written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hello Petri. The most important question right at the beginning. Are you well and are you healthy?
Petri: So far so good thanks and staying healthy too.
Pix666: In Germany you are told as a child that Santa Claus comes from Finland. (I recently saw the film ‘Joulutarina’ – and HE really is from Finland 😊) Do Finns therefore have a very special relationship with Christmas? How did the ‘Corona Christmas’ work as opposed to the usual procedure?
Petri: Santa Claus is Finnish yeah and a very cool dude. Christmas was pretty much the same as always, spending it with family enjoying good meal together.
Pix666: You had your birthday a few days ago. Actually, this day is a beautiful day. But did the death of your friend Alexi (COB) turn your birthday into an ‘other’, sad birthday this year?
Petri: Yeah news of Alexi’s death really hit me hard, he was just one year older than me so way too young to die. Also made me think a lot of my life and what I still wanna do.
Pix666: You’ve been with Ensiferum for over 15 years now. Please tell the readers what were the best or craziest experiences with the band that you will never forget?
Petri: Few tours comes to mind like North American tour with Amon Amarth and European tour with Children of Bodom, nothing but good times on those tours.
Pix666: In July 2020 your album ‚Thalassic’ was released. The album was number 1 in Finland, and also in the top 10 in other European countries (Germany number 3)? Honestly, can you make a living from music or is that rather difficult in times of music streaming and the whole structure of the music industry in general?
Petri: You can make a living but it all comes from playing shows and endless touring, to Ensiferum this still works because we started a long time ago and this business has changed a lot, streaming is decreasing physical album sales and that affects directly to the artist and not in a good way.
Pix666: Were there any concerts after the release of the album, or did the pandemic thwart all plans? How did you experience this year from the point of view of a musician/band? Did you have to adapt your plans, especially in terms of time, to the respective situation?
Petri: All plans were cancelled but we did manage to play two shows, one live stream show as the album release party and one festival show in last August, Saarihelvetti in Tampere. I started to play a lot of guitar at home for my own pleasure and that was so cool, all the touring really took away the time to play just for me so it was a welcome change in last year.
Pix666: Are there already plans for concerts in 2021, or is the management cautious about planning anything now, especially beyond the country’s borders?
Petri: So far no plans since nobody can really say when things might get better here in Finland and abroad.
Pix666: Many journalists try to sort bands, like yours, into categories and genres. How important is that for you? I think if a band has a plan and the fans are happy with the result, it doesn’t matter what the genre is called – as long as everyone involved has fun.
Petri: I really don’t care about that at all, music is what matters.
Pix666: What else do you do besides being a musician? Do you have any interesting hobbies – did the pandemic and restrictions lead you to new hobbies?
Petri: I try my best to take of myself by working out and jogging and riding my bicycle, this winter has been great here so I got back on the ice to play hockey.
Pix666: In Germany there is the next lockdown at the moment. You are from Finland – what is the general mood in your country regarding the Corona crisis right now?
Petri: People are getting more frustrated with these restictions and I think Finland was too easy on the restrictions in the beginning so now this will just last longer. I just heard in New Zealand there was a festival with 100,000 people last weekend and no new cases in 3 months. They handled this so much better than any country here in Europe and now they can enjoy the benefits.
Pix666: Due to the different allocation of time in these crazy months, was there perhaps already the opportunity to work on new Ensiferum songs?
Petri: We have been jamming a bit already but a long way till anything really happens in terms of an new album.
Pix666: Do you have any other news about Ensiferum that you would like to share with the fans?
Petri: Stay safe and take care, see you all as soon as possible.
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting insights into your present life – Stay healthy!
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