Sonata Arctica – Tony Kakko

Sonata Arctica formed 1996 and grew to fame with a hard rock motif which later evolved into an iconic and influential power metal style, similar to that of Stratovarius. Sonata Arctica return with their seventh studio album, Stones Grow Her Name’, now available via Nuclear Blast Records.  Metal Obsession’s Anwar Rizk, sat down with lead vocalist Tony Kakko, discussing the band’s latest release and its personal message.

Metal Obsession:  I hope all is well in Finland?

Tony Kakko: Its fantastic. Its spring time at the moment which is one of my favorite times of the year. I’ve been good though. A lot of hard work and a lot of promotion for ‘Stones Grow Her Name’ going on at the moment.

MO: I had the opportunity to listen to the first single, ‘I Have A Right’, from the new album, ‘Stones Grow Her Name’. It seems to hold a very strong message of personal freedom and happiness. Is this a common theme throughout the entire album?

TK: You could say that. Its about life, our personal nature and our true existence on this planet. The thought of after life and life in general. By no means is this a “diary moment” for me on the album. I’ve written a lot of songs that have touched me on a personal level, but its more generally speaking when relating to material on ‘Stones Grow Her Name’. Something of which I hope everyone can relate to in some way or another.

MO: Its quite a bold contrast to the previous album, ‘The Days of Greys’, which related more to the darker aspects of mortality.

TK: Yes, you’re correct. However, a lot of things have changed since then. I realise that life is to short. After the passing of some young friends, I’ve realised that life is to short to worry about certain things. We should embrace what we have and enjoy life as much as possible and try have some fun. Obviously, there is a lot of dark things in death and mortality for everybody to deal with. Sadly, we can’t live forever. But there is no point thinking about those things ALL the time, you know. It makes life pretty miserable.

MO: What personally changed your outlook on life?

TK: As I said before we had some deaths of late. One young friend who was only about 5 years older then me passed away and that really changed a lot of things for me and my mortality. I realise in two weeks time (May 16th) that I will be 37 years old, you know. I’m not in my 20’s anymore and my friend was only a few years older than me, so I should start to think about my life in a more conscious way from different perspectives. A lot of things have changed since we first started. Most of the members have kids of their own now, so there is a lot of children around when we record. Its funny how children change you on a very fundamental level after being around them for so long.

MO: Ironically, the new album [Stones Grow Her Name] has a somewhat childlike innocence to it.

TK: Yeah, I can see what you mean. It comes out that way and its a good thing. That doesn’t mean I constantly think about children, death or whatever. [laughs] The concept of the album came way before the lyrical content. Everything else usually comes after it. For me, the album its very simple. It has a solid, yet simple hard rock style. I actually had a note on my desk while I was writing which said, “keep it simple and silly”. I wanted to completely move away from what we did with “Unia” and “The Days of Greys”. A lot of those songs were much heavier and had very complex parts to them. One of the key points I took from those two albums was to create music which was surprising and create something which a lot of people weren’t expecting to hear.

Its quite weird that this new album [Stones Grow Her Name] is closing one big circle which started some 16 years ago. Back then we were playing material very similar to what you hear on ‘Stones Grow Her Name’. We were considered a hard rock band at the time, but now we’re a melodic, progressive, power metal band with a lot of different tones and styles mixed in.

MO: A lot of people were very negative towards ‘Unia’ and ‘The Days of Greys’. Why do you think that?

TK: A lot of people had fallen in love with the Sonata Arctica prior to those two albums being released. ‘Unia’ was a big shock for a lot of people, I know. But at the same time when a lot of the fans felt alienated with those two albums, especially ‘Unia’. We also gained a lot of new fans and followers from those albums. Surprisingly, a lot of new fans found out about us through those albums, so they weren’t completely a bad thing. Its obvious that not everyone is into power metal. For me, as a music fan it was only a short phase. I’ve completely moved away from that genre a long time ago. My musical tastes have dramatically changed over the years. I know of a lot of people who absolutely adore power metal, but for me, I felt like I had to move on.

We also want to play this stuff when we get older. I know for a fact that our drummer Tommy Portimo, probably wont be able to play the drum track ‘Blank File’ off ‘Ecliptica’ when he’s in his sixties. [laughs] Unless he can get some kind of elixir which will keep him young forever, I doubt he would be able to keep up. I want to keep playing music when I’m older as well. I doubt I’ll be able to keep up at all. [laughs] I believe we have now passed the first third of Sonata’s career, so it would be obvious to write songs that we’re comfortable playing.

It limits us greatly if we get stuck into a cliche like “progressive power metal”. A lot of bands are forced into a box by certain record labels and I don’t think its necessary to do that. It’s funny that Sonata Arctica still get called “power”, “speed” and even “thrash” metal at times. I still laugh at the last one. [laughs] We may have gathered influences from those styles, yet we aren’t those types of genres anymore. We put across a new genre to the label and they said to us “Ok! But you’ll be the only band in that genre of music”. I thought “That’s fucking perfect!”. I’m not saying we’re trying to become unique in our own way and create a new genre. I just believe we are more suited to this “new” genre.

MO: Sonata Artica aren’t the only band who have been in the firing line of negative criticism. What do you believe has made people so cynical towards music nowadays?

TK: There is to much of it going around at the moment. It seems we’re over saturated in a way with all this music. I also believe a lot of people are just spoiled and want to steal an album instead of actually wanting to buy it and enjoy it for what its worth. When I was growing up I didn’t have the convenience of the internet to listen to an album before I bought it. If I did buy something and didn’t like it, I wouldn’t simply throw away the album because I would essentially be throwing away my money. However, over time I would continually listen to the album and gradually take notice of a lot of things which I didn’t notice before. I eventually found things which I liked about the album.

For example, I remember buying a Queen album. Initially, I only liked one or two songs, yet over time I found something special about the album and found it to be a worthwhile investment. I personally like the band, as oppose to just wanting to like the band because everyone did. I realised over time that the album and the entire history of Queen‘s music is all classic material. I’ve always loved Queen and to this day they have been a major influence towards Sonata Arctica‘s music.

Nowadays, it seems we have to many choices to make on what we should listen too, as oppose to what we want to listen too. Its frustrating that a lot of musicians are creating these songs and albums from their heart. Yet, a lot of people are just cynical or get angry for the sake of it and have to voice an opinion because they don’t like it. Making out everyone else should not have to like it with them. By now, you probably realise I don’t read message forums or Youtube posts about our work. [laughs] These people are probably 25 years younger than I am, who purely talk bullshit with a false name. I don’t see that serving any creative purpose.

MO: Do you ever feel obligated to make your fans happy?

TK: Nah, not really. I know when I write something which comes from the heart, there will be a lot of people who will understand where I’m coming from. I know a lot of people will give it a chance or at least try too before making critical judgements. I don’t necessarily believe we should stick to anything to common, or a genre that is to common because of what the band did in the past. In all honestly, I’m happy with all the albums we have created and where I am today with Sonata Arctica. When you look at albums like “Unia” and “The Days of Greys” in 20 years, you’ll know that’s what we wanted to do at the time. It was part of our experience in a way. I know a lot of people didn’t necessarily enjoy those two albums [Unia] and [The Days of Greys], but its something we wanted to do.

MO: I’ve noticed a common theme relating to the love of a woman in your music. Is this relating to someone you know on a personal level?

TK: [laughs] No. I’ve been with the same girl I met sixteen years ago, so our relationship has lasted longer than the band itself and my recording career. I believe this woman loves me for who I am and not because I’m Sonata Arctica. [laughs] Its a valuable thing. I think the first reference to these women came from the track ‘Letter to Dana’ from our first album, ‘Ecliptica’. People kept on asking if this woman was real. Truth be told, I’m a big X-Files fan. Its merely a reference to Dana Scully from The X-Files.

I got such great feedback from that song that I thought it would be a great idea to keep going and discuss the relationship of two people who are ultimately in love. I’ve heard a lot of stories from fans who can relate to these songs . Its a bit weird for me to hear stuff like this because I know these stories are merely just that, stories. I mean you can get that inspiration from movies and books as well. However, its very inspiring to hear that these songs make people feel a certain way towards someone they have strong feelings towards. We can all relate to each others experiences. I think its good to relate to these songs, because it gives you a better understanding of human emotion. Nobody is wrong and I think that’s the best thing about music. Its merely an expression.

MO: Everyone may not entirely agree with what you say or do, but at least you gave it a go and proved you could do it.

TK: Exactly. I’ve been asked to write a song about dragons and stuff. [laughs] Something which could be very uplifting and inspiring with some sort of meaning behind it. Perhaps inspire you to get on with your life, not dwell in the past and achieve all the things you want to do in your life without any regret. Its a good message, but not my cup of tea. [laughs]

MO: What plans do you have for Sonata returning to Australia in the near future?

TK: [laughs] Well, as we all know its quite a long journey down to Australia. But it may work if we decide to tour Japan. It will be a lot easier for us to come straight over since we’re so close to Australia when in Japan. We wont be going to Japan until next year some time, so we have a while to decide what we want to do. If we are smart, which I hope we’re [laughs]…and find a suitable promoter who will want to bring us to Australia. We will definitely come back. I do miss my friends in Vanishing Point. They’re all great guys. The people in Australia that we meet are fantastic too. Hopefully next year. Fingers crossed!

Check out Sonata Arctica’s latest release, ‘Stones Grow Her Name‘, now available via Nuclear Blast Records and Riot! Entertainment.