1. First, thanks for having
accept to answer these some questions.
- No problems, I'm on my vacation!
2. Can you tell the readers a bit about the band's history ?
- KYPCK started out from a long-lasting wish of Sami (guitar) and Hiili
(drums) to play in a band together.
They wanted to play something very slow and heavy, yet with a touch of
melody and personality to it. Finally, Sami also decided that Russian
would sound great in such music. So, the idea was born. I had worked on
some Russia-related musical projects for some time and when the
opportunity came through my Finnish label to do a whole album in
Russian, I was immediately excited. Plus, I knew Sami somewhat as we
both grew up in the same little village in northern Finland and I
obviously respected his past work.
After that, the band was ready. Jaska (bass) is an old friend of Hiili
and he suited the band well and was also ready to experiment with
something new and extreme.
3. How did you choose the name of the band and what does it mean ?
- We had a few Russian names flying about... The criteria was mainly
that it be a short, masculine name that would be recognised as Russian
everywhere in the world. KYPCK, which is pronounced "kursk" was the
number one choice. I like the multiple historical associations that it
has: it's an very old city in Russia, it's the largest tank battle in
the history of the world and, obviously, also well-known as the tragedy
of 118 seamen who perished on the submarine of the same name.
4. Why did you decide to sing in Russian ?
- Well, why not? It's a language with great literature and a
fascinating history. And as far as I know, no non-Russian band has ever
done it before, at least not a whole album. I think the time is right to
start seriously challenging the role of English as the only possible
language of metal. People are ready for that kind of stuff.
5. Can you tell us more about your debut album called " Cherno " ?
- It's an album I'm very proud of, because it well reflects the kind of
visions we had when we talked about this band in the beginning. It's an
album with continuity, a kind of peculiar atmosphere running through it,
as there are no silences or pauses in between songs. In this day and age
of the MP3 it pays homage and respect to the album-format, which I think
is still relevant. You need larger entities than just songs to make a
whole and that whole, as the artist intends it, is plain only in the
album-format. Cherno is our view.
6. How long have you been recording the album ?
- The album was finished very quickly. The songs came together in
about a month, the drumtracks were recorded in two days, the bass guitar
in another two. I worked on the lyrics as all of this was going on, but
still in quite a short period of time, so there I also had a clear sense
of the album as a whole, as I was writing the lyrics. All the guitars
were recorded in, I think, five days and then I sang the vocals in
another two days. And there it is. Rough and ready!
7. How did you proceed for the composition ?
- We talked for a long time about what we wanted and where this band
was going to go. It was pretty clear from the start that we all clicked
and were on the same page. Sami had a demo recording of what was to
become the song "The Black Hole", and that was a kind of guideline on
where we were heading. We didn't talk about what bands we'd want
to sound like or anything like that, we just had a few general ideas in
mind: slow - heavy - Russian - weird, etc.
Then we all recorded demos and sent them to each others for comments and
so on. In the end, I usually got the final composition and started to
work on the lyrics. If they were my own songs, then I had usually
already started from the lyrics, as that's the way I often worked then.
8. Can you tell something about the lyrics ?
- I'd say the main themes are: Russian history and literature, war
and religion/atheism. I did my degree also in Russian literature and
those are the kinds of things I'm interested in. Of course there are a
few songs there that are more personal to me, I mean, after all I'm a
lyricist and I need to write about things that I'm going through. But
even in those songs, the stories and experiences are usually such that
I've had when I was living in Russia.
9. Which songs from the album will you playing live ? Why did you choose
that ones ?
- They all seem to work even better live than on the album and so far
we've played the whole album live in our concerts, plus two coversongs.
One is a bit of a Russian folk-song and it's instrumental and the other
one is Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath", which I redid in Russian.
10. Did you film a promotional video ?
- Yes, we filmed a video for the song "1917", which is included on
the European version of the album. The video is a kind future-projection
of the song's main protagonist's fate. The director gave his view of
what happened to the person in the song. And the video takes place in a
kind of pseudo-reality, maybe you could call it KYPCKLAND, heh! It's not
clear where it happens and when.
11. Are there certain songs on the album you want to mention or tell
something about ?
- Well, the song "Predatel" or "The Traitor", in English, is one of
my favourites and we usually start the show with it. The language used
in the song has its roots in the Russian bible, in the story of the last
days of Jesus and his betrayal and resurrection. But the song itself is
a kind of allegory of betrayal in a romantic relationship and subsequent
recovery from that. The final track "Demon" is also special, and I think
it's a great way to end the album. It's based on a poem of the same name
by the 19th-century Russian poet Lermontov. The song actually has some
direct quotes from that poem. In it Satan falls in love with a mortal
woman, manages to capture her heart, but she dies of their first kiss.
The song is a kind of pastiche of that.
12. What are your touring plans for 2008 ?
- At the moment, we have finished our festival tour in Finland and we
are waiting for our first foreign dates. We have reserved most of
September-October for concerts abroad and hopefully we'll get something
confirmed very soon. We have already got offers from Russia. It would be
great to do a few good shows in Europe, too.
13. Can you tell us an anecdote which particularly marked the band ?
- Well, the whole formation of the band's image is one prolonged
anecdote. But that's the way we came together as a band, before we had
any gigs or rehearsals. We hadn't really been together before we started
the band. Sami knew Hiili, Hiili knew Jaska, I sort of knew about Sami
because I was in school with his brother, but no of us knew everybody.
So, in the studio we started to create an atmosphere for ourselves, what
would be the feeling of KYPCK. We bought a lot of Russian vodka into the
studio for the recording. We had a kitchen in the next room, where Jaska
would cook EVERY DAY, something out of cabbage or whatever, but
something primitive, something Russian. Then we borrowed weapons (which
you can see in the promo-pictures), which the lay around in the studio
and which we took to the promo shots, because we basically had them on
us all the time. For the promo-shots we got the Russian jackets. Then
someone got the idea of buying a Russian car, which we did, and painted
it with the band's colours and logos. Then Jaska wanted a one-stringed
bass guitar with the band's logos. Then Sami had his guitar made out of
a real AK47. Hiili bought the biggest ride-cymbal available, which is 30
inches(!!!) and sounds absolutely horrible, but it suits us. Then I
wrapped barbed wire on my mic stand... It was all just a crazy, but
natural progression for us. And we obviously had a lot of fun.
14. And as a conclusion, can you say some words for my radio show Metal
Choc ?
- "Je voux traire la vache! " (The only bit of French I know...) Heh...
All the best to the listeners and go and buy the album if you want to
test your own musical preconceptions!
15. Thanks again for the
interview, and I wish you all the best for the future.
- You too, hope to see you at a show!
Erkki Seppanen, BA.
Homepages at:
www.tuiranmiliisi.com
www.dreamtale.org
www.KYPCK-DOOM.com
