Finntroll Interview

Finnish folk metallers Finntroll recently ravaged six North American cities on their first ever US and Canadian performances. The Gauntlet caught up with Wilska, the band's half-man half-troll vocalist, for an exclusive interview.


The Gauntlet: Welcome to the United States. This is your first time here - are you guys excited to be playing in the US?

Wilska: Well naturally, we have been waiting to get here for a long time, and the fan response has been kind of overwhelming, and tonight promises to be good also. And always, getting to a new country - cannot complain.

The Gauntlet: Why such a short tour with Sodom, instead of staying with them for their entire tour or even headlining?

Wilska: Well, this was sort of like recon, just to do a few shows and see what the reaction is. This was the idea of our management. Of course I would have liked to stay here a lot longer, but...

The Gauntlet: Nattfodd has been out for about a year, and it seems a lot heavier than the band's older work - do you think that's because your voice is a bit harsher and deeper than Katla's, or would the material have been written like that either way?

Wilska: Yeah, we originally wanted it to be that way, a more rough album. It felt like we should go in that direction, a bit rougher with a not so polished sound. We also wanted to have a bit more of a live feel, we have been playing, since I joined, way more live than this band has ever done. So on the album we wanted that live vibe.

The Gauntlet: So on the album, as always with Finntroll, Finnish humppa music has been a great influence on the songs. Can you talk a little bit about the music and why it's important to the band?

Wilska: Well, it's something that is so present in Finnish culture all the time, and it fits so well into what we want to accomplish in this band. It's also sort of tied to the humorous aspect, and it's something original.

The Gauntlet: Now, the language on the albums is Swedish, not Finnish - is this pure Swedish or is there a different dialect spoken in Finland?
Wilska: Yeah, Finland is a bilingual country, and our old vocalist Katla was Swedish-speaking. Sort of like phonetics and the whole way Swedish sounds fits the music perfectly, and it sort of has some humor behind it. There has always been a friendly feud between Finland and Sweden, so the whole idea of a Finnish metal band singing in Swedish has that humor behind it.

The Gauntlet: Trollhorn hasn't been touring with the band lately. Is this just temporary or is he going to be a session-only member from now on?

Wilska: He will always be our musical director - every song that we write goes through the "Trollhorn filter." He just wanted to concentrate more on the songwriting and the production aspects. He never enjoyed touring that much, the whole harshness of it. And also recently he became a father, and wants to devote more time to his family of course, and all the other guys in the band just wanted to tour.

The Gauntlet: The Finnish metal scene is probably the most unique of any country in the world - even bands that have nothing to do with folk metal, it seems like there's always something about their music that's slightly related and makes them undeniably Finnish - why do you think this occurs?

Wilska: I think that when we grow up in Finland, with the music, we get a sort of fondness for Slavic melodies, and they come through in each band. It's just something that we get, growing up and listening to a lot of music.

The Gauntlet: Another thing about the Finnish metal scene is that it seems very tight-knit and that there are a lot of friendships and collaborations between different band members. Can you talk a little bit about some of the other projects you've been involved with - maybe Wizzard or Nightwish?

Wilska: Yeah, Wizzard was my older band. Everything basically started in that scene back in '94, I was in this older, darkish, folkish metal band called Nattvindens Grat with some of the guys who later formed Nightwish. And then that sort of faded out and we put out the Wizzard band with the guitar player for Nattvindens Grat, and then of course I did the vocals and crew work for Nightwish. Also I have done a lot of backup vocals for a lot of bands, perhaps because I used to live in this town with the studios where we did our albums, and a lot of bands come there. I speak a bit better English than average, so if they needed backup vocals or speeches or whatever. Yeah, the whole scene has always been this way, the whole country is only 5 million people so the metal scene is small but everybody kind of knows each other. And of course the summer festivals are always really cool because you get to see people from other bands. For example, last year we had a lot of gigs at the same festivals as Sonata Arctica, and there are some cool materials and videos from that. For example, at the festival Gates of Metal in Sweden at the end of the night we had a wrestling match which was Sonata Arctica against me.

The Gauntlet: All of them against you?

Wilska: Yeah, they lost.

The Gauntlet: Yeah, they're all smaller.

Wilska: Yeah, it's always cool to gather round, and because the scene is so small there are certain people who can do certain things, so naturally you call your friends first.

The Gauntlet: So of all the different people you've worked with, other Finnish musicians, who has been the most interesting to work with?

Wilska: Everyone is different - the whole Nightwish thing I really enjoyed, touring with them for a couple of years - I don't know, everyone is different. But for example also, Impaled Nazarene, they are good friends of ours.

The Gauntlet: And you shared a member at one point.

Wilska: Yes we did, and it would be fun to tour with them, but then again if we did no one would get out alive. It would be a nonstop 24-7 party.

The Gauntlet: Back to your music - when it comes to songwriting, what specific aspects of Finnish folklore come into play when you're writing your lyrics?

Wilska: We've always sort of had a mellow lyrical concept into which we incorporate the world of the trolls. There's a lot of influences from old folk tales, old fairy tales, and the whole idea of trolls who live in the forest - we've been told these stories our whole lives, as we grew up. And also I like metaphorical writing, with the trolls as the outsiders, and this helps us convey some of the more serious ideas. So instead of doing "fuck Christ, hail Satan," it's a bit more serious.

The Gauntlet: That leads into the next question - Finntroll's relationship to Christianity. At times it seems like there are some anti-Christian things, but they seem more mocking, not too serious.

Wilska: Let's say that I have nothing, as such, as people believing in things. The thing that I am against is dogmatic thinking - taking something sort of like "it's written here, so it's true" and not questioning things. That's the whole idea behind it, and the idea I want to convey is, just think for yourself. A lot of metal bands of course go for the "fuck this, fuck that."

The Gauntlet: What's the strangest thing that's ever happened to you guys while on tour?

Wilska: Oh, I could write a book about that. There are so many fucked up stories. Let's just say that when touring you find yourself in really weird places meeting strange people. I can tell you one really sad drinking story - nowadays we tend to let's say drink a bit less than we used to. When I was younger on tour it was like 24 hours a day, partying, going crazy. We were in Italy a few years back and let's just say I woke up the morning of the gig in a forest between the railroad tracks. I had no idea where I was, walked several kilometers through one field, met some locals - I don't speak Italian, just to say the name of the town. They flagged me a car and took me to the town. Finally I found our driver Angelo in the center of the town, who drove me back the same way, over the railroad tracks and into the hotel yard. I guess I had been blind drunk in the night, went out for a piss, and walked through this line of trees and then passed out, and because there was a thick line of trees I could not see the hotel and went in completely the opposite way.

The Gauntlet: If you could do a tour with one other band who you haven't toured with before, who would that be?

Wilska: I would have to say, this is just a personal preference, I would love to do a tour with Exodus. I have been a fan of that band since I was a kid, since the first album came out. We have bumped into those guys at a lot of festivals and they have always been great fucking people, and doing a tour with them would be just awesome. And we have been lucky that we have had the opportunity to play with bands that I personally look up to and I enjoy the music of. Like last year we toured with Napalm Death, and now with Sodom.

The Gauntlet: What are the band's plans in the future as far as recording goes?

Wilska: We are recording the new album this spring, gonna do summer festivals, and then the plan is to get the album released at the end of the summer.

The Gauntlet: Anything else you'd like to say to the fans, any last words?

Wilska: Thanks to all the guys who showed up for these shows and for making us feel totally welcome. Hopefully we can get back here really soon.


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Tags:  Finntroll  , Wilska, interviews

Andrew Sudano    January 08, 2006