Thunderstone Interview

Over the years, the music of Thunderstone has evolved from more roots-based metal into expanding territories as the band aim to put their unique signature upon the heavy metal field. Bassist Titus Hjelm, who also provides a portion of the powerful backing harmonies that you'll hear on the band's latest Nuclear Blast effort, "Tools Of Destruction" speaks about the relationships between band members and upon the craft as well, as only a true heavy metal artisan can.

The Gauntlet: You tend to stick to very traditional metal themes on your albums. What elements must every Thunderstone contain in order to be considered worthy of one of your records?

Titus Hjelm: When it comes to songwriting, we're initially not so much concerned about what genre (traditional, power, what have you) the song represents. If the tune has a good groove and a killer vocal melody, then it is the stuff we want to use. Every song becomes a Thunderstone song in the arrangement phase when we all add our own elements. That's why basically a riff that might pass for Fear Factory ends up sounding like us.

The Gauntlet: From a stylistic point of view, the guitars seem very progressive during the solos and melody breaks, taking on an updated Yngwie/ Vivian Campbell type of vibe. There definitely seems to be a bit of classical influence behind the structure of the scales and arpeggios. Why do you choose this type of approach? Are the melodic elements inherent in your music intended to provide balance to the grooving, traditional heavy metal riffs?

Titus Hjelm: You could say so, but I'd say that this is one thing we have more and more grown out of. Not that we've dispensed totally with the "neoclassical" stuff, but compared to the first album there has been a definitive move away from that more flashy guitar stuff. But like I said, it's nothing that we consciously wanted to get rid of, we've just more or less grown out of it.

The Gauntlet: What was the most memorable occurrence in the studio this time around?

Titus Hjelm: It's hard to point to one specific thing. Overall, this was the most stressing album to make so far. Everybody seemed to lose their nerve at some point. Perhaps the relief of "we made it after all!" was the best part, hahaha.

The Gauntlet: Does the band tend to get involved with the record from an engineering/production standpoint or do you instead stick to the performance aspect of things?

Titus Hjelm: Our guitarist Nino has engineered and produced all of our albums, so we are very much involved. He even mixed the last one, so all of the stuff is basically "home made." Although Nino bears the worst burden, we all tend to contribute as much as we can. For example, I might have some production ideas for the songs I have written, and so on. It's a team effort.

The Gauntlet: What types of factors went into the songwriting for "Tools Of Destruction?" Was there anything that you specifically changed in regard to your songwriting on this record?

Titus Hjelm: We decided to start writing early this time, but ended up scraping some songs together while others were already being mixed. Apart from that there weren't any significant changes. As you can see, there was only a little over a year between "Tools" and the previous album and we even managed to do a tour and play festivals between all that. But I hope we can experiment with some new songwriting strategies on the next one.

The Gauntlet: As you progress in your career does it become easier for you to put an album together?

Titus Hjelm: Yes and no. Yes in the sense that we have grown as a unit so we know our strengths better. No in the sense that every recording/songwriting session is dependent on so many different variables that it is very difficult to predict the overall progress and mood. If somebody happens to have a bad week, it affects all of us, and so on.

The Gauntlet: How did the song "Another Time" come into being?

Titus Hjelm: I can't really tell you for sure, because it's Nino's song, but I remember that it was one of the last ones we put together. The compulsory ballad, ha-ha. But still, I love the song!

The Gauntlet: What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of being a professional musician?

Titus Hjelm: Since we are professionally involved in other stuff too, the shit money that this business makes doesn't bother us so much. Otherwise that must have been on the top of the list. That notwithstanding, it is sometimes frustrating to see that we you want to go forward full on, there are things hindering us that we can't affect in any way. When you move beyond the demo stage you become increasingly dependent on other people for your success, and although we have been blessed with wonderful business partners in that sense, it still is sometimes frustrating. And then there are the perpetual hangovers. But I guess I shouldn't complain - it's self-inflicted anyway.

The Gauntlet: Do you think that it is important for musicians to be concerned with theory and technical ability rather than simply making music by your own rules and allowing the emotion to guide the direction of the song?

Titus Hjelm: It is good to know some theory but that, like technique, is only the means to an end, which should be good songs. One thing about the metal scene is disturbing though: there are so many so goddamn great musicians to emulate that many young bands end up sounding like shit because their technical ability just doesn't match that of their idols. It wouldn't be a problem if they would understand the situation and start playing something they are comfortable with. That is at least what we do. You will always sound better as a band playing simple music to the best of your abilities than playing complicated music like shit.

The Gauntlet: What do you have planned as far as touring goes for the remainder of 2005?

Titus Hjelm: We have some Finnish gigs coming up later in the fall, a quick visit to Switzerland in November - our first headlining show outside Finland, by the way, and in December we will embark on our first European headlining tour. All of the dates are not confirmed yet, but will be announced soon.

The Gauntlet: Are there any bands in particular that you are partial towards touring with?

Titus Hjelm: We are doing the upcoming tour with Swiss band Crystal Ball, who seem like a nice bunch of rockers. But of course I wouldn't mind touring with some of my own idols, such as Kiss, Whitesnake, Deep Purple etc., ha-ha.

The Gauntlet: Do you feel that the group could reach a wider level of acceptance if there were more radio stations that were partial toward playing metal?

Titus Hjelm: Radio stations have to have listeners too so that depends on the crowd they are catering to. Finland is a funny exception, because here metal is played on almost all mainstream stations (excluding the R&B and hip hop crap stations). Anyway, I can't see anything bad with more stations playing metal.

The Gauntlet: What are the elements that you deem to be necessary in order to make a great song?

Titus Hjelm: I guess I more or less answered that in the first question (I'm having doubts now if I understood it correctly. There seems to be a noun missing at some point, by the way...)?

The Gauntlet: What can metal fans expect from Thunderstone in 2006?

Titus Hjelm: A new album in the fall most likely, perhaps touring, festival gigs and the usual stuff. And most importantly: heavy drinking & heavy metal!