SOURCE WEBZINE | We don’t have readers - we have believers.

SOURCEWEBZINE - First of all congratulations on the new album called “Shadowheart”. You took a long time recording it. How did it go?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  Thank you very much. Recording “Shadowheart” took us about two months, but we weren’t in the studio all that time though. It was in one week cycles, we recorded a week then rested a week and recorded one week after that again. All in all the recordings went quite well and it was more “painless” than we first thought.

SOURCEWEBZINE - There are a lot of different elements to Kivimetsan Druidi’s music. How do you describe the band’s sound or genre?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  I like to call our music fantasy metal. And not just because of the lyrical themes, but also because of this mix of many different genres in our music - We have a freedom to pick up any style of music we want and blend it in with other elements that we like. With three words I would describe our music to be celtic-influenced, heavy and versatile.

SOURCEWEBZINE - You changed a lot in band members. Is this a solid line-up now?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  We certainly hope so. Hehe. Well, I think this is the line-up we’ve been searching for since the beginning. At the moment we have musicians that are all devoted to the band and eager to do the work needed. I’d say the band’s chemistry works now also better than ever.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Has Leeni-Maria influenced the Kivimetsan Druidi sound?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  Of course! Every new member has brought something “own” to our music, developing our sound in to some new direction. Even though not all the members take part to composing new songs (yet), we like to think our music as a sum of every member’s input.

SOURCEWEBZINE - The traditional elements obviously create a very folk music atmosphere and actually makes (some parts of) your music quite accessible for non-metal heads. Is this reflected in the crowds at your shows?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  It might be, though I have to say I really can’t guess everyone’s musical taste just like that. Haha. No, really, I think we’ll be more aware of this once our debut album is out and we set out to tour in November.

SOURCEWEBZINE - What would you say Kivimetsan Druidi represents to you? Is it a hobby, or something to get rich of… or a burning passion? What’s the ultimate goal for the band concerning these matters?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  I guess it started as a hobby, but now it has evolved being something more. Of course it’s a huge part of our lives at the moment, but we have to work as well because it doesn’t really pay for our living… yet. Heh. It is a dream for us that one day we’d earn our living by being a musician and touring the world. Never stop dreaming, eh?

SOURCEWEBZINE - Kivimetsan Druidi seems to be a good example of how the music industry is changing, and how bands are able to more and more take matters into their own hands and promote themselves via the Internet. However, not all the bands benefiting from this are all that original or even good. So do you think sites like MySpace are having a positive or negative impact on the metal scene?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  I’d say it’s all positive. Through internet also the bands that otherwise couldn’t afford to promote themselves can reach millions of people. Being a good or original isn’t that important, ’cause it’s the listeners who decide really. If something doesn’t fit for my ears, it doesn’t mean everyone else should feel the same. There’s something for us all out there and not everything is for everyone.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Take us through your typical day.
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  Well, my typical day these days include working (either morning, evening or night shift), then some answering to interviews x), little bit practicing with guitar and finally relaxing which may include playing with computer, surfing the internet, reading, watching television, etc.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Do you have any other passions or hobbies besides music?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  I can speak only in favor of myself here again. I go to gym every now and then and jog sometimes too. It’s never wrong to keep in shape, you see. For me online role playing is close to heart as well.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Do you momentarily make enough money to live from being a musician?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  Our debut album hasn’t been released yet and I think that after it’s release it’ll still take quite some time for us to see any money. Maybe someday we’ll catch that dream of ours and become full time musicians.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Have you played somewhere outside Finland? Which is the best and respectively which is the worst Kivimetsan Druidi live experience ?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  We toured with Korpiklaani last autumn and had something like 20 gigs in Europe in 14 different countries. Then we also played one gig in Russia this year - I think it was in February and also played at Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, Germany in May. The very best of our gigs so far has been… hmm… I have to say the gig in Groningen, Netherlands. It was awesome to see how the crowd welcomed us eventhough we were totally unknown band doing a support gig for Korpiklaani. Worst gig then - that is the one we played in Finland, near the capital city, but I’d rather not go into details here. ^^ I have to say we’ve had quite a good laughs when we think of it afterwards… but we were not laughing on that gig, I can tell you. Haha!

SOURCEWEBZINE - How is the solidarity in the band? Do you get enough of eachother at work or do you “hangout” in your sparetime?
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  We do “hang out” in our free time too, yes. We’re friends with each other so it’s quite natural to go out “partying” together for example. At the moment only three of us lives in Kouvola and our rehearsals are somewhat always in the weekends, so it’s not like we’d be too much together through the band happenings. Of course I’m quite sure that after our next European tour in November - December I’ll be surely needing some vacation from other members. That’s what three weeks in the same bus will do to you.

SOURCEWEBZINE - Thank you again for your time, and if you would like to add something more, please do.
Joni Koskinen (G/V) -  Thank you for the interview. For our fans I’d like to point out two things. Buy our debut album and see you on one of our gigs hopefully some day! Rock’n'Troll!

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