Today on Sludgelord I am interviewing superb Post-Rock/Post-Metal band BAULTA from Finland
BAULTA have been on the blog a couple of times now with their brilliant albums - "Deeply sorry to interrupt your megalomania” and “That's My House You're Living In”
Their blend of Ambient Based Anthemic Post-Rock riffs matched with the heaviness of Post-Metal has won them a loyal following within the underground Post-Rock/Post-Metal scene.
I am a big fan of these guys as I think they are doing their own great style of music to stand out from the crowd.
Well it's my pleasure to do an interview with BAULTA and see what they have to say.
So let's get started.
Q1 – Hi Guys, Thanks for doing this. How are things with you guys Today.
So let's get started.
Q1 – Hi Guys, Thanks for doing this. How are things with you guys Today.
A - Well hello there Steve, it is my pleasure to do this interview with you. It is i, the king of muscle, also known as Tom, the drummer from Baulta. Things are very well here, it is the last few hours of year 2012 and the end of the year was great cause we got to release our new album....the feedback has been overwhelming.
Q2 – For people not in the know can you give them a brief history of the band and how it came about.
A - Well the band got started about 4 years a go? me, Matti and Jami and couple of other dudes we´re writing songs for our old bands album. and Matti came up with Arctic Hymn, and we tought it would go well for the album.
As it turned out, the other dudes didn't like it as much, and then we were like fuck it. let's start up a project where we would try to play this post-rockish / post-metallish music.
And Matti then introduced us to Iiro. and that's about it...we did our first album in a hurry, it was us kinda exploring in to this world of instrumental music....then as we finished the recording process and were about to start writing for the new album, Jami then informed that he didn't have the time or the interest to do another.
So after that we just wen't into writing mode and as we were recording the new ones, Janne came into the band to take care of the low end of things. That's the short and brief history of Baulta
Q3 – How would you describe your sound.
A- Well well, let's see... I'd say it is music that is so instrumental, that i don't need no vocals :)
We're always trying to reinvent our methods of writing music, trying to think outside of the box. Cause it keeps things interesting, so id say instrumental music suits us very well.
Q4 – Which bands and artists influence you directly as musicians.
A - Everyone in the band have their own favorites, but as a band i would say that the biggest one is
this now defunct band Oceansize, one of the greatest band ever. it has influenced us all very much.
You should all check em out.
Then Massive Attack is the second one, their album Mezzanine has that eerie ambient sound that we're always wanted to achieve in our sound. Maybe in our next album well achieve it? And Mogwai and ISIS...and many others.
Q5 – Are you all full time musicians or do you have regular jobs to pay the bills.
Q5 – Are you all full time musicians or do you have regular jobs to pay the bills.
A - Yeah we have to pay the bills with some regular jobs, we'd love to make this full time. but with this kinda music, here Finland...There is NO chance of making it.
Q6 – Are your family and friends supportive of your music.
A - Yeah they are, they have to be. we haven't given em much choice...hehehhe.
The thing is, they know that this is the thing that keeps us sane in this world gone mad you know. They are really supportive.
Q7 – What is the song-writing process in the band. Is it a group collective or is just down to one individual.
A - With the first album it was more individual, usually Matti or Iiro did come to the practice space with some kind structure to a song. But with the new one we were constantly pushing ourselves to think out side of the box, we tried some different methods to approach the writing, and this time we did spent lot of time pre-producing these songs and that made the difference.
Q8 – Your new album - That's My House You're Living In” - has just been released. And what a great title that is. Was it an easy album to write and record for compared against your début album.
A - That's my house you're living in was really easy to write, we did so much pre-production on these songs. we wrote these songs for bit over year, tried some new methods in the writing process. when we were writing the first one, i think we had more of this "let's try to sound like this and that band" attitude you know, but with the new one we were like fuck it, let's just write good songs. and it worked really well with us. and i'd guess that is why the new one sounds like it sounds.
And the recording wasn't so hard, it was very time consuming, but very rewarding at the same time.
As amateur recorders, these are very good learning experiences.
A - With the first one it was more of: "as long as it sounds funny and weird", but with the new one we wanted to have some sort of a point behind the song names, most of them has double meaning, and it is in the listeners mind to decide what the name's stand for...
That much i can say that, there is a lot of hangovers in the names of the songs. To us in some degree we think that with this kinda emotional music, there needs to be some contrast to it. As it is with us, we don't take ourselves very seriously.
Q10 – The album cover is very cool. Who came up with that design.
A - Thank you, really
appreciate it. i did it. The dude in the album cover is my lovely
bernese mountain dog King koopa, we are a very dog friendly band.
The thing is, i love
photography, and i especially love lomography. and in my mind almost
any lomography picture could be an album cover, just find a cool
photo and hit it with an bands name and thats it. you'll have an
album cover.
But yeah, this photo
kinda underlines the albums tittle bit more and suits the darker
moods of the album i guess
Q11 – Is there a scene for Post-Rock/Post-Metal bands to perform in your home town on a regular basis. Or do you have to travel further afield to perform on a regular basis.
A - Well well, i think that this kinda music has so small circles here in Finland, infract so small that we don't even know about them. And we've never been much of a people on the circles or on the scenes anyway.
Q12 – What is the live BAULTA experience like.
A - It would be called Baulta Sexperiience... the thing is, this may sound bit harsh or something..We are getting older, fatter and slower, we have our shitty day jobs and lovely families, so we don't wanna play those shitty gigs that takes place in the middle of the week, in some crappy bar that only has the town drunks there that don't care shit about the crappy music were playing. Cause we have done that already with our old bands, when we were younger.
And by nothing against those shitty bars and town drunks, were just not up for it.
So to get us to play live shows: we would love to tour all over Europe, where this kinda music has it listeners etc. Here in Finland we would love to open up for some bigger bands, to play these good venues (yes we have them) on weekends or to do some festivals. so all you promoters that are reading this, hit us up at baultamusic@gmail.com
Q13 – Finland does have some great Stoner/Post-Rock/Post-Metal/Sludge Metal bands around. Yourselves, Demonic Death Judge, Consciousness Removal Project, Mr Peter Hayden and Lurk. Seems like Finland is a country on the up with the underground scene.
A - Well as i mentioned, were not on the scene here in Finland. I've only heard few of those names that you mentioned, not a note of their music. I thought that swallow the sun was big doom/ish band around the world?
The only underground doom band that i know, is Kurouma. they are from the same town as we are, they were featured on this blog some time before us? Good fellows and some nice tunes.
Q14 – Have you toured with any of those great bands or know them on a personal level.
A - Nope, sorry.
Q15 – What are your favourite bands around at the moment. Do you listen to modern day rock/metal or do you just listen to the classic era of Stoner/Sludge/Doom/Post-Rock/Post-Metal.
A - I seem to have this habit of listening to the new albums by the bands that i like in few years after they'v come out. don't know why. but lately i've been diggin Dillinger escape plan's option paralysis, what an great album, love that band.
I broke the pattern and got my hands on the new Deftones album. really good. to tell you the truth i don't listen that much post-metal, post-rock stuff.
Q16 – What are your views of blogs such as Sludgelord featuring and reviewing your records, as opposed to mainstream music magazines? Has your music reached the mainstream mags at home or around the world?
A- I really appreciate the work you guys do, it is essential to shitty bands like us. Shure i wouldn't mind if some mainstream magazine would cover us here in Finland or anywhere. But i think the name of the game is money, don't know for shure but...we don't have it Our money goes in to studio costs, mastering, rent of our practice space / studio.
So blogs like Sludgelord and other are essential. you guys really do wonderful work. Can't thank you enough
Q17 – What are the most and least rewarding aspects of participating with the band.
Q17 – What are the most and least rewarding aspects of participating with the band.
A - Well to me there is no least rewarding aspects, with Baulta at least. you know, everybody is so committed to this thing we do, that's what i love cause i put my everything in to creating this music with my dearest friends. This is something that makes my world go round. sounds bit cheesy but it is the truth.
So only rewards for me.
Q18 – Apart from the album release do you have any future plans for the upcoming 12 months or so. Anything we should be excited about.
A- Yes we do, We recorded a 3 song EP: the greatest solos of Mr.Bellini vol.1 at the same time with the album so we need mix that with our friend, producer Tuomas Kokko. and then it will be released same way as our albums. pay what you want.
3 really really good songs, moody as hell, all killer, no filler. 15-17min. of pure Baulta goodness. That will hopefully happen with in the coming few months
We have one new song in the bank, so were gonna keep writing new songs and when that is done, the same shit all over.record it and release it :)
Q19 - Finally, Do you have anything to say your fans
A - Yes i do, it has been so overwhelming, the support, love and kind words that you guys have given us. It really means a world to us.
When never ever in our wildest dreams would have thought that some one would enjoy this music known as Baulta.
Sooooo...Much love to you guys, keep on spreading our album if you dig it and we'll keep making them songs. Thanks, love and be safe
And thanks to you guys at sludgelord!
Best of luck with your new album. It really is an amazing album and one you should rightly be proud of. All the best from ourselves as Sludgelord
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