As we moved into the tail end of last year’s brand new releases, we came to greet one of the most ambitious releases of 2015. In the day and age we live in now demanding people’s attention is a tricky affair, with bands like Periphery opting for the release of a double album, Prog heavy weights Dream Theater also deciding to go down the same route but none have the kind of ambition taken on by Swallow The Sun. Taking the high road and releasing a triple album the Finns had their work cut out for them but had they bitten off more than they could chew? We spoke to Juuso Rattikainen the band’s drummer regarding the recording and writing process for this behemoth of an album, whether he thought that releasing an album the same running time as Lord of the Rings was a risky move in this instant gratification age and what the band’s plans are now for 2016.
Read the excerpt of the interview below and listen to our Soundcloud player below for the full interview!
What inspired the idea to call it Songs From The North?
Probably because Juha lives in the woods in the North haha! I think it’s because it tells about him, his inside being. It has a lot to do with that. He spends his time in the forest in Sweden so yeah, that’s why the name is like that.
Ok so it’s going back to basics sort of thing?
Yeah probably back to our origins!
How was the writing process behind the album, I mean there’s so much material!
We had to do our homework, since we didn’t play! The whole band wasn’t in the same place before recording at all. So it was pretty much, we did a kind of good job compared to the fact that we weren’t in the same place playing at any point before recording. Everybody had to make their homework really good.
How did you write it? Obviously there is a principal song writer but how did you get together as a band sort of thing.
As I said its Juha’s solo album almost! So kind of the only thing we did was add our own ideas. The demos that Juha made were quite ready, there’s all the song structures he made them ready and then we would add some stuff there and I would send stuff from here in Finland to him. Then if he would say that something sounds like shit then I would remove it, we had to make a lot of sending files but that’s very easy today!
So what about when you actually got into the studio how was the recording process?
Different places, different times. Juha was at the drum recordings so that made it kind of more easy because without him being present I would have probably played way too much on the record. It was good he was present because he has to direct it to the place he wants.
You said otherwise you would play too much, do you mean in the third disc when it is very very slow?
Actually I think on that disc I played more! Even more simple in some places than kind of he told but anyway it was pretty much done already pretty well, the demos were pretty clear and you could get what he was after.
So he wasn’t present with many other members or any other members?
No he wasn’t, only the drum recordings and he would record his guitar in the forest haha! We have to do it that way because the band is scattered around in different countries and different cities.
Swallow The Sun’s brand new album Songs From The North is out now via Century Media
