STORMFORGE INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW WITH COURTNEY O'LEARY, VOCALIST OF STORMFORGE

Courtney, you began your singing career as vocalist for New Zealand’s first Power Metal band “Horde Lorde.” What is it about this style of music that inspired you to get involved in performing it?

-That was a while ago now! As far as I remember, Horde Lorde actually started as a death/grind type band to begin with but quickly changed to be a power metal project. I guess it was a mix of wanting to play that style of metal and the fact that there were no other heavy/power metal bands in Auckland (NZ in general) at the time. I met Raj, Rhys and Steven at a 'House of Noizz' gathering and actually joined as a guitarist with Jonowar on vocals.

How is the recording process going for Stormforge? And when will your fans get to hear it?

-Recording is great! Cam Sinclair (Temple of Sol Studio) is the man behind the mixing desk and he's extremely passionate. It's a pretty cool process as you get to hear it back as the songs were intended to be heard and assess it from the listener's point of view. We're aiming to have the EP out before the end of the year to keep an eye on the Stormforge Facebook page!

You’ve already had some lineup changes… the new member is Miro, who is referred to on the band’s Facebook page as “the taiwanese shredding maestro” - how is he working out?

-Miro is indeed the shredding maestro they speak of! It's working out fucking great from the get go. He brings another aspect to the Stormforge sound an his playing speaks for itself

For the people who haven’t heard a lot of Power Metal, or have dismissed it without giving it a chance, what albums should people be listening to as education while they are waiting for the Stormforge release? 

-That's a hard one. Sometimes I get a 'Demons and Wizards' feel from our songs, other times there's a hint of Lost Horizon coming through in some of the melodies. I think our sound is a product of all or influences as we write/jam together... so there'll be a whole range of metal coming through. If you're a metal fan, give us a listen!

Is there an ultimate goal in mind for the band? There is talk of taking your music to audiences across the world - how serious is this vision?

-Definitely. At the moment we're focusing on recording this EP and giving it our best, but I can see an Australian/NZ tour on the cards in the next couple of years. Ideally we'd love to take Stormforge to Europe, but, one step at a time.

In NZ it is practically impossible to make a living off solely being a musician. So most musicians have to work a full time job as well. Have any of you managed to find a way around this, or is that simply just the way it is?

-We definitely need to work regular jobs. NZ is a small place, and playing in a metal band is not going to pay the bills. But, we don't play metal for the money, haha.

Where is the place to visit for the most up to date information on Stormforge?

-Check out at our Facebook page for our up to date Stormforge ratbaggery.

Finally, what is Stormforge’s message to readers of Slaughterama?

-Bring yourself and your fellow metal head mates along to a show and enjoy a night of metal and beer!

KORPIKLAANI INTERVIEW

KORPIKLAANI INTERVIEW

We are looking forward to having you here in New Zealand! What are you looking forward to the most on your Australasian tour?

Cane: We have been waiting for an opportunity to come there for a long time. Now it's finally happening and we are very happy about it. Of course we are mostly looking forward to the shows and to see many new happy faces. I hope that gigs are well promoted and people know that we are playing there at last. We really don't know what to expect but that's why it's always interesting to explore new countries.

“Manala” has been out for a while now. It was quite interesting to hear the Finnish versions and then hear the English versions on the bonus CD. Why did you decide to do this, and how much extra work was involved?

Cane: Since 2007 songs sung in Finnish have outnumbered the songs sung in English on our albums. After that people, from America for example, have been asking more material in English. So at the same time when doing a favour to these people we were curious to see how these songs done in Finnish would do in English. Because we wanted to keep Finnish as our prime singing language we decided to release these versions as a bonus.

It took much more work than we expected. Translating, arranging and singing they all took lot of time. Maybe too much at the time. But now when we know that a clear majority of the fans prefer Finnish and we like it more we don't have to think in which language to sing anymore.

If Korpiklaani could change just one thing about the world using the messages contained in your music, what would that be?

Cane: People should see life like a good album. Good balance with serious and fun stuff, going fast and going slow. Even heavy metal is not that serious, it's just life.

The amount of great music that Finland produces is incredible. Besides Korpiklaani, there is Finntroll, Amorphis, Wintersun, Lordi, Reckless Love, Children Of Bodom, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Battle Beast - and that is just the tip of the iceberg. My question is how is it possible for such a wide range of great quality metal to come from your country?

Cane: Lot of people ask the same question from us. I really don't know the reason for that. Of course it's cool to say because of the long winters coldness and darkness drives you to write heavy metal music. I think this kind of slavic melancholy, what you hear in Finnish metal, is just in our blood.

We have been lucky enough to have also had some other bands from Finland tour over here in New Zealand (Lordi, Children Of Bodom, Nightwish). If these tours remain successful, do you think that more bands from Finland will be able to find a way to tour New Zealand?

Cane: Sure, it always goes like that. One does it first, if it is good, others will follow. Same thing is going on with China. Lots of band have been there in the last two years.

Speaking of the aforementioned Finntroll, there has been some collaboration between the bands in the past, and we’d like to know what you think of Finntroll, if you guys are friends and drink together. Also, how close is the rest of the metal scene in Finland?

Cane: Yes, Jonne was part of the band before the first Korpiklaani album. These Finntroll guys are very good friend of ours though we don't see each others that often cause we don't live in the same city.

The whole scene is so small in here cause it is only five million people living in Finland. Bands are friends together or at least know each other. Some people have been playing in many bands or are in different bands in the same time. Everybody is playing in the same clubs and festivals. It's pretty cool to be part of that scene.

You sing a lot about alcohol! All kinds! So when the New Zealand people arrive at your concert to watch the band, do you think they should be drinking pints of beer, vodka, tequila, or all of these? I would think perhaps if it is a long show, the pints of beer may be the best idea?

Cane: Sorry to ruin your image but if you take a closer look to our albums there is only one  or two "drinking songs" per album. Some of them have none. That is not much, as well you could say we sing a lot about hunting. So it is about ten percent of our music. But hey very important percents, people remembers those songs and we sing about things we know something about, for example drinking.

I don't want to tell people what to do. Drink or not, main thing is have fun in your own style.

But I can promise that there will be an after party so don't sleep when the show is over.

Any messages to your New Zealand fans ahead of your concert?

Cane: There will be a good mix of old and new songs in the set to party with. Put the widest smile on your face for the show because that is what we want to see! I'm looking forward to see you all soon!

Thanks for the interview!!!

Cane: Thanks and have a nice weekend!

Issue 41 Available now!!!

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In this issue we speak to two great bands from Finland- Glam superstars RECKLESS LOVE and traditional heavy metal newcomers BATTLE BEAST. Plus we talk to NZ’s own RAZORWYRE, who are becoming an international commodity!

Slaughetrama Magazine

Welcome to the official website of Slaughterama Magazine!!! It's about time that NZ's longest running Metal publication got its own web presence, and a proper domain name (slaughterama.co.nz). On this site you will find every issue ever produced, available to read for free anytime, anywhere! Most of the interviews in these magazines are exclusives and capture conversations with the greatest musicians in history! Enjoy!!!