Photo Credit: Tiina Routamaa
SOURCE – To me, Sara has always represented a piece of metal/rock that is huge, creative, technically sound, and still super emotional. How do you find that sweet spot when you’re writing or recording?
Joa Korhonen (Vocals, Guitar) – It’s all about trial and error, finding the right melodies for the riffs and lyrics that fit in the mood of the composition. Sometimes the thing that started the whole process is not needed in the finished song so I have learned how to let go of the building blocks and welcome some happenstance.
SOURCE – Tell us about Pimeys. What inspired this record? Are there any particular themes behind the lyrics, or would you consider this a medley of individual stories?
Joa Korhonen (Vocals, Guitar) – We wanted to go back and find our heavier sound again, found my love for guitars again and realized that’s where we are the strongest, heavy riffs and big melodic choruses. The mood and some of the lyrics are inspired by the Netflix series Dark, I always find inpiration in movies and series. In some point of the writing process I realized that the word “pimeys” (darkness) was in almost all of the songs so that ties them all together. There are different themes on the record, letting go of something that you have been doing all you life, loss of a loved one, finding something new and so on. Everything tied together with some gloom and abstractions.
SOURCE – Your video for Taivas has received great views through YouTube – what can you tell us surrounding the video shoot?
Joa Korhonen (Vocals, Guitar) – We wanted a powerful video for the song so I contacted Kristina Galisova who has directed two of our previous videos from the SUMMA album. She shot all the footage and then we edited the final version together. It’s for sure one of my favorite videos we have done.
SOURCE – You all have never been afraid to explore texture and electronic elements in a heavy context. With so much growth in what artists can do with sound, where do you think the scene is headed?
Joa Korhonen (Vocals, Guitar) – Hopefully there will be more interesting and creative bands out there, I’ve been listening to Sleep Token lately and I really like how they mix electronic stuff with the heavy riffs.
SOURCE – I read an article that said there are four million songs on Spotify that have never been played even once. Given the sheer quantity of music available for listening on streaming services, doesn’t that make it even more difficult to be discovered? (source: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2013/10/11/songsonspotify/)
Joa Korhonen (Vocals, Guitar) – There’s so many little things that contribute to being discovered, good songs and some luck is a good combination, maybe some hard work too! I want to think that good music always finds its way and gets discovered.
SOURCE – Have you experienced any differences in how the foreign press treats you and the band compared to how native press and media treats and writes about you?
Joa Korhonen (Vocals, Guitar) – We have done so little foreign press so I really can’t compare the two. Maybe because we sing in finnish there is not that much foreign press, who knows!
SOURCE – In closing, what can fans expect from Sara in the coming months?
Joa Korhonen (Vocals, Guitar) – We are touring at the moment, it’s 15 years since we released “Veden aarelle” so we re-released the album on vinyl and wanted to play some shows with a setlist built around that album. After the tour I really need to start writing some new material again.
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