7th Symphony will be out on August 24.
Sony Records
When it comes to symphonic metal, no one has a pedigree like Finland cello-based quartet Apocalyptica.
And this summer they’ll demonstrate their abundant skills and dramatic
performance flair during a run of North American shows to support their
upcoming seventh album 7th Symphony.
The band is currently out on a four-date U.S. tour before they head back to Europe to play some dates there before returning to the States next month.
Apocalyptica will be headlining a show out in Pontiac at the Eagle Theatre on Friday.
7th Symphony is the band's seventh studio album and is the follow-up to the band's 2007 Worlds Collide which broke the band in the U.S. and made them an international phenomenon.
Worlds Collide featured a number of guest stars including Slipknot's Corey Taylor on "I'm Not Jesus" and Three Day Grace's Adam Gontier on "I Don't Care".
7th Symphony continues this format including the first single with Bush's Gavin Rossdale, "End of Me".
7th Symphony was produced by Joe Barresi (Coheed and Cambria, Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Religion), and is scheduled for release in the U.S. on August 24.
Yesterday, cellist and Apocalyptica founder Eicca Toppinen took some time while out in Los Angeles at the Sony record offices to sit down and talk with me about the tour and upcoming album.
Q: You have the new album, 7th Symphony, coming out next month?
A: Yeah on the 22, 23 or the 24. It's coming out on different days in different countries.
Q: What makes this album different?
A: I think there are many differences. I think the sound is really new and very different from the previous album. I think the biggest difference is the development of the instrumental tracks. This time we really wanted to get the instrumental tracks to be separate from the vocal tracks. The whole approach is different. We didn't want to make instrumental tracks that reminded us of the vocal tracks. We just wanted to write songs free of structure so the instrumental tracks are more progressive. I think the sound development is much more dynamic and has more variety. It's more bracing and has more of an organist kind of sound.
Q: When you were recording was it a collaborative process?
A: Yeah. It was very exciting. Joe Barresi was the producer for the album and he's a guy who is so into the sound and all the different petals and the greater the sound is the more he likes it. We didn't make sound additions through a mix while recording; it was more about let's find a exciting sound now and record it. It became not about how we made it but how we played it. It was really creative because this time we didn't have any demos besides the vocal tracks before we went into the studio. Actually when Mikko [Siren, drummer] started to record his drums back in the beginning of January I was still trying to get new songs in while he was tracking. Actually 4 of the 10 songs were written after he started. It was crazy. That had the effect that when we were in the studio everybody had to be really creative, really active with people's time. There were so many different parts and different options and it made the album process really exciting. It was very exhausting but exciting and very creative.
Q: When you go to do your vocal tracks how do you go about picking your guest singers?
A: There's different approaches but most likely for this album we have four vocal tracks and for three of those we had the songs and lyrics already written. Then we started to think about possible people. Actually to be honest we had 8-10 vocal tracks available and we were talking to different people because we knew from the past that getting the vocal stuff together is always big because there are so many moving parts you know with people's schedules and interest. You never know who is gonna be on the album at the end. This time we wanted to give different singers different options. Sometimes some singers want to write everything by themselves or want to write all of the lyrics. Some people they want to try what is already written. You know there are so many different approaches and this time what ended up on the album is three songs that were written to the end and we started thinking about possible singers to sing them. Of course we give the singers the freedom to change parts or change lyrics that they feel comfortable with. I think singers whatever they sing they need to be able to sing in their own style and make some minor changes on the lyrics. That was the process. Then with Joseph Duplantier [singer, guitarist Gojira] we brought a song together like three years ago already. I met him in Paris and we went into the studio for two days there and "Bring Them To The Light" was the result of that. We didn't find the right spot to record the song and now was the right time to do it. Each time we have a different approach. We have a list of singers we would like to work with and also that we know and that we know that they like Apocalyptica and we've been talking. We meet a lot of people while we are touring festivals in Europe and the States. Mainly we want to approach people we kind of know and are a fan of before.
Q: The first single off of 7th Symphony is your track "End of Me" with Bush singer Gavin Rossdale. How did that come about?
A: With Gavin, we've known him since '98 or so. We made a remix of a Bush song at the end of the nineties. We were a fan of his sound and the song was called "Letting the Cables Sleep". When we were looking for a singer for "End of Me' we thought about Gavin and wondered what he was doing these days and let's check out if he would be up to doing it.
Q: For the video for "End of Me" can you explain the concept a bit?
A: With the video concept we were working with a director named Lisa Mann who directed our "I Don't Care" video on our last album [Worlds Collide]. Somehow we felt that the way that she sees the band that she was bringing the right direction and could give the right kind of visual image for the music we do. She kind of comes more from a fashion standpoint because she does music videos but she's doing commercials and she's into styling and decorating houses and whatever. She's very official and I think there's the aspect of beauty, some danger, some edge, some darkness, and some romantic elements. I think it's great how she handles those elements in her visual images. So then we got the idea to make a trilogy of these three videos because we knew up front that we were going to make three videos. So we have this artwork on the album cover that we wanted to bring into the video with the same kind of feel. There's this girl which reminds us of the artwork. We shot the trilogy in the same location but we used different parts of the house, it's a mortuary. It was kind of spooky to film it in the middle of the dead bodies but it was a beautiful location. It's kind of a little bit like a church but not. The images are really beautiful. It's very exciting because we finished the last two videos yesterday and the day before. It's exciting to see how the story board comes across in the final result. You never know when you see a shoot and then what's going to happen in the mix. We are very excited about the videos because we think there is kind of a energy and beauty and a romantic feel that we feel is in the music as well.
Q: Who is in on the other two songs that you are releasing?
A: There's Brent Smith from Shinedown. He is singing a song called "Not Strong Enough" and then there's Lacey Mosley from Flyleaf on the song "Broken Pieces".
Q: Dave Lombardo from Slayer worked with you on this album as well right?
A: Yeah this is the fourth time already. He's going for the record. He's part of the Apocalyptica family. This time the idea was okay let's put two drummers in a room together. So he was playing together with Mikko facing each other since there was actually not a song yet. They were just listening to some riffs and then they put them off and started to play different rhythmic patterns. Then we just put those parts together and made a kind of song based on drums and then we wrote the song on top of that called "2010". Kind of an exciting approach. You know Dave is always very inspiring for us. He loves to play drums and it is so enjoyable to watch him.
Q: You started out with the four cellists and didn't add the drums until much later. What made you add the drumming aspect?
A: It's because of the music. You know we had some percussions already on our Cult record and it made it kind of stronger and gave us a kind of structure. It was about songs that we brought for our Reflections album. We just felt okay it's kind of lame to play these songs without a drummer. The music felt better with drums. That's when we called Dave and we had known him for awhile throughout the 90's and he said whenever we need a drummer to give him a call. He wanted to play with us. He recorded like five tracks for Reflections and then it was obvious that when we were going on the road to Montreal and we needed someone to play drums on the tour. So then Mikko came in and for like 2 or 3 years he was a hired musician. We didn't know that it was going to be a permanent change in the band at first or just a one time experience. We didn't know what was going to happen after Reflections. At some point we just realized that the stuff sounded right. It was made for drums and cellos and we thought why not use drums! All the add-ons are based on the music.
Q: When you started out it was just playing covers. What made you turn it into what it's become?
A: We started by playing covers for fun and it wasn't a plan to form a band; it was just friends having fun together. But actually the idea of making our own songs came when we made a Christmas single in Finland in 1996, "The Little Drummer Boy", and it was very free from the original and then I was thinking maybe I should try to write something really our own and then I wrote the song "Harmageddon". Then on the second album there were three originals and then when we were writing the third album we felt like a little kid and it was the most exciting way to go on. The record company wanted to force us to make one more cover album but we were like there's no way. If we made one more cover album we should just give up. There would not be any future. So we thought the original material was the best thing for the band. Because after two albums we started to feel like what are we a band for. After that we are just cello players playing some metal and then we started to feel like Apocalyptica is a real band and started to research our musical identity what's Apocalyptica without Metallica so it was just a natural step. Every step has been very natural. We never had a marketing plan for after this album we're going to do that and that and that and we'll make a album documentary at this time.
Q: Worlds Colllide broke you over here in the States. Why do you think that particular album did it?
A: I think one reason was that we signed with a American label so we got a lot of interest from the record company and I think the singles "I'm Not Jesus" and "I Don't Care" were given great tools to promote the band and album. I think those are the main reasons and of course we had a loyal fan base here who were just waiting for when the band was going to tour here. I think it was the first album we sold a quarter of a million copies in the States. We had a really good setup and I think radio was key in getting the market. The bands have known Apocalyptica from touring in Europe and have seen us play but normal people didn't know us that well. I am actually happy it didn't happen before because now we are at least or the band is at the level where whatever opportunities we will get we will beat them!
Q: Is there a big difference between your fans here and your European fans?
A: There is a big difference because of course most of the European fans got to know Apocalyptica in the nineties when it was kind of a different band and they have been following it. And I think you know a promotional example is if we are here in the States the record label wants to promo the singles. It's all about the singles and that's how they see it and their approach. But in Europe the press there don't give a sh*t about the singles. You know that's not the thing that gets them, they are excited about the other stuff because that's how they know Apocalyptica. Of course they care about the singles but they are worried about where is the rest of the stuff. I think among the fans it's also the same things. American fans really love our vocal tracks because that's how they found the band but in Europe it's kind of the other way around. They like the vocal tracks of course but they are passionate about the cello thing. I think that is the main difference.
Q: You are on a U.S. tour now?
A: We're doing four shows this week and then heading to Europe for three weeks and then we come back here around the release of the album and then we head back to Europe until October and then come back here. We are trying to share our time and then later on we will be playing South America and Australia. I think we want to cover the whole country. It might take some time because we love touring but we want to spend some time. I think with American bands you can have a four month tour and still visit home when you have short breaks but we can't get home so we do short intensive tours like three weeks and then have breaks. It's going to be two tours this year and then in the Spring and the Summer. It will go on and on and we will try to approach all the States.
Q: As far as songs go, is there anyone on your list you want to work with in the future?
A: The list is endless. There are so many cool artists and people it would be great to work with. It's all about timing and interest. We had some different singers for this record like Bruce Dickinson [Iron Maiden vocalist] wanted to be on board but they were in the middle of the Maiden record and Rob Halford [Judas Priest vocalist] was thinking about it and came in at the last minute but we didn't have the right song for him.
The band is currently out on a four-date U.S. tour before they head back to Europe to play some dates there before returning to the States next month.
Apocalyptica will be headlining a show out in Pontiac at the Eagle Theatre on Friday.
7th Symphony is the band's seventh studio album and is the follow-up to the band's 2007 Worlds Collide which broke the band in the U.S. and made them an international phenomenon.
Worlds Collide featured a number of guest stars including Slipknot's Corey Taylor on "I'm Not Jesus" and Three Day Grace's Adam Gontier on "I Don't Care".
7th Symphony continues this format including the first single with Bush's Gavin Rossdale, "End of Me".
7th Symphony was produced by Joe Barresi (Coheed and Cambria, Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Religion), and is scheduled for release in the U.S. on August 24.
Yesterday, cellist and Apocalyptica founder Eicca Toppinen took some time while out in Los Angeles at the Sony record offices to sit down and talk with me about the tour and upcoming album.
Q: You have the new album, 7th Symphony, coming out next month?
A: Yeah on the 22, 23 or the 24. It's coming out on different days in different countries.
Q: What makes this album different?
A: I think there are many differences. I think the sound is really new and very different from the previous album. I think the biggest difference is the development of the instrumental tracks. This time we really wanted to get the instrumental tracks to be separate from the vocal tracks. The whole approach is different. We didn't want to make instrumental tracks that reminded us of the vocal tracks. We just wanted to write songs free of structure so the instrumental tracks are more progressive. I think the sound development is much more dynamic and has more variety. It's more bracing and has more of an organist kind of sound.
Q: When you were recording was it a collaborative process?
A: Yeah. It was very exciting. Joe Barresi was the producer for the album and he's a guy who is so into the sound and all the different petals and the greater the sound is the more he likes it. We didn't make sound additions through a mix while recording; it was more about let's find a exciting sound now and record it. It became not about how we made it but how we played it. It was really creative because this time we didn't have any demos besides the vocal tracks before we went into the studio. Actually when Mikko [Siren, drummer] started to record his drums back in the beginning of January I was still trying to get new songs in while he was tracking. Actually 4 of the 10 songs were written after he started. It was crazy. That had the effect that when we were in the studio everybody had to be really creative, really active with people's time. There were so many different parts and different options and it made the album process really exciting. It was very exhausting but exciting and very creative.
Q: When you go to do your vocal tracks how do you go about picking your guest singers?
A: There's different approaches but most likely for this album we have four vocal tracks and for three of those we had the songs and lyrics already written. Then we started to think about possible people. Actually to be honest we had 8-10 vocal tracks available and we were talking to different people because we knew from the past that getting the vocal stuff together is always big because there are so many moving parts you know with people's schedules and interest. You never know who is gonna be on the album at the end. This time we wanted to give different singers different options. Sometimes some singers want to write everything by themselves or want to write all of the lyrics. Some people they want to try what is already written. You know there are so many different approaches and this time what ended up on the album is three songs that were written to the end and we started thinking about possible singers to sing them. Of course we give the singers the freedom to change parts or change lyrics that they feel comfortable with. I think singers whatever they sing they need to be able to sing in their own style and make some minor changes on the lyrics. That was the process. Then with Joseph Duplantier [singer, guitarist Gojira] we brought a song together like three years ago already. I met him in Paris and we went into the studio for two days there and "Bring Them To The Light" was the result of that. We didn't find the right spot to record the song and now was the right time to do it. Each time we have a different approach. We have a list of singers we would like to work with and also that we know and that we know that they like Apocalyptica and we've been talking. We meet a lot of people while we are touring festivals in Europe and the States. Mainly we want to approach people we kind of know and are a fan of before.
Q: The first single off of 7th Symphony is your track "End of Me" with Bush singer Gavin Rossdale. How did that come about?
A: With Gavin, we've known him since '98 or so. We made a remix of a Bush song at the end of the nineties. We were a fan of his sound and the song was called "Letting the Cables Sleep". When we were looking for a singer for "End of Me' we thought about Gavin and wondered what he was doing these days and let's check out if he would be up to doing it.
Q: For the video for "End of Me" can you explain the concept a bit?
A: With the video concept we were working with a director named Lisa Mann who directed our "I Don't Care" video on our last album [Worlds Collide]. Somehow we felt that the way that she sees the band that she was bringing the right direction and could give the right kind of visual image for the music we do. She kind of comes more from a fashion standpoint because she does music videos but she's doing commercials and she's into styling and decorating houses and whatever. She's very official and I think there's the aspect of beauty, some danger, some edge, some darkness, and some romantic elements. I think it's great how she handles those elements in her visual images. So then we got the idea to make a trilogy of these three videos because we knew up front that we were going to make three videos. So we have this artwork on the album cover that we wanted to bring into the video with the same kind of feel. There's this girl which reminds us of the artwork. We shot the trilogy in the same location but we used different parts of the house, it's a mortuary. It was kind of spooky to film it in the middle of the dead bodies but it was a beautiful location. It's kind of a little bit like a church but not. The images are really beautiful. It's very exciting because we finished the last two videos yesterday and the day before. It's exciting to see how the story board comes across in the final result. You never know when you see a shoot and then what's going to happen in the mix. We are very excited about the videos because we think there is kind of a energy and beauty and a romantic feel that we feel is in the music as well.
Q: Who is in on the other two songs that you are releasing?
A: There's Brent Smith from Shinedown. He is singing a song called "Not Strong Enough" and then there's Lacey Mosley from Flyleaf on the song "Broken Pieces".
Q: Dave Lombardo from Slayer worked with you on this album as well right?
A: Yeah this is the fourth time already. He's going for the record. He's part of the Apocalyptica family. This time the idea was okay let's put two drummers in a room together. So he was playing together with Mikko facing each other since there was actually not a song yet. They were just listening to some riffs and then they put them off and started to play different rhythmic patterns. Then we just put those parts together and made a kind of song based on drums and then we wrote the song on top of that called "2010". Kind of an exciting approach. You know Dave is always very inspiring for us. He loves to play drums and it is so enjoyable to watch him.
Q: You started out with the four cellists and didn't add the drums until much later. What made you add the drumming aspect?
A: It's because of the music. You know we had some percussions already on our Cult record and it made it kind of stronger and gave us a kind of structure. It was about songs that we brought for our Reflections album. We just felt okay it's kind of lame to play these songs without a drummer. The music felt better with drums. That's when we called Dave and we had known him for awhile throughout the 90's and he said whenever we need a drummer to give him a call. He wanted to play with us. He recorded like five tracks for Reflections and then it was obvious that when we were going on the road to Montreal and we needed someone to play drums on the tour. So then Mikko came in and for like 2 or 3 years he was a hired musician. We didn't know that it was going to be a permanent change in the band at first or just a one time experience. We didn't know what was going to happen after Reflections. At some point we just realized that the stuff sounded right. It was made for drums and cellos and we thought why not use drums! All the add-ons are based on the music.
Q: When you started out it was just playing covers. What made you turn it into what it's become?
A: We started by playing covers for fun and it wasn't a plan to form a band; it was just friends having fun together. But actually the idea of making our own songs came when we made a Christmas single in Finland in 1996, "The Little Drummer Boy", and it was very free from the original and then I was thinking maybe I should try to write something really our own and then I wrote the song "Harmageddon". Then on the second album there were three originals and then when we were writing the third album we felt like a little kid and it was the most exciting way to go on. The record company wanted to force us to make one more cover album but we were like there's no way. If we made one more cover album we should just give up. There would not be any future. So we thought the original material was the best thing for the band. Because after two albums we started to feel like what are we a band for. After that we are just cello players playing some metal and then we started to feel like Apocalyptica is a real band and started to research our musical identity what's Apocalyptica without Metallica so it was just a natural step. Every step has been very natural. We never had a marketing plan for after this album we're going to do that and that and that and we'll make a album documentary at this time.
Q: Worlds Colllide broke you over here in the States. Why do you think that particular album did it?
A: I think one reason was that we signed with a American label so we got a lot of interest from the record company and I think the singles "I'm Not Jesus" and "I Don't Care" were given great tools to promote the band and album. I think those are the main reasons and of course we had a loyal fan base here who were just waiting for when the band was going to tour here. I think it was the first album we sold a quarter of a million copies in the States. We had a really good setup and I think radio was key in getting the market. The bands have known Apocalyptica from touring in Europe and have seen us play but normal people didn't know us that well. I am actually happy it didn't happen before because now we are at least or the band is at the level where whatever opportunities we will get we will beat them!
Q: Is there a big difference between your fans here and your European fans?
A: There is a big difference because of course most of the European fans got to know Apocalyptica in the nineties when it was kind of a different band and they have been following it. And I think you know a promotional example is if we are here in the States the record label wants to promo the singles. It's all about the singles and that's how they see it and their approach. But in Europe the press there don't give a sh*t about the singles. You know that's not the thing that gets them, they are excited about the other stuff because that's how they know Apocalyptica. Of course they care about the singles but they are worried about where is the rest of the stuff. I think among the fans it's also the same things. American fans really love our vocal tracks because that's how they found the band but in Europe it's kind of the other way around. They like the vocal tracks of course but they are passionate about the cello thing. I think that is the main difference.
Q: You are on a U.S. tour now?
A: We're doing four shows this week and then heading to Europe for three weeks and then we come back here around the release of the album and then we head back to Europe until October and then come back here. We are trying to share our time and then later on we will be playing South America and Australia. I think we want to cover the whole country. It might take some time because we love touring but we want to spend some time. I think with American bands you can have a four month tour and still visit home when you have short breaks but we can't get home so we do short intensive tours like three weeks and then have breaks. It's going to be two tours this year and then in the Spring and the Summer. It will go on and on and we will try to approach all the States.
Q: As far as songs go, is there anyone on your list you want to work with in the future?
A: The list is endless. There are so many cool artists and people it would be great to work with. It's all about timing and interest. We had some different singers for this record like Bruce Dickinson [Iron Maiden vocalist] wanted to be on board but they were in the middle of the Maiden record and Rob Halford [Judas Priest vocalist] was thinking about it and came in at the last minute but we didn't have the right song for him.
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