{"id":11084,"date":"2012-08-20T07:30:57","date_gmt":"2012-08-19T21:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=11084"},"modified":"2012-08-19T21:23:20","modified_gmt":"2012-08-19T11:23:20","slug":"eicca-toppinen-of-apocalyptica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2012\/08\/eicca-toppinen-of-apocalyptica\/","title":{"rendered":"Eicca Toppinen of Apocalyptica"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s a high energy intense kick ass heavy metal show with a lot of fun, with a lot of very entertaining stuff, we are not too serious you know, we are serious but there will be so many moments where we are not serious at all which is why it is so entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Bio: Since they formed in 1993, Finnish orchestral rock band Apocalyptica has released seven studio albums featuring numerous cello-based instrumentals along with some vocal-based songs. Whatever styles they\u2019ve explored \u2013 from atmospheric interludes to fast, battering rhythms — their music has been gripping, dynamic and full of melody. But it was on their seventh album, 7th Symphony that the band has composed an album that not just symphonic, it\u2019s practically a symphony.<\/p>\n

Heading to Australia for the first time in their twenty year career, we spoke to Eicca from Apocalyptica about their upcoming tour of Australia, cover versions and just what the near future holds for these cellorockers!<\/strong><\/p>\n

You are coming to Australia for the first time, can you talk us through an Apocalyptica show and what it entails for those that haven\u2019t seen your show before?
\n<\/strong>Wow, that\u2019s hard to describe ha ha.\u00a0 At the moment, the shows, we play all the stuff from all the albums, of course we have the drummer in the shows that we have had in the band for years and years already.\u00a0 We are bringing a singer with us and I think it\u2019s a full blast metal show; it\u2019s very entertaining, it\u2019s a lot of fun, we have a lot of classical elements there, even acoustic moments, so it\u2019s very exciting and I guarantee its super fun to watch.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of a big show.\u00a0 It\u2019s a high energy intense kick ass heavy metal show with a lot of fun, with a lot of very entertaining stuff, we are not too serious you know, we are serious but there will be so many moments where we are not serious at all which is why it is so entertaining.\u00a0 The program is a combination from all the albums basically, there are some classical elements involved, metal and some really hard core metal, so it\u2019s exciting and it\u2019s something that we\u2019ve seen our audience is a big mixture of all ages of people, from different social background, we have classical audience, we have hard core metal fans and we have everything in between, and I think the show offers a lot, a unique experience for people that are not in to metal at all, you don\u2019t need to be in to metal to like an Apocalyptica show.<\/p>\n

You mention you\u2019re bringing a vocalist with you, is it anyone we may know?
\n<\/strong>No, he\u2019s a Finnish guy, he\u2019s called Tipe Johnson, he used to be in the band \u2018Leningrad Cowboys\u2019, not sure if they\u2019re known in Australia, so he\u2019s used to being in that band before, but he\u2019s been touring with us for now I think four years.\u00a0 We use him for mainly the singles, the latest singles, he\u2019s not singing the Metallica songs, because that\u2019s the spot for the audience, but we play the Metallica, but it\u2019s minor in the show, as we have seven albums and a lot of stuff to play from there.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2007 when the world really took notice with \u2018Worlds Collide\u2019 what do you think it was specifically that resonated with people on that album?
\n<\/strong>I think a very big reason is of course the singles that we finally had songs that were played on radio, on that album of course that spread the word and gave more awareness for the band and I think it was also, loads of people knew us kind of from the first albums, but since then a lot of people love to track what\u2019s going on with Apocalyptica, they didn\u2019t know that we still exist.\u00a0 When we suddenly came up with some singles they say \u2018I know this band, they did the Metallica thing in \u201896\u2019 so it connected, it was our sort of comeback album in that sense ha ha.<\/p>\n

\u20187th<\/sup> Symphony\u2019, was funnily enough your seventh album, did you do anything differently recording wise to differ from previous releases?
\n<\/strong>Yeah, all the time we work with different producers and I think \u20187th<\/sup> Symphony\u2019 was kind of a follow up from \u2018World\u2019s Collide\u2019 because \u2018World\u2019s Collide\u2019 was the first album we had loads of guests, three or four?\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember even ha ha, because many times around an album you work with so many people and you never know which songs are finally ending up to the album and which collaborations end up in the studio and on the proper recording.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I can\u2019t remember, I think its three vocal tracks on that album, so we wanted to do a follow up for that record, but, what we wanted to change this time even more we wrote the songs to be vocal tracks and then the other songs to be instrumental tracks.\u00a0 So we were not worried about how the instrumental and vocal music fits together, we wanted to get them away from each other, to write more vocal tracks and then more progressive, more crazy, more different instrumental stuff, that was something that we wanted to change on the song writing front for \u20187th<\/sup> Symphony\u2019.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>When writing the songs that will end up with vocals, do you already have a voice in mind when writing and then approach the artist in the hope they\u2019ll sing on it?
\n<\/strong>Um\u2026 it\u2019s a little bit different at different times.\u00a0 Sometimes we write together with the singers, with the vocalists, but then sometimes we write the vocal tracks and when we have the song existing we start to think, ok, who would be the right person to sing this song and then we start to approach the people we like.\u00a0 Every time it\u2019s a little different approach.<\/p>\n

Over the years you\u2019ve worked with a number of guest vocalists on your music, who stands out as the most amazing both in stature for you and sheer performance skills?
\n<\/strong>Ha ha that\u2019s kind of impossible to say because there have been so many outstanding performances, like Till Lindemann is one of the greatest, Corey Taylor is amazing, Adam Gontier is amazing, but maybe one of the most exciting persons to work with is Nina Hagen, because when we were shooting a video and we did two days and we did some TV performances in Germany and I did some TV interviews with her and that was something different I must say ha ha.\u00a0 She\u2019s an amazing person, but I think she\u2019s maybe the strangest person I worked with ha ha.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>\u20187th<\/sup> Symphony\u2019 is two years old now, are you currently writing for a new album?
\n<\/strong>No, actually, after the Australian dates we are going to have a long break, like one year off from the band, because we\u2019ve been doing now sixteen years with no breaks, no proper breaks, all the time touring or song writing or preproduction or recording.\u00a0 At the moment, the band is in its best shape ever and the mood is great in the band, so now is the right time to have some time out. Also we have some different ideas for different possibilities for the future and we\u2019re out of the record deal at the moment, so we want to get some distance to what we\u2019ve done so far and get some free space for some new fresh ideas we want to, for Apocalyptica, for us, it\u2019s always been important to develop the band and to do something new next step.\u00a0 We had two albums with this concept, having the special guests so we want to see what the feeling for the next step.\u00a0 In the last two years we\u2019ve added more classical and acoustic elements to the live show and also to the side projects we\u2019ve done now.\u00a0 We have a lot of exciting things we want to try with good time and experience and therefore we have no plan for the next album.\u00a0 There will be a next album that\u2019s for sure, but what kind of concept it will be, nobody knows.<\/p>\n

Looking back at the covers you once recorded, which was your favourite to play?
\n<\/strong>My favourite to play is \u2018Inquisition Symphony\u2019 by Sepultura, that\u2019s a song that I think there\u2019s been a single Apocalyptica show in our whole history where we have not played it.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s the only since we\u2019ve played since \u201993 ha ha ha and there\u2019s no way to play a concert without that song.\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of ultimate brutality, it\u2019s so fast and it\u2019s so furious and it\u2019s so crazy and we don\u2019t even feel it\u2019s a Sepultura song, we feel it\u2019s our song because our version has been living its own life, but its most fast and most furious and most crazy song in the whole set, that\u2019s why it\u2019s my favourite.<\/p>\n

When you do these covers, do you ever worry that they may not like it and may not let you do it?
\n<\/strong>Ha ha no, not really, I think all the versions we\u2019ve done we do with full respect to the original, even though we change some things, we do it by our heart. Therefore I think that\u2019s the reason why all the people whose songs we\u2019ve been covering they really like what we do and what we\u2019ve done and that\u2019s why Metallica was really supportive from the first time they heard the first album they were like \u2018This kicks ass\u2019 and they usually don\u2019t like the cover versions too much of their music, but for Apocalyptica versions they are always going for it and they were very supportive for us and we\u2019ve opened for tonnes of times for them over the years, and it felt always great.\u00a0 Of course the one song unfortunately was not released for one German band, but you know sometimes when you don\u2019t know the people and you have no idea and all you hear is these people are very difficult with permissions for the versions, then you think OK I hope they like it.\u00a0 So far everybody else liked our versions.<\/p>\n

Doing this now for almost twenty years, what do you think it is that keeps you going?
\n<\/strong>I don\u2019t know, we just love to do music and of course it\u2019s been hard in between with such a long period, but I don\u2019t know, we found a way to how we respect each other as musicians and as persons, and we see the development all the time and for me personally that\u2019s very important thing I feel the thing is developing, it\u2019s going somewhere, there is a direction, it\u2019s not just standing somewhere, stuck somewhere, that\u2019s why it\u2019s not getting boring.\u00a0 Every show is new and fresh and that\u2019s why we want to have the break, because now we have the great spirit in the band, it\u2019s definitely now if we have a break, we have a powerful kick ass feeling when we come back and, I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s so inspiring to work together, that\u2019s the reason.<\/p>\n

Catch Apocalyptica on tour in Australia at the following dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thu 30th August \u2013 Brisbane Hi-Fi 18+<\/strong>
\nwith AWAKEN SOLACE\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0thehifi.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a01300 The\u00a0HIFI & Moshtix outlets
\nincluding Kill The Music, Butterbeats CBD & Valley and Atlantis\u00a0Music\u00a0Southport<\/p>\n

Fri 31st August- Sydney Hi-Fi 18+<\/strong>
\nwith RISE OF AVERNUS<\/strong><\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0thehifi.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a01300 The\u00a0HIFI & Moshtix outlets
\nincluding Resist Records, Utopia Records & Red Eye Records<\/p>\n

Sat 1st September- Melbourne Hi-Fi 18+<\/strong>
\nwith BE\u2019LAKOR<\/strong><\/strong>
\nTickets from\u00a0thehifi.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or 1300 THE HIFI & Moshtix outlets
\nincluding\u00a0Fist2Face,\u00a0Polyester Records & Greville St Records<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Helsinki, Finland<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso, Paavo Lotjonen, Mikko Siren<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.apocalyptica.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> 7th<\/sup> Symphony (2010)<\/p>\n\n

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