Komitea

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Music
Interview : Hannu from Komitea

When and how was your band created?
Our band started in 1999, formed by me (Hannu Timonen) and our singer-guitarist Heikki Sinisalo. The band back then had a different basist and a different drummer and only did a couple of gigs and two recordings, the first having only one and the latter four songs. Our recent line-up was formed in 2004 after as our basist Ville Juutilainen joined in the summer followed by the joining of Kalle Kirjalainen, our drummer, later that same year.

Where is the name of the band coming from?
We had a few different ideas for the band name. Heikki came up with the name after listening to a song from another finnish band.

What musicians or artists did have a major influence in your life / work?
For myself heavy metal has always played a great role in my musical background. Bands like Mercyful Fate, Iron maiden, Cradle of filth etc. influence my work. But since I am not the only one to make songs for the band, our music is also influenced by many other artists, as our singer has a lot more diverse taste in music.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
Negative things come to my mind first. The lack of training space is growing all the time and the prices go higher. Second, the gigs start at insane hours which can be difficult, especially for artists that have long tours.

Positive thing is that people here are really interested in music and we have a lot of good rising bands.

How could you define your style of music?
We play rock music that has some progressive influences and a hint of metal. Our lyrics are in finnish.

During the years how has your musical style changed?
I guess it has progressed to being more heavy and mature. Mature meaning not boring but a bit more professional.

How do explain these changes?
I guess the heavy-part good be explained by our mutual interest in metal music. Also I have contributed more to the songwriting then before and I tend to write heavier songs.

What are topics you treat in your songs?
Our songs deal with the darker aspects of life. It also has stories of demons and such which I guess is partly due to my interest in finnish art and folk stories.

What is your favorite song in your repertoire and why?
For me at the moment It's probably "Tanssi pirun tanssi!" or "Puhuin kuolleen miehen kanssa" (Translated "Dance the Devil's dance! and "I spoke to a dead man") They are both rather heavy songs the latter being our latest addition to our setlist. They also have good lyrics and enjoyable riffs to play.

Do you actually prefer performing your music live or in a studio?
It's a completely different feeling to play in studio than playing live. Still I would have to say that I enjoy playing live more. That's one can really enjoy the playing without having to concentrate on every single note. And no, I don't mean that when we play live we play wrong. It's just that on stage one can really go insane.

Actually we just finnished recording our upcoming EP "Keskiyön unelma" late last night. Maybe that is also why I would prefer playing live for a change.

During the process of making a song, what is the moment that you prefer?
I prefer the moment when I can play the song first time from the beginning to the end. Of course after that the structure still changes but at least I get an idea what the song should be like.

A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
You are right, this is a stupid question. It is very hard to say actually. I guess I would have to say King Diamond's "the Invisible guests" but then again I could name 20 other songs too.

What is your opinion, as a musician, regarding internet?
It is a great way to make yourself known and to keep your fans informed about the bands future. It is also easy to get to know new bands by listening clips on their website. However I do not prefer people downloading records illegally from the internet. I also know that some finnish bands have recently released their records free in the internet which is a great way to get people to listen.

What are your projects ?
Musically I have concentrated entirely on Komitea but I use to play in some metal projects years ago.

What "image" do you have of French music?
I am sorry to say that I really don't have an opinion on this one. I have very rarely heard any french music.

Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2006