YEARNING

Hello... Could you tell some latest news from Yearning?
In 6 months we have made 10 gigs, from which the latest ones have been fucking hard, there has also been some talk about european tour in autumn. We have got response from around europe and from elsewhere too. Orders have been sent even from Japan, but still mostly from Finland. The foreign guys usually buy the record from a local record store. I think we are somehow known in here our homeland, at least all self-respecting metal fans are aware of our existence. Metalliliitto has surely helped, yes.

About your history... As far as I know  you have made 2 demos or something like that? Could you tell us more about it?
In fact we made only 1 actual demo "the Temple of Sagal" and that was still with name Flegeton. "Through the Desolate Lands ´94" was only a 4-tracker tape and was not spread almost anywhere. Lineup has remained the same, there has been all kinds of clowns in keyboards, though. Now we have six-person live-lineup and we have got well along with it. Most of the gigs this far have been good and we are going to better direction. There was one total disaster... in gigs we surrender to be led by the music. To us, performance is always an experience with big E. Feeling is on its height after the show, when you know that you have given your full. The frames have been so small to this day, that we have couldn´t bring any film projectors or other useless stuff to the stage.Smoke machine was used last weekend. Audience is of course fully with us. Couple of weeks ago some guy did hit his head to a metal pipe on the edge of stage. Our audience is self-destructive.

Describe your music with your own words, please...
Dark, rich metal, aargh... Melancholic atmospheres, heaviness combined to influences from classical music... something like that. I myself find it difficult to determine our music, because I don´t have the distance needed to it. Maybe goth-people do like us too, mostly due to pressuring feeling in our songs, though we are metal in our heaviness level. Atmosphere it is still, what will take it´s grip from people, that we have seen. Personally I don´t take comparsions to P. Lost or MDB as big courtesy. P.Lost and MDB both have one good album. Make your own conclusions what they are.

What are the most important factors in your music? What inspires you to make such dark & depressive music and lyrics?
I think that the overall feeling and atmosphere is important in music. Inspiration comes (if it comes) in deep loneliness, in self research, surrounded by nature... The deeper one goes in yourself, the stranger things and visions are to be found. Nature is, of course a very essential factor for closing or on the other hand, opening yourself. In fact, I´m not very interested from "this world". It is a fact, that from emptiness it is very hard to create anything, and creative state of mind is not always obvious. Music and lyrics should be one, in symbiosis together. I see myself more as composer, I´m not any kind of poet. Sounds speak more than words do. I have written some lyrics in finnish.

How much Yearning excactly does mean to you? Could you imagine how would it feel like to live without music?
Yearning is both, a joy and burden at the same time. I must confess that life without music would be impossible to live.

What about the music you are listening to? Have you bought any interesting new records?
I haven´t bought any new records, because all the money goes for booze. I´v been listening to some same old shit cassettes. Some classical music and some other obscure dark stuff.

Does your personality somehow reflect yhrough your music and lyrics? Are you depressed often?
Probably yes, but I think that the lyrics can easily be understanded in a wrong way, because they  usually are personal and every line should be explained separately, so that they coulld be understanded. Generally speaking I own a very sarcastic attitude towards this pathetic world.

What do you think of this huge black metal trend that is ruling currently? What do you think what will be the next BIG thing, after when the black metal trend is gone? And what do you think from black metal generally?
Well, there´s not so much to think of, as 90% of bands are total shit. Certain old records are still good and the ones which have something to give music and lyric wise are worthy of my respect. Could that Gothic-thing be the next BIG... We will see about that, hard to imagine anything more extreme as it feels like that everything is already sone. The eighties will too come back too, it´s just a matter of time.

It seems that you haven´t so much used any female vocals, "special instruments" (violins, cellos etc.) what most of atmospheric metal bands seem to have on their records and I think that many of them over-use it in very annoying way and what do you think of this kind of behaviour? It seems that many of them seem not to know that we´r talking anout metal here and lose all the agression and heaviness through this kind of stuoid shit, but you at least seem to have this heaviness-element all right...
The name of the game is that, when someone invents some clever element to metal music, after a moment everyone is trying that and of course with bad results too. Everything is OK when it´s done with style, it is must to have the certain sense of style. Our next album will have nyances, but still it will be more heavier and extreme than our debut. Too many good bands are losing their track and forget about their roots.

Since you do (at least the most of) song material for Yearning and I think the lyrics too, could we say that Yearning is definetaly your  band?
You are msotly right about that, but at this point I dont wanna sound like selfish dick, so I don´t say anything.

What about the ug- metal scene of today? And what about the scene of Finland? Do you think that we will have this kind of huge wave of same sounding bands in Finland, like black metal in Norway and Death Metal in Sweden (or Florida) some time ago?
UG is very scattered today. And not so many people anymore want to be fully dedicated to that anymore. It´s this thing, that the scene is very scattered, which bothers the scene of Finland (which isn´t necessarily a bad thing), we don´t have any common style, from what Finland could be identified outright. Originality is always good thing, though a bit same-sounding bands can of course be better. Future will show what happens, but it´s the main thing that we something of our own. What sense  makes playing perfect clone of Norweigan Black Metal, when norweigan have already done it and seems that they will do it again and again.

And what do you think of the following subjects? -Venom, -Beer, -War, -Nazism, -The end of the world, -Hannu Karpo, -Sentenced and finally idiots who have norweigan flag on their sleeve and claim that black metal was invented in Norway.
Venom: Oh damn, it was great, in league with Satan!
Beer: More.
War: At least no fun at all.
Nazism: Oh well...
The end of the world: Coming soon and that´s a fucking fact!
Hannu Karpo: Äijä.
Sentenced: Tough guys, "North From Here" still great.
Norweigan flags etc... : Heh-heh-heeeeeee, grow up.

What originally inspired you to play (metal) music? Whwn you got your first instrument and what that was? According to my knowledge, you play both guitar and keyboards, so which one is your primary instrument?
When 5 years old, I got my first guitar and from 8 old I studied classical for 10 years, so I am definately a gyuitarist. Keyborads I have palyed totally on my own. I began with metal with Metallica of course, long time ago.

What do you think of life and the world where we live (and all the religions and assholes here) generally and do you belive in life after death?
I laugh to life quite a long time. It´s pretty easy to find about life after death with knife, shotgun or rope, if you´r interested. The major religions have only hurted earth, and people too. The less you think and realize, the more you suffer. Anyway, I´v came up as, that an individual must try to make one´s existance sensible, and for me that means music.

People who are into this kind of music, usually don´t feel depression as a negative emotion (when it comes through the music), have you got an idea why is this?
I don´t know, certain escapism, perhaps and self destruction in best case.

You are a doom metal band (at least in some degree?) It seems that Yearning  will also appeal to people who are not so much into doom metal (at least to me), what do you think?
Well, Yearning isn´t any traditional doom anyway. Doom-scene however is quite fading concept nowadays. Yearning deals more with musical expression and passing charming atmospheres than effort to fit in some limiting category.

About finnish winter...
In now, midsummer at least feels that winter should come already. (Yeah, and now it´s fucking January and I wonder where the hell that fucking winter is anyway! Not necessarily bad thing, it´s just very strange... -ed.) Winter is an inspiring season, though it has some times affected me too strongly.

Do you see yourself as an original band, if so why is that?
I think that is already clear. Yes. Yearning makes it´s own thing and another band like this simply does not exist, isn´t just that originality? (yes, I think so! -ed.) World is full of  all kinds of HTMO/SYMPHO/GOTH orchestras nowadays, but because all the elements they have brought (violins, opera singers...) have already been used and they haven´t got musically anything to say, the final result is flat. After all THOSE bands who REALLY have something to say, will survive.

Do you see strange dreams often and have you ever been inspired by your dreams?
This far, I haven´t got inspiration from dreams. Strangely enough, I never see nightmares (me neither -ed.), I don´t know why. Starnge dreams I have seen, yes. Just now one necrophilical dream came to my mind, which shocked afterwards. Starnge, really.

What about your lyrics? Do you have got any message in them...?
I write lyrics for my self only, so it would be quite strange if there would be told to do this and that, it would be totally schitzophrenic. I deal with my experiences, my thoughts, charming visions with lyrics. Some lind of self research. Of course every lyric has it´s own separate meaning. I´m interested in twisted symbiosis of the grotesque and beautiness. For that I have tried to get very often. All the "preaching" lyrics are totally pathetic and ridiculous. Certain attitudes can be reflected from my  texts no-meaningfully and everyone is free to think about them and understand them wrongly.

Could you introduce us the current line-up of the band?
Tero Kalliomäki - Guitar
Petri Salo - Bass
Toni Kostiainen - Drums

And in live line-up also:

Tiina Ahonen - Keyboards
Janne Rämö - Vocals

And of course, me my self - Guitar, vocals, synths in studio.

Do you read a lot? What kind of books and what have you read lately? Are you inspired by any authors, lyric-wise? What about; Lovecraft, E.A Poe, Robert E. Howard etc. ?
I read dual naturally. Sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much, lately I did read Nietzsche and some shaman things. Lovecraft is fucking great, Poe is of course a classical author too. I think I haven´t influenced by books lyric-wise, at least consciously. Nowadays I´v read more philosophy than literacy.

What about TV? Do you like movies, if so what kind of movies?
Nowdays I seldomly watch television. Almost always I can find better things to do, than rotting in the front of television. Old horror movies are great, nostalogic in some way. Like: Wagon drives in evening dusk to the castle´s garden and surely there´s fucking lot´s of fog everywhere... Vincen Price is very funny actor, dramatic in certain way. For exaple, "Pit and the pendulum" becomes to my mind. "You are about to enter hell, the newerwhere, Gehenna..."

You have classical influences in your music, what do you think of mixing other styles with metal?
Classical music and metal after all mix pretty well together. Myself I mostly listen to Debussy, Grieg etc. Industrial metal is pretty much from ass. Like said, sense of style is the keyword in mixing styles too.

And what belongs to your future plans?
Busy, new album. Suicidal beauty.

How would yopu like to die? How would you kill someone?
To live old and to old age. If I should murder someone, just poison to food or drink. Cunning, smart and sensible in the long run.

Any last words?
"With Tragedies Adorned" CD in sale for 85mk, including postage. No foreign price told here, but write and ask -ed.) Come to shows, buy records, write if you have something to say and live until you die (?)