Norther - Interview Dani / V.U. and Petri Lindroos / Norther
After the terrific new album ( you can read our review about that ) there´s one question now: will the finns with “Till Death Unties Us” finally be able to step out of the shadow of Children Of Bodom? I had the opportunity to do an interview with obviously good-humoured Petri ... so what are you waiting for? ... read ...
V.U.: Hello Petri! Nice to have the possibility to do an interview with You.
At first I want to congratulate You for the success of Your single “Scream” which started with 3rd place at official finnish singlecharts.
Did You count on such a success of this single-release or are You surprised now ?
PETRI :Hey there, we were hoping that the single would go high but we wasnt expecting that it would go so high!!! Our album went straight to number 6 and that was a big suprise to us!!! But, what can do!!!Heh...It´s a good album!!!
V.U.: Please tell us something about the “birth” of NORTHER ...
How did You find all the bandmembers for NORTHER ?
Did You already know the guys before NORTHER was formed ?
And what did You do before You formed NORTHER ?
PETRI :Me and Toni (x-drummer) formed this band in 1996 when we were in same class in school, we started to play together and after a while we founded another guitarist who played with us few years and then he left the band and the same time Jukka Koskinen played also with us for some time. Jukka had some other bands too so he didnt have time to play with us anymore...After a while playing just with Toni, we founded Kristian Ranta who became a full-time member of this band and i knew already Tuomas Planman from my school and he was interested about our band and so he came along too, then we asked Jukka to join us again and he did!!! So here is Norther´s history in a nut-shell...Before that, I didnt do anything that might interest you or anyone else!!!
V.U.: How has Heikki fitted into the band ?
PETRI :He fits very well to Norther´s drum-chair, he is young and he loves to play live very much and also he is kicking our asses to come to rehearsals too!!! When he came to the first audition, he brought a 6-pack of beer with him so we knew from that minute that he is the one!!!
V.U.: Who at NORTHER is responsible for songwriting ?
And is there some kind of “bandleader” at NORTHER ?
From where do You take the ideas for Your lyrics ?
PETRI : We all wrote songs for “Till Death Unites Us” but Kristian wrote most of the songs. We never have arguments about who write´s the songs, if the song is good, we gonna keep it!!!
From my opinion, we dont have a “bandleader”, we do all together in the end.
Mainly our lyrics are pure fiction and full of “black-humor” in a way but some parts are true more or less. My lyrics personally are from my own imagination, I dont take ideas anywhere else to my songs.
V.U. : Which bands are influences for NORTHER´s musical style ?
PETRI : Wow, would take a life-time to mention them all but its hard to say for me behalf of us all!! Here is few: Slayer, Pantera, Skid Row, Megadeth, Metallica, Sentenced etc...
V.U. : Are You already able to live on the profit NORTHER offers to You ?
If NOT : what are Your professions ?
PETRI: No, Norther is not yet so big band in the world that any of us could live from it but that is one of our dreams!!!! So buy our albums and support Norther!!!
I dont have any kinda profession cos i dropped out from school and started to play guitar, that is what i love to do!!!
V.U. : Petri, You´re also involved in ENSIFERUM.
Where do You prioritize if in one of the bands due to more success has to be invested all Your time You´re able to give ?
PETRI : I say that both are nro1 to me and i want to do everything that is possible with both bands!!! And right now Norther and Ensiferum are taking all of my time and that suits for me very well cos i was born to rock this world!!!ha...
V.U. : Since 25.01.06 Your homepage has the new outfit fitting perfectly to the layout of “Till Death Unites Us”.
In how far was it able to involve Your wishes concerning artwork - or didn´t You have any special wishes ?
PETRI : I didnt play a big part of planning the artwork for “Till Death Unites Us” but we wanted definetly more colorfull cover than on the previous albums and we got that!!! We had few ideas for the cover and we all liked the movie “Constantin” so we wanted to have “the Hell” to this albums cover and it is like that!!! We love it!!!
V.U. : Are there any tour-plans concerning Germany for this year yet ?
Fans are already waiting cause Your last tour was 3 years ago except for last year´s Summer Breeze. Surely it seems to be hard to tour with NORTHER cause You´re going on tour with ENSIFERUM this year ...
And also the fans here in Germany have to be pointed to Your perfect music at Your new release ...
PETRI : We are checking out european-tours at the moment and soon as we find the right one, we will be there!!! It might take a while but please, be patient cos we will kick your ass on stage!!!
V.U. : Tell me about the best and the worst that ever happened to You when You were touring ...
PETRI : that is a hard one?!! The best thing might be the free booze everywhere (we love to drink alots) and the worst thing is when we run out of booze in the middle of the night and we cant get more anywhere!!! That sucks!!!
V.U. : What do You like most to raise Your glasses with after a gig ?
In Germany it´s surely german beer ... :-)
PETRI : To a good show mainly but in Germany it is definetly german BEER!!!!
V.U. : Is there some kind of rivalry in Finland between bands which play the same kind of music as You do ?
PETRI : No, I havent noticed any kind of rivalry between bands cos it is totally pointless. We all know each other more or less cos Finland is a small country so why be pissed off to some band that happens to play same kind of music. There is a lot of bands in the world who plays same kind of metal that we do and we are not pissed off to them either...
V.U. : What do You think about when a band – like this year Lordi – takes part at pre-selection for Grand-Prix de la Eurovision ?
Could You also imagine to do this ?
PETRI : NO FUCKING WAY,NEVER!!!! I will never submit myself to play play-back gig!!!! I only feel sorry for Lordi cos they wont be succesfull in that pre-selection anyway. I actually i dont give a fuck!!!
V.U. : In the end it´s time for Your last words – for now J - to the readers of Visions-Underground ...
PETRI : Thank you all and dont stay underground, get your asses to the surface and buy our new album or...something...I dont know what but ill figure out something...maybe...
V.U. : PETRI, I thank You very much for taking the time to answer my questions.
Wish You all the best and hope to see You live soon ...
Dani Zechel-Heise / V.U.
Petri Lindroos / Norther weitere Interviews »»
