SOURCE – Tell us a bit about the band. How did you come together and forge your sound?
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – First of all, we would like to sincerely thank you for the invitation to the interview. This is our first international interview. Although we sing in finnish, this proves that our common language is metal music. Streaming services and the internet in general have brought us all closer to each other, despite the distance. We are thankful!
Marras band was founded in Kuopio in 2013. The beginning of our story is quite traditional. Antti-Jussi Sivenius had a place where he played the guitar and he was looking for friends to play with. At that time, there was no permanent lineup yet. Singer Tuomo Huurre had just moved from Joensuu to Kuopio and met the guitarist of the moment at a rock festival, who asked if he wanted to come and try it out. At first, we mostly played cover songs, but it was soon noticed that there was a fire burning to make our own songs. And it wasn’t long before Antti-Jussi introduced his first riffs. The band’s name was decided to be Marras. In connection with Finnish folk beliefs, marras are the souls of the dead or people who will soon die. Marras souls are also harbingers of death and they also can be ghoul-like creatures of Manala. At this point, the members of Marras already included bassist Tero Korhonen and drummer Aaro Lappalainen. Each of us had played in one or more different types of bands before. A common note was quickly found, because the musicians of Marras have always been united by their love for metal music. The guitarist has changed a couple of times, but now Miikael Vartiainen plays guitar in the band.
Antti-Jussi’s riffs were fast and heavy. Although we didn’t really focus on any metal genre, in the beginning the style was kind of thrash metal with a progressive touch. We didn’t shy away from clean vocals and they have kept their place, especially in choruses. In vocals can be found many different styles of metal music. In 2020, when the pandemic rocked the world, we were making “Henkilökohtainen Helvetti” -ep and then we brought in Juho Koskinen as a mixer and a producer to our team. It was the time when Marras bands current sound was born. The soundscape created by Juho was bright and modern. The songs started to sound exactly as we had thought and the work with Juho continues. From the beginning, we have followed our own path and everyone has brought spices to the songs from their own musical taste. That’s why the music of Marras might have hints of extreme metal or anything. If we have to mention a few bands that have influenced our sound, then Gojira and Lamb of God have to be mentioned and of course a Finnish bands Stam1na and Mokoma.
SOURCE – As many bands in the rock industry appear to be releasing more and more EPs and singles rather than just albums, do you plan on going that route, as well?
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – Before we started releasing new songs, we offered our new songs to record companies. However, this did not bring the desired result and we ended up continuing as an independent band. This didn’t matter much because it’s pretty easy for a single independent band to release music through streaming services like Spotify. However, this requires that the songs are catchy, of high quality and end up on playlists. These playlists are very important. Today, music consumption has changed. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people buy a CD or a physical release in general. These playlists are where new interesting bands are found. Of course, you have to do the advertising and promotion yourself, because there is no machinery behind that would do this for us. With this latest set of releases, we decided to release all the new songs as singles. Our goal was that as many people as possible would discover our music and listen to our other songs as well. We stand behind our decision and still this feels like the right solution. Another option would have been to make an EP. I think it’s the dream of all bands to release a whole album and this is our dream too. It would be great if you had your own physical album in your hand. And it would be even better if someone bought it for themselves because they like our music.
SOURCE – Musta Heijastin is Marras’ second single in 2023 – can you discuss where you believe the major differences are between this release and previous Marras singles?
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – Musta Heijastin (Black Mirror) is a super melodic song compared to many other Marras songs. Its chorus took a long time to find its shape, and our producer Juho Koskinen also participated in its composition. Juho has brought a lot of new and fresh expression to Marras. Musta Heijastin is also a slightly more modern composition because of that. Other new song we just released called Kulkureita is certainly one of the exceptional songs from last year’s singles, then Musta Heijastin is halfway between Marras’ traditional style and new modern expression. The verse of Musta Heijastin provides a good foundation for the explosive chorus. Based on listeners’ feedback, its chorus is an earworm.
SOURCE – While opinions about music streaming services can differ greatly, it is undeniable that they are a great source of inspiration for music discovery. New music has never been easier to find with all kinds of playlists and recommendations to dig into. Obviously, not everything is great, but when it introduces you to bands like Marras, it is definitely worth the effort to fish out the gems from the vast amount of weekly releases. What’s your opinion?
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – We totally agree. Streaming services have been nothing but good for us. It could be that this interview might not have happened without Spotify’s worldwide distribution. It’s incredibly great that the new single also reached you on the other side of the globe. For smaller independent bands like us, streaming services provide a channel to reach new audiences around the world. This sets the bar pretty high, with a lot of new music coming out every week. Listening to new music has also changed with the abundant supply. The listener quickly changes the song if he doesn’t like it. The music must be good, high-quality and catchy. Marras has been making music in Finnish since the beginning and will continue to do so. The Finnish language works well in metal music and it might also sound quite exotic.
SOURCE – What are the plans with video clips?
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – Video material is an important part of making music. Fans like them and short videos reach a lot of people, for example through tiktok. A good song also requires other material around it, such as a lyric video or a video of a live performance. We have made some video material for both Social Media and Youtube. However, more should be done. You can also find videos made by us on Marras (marrasband) Facebook and Instagram. On our social media you can find videos from the training camp and also from gigs. Drummer Aaro Lappalainen has also made drum camera videos. Of course, the big thing, i.e. your own music video, is ready to be done. Making a music video is a financial issue for an independent band, because making a high-quality video costs money. At some point we are definitely going to do this project.
SOURCE – Is there any plan to release an album?
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – As we mentioned earlier, making a full album is our dream and one goal among others. In principle, the album could also be a collection of already released singles, which would also include new songs. This might actually be the next thing we start making plans with. However, new songs are being made all the time and the next release may well be a whole album. At the moment, digital releases seem to work better for us, but as people discover us, the physical album will become more relevant all the time.
SOURCE – Are there any misconceptions regarding Finnish people that you would like to set straight? I think people understand the darkness, the melancholic nature, and the depression…
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – First of all, it must be stated that Finland is the happiest country in the world for the sixth year in a row. None of us saw that coming. No one understands darkness better than a Finn, probably because there is enough of it here in winter. However, it does not mean that we are depressed or melancholic all the time. Luckily, winter doesn’t last forever. We are pretty sure that the darkness of winter partly explains the abundance of metal bands. Finnish metal music draws topics from ancient folktales, nature and of course those themes you mentioned. Dark and sad music can be a coping mechanism that helps us through difficult times. You can easily get the impression of Finnish people that we are distant, but behind the silence we are really nice people. And we get even nicer after a few beers. Once you’ve met a Finn, you’ll love us for sure.
SOURCE – What’s planned for Marras this year?
Tero Korhonen (Bass) – Right now we are preparing for the gig, which is in Paltamo. We have one more single Polku (Path) coming out, which we plan to release in late spring or early summer. This song is heavy, dark and tells something about the Finnish character. It is deliberately left for last because of that. New gigs have already been arranged for the rest of the year and hopefully there will be more. Promotional photo shoot is also scheduled. Hopefully the weather will be nicer since the previous pictures were taken in front of the Kuopio city theater in November and it was already freezing then.
Making new songs will also start soon, because there hasn’t been time for that now due to new releases. We have worked a lot with these new singles and we hope that more and more listeners will discover Marras band’s music. We are very much waiting for that final breakthrough, but hopefully it will come through good songs.
Contact:
Videos: