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When
it comes to power metal giants they don't come much bigger than
Stratovarius. Tonight we catch up with the two newest members of
the band Lauri Porra and Matias Kupiainen to find out all about their
new album 'Polaris' and their worldwide tour.
MM -
Hi
guys, thanks for taking the time out to chat with us. How are you
guys feeling today?
Lauri
- You're welcome. We're feeling good today thanks. Some
of the band have come down with cold, Timo and Jens, so we are trying
not to get their germs. (laughs). These things happen all the time
when you are on tour though, so you just do what you need to do and try
not to spread it around everyone else on the bus.
MM
- How
did the show go last night?
Lauri
- It
went very well thank you. The crowd were very good. Matias
was also very good.
Matias
- Last night was my first live show with the band so I was feeling a
little nervous before the show. The show went well though, I don't
think I made too many mistakes and the crowd and band were very good to
me. I am still feeling a little nervous tonight but not as much as
I was before the show last night. (laughs)
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MM
- Yes, you have a new member to the band now. What do you
think Matias brings to the band?
Lauri
- Matias is a very good guitar
player and we are very happy to have him in the band. He
was involved when we were writing the new material and he
composed 3 songs on the new album. It is also nice to have
some more young blood in the band as well! (laughs).
Matias
- No, no,
no ... I worked with Timo and together we composed the 3 songs
together! (laughs). Lauri actually wrote 5 songs on the
new album He is very good at song writing.
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Lauri
- Everyone in the band wrote the songs and helped shape
them, whether it was the music or the compositions, we all
played a part.
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MM
- The band are
due to release their new album 'Polaris' any day now, what can you tell
me about it?
Lauri
- Well we all helped to write the songs on this
new album, which is something we did not do so much in the past.
We went away to somewhere where there was no distractions so we could
just write the new songs and music together. We feel very close as
a band now because we did this and it was good to have Matias with us
taking part in it all also. He has fitted in very well.
Matias
- The album comes out on Monday and we hope everyone enjoys it.
The fans at last nights show seemed to enjoy the new songs that we
played for them.
Lauri
- We are all feeling very good about this new album right now and
think the fans will enjoy it as well. It retains the Stratovarius
sound that the fans are familiar with but has gone further than before
because we were all involved with the writing of the songs.
MM
- The
band have been through some difficult times of recent years with the
break-up with Timo Tolkki. Am I right in thinking that is all
behind the band now and the rights to the name and back catalogue remain
with the band?
Lauri -
Yes, that is correct. Everything has been sorted legally now and
we are moving forward and not looking back at these things. It has
been a difficult time but that is all gone now, the future and the new
album is what we are concentrating on now. (This
question is clearly something that the band know they can't get away
from in the run up to the release of this new album, but Lauri's
response was not a bitter one but one given with a wry smile of someone
that was expecting the question but who is truly happy with the
direction the band are taking right now and is happy to be moving
forward and leaving the negativity surrounding that situation behind
them).
MM
- How
long did it take to create this new album from start to finish?
Lauri - It
took around 13 months in total from the beginning of writing and
recording the album through to the production. The album was
actually mixed by a very good friend of ours Mikko Karmila.
You may not know this but Matias is a very good producer so he helped a
lot with the album on that side of things also.
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MM
-
Without
giving too much away, can you tell me what the setlist for this
tour will consist of?
Lauri
- I
don't want to spoil the surprise for you so I won't tell you
what the actual songs we are playing will be. However, the
setlist does include 3 songs off the new album and then a few
songs off some of the older albums ... Elements, Infinite,
Destiny, Visions, Episode ... there will be plenty on it
to please both the old and new fans I'm sure.
MM
-
What
does the future hold for Stratovarius, what do you have planned
for the immediate future?
Lauri
- Well
we are on the second date of our UK tour and then after that we
travel to Russia, then home to tour in Finland. After that
we have some festival appearances in France, Spain, the Czech
Republic, the Ukraine, Holland ... then we have Wacken in
Germany. After that we go to the US and play some dates
there and in Canada. We actually have tour dates and
festival appearances booked into next year so we will be kept
busy! (laughs). Sometimes when you are out for such a long
time you get a little home
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sick
but I know that it will only be around 12 or 15 weeks and then I
will be home for a few days before we go out again. I just
keep thinking about that and it stops me getting too home sick.
It feels good to be back out touring again though.
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MM
-
Looking
now at you two gents as individual musicians, can you remember when you
first became interested in playing an instrument? What was it that
inspired you down your musical path?
Lauri - I
would have been around 4 or 5 years old when I first started to play a
musical instrument. I played in a music school. I was very
lucky to come from a very musical family so it was very natural for me
to do this at such an early age. I started out playing the cello
before moving on to the bass guitar. I studied both classical and
jazz bass and also learned to play the piano, the double bass and the
trumpet.
Matias
- I was older than Lauri when I first became a musician. I was
probably around the same age when I first started playing but I was
maybe 7 years old before I played in front of others.
MM
- What
instruments do you prefer to use these days when playing live?
Lauri - I have my own signature guitar with ESP called the 'Porra'.
It is a five string bass guitar and it is a very good bass guitar to
play. It has these five control knobs and just looks and feels
really good to play.
Matias
- I use a
Ruokangas Hellcat. I am using a prototype for the new model on
tour. I don't have a signature guitar like Lauri does at present,
but I hope one day to have one of my own. Who knows maybe
Ruokangas may give me my own signature guitar some day! (laughs).
Unlike Lauri's guitar my guitar only has two knobs and this slider on
it, I prefer to have a clean guitar without too many knobs to get in the
way when I'm playing.
Lauri
- Yes but your have the same amount of controls if not more than me
when you use your slider! (laughs).
Matias
- No ... OK maybe ... (laughs).
(It's
very heart warming to watch such playful banter between these two great
musicians while at the same time get a feel for the genuine respect each
one has for the other's talent).
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MM
-
Is Stratovarius a full time job for you guys
or do you still have a 'day job' as well?
Matias - Since joining Stratovarius it has become
pretty much a full time job for me up to now, especially with us
spending the past 13 months working on the album.
I have my own recording studio MinorMusic and so I do a little
production and mixing when I have time. I do have a little
time here and there to do other things as well but not that much
of late.
Lauri
- Yes Stratovarius keeps me pretty busy also ...
(laughs). I also compose music for TV series and film
scores when I have time. Last year I released my solo
album 'All Children Have Superpowers'. I appeared on the
Kotipelto solo album
and do a little teaching when I have time also.
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MM
- Finally
is there anything you would like to say to our readers and all your fans
out there who may be reading this?
Lauri - I
would just like to say thank you for coming to see us today and doing
this interview and to all our fans out there I would say come and see us
on tour and buy the new album, it is very good! (laughs).
MM
-
I'd like to say a massive thank you to both Lauri and Matias for taking
so much of their precious pre-show time to chat with us today, we really
appreciate it. We wish them the best of luck with the tour and
their forthcoming new album 'Polaris' which comes out on Monday.
After hearing some of the new songs played at the show tonight I for one
can't wait to hear the whole album as it sounds like it's going to be a
classic Stratovarius release. Be sure to check it out.
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