Into the Unknown: Interview with Jari Mäenpäa of Wintersun
October 2004 By: Scott Alisoglu
Finland’s Wintersun is the creation of ex-Ensiferum member Järi Maenpäa. Järi
took care of vocals, guitars, bass, and programming, while the second half of
the group, Kari Hahto (Rotten Sound) handled drums on the band’s self-titled
debut on Nuclear Blast. The musical depth here is stunning, a sort of extreme
progressive-metal meets symphonic-black-metal approach. Pummeling blasts are
blended with big choruses, soaring melodies, folky interludes, crunching riffs,
soaring guitar solos, and on, and on, and on. This is not an album that you
digest in one sitting. It’s one that slowly envelopes you until you can no
longer see past the vast musical landscapes created here. Järi breaks it down
for us.
You and Kari Hahto created Wintersun’s self-titled debut. What was your
vision for this project?
To create metal that is big, majestic with a magical atmosphere. I also wanted
to do a bit technical/progressive and fast/aggressive music. Basically I just
wanted to do/release my music, which I love and I hope that someone else will
like it too.
Did you take any ideas, generally speaking, from your previous band,
Ensiferum?
Sure some influences have stayed in me from the Ensiferum days, it’s one part of
me. And the way I write music reflects into everything that I do, so it’s
unavoidable, although I tried to keep everything separate. Like when I wrote
songs for Ensiferum, I wrote music only into that band’s style/genre. But now in
Wintersun, I’m free to do whatever I want. I don’t have to follow any rules of
genres or styles; I just do the music that I like.
How much of a challenge is it to create music like this with only two people?
Did you spend long hours in the studio?
Actually I had written almost everything by myself before entering the studios,
all the music, lyrics and arrangements, but Kai came up with some great drum
arrangements and ideas. So the music wasn’t created in the studio, although some
ideas were born there also. I’ve just done music by myself for a long time and
I’ve recorded demos at home. I have just gotten use to doing everything, so it
wasn’t that big [of a] deal. We worked in the studios normally eight-hour days,
but in the evenings I was doing some additional recordings with my 16-track
recorder (some synth parts and guitar solos).
The style is something along the lines of black metal mixed with progressive
metal elements (or vice versa), as well as death metal. Is this an accurate
description of the music of Wintersun?
You could say that. But it’s difficult to label it, since there’s so many styles
going on. And I like to keep it that way. I don’t really want to be stuck into
one genre/style.
The album soars musically;
by that I mean that the compositions aren’t dark and dreary (musically anyway),
but instead sound rather upbeat and majestic. Would you agree?
Yep. It’s definitely not evil or dark music (although "Beautiful Death" is a bit
darker song). The music is rather majestic, melancholic, very melodic and
magical that happens to be a little bit into the extreme side of metal because
of its fast and aggressive side.
Talk about the folk elements
in your music and lyrics. What are the stories behind the songs?
There’s nothing folkish or any fairytale stories in the lyrics. The lyrics deal
with my life from the period of time those songs have been created (1995-2004).
Under all the metaphors and references to cold winter landscapes, universe and
so on... it’s all about my thoughts, feelings, dreams and visions. In the music
there are a few folk influences because it’s one part of my songwriting and I am
influenced by it. I could give a few short comments of each song:
"Beyond the Dark Sun" - A cool fast song with melancholic melodies. Lyrics are
just feelings and visions of my life in 1998.
"Winter Madness" - Stormy, technical and crazy song. And the lyrics fits well
because it deals with losing your mind in the heart of winter and seeing
hallucinations, partly because of alcohol. So that’s what the lyrics are all
about underneath... alcohol, yeah!
"Sleeping Stars" - Slow and majestic song. In 1995 when I started to write this
song, I wanted to make an atmosphere like you would be floating in space among
the stars. This song has many meanings in the lyrics. One meaning is that it
tells about "falling into coma and waking up from it many years later". And it’s
funny because that’s kinda the way this song was written. I wrote half in 1995,
then I "fell into coma" and "woke up" in 2003 and finished the song
"Battle Against Time" - Very melodic, fast and chaotic song. It deals with
stress, lack of time and all the feelings you’ll start to have when everything
starts to fall apart.
"Death and the Healing" - Beautiful melodies and big atmosphere. Basically a
simple message in the lyrics, that time can be the healer, but also the death of
you... well obviously.
"Starchild" - A monster. Very long, epic song that has variable song structures
with lots of parts. Lyrics are thoughts and visions that deal with "creation"
of... well anything, for example: music, life, universe...
"Beautiful Death" - A dark, yet magical song. Deals with a sickness that I had
some years ago and close call with death, so it was a very dark time of my life.
Remembering all the feelings and thoughts back then and getting them on paper
and into the music.
"Sadness and Hate" - I wrote this one in 1996. A bit folkish song, long and epic
also.
The album’s artwork seems so
perfectly suited to a band from Finland, the snowy scene especially, although
I’m not sure about the guy lying face down in the snow. Talk about the artwork.
The man in the snow is a metaphor to a feeling that has kept haunting me, kinda
despairic [sic] state, like you can’t reach your destination and you will fall
on your path/quest. It can also be a metaphor to "death". The light in the
horizon between the trees on the other hand is a metaphor to words like "healing",
"birth", "home". So I could name the painting after the song "Death and the
Healing". Basically the cover just describes the two magical dimensions of the
music. The cold and dark yet beautiful winter and the vastness of the universe,
space and stars.
Who are your musical
influences? Who are some of your all-time favorite bands, metal or otherwise?
When I was a little boy I listened to KISS and W.A.S.P. When I hit teenage [years],
I started to play guitar because of Metallica. Another big "awakening" was the
music of Devin Townsend and his singing. Guitarists like Steve Vai and Y.J.
Malmsteen has influenced me a lot. Then I’ve just listened to lots of bands, to
say a few: Carcass, Megadeth, Skid Row, At the Gates, Amorphis, Dark
Tranquillity, Judas Priest, Dissection...
Are there any plans to
assemble a full band and play live?
Yes I’m searching for members at the moment. There’s been lots of requests for
shows so I’m hoping that I will find the right members soon.
Thanks for the interview.
Any closing comments?
Thanks!
Fonte: Live 4 Metal