1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
-Jokipii: Saasta started as a jamming duo including drummer Jimi Lahtinen and me, guitarist Topias Jokipii. It soon became clear that those jam riffs were worthy of founding a real band around them. It was a no-brainer for me to decide who to ask for the bassist's job. Janne Hietanen was the obvious choice as we had a history in a common band and I knew the potential Hietanen had to offer. I started as a vocalist-guitarist in the band, but soon after the debut album was released, I wanted to be able to fully concentrate on playing the guitar. Via a finnish music sites “wanted” forum, Leevi Kärsämä was found and showed up at rehearsal soon after. He blew the other guys socks off with his vocals and the seat was his.
Saasta exists to offer their listener a pathway out of real life’s problems and all the shit that comes with it. Letting people channel their aggressions in our music and performance is a better option to some events that can be read in the newspapers.
2.So far you have released a full length and an ep, musically how do they both differ from each other?
-Jokipii: The basics of the music remain the same on the EP. Black, Death and Doom can still be heard on the record (as the title might suggest, hehe). However, the compositional work and the musicians' performance is quite a lot more mature and polished. The full-length was in a way a record where the band was still finding their direction. Taking a listen to both of these productions might explain better what I mean.
3.Most of the band members play in other bands, what is it that you bring into the music of 'Saasta that you have not been able to do with your other groups?
-Jokipii: Saasta is the first band I’m solely playing the guitar in. Saasta is also the first band where I have had the main responsibility of writing. This is personally a big thing for me, as it lets me explore my imaginations capability more deeply.
-Hietanen: There is only one guitar in the band so there is plenty of room for me to play the bass, it means that I can play in a way that is natural to me, which I enjoy and (I think that) the joy of playing brings something to the music of Saasta.
-Kärsämä: Saasta for me is the band that raised me up as a vocalist, Topias, Jimi and Janne took me under their wings and trained me to be the voice of impurity!
Soulwound is pure aggression but Saasta lets me bring out the darkness and misery.
4.The band members also have experience working with other styles of metal in other bands and projects, do you feel this makes you approach to extreme metal stand out a lot more?
-Jokipii: Having experience from various fields of metal is definitely a pro, as it widens the range of possibilities in both writing and arranging the songs. Not being restricted into a certain mold is greatly liberating and lets the imagination breathe more. Also listening to all kinds of music makes it easier to steal other’s ideas! (C’mon Black Sabbath did it all already anyway, hehe)
-Hietanen: I'm already an old boomer. I started listening and playing metal music when I was young and genres didn't mean so much back then. There were “posers” and “real heavy metal people”, there was black metal and death metal, but in the music store you found all those records under one genre; Metal. I'm still living in that time, so I don't really have an answer for this question.
5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?
-Jokipii: Song lyrics are a tough subject. We most definitely give them a lot of thought and want lyrics to have a certain meaning or message to them. Nonsense texts just don’t feel inspirational at all. So far the texts have been a personal garbage dumpster of my head, where all filthy and unpleasant thoughts and experiences have been poured into. Of course there is a lot of added spice to them, otherwise I might be in a mental facility in the blink of an eye. There are a couple songs that are exceptions to this “rule”. For example the song “Black | Death | Doom” is a 100% fictional story of a crazy sorcerer conjuring his great black upon the world. But yeah, mostly the topics are around the wickedness of people and societies, along with the various struggles of an individual. Only thing that was kind of consciously chosen, was not to have themes around religion or satanism or such, as I feel like that field is already covered quite well and I feel difficult to come up with anything interesting.
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Saasta'?
-Jokipii: In the very beginning when we started jamming with Lahtinen, I had two ideas for a project name; Antic and Saasta (Filth, or Scum in English). Both options arose from the point of naming the band to describe the music as accurately as possible. The latter was finally chosen because it was Finnish, and cooler also hehe. Having a Finnish name for a band that has mostly English lyrics felt like a nice change.
7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
-Jokipii: The artwork for the EP is done by the hands of Pla.q.u.e. The same artist has done artwork for a sludge/death band called “Chestcrush”, which I’m currently the vocalist for, so that’s how I found out about this beast of a man (or woman? He/She/They only wants to be credited by their artist name.
The image itself represents the unbearable self-loathing, resulting in the figure carving their maggoty heart out of their chest. Facelessness is a way of describing the society oppressing an individual to become a faceless, worthless piece of a game, instead of a human being.
8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
-Jokipii: I would say in a way our debut show at the local Music Bar Haukka was the most meaningful. Watching the recording of that show really made clear what we want to be, and what we want our shows to look like. Comparing that first show to the shows we play now, they differ quite a lot. Feels like we have achieved a point where playing a show feels comfortable, visually I mean. There is also a lot we want to do for our stage performance, including more complex fogs and lighting. Luckily Hietanen is quite a visionary and a handyman when it comes to building stuff like this!
-Kärsämä: I have to say every time we have played at Music Bar Haukka.
It's such a compact space so the energy of the show is so intense!
9.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
-Jokipii: We were stupid enough to miss the dates for applying to next year’s festivals. That is absolutely something we want to do in the very near future. On the other hand, the production of the EP and the three music videos took our energy completely for the past fall. As a young band, all possible shows we can get are really valuable to us at this point.
10.On a worldwide level, how has the reaction been to your music by fans of underground metal?
-Jokipii: The feedback has been great, and the physical release of our debut album sold more than we expected. We have also learned that releasing a physical full-length gets a lot more attention than a digital EP release. It’s a little shame that the merchandise around the EP has not sold as hoped, as that would accelerate the production of our next release quite a bit. On the other hand I’m proud of the metal community for still wanting physical full-length albums, instead of the constant flow of singles as they do it in many other genres. I also don’t want to sound like I think we deserve anything more than we get, I’m just so eager to get new music out and that is not cheap these days!
11.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
-Jokipii: Saattoväki just released a new EP, although the band itself is not active at the moment. Chestcrush will have some exciting news in the near future, but I will leave the details for the mastermind, Evan. I’m also working full steam with my freelance metal vocalist career, to dive even deeper in the metal culture. You can find me by the name “saasta6” in Fiverr ;)
-Hietanen: “Of Spite” is waiting for a burst of creativity. Many song frames have already been put together, but nothing suitable for publication yet.
-Kärsämä: Soulwound is starting to make demos for next album and doing shows whenever possible.
12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
-Jokipii: More gnarly, more filthy, more violent. This really isn’t the time to hit the brakes.
-Kärsämä: More violent and darker. Like James Hetfield said: “Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire”
13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
-Jokipii: There’s too many influences to mention. Ajattara, Mgla, Dissection, Bolt Thrower etc etc. I think our music is sort of the result of everything I have listened to since I was ten. Personally, these days, I mostly listen to Cocomelon and that sort of bangers, as I am a father of two small kids hehe. Luckily my three year old daughter craves for Hevisaurus every day!
-Hietanen: Six Feet Under, Cannibal Corpse, Terveet Kädet, Blondie, Tchaikovsky, Darude, Sash, Abba and Spice Girls. I've been influenced and empowered by these for years.
-Kärsämä: Oh man! Metallica was, is and always will be the one for me! Lamb of God, Slipknot, Lorna Shore, Behemoth, Ajattara.. too many to list. I also listen to a lot of bands that I have been playing shows with, like Cannibal Accident, TakaLaiton, Blood Red Delusion etc.
14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
-Jokipii: “Final words” sounds too final. You WILL hear from us again, that is for sure. Support your local bands, support your local venues and listen to the music you love. And if you find a new band you like, don’t hesitate to spread the word. For a young band, all attention is like fuel and gold.
Thank you for the interview, it was all our pleasure!
-Kärsämä: Let in the impurity!!
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