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Interview with
Kasper Mårtenson of Barren Earth
By Steve Green - April 2010 |
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| Barren Earth's debut album, The
Curse Of The Red River, is one of the best ever albums
to come out of Finland. And this should come as no
surprise as the group consists of members, past and
present of Amorphis, Swallow The Sun, Moonsorrow and
Kreator. I caught up with keyboard player Kasper Mårtenson
to find out more about this Finnish supergroup.
Considering Barren Earth has 2
ex-members of Amorphis in its ranks, the comparisons
between the 2 bands are inevitable. Where you conscious
of this when you put the album together or is the Barren
Earth sound just a natural creation of the various
members influences?
Hello there! The latter would be the case. At the end of
the day, for example Olli-Pekka Laine can only write
‘Olli-Pekka Laine-melodies’. And the same goes for me.
There certainly isn’t any attempt at becoming a
nostalgia act!
I read that from your first rehearsals you just clicked
as a band and “Ere All Perish” and “Forlorn Waves” both
remained unaltered from those early days together. How
easy was it to put the album together? (Especially as
the drums, bass and piano were recorded in just 3
days!!!)
It was quite easy, because we had the luxury of time. We
demoed each song in April. Listening to these, we made
some necessary changes, and by the time the actual
recording began, we were well prepared.
The title track is probably my favourite song on the
album. What is Curse Of The Red River about? Is it
based upon real life events?
It is a good track indeed. That’s Olli-Pekka’s song,
although the outro was written by Sami. Unfortunately I
have yet to receive my official copy of the album, so I
don’t have the lyrics at my disposal, and thus can’t
give a thorough analysis. But it’s probably not based on
real life events.
When I heard the Our Twilight EP, my 1st thought was
that you sounded like Amorphis in reverse, with the
growled vocals taking the lead over the clean vocals.
But upon hearing the album, there’s a lot of 60s
psychedelia floating around and a real 70s feel to some
of the songs. Which band member is the old hippy?
That would probably be me. I mean, there’s probably a
bit of hippie in every one of us, but I think I’m the
‘flower-child’ of the band, haha!
I noticed that apart from the title track, the other 3
songs on the Our Twilight EP don’t appear on the album.
Have you any more tracks left over and if so, are there
any plans to release them? (Yes, I want to hear more new
material already)
There are no tracks left from the sessions. But we have
written new stuff since. We got 5-6 more or less ready
songs, and we’re constantly writing more. |
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Was it important that all the
band members came from Finland? (Especially as you have
such an instantly recognizable Finnish sound)
Yes, that was paramount.
Working with Peaceville makes perfect sense, considering
both the bands and the labels history. How did the deal
come about?
Our original 4-song demo was sent to a selection of
various record labels. Peaceville was among the ones who
showed interest. We had a couple of other choices as
well, but after meeting with Peaceville in person we
decided to go with them.
Peaceville have created a mini-site for the album.
How important is the internet for a band these days and
do you think, one day, it’ll replace the need for a band
to tour to promote an album? Or have we already reached
that situation?
It is of utmost importance. It makes everything so much
faster and more efficient. Obviously, one might also get
lost in the abundance of information and music. But I
don’t think there’s ever going to be a substitute for a
proper live rock’n roll show!
I saw the live clip of Jewel on your Myspace page. So
I’m guessing you’ve played 2 live gigs so far. How did
it feel to take Barren Earth into the live arena and how
did the gigs go?
That’s right, we’ve played twice. Both were most
enjoyable, though initially we were quite nervous.
Does your live set just consist of songs from the new
album or are you playing songs from your other bands
(past and present) such as Amorphis and Swallow The Sun?
The live set consists of songs from the album and EP.
The only thing added to these is an intro performed by
myself, with a little help from Sami and Marko. It is an
independent piano piece. We are not playing anything
from any other band.
As you are all involved in other bands, how difficult
is it for you all to get together and practice and will
it make touring difficult?
That’s a good question. Yes, it is difficult, and even
now, on our live shows in May, we’re using a replacement
for Sami. We’re hoping to find some mutual time for a
tour in Autumn, but I know it ain’t going to be easy.
Let’s hope for the best!
Many thanks for your time and best of luck with the
album. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thanx for your interest. Long live Live4Metal!
Barren Earth links:
www.barrenearth.com
www.myspace.com/officialbarrenearth
www.peaceville.com/barrenearth/curseoftheredriver
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