Stereochrist interview at www.firebox.fi

Once upon a time… some email communication between Medve and Peter. Fast forward eight months and you have Stereochrist album coming out via Firebox Records for the Finnish territory, the band has played six gigs in Finland and there has been numerous co-operation works and even more attempts for that. It is quite hard to place the proper words for the band which I have know only for eight months but with whom I have worked and lived with the past eight months. Sharing their stress, ignoring their stress, ignoring my own stress, getting strength from the stress… Yes, it has been quite a struggle for us all, but on 30th of January the Stereochrist album “Dead river blues” will see the daylight in Finnish record stores.
In other words: read, learn and doom on!

STEREOCHRIST and MOOD are connected due to some personalities. What Finnish people should know about MOOD and the history of STEREOCHRIST?
MOOD was formed at the beginning of the 90s and released 4 albums. They have gained a considerable reputation in the underground doom/metal scene, also played with SPIRIT CARAVAN and CROWBAR. The band called it quits 2 years ago but three members stayed together to form SUPERNATURAL with myself as vocalist. SUPERNATURAL was later renamed to STEREOCHRIST due to legal problems.

You made only one demo and hooked a record deal. Any thoughts about that demo and it's songs?
It was basically a DIY stuff. We packed our gear into a nearby club and started to record the songs live. The vocals were added in our rehearsing room by a cheap microphone and a PC and we also did some afterwork on computer. That’s all. Most bands tend to put a lot of money and effort into recording their demo in a studio environment but I personally think that whenever the music is strong enough to carry itself through you don’t need to bother. Just let it flow through your hands. I can only agree with that.

What burden it is that your record label is in USA? What possibilities it creates that you have an American record label?
We have a pretty good relation with Arctic. All communication runs through e-mail so distance is not a problem at all. It’s a great chance to get our music distributed overseas although I don’t see too much chance for us touring in the States because of the current political situation. What I think might be a drawback of an American label is that European distribution and promotion is not as strong as in the US.

The recording of your debut album took some time.. Dare I ask that what went right with your first recording session? What details you wanted to correct with the second studio round?
We had some problems with the sound that couldn’t be corrected with mixing. Right after we finished the first round we began to realize that the sound concept we imagined is basically wrong. So what else could we do? Play it again, Sam.

After the recordings, there were some problems with mixing?
No, the only problem was that the studio has some other projects and it was summertime so we had to take a month break. All in all the entire recording process took 3 months. Like with those multi-platinum bands!

We are just some days away from the release of your Dead River Blues album so an honest question: Was the before mentioned studio trek worth it?
Absolutely. We are pretty satisfied with the result musically and sound-wise as well. Not to mention that we managed to come out of the recording budget.

I have understood that in live you want much dirtier sound than what you have in the album and the demo? Can you compare the differences between your live and studio acts?
The studio sound is a bit polished and mannered. In live everyone likes to play heavy not giving a shit about getting off-key a bit or making little mistakes. I think these little imperfections make this music lively and human. Otherwise it’s just playing Lego with notes.

You have played in Germany, any negative comments about that godless country?
Absolutely no negative comments. Everybody’s been nice to us and we have made some really good friends. Two of the bands we played together with are scheduled to visit Hungary in the next months and we are looking forward to it. Germany rocks!

You also made friends with Finnish WASARA guys in the Finnish tour in October 2003. How you see that tour now, the ultimate disaster of non-planning or???
That was our first reaction but very soon we began to realize that under the messy surface everything is under control. The WASARA guys and the two sound technicians who worked on the tour took charge of everything although it always seemed that noone knows anything. I’m not sure if it’s part of the Finnish nature but it works damn good.

You also made jolly friends with various Finnish drinking habits while in tour. Did you touched any 'ordinary' Finnihs coffee or was it all expresso what you drank? Finnish vodka? Lapin Kulta?-)
I don’t know what it was. We drank something that slightly reminded me of coffee but as compared to a nice Italian espresso or even a Hungarian „Black Death” it was a joke. We were forced to drink vodka but we preferred Karhu, which is a fine beer. I also tasted Lapin Kulta and it was OK but as the Finnish guys were looking at me as if I was a complete jerk I gave it up and returned to Karhu.

Can you give us some insight into the lyrics? Are they fictional or do they carry a deeper personal meaning?
More like the personal edge. I am not a fiction writer. I can only put down what bothers me in this my microcosm be it the appalling characteristics of human behavior or just my own weaknesses. I also tend to use some irony for a better effect.

Is the album title Dead River Blues a reference to some nihilistic tendencies?
That’s right. It’s basically just as metaphoric as literal. Just imagine living in a city that has a river running through it that used to have a symbolic role in it’s history and the life of it’s people. Kings were crowned on top of it’s frozen ice, it used to mean one of nature’s forces that had to be conquered. Nowadays rivers are just unnecessary burdens that make people’s lives more complicated. It used to symbolize man’s relation to nature – by now it has ceased.

Let's talk a bit about politics. You have mentioned couple of times that how certain cities are more pro-music than others. You have especially fond memories of Szeged. What makes a town a good place for a band/music?
It’s not that they are pro-music or not but rather the audience or fan basis. It’s simple geography and no prejudices whatsoever. Larger cities are most of the time university campuses, their club culture is more well-developed and has more traditions. Szeged is a nice place to live and play though it’s pretty hard to anticipate audience reaction in other places.

How you are able to cope with the pressure of working 40h/week and playing with the band as often as possible? Do you plan that you will make your living with music?
It’s a tough business but all bands do the same in Hungary and I guess in Finland too. If you want to make music you’d better not think about money. I mean it’s good to make some money of it but when your concern is making ends meet you might as well forget about artistic freedom or whatever. I think Chris Cornell said in an interview: “I’d rather wash dishes in a Chinese restaurant than play music there.” And damn, he’s right for sure.

Budapest as a big city offers huge possibilities, but you have mentioned in our discussions that you would rather move out if it would be financially possible. How come? All around the world people are looking into big cities and it's clamour and all that, and you are trying to run away for all of it?
Well, that’s exactly the reason. Hungary has a population of 10 million people and 1/5 of it lives in the capitol, which makes it a very unhealthy environment. And that’s the reason more and more people choose to commute to work. Anyway, 3 of the band lives in Gödöllõ, a small city near Budapest, actually I am the only one living in the capitol.

In Finland, the number of sold CD's has sunk a bit, but the profits of these sales are up. Yet the big record labels are crying how downloading is killing them. How the things are in Hungary, are people still ready to pay for a real CD? Would you envision that some day you only listen downloaded mp3's?
It’s even more tragic in Hungary as CD prices are just as high as in any EU countries while wages are considerably lower. Still, many of my friends use file sharing not because they wouldn’t give money for CDs but as underground music is overwhelmingly inaccessible for them in any other way. I personally think that paid downloads can be the future way of distribution but I strongly believe that underground labels are long lasting as most fans prefer quality publications to mp3s.

A healthy three months and Hungary joins the European Union. What the 1st of May will mean for the Hungarian psyche, a trauma or a great joy? Are you worried that Germans will come and buy your country piece by piece?
Loads of different opinions. I guess the majority likes the idea of being a part of something unprecedented throughout European history. The basic idea of the European Union is great and almost makes you forget about the troubled centuries we left behind. On the other hand people in the new member states will only realize the drawbacks in the coming years.

You have quite hectic concert schedule for the spring in Hungary, but what about the gigs and tours outside the country, any concrete plans?
We have plans for returning to north and some German cities but these are not in a concrete shape.
Anything to add?
Keep rocking.

Interview by Medve

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