Email Interview with Chaosweaver
finnbands: First I thought about asking you if you would like to receive massive amounts of money with minimum output, but then I came up with something else...
Nowadays the Finnish music business is more popular than ever. Bands seem to spring up like mushrooms and of course most of them aren't as successful as they wish to be. Have we already reached an overkill or do you think that there is still enough potential that it can go on like this?
Thab Picard: Hey, wait... We certainly wouldn't mind getting massive amounts of money with minimum output, but if that's not going to happen, I'll answer to your question instead. It's an interesting question, anyway.
What people should understand is that Finland is like any other country. There are good bands, but for every good band, there are at least 25 shitty ones. It's great when good Finnish bands are successful abroad, but I hope nobody thinks all Finnish bands are automatically good, because nothing could be further from the truth. It would be overkill if good Finnish bands would not get the attention they deserve simply because people are bored of all these not-so-good bands, but I have no idea if we're there yet.
finnbands: Superficially seen for someone who only looks at your promotional pictures your band's style seems to be somehow insane. What is the spirit of and the real story behind this band?
Thab Picard: "Insane" is, in fact, quite an apt term to describe the spirit of this band. As far as our history goes, Max (bass) and Kole (guitar) formed this band in 2004. Many line-up changes, two demos, and now, finally, the debut album. The rest of our story would be boring for the readers, I presume.
finnbands: Would you consider yourself to be the nice neighbour who gets along very well with everyone or the old man who lives at the dark end of the road and of whom the children are scared?
Thab Picard: I am something in between. I get along with my neighbours very well and people generally know me as a friendly and helpful fellow, but I have my dark side as well. Some people have described me as scary, although they've never managed to elaborate. And I'm not sure if I have ever met a person who doesn't think I am a bit weird.
finnbands: If you have chosen the second option: Why do you like to scare children?
Thab Picard: I don't scare anyone on purpose, it always happens accidentally. And it's usually adults who find me scary, little children usually think I'm only funny. They are not laughing with me, but laughing at me.
finnbands: You wrote a whole studio diary while you were recording your album. Can you sum up the major and most interesting facts of your work for everyone who has not read that diary so far? Maybe you can share some stories about funny incidents or unthought happenings...
Thab Picard: I was not there for the whole five months, but I have quite fond memories of the time we spent making it anyway. As far as funny incidents go, I'm sure there would be many, but I'm afraid my mind is totally blank. I remember many arbitrary things, though, such as playing Pro Evolution Soccer with our drummer Jack, staring at the complete darkness outside the house or trying to find good keyboard sounds in the studio. All of these things I did with a cold beer in my hand, that was sort of running theme on the sessions for this album.
finnbands: In the beginning of this year you have announced Cypher Commander as your band's new vocalist. Regarding the fact that you have made this change official less than three months before your album was released it seems like a pretty well thought out but yet spontaneous decision. Was this process really as rapid as it seems and what were your reasons for choosing exactly that point of time for an official announcement?
Thab Picard: It was pretty quick and spontaneous but it felt right. At that point we had already heard Cypher Commander's vocals on the tracks and we were 100% sure he is the man for the job. We made the announcement right after we had made the decision to take him into the band.
finnbands: Your CD is already released and critics say that "Puppetmaster of Pandemonium" is characterised by interesting songwriting and a huge production as well as a lot of variations and twists that form something unique. That sounds like a quite satisfying rating for a band's debutalbum. What do you think?
Thab Picard: I'm not gonna lie to you, of course it feels great. When you make music you first and foremost try to please yourself, but getting positive feedback from other people of course feels good. We didn't set out to create a "seminal dark metal masterpiece" (or whatever), and I'm not claiming that's what Puppetmaster of Pandemonium is, we just wanted to make a solid piece of work that would please ourselves, and have fun while doing it.
finnbands: What were your own expectations concerning the reactions of the listeners?
Thab Picard: We didn't have that many expectations, although we were a bit curious. You listen to your own music a bit differently than anybody else, so it's not that easy to predict how other people will react.
finnbands: You had serveral co-operations with musicians from well known bands such as Profane Omen, Swallow the Sun and Moonsorrow. How did it come to these collaborations on your album?
Thab Picard: It was very simple. We knew them beforehand (or one of us did) and we thought the songs they appear on would benefit from a little extra flavour. So we asked them and they agreed, and I truly believe the tracks benefited of their involvement.
finnbands: Your album will be released in June in Germany as well. I would say that it is not quite typical for a band to release their debut in so many countries in such a short period of time. How can you be sure that this will be a success?
Thab Picard: How can you be sure of anything in this life? You cannot, you just have to hope for the best. Our record company Shadow World Records has done a good job in getting distribution for our record abroad, so I can only hope people will also find the album.
finnbands: Now that your songs are recorded on tape you can go out an play some gigs. When and where will that be? And what can people expect from a Chaosweaver live show?
Thab Picard: People have asking us for live gigs a lot, which is cool, but there are couple of things to remember. First, we don't really work like a regular band - we live pretty far from each other and don't rehearse often. All the members have also other things than Chaosweaver in their lives as well. Second, our music would be much more challenging to play live than the music of an average band because of the complex arrangements and what have you. And third, we won't enter the stage at all if we are not sure we can cut it properly. So, playing live is not as easy and natural for us as it is for many other bands, and thus we have never done it. But, having said all this, I must say that the thought of a Chaosweaver live gig doesn't appear to me as absurd as it used to. We have discussed it and it may happen some day, although there are not any actual plans made yet.
finnbands: We are done and it's time for your last statement if there is anything left to say...
Thab Picard: Thank you for your support! I don't suppose you want to reconsider your original offer for giving us lots of money for little effort? To anyone reading this I'd like to say this: Puppetmaster of Pandemonium is out now, check it out if you crave for some dark, bombastic and insane metal music.