Interview with Sami Hinkka of Ensiferum

On September 11th Ensiferum released their album "From Afar" (click here to read our review - German only) and soon they will tour again.
Read what Sami has to say about the new long player and about touring in general.

TrashAndRiot: Hello Sami, how are you doing? In a few days your new longplayer called "From Afar" will be released. Are you excited and did you already start to prepare yourself for tour?
Sami: Hi! Yes we are very exited of "From afar" and we are hitting the road in few weeks.

TrashAndRiot: What do you think has changed most compared to your former album?
Sami: "From afar" is much more solid album then old ones with better songs, better sound and better production.

TrashAndRiot: How much did the constant line up change change your music?
Sami: Of course you can hear those 200 gigs that we played with this line up on the album and it also helped the song writing process.

TrashAndRiot: What do you think do your fans expect from the new album and which expectations and requirements have you had for yourself?
Sami: I have no idea. We just write songs that we like.

TrashAndRiot: Do you think it is more difficult after such a long band history to still develop and improve a new album or do you think every new album is an improvement in itself? What do you think has changed on the new album after the last longplayer
"Victory Songs?"
Sami: I think it's interesting to evolve and grow as a composer and also as a band. Of course we have learned from past mistakes when we wrote new material and like I said earlier, the steady line up helped us also to arrange new songs.

TrashAndRiot: Have you had any troubles during the recordings or was everything going well? When did you started with the recordings and how long took it to the final finish and the release?
Sami: Recording session went very smoothly and we hit the Petrax studio in April and continued in E-Major studio for few weeks. Over all we were in studio about seven weeks.

TrashAndRiot: Which is your favourite song on your new album and why?
Sami: Heathen Throne, it's just a perfect song.

TrashAndRiot: With the appearance of a new album there always starts an interview marathon. Who of you give's the most interviews or do you split it fair so that everyone can do some of them?
Sami: We try to split them but I think I make most of English interviews and Markus does almost all Finnish ones.

TrashAndRiot: Emmi is your keyboarder since 2007. Is she feeling happy in the band and how fast could she tie in with Meiju's keyboard parts? Is her keyboarding different to Meiju's or is she making a good job?
Sami: Emmi has played piano since she was five so she learned Meiju´s keyboard lines very fast and she arranged keys with Markus to From afar. She is doing great job!

TrashAndRiot: The "From Afar" cover is authentic to your former album covers. Who designed the new cover and what is the story behind the warrior in the icy landscape?
Sami: All our album covers are painted by Kristian Wåhlin. He is such amazing artist.

TrashAndRiot: How would you describe "From Afar" with just a few words?
Sami: The best and most ambitious album we have made so far.

TrashAndRiot: How much do you deal with history and mythology?
Sami: I try to read as much as I can specially on tours but there are too many interesting books in the world! On our last gig abroad I finished a book about Crusades so I'm interested about history and mythology also.

TrashAndRiot: In general: where do you find the inspiration for your songs?
Sami: Musically we should ask from Markus because he is the heart and soul of Ensiferum´s music but I know nature and folk music are very important for him. Inspiration for lyrics comes from real life issues but Kalevala, Nordic myths and pure fantasy are important for me while I'm writing lyrics.

TrashAndRiot: What is the special meaning in the "Northern Star" which is often a topic in songs of viking / pagan genre?
Sami: I don't like to explain my lyrics too much; I like to leave room for listener's imagination.

TrashAndRiot: "From Afar" contains a lot of elements of diverse musical styles. Do you think it's daring to combine these elements? Or was this maybe just a natural process?
Sami: It was natural evolvement and we don't think "can we do this and this", if something sounds good for us then we keep it.

TrashAndRiot: A few months ago Petri decided to leave Norther to give full attention to Ensiferum. Did you support his decision and was that really the only reason why he left Norther?
Sami: Ok, let's get this straight; Petri didn't leave Norther, he was kicked out. Why would he have left the band he founded? Well, that's another story but of course we are happy now that we have Petri 24/7. That makes our tour planning much more easier.

TrashAndRiot: Your European tour will start in a few days and right after this you are going to tour the US and on New Years Day 2010 you are playing in Australia.
Is touring for such a long time hard for you, do you get homesick and what do you do to relax?
Sami: Playing live is what we all love so long tours are no problem for us. I try to relax on tours by reading and of course drinking some vodka helps! :D

TrashAndRiot: You will be touring with Tracedawn. The guys just released their second album and are around 18 years old.
You have been touring many times now. What would be your advice to them to prepare for the tour and how do you think will it be to play the same stage with a band that had no tour experience so far and is still so young?
Sami: My only advice is to try to kick our ass every night! It's not easy to be the opener band but if you do your stuff well, people will remember you and you'll get to the next tour and on the next tour…

TrashAndRiot: Is touring still exciting for you or does it become boring at a point where you have seen every city again and again?
Sami: If playing live gigs ever become boring, I'll quit. But I don't see anyway that could happen.

TrashAndRiot: Do you still have after show parties or have you come to an age now where it would be better to go to bed right after the gig?
Sami: Of course we have parties time to time, but the fact is that you simply can't party every night because that will affect on gigs in a long run. Quality over quantity! It's better to have one good party than twenty bad ones.

TrashAndRiot: After you have been on tour for those long times as you were already: what kind of feeling is it to come home?
Do you know this feeling we'd call "after tour depression"?
How do you get along back to an "average life"?
And where are you "at home" more - on the tour bus or in Finland?
Sami: After a long tour its nice to go back home and chill out for few days but soon you start missing tour life. Of course I'm "more home" in Finland.

TrashAndRiot: And now our last question. Why should people buy "From Afar"?
Sami: Simply because it's the best album of 2009!

TrashAndRiot: Famous last words.
Sami: Enjoy the new album and see you on tour!

TrashAndRiot: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview for us and see you soon on tour in Germany.

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