Turmion Kätilöt – 18-10-2008

Interview with: Spellgoth and MC Raaka Pee
By: Sabine van Gameren

In Nosturi, Helsinki we were waiting for Metalorgy to open their doors. Spontaneously we rolled into an interview with the vocalists MC Raaka Pee and Spellgoth from the Finnish industrial metal band Turmion Kätilöt

The band has, despite their conflict with their label just released a new album called “U.S.C.H!”, which is released online. “I think it is a sick album, I messed up my head with that album with the compositions and the lyrics. That was my part, and afterwards I was fucked up. I am still fucked up.” MC Raaka Pee tells. “We promised our fans that the album would be out on certain date. The songs were pretty much ready, but the after production was done in quite a hurry. The after production takes as long as the record comes up. Always! That is a fact. The album is never ready. In our case at least.”

As it seems the band talks about the album as if they feel like things should have been different than they are now. That does not really seem to be the case here though. “It is perfect now; someone has said that it is too short for an album, but I think it could not be longer. It is perfect now, maybe ten minutes shorter than the older albums” they explain.When we start comparing it with the older albums, to bring up an image of “U.S.C.H!” they tell: “It’s rougher, more aggressive and maybe even some punk in it. It’s not just change in the style of the music, now half of the lyrics are in Finnish and half of the lyrics are in English. That was not a thing we just decided to do, it came naturally. The language was not an issue. We just did what we had to do. Songs like ‘Arise’ just scream for English lyrics, not Finnish ones. It is a completely different song, but still part of the whole album”

So now the band has also songs in English, while before they only had Finnish songs. Is the band seeing this is an opportunity to reach a more international market perhaps? Spellgoth says: “I would like to be abroad, It has always been my dream to do some gigs outside of Finland. We had loads of offers from outside Finland. One of the bests for me was, because I am the president of Turbojugend Kuopio, we got an offer to play in St. Petersburg. They would come with a minibus and pick us up from Kuopio and drive us there. And from St. Petersburg back to Kuopio, take care of the visa’s and everything. But the guy who was mixing us at that time, it was not cool for him.”
MC Raaka Pee continues: “We have had loads of opportunities, but we have to think of it reasonable. All of us are working and if we have to pay for a tour, we have some angry wives at home. We need the money to pay the rent. That’s the thing… the fucking money, we just want to play, but we have to live also. That is how the business is and we just have to live with it.”
A short silence strikes before they continue “There are no rules in this band; I want to listen to every person in the band. We make the music together and I want everyone to be happy and have fun. Then we can go on. If some one has troubles in the band it stops right away. We have to sort out the troubles and go ahead again. And have a few drinks” Everyone laughs for a while.
Spellgoth shows some more of his ambitions by telling us: “Nowadays I arrange my work so I can be away if I want. My bosses know that I play in various bands and I have a European tour in January. I will be away for two weeks. It does not affect my salary. I can be away and when I have spare time I do a bit more work.”

Links:
Turmion Kätilöt MySpace
Turmion Kätilöt Official