SOURCE – What’s been happening with the band between the release of Iconoclastic and now?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – Lot’s of things. We did the longest European tour that any Finnish band has done (with Children of Bodom) when Iconoclastic came out in late 2013. That tour cost us our former lead-singer and probably a piece of our collective mental health, too. We still did a full finnish tour with Keijo Niinimaa after our time in Europe, but after that everything changed. Frans Aalto, also known as Finowa, a multi-instrumental vocalist with almost 30 000 YouTube subscribers to his name, entered the band as the new lead-singer. Frans energized the band in an unseen way and we immediately started to work on Manning the Helm. The EP was supposed to come out already in early 2015, but due to our rehearsal place/studio being burned down to the ground a year ago, we had to postpone the release.
SOURCE – What was the choice behind Manning the Helm becoming an EP instead of an album?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – We had a few good songs ready when Frans stepped in and we wanted to get those out asap. As soon as possible didn’t quite happen this time, but all in all we were just super anxious to publish something with Frans on it, so Manning the Helm had to come out as an EP. I might add though, that we’re writing songs for a full-length as we speak.
SOURCE – Where did recording for this album take place and who did you work with?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – Everything happened in two parts, all done by us. The songs Born Enemy, Kings and Franpire were recorded, mixed and mastered at our old, now defunct studio. We were supposed to start recording Manning the Helm and Barbarossa when the fire happened. We’ve done everything that’s on our records by ourselves since Iconoclastic and almost since Abandon All. That’s a very taxing path to take. We’ll have to see if we’ll include third party support for our next album, some interesting ideas have been thrown in the air.
SOURCE – In your opinion, how does Manning the Helm differ from the previous release, and what’s still enough along the same lines that it will please fans of your earlier music?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – We’re quite a thematical group, i.e. every release has some sort of an agenda incorporated with its sound. Iconoclastic was quite technical and melodic to add some contrast to its predecessor, Abandon All, which was intended to be purely pressurising and infernal. Manning the Helm got the honour of being fast and aggressive with a little hard core-feel at least from a lyrical point of view. Our next album will be fast and aggressive as well (possibly along the lines of our record label debut, Cvlt), but with a twist.
SOURCE – You guys just dropped a music video for Manning the Helm can you tell me about how that came together?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – The video for Manning the Helm is actually a lyric video that got out of hand. We’ve had this Hangman character all over our social media profiles, so now it was his time to rise to be the star of this production. He was Initially supposed to be lifting weights in the background, but we ended up shooting him doing all kinds of stuff and using the majority of that material, too. At least one more music video off of Manning the Helm is to be expected.
SOURCE – What are other bands do you guys have active these days outside Medeia?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – None, really. Some of our guys are involved in a one-off Pantera cover band that’ll play two shows later this year, I guess were pretty dedicated to Medeia.
SOURCE – Outside of music, is anything interesting of note going on in the lives of the Medeia crew right now?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – Not really, we’re just making new music and preparing to play some good shows during the winter. I’m personally writing a book-like story already for our next album.
SOURCE – Medeia has been around for more than 13 years now! Did you ever see the band going this long and how many years do you see the band still going in the future?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – 13 years is a pretty long stretch, but since Frans came a long a little over a year ago it has felt like we’re a new band again. Now after a prolonged honeymoon we’re in a perfect place for making monster songs. The energy and skill that Frans has brought to the table can be heard on Manning the Helm and even more so in newer songs that we’re currently working on. It’s hard to say where and when this will all stop. Till death do us part?
SOURCE – For those who are geographically challenged, tell us where the Tampere are located and a bit about your country. Do the band members still live there?
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – Tampere is the second largest city in Finland, you’ll need to check the map to get a better idea about the location. We all live here for the exception of Frans, who lives in Espoo. This is our city.
SOURCE – Well thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions! Congrats on the album, it is definitely one of the most interesting album’s I’ve heard this year and in recent memory!
Samuli Peltola (Guitar) – Thanks for interviewing us! Great to hear that you like Manning the Helm. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went to making it, but you can expect even better things to come.
Link:
Medeia
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