[avatar =”James” size=”50″ align=”left” /]A few hours before their set at the festival, I had the opportunity to have a chat with the drummer of Finnish metal heavyweights, Ensiferum. We chatted about the response to the most recent album and any bands he was looking to seeing at the festival.
Thanks to Andy at Metal Blade for organising and Janne for his time.
MT: You’re playing on the main stage today at the festival – are you excited for it?
Janne: Of course. It’s 5 years since we played here last time.
MT: The most recent album, One Man Army, came out around 5 months ago. What’s the fan response like when you play the new songs live?
Janne: It’s been really good. I don’t the response ever being this good. It normally takes a year or so for the fans to get into the new material but it has been really good for the past 6 months or so.
MT: If you have time, what bands are you hoping to watch today?
Janne: I don’t think we have much time actually. We leave pretty fast after the show as tomorrow we have to leave for the airport at 4am. We have 4 festival shows in a row and Cannibal Corpse has had the same previous shows as us. So I might got watch them one more time.
MT: If I correctly, did you used to drum in Barathum?
Janne: Yes that’s correct and also in a lot of other bands.
MT: Would you say playing in Ensiferum is any different to the other bands?
Janne: In a way it is. The music is quite different but I’ve played a lot of different genres and in a lot of different bands over the years. I think the first time I ever played Bloodstock was in 2004 or 2003 with Sinergy.
MT: What sort of gear do you use live?
Janne: I use Pearl drums and Paiste cymbals and it’s quite a basic setup. I use 2 bass drums and 10,12,16 toms and shit-loads of cymbals.
MT: My final question for you is what sort of set can we expect today?
Janne: It’s a pretty short set but we play something from every album. However most of the songs are from the newer material.
MT: Kiitos!
