Interview Amberian Dawn: Tuomas Seppälä

Artiest: Amberian Dawn

Geïnterviewde: Tuomas Seppälä

Interview afgenomen in: Biebob

Label: Napalm Records

You’re now in the middle of the tour, how is it going, still not tired yet?

Tuomas: So far we've been having a lot of fun here. Of course you're tired sometimes on tours but it usually goes by quite fast. Being on tour is not a 9 to 5 job and you need to be working almost all of the time.

How is it to tour with all these other Dutch people?

Tuomas: So far so good. It seems like we all have the same kind of humor and that's how we've been just fine with each other here. I like the company of the Gentle Storm musicians and Delain members.

The new album ‘Innuendo’ is finally out. How are the first reactions to the album?

Tuomas: It seems like majority of our old fans are really liking it. I haven't read so many reviews yet so I cannot make any comments about those. It's still always a fact that you cannot please everyone and some people are liking it and some other aren't. That's the name of the game always.

Where did you get the inspiration for the songs on this album?

Tuomas: It varies a lot. Most of my songs are based on improvisation. I just sit down and start to play my guitar or keyboards and some ideas just comes up. Sometimes I also start to hear music inside my head and then I just need to write those ideas down or start to record a demo right away. 

What does ‘Innuendo’ represent to you?

Tuomas: ‘Innuendo’ as album means a lot for me. It represents all the different kinds of sides of me as composer. Musically the album is very diverse. There's a lot of different kinds of songs on it. I've also introduced some ‘softer’ songs and I really enjoy making all these kind of ‘experiments’.

How would you describe Amberian Dawn yourself?

Tuomas: Amberian Dawn is a musical project which keeps on evolving all the time. You cannot expect me to compose the same kind of music year after a year. Amberian Dawn is still always about good melodies. Lately I've been guiding Amberian Dawn to be more vocal-driven than before.

Where do you see yourself and the band in let’s say 5 years?

Tuomas: I'm hoping that we're gaining more fans so that we're able to start touring as headliner as quickly as possible. So 5 years is a good timeframe to get this kind of thing happening. It also would be nice to be able to do as much summer festivals as possible.

There are plenty of female fronted symphonic metal bands. How do you think you differentiate yourself from others?

Tuomas: I don't think that Amberian Dawn is such a traditional symphonic metal band anymore. We have a quite unique singer now and at the moment we're bringing a lot of softer songs on the scene too. So, we have some traditions with heavier stuff, fast solos etc. and that thing will never change. But at the same time we will offer some different kind of music to our fans, too.

What do you think about other female fronted bands? And what do you personally think of the term ‘female fronted’?

Tuomas: I don't follow the scene so much and I don't know those ‘modern’ bands at all. I wouldn't like to start comparing bands with each other on just ‘the gender of singer’ basis. Music is so much more than just ‘female fronted’, ‘symphonic’ etc.

You have visited Belgium quite some times already, what do you remember about us?

Tuomas: Excellent pastry at  local coffee shops. 

What is your favorite album of all time, both of Amberian Dawn and for you personally in general?

Tuomas: For me Amberian Dawn's newest album is my favorite one. If I have to mention some other personal  favorites of mine, I would say all ABBA-albums and almost all Yngwie Malmsteen albums.