interviuri rock

Waltari: crazy and unorthodoxical musical solutions

Waltari: crazy and unorthodoxical musical solutions
BANDS : Waltari

Waltari struck me as an amazing combination of genres, from their progressive backbone to the tinge of industrial, electro or even more mainstream genres (hip-hop on some albums – and don't be prejudicial, it still sounds ok:). So my interview will be a mixture of various themes which will give us a general impression about this band, so (unfairly) little known to Romanians. Basicly: they puzzled me, I do my best to puzzle the band leader - Kartsy.

 


Waltari

 

Metalfan: First and foremost: do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God / Allah / Lucifer / anyone else you feel ok with?
Kartsy: Of course i don`t promise! :) This is not a court, this is a chat!


On music

Metalfan: Although you showed signs of musical craziness earlier on, you unique style started to take shape (correct me if I'm wrong) with the albums So Fine and Big Bang ('94 and '95). What was it that shook your world in such a way back in the mid 90's?
Kartsy: I personally can`t find any exact date for our unique style to „take shape”. We started  late 80s as a post punk band with some hard rock influences as well as Frank Zappa-like entusiasm for weirdness, openmindness and crazyness in music. Our common musical interests at that time were bands like PIL, early Cult and Devo. Later came of course metal plus more rhythmic influences from Beastie Boys, Peppers and Prince.
From these times on it all has been a series of continual accidents, progression, rehearsing and falling in love with some new styles which had been coming up... of course, i can see a bigger and smaller steps depending on each year. Early 90´s we had, first time, a possibility to really concentrate on making music in studio, with our  3nd and 4th ones yes (the ones you mentioned) and we got aware of the huge technical possibilities in there... it was also the time when the technological part of making music started to arise. We were very enthusiastic about that fact as well.

Metalfan:You've sold out 8 shows (some sources say even 12) with your rock opera Evanghelicum in 1999. Were there 8 shows in a row? What other show at the Helsinki Opera managed to do that? Was it you and... Aida, maybe? :)
Kartsy: Yeah, 12 sold out shows during the period Oct.99-feb.00 . And yeah, funnily Evangelicum and Madame Butterfly were the most succesful projects in Finnish National Opera in year 99.

Metalfan: How about the earlier work - Yeah!Yeah! Die!Die! A Death Metal Symphony In Deep C? There's less info about that one...
Kartsy: Ok, strange thou, coz it has been even released as an official cd 96 and later re-issued on our dvd 05... that was an offer i got from Helsinki Festival Week (or should i say i offered that to them:), coz i knew one guy working in there). The concert was first held in Helsinki Aug.95 and due to the big artistic success it managed to be  recorded as a cd a year later. Since that it has been living strongly in net and other media as a pioneer work of death metal meets classical..funny thou.. i was just listening a lot of Morbid Angel at that time and had sure always had a dream about playing with an orchestra..like every ambitious rock band i think:). So, when i got the chance to it, i just combined these two ideas.

Metalfan: I dare say that if you were in a madhouse for musicians, you'd share a room with Devin Townsend and Mike Patton. Would you agree?
Kartsy: Yeah sure!! Patton is my all time favourite person, Devin’s stuff i don´t know so well... maybe i should check him out. On the other hand, compared to them, i personally feel myself composing much more as a melodic person, coz i´ve had a strong legacy of melodies coming from my childhood likings, from my pop-period, from the time before metal :). Since getting to know that part of music well, i´ve been for sure searching for the new musical adventures from the more „unknown” side of music, you know... atonal stuff and so...

Metalfan: As we've just reviewed your last album, I have one question about it: whose blood sample is this one?
Kartsy: I think its ours:)..this album is more mental than political statement for the freedom.

Metalfan: What can we expect from you in the near future - musically?
Kartsy: I think continuing with the same musical topic.....

 


Kärtsy Hatakka

 


On computer games

Metalfan: Is it true that you broke numerous records at Max Payne games?
Kartsy: Yes, the two games i was involved with sold more that 6 million copies worldwide.

Metalfan: Would you consider playing some real time strategy games? Maybe Warcraft or Starcraft?
Kartsy: No:)

Metalfan: Our editors at Metalfan play a game called Magic: The Gathering. Have you heard of it? If yes, what do you think of it?
Kartsy: No, i´m totally out nowadays from that scene. I think (also) in computer games a huge change should be needed, at least in the subjects of the games. What can be more boring than these eternal stragedy games for boys... c´mon, imagination, a bit more imagination please:)


On politics

Metalfan: At one point, some of the politicians in your country said they would leave Finland if Lordi wins the Eurovision competition. Did any of them actually leave?
Kartsy: Nono:) Contrary to that, heavy metal starts to be total main stream here... even the grandmas like Lordi nowadays:):)

Metalfan: At one point, you stated that the Finland joining the EU was a good thing for the music business. How about the other types of trade? How do you feel about the EU now?
Kartsy: I still think that the problems of this globe are nowadays more or less common ones.. so i think they should be solved together as well. Hiding inside the invisible „border” doesn´t help anybody anymore. You can´t really run away from dirty water or air... the problem is existing everywhere. Maybe i personally don´t like the idea of bringing ugly tasting poisoned tomatoes to here from Columbia, coz the Finnish ones taste much cleaner, but it´s the economical part of the cake which keeps the European blood running... and you have still a freedom of choice in the shops, you can choose whether you buy the domestic or international food! I still think that it´s also very short-sighed to try to escape the fact that the ugly tomatoes will be spread   wider and wider all the time if we don´t face together the common future health and  enviromental problems..the same principle goes with Irak war too, for sure.

 


Waltari


On drinking

Metalfan: Favorite beer? From the following brands: Koff, Lapin Kulta, Karhu, Karjala, Olvi.
Kartsy: Lapin Kulta... maybe i´ll have one just right now. Today, 1st May, it´s the official drinking day for workers called Vappu! Eeevveryboby drink!!

Metalfan: I'm sure you know the campaign for the Koff beer, where people act in their own houses as if they were in a bar. (for our readers, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PohYfs9JgfE or try searching Koff beer on youtube.com). Have you tried the beer? Does it actually give you "the bar feeling"?
Kartsy: No..but it is an effective commercial! Depending sure what you mean with „the bar feeling”:)? Sure the volume of music will be increased in home as well after some bottles..and, if you really go deep into the mud, into the deep level of normal Finnish people.. some strange things may happen.

Metalfan: Do you ocasionally take trips to Russia or the Baltics for tea-parties during the week-end? :)
Kartsy: Heh..maybe to Tallinn sometimes..but tea sure won´t be the issue then!

On Romania

Metalfan: Have you heard anything about it?
Kartsy: Too less to mention really... fuck my uncivilized manners coming from Finnish woods.

Metalfan: A message for your Romanian fans?
Kartsy: Yes sure! We, as a rock band Waltari, still seem to have a LOT to say to this narrow rock scene!! Maybe we have a bit irony and humour for sure, because it belongs to the purest rock attitude i think.
What we do is, on the other hand, a very serious statement for the cleanness of  making music in the honest way, and even a life general. If you feel like laughing you laugh, or if you feel like crying you dare to cry..to me this is the issue of making music..to reflect all the feelings you have, not only a part of it while leaving the other feelings hidden somewhere under cover, mostly due to the business or some stupid stylewise engangements. Fuck it, it’s not real..its a fake! The styles create boundaries, and WE TRY to fight against the boundaries, that is our mission!!  Everyone has
everything in their hearts..why not let it all out in a form of the limitless rock band!..the whole world could be a much better place to live this way goddammit.:)
Secondly, I«m also more or less worried about the general state of rock/metal music right now. The whole scene is becoming more and more boring and even multi conservative (yeah,what the hell!). The pure rock scene smells nowadays as fresh as George Bush´s politics hoe hoe..the pure open minded credibility  rock  aspect with a pure revolutionary attitude is more or less fading out, you can´t really talk about rock music as any kind of revolutionary mind blowing experience in people’s heads, nono, it´s just a one form of entertainment business with a very high „professional” aspect in amongst people who´s making it..BORING. We, with having a crazy and unorthodoxical musical solutions and sometimes a bit humorous aspect, want to shake this wooden ground of rock scene. Hey,thru the years amateurs have been making the most revolutionary inventions in rock music, not the so-called qualified instrumentalists..
And the funny point is, that the same time everybody in the business are just  shaking their heads and wondering why the whole industry is in full crisis and cd's don´t sell..c´mon we don´t wonder a bit. Everything is so f...ing boring in this scene that nobody really cares! SOOO..let´s cut this crap and get back to the real attitude of making rock music. Now you know what this band is aiming at....:)
Thanks again.

Autor: Tzugu
Vezi galeriile trupelor: Waltari

   May 30, 2007  | 5 Comments  | 21130 Views « BACK

Comment on: Waltari: crazy and unorthodoxical musical solutions

  • Super tare interviul!

    1. Posted by JohnBlack | 30 Mai 2007 16:41
  • Ahaa, deci ei sunt vinovatii!

    2. Posted by Tom | 31 Mai 2007 00:41
  • SUPER

    3. Posted by OBREJA COSMIN | 10 Iunie 2007 11:01
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