Pyro: Hey mate, Pyro here, how're ya doing?
Henkka Blacksmith: I'm good, how are you?
Pyro: I'm doing pretty good. Have you done many interviews tonight?Henkka Blacksmith: This is my fourth one.
Pyro: I hope you're not getting too bored yet [laughter]. Anyway, I run www.PyroMusic.net, thanks very much for taking the time to have a talk to me. I'm sure a lot of our readers are going to be at at least one of the shows you'll be playing across the country next month and are really looking forward to seeing Children Of Bodom live (myself included). Now, there's been a great deal of interest since the tour was announced. Originally just one Sydney show was planned but it sold out in a matter of days and a second was added. Were you expecting this kind of interest from Australian fans?
Henkka Blacksmith: Well, I was so happy when I heard the first show was sold out. It's all beyond our expectations already. I'm just really, really glad to come over finally. We've never been there and I've never been there.
Pyro: So none of the other guys have been here before?
Henkka Blacksmith: No. That's the thing, I've always wanted to go there.
Pyro: Are you planning on doing any sight-seeing while you're here or is it just doing to be gig, gig, gig?
Henkka Blacksmith: Well, within a tour there's not so much time but we arranged some holidays for us there so we have a couple of days. We'll just take it easy and check it out.
Pyro: Cool. I've noticed a lot of the attention for the upcoming Children Of Bodom tour has been coming from people who don't usually listen to a lot of metal. Do you find that this is a trend all over the world, that a lot of people who are into Children Of Bodom wouldn't really consider themselves metalheads?
Henkka Blacksmith: Well, I mean, the first time I saw this kind of thing was in the 'states, where all the people were not dressed in black, or didn't have their hair dyed black. There were 'normal' guys in yellow shirts and baseball caps. I mean, in the 'states the kind of people are more like Hardcore people and that's great. I'm glad to see that you don't have to be a 'true' metalhead to enjoy our music. Of course, metalheads were the first fans of our so there's a lot of respect for them.
Pyro: On to the live shows, how long can we expect the sets to be?
Henkka Blacksmith: Um, I would say that it would be from 75-85 minutes.
Pyro: Oh, excellent. What kind of material will be played? Is it mostly going to be stuff from the new album plus some 'greatest hits'?
Henkka Blacksmith: Yeah. Greatest hits. Several songs from the new album, and some from 'Hate Crew Deathroll' and some older material.
Pyro: What kind of stage show can we expect? Will you be jumping all over the place and unleashing furious windmills or will it be a little more static?
Henkka Blacksmith: We're not static at all. The music is especially the kind of music you have to just move around to so it's pretty natural to us, but it depends of course on the crowd. The better the crowd, the better we get.
Pyro: I don't think you'll have any problems with the crowds down here mate.Henkka Blacksmith: [Laughter]
Pyro: Do you think that there will be much interaction and talking with the crowds from Alexi and everyone else or are you planning on just getting up there and playing music?
Henkka Blacksmith: Well, of course it's not just about playing songs. It's also about interaction with the fans and with Alexi, especially when we're headlining, there is a lot of interaction with crowds.
Pyro: On the topic of headlining, in say, Europe or somewhere like that what size crowds do you guys play to when you're the headlining band?
Henkka Blacksmith: In Europe, from 1000 - 3000. Same goes in Finland, and in the US we have never played a headlining tour...so we will see this fall how it's going to be. But I'd say 1000 average. Japan is the same.
Pyro: I haven't heard the album yet but my promo copy should be on the way soon. Everyone I know who has heard it though has said it's a really big improvement over 'Hate Crew Deathroll'.
Henkka Blacksmith: Oh, cool. That's good to hear.
Pyro: How to you feel it compares to more recent albums?
Henkka Blacksmith: Well, personally, I think we have always done new albums in a different way but this time it was surprising. When we started to do the songs and when the songs were done I was really satisfied with them. I was like "Yeah, this is cool stuff". Even though I found the songs really 'normal' and 'traditional' for Children of Bodom songs, but then when I heard the album when it was completely done with vocals, it was really surprising how powerful and how different it sounded compared to previous albums. I'm still listening to the album a lot and I'm really satisfied with it.
Pyro: So everyone else is happy with it as well?
Henkka Blacksmith: Yeah, definitely.
Pyro: Regarding the album title 'Are You Dead Yet?'. Obviously the title caused a bit of a stir as it's very similar to the 2004 album by Carnal Forge entitled 'Aren't You Dead Yet?'. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, and I'm sure you've been asked a million times before but did anyone know that Carnal Forge had released an album with that name?
Henkka Blacksmith: No, we didn't.
Pyro: How long was spent writing and recording the album?
Henkka Blacksmith: Uh, we started putting the songs together in January and entered the studio in May, of course I don't know when Alexi started to think of songs in his mind, but we started in the studio in January and the album was recorded by the beginning of June, so it took basically half a year.
Pyro: Have you heard any feedback from fans or press yet about the new album or is it a bit early?Henkka Blacksmith: It's quite early but I've read one review from a mainstream magazine and that was very positive but from journalists I only seem to hear good things. There's never the journalist who says something bad, so I don't know if they're lying or what. [Laughter]
Pyro: We all know the story behind the band name, but I wanted to ask if the new evidence found in 2003 had an impact on the band?
Henkka Blacksmith: The story now is that the trial is now going. They found some DNA from part of a shoe that was found in the forest that belonged to the only survivor of the massacre and now the trial is going and it seems really complicated now. There's a lot of evidence against them but still it seems that it's not enough but I think the verdict should be announced by the end of October so we'll see what's gonna happen.
Pyro: Your cover of 'Oops I Did It Again'... I heard it a little while back and I think after hearing it my exact words were "What? The? Fuck?!?". What brought on the decision to cover the song?
Henkka Blacksmith: We just wanted this kind of reaction, just as you said, like people maybe laughing and just being shocked, to make people ask "What the fuck is this?". That's why we did it.
Pyro: Is anyone actually a fan (be honest) of the original?
Henkka Blacksmith: [Laughter]. Not really, no. Of course, we know the song, and we listen to it sometimes just for a laugh, but we're not serious fans of Britney.
Pyro: I know it's not exactly your forté but I also wanted to ask about the Warmen album as well. How's that going for Janne?
Henkka Blacksmith: I think the album is done, and I think that he will get it released in Finland and Japan only. I haven't heard the complete album but I heard the song where Alexi was singing, the cover song, I can't remember the name, but it was pretty cool. He is not going to be kept busy by Warmen anymore, I don't think they will do any shows.
Pyro: Have Warmen played live in the past?
Henkka Blacksmith: They've had just a couple of shows.
Pyro: So it's definitely more of a side project than a main focus?
Henkka Blacksmith: Yeah, definitely. He's only doing it when he has time off from Children Of Bodom. He's never putting Warmen first.
Pyro: What sort of music workload do you have in any given year? Is there much time off to catch up with friends, family, get pissed, actually go see a gig instead of playing one?
Henkka Blacksmith: Of course we have to take some time off. Lately has been kind of busy but the summer has been kind of easy for us. We've done maybe 10 festivals, and festivals of course are held on weekends only so we have the whole week off, so we have a show, we fly off, do the show then we're home again for the week. We've had a good chance to enjoy the summer and see our friends and just do normal things but now of course the promotion has started so things are a lot more busy. We have started rehearsing new songs and old songs so it's going to be a little busy this next few weeks before the tour starts. Once we have the headlining set rehearsed, whenever we're home we have more time to spend with friends and family.
Pyro: I also wanted to ask, some of your favourite albums from the last year or so. What have you been listening to and enjoying?Henkka Blacksmith: The last two albums from Soilwork, I really like those, and also I've been listening to almost everything from In Flames.
Pyro: So you're a fan of the newer In Flames material as well?
Henkka Blacksmith: Well...'Soundtrack' I didn't listen to too intently, but I know a couple of songs really well, but 'Reroute To Remain', I think that's amazing. You don't like it?
Pyro: No, not a fan. There were one or two tracks that weren't too bad on 'Reroute' and 'Soundtrack To Your Escape'. I much prefer their older material, but you know, different people, different things.
Henkka Blacksmith: Yeah. [Laughter]. I also like a lot of the Metalcore bands from the states, like Killswitch Engage.
Pyro: Mmmm. They're one of the very few Metalcore bands that I actually enjoy but they're great.
Henkka Blacksmith: Yeah. They're the band who are doing it the best. There are dozens of cheap, cheap copies of Killswitch Engage but Killswitch are doing it right. There's also this Finnish band called Down My Throat, which is kind of Metalcore as well. You should check them out.
Pyro: Since you're coming down on a massive tour, what are some of your best and worst live experiences?
Henkka Blacksmith: There are a lot of great live experiences. For example, all the shows in Japan. Especially the first time we went there. It was so amazing, so different and the fans were great. That was one of the biggest things that happened to us. Going to Japan for the first time. It was great. The first time we did this festival in Germany there was 130 000 people..and only one stage. That was amazing. of course, we were just opening there but it was amazing to see that mean people at the same time. All over the world there are always lots of good things. For instance, South America is always cool to play with those crazy, crazy fans and of course there are these downers, like playing in Finland 5-6 years ago. We played in western Finland, in a club. It was a Thursday, and a national holiday or something. It was a small club, maybe 500 people capacity, but there was like 13 customers that bought tickets and half of them were sitting back in the club. There were like 6 people on the floor. That was baaad.
Pyro: When you're on the road, do you tend to get drunk off your head's every night and have a great time? This upcoming tour is pretty long..
Henkka Blacksmith: Yeah, this upcoming tour is very long. It might be the longest we have had. Usually we have one leg of a tour, then 2 months off home so usually we don't have to think about these kind of things but now, this time, I think we have to take a little more care. We cannot just get drunk every night touring one year, your body can't handle it, but of course headlining for example, last year we did 3 tours in the states as an opening act so we had the whole night to party, but when you're headlining you don't have that much time off. There's not too many chances to go crazy every night. The shows end very late, the set is like 80 minutes, so you're very exhausted after that, then you have to go to another city for another show, so it's difficult when headlining.
Pyro: I 'spose I'd better wrap things up. Just finally do you have any parting words to fans who are thinking about picking up the new album and maybe seeing Children Of Bodom live on this tour?
Henkka Blacksmith: Now that we're coming to Australia, I mean, it's one thing I have been waiting for for many, many years.
Pyro: Well, I think I can say Australia has been waiting for your for many, many years too.
Henkka Blacksmith: [Laughter]. It's great. When I heard the Sydney show had sold out it was exciting. We're really looking forward to this and personally I've always wanted to go to Australia so now I get to do both at the same time. It's really cool. I hope to see everybody and a lot of fans at the shows. I know one of the Sydney shows has sold out and I am sure the other shows will be good too.
Pyro: Thanks again for your time mate. I'm looking forward to catching the second Sydney show and expect a good show so be sure not to disappoint. On behalf of all Aussie Children Of Bodom fans, thanks for finally coming to our country. We're looking forward to the gigs!
Henkka Blacksmith: Thank you, and thanks to Australia for inviting us.
Pyro: Have a good one.
Henkka Blacksmith: Thank you.
- Pyro
