremely great for all of us and actually I guess the DVD made it pretty ok in the stores too.

In the DVD “Live in Wonderland” I remember there was a comment that alcohol was not allowed during the tour for the members. Is that true? Do you have “dry” law when touring, or was more a joke? Who drinks the most at the band?

That was just a joke. We don’t actually party on tour because that would make the next day’s show pretty painful. But at the end of the tour there’s usually the “GRANDE FINALE” party. And that is something we need to have. Between show days I usually have a glass of wine and go to bed.

I just read in your tour blog that you smashed your head in the Provinssirock gig. How is your forehead looking now?

It looks amazingly good. I just removed the stitches last night and you can barely notice the scratch because I have my hair on it. I will have a memory from Provinssi Rock 2009 forever on my face. That’s cool.

You seem to enjoy writing and sharing thoughts through Internet with the audience. Do you find all the free time you need to write? What other hobbies do you have when you are not on the road?

I usually write the blogs on the plane. You have nothing but time there and I write stuff in the air and then go through it quickly at home. It had become this kind of as therapy thing for me. I sleep better if I let out everything that has happened the last few days. I love sports. I try to go to gym 5 times a week. Also team sports. Ice Hockey is the best. Unfortunately there’s not that much time for that now.

I know the band is pretty big in Germany, and I suppose you are thankful to the fans there, but what other venues do you especially like to visit when playing? And in what places would you like to tour but still have not had the chance?

Yes, the Germans have been very nice to as at least so far. We love to play anywhere where they want to hear us. We have had super great experiences all over and we have learned that the good and loud audience can be waiting for you anywhere.

We had an interview with the ex-member of Sunrise Avenue Janne Kärkkäinen. Maybe it is a topic you do not want to talk much about, but with the perspective of time, is there anything you want to comment about his leave from the band? Have you had the chance to listen to his new project Phoenix Effect?

It was the hardest decision I have ever made and it hurt me like hell before and especially after. I was really broken for more than a year and I am very thankful for the people who stood by me and us. Everything is much better as a team and also musically in the band now. I just wish the guy could grow up and accept what happened. It’s been 2 years. I have only heard “Broken Promises” but sure it’s pretty hard for me to evaluate his stuff without feelings being mixed. I honestly wish Janne and Phoenix Effect all the best from the bottom of my heart.

Janne out of the band was the hardest decision I have ever made…

I heard that the tattoo you have that says “Forever Yours” was due to a relation with a girl that did not work out. Is that true? How was the story? Do you think that you would do something like that again for another girl?

Yep. The tattoo was a replacement for an engagement ring. I don’t like rings and it doesn’t feel natural to wear one when I play the guitar. Yep, we were supposed to get married and all, but it went bad. We are luckily good friends now with her. I am just happy I didn’t tattoo her name on me. I hope I find someone someday who is worth another tattoo ;)

What are your future plans?

Now we are just promoting the new stuff and playing all the shows through the summer. Then in October we will start our European tour again and I guess that will go on until early next year with a break around the New Year, I hope.

Anything you want to add for the readers or that you would like me to have asked you?

Just the fact that I am writing the answers on a German highway and the speed is 230Km/hour.

Q&A with Samu Haber

Favorite gig played ever that you remember?

There has been so many so special. Maybe the first 5 shows with the new album now in Helsinki, Berlin, Zurich, Athens and Helsinki again. It made me believe that maybe not everybody has forgotten Sunrise avenue.

If you would not play with Sunrise Avenue, is there any other band you would like to have been a member of?

I can’t imagine anything else. This is the group I started when I was 16, so I will stick with it.

Craziest thing that has happened to you on and off stage?

I must say the craziest thing on stage is a few weeks ago when I smashed my own face with my own guitar. I seem to have a few more steps to become a pro ;) Off stage this 40+ drunken “lady” squeezed my balls very hard and it hurt like hell. I told her to bring her boyfriend to me because I don’t hit women… The boyfriend never came. I was very embarrassed afterwards but there’s a limit with everything. Even with me.

Do you think that is possible to reach an orgasm due to pop music?

I do. I have had it many times ;) Just relax and it’ll come.

Nicest thing that a fan has told you or done for you?

The guy who sold his house in the early days so we could pay for the studios. I will always owe one for Mr. Mikko Virtala.

Favorite place to chill out in Finland?

Our summerhouse. No internet, no phones. Just the nature and the family. You can be 110% yourself and nobody wants anything from you. I also love my home / house very much.

What sentence in Finnish language would you choose first to teach a foreigner?

“Ei se oo niin justiinsa” it means everything doesn’t have to be perfect. I love the phrase.

How many languages can you speak?

I speak Finnish & English pretty well; I can survive in Spanish and Swedish and a little German.

For more information about Sunrise Avenue, visit their official site:
www.sunriseave.com

Born in the small population of Elva (Estonia) in 1987, Kerli is a singer not afraid of big challenges. Young, talented, intelligent and beautiful, she decided to pursue her musical dream at a very tender age moving out of her native country to USA. Many put in doubt that she would ever achieve anything important, but the time and the effort seems to be paying off after the good success of her album Love is Dead. Although very busy, Kerli had some free time to answer the questions of FREE! Magazine about her past, present and future:

When you moved to USA, you were just 18. Was it difficult for you to leave friends, family, etc behind?

I actually moved to Sweden first, when I was 17 and to Los Angeles on my 20th birthday. I was sitting in my hotel room with two suitcases. One of them had a blanket in them and the other one had candleholders and some clothes. I sat there like this for a month and cried every day. It was really difficult at first but I never doubted that it was the right thing to do. I guess I sort of always knew that many sacrifices had to be made for me to become the best that I could be. I always felt like I was on some kind of a mission to make beautiful things and inspire people.

What were the most shocking things to discover in those first years abroad?

I never thought it was going to be easy but I never expected it to be this difficult, either. It was shocking to discover that a lot of people in high positions actually have no clue what they’re doing, so an artist has to do it all on their own. Los Angeles in itself is kind of shocking. I guess it’s the most weird that you will ever find. It can almost be scary how many broken dreams this city contains. And then there’s of course the fact that everything is BIG in America. It used to freak me out but now every time I travel to Europe, I get pissed about the small coffee cups. Hahaha. I got into many bad habits and was around many sad people but I wrote some good music.

Can you say that the feeling of loneliness shocked you?

I felt lonely but I’ve always felt so misunderstood that loneliness wasn’t much of a new thing.

How did you overcome it?

I didn’t. I escaped… meaning I got into many bad habits and was around many sad people until I realized my time on earth is too short to waste it on anything that doesn’t make me the best that I can be.

What else did you discover about yourself?

This isn’t even so much about me as it is about human nature I guess. I was standing outside a restaurant and had just broken up with my boyfriend. I didn’t know anyone and I had nowhere to go. I was so scared that it felt almost beautiful. Being scared of things and then overcoming them is one of the best things that can happen. It makes u push the limits and do things that you didn’t even know u were capable of.

Do you visit Estonia often?

About once or twice a year.

I happen to know your town Elva. Do you ever miss the contact with nature there? What is the best and the worst feature of the place, from your point of view?

I do miss the nature. The older I get the more I start appreciating the green forests. It's funny you start seeing things so different when you grow up. I think I'm a fairy, so I'm supposed to live in a forest.

And actually it seems that Elva is a great source for successful Estonian female singers in the recent years. Is there something in the water there that make girls be more interested in music?

Repression and pain is what makes u seek beauty I guess. And there's nothing more beautiful than art, in whatever form. I walked by a painter on the street today and he was surrounded with such great energy it instantly made my day.

Can you imagine yourself to live in a forest all the time?

Not all the time. I love the internet too much :). But if I could disappear for a couple of months with my recording gear, I’m pretty sure something beautiful could happen. I’m thinking of going to Siberia sometimes soon. Or Amazon..

What do you do to fulfill your wish to live in a forest? Or is it just an idea?

I want to make some great records that would touch many more people than just the ones I would meet in the forest, so I’ll stick around the big cities for awhile and make that happen. One day when I’m old, I will build a little hut inside a hill and decorate it with sparkling things and old charming furniture. I will write books and make tea to pilgrims who will travel to my house to get some insight and learn a few secrets about life.

You have commented in past interviews that in Estonia you were feeling a bit “in a box”, not free to show creativity. Do you still keep that feeling when you visit back, or do you notice changes in the mentality of the people?

Nothing ever changes there, that's why I can't live there. I really believe in constant change and growth. If I'm not better today than I was yesterday than my day is wasted. But I have started to realize how great my friends and family are here. They’re just such solid people.

Could you please explain in what sense do you mean ‘great’ and ‘solid’?

Solid as of real. They do what they say and when they say they love you it will stay that way. When I go home it’s just about the simple things. At the end of the day the only thing that is going to matter is how much you love and were loved.

Are you aware of what happens in Estonian music scene nowadays? If you would have to recommend any Estonian band or musician to a foreign listener, would you have some to choose?

We have so many talented musicians. Their shows and styling is getting better all the time. The world is so easy to access now; therefore u can't really ignore what's being done by the best artists in the world. So there's like a constant push to grow, which is really cool.I really like our rapper Chalice. He's the shizz. And our classical musicians of course.

“I really don´t know how to chill out at all”

In the artwork of your CDs and promotional pictures, you have a bit that image of “blonde femme fatale”. How is the real Kerli, when not working? Would people find you easier in a trendy club at night, or having a coffee with friends in the bar around the corner?

They would find me in my room writing music or working on something else. I really don't know how to chill out at all.

In your MySpace page I can see that you say that “it is not important the place where I am from”, but at the same time you have there pictures of your hometown. So… how is your real feeling when you think back of your home? Are you proud of being Estonian (or having been raised in Estonia influenced the way you are nowadays?), or do you prefer more to be considered more like a “citizen of the world”?

I think Estonians have some qualities I really admire. Like when they love you, they REALLY love you. They are good people. And I think that coming from nowhere and hopefully becoming a true citizen of the world is so much more challenging than growing up with all the great things. And I'm always up for a good challenge.

What could be your next challenge?

I want my next record to be bigger than the last one.

If somebody asks you when being abroad to teach them a word or a sentence in Estonian, which one do you choose?

Whichever one they ask about. They usually want to know the dirty ones.

Being still quite young, you have a lot of experience behind your back. Do you see yourself in the future living still in USA, or have you ever thought you would like to come back to your native country at some point of your life?

Not Estonia. Maybe I'm going to change my mind some day but right now it's just too small for me. I love  living in the US and being from some weird fantasy place next to Russia and just doing my thing in a place where everyone wants to become larger than life. It forces u to grow so much, so fast.

Do you think that for new young Estonian artists, are there chances to get their dreams staying in Estonia, or the music industry is so small there that there is no other way than emigrating?

I don't know. So much is online now. I don't think territory has anything to do with anything very soon. love wins. good music wins.

I heard that you were supposed to tour with the Finnish band The Rasmus this year, but it was finally cancelled. Can you explain a bit more about it?

Yeah, I would also like to apologize to all my fans who wanted to make it to the show. I was just about to leave to the airport when my label called and said they need me in the studio as soon as possible to work on my second album. I had all the outfits made and all… boooo!

What are your plans for the rest of 2009?

I'm working on the new album and hopefully can release it soon.

Anything else you want to add for the readers?

When love is your intention, nothing else matters.

“Q&A with Kerli

Favourite song ever?

Bjork, Joga

Alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks?

Non.

If a man wants to make you a nice present, what is better, flowers or candles?

Both, please! But flowers always work.

What is your most pleasant memory of your musical career so far?

Listening to my first album being mastered.

And any embarrassing moment?

My dress almost slipped down during a show. I had to hold it up the whole time to make sure my boobs weren’t showing.

How many languages can you speak?

2 and music.

For more information about Kerli, you can visit her official site:

www.kerlimusic.com