PAINCONFESSOR

// Falber Teles

SOURCE - First off, would you enlighten our readers on how your band got started and took its first steps musically?
TUOMAS (G) - Pretty much all that info is available through our site at www.painconfessor.com and all around the Internet but to put it short, we started in 2002 and have worked our asses off to get our thing going.

S - Tell us how your music has evolved since then?
T - Style has evolved very naturally and during the last few years the band has grown as a group of people. Everyone knows their part and plays that part to the best of their abilities.

S - What would you consider more important for you: experimenting with new sounds and probably music styles or the loyalty to the certain style of music and its fans ?
T - Most important is to make music you want to play and listen to yourself. I don't agree with trying out and experimenting with sounds and production methods unless you find it meaningful to yourself.

To remain loyal to your style is one thing and to concentrate on making the same album all over again instead of finding something fresh within your own genre is another. I am
all for reinventing yourself but to force it, that's bullshit.

WESLEYER (G) - I think it´s crucial to be loyal to yourself. To do whatever it is what you´re doing and do it good. Of course, you have to be one of the guys when you´re playing in the band and respect their role in the band. 

S - During the years how has your musical style changed. How do explain these changes?
T - On “Turmoil” we had many old ideas finally put on record in one form or the other. “Fearrage” then again offers songs made purely for this album.

I'd say that in a way “Fearrage” is the way we were meant to sound, this is more ‘us’. The changes are a natural result of pretty intense touring and rehearsing. We are even more a band than we were before.

W - Our music has developed quite originally into our own form. It´s aggressive yet moody. It´s hard and melodic combination of frustrated feelings of life in general. Personally I think it´s normal growth.

We don´t wanna write the same album year after year. Like RAMONES or AC/DC. I mean, they have great albums, but they sound the same. We don´t wanna do that.

S - Listening to your earlier material it's obvious that the band have evolved. Do you think you have found the perfect sound and style by now?
T - No. We are moving towards our goals but it would be unwise to settle down for our style and sound now. This is a work never finished.

Sound is never perfect and the style must evolve or it suffers inflation in our own minds. When you stop progressing you wither and die.

W - I think we´re well on our way now. Perfect? I think we have to work on that couple of years before we can say that, but it´s definitely possible one day. 

S - So far you had some very successful albums and the new will also be a success. But how far your ambition goes, where do you see PAINCONFESSOR in the future ?
T - I wouldn't talk about any huge success yet. Of course it would be cool to finally get some serious foreign distribution for our stuff and so on. Hard to say about future but let's put it this way: I certainly would hope for more promotion and a more open-minded reception for us in the future.

Even now things are worse than they were when Turmoil was out. I don't get it as "Fearrage" is far better album in my book.

W - On the road all over the world. Gigs and more gigs. It doesn´t make any difference where we play, as long as we can and want to do that.

We´re totally live act and our music kicks like ten ton brick in the face when we rage on the stage.

S - What are the positive and negative aspects of being a musician in Finland?
T - Money or the lack of it sucks. Everything costs and then some.Being poor and unemployed isn't really a fun trip and being a musician doesn't really help the situation. It has been a lifelong dream for me to make albums and write music I love but now that it's real I must admit it isn't even remotely as glorious I had always thought... Stupid me but what can you do.

On the other hand you have a really good selection of pro level studios, great musicians and pretty good equipment available to you so I guess it's not that bad in here.

W - I love finnish metal scene, it kicks ass! On the other hand it´s quite hard to make a living in Finland if you´re playing our kind of stuff. Still, they´re finally understanding what it takes to be internationally noticed act.

S - In Brazil there's much fans listening your kind of music. What do you know about the Brazil ?
T - SEPULTURA comes to mind right off the bat. Very influential band for me, especially “Arise”-era.

As a country Brazil is a place I would love to visit sometime. Don't know if that will ever really happen but it would be cool.

W - SEPULTURA, of course. SARCOFAGO, RATOS DE PORÃO. Hmmmm, there you go. I know only those names from metal scene. I´m kind of a old school metalhead. That´s why I´ve bought albums from those guys.

Brazil has the biggest rainforests in the world and destroying them without mercy ( sorry to say ). There are very popular holiday beaches and resorts. Carnival and other latin dance stuff or something? I´d really like to visit Brasil on the tour or spend my holidays here.

S - Personally I think you have not put too many songs on the album, why 10 tracks and not 12-14 ?
T - We don't want any filler songs on the albums and I also think that a tight and compact package will leave room for more listens than just one.

I remember when we were listening to a Mercenary album in our tourbus and I was thinking "How long is this damn CD, good stuff but it's getting exhausting."

W -  Well, I think it´s got something to do with the quality of the material. Our albums have been somewhat theme albums. In that sense, there are stories which relates each other and if the story is too long, you get tired.

We want to be fast, mean and to the point exact when we write our stuff. Why be boring when you can make metalheads want more, Teasing metal!

S - Are there any possibilities of a PAINCONFESSOR DVD soon?
T - We have some good material for such release but I have no clue if we will get a DVD released in the near future.

S - Are there any up and coming bands around the area that have caught your attention ?
T - MISERIA and SINKING, I have had the pleasure of working with both bands and I hope all the best for them both. A few others to mention are MISERY INC., SKYWARD, HATEFORM and MY FATE.

There are like a million new bands coming from Finland and I have lost all interest in the flood of all kinds of thrash-this thrash-that bands and whatever halfass demos that they keep
pushing out. Cursed be the day home recording became so easy...

I am also fed up with this Make Metal Acceptable shit. Nowadays even some older Finnish bands are starting to change their style into more hard rock/heavy metal direction, even if they had played some disco/hip-hop/dance/pop crap before. Makes me sick.

S - Tell us a little a bit about your interests outside of making
music. Don't you ever feel like taking a break from it all since you have so much going on at once that is purely music related ? What is it that you like to do not dealing with music?
T - Yeah, I feel like taking a break from it all the time. At home I
rarely spend more than a few minutes thinking about anything music related.

Usually I play Xbox, PS2 and PC-games. I have been reading a lot, sci-fi and horror books, some historical stuff about Roman civilization. Watching movies with my girlfriend and playing with our dog. Pretty simple stuff. I also spend some time at the gym when I have the energy.

W - I don´t need break from it. This is it! The day will come when you get tired of it all. Then I deal with that. When I don´t deal with music related thigs, I travel as much I can and spend time with my family.

Shure I have a dayjob, but that´s only a necessity. That´s something that I have to do to support my family and keep the wife happy, if you know what I mean ;)?

S - At the end of the interview I would like to thank you a lot for doing this interview with us. It is highly appreciated. Any last comments / thoughts that you want to say to your fans and the readers of Sourcewebzine.com.br ?
T - Thanks for the interview, check out ”Turmoil” and “Fearrage”, visit www.painconfessor.com and www.myspace.com/painconfessor and let us know
you are out there!

W - We´re very happy to share our music with you guys and keep the metal faith alive there! Finnish rageheads send their best wishes to you all!

Megamania Records
PAINCONFESSOR

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