New Q & A With The Bands: Antipope

Members

Mikko Myllykangas (vocals), Tuska E. (drums), Santtu Heinilehto (bass), Juho Rikberg (guitar), Antti J. Karjalainen (guitar)

Where in Finland are you from?

Oulu. It is the small town from where Sentenced and Impaled Nazarene and plenty of other metal bands have come.

How would you describe your band for those who don’t know you?

Tuska:

It´s the ultimate heavy metal band from Northern Finland. Catchy metal riffs and ass grooving metal madness that gets you in a mood.

Santtu:

We enrich traditional heavy metal with elements taken from more extreme metal styles. The music relies on strong rhythms and good melodies.

Juho:

not thrash, not death, not heavy, not black, but all of them together.

Antti:

and with an alternative approach.

Mikko:

yes, it is quite difficult for most of us to put it under a single tag. I think it’s because we are on a continuous journey discovering music we want to create and play.

When did you form as a group?

As a band Antipope was founded in 2004. With this line-up the band has existed since 2008. Juho joined the band in 2007 and Tuska and Antti joined the band in the year 2008.

What was the inspiration for your recent album?

Mikko:

I wanted to make an album that has a distinct atmosphere and has a general mood. When I was composing the songs with Juho I listened to some Middle-Eastern traditional music and North African music too to get some ideas for melodies and themes. The end result is not that exotic, however. Lyric-wise the album is about estrangement. It’s quite psychological and more inward looking than the previous works.

Tuska:

The drums were arranged with Mikko and I added the groove to the songs. The vibes were gathered from ethnic restaurants.

What other releases do you have?

Apostate Angel, Chaosmos (EP), Excessive Use of Faith (EP).

What is your favorite song on your most recent album?

Tuska:

I Fight Evil with Evil. It´s a rocker song that has a catchy chorus and some Mid-East kind of vibe added to the melodies. I also think that the song has grown much when we have played it live.

Santtu:

Cursed. It has a good rhythm

Antti

Brooding

Juho:

To play it is Brooding and to listen, all of them!

Mikko:

Since I wrote most of the songs I have a special relationship with them and it’s hard to pick one to be above the others. Eternal Champion is fun to do live even though it’s physically quite challenging.

Do you have any gigs coming up?

Yes. There will be an unofficial world record attempt in Nuclear Nightclub in Oulu. We’ll be on of the close to 50 bands playing there during one day. It’s on 12th of June 2010. That’s the next gig and on next autumn there will be more to promote our latest album.

What’s your favorite type of venue to play?

Mikko:

A venue that has many kinds of music played live. I like Finnish festivals very much because they have many kinds of bands playing. From humppa to heavy. And people are very drunk.

Juho:

We have played only in clubs so far. So have to say “clubs”.

If you could play anywhere in the world this week, where would it be?

Tuska:

Vatican. On the balcony where the pope hails the crowds.

Juho:

Ruskin arms, London.

Antti:

South America.

Santtu:

I would choose Madison Square Garden.

Mikko:

I think I would go with Tuska. Such a spectacle!

Do you have a Website, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter etc?

Yes, all of those. And you can find our music also in Mikseri which is a Finnish site and in Jamendo where you can get our latest album “Desert” too.

What are your influences as a band?

Mikko:

We all have our own influences that we melt together in the band. For me they change from time to time but some bands, like Iron Maiden, have inspired me for many decades. Back then when I formed the band black metal and progressive metal were the most influential styles but nowadays the spectrum is much wider which you can hear from listening our songs from the oldest to the most recent ones.

Tuska:

Scott Columbus and Frost from Satyricon.

Juho:

Good and interesting music.

Antti:

Extreme metal music and atmospheric music in general.

People who enjoy your music tend to like what other bands?

Is there some one who enjoys our music? Tom Waits, Darkthrone, Finntroll, Akercocke, Iron Maiden, Primordial (as a result of quick browse through last.fm). Anyone who likes metal or good music in general.

Are you signed to a label?

Not yet, but we’re looking for a partner in cooperation to publish and distribute our latest album.

Where do you think you’ll be as a band in 5 years?

Tuska:

Hopefully we have learned to play and still can make as good or even better music than now.

Santtu:

In five years we have a recording contract and released at least two records

Antti:

Touring Europe with few other bands from other countries promoting our new album.

Juho:

Two albums ahead.

Mikko:

I would make it three new albums at least. We’re already working on the follow-up to Desert…

Is there anything else people should know about Antipope?

Tuska:

You never know what to expect from us. Antipope usually is everything else what you have waited for. But still Antipope is a band making good interesting music and playing entertaining live shows that sometime have fireworks in the end.

Juho:

So come to see our shows.