MORIAN – Interview with Janne (Vocals)

New band with good experience ….a strong musical sense. Young, yet aware….the band is, “Morian”

Morian is a Finnish Rock/Metal band. I got the chance to review their Demo “Firewalker” and also the great chance to have this interview with their great vocals, “Janne”….

Hey Janne, thanks for you time, it's very nice to be here with you.

Hi Nancy, it’s great to be here.

You are pretty new and fresh band in Finland, Now, tell us few words about Morian.

Well, in one form another Morian has been around since 2002…more info can be found in our webpage biography!

How did you end up with the name “Morian”? and what does it mean?

I think the name Morian was originally invented by Sami, but what went through his head that time, I can’t really tell. One thing I’m sure of is that it has nothing to do with the mines of Moria in Lord Of The Rings. But it sounds good phonetically, doesn’t it?

Yea, Now Tell me, I see that write most (if it's not all) of the lyrics, anyone else is helping him in the writing progress?

If you mean whether I am solely responsible for the lyrics, the answer is yes. Nobody writing those lyrics but me, myself and I…

That's great. What about your favorite Morian song…..as playing and lyrical?

Wow, that’s a tough one. Being all somewhat different, every song has it own special place in my heart…but let’s say that we never seem to get tired of playing Firewalkers!

What do you guys do for living, besides being in the band?

What, should I answer that and ruin the illusion of a hardcore-rockers living in the tough streets of Finland dodging bullets and knives? (all laughs) Let’s just say that there are occupations in Morian that vary from truck driver to grade school teacher.

I have to say that your demo have placed you somewhere in this world, although it's just demo, which is great of course, and the media received it with wide open arms, (knock on woods, I'm not envying – laugh) What do you have say about that?

That feels great, of course, and we have been overwhelmed by the great feedback we’ve been having from our fans and media. Let’s just hope that in future we’ll be able to deliver you guys a full album with a help of a good record label!

Away from the sun….it's an amazing song, with a very sad tone, at least for me, does it mean anything to you? I mean special memory, thoughts…..you know?

I myself see a positive undertone in Away From The Sun though it’s initially a sad tune; for me it bears the thought of “something beautiful” remaining in the world. Despite all the loneliness, hatred and sadness that we see around us there’s always something good to cling to.

Ok! Antti Simonen, Your keyboardist, he is an amazing one, I had to say that coz actually I fell in love with him since the very first time I heard him (since I'm keyboardist myself)… was it a random choice like “There is a keyboardist, who can play keys..”, then you got lucky, or a choice that based on, “this is our music and we want to play that, I guess Antti will cover us well…let's bring him in…” ?

I have to be careful with this, otherwise Antti will get cocky…(all laughs) I guess it was a bit of both. Antti happened to be available at the time and joined the band, but it became more than that; his sound soon became an essential part of Morian’s music.

Now, let's talk about your new material, your new demo “Tomorrow, she comes”….Talk to us about it a little bit.

Well, what do you want to know? Be a bit more specific! (laughs)

(Laugh ) Ok I'll be more specific! When I heard these 2 new songs….Man! They have nothing to do with “Away from the sun” how do you manage to change your mood, not only form demo to demo, but from song to song, that easy? A lot of bands find it hard to do that…

Well, I suppose it’s not as hard as it seems…every song just becomes what they are. We’re glad not to follow any rigid writing patterns and say “we can’t do this kind of song”. Personally I think that we manage to maintain our own “Morian-esque” style despite the changing moods in our songs.

Concerning the shifting mood, How do you think the songwriting process has changed?

Well, I’m pretty sure that we’re now more “Band” than we have ever been. Writing and arranging songs has been pretty painless lately, and I suppose the teamwork has become more important in current line-up of Morian. Chemistry between members works well and frankly, we’re having hell of a good time.(laughs)

I heard that you changed your drummer, tell us about that?

There was nothing dramatic about that, Jarno was just busy with his other projects and decided to concentrate more on them. Fortunately we found Joonas, a young and talented drummer who was willing to step in. He didn’t know what a bunch of wackos he joined, poor guy!

Have you toured anywhere guys?

So far we have only done some promo gigs, but hopefully that’s going to change soon. Booking agents ahoy, come this way and bring with you some big bosses from a major record label!

Where would you like to tour the most?

Anywhere where Finnish bands are appreciated! Europe, South America…you name it. Personally I’d like to tour in Japan because I have heard great thing of Japanese fans – in addition to that I’m a great fan of Japanese culture, anime, manga and stuff like that. But any country with Morian-fans is a great country!

Now, let's talk a bit about Janne….What was the main reason you became a musician?

Whoa! Tough one again. I suppose it has something to with the thought of spreading good vibes through music, as corny as it may sound. There’s nothing better than to think that your music has touched someone somewhere on this globe.

Do you play any instrument?

Well, I play guitar and keyboards well enough to be able to compose music, but I’m pretty sure you won’t see me on stage playing anything. I’ll just leave the proper playing to those who really can do it. Oh, and I also play harmonica, being the good ol’ redneck that I am. (laughs)

(laugh) how about your source of inspiration. From where else do you draw your inspiration?

From everything around me. There’s always so much happening in our lives and around us that you could write songs about it for a century – still not being even halfway through.

What do you think personally of the Finnish Metal Scene?

So many great bands and skilled musicians, not to mention the great amount of cooperation and support among metal people, bands and organizations. It’s also been awesome to notice the appreciation finnish metal has been gaining around the world in recent years.

Are you involved in any kind of side-project?

Yes, some members of Morian appear also in other bands and side-projects, Stereo Monster,Japan Project, The Indigo and Obscurant just to name a few. We’re busy little critters!

What about your future plans? Whether you, as a person, or Morian?

As for me, I plan to live a happy life and keep working in the music business in a one way or another: as for Morian, we’re going to storm the world when you least expect it! Just you wait! (laughs)

(laugh) we are all going to wait….Well dear Janne….so sad that I have to end this nice and sweet interview, any final words??

It’s been great being here; thanks for you, Nancy, and to all our fans all around the world. Keep it real and remember that there will always be something beautiful. If you don’t see it, you’re just not looking hard enough!

Morian Official Site:
www.morianband.com
Morian On myspace.com:
www.myspace.com/morian