Touring with Heidenfest has been a bit tough on violin player Olli Vänskä this time. He got sick, but nevertheless took the time for this interview and manages to give an energetic performance with Turisas each night. So while he was all wrapped up in a hoodie and sipping tea, Ghost Cult chatted with Vänskä about the band’s latest effort, Turisas2013 (Century Media).
What does Turisas stand for in 2013?
I think we are almost the same as we’ve been in the past. The band has taken some sidesteps from the strict folk metal music. Well, we’ve never been strict folk metal or Viking metal. But we have made a sidestep and broadened the landscape a bit. I also believe that Turisas is still as energetic, grandiose and theatrical as ever. The new album received divided responses. We didn’t expect anything else, it’s different from the earlier stuff. The recognizable Turisas sound is still present, but we’ve taken some artistic freedom. We didn’t set ourselves limits on what Turisas should do. We also have a couple of new guys and I am very happy with the line-up at the moment, they are excellent musicians. We are quite strong as a band at the moment.
You were going for a more ‘live’ sound on this album compared to the previous ones. How did you try to accomplish that?
Yes, it definitely does not sound polished. We handled the recordings mostly by ourselves. We rented a house and recorded there. There is very little that is fixed on the album. For the modern listener it’s really weird, because everybody tries to achieve that Nightwish sound, which comes from Pro Tools. Everything is just polished, down to the finest detail. There are no mistakes on such records. Our album has a lot of mistakes.
What kind of mistakes?
Well, like the human touch. It wasn’t recorded in a state of the art studio and we didn’t use samples on drums. Our drums sound very natural and they haven’t been fixed, synchronized or anything like that. Whereas earlier our music sounded a bit more plastic. Now it’s like: ‘This is what we have, let’s go forward.’ That was also the attitude that we had.Also, there was no story or concept. Since there are some songs of Jussi, a couple of songs from me and the rest from Mathias, there was more input and diverse song writing as well. It was kind of an experiment and a strong statement that we needed space to breathe, in order to get rid of a historical weight load. Not all in a negative sense, but you have to experiment to find a fresh sound.
You’ve abandoned the concept of the Varangians on Turisas2013, will you ever return to it?
I do not know if we’ll ever return to it. Personally, I think there are many bands that romanticize Vikings, and nobody brings anything new to that. It’s not that interesting to me. Mathias created a brilliant story on the second and third album and approached the whole subject from different angles. He’s the history freak. That is what he gets most of his inspiration from. I also think it is more honest to look at historical facts. To not only think about great warriors, national romantic folklore and fictional stuff that you see in a Hollywood movie.
Is there anything you would have done differently if you look back on the recordings now?
Technically there wasn’t much. We learned not to close the doors in an empty house during the night. There was a long cable in front of a small hole in the doorstep, so at night a mouse came out and chewed its way out. Perhaps I would get an external producer next time (Mathias mostly produced the record), because when you handle so much yourself and you still have to do for example vocal parts, it is very hard to distance yourself from the material and trust yourself: ‘This is done, move on.’ Mathias has a very straight artistic vision on at least what he doesn’t want to do. Maybe it would help to have someone guiding, to say: ‘Hold the horses,’ and then someone else brings out the artistic vision and they could work together. Sometimes I fear the workload might be too much for one person to handle.
Ghost Cult, the webzine we are doing this interview for, called Turisas2013 transitional. Is that recognizable for you?
Maybe they are right. I’ve heard it before. Turisas is always boxed so tightly: ‘You are a Viking band, you have to sound like this.’ In a way it is a statement: we do what we want. There is more to the story than only Holmgård and Battle Metal. So, in that sense, transitional yes. We’re not turning the jackets, we play the old songs as well. I don’t think we are taking anything off the table, but also opening a couple of windows. Of course it is up to the listener how their taste develops along, but in a way I feel this is an album the band had to make at this point.
Laetitia Abbenes