Hi! Tell me about KALMO. Why did you decide to name the band with such title? What kind of ideas do you explore?
Naming this band Kalmo happened
about five years ago, or it may be six already. Time flies. Anyway, I
had the idea that the name needs to be short and simple, and it needs to be somehow
related to death. The research for name ideas on the Internet revealed
that naming a band is difficult, damn difficult actually. After a while, I thought
that the name Kalmo fit the idea I had well. When I was
able to draft an old-school style logo of the name, I knew Kalmo was it. Before naming the
band Kalmo (cadaver in
English) I called it Finnish Frost. The name was like a tribute to
Celtic Frost. When I decided to put more focus and effort on the project,
I decided
to re-name it.
Gehinnom
album
was released on April. How does that make you
feel?
Do you feel you have put album into masses without any wishes to change
something now?
As I am the only
member in Kalmo there was a hell of a lot of work to do. I spent basically all my spare time from
August 2020 until the end of March 2021 putting all this together. There were
periods when I worked on the album until 2 or 3 AM and then woke up at about 7
AM to get to my day job. So, I was quite
exhausted when the album was released. However, I was also extremely happy: I
was able to get this done, achieve the next step in Kalmo’s story.
Eh, there is always room for doing things
differently or to improve.
However, I think you go forward through
evolvement. In my work, I usually
focus on getting things done at
the level I am at and on learning new things as I do that, instead of endlessly
polishing things and getting paralyzed by a quest for perfection. Once a new song or album is released,
I have also learned new things that I can then utilise in the next project.
This does not mean that I simply
release everything I create: there is of course work and effort I put into the
songs as well as a filter that all things need to pass before releasing.
Tell me more about Gehinnom? Album ideas etc…
The
album's theme
phrase is This
is where the end begins. I think this captures
Gehinnom’s story well. Gehinnom is one kind Hell. The atmosphere in the songs
is dark and daunting. Song lyrics are in
Finnish and tell stories about the end from various points of view. That is something I noticed later in the process, coming up as a common
theme in all of them. Demoni was very simple and perhaps even monotonic when
it comes to the songs, and
I have tried to make
Gehinnom songs have more musical elements in them.
There are 6 tracks
on the album.
It opens with a song titled Tuho (Destruction) which sets the ominous theme of the
album. Tuli (Fire) is about the fire and devoting oneself to the fire.
The song opens with a mesmerising serenade to the flames, pledging the soul to
the inferno and it bursts into
fiery lake of flames after the intro. The third song, TEPVSL, is written from the perspective
of the
last of
the last’s soul still
trapped in human flesh. The future is decided. The soul knows that this is not an
ending, but the end. The fourth song Mitään ei jää (Nothing remains) is
the oldest song on the album.
It is about how people
are their own worst enemies
and how the future of
mankind is lost due to our past. The next song,
Marjaana, is a traditional ballad mutilated into a Kalmo style song. The album closes with
Kuolleen linnun laulu (Song of the
dead bird). It is a hymn-like song.
At the moment,
there are music videos for the songs Marjaana and Kuolleen linnun laulu. A third
music video is in the planning stages and time will tell if it will be
produced. The lyric music video Marjaana was released before the album was
released. I worked with Finnish artist Arto Törmänen (3dart.fi) on the graphics
and animations. The song is a story, so I wanted the music video to have
animated scenes illustrating the story line. The music video for Kuolleen
linnnun laulu is the first music video production where I mix 3D graphics and
animation with live video. There is an earlier lyric video for the song Mustaa from
Demoni where I created 3D smoke animations. Music video production is so much
fun and there is so much to learn. However, I would like to have a pro
production team at some point to produce a music video for Kalmo.
The cover art
is created by a Spanish artist and musician José Paz. He has made several album
covers for different bands. I am happy that we were able to work together on the
Gehinnom project. You
can find some of his art on Instagram @kibusanima.
Mixing and mastering was done by a Finnish music
production studio Saarni Music (https://www.saarnimusic.com/). There were not too many iteration rounds needed
and the whole process went very smoothly with them.
Where do you take all inspiration from?
I am not able
to name a single source of inspiration. I listen to different kinds of music
and genres and that is one source of inspiration. A good example is Marjaana,
which is Kalmo’s version of a song based on the ballad Sweet William’s Ghost from the 17th century. The
idea of making a kalmonized version of it came from Faarao Pirttikangas’
version of it. Faarao is a Finnish blues musician. I almost immediately had an
idea what the lyrics needed to be like and what would be Kalmo’s way to tell
Marjaana’s story. An idea for a song might come from just a phrase or a piece
of art I see or from a thought that crosses my mind just before falling asleep.
Quite often my songs start with lyrics and from there evolve into a song. An
important mode or state of mind for inspiration is being a bit bored, with time
on your hands, and not stressed about much of anything. Just let your mind wander
and catch the thoughts that cross your mind.
In
your opinion, what is the best way to define KALMO’s sound?
If I needed to
use two words to describe Kalmo’s sound, I would say stone crusher. My vision for
the sound is not too clean and not too produced. I am somehow addicted to low
tom sounds on drums, get too excited, and end up adding too much toms sometimes
*laughs*. The overall feeling I would like the sound to have is dark, grinding,
strong distorted lower register emphasised by a piercing higher register.
So, are you on hiatus now, just
relaxed and looking for album feedbacks, or did you started to compose new
stuff immediately?
Of course I am
keen and happy to hear feedback and comments. One of the reviewers for the debut
EP Demoni commented that “It is not easy listening”. For me, that was well put.
I do not want to create music that is easy listening and disposable. I am glad
when someone tells me that they enjoy listening to Kalmo’s music, with emphasis
on the word listening.
The work
continues after the album release. There is PR work I do and Sliptrick Records
with its PR agencies does, being active on social media, and corresponding with
bloggers, magazines etc. One important part of album-related work is responding
to interviews like this. If Kalmo were a band with more members, of course the
band would be doing gigs.
Having said
all that, I must admit that I already have some thoughts for the 3rd
Kalmo album, some riff ideas to work with. However, I will likely give the 3rd
album a bit more time than I gave Gehinnom.
What
are your main musical influences? How huge
is their influence in your sound?
As I listen to
many different styles, I believe there are influences from different genres. A
couple of bands whose influences Kalmo’s music has feasted on include Celtic
Forst, of course, as well as Slayer, Gallhammer, Hellhammer, Vorum, Death
Breath, Triptykon. From other genres I could mention The Cramps and Hound Dog
Taylor. Kalmo’s sound and style are still works in progress, but it is maturing
and developing over time, song after a song. As it develops, there will be
influences and ideas coming from the bands I listen to and from bands I have
not known earlier and will learn from in the future.
Is
there some
well-known musician in particular that you
would like to use in one of your upcoming albums?
I could use
more than one as, at the moment, there are no other members in Kalmo besides me
*laughs*. If I try to analyse this too
much it will go wrong. The first idea
that came to mind after the question was Dave Lombardo on drums. We will go
with that! Perhaps this occurred to me because I am thinking of using a session
drummer in the next Kalmo album, whenever that will be released.
What
is your personal strategy for making your music heard by a larger audience?
At the moment,
there are two PR agencies working on promoting Gehinnom. In addition to their
work, I personally contact bloggers, fanzines, webzines, radio stations, and Spotify
playlist curators. Social media channels are also important media for
bringing Kalmo to a wider audience. And creating new material, be it a music
video or a song, is an important part of the process.
As Kalmo is a one-man
band at the moment, there are no gigs. That would be an integral part of a
strategy to make the music heard by a larger audience. Well, let’s see what the
future brings.
Do
you have any other hobby beside music?
I like to do
things by hand. I own a 1958 Buick Century which has been waiting in the garage
for like 3 years now. Every now and then I build cigar box guitars. Then there’s
3D graphics and animation, studying them has taken quite a lot of my time. I
like to watch sci-fi, war and action movies, documentaries, entertainment and
game programs like Gold Rush and Forged in Fire. Forging is something I would
like to try and learn.
Are you all supported by your relatives towards your devotion to music?
Absolutely.
Mari, my sweetheart, is my main supporter. I appreciate her efforts and support
a lot. First of all, she bears the endless practicing sessions and time I spend
on practicing and working on new songs. Then she is always there when I need an
opinion or to reflect on an idea or need support with written material, like
for example a press release. She has also been the other half of the army when
we have shot PR pictures or video material for the music videos.
How’s
the metal scene in Finland right now? Is
it easy to play gigs, to buy records etc there these days?
It is very,
very active. Now if we forget COVID-19 and the restrictions related to it,
there are a lot of metal gigs and festivals like Tuska, Helsinki Death Fest, Jalometalli,
Steelfest as well as bars dedicated to Metal music. Records are widely
available at record stores like KVLT, Levykauppa X, Saturnal Records to name
you a few. One good site for you to check out a list of Finnish bands is https://www.capitalofmetal.fi/. I would like to welcome all of you metal heads
to visit Finland and check out the metal festivals we have here! \m/
Thank you for answering my questions, see ya on the road!
Thank you
for interviewing Kalmo! Thank you all for supporting Kalmo on its journey in
darkness. Stay doomed \m/