TURISAS (Mathias Nygård), 06.07.2008

Letzte News

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
How are you doing today?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
I´m good, I´ve been here for the whole weekend. Funnily enough, not working. We´re playing festivals every weekend pretty much, but this sort of a festival is one where the atmosphere is pretty nice, so this might be the festival where I can hang out for a couple of days – sort of not being in the band but rather on the other side and having a good time.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
So, which bands did you enjoy most or were there any bands you wanted to see?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Actually I´m really bad at dragging myself to see the bands at times, I saw the most of the set of THE SOUNDS, the Swedish band, which is really cool and what else. Yesterday I came so late that I missed OPETH but saw the end of the set of FLOGGING MOLLY. And then I was just walking around and seeing one song of this and one song of that band, but yeah.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
When you were a child, there surely have been other dreams thank only doing something with music…
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Ähm, probably like that normal set-up like sea-captain and pirate and such stuff…But I don´t remember having anything particular when it comes to dreams. But then, at a later age, when I was sort of already working with the band I dreamed about doing that as a job, but it was not really a serious question of doing that as a profession… I did some time at the university, doing stuff with politics and stuff like that and then also some different sort of media-stuff but that ended after a couple of years when it got so busy with the band I sort of had to focus on that very much, so…

(Mathias´ mobile phone rings, he excuses, talking in finnish)
The guys are arriving now because they´re all coming each one after the other…

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
In how far did you plan on doing something with music as a profession? Or has it only more and more developed?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
I mean, of course there was a time where it more like a dream and not that realistic, and then step by step it sort of became more realistic. Right now I can live of this but it´s not anything obvious, it´s probably the first year where that´s been fully possible – but there was like, a few years ago, when we already had so much going on with the band and it took enormous mass of time but moneywise it didn´t really make any sense. So that´s the difficult thing about it- you have to spend so much energy and time so you don´t have any time for a day-job or to do something else if you want to do things for the band in a proper way. But on the other hand it doesn´t really show that on your bank-account.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
So, was it common in your family to be doing something with music or to be into music have you been the only one?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Well, I think, yeah, not extremely but I was pretty into musical-kindergarden since I was two years old, so it´s always been pretty much of a part of my life all the time. I think everyone in my family, my brother and sisters, have done something with music. So yeah, I think, if you see families that have a lot with sports going on and then you see those families with a lot of culture, then mine would be more from the culture-side.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
I am going to tell you now some words, and you have to tell me, as short as possible, what the first thing is what you think about when hearing those…
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
- Mythology?
Tradition.
- Ship?
Sea.
- Peace?
You mean peace as in world-peace or like the piece you eat? (answer: in the sense of world-peace) I was thinking Greenpeace…
- Fear?
…of the dark.
- Ruisrock?
Turku.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Probably just introduce the band at first…
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
The band plays something that some people even tagged as “Battle Metal” to go with our same-named first album…but in general it´s a mixture – we try to avoid sticking too much to categories and fitting into those categories – labeling music is your work (laughing), that´s what´s the press for. But for us, it´s more about doing what we like- but I think it has elements of Folk Metal and sort of Viking Metal and Symphonic Metal, but then also many more experimental and different stuff. We released two albums: one in 2004 and one last year. And we´re six people in the band, we also have a violin and an accordion player which might be a bit unnormal for a Metalband…

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
So do you have a permanent accordion-player again or still only a step-in player?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Well, Netta is still a step-in accordionist, but she´s been playing with us for the whole time of this year so that means we already did over 70 or 80 shows by now this year – we did a quite extensive European tour and then the American tour, so right now it doesn´t make any sense to change around again. The band has become a tight packet right now as it is…So for now, I mean, we don´t have, the official line-up is without an accordion-player maybe, so she´s not really a permanent member in that way maybe, but for us the band is the band that goes on stage every night and this year it´s been with Netta and now she´ll be doing the tours with us in autumn and early next year, so that´s it…

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Often people tend to be more creative and more writing music in a certain mood – if it´s happy or sad, or whatever – how about you?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Well, I think it´s important to be able to live with the music, or if you don´t feel anything when doing music it´s, it´s kind of dangerous. Music, eventually, whatever, the atmosphere and the feelings you want to get to the audience – that´s the most important thing. And it can be everything from a party-mood to more serious mood. But I´m not sure, no, I don´t think that I write more music in this or that state of mind, so you have to be inspired to do it. But when you are and whatever inspired you – that can be a lot of things- but when you are it, it is it. It sounds a bit dull but that´s how it works…

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Many bands´ music changed with the time – would you say the same about your music when looking back at your beginnings…?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
I think the music and where we are now is quite different from where we started. At that time I think, musically there has always been a red line, and we follow that. Maybe it´s a bit stronger on the new album, or it stands out a bit more from everything else on the new album but I think in the beginning, that was like 11 year ago, when we formed the band in 97, it was like a lot of these Melodic Black Metal bands were going on and I think it´s a bit funny now to think about it, but at that time I think we sort of felt that this is the sort of stream where we came from and where we want to step out from. But now it´s like, really completely different, and hence, all those visual aspects that were added to the band, for instance, was something that we saw all around us, that was at that time something like the Corpse Paintings, all in leather and spikes and all that, was a bit too dark for our music so we wanted to still do that visual point but in a different, in an own way – and that´s how it came to the visual aspects of our band…Right now it feels a bit strange because things are so different. Ten years ago the sort of what we could call Folk Metal, Viking Metal or whatever – it has sort of exploded in the last years – and back then, you know, there was like just a few bands doing something like that but it was a stream like it´s now. So it was not in the same way that there were so many bands around – you know, I don´t really give a damn about how many bands there are but the thing is: when you come for original ideas, they always take some time. And then there are a lot of people doing the same but not really bringing anything of their own to the music. And that makes it really boring, when you have like right now millions of bands listening to one band but then they don’t do it much different. I mean, there are tons of bands which sound like, let´s say FINNTROLL, I mean they´re all over the world and you just wonder why you wanna do that because that´s already done.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Have you ever considered collaborating with an instrumentalist or another singer?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Yeah sure, a collaboration could be interesting. But I think it´s also about sort of a time-problem because I´m doing so much with this band: we´re touring so much and also write most of the songs so the band keeps me mostly so busy all the time so that I don´t have time for that. There have been ideas on projects and this and that and it´s like “oh yeah, that´s a good idea” but you just noticed that there is just no gap where to do that. But maybe at some point there will be time… (Any ideas with whom to work together?) I mean, it could be everything – I´d like to do something more interesting, I think doing something with another guy from another Finnish and this kind of band would be not that interesting. It would be nice to work together with someone from a different kind of music, a different scene…

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
When the first album was internationally released, what did you expect before the release and what are your thoughts about the success of this album?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Well, I think the first album, still, even if the response was really good, it wasn’t anything that sort of exploded in that way, but I think when our first album was released in midsummer 2004, it was released and we got a lot of good critic on it but it wasn´t like a really really big thing. But through the years, like the next year and the year after, when we toured and sort of “grew” -I think that sort of static growth until the point when we released the second album was sort of a good angle. And now of course, from this album to the next one, again, the years in between we can sort of move forward by touring and opening up new territories and markets like the USA and sort of get the band more known. And then again, when releasing the next album, it will be some kind of natural step forward. It would be the worst thing to know that you release somewhat albums and stayed on the same level.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
You´ve been touring already very much in different countries – I often heard that there´d be great differences when it comes to the fans reacting on the band and such matters…
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Well, to be honest, I think the reactions of course showed differences, like where the cities get all the bands, they´re more laid back and when there´s a city which doesn´t get that many concerts people often go more crazy. And that´s the same with London, or Berlin, or whatever place. But for us, all the shows were filled with good reactions but it always depends on where you go. Often you hear that people in Russia are really really crazy there, but then I still sort of felt that they were really crazy but it always depends if people show how crazy they are, so you often simply don´t see how crazy they are. But I think you can get the same crazy audience elsewhere, you don’t need to go to Russia for that…I really enjoyed the headlining-tour in Europe this spring, we played the first show in Bratislava in Slovakia and Prague, and it´s been really good shows. Of course Germany was also nice. But it´s always nice to go to places which don´t get that many bands, because you always notice that the fans are a bit more energetic and in a way more insane.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Let´s talk a bit about the future plans of the band…
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Well, I mean we just started opening up a new territory which is America, we did the America part of the Pagan Fest tour with ENSIFERUM, TYR and ELUVEITIE this spring. And so probably we´ll be going back there later, and right now we´re working on a DVD- like today, we´re recording some live-material from the show here, but we record a bit here and there so we´ll see what comes out and it will be released later this year at some point. We´re also working on a reworked version of “Battle Metal”, mainly for the DVD-release – that might be the short-time plans…We´re going on tour again in September, we´re going to support DRAGONFORCE in the UK, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. And then there is going to be a tour in Europe early next year, too.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Music is often called to be some kind of art – have you ever thought about doing some other kind of art like drawing or such things?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Well, I don´t see myself as a particulary good painter or drawer or anything. (long silence) Well, I don´t know, I´d like to do things on stage in general, maybe for something like operas. I think that´s sort of an ultimatum where you have to combine acting, visuals and music and everything comes together. Combing different feels and expressions might be really interesting, for me especially on the music side I guess…

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Which headline coping with you or TURISAS would you like to see in an internationally popular newspaper?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Which headline?! (long silence) I don’t know, I´m trying to think of what I´ve seen from someone else… It´s always about things like from Nightwish, when they had the change of the vocalist (So probably also a change of the vocalist in Turisas?) (laughing) Yeah, of course (laughing) . “Turisas changes vocalist – who is the new mysterious member?” No, but it´s always that sort of stuff that gets the big headlines (But it was more about what you would like to see as a headline…) “TURISAS blew up Wembley with selling out several shows”- but that might take a few more years to get there…

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
What would you do if you were invisible for 24 hours?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
(Long silence) Well (laughing) , I don’t know. Probably it would be interesting to go and be that sort of flie on the wall, observing the things and people who´d normally not act the same way if you were present or something like this. So it would be cool to go to Century Media and see what they talk about us (laughing) when we´re not there. All kind of such situations I guess, but nothing that particular.

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
For the final question- what would you like to be written on your tombstone (that does not mean it would supposed to come that early)?
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Yeah well, I don’t know. I mean, tombstones are sort of landmarks that carry on memories or whatever – then again, on the other hand, I maybe also feel a bit against such concepts in a way, you know, you don’t need a stone somewhere to mark your grave. (Is it already common in Finland to use forest graveyards?) I think I´ve heard about it, yeah. It´s always a bit strange that people meet up at your monument, your grave… But it´s fascinating to see where kings and such people are buried… But right now I´d probably go for that forest option… (seems thoughtful)

GOTHIC AND ART (Carina Ullmann) :
Thanks for the really nice interview, wish you a nice festival-day and a good show!
TURISAS (Mathias Nygård) :
Thank you, same for you – I hope you will enjoy our show!

Thanks goes to Mathias for the nice interview and most of the organisation, aswell as to David Sievers for the contact-possibility and organisation!

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