A Q&A with Heathen Hearts
Finnish ‘northern hardcore’ – here’s Juhana from Heathen Hearts…
What’s the title of your latest release, and what does it mean to you?
It’s a self titled EP, ‘Heathen Hearts’. For us the name represents the individual freedom to walk your own path and make your own choices. Being true to yourself and who you are.
What was the hardest part about putting this release together, and why?
I think the whole process of finding the right people to work with on the release was the hard part. The songs came together pretty fast but all the things related to releasing and promotion has been a learning experience for us all.
Who produced the release – what did they bring to it? If you produced it yourselves what do enjoy most about producing your own material?
Our dear friend Jari Heino co-produced with us. He had some excellent ideas for sounds and some arrangement ideas. He has also done all of our music videos so it’s been really fruitful cooperation. But of course we enjoy producing our own material and have the creative experience trying different things. But it’s always good to have a person outside the band to give fresh ideas. You can get too close to your own music and fresh pair of ears is always a good thing.
What do you want the listener to take away from listening to your music?
Well, it’s always good if music evokes feelings, whatever they may be. We have tried to channel our feelings to our music so if that can be shared with a listener, then the music has done its job.
How does a track normally come together? Can you tell us something about the process?
Usually our guitarist Jere or other guitarist Lauri has a riff or a complete demo of a song. Then we arrange it together with the whole band in the rehearsal room and finally our vocalist Antti writes the lyrics.
What band/artists have influenced you the most since you started this project, and why?
There are a lot of bands that have influenced us. Hardcore and metal bands alike. Can’t really name any particular band since we all listen to a lot of different kinds of music.
What countries would you like to tour? Are there any standout venues you’d like to play in?
We are open to touring anywhere. So far we have toured in Finland only but we are looking forward to expanding our touring outside Finland as well.
If you could pick one track for our readers to listen to in order to get a taste of your music, what would you pick, and why?
Hmmm. Tough one. Both ‘Ichor’ and ‘World of Ash’ would be good to listen to. Each shows a bit of a different side of our music. ‘Ichor’ is more hardcore based and ‘World of Ash’ is more metal. I would recommend both.
What ambitions do you have for the band/your career?
We hope to go constantly forward with our career. Building our path piece by piece with making new releases and touring. Of course finding a record label and booking agency to work with would be ideal. But we will do this nonetheless.
Finally, as you leave the stage, what are your parting words?
Our vocalist Antti usually speaks a few words before our last song. And then we just let the music do the talking. Our setlist’s last song and particularly the ending of it is quite epic so no words after that are needed. Ok, maybe ”kiitos” which means thank you in Finnish. Haha!
For more info visit: linktr.ee/heathenheartshc
