THUNDERSTONETHUNDERSTONE
Finland has been
very productive the past few years, with as most notable acts of
course STRATOVARIUS, SONATA ARCTICA, HIM, NIGHTWISH and CHILDREN
OF BODOM. But many more new acts have risen from Finland, and one
of them is THUNDERSTONE, a very sensational Melodic Power
Metalband. I was called by lead guitarist Nino Laurenne, who told
me the latest bits and pieces on his band...
Hi there...
Hello, Nino here from THUNDERSTONE.
Hi, good
to speak with you, how are you doing?
Well, I am
a bit sick right now, but apart from that, it has been a very
busy time with the new CD of THUNDERSTONE being released on
NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS.
Please
tell me how it all started...
Actually,
THUNDERSTONE is my project. Some 10 years ago I was in this band
called ANTI DOTE, with whom I even released 3 albums, mainly in
the Speed Metal style. I toured with this band alongside the
German band HEADHUNTER, and with those 3 albums we found
ourselves a household name throughout Europe. However, in the
late 1990s, the band split and I recorded a demo filled with a
bunch of melodic tunes I had written in my spare time. I recorded
this demo actually just for fun, but sent it to record companies,
and somehow NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS liked it that much they signed
our band. As soon as the first album was released, things moved
on fast, with us touring in support of bands like STRATOVARIUS
and SYMPHONY X.
I remember
the gig you played in Holland, excellent performance!
Thanks
A lot of
people will say that your band is another STRATOVARIUS rip-off,
but I can assure you that this is not the case, because you sound
very different, especially in the lead vocal department, because
your singer Pasi Rantanen has a very DIO/COVERDALEish voice...
Yeah thats right, even though this is very weird, as our singer
doesn’t even like DIO’s voice! Nevertheless, my main
Metal influences come from the Classic 80s Period, stuff like
DIO, QUEENSRYCHE and MAIDEN. The last good thing I actually heard
was PANTERA’s record from 1991 or something. I haven’t
heard anything good ever since, although I record Metal music all
day in my studios (Sonic Pump Studios).
You also
recorded the album in that studio...
Yeah, it
took us 3 months in a row, recording it every night for 8 hours
long, besides my work in the normal hours, I spent probably 60+
hours in the studios during that period. So I was very happy when
the album was finished a few weeks ago.
I
understand, and I must congratulate you for making such a
terrific album, because it sounds very good!
Thank you!
You’re
good friends with STRATOVARIUS right...
Yes
definitely and all the bullshit said in the media I can not
understand, because Timo is a great guy, who has worked very hard
for making this band to become such a big success. He has been
working for 20 years on the STRATOVARIUS concept, and I have been
very close to the success of STRATOVARIUS, so I truly support
Timo. I have a lot of respect for all the other Finish band, such
as NIGHTWISH, SONATA ARCTICA and STRATOVARIUS, we are all good
friends and the scene is Finland is very friendly and
non-competetive. This makes Finland quite special I guess...
What are
the plans for the coming months?
Well, in 3
weeks from now we will shoot a video for the song “Until we
touch the burning sun”, so this will be fun I think. It will
be a 4-minute video, which will hopefully be shown on the Finnish
Music Stations.
If only
MTV would play it all over Europe...
That would
be great!
Any
further Touring plans?
Yes and
no, we are waiting for confirmed dates in 2004, but we will
definitely be playing WACKEN OPEN AIR. And after the summer we
will probably be returning back to the studio to record another
THUNDERSTONE album, and soon we will also do something special
(but I can’t tell you too much about that!).
Well,
thanks for taking the time to have this interview, good luck for
2004!
Thanks, I
hope to tour all of Europe again in 2004!