SOURCE – The sixth studio album for Hanging Garden is Into That Good Night. How do you see this album fitting with the discography of the past, what do you feel you accomplished this time around that keeps things fresh and interesting for the band?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – While most of the musical elements found on the new album were already prominent in our music on “I Am Become”, I feel that the new album has a different kind of energy – the faster parts possess a more tangible, feverous passion, a resolution, almost a kind of ‘rock vibe’, compared to the crushing melancholy of the previous records.
SOURCE – Where would you like to see the band move, musically, as you continue forward at this point?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – I think we would like to continue as we have done: we do as we please, and create music with all the influence, atmosphere and mindsets we happen to experience at the time.
Of course I would like to explore the extremities of our different sounds even further: even heavier, more crushingly melancholic songs, as well as even more ethereal, progressive and mellow. Or then something completely different!
SOURCE – How do you feel so far about the worldwide response to this record? Have there been any surprises in terms of appeal, and how do you handle any criticism if it’s given?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – Well, at the time of this interview we’ve only had one review, but it was very good: we got 9,6 out of 10 from the Czech Obscura magazine. On top of that, our first single (the title track) has been streamed more than any of our previous songs in such a short time, and our superb fans have given it and the other tidbits we’ve provided a lot of love!
SOURCE – What can you say about the video for Into That Good Night?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – It was mostly filmed, edited and colour graded by just me at Nino’s Backwoods estate. Nino and Riikka gave a helping hand during the shoots, but it was once again done without any storyboard, with just a kind of a workflow of steraming improvisation. We put the ideas preliminary ideas together with Nino and just started shooting. This was all done during one week in July.
SOURCE – Finland has a strong reputation for heavy metal – many bands hitting the national charts, receiving strong international record deals, and making their mark on the touring/ festival landscape as well. Where do you see the strengths of the scene, and who are some of the bands/musicians you believe that have made the most impact from your country?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – I think the strength lies in our national mentality of gloominess and melancholia, as well as the sheer volume of bands. There are bound to be at least a handful of legends in the hundreds of bands we have. The most prominent and impactful bands for me are at least Amorphis, Nightwish, Swallow the Sun, Hallatar and HIM.
SOURCE – So you are placing a lot of importance on the power of social media to building the brand?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – I think these days Social media is key when it comes to marketing. For a small act such as Hanging Garden it is also the most cost-effective way of marketing. We make very little money with our music, and mostly put it to merch and releases, so social media is really what we rely on.
SOURCE – How do you balance the band activities with career, family, and friendships? What types of goals or bucket list items would you like to be able to achieve over the next two or three years?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – The balance is easier for us then most bands, I believe. This is because we mostly work remotely, by sending files to eachother online and communicating through Whatsapp and the like. The boon here is the fact that we are so able to compose stuff in solitude, and bring very mature compositions to the table, from which we usually start to build our next release.
SOURCE – How do you see the next year shaping up for Hanging Garden in terms of promotion and band activities?
Toni Toivonen (Vocals) – We’ll have one gig in our hometown Vantaa in January together with Throes of Dawn and Counting Hours. There’s some preliminary plans for a Finnish mini tour later in the spring. Of course we hope to make a break and be able to do an European tour later next year, but we’ll have to see… Probably we will slowly start building material for the next EP/LP as well.
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