Free Spirit
by Juha Harjula (2009-04-23)
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Free Spirit is a hardworking and equally hard playing rock band hailing from Finland.Their music offers strong musicianship, soulful vocals and the essence of the great acts from the aor/ hardrock scene. Undercurrents of Celtic and folk music blend seamlessly with powerful guitars, souring harmonies and melodies that will get stuck in your head for days at a time; a wound healed only by listening to more and more, quenching the thirst of a Free Spirit hit.
Hi Sami, how are you doing and thanks for taking your time for this interview.
Sami: Thanks, Im doing great, waiting for our next gigs.
First of all I have to congratulate you for the fantastic debut album Pale Sister Of Light. Tell the story behind Free Spirit.
Sami: Thank you! The story of Free Spirit begins already in the early 90s, as a side project for fulfilling the more hard rock -style ambitions for a group of musicians playing in a few other local bands. The name Free Spirit was discovered from Friedrich Nietzsches book The Antichrist, where he in chapter 13 defines a free spirit as a person who does not conform to norms and traditions, but instead thinks and evaluates all things by himself. As the dictionary definition of Free Spirit also fit perfectly for a rock band, the name was chosen.
After some initial success, such as two songs being released on a compilation record by an american record company, the bands activity waned with people having other obligations and interests, but Free Spirit was never completely on halt. Then finally after some lineup changes, in 2006 Vesas joining the band sparked a whole new era, as his style of playing the guitar and writing songs really connected with mine. We quickly produced the song Until the Night, and shot a music video for it. From that point on it was somehow obvious that it was the time to finally produce a full length album and really get the ball rolling again. Now only two and a half years later, here we are, the album is out and we are very excited about the reception its had!
You won a competition on the Internet, tell us about that
Sami: Yes, that was the Garage Countdown music video contest, held by the Finnish music television channel The Voice. The competition lasted for most of the fall 08, with the audience voting by sms for the bands they like. We were close to the top most of the time with the video of Until the Night, but in the end it came to a dramatic showdown between us and the band that finished second. Big thanks to all our fans who voted for us! We were interviewed on The Voice, and the Until the Night -video was rotated for about twenty times on television.
I must say that album has some fantastic melodic riff strong songs with huge hooklines and catchy choruses. Was that something you were looking for when you started to write this album?
Sami: In short, yes. One of the goals of this album, and Free Spirits music in general, is to bring back the melodic and musical side of hard rock and metal music, which all but disappeared with the rise of grunge in the beginning of the 90s. Although metal has risen back to the mainstream, its now dominated by groups of angry men each trying to best the others in how angry they are. Even though attitude and aggression has always been a part of rock music, we think there should be more than just that. It seems that people have been missing that melodic side of rock music for some time now and that is one of the reasons why this album really seems to enchant it’s audience.
QThe harmony and background vocals are impressive. Did you do everything on your own or did you have guest on the album?
Sami: The backing vocals are sung by myself and Markku, who wrote most of the harmony lines. He really has that magical touch when building those harmony layers. We had great time while recording those backing vocals even though it was a time consuming process when all the voices had to be doubled or tripled many times to achieve the sound we were looking for. When all the layers where there, the result sounded amazing, thanks to Markku’s brave ideas. It was also very easy to fit in those harmony layers in the mixing process because every line had it’s own place in a song structure.
Can you give short comments on couple of songs?
Sami: - Shadow Of A Man
The opening track of the album is very escapist in mood, where the protagonist wakes up in a dream in a different world where he becomes a member of a wolf pack. This song is a prologue for the story in the album and the first introduction of the world "Pale Sister of Light".
- Heroes Don’t Cry
This is a song that can (and should) be interpreted in many ways. On one hand you can of course think of it as a rather typical fantasy story, with the unwilling hero and a faceless evil. On the other hand, you can consider it as an allegory for the feelings of a child of alcoholic parents, who does everything in his power to keep up the good appearances to the outside world, while at the same time struggling with the troubles caused by his parents drinking. Or perhaps these interpretations are, in some sense, the same?
- Strangers
Im very pleased with the production on this one, the mood is nicely set by the interplay of the drums and the bass. Also guitar work in the verses really brought depth to this song.
- Until The Night
This is the song that really inspired us to start making the album. It was the first new song to be written after the changes in lineup during 2005-2006, and it proved that the new Free Spirit was better than ever.
- Far Away From Heaven
This is one of the completely new songs on the album (many of the songs were previously recorded as demos over the years, although the album versions are mostly quite different from the demos). Most of the song was written in an afternoon jam session that started when we were supposed to actually start recording another old song (that didnt end up on the album). One of the best songs on the album and probably the most mainstream.
My favourite song of the album is the stunning Until The Night. Do you have any favourite on the album and why?
Sami: Its really difficult to pick a favorite, but if I really had to choose, it could be Strangers. The production of the song is of course one of my favorites, but perhaps even more I appreciate that overall feeling in the song. The music and the lyrics really blend in to each other forming a cinematic landscape of nocturnal streets of a city by night. Of course Until the Night is also a special song because it was the reason to start recording this album.
You have also done a couple of videos already, tell us about them?
Sami: We have actually done five videos altogether, but the earlier ones were shot on home video cameras and so on, so theres not much to say about them. On the two latest videos, Heroes Dont Cry and Until the Night, weve had the pleasure of working with professional directors and cameramen, and you can of course see that in the results. Heroes Dont Cry was shot a bit before Vesa joined the band, so the video soundtrack is not actually the album version of the song. Until the Night was shot, as I mentioned above, once we had recorded the first version of the song and realized that we have something special in our hands. So we did the video and then started working on the album. As the video won Garage Countdown, the album had just been mastered and that really gave us confidence about the album.
What bands has influenced you?
Sami: The few biggest influences are surely Def Leppard, Whitesnake and Bon Jovi. Among the current bands that are influences are Poets of the Fall, Rammstein, Disturbed, Nickelback, and Foo Fighters. Beside those obvious influences there are also many artists far from heavy metal and hard rock genres that have influenced us on a personal level. We have even picked up some influences from folk music.
The production on the album is really great with a fresh sound. Were you satisfied with the final result?
Sami: Yes, I guess I cant complain considering the comments weve had! The album is entirely recorded in our rehearsal room at an old schoolroom and mixed by myself in my bedroom. Only the final mastering was done in a professional mastering studio (Chartmakers, Finland). The original goal was to try to pick out the good things from the 80s style of production, but to do it with a modern style using the possibilities afforded by modern digital technology. Since Im not a professional producer or mix engineer, and this was the first full length album I produced, I have to be really pleased that most of the comments about the sounds on the album have been very flattering. Of course after working on the recording and mixing of this album for a year and a half, I was initially so fatigued with it that I couldnt listen to it myself at all. Now that time has passed, Im starting think that it actually sounds pretty good.
Finland must be one of the countries that produce most new great melodic rock bands in the world right now and now I wonder what’s your secret? Is it easier for a rock band to come out than other styles?
Sami: Heavy metal and hard rock, especially in their heavier incarnations, are very popular in Finland at the moment, so that is definitely a factor. Also very large percentage of all the amateur bands in Finland play some kind of metal, so there really arent that many non-metal bands in Finland overall. With all these bands, it is obvious that there is lot of competition between them in these small domestic markets and to get your voice heard you really have to be special. Perhaps that is the only “secret” why Finland produces so many high quality metal and hard rock bands. Another reason for this could be that in Finland its cold and dark for about five months every year, so its surely easier to write metal songs than shiny happy pop tunes!
Do you have any tips of acts that we should keep our eyes opens for that comes from Finland?
Sami: Well, this one is not really in the Metal Genre, but our keyboardist Timo has a band called Celadon Skies, which plays 80s influenced synthpop.
What do you think about the Idol thing that goes on around the world right now and the artist that has come out of that?
Sami: Well, first of all Idols is of course a great opportunity for talents, who happen to make it through the first few stages of the competition, to get forward with their careers. On the other hand, I think theres a problem that these competitions distort peoples view of music. The focus is entirely on the vocalist, and people are led to understand that great music can be made by simply picking someone who is a great singer and performer, even though it is at least as important, if not more, to have great songs, great compositions. Of course the songs that the Idols winners perform are made to order by professional pop composers, but the problem is that these songs are mainly average. I guess that is because it is crucial to release the first album as long as people still remember the face of the winner and there is no time to really concentrate on the music itself and that is a pity. Many of these Idols winners have disappeared quite soon after the next Idol steps in, just because it is so yesterdays news to be a former Idol.
I think that the same problem appears throughout the music industry nowadays. Companies are whining about reducing markets and still music is consumed more than ever. What they should do is concentrate more on producing better music and I’m sure records will sell just like they used to do. People are not stupid. They buy music if it moves them emotionally, not because it is sung by a person they have seen on TV.
Do you have any plans to play live with this album and what do you think about the playing live?
Sami: We definitely hope to play live as much as possible with these songs. At the moment we have only few confirmed gigs, all in Finland, but were working on getting more all the time, and we are hoping to get to tour Europe as soon as possible. Keep an eye on our website!
I think that live shows and albums are two complementary sides of rock music. The albums are, of course, all about the songs. On an album, you try to create a perfect rendition of the idea you have about a song, and you work painstakingly on it for a long time, until its good enough that you can live with it yourself (perfect is, unfortunately, unreachable), and then its released for the audience to enjoy and your part is over. A live show, on the other hand, is a lot more immediate. You get on the stage to enjoy performing the songs, and what matters most is communicating that enjoyment to the people present at the show. So in some sense the difference is that in a live show, you are enjoying the songs with the audience, as opposed to making an album, where you make the music for the audience. Of course both are equally important and rewarding, although in different ways.
What are your top-5 albums right now and why?
Sami: That’s a tough question. It is changing everyday. What if I list some of my all time favorite albums? These aren’t in any particular order, but these are the albums I get back most often:
Led Zeppelin fourth album (how obvious is that)
Cult, Ceremony
Def Leppard, Hysteria
Scorpions, World Wide Live (still the best live album ever)
Bon Jovi, Runaway
What are your nearest plans?
Sami: At the moment we are concentrating on gigging to promote the new album, and theres also a new video in the works, which will be shot in the near future. We also working for to get the album released officially in different territories within next few months and that keeps us busy right now
Where can rock fans get hold of your album?
Sami: Well, before any official releases the best place is to check out those mail order shops like AOR Heaven in Germany, Destiny Records in UK, NEH Records and Wishing Well Entertainment in the USA, Rock Avenue Records in Japan and Record Shop X in Finland. Most of these shops are shipping worldwide. The digital album can downloaded from places like iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon.com and many more. At www.freespiritrock.com there is also a list of places where the album can be bought physically or digitally, so it is probably the best place to check out your nearest dealer.
Ok, thanks for your time Sami. Is there something you would like to add or say to our readers?
Sami: Enjoy the spring time and hope to see you all in Free Spirit shows