by Kenneth Morton

It’s party time whenever a Korpiklaani disc makes it into a CD player. Imagine a mixture of Flogging Molly and Finntroll, and you are just beginning to set the festivities on fire. Based out of Finland, Korpiklaani are ready to rock the globe with songs such as the dynamic Happy Little Boozer and the crazed Kirki. So get your big hats and party favors in tow and get ready to enter the magical world of Korpiklaani…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Korpiklaani, and how long the band has been together? What exactly is a Korpiklaani and what made you decide to call the band that?
This is Jarkko Aaltonen, the bass player, and here's a short introduction to the band Korpiklaani.

The roots of the group are in the fully acoustic duo called Shamaani Duo in which the main man of Korpiklaani was in the mid-90's. At that time he was living with the original Sami people in the northern part of Finland and the duo's music was heavily influenced by their music including the traditional singing of theirs, yoiking.

Jonne's heavy metal past, however, raised its head and he formed a metal band based on the same music he did with the duo. That band, called Shaman, had a constantly changing lineup and was quite often thought to be just Jonne's project with various guest musicians. Shaman did two albums and when they were just finishing their third album they got a word from the record company that there was another band with the same name and our Shaman was forced to change it's name. Jonne suggested the name Woodsclan, but the record company thought that it would be better in Finnish, so after some thinking the band became Korpiklaani.

Some people often think that the name change and the stylistic changes that happened at the same time were somehow connected, but they were not. The first Korpiklaani album was supposed to be released as the third Shaman album, so the musical changes were on their way already before the name change.

How does this new album compare to your previous work?
It's better, to put it simply. I may not be the right person to judge those albums since this is the first one that I'm on. Of course I've spoken about those album with the rest of the band and especially Jonne seems to be really satisfied with this one. The previous albums had some songs that he was not fully satisfied with but the new one is really good from start to finish. My first opinion on the new album was that it was a lot heavier and more metal than the previous ones. However, many other people have said that they like the new more folk oriented music and sound, so I guess it's more everything. More folk stuff, more hard riffing metal.

Who is that fellow on the cover of your new CD, and tell me a little about the artwork.
The fellow on the cover is actually the same shaman that we've used as our logo from the beginning of Shaman. Previously he was the outlined 2D symbol, but this time we thought that he should finally get some flesh around his bones.

The ideas for the title and cover came originally from Jonne. The cover was done by the fellow Finn Jan Yrlund who was at that time living in the Netherlands, but is now back in Finland. Some of those who've been following the Finnish metal scene longer may remember him from his days as a guitarist of the semi-legendary Finnish speed/thrash metal band Prestige.

Where did you get the ideas for some of the song lyrics this time around?
The lyrical themes for this band have always been quite simple. Beer and women. We haven't totally forgotten those on the new album either. At least the songs like Happy Little Boozer and Kirki are about those. Kirki is actually a really dirty song. Not just naughty, dirty! The Finnish lyrics that were written by the guest writer Mr. Virva Holtiton are quite different though. They are written in the same style with the Finnish national epic Kalevala, using the same kind of language and the same poetic measure. Those lyrics are not stories, just poems, and actually really good poems!

Where is your band from, what is the music scene like there, and how does Korpiklaani fit into the scheme of things.
The band is of course from Finland. The roots are in the northern part, but nowadays the whole band is living in the south. The music scene in Finland in general is quite good. Especially the metal scene is really good and for some reason Finland seems to be the current 'big thing' in the European metal market.

Korpiklaani however has never been really that popular in Finland. Our biggest audiences are in the central Europe, in countries like Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium, and in Russia. I guess we are just too Finnish for the Finns.

What Finnish beer could you recommend to us Americans? And what beer from the States do you like?
The band has never been to the USA so we don't really know much about your beers. But Budweiser cannot be the best you have, right?

The most famous Finnish beers are all pretty much alike. A beer called 'Karhu' ('Bear' in English) is one of those that has some character so that's a good choice. Finland is full of smaller breweries that have their own beers and for example the stout from the local Plevna brewery is excellent.

Beer has a long history in Finland and we have our own home made beer-like drink called 'sahti'. That is one of the oldest if not the oldest beer in Europe.

Are there any plans for Korpiklaani to play here in the States?
There's been some talk about that, but nothing certain has been set. The band is willing to play practically anywhere but those things are usually not up to the band to decide.

What are some of the more unusual instruments you use in the band?
Here's the list of those unusual instruments. They may not be that unusual in all circumstances but at least they are quite rare in the metal scene.

Mandolin, acoustic & electric violin, jouhikko, tin-whistle, recorder, Estonian bagpipe 'torupill', mouth harp, accordion and kantele. The lyricist Virva Holtiton did also some traditional throat singing for the album, so there is quite a lot of different stuff going on.

Have you heard of Flogging Molly and if so, are you fans of their work?
I've heard the name and I've seen us compared to them many times, but I don't think I've ever actually heard them. Maybe I should?

How frustrating has it been to see band members come and go, and is this lineup of Korpiklaani pretty stable?
I think it has been at least a bit frustrating to Jonne because as far as I know, he always wanted this to be a band, not just him with a constantly changing backing band. However, according to Jonne again, every change that has happened has changed the band to a better direction and the current lineup is the best possible for the band.

I am the newest member in the band and I've been here a bit over a year now. I am not sure but I think this is the longest serving lineup already. And if I am mistaken, I am still sure that this lineup will be the longest serving lineup.

Where has been the most unusual place or venue that Korpiklaani has performed?
During the time that I've been in the band there hasn't really been any that unusual. Some of the clubs have been quite bad, but that's not really that unusual.

The first concerts in Russia, in Moscow and St. Petersburg were a bit strange because the things work there a bit differently and we didn't really know what to expect, but as soon as the show started it was the same as anywhere: excellent!

With three albums out on Napalm, is there any chance of a live DVD coming out soon?
We've been talking about that for some time now, and we've filmed and recorded many of our shows since the last August, but we still have no definite plans or schedules set.

What's up next for Korpiklaani?
Lots of festival concerts around Europe. We will spend most of our summer weekend in the planes above Europe traveling from one festival to another. Later this year we will probably do another headlining tour in central – southern Europe and after that it's time for the studio again.

Any messages for metal fans here in the States?
Be patient. We WILL play the US someday. Maybe sooner than you think!

Korpiklaani Links

Korpiklaani: Their Official Home Page!
Napalm Records: The Record Label for Korpiklaani!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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