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Interviews
Hellride
Music:
Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Jussi. Why don't we
start out by having you give us a little bit of history on Circle. Whose
in the band, what do they play, how did you guys meet, etc.
Tomi Leppänen
= drums
We have been very active lately, and luckily it seems to continue.
Hellride
Music: When
you go through the rather large Circle catalog, is there an album that
you are most proud of? Why?
Hellride
Music: One
of the questions I most wanted to ask you was how the songwriting process
takes place within the band. It's not like you can sit down and write
an intro, bridge, chorus, middle eight, breakdown, etc and get a Circle
song. You defy traditional arrangements. How does most of the songwriting
take place? Jussi: We have never had too much trouble with composing. In our case it’s very simple. We choose a riff (earlier we tried to pick up a good one, nowadays a bad one is good enough) and play it for a very long time eyes closed. Possibly we variate it a little bit and work the rhythm out. We decide, that it is “good” and hold on to that decision till the end of the world. Texts are (almost without exceptions) improvised and totally different on albums and in concerts. Nowadays we also have free, improvised sections on our gigs, and hypnotic repeating that keeps going until infinity.
Hellride
Music: A
monotonous question, yet one I think that is important for those that
are not familiar with the band. Who do you count among the band's influences?
How about your own personal influences? Jussi: There is a lot of influences. They change all the time, but of course there are some long-time favourites. For me situation is quite weird nowadays, because I am listening to music all the time, if I am not watching films or sleeping. Lately I have listened a lot bands like Jesters Of Destiny, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Fushitsusha, Träd, Gräs Och Stenar, Cloven Hoof, Los Natas, The Meads Of Asphodel, Art Bears, Can, Pink Fairies, Captain Beyond, Iron Maiden, Magma, Faust, Venom, Bang, Molly Hatchet, Saint Vitus, Strangulated Beatoffs, Roy Harper, Spiritus Mortis, Sun City Girls, Led Zeppelin, Boris, Captain Beefheart, Amon Duul 2, Terry Riley etc...and now i`m listening to Argus by Wishbone Ash!!! Film directors, that have also had a lot of influence, are Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Emir Kusturica and Lars Von Trier. Almost every film they have made are powerful samples of life. I have read too little books lately. At the moment my favourite is Herman Hesse.
Hellride
Music: What
is Circle like in a live setting? What is the interaction between musicians
like onstage? How does the crowd usually react to the band? Jussi: In the beginning of 90’s we used to play in a very aggressive way. We had great light-shows and different kinds of performances. We painted ourselves with phosphorus-colours and used UV-lamps and strobos. We had a person in our band, who acted as some kind of a ceremony master and organized bodypaint/blood/mass –performances. Things started to run a little bit out of hands, so the end of 90’s was gentleman-like AOR-performing with neckties. The past few years have been repetition of the beginning of 90’s. Gigs have been more aggressive and the atmosphere has been solemn and devoted.
Hellride
Music: You
also head up Pharaoh Overlord, which is kind of trance music for the Stoner
set as well as the experimental music group Ektroverde. What is different
creatively about these three projects?
Hellride
Music: You
also own your own label, Ektro Records. Why did you decide to start a
label with all the other projects you have going? Jussi: We recorded and started such projects, which no one would have released, so I decided to start a label. I also realized, that I wanted to release a few bands which were very important to me. An especially brilliant release has been Jesters Of Destiny’s Fun At The Funeral CD. When I heard it for the first time, I was very impressed. Very unique, confusing, amazing psychedelic heavy-rock.
Hellride
Music: What
project are you working on currently and what's coming up for you? Jussi: So many projects. I’ve been working on a new project-album with Mika Rättö (Circle, Kuusumun Profeetta, Ektroverde). Space-rock stuff... We started a band called “Lusiferin Apogryfi” too, which recorded a free-psychedelic-stoner-album.
Also Circle is going to record their next album soon. And actually an album, which was recorded last year in Germany, is going to see daylight soon. It will be out via Klangbad Records and is called Focus.
Soon Ektro is going to release a new Acid Mothers Temple album called St. Captain Freak Out And The Magic Bamboo Request. Extremely rough psychedelia-opera. I am also going to release an experimental album called Toba-Trance from a great Argentine band Los Natas.
Pharaoh Overlord #2 CD/LP is coming out from Philadelphian No Quarter Records at the end of the Fall. Circle's Sunrise and Prospekt are going to be released as double-vinyls soon.
Hellride
Music: Thanks
Jussi... any last words? Jussi:
Thanks Chris
a lot.
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I've
never heard anything like Finland's Circle. Taking bits of space and kraut
rock and adding a bit of heavy metal, heavy psych and jazz...these dudes
are complex! You can listen to a Circle album a dozen times and pick up
something new on each spin. Hellride talks with Circle main man/vocalist
and bassist Jussi Lehtisalo about the new album, the band and his various
projects, including Pharaoh Overlord. This is one motivated cat!
Purchase
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