1. Hello my friend, pleasure to have you on Rotten Pages ´zine. How are you doing today? Let us set the scene first. Where do we find you right now? Please describe your surroundings.
Tommi: Hello!
I feel good today. It's freezing -30 degrees outside. So today is traditional Finnish winter weather. The new year has started very well.
Today I am at home, with my family, today I have a day off from my day job.
Today we should do something nice together with my family. I have also been writing this interview as the day progresses, whenever the right moment comes.
Jere: Hey and thanks. I am very well. I'm currently at home in my home studio. Here you can find a computer, a couple of guitars and quad cortex, which I use for recordings.
2. Why reason you decided to turn Down into Silence off to Gates Open?
Tommi: The Down into Silence line-up worked with me for 13 years and those were great years, from which I have many good memories. The roots of our band's history go back to 2007. That was the beginning of my and Jere's shared path in music.
In 2007, I joined Jere and others' band because they played extreme metal, but were without a singer.
This band was later named Down into Silence. With Down Into Silence, we managed to play six gigs and make several releases, the last three of which can still be found on Spotify and previous ones can be found on Youtube. We went to record the releases called "Path to Perdition" and "In Isolation" at Electric Fox Studio in Jyväskylä, Finland.
Other Down Into Silence releases were recorded in our band's practice room.
I was in the ranks of Down Into Silence until 2020, when due to its current life situation and moving to another city, going to the band's rehearsals became very difficult, so I decided to leave the band. Down into Silence broke up more than year after, and Jere and I hadn't really kept in touch during that time.
Jere and I met by chance in the summer of 2022 in Tampere, Finland at a metal music festival called Sauna Open Air. Jere told me that he has continued to compose and that I would like to try singing vocals on his new songs.
More than half a year after that meeting, at the beginning of 2023, we decided to start a band called Gates Open. We operate remotely regarding Gates Open, Jere records the songs in Orivesi and I record my vocal parts in Seinäjoki, Jere also mixes and masters the songs.
At least at this stage we are not practicing together yet, because we live 170 km away from each other and our band really only has two members at the moment.
It works quite well this way at the moment. Let's see what the future brings, if we start putting together a live line-up in the future. Time will tell.
Jere: Down into silence was stopped due to lack of motivation and time of the members.
Gates Open is a brand new band.
3. Jere, you do guitars, bass & composition, also do drum work on all Gates Open music. Who inspired you to become a musician and who would you say paved the way to get you exposed into hearing different subgenres of extreme metal?
Jere: The first bands that made me pick up the guitar were Metallica, Sepultura, Pantera, Testament and so on. Then came Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Dissection, Children of Bodom, Cannibal Corpse to name a few, with whom I started listening to more brutal metal.
4. What’s your current stance on the underground music scene with bands wanting to recreate and find their way to become successful in the foreseeable future?
Jere: I think that when you find your own thing and work hard for it, you can achieve anything.
Tommi: It's really great that new bands are born and can express themselves, nowadays everything is also easier in that regard. Something unheard of can always develop.
5. You’re set to release your brand new album “Voice After Silence” in February For those who may be unfamiliar with the band, how would you best describe this debut album?
Tommi: The Voice After Silence album is a nearly 37-minute blast full of metal that leaves no one guessing.
Jere: Full metal! Listen!
6. What are some techniques you have used on this album that you would love to share with us?
Tommi: My singing technique has developed over the years, which you can hear in the songs. The biggest inspirations for my vocal technique have been Alexi Laiho, Dani Filth, Shagrath, Spellgoth and Mc Raaka Pee.
Jere: No special techniques come to mind. In the spirit of the old school.
7. Are there any kind of particular points of inspiration for these 9 tracks that you would like to discuss?
Jere: One song came to mind. The slowest song on the album, A Place Called Home, was born based on the lyrics and the feelings derived from them.
8. Tell us about the recording sessions, how did it go? How long did it take you to finish everything?
Tommi: I recorded the vocals for the songs one song at a time at home, except for the final vocal track of the song Gates Open, I recorded it at my cabin in July.
Most of the songs had to be re-recorded a few times until they worked on the songs.
But I was able to record the songs fairly straightforwardly, after the lyrics had been adapted to the songs. Jere has recorded the other instruments.
Jere: They have been recorded and mixed, one song at a time, over the course of just under a year.
9. What kind of feelings do you have at the moment when everything is done, the album is coming out, in general are you personally pleased with the way how the album turned out in terms of production and mixing?
Tommi: This album is our first full-length album ever and the feelings about the release of a full-length album are really good. In my opinion, the production of the album went quite straight forward, Jere composed and pre-arranged most of the songs, including the vocals, to which I freely gave the final arrangement. Jere mixed and mastered all the tracks. Some of the lyrics of the songs are our band's own handwriting and some of the lyrics were written by external authors.
Jere: It is indeed successful and a good feeling. I didn't think we could finish this so quickly.
10. What makes the perfect Gates Open song? Is there one on the album in particular that encapsulates this?
Tommi: Jere's compositional style makes for a perfect Gates Open song.
I think all the songs on our debut record encapsulate what Gates Open is.
As a whole. In my opinion, the songs support each other specifically when listened to as a whole in order.
Jere: Perhaps the first single The Awakening sums this up.
11. Tommi, Your vocal performance on the album is intense, to say the least, can you tell us what they are supposed to convey?
Tommi: Our band is death/trash metal and my singing style goes with the style of the genre. The world is a dark place.
Gates Open tells stories about the Darker side of the world and mankind, life and death.
The Gates are open, but where, you decide.
You have to talk about these things intensively while singing, of course that's part of the Gates Open style.
12. Your musical work will be released more or less independently. Is this a choice, or are you still looking for a perfect label to share your vision in music?
Tommi: We make our music independently, but from summer 2023 our distributor has been Inverse Records. Inverse Records started the promotion of our "Gates Open" single and our upcoming "Voice After Silence" album nicely.
We have been satisfied. Thanks to Inverse Records, we have received news about the upcoming record from all over the world.
We have also received radio play for our songs in many countries thanks to Inverse Records, but also partly through our own promotion before the label's wider promotion.
13. How do you feel about different musical formats (vinyl, cassette, digital etc) both for appreciating other music as well as how you want your music to be appreciated?
Jere: Yes, physical discs still work, although at the moment most people listen to them via streaming. The purchase of a vinyl player is currently under consideration.
Tommi: I'm partly a man of the old covenant in that respect and I do like physical publications, there's something about it.
Cover booklets, cover images, etc. It has a completely different feeling than listening digitally. But modern times have unfortunately steered publications in a digital direction.
However, in recent years I have also reduced my CD purchases, but there are many old favorites on the CD shelf, but nowadays I mostly listen to streamed releases because of the ease of listening. I'm sure many others do too.
Anyway, it would be a dream to release "Voice After Silence" as a genuine CD, but again, we haven't decided on that yet.
Of course, it will be released digitally on every possible streaming service.
14. In a time where streaming and digital consumption of music is more the norm than owning physical releases, do you believe that is still crucially important to release CDs?
Tommi: It's modern times, those digital releases on various streaming services.
Today, if you were to market your music through physical releases alone, it would be very difficult to achieve the same level of visibility. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is.
But yes, their popularity will certainly remain at least to the same extent as it is now.
Jere: Yes, I believe that physical discs still sell and are increasing their sales.
15. If people from outside Finland would want to travel to a location that has inspired you to write music in your home country, where would they have to go?
Tommi: For a cabin in Finland in the middle of great Finnish nature, in complete silence.
The darkness of winter, the coldness and harsh nature, it is very inspiring.
The vocals of the song "Gates Open" were recorded at my cottage surrounded by Finnish nature, although last summer. I drive a car at least 550 kilometers a week, at best about 1000 kilometres, I use the driving time for thinking about song lyrics, arrangements and ideas.
As a family with children, I sometimes have very limited time for this band, but I try to take advantage of every possible moment. But fortunately, our schedule is flexible in terms of what we do, we don't set too big deadlines for each other.
Jere: Anywhere, in the dark winter forest under the starry sky.
16. How do you feel the metal scene has evolved in Finland over recent years, particularly in your own genre?
Tommi: Finland is a metal country and I think the metal scene is doing really well in the field of metal music. There is a very good amount of metal music bands in Finland, even so amount that it can be challenging to stand out from the crowd.
However, it is possible with unique, memorable works.
17. Who would you say are your current favourite bands in Finland, and anywhere else, I’m always keen to discover more great music. I find a lot of people just refuse to open their eyes (ears) and give some of the newer stuff a go. Any thoughts?
Jere: From Finland, I recommend the Stam1na band if you are interested in Finnish-language metal and the Swedish Orbit Culture is currently being listened to.
Tommi: Currently, among Finnish artists, I recommend Warmen and Bloodred Hourglass.
But, in my opinion, the best Finnish metal bands of all time are Children of Bodom and Turmion Kätilöt.
For me, they were certainly the biggest Finnish inspirations for metal music when I was younger, I still listen to them of course. Rest in peace Alexi Laiho.
But yes, the world's best metal band ever is definitely Pantera. It's just a concept. Best.
The inspiration for many contemporary bands. Rest in peace Dimebag Darrel too.
Along with these, the English Cradle of Filth and the Norwegian Dimmu Borgir were my big inspirations as a teenager, and of course their music still works today.
Of course, there are other really great ones bands coming from Norway.
Among the Swedish bands, my favorite is definitely Arch Enemy.
However, I got my first exposure to metal music from Metallica's Reload album when I was in elementary school. And I listen to music from one genre to another, from side to side, depending on my mood and if it just sounds good to my ears.
I listen to a lot of new music, mostly metal, but I can't name one big favorite from the latest ones.
18. Thank you all so much for taking the time to chat with us. Honestly, it means a lot! Your final words.
Tommi: Although the world is a dark place, let's let metal music sink into the depths of our souls and inspire us, stay metal!
Jere: Thanks and listen to the metal!