Chad Bowar: With the great response to Tales Along This Road, what are your expectations for Tervaskanto?
Jonne Järvelä: It would be great to get a chance to play in some new countries and areas with the new album. We are just a band which likes play the gigs because that’s why we are doing the whole thing. It is nice to write songs and record albums in the studio as well, but most important to us is being on stage It would be great if Tervaskanto would sell more than previous albums because we must carry the costs of our touring.
How has the band’s sound evolved from that album to this one?
Our sound as a band has not evolved as much anymore because we’ve found our own sound and we like it. But I think the sound overall on the album is better than on the previous Korpiklaani albums. Samu Oittinen and I as producers are learning all the time about the sounds and how we can work the things out in the best possible way and how we have to record this band.
Did having the same lineup make a difference?
The lineup is the same as the Tales Along This Road album so it helped a lot when we were working on this album. Because of that, new difficulties didn’t show up.
We know exactly, what the techniques and limits of every person are so it is much easier to work, even as early as when we are writing the melodies or thinking arrangements.
How did you decide on the title?
Because the most of the songs are now sung in the Finnish language, I thought it would be wise to name the album in Finnish as well. Tervaskanto was actually the only name candidate because somehow it is such a strong word. It is not only a pitchy stump, which us what it is when translated it from Finnish to English word by word. It is also an old metaphor for a old very wise man who knows everything. Tervaskanto could be also like a shaman.
What inspired your lyrics for the album?
Actually I wrote the lyrics only for two songs, “Let’s Drink” and “Misty Fields.”
“Let’s Drink” tells the story about the man in the album cover. It is a drinking song but it tells also a little about the lifestyle of the man, Tervaskanto. He is very proud of his little red house and little ranch. He also likes to drink. You can see also his little red house and other little things from the song in the cover picture of the album.
“Misty Fields” is a dreamlike song. It is a song about childhood fears. Unfortunately the last verse is missing from the album. Somehow it was lost during the last day of album mixing and because the mastering sessions were booked for the next day, we couldn’t do anything.
On the last album you used a guest lyricist. Did he do any writing for this album?
He wrote for us even more than on the last album. We used our old friend, Virva Holtiton for the Finnish lyrics again. He is a very good poet and knows lot of about Scandinavian history. It is good and easy to work with him because I can give him some story or idea for the lyrics and he can write it as a poem. Then I usually work his text and change a word here and there. That’s how I can get it to fit.
Is it easier for you to write lyrics in Finnish or English?
I feel better when composing than when writing the lyrics. It is very hard to me write in Finnish because somehow I’m more critical when writing in my own language. On the other hand, it is also very hard to me write in English because I don’t speak the language so well.
You once again worked with producer Samu Oittinen. Obviously you must have been happy with his work on Tales Along This Road to work with him again.
Yes, this was the third album with him and because everything goes well with him, why change a good working engine?
You’re playing several festivals this summer. Which ones are you most looking forward to?
We just came from short festival tour and there was many good moments. Graspop Metal Meeting was just great because there were bands like Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden and Black Label Society. When Black Label Society played, we got a chance to watch the gig from the stage. It is an honor to get the chance to play with those kind of legends, because after all we are just metal fans as well as musicians. That’s why we are looking forward to all of those summer festivals like little boys. One festival which we are looking forward to a lot is our first festival in England, Bloodstock Open Air.
Any chance of a U.S. tour?
A U.S tour is our dream. We really hope that it will come true very soon!
Do you have plans of releasing a live DVD at some point in the future?
We should do it this summer but seems like it won’t happen. It will happen at some point in the near future anyway.
