Interview withSami Yli-Sirniö (guitarist) from Barren Earth
What do you get when Finnish talented musicians assemble and form a new collective? A new notion on how technical metal becomes more melodic an interesting. Breaking with traditional musical boundaries and discover new paths. BARREN EARTH is for those reasons an interesting band. The members are coming from different backgrounds like Swallow the Sun, Amorphis, Moonsorrow and Kreator. Their EP 'Our Twilight' is just released on 9th November. (SD).
Reflections Of Darkness: Please let me know something about the production process with Dan Swanö? What is the benefit for the final product?
Sami Yli-Sirniö: " The début album of Barren Earth, has the working title "Curse of the Red river." It was produced by Jukka Varmo and the band during the summer of 2009. We choose Dan Swano to mix the album, because he liked the music and we all only heard good things about him. Luckily enough he put a lot of effort in the mix. It exceeded our expectations, because he managed to maintain an organic sound throughout the album... Where you can actually hear the room where it was recorded. The room for the basic tracks were recorded at the Seawolf studios in Suomenlinna which is just off the coast of Helsinki. A beautiful historical location and an UNESCO world heritage site. Vocals and the rest were recorded at Jive studios in Helsinki.. Later all the tracks were sent to Orebro for Dan to mix them."RoD: How did you manage to get all together to record the album, in this busy touring time?
Sami Yli-Sirniö: Believe me ,this was not easy. Of-course the first thing is to make a calender of everybody's activities and then work on from there. For me it was festivals during the weekends, and Barren Earth recordings from monday to
Thursday during the summer. A very music filled summer for all of us. Mikko Kotamaki (vocalist) arrived to the Studio straight from Sweden where he was recording the upcoming SWALLOW THE SUN album (released this month - SD). He didn't have a chance to go home in between, since he lives in Jyvaskyla. The rest of us are native Helsinki(ans). Although a lot of pre-production work was done already in the spring. So it was just pretty much tracking and trying to get the right vibe for it, which in the end proved to be quite easy.RoD: Who had the idea for the band and how did you find each other?
Sami Yli-Sirniö: Partly these people are old friends from Helsinki. Me and Kasper were even in the same English school when we were kids. Our bass-player Oppu had a rehearsal room not so far from where I live. He asked me if I would like
to go for a jam-session some evening. I went and when I left I had notes and USB-sticks for song ideas, which were not that bad at all. We all thought we should record something and put up a Myspace site. Before we knew it, several offers for a recording deal were already there.
RoD: You´re singing also on the new album, something that you ever wanted to do before?
Sami Yli-Sirniö: Mikko Kotamaki is the lead singer, but all of us contributed in backing vocals. And sometimes leads and harmonies as well. I've sung backings in WALTARI for years and I quite enjoy it. We leave the growling part for Mikko; the symphatetic little wino from Jyvaskyla.RoD: How would you describe the musical influences on Barren Earth? Is there a chance to see you ever performing live together on tour?
Sami Yli-Sirniö: We do both black and death metal. Do you remember the line in the Blues Brothers film? Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, King Crimson or Opeth might be bands that have influenced our sound. At least thats what other people have told us, although I find it quite original. I'm sure there will be a live gig at some point who knows ,maybe even a tour. Everybody is more than willing, previous engagements sometimes propose a problem though. Since there is a will there will be a way...
RoD: What was the reason to sign in on Peaceville Records?
Sami Yli-Sirniö: We were very lucky to get an offer from Peaceville. The final reason was the enthusiasm they showed, and the general interest in music. Their
roster is also very impressive and goes hand in hand with our taste of music. The album should be released on March 2010.RoD: Why did you choose 'Barren Earth' as a name for the band? it´s quite unusual, because the band is complete the opposite of the translation.
Sami Yli-Sirniö: Thank you very much for the compliment. It was strange to try and find a name for the band. Because nobody thought of it as a product... but then again in the end it is one. There were tens of other name candidates as well. Since none of the musicians could decide, we are pretty indecisive fellows, we actually listed all the name candidates and asked for our friends to vote the best one out on-line. Sounds pretty nerdy, right? Anyway if memory serves me correct it must have been Mikko who came up with this name candidate. It's very easy to title songs, but a band! It is quite difficult and also ridiculous if you know what I mean...
More information about Barren Earth on our 'band info' page and the official website: http://www.barrenearth.com
Copyright pictures: Barren Earth and Tina Solda
Thank word to Lecacy Magazine, Barren Earth and Peaceville Records.
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