BB: Welcome to Brutal Basarabia and thanks for taking the time to talk with us.
Pete: Thanks for having us! I think this is our first interview to a foreign media so it is a special occasion for us. This calls for drinks!!!
BB: For those who don’t know about you, can you tell shortly how do you see yourselves and how did FAMINE YEAR begin?
Pete: The way I see it is that FAMINE YEAR is a crust/grind-flavored hardcore punk band. The band was started around 2008 by our drummer Tumppi and our ex-guitarist Vesa. They made a demotape that Tumppi played to me at a Reclaim The Streets-event and asked if I wanted to join in. All I could hear was that it was fast and loud so of course I said YES. Then we recruited Niklas to play bass and the first line-up was ready. After a while we had to let Vesa go but he was replaced by Make. We've done 3 demos, a split 7" with Hautaus, a 7" and a full-length album that was released in December 2013.
BB: Congrats on the new album „Ja Kaiken Kruunaa Kuolema”, it’s a really great work. Tell us about writing and recording process of the new album.
Pete: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it. There's not much to tell, writing music is a pretty natural process to us, the boys come up with riffs and basic structures for songs and then we basically jam them together at rehearsals. We didn't really have any kind of expectations or vision of direction, we just wrote a bunch of songs we liked and recorded them. Simple as that. We recorded the album at the rehearsal place with a friend of ours and had another friend mix and master it.
Pete: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it. There's not much to tell, writing music is a pretty natural process to us, the boys come up with riffs and basic structures for songs and then we basically jam them together at rehearsals. We didn't really have any kind of expectations or vision of direction, we just wrote a bunch of songs we liked and recorded them. Simple as that. We recorded the album at the rehearsal place with a friend of ours and had another friend mix and master it.
BB: Tell us a little bit about the concept of „Ja Kaiken Kruunaa Kuolema” from your perspective?
Pete: Unfortunately we were a little bit pressed for time when putting the covers together, mostly because I was taking care of sending the materials to our friend did the layout aaand I'm a bit of a space cadet. It would have been cool to have translations for the lyrics on the insert. The way I see the concept is that us "regular people" have little control over the way our society is run. Decisions are made for us by people we've trusted to look after our interests in society and, as we know, most of them are degenerate liars who sell their ideals to the highest bidder in a heartbeat. Therefore, we go about our lives, trying to play with the cards dealt to us by the people "in charge". We try voting but only get to choose the lesser of two evils. And then we die. "Ja kaiken kruunaa kuolema" translates directly into "and death crowns it all."
BB: What serves as influences for Famine Year and from where you get inspiration?
Pete: Our inspiration comes from just looking around and noticing how fucked we really are. We're pretty lucky to live in a country that still considers itself to be a welfare state, we're not homeless or starving but we're also seeing how the world around us is slowly degenerating and being dragged into the ground by greed. Greed is the single most destructive thing affecting our society and it will also be the death of our society. Things maybe relatively good now but I doubt it will be like that for our children. Musically we're influenced by punk, hardcore and metal, haha!
BB: What are some of the lyrical themes present in FY’s work?
Pete: Disgust, anger, alienation, fear. Like I said before, society is fucked and will continue to get more fucked unless we wake up and do something quickly. That's about it.
BB: If you remember, in 2010 on 20 january, in Helsinki you have played with Abnormyndeffect from Moldova. What memories do you have from that gig?
Pete: Yeah, I remember that show! It was Antti's birthday party. Good times were had, drinks were drunk... I don't have any specific memories from that show except I do remember that Abnormyndeffect was pretty insane. Good times!
BB: As I know , at that show you played without a guitar player. Only drums, bass and vocals. Why?!
Pete: We had let our previous guitar player go and hadn't found a new one. We were still offered shows so we figured "why not" and just played a few shows as a three-piece.
Pete: Unfortunately we were a little bit pressed for time when putting the covers together, mostly because I was taking care of sending the materials to our friend did the layout aaand I'm a bit of a space cadet. It would have been cool to have translations for the lyrics on the insert. The way I see the concept is that us "regular people" have little control over the way our society is run. Decisions are made for us by people we've trusted to look after our interests in society and, as we know, most of them are degenerate liars who sell their ideals to the highest bidder in a heartbeat. Therefore, we go about our lives, trying to play with the cards dealt to us by the people "in charge". We try voting but only get to choose the lesser of two evils. And then we die. "Ja kaiken kruunaa kuolema" translates directly into "and death crowns it all."
BB: What serves as influences for Famine Year and from where you get inspiration?
Pete: Our inspiration comes from just looking around and noticing how fucked we really are. We're pretty lucky to live in a country that still considers itself to be a welfare state, we're not homeless or starving but we're also seeing how the world around us is slowly degenerating and being dragged into the ground by greed. Greed is the single most destructive thing affecting our society and it will also be the death of our society. Things maybe relatively good now but I doubt it will be like that for our children. Musically we're influenced by punk, hardcore and metal, haha!
BB: What are some of the lyrical themes present in FY’s work?
Pete: Disgust, anger, alienation, fear. Like I said before, society is fucked and will continue to get more fucked unless we wake up and do something quickly. That's about it.
BB: If you remember, in 2010 on 20 january, in Helsinki you have played with Abnormyndeffect from Moldova. What memories do you have from that gig?
Pete: Yeah, I remember that show! It was Antti's birthday party. Good times were had, drinks were drunk... I don't have any specific memories from that show except I do remember that Abnormyndeffect was pretty insane. Good times!
BB: As I know , at that show you played without a guitar player. Only drums, bass and vocals. Why?!
Pete: We had let our previous guitar player go and hadn't found a new one. We were still offered shows so we figured "why not" and just played a few shows as a three-piece.
Pete: The scene is actually pretty good, there's plenty of great bands in Finland at the moment! You should check out Cut To Fit, Nistikko, Spawn From Deceit, Psykoanalyysi, Better Not Born, Temppeliherrat, Kovaa Rasvaa, Uhrit, Silminnäkijä, Death Toll 80K, Autuus?, Arrestum... I probably forgot some bands but those should get you started, hehe!
BB: Do You have any plans for touring? What do you think about to make an East European Tour?
Pete: There's always talk about touring but we have families and jobs so leaving home for an extended period is not an option for everybody. Or maybe it is but I guess it just comes down to making arrangements and making that choice. East Europe would be sick, we just need somebody to arrange it in a way that it would make sense for us.
BB: Except your musical activity what do you do? What hobbies and interests do you have?
Pete: Firstly, I have a six month old baby girl so family is my main focus, besides music of course! I'm into basic things. I try to read as much as I can, I love traveling, movies, good food and wines. Recently I've tried archery a few times and I really liked it, maybe that will become my new hobby! I don't think I can afford the equipment soon though... Music is my main thing. All the time that's not filled by my family, is filled with music.
BB: Thank you very much for talking to us! Do you have anything you would like to say to metalheads all over Moldova?!
Pete: Thank you for the interview! Hopefully we'll make it there soon! Keep grinding!!!
Cheers!!!
Pete / Famine Year
@Nick
Mai jos scris un mic review al noului album FY "“Ja kaiken kruunaa kuolema”
Famine Year
s-au format in 2008,in Helsinki,Finlanda. In
2011 au scos un demo “MMXI”, in 2012 – un EP “Tervetuloa Tilastoihin” iar in
2013 ne-au bucurat cu un full-length “Ja kaiken kruunaa kuolema”. Pentru
amatorii de punk/crust acest album e unul din cele mai bune scoase anul trecut.
Stilistic vorbind albumul prezinta un mix perfect de punk/hardcore/grind/crust ajustat
cu sound-ul ala specific scandinav atat de apreciat in lumea-ntreaga. Timp de de aproximativ 18 minute veti
putea audia 15 piese pline de energie. Tobele dau pieselor un ritm rapid acesta fiind
alimentat de furia chitarilor. In completare perfecta vine vocalul nervos ca
doar e Petri Eskelinen (vocal in Feastem). Daca va plac trupe ca Tragedy,
Victims, Feastem, From Ashes Rise atunci e sigur un must-listen.
Puteti audia albumul pe profilul lor pe bandcamp.
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