Scorched Earth Tactics
Hello Tero, to begin this interview, could you introduce the band with a little history on how Scorched Earth Tactics started.
We started playing together in 1996, just fooling around with some ideas we had when we were teenagers. From 1998 to 2000 we weren't that active, since most of us completed our military service, one year each after one another, so that kind of put the band on hold for a while. It was a good time though, since we hung out a lot anyways, so we got to know each other pretty well. Nowadays we don't have that many fights or anything like that, since we've been together so long, like old couples. After the military, we started to get our shit together again and in 2002 we put out the first effort of the new and improved Scorched Earth Tactics. It got a terrific reception so we thought that we must be on to something good here and just started making more of the same stuff.
The EP "Blastradius" has been out for some time, how would you present it?
I might be a bit too close to give anyone an objective view of what it's about. I really like the way Andrew from aversionline.com put it in his review where he namedropped bands like Tragedy and Cynic among others. That's something we've been trying to achieve, the fury of hardcore mixed with the sophisticated, focused brutality of technical death metal. Plus some melodies, can't forget the weird melodies. Really hard to explain... Check it out on the website folks, it's free ferchrissakes!
I really like all tracks on the EP but my favourites are "Defiance" and "Italian Strike". Do you have a favourite track on the cd?
I'd say "Defiance" as well. It is a good representation of what we try to achieve. We actually have some new tracks finished (or just about) and one of them is turning out a bit in the same direction. Can't wait to record it, it's a bit more brutal, but with a sense of oddity, not unfamiliar from our earlier stuff. Did that make sense? No? Oh well... I told you it's hard to explain.
Could you tell me a little bit what the lyrics deal with? Who does write them? And where do you have your inspiration from ?
The lyrics are written by me and Eki. They deal with all the stupidity that mankind is guilty of. Greed, drug use, deceit, people not able to think about the big picture and so forth. We're not ones for writing about some lost love or any other emo-bullshit, and we don't see a point in telling about times of yore when valiant men fought dragons. All of us have it pretty good in life, but there are things that just make my blood boil and that's the kind of stuff that seems fit to put to words with music like this. Eki for one has a nihilistic streak that is pretty clear, if you read the lyrics. We're pretty laid back guys and the music we make is just another side of us. An example of this is that we just got a new drummer to accompany us this winter and he was quite relieved when he hung with us for a while because he thought that we would be some sort of humorless bad-ass freaks which is so far from the truth as it could ever be.
There are various influences in your music, from traditional metal rhythms to crossover hardcore/punk, technical riffs, atmospheric instrumental elements close to prog rock and much much more. How do you compose the music?
Well, basically I come up with the riffs or basic song structures. Then I take my ideas and show them to the other guys, who tell me they are crap and play the stuff totally asswards. Then we argue about small, insignificant details regarding the arrangements and somehow, after about 6-12 months of quabbling we're standing there with a new song.
What are your musical influences?
Like you said before, we have various influences. We actually listen to all kinds of music. Hip-hop, techno, pop and so forth in addition to all kinds of harder music. Naturally we don't show all of this in the music, that would just make it incoherent. I think the metal community has a lot to learn from the pop-scene in terms of making good SONGS, as in tunes. Stuff that people really can nod their head to. The original influence I had to ever start playing anything came from thrash and death metal, and my taste has just gotten more elitist from the on.
Have you written some new material? Will it be out soon?
I wish we weren't such lazy bastards! We've been thinking of having the next release be something like three tracks plus a cover, a split with some good band is entirely out of the question. Antti is going to Germany in september, so it'll probably be delayed until spring. We hope to track the drums before he leaves, so then we can mess about with the rest of the tracks for the whole winter and have it out just in time when Antti returns. The curse of having your own studio, you just go there with a crate of beer and do nothing. If we had to pay the minimum 20 euros an hour which other bands do you can bet your ass we'd be like a well-oiled machine in the studio.
Do you have any views on a so called record deal? And would you sign on a non-metal record label?
Oh yeah, we welcome all partnerships, as long as there is mutual respect and the both parties can really contribute to each other. There's no use in signing with a label who knows even less about marketing than we do just for the sake of having a label name on the back and someone else footing the bill.
You have done many gigs in Finland, what about the tour you're planning to make in August with the Mexican band Prohibitory? Will you only Tour in Finland or any plans to come and visit the southern part of Europe as well? I Really want to see you live!
That would be the greatest thing ever, to play abroad. That's actually one of our main goals with the band. Since we'll probably never make any money of this band, we try to have as much fun with this whole thing as possible and a european tour would be a dream come true. We'll see what the future brings.
How's the Metal scene in Tampere? Any good bands? Good concert venues?
I'd rather talk about the finnish scene, since Finland is such a small country. There are lots and lots of bands where the members are great guys but if we narrow it down to those bands that I enjoy listening myself and who I think are worth a minute of your time to check out would be:
Murdread (old school thrash mixed with technical death metal)
Impish (progressive, energetic metal)
My Fate (chugga chugga-attitude metal)
Lähdön Aika (slow and menacing crust, Crowbar meets Bolt Thrower)
Down My Throat (NYHC as it’s meant to be)
Pofony (modern metalcore)
I'm going to get so much shit from this list, since there should be about a dozen more bands who are all going to come up to me next I see them asking me why I didn't mention their band. Haha.
Which albums have you been spinning lately?
The new System Of A Down and Candiria albums are amazing. Other than that, almost anything from Relapse or Willowtip will do. Also bands like Amok (CH) and Electro Quarterstaff have been getting a fair amount of spins lately.
Beside music what other past times are you guys fond of?
I seem to be the only guy in the band who likes sports, so I do lots of running, biking, floorball and whatnot. Other than that, we're film buffs and in the summer time we like to hang out and throw barbecue/sauna-parties, lots of them. Nothing better than listening to some Nile in a good sauna and frying lots of meat on an open fire with other naked men.
In ten years, where will you be?
Hopefully not too caught up in the worklife for the odd tour with a band that can support itself financially.
We're almost done...just for fun.... Tappara or Jokerit?
Neither actually, I'm not that fond of watching other people chasing some inanimate object. I'd rather be playing myself.
Jari Litmanen or Sami Hyypiä ?
Ummmm.... Since I'm not a spectator myself I could as easily say Hakan Yakin.
Forest or City?
Living in Finland I probably take the forest for granted. I remember when some friends from London came over in the dead of winter and they saw some birches on a boulevard, gasped, pointed and shouted:
"trees". I thought they were nuts until they told me that there really aren't any trees in London except for the parks and such. So I'll have to go with "Forest".
Tampere or Helsinki?
Well, I'm born in Stockholm and moved to Tampere in 1991. It was quite the change coming from a vibrant metropolis to a small town of under 200 000 inhabitants. Helsinki has never appealed to me, and I've grown accustomed to Tampere. In the end it's actually just the right size, you can walk through the center in 15 minutes, we do have some cool gigs now and then. Plus Ryanair just started regular routes to Riga, London and Frankfurt so it's really easy to just go off somewhere if you want to.
CD or Vinyl?
I'd have to say CD. Vinyl is much more stylish, but also far too cumbersome in this day and age of mp3ss and such. Also I think the vinyl scene has been perverted to no end with all sorts of limited releases, which end up on the wall of some pretentious asshole who doesn't even listen to the damn thing.
Guitar solo or keyboard solo?
It has to be guitar hasn't it? Being a player myself and all.
Thanks Tero for your time, looking forward to hear your new music soon. The last words are yours.
Thanks, Joël for this interview and all your help. To everyone, we hope to come over and grind your asses off! In the meantime, please check out our latest EP for free at our website!
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