Atlases is an exceptional post metal band from Finland. They have recently released their new album "Between the Day and I" on Lifeforce Records. Jerkka who handles bass duty in addition to clean vocals and mixing took time to speak with Exquisite Death about his music.
I first came across Atlases with your album Haar. Bands that can incorporate a wide array of emotion into their sound are my personal favorites. What is the reaction you're hoping the listener experiences when listening to Atlases?
Jerkka: Well, we’re not really hoping for a particular reaction. If the music causes emotions, any emotions, in the listener I think that in itself is great: music should make you feel things, and that is what we aim for.
Between the Day and I is your newest album. How do you believe Atlases has grown from Haar until now?
I think on Haar and maybe even on Woe Portrait we were still honing in on our own sound. I like both albums, but on Between the Day & I, I think we achieved a more solid foundation for what is the shape of things to come with Atlases, and this is also the album that I’m most proud of. To me, Atlases has matured but also gotten more violent and heavy, and in the process carved it’s own style in the musical field that we are now very comfortable with.
The newest album has an interesting title. Is there a deeper meaning behind the name?
In an abstract way, it is depicting a scenario where you are stuck in the dark of night, but can still see the light of day. For some reason there is something unseeable blocking the space between you and the light, making it impossible for you to reach the daylight.
So in a sense you can see hope and comfort behind the corner, but don't know how to get there. At least not yet. But as with our lyrics, we feel that the listener can interpret them in their own way, just as the album title. You can take what you get from it and stick with that. There is no correct or false way to interpret art.
How is the new album being received? I personally loved it.
Thank you, that means a lot! Generally we’ve had positive reviews and feedback on the album. I understand how it can be a bit off-putting for someone who loved our previous releases, since we have stepped into new territory with Atlases. But to keep things fresh we will continue in doing so!
Balance is important in music to keep listening interesting. Atlases I believe does this well. Where do you believe the perfect equilibrium resides for yourself in making music?
Thank you, I believe we have managed that pretty well as well! I think the perfect equilibrium presents itself, in a sense, when we are writing. We don't really think about it that much, it’s just what comes out of us and it does so naturally. Mostly myself and Ville-Veikko (guitar) write songs and lyrics, on our own or together, and our ideas just feel like they complement each other and the vision of a song keeps on building just like that. And the next thing we realize is that the song is finished. On some rare occasions we go back to a song to change some things up, but 99% of the time it’s just production aspects we change, not the composition or arrangement.
I sense a wide array of influences in Atlases. What was the inspiration for the original creation of the band?
Originally Ville-Veikko started the band as an instrumental project, with songs he had written for his previous band but from which he departed from. But soon we all met each other and the lineup came along and things picked up from there. Ville-Veikko’s previous band played post-metal and he is a long time fan of the genre, so our original sound came from there. Along the way we have infused other musical styles in to our music, still playing around with the feel and atmospherics of post-metal, and combined them in to a whirlwind of many things, as heard on Between The Day & I.
Streaming has allowed bands to acquire more exposure to fans. It also makes competition more pronounced. Do you think releasing singles in addition to full albums assists in keeping a band relevant to consumers?
Yeah, that seems to be how it goes nowadays. And I got no problem with that, times and things change. One downside that comes to mind that it can be a bit pressurizing and stressful to have to constantly release something. But on the other hand, if you think about it, it has never been so easy to create and release a single to a wide audience, so that is good. Of course there is pitfalls and downsides in the whole streaming game, I know, but that has been and is currently discussed a lot, so I think that is another discussion in general!
Lifeforce Records is an excellent label home to many great bands. What drew you to the label as opposed to others?
Indeed! We had heard good things about Lifeforce and some friends that played in a band were on the label, so if I remember correctly, they told us something like ”you should really send your music over to Lifeforce records”, and so we did, and here we are! Everything has gone smoothly and as a band we have been very happy with Lifeforce Records.
Finland is known for many great musicians and bands. Any lesser known artists from your country you'd like to mention?
Some good friends we have had the pleasure to play live with in recent times:
Listen to Black Royal for that sludgy grooviness and at your devil worshipping rituals, & listen to Palehørse for that immaculate rhythmic and melodic virtuosity!
atlaseslfr.bandcamp.com/album/between-the-day-i
lifeforcerecords.com/
I first came across Atlases with your album Haar. Bands that can incorporate a wide array of emotion into their sound are my personal favorites. What is the reaction you're hoping the listener experiences when listening to Atlases?
Jerkka: Well, we’re not really hoping for a particular reaction. If the music causes emotions, any emotions, in the listener I think that in itself is great: music should make you feel things, and that is what we aim for.
Between the Day and I is your newest album. How do you believe Atlases has grown from Haar until now?
I think on Haar and maybe even on Woe Portrait we were still honing in on our own sound. I like both albums, but on Between the Day & I, I think we achieved a more solid foundation for what is the shape of things to come with Atlases, and this is also the album that I’m most proud of. To me, Atlases has matured but also gotten more violent and heavy, and in the process carved it’s own style in the musical field that we are now very comfortable with.
The newest album has an interesting title. Is there a deeper meaning behind the name?
In an abstract way, it is depicting a scenario where you are stuck in the dark of night, but can still see the light of day. For some reason there is something unseeable blocking the space between you and the light, making it impossible for you to reach the daylight.
So in a sense you can see hope and comfort behind the corner, but don't know how to get there. At least not yet. But as with our lyrics, we feel that the listener can interpret them in their own way, just as the album title. You can take what you get from it and stick with that. There is no correct or false way to interpret art.
How is the new album being received? I personally loved it.
Thank you, that means a lot! Generally we’ve had positive reviews and feedback on the album. I understand how it can be a bit off-putting for someone who loved our previous releases, since we have stepped into new territory with Atlases. But to keep things fresh we will continue in doing so!
Balance is important in music to keep listening interesting. Atlases I believe does this well. Where do you believe the perfect equilibrium resides for yourself in making music?
Thank you, I believe we have managed that pretty well as well! I think the perfect equilibrium presents itself, in a sense, when we are writing. We don't really think about it that much, it’s just what comes out of us and it does so naturally. Mostly myself and Ville-Veikko (guitar) write songs and lyrics, on our own or together, and our ideas just feel like they complement each other and the vision of a song keeps on building just like that. And the next thing we realize is that the song is finished. On some rare occasions we go back to a song to change some things up, but 99% of the time it’s just production aspects we change, not the composition or arrangement.
I sense a wide array of influences in Atlases. What was the inspiration for the original creation of the band?
Originally Ville-Veikko started the band as an instrumental project, with songs he had written for his previous band but from which he departed from. But soon we all met each other and the lineup came along and things picked up from there. Ville-Veikko’s previous band played post-metal and he is a long time fan of the genre, so our original sound came from there. Along the way we have infused other musical styles in to our music, still playing around with the feel and atmospherics of post-metal, and combined them in to a whirlwind of many things, as heard on Between The Day & I.
Streaming has allowed bands to acquire more exposure to fans. It also makes competition more pronounced. Do you think releasing singles in addition to full albums assists in keeping a band relevant to consumers?
Yeah, that seems to be how it goes nowadays. And I got no problem with that, times and things change. One downside that comes to mind that it can be a bit pressurizing and stressful to have to constantly release something. But on the other hand, if you think about it, it has never been so easy to create and release a single to a wide audience, so that is good. Of course there is pitfalls and downsides in the whole streaming game, I know, but that has been and is currently discussed a lot, so I think that is another discussion in general!
Lifeforce Records is an excellent label home to many great bands. What drew you to the label as opposed to others?
Indeed! We had heard good things about Lifeforce and some friends that played in a band were on the label, so if I remember correctly, they told us something like ”you should really send your music over to Lifeforce records”, and so we did, and here we are! Everything has gone smoothly and as a band we have been very happy with Lifeforce Records.
Finland is known for many great musicians and bands. Any lesser known artists from your country you'd like to mention?
Some good friends we have had the pleasure to play live with in recent times:
Listen to Black Royal for that sludgy grooviness and at your devil worshipping rituals, & listen to Palehørse for that immaculate rhythmic and melodic virtuosity!
atlaseslfr.bandcamp.com/album/between-the-day-i
lifeforcerecords.com/