Finland and the world started this new 2021 with a piece of very sad news. Alexi Laiho died at the age of 41. How was it felt in the Finnish scene and on a personal level such an unfortunate loss? Was he a prophet, musically speaking, in his home country? "…Naturally, it was a huge loss for the whole Finnish metal scene. I did not know Alexi personally. I shared few radio interviews and one tour, so my personal loss is mainly musical. I remember when the CHILDREN OF BODOM debut came out, and everybody I knew, including me, was blown away that something that good could come out of Finland. He was definitely one of the leading figures along with the AMORPHIS and NIGHTWISH guys bringing Finnish metal forward and opening a lot of doors for younger bands like ours, for example…" 

 

The band is from Lathi, a small town with green and environmental culture. Is it true that if you walk or ride a bicycle, you can earn a free cake? "…Haha....never heard that, but if that were true, I would be the fattest on a bike in all of Lahti. I love cakes, and when I was still doing my stage manager job, I had few bigger festivals in one city in Northern Finland, and I had an endorsement deal with one bakery. I got either chocolate or carrot cake on the last festival day and shared that with my stage crew. But no, we sadly don't have that kind of a thing going on…" 

 

With all due respect, once I heard a comedian referring to snow as the "white shit", obviously he came from a Tropical country. However, you guys appreciate Winter and snow differently. Is it the perfect season to write your music? "…It is, for two reasons. One is that I love Winter as a season and the grand beauty of nature during Winter, and I try to bring some of that into our sound. Certain beauty and coldness. The second reason is that my main profession is as a landscaper/gardener, which I have been doing for almost 25 years. I love the job, love being outdoors, and work/build with my hands, but Finnish summer is pretty short. So summers are usually really busy, and I might easily do 300 hours a month during the busiest months, but around early December, Winter kicks in, and my winter holiday begins, and it usually lasts until early April. So I work roughly seven months and then focus 100% only on music the rest of the year…" READ MORE...