written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hello Tommi, hey Henri. Thanks for your time. How are you doing these days? How are the other guys of Voidfallen?
Tommi: I’m doing fine, thank you. A lot of going on but happy to have the album finally out!
Henri: Doing also fine, thank you for asking. Really excited to have the album finally out!
Pix666: How did you get to know each other and what kind of music does Voidfallen make?
Tommi: Henri and I’ve known each other for a good 10+ years now. Same goes for Mika. I’d describe our music to be melodic death metal with some black metal influences.
Henri: Yeah, me and Tommi go way back and I’ve also known Mika quite a long time now too. I met Lauri for the first time since they were recording the first singles of Ephemerald and with Aleksi we first met during the 100 Guitars From Hel -event. Our music is melodic death metal with some influences from black metal and movie/videogame soundtracks.
Pix666: Some days ago your debut album ‘The Atlas of Spiritual Apocalypse’ was released. Are you satisfied with the number of pre-orders and especially with the fans’ reactions so far? Please tell the readers where they can buy your album.
Tommi: The positive feedback we’ve gotten has been overwhelming. We knew we had a great album in the works but I believe I can speak for the whole team when I say that it really warms our hearts.
Henri: Yeah, the feedback has been amazing from our fans and from people who’ve found us for the first time. I’m very happy for the release and the feedback people have given us so far!
You can buy the physical or digital version of the album from our bandcamp (https://voidfallen.bandcamp.com/) or from Levykauppa Äx (https://www.levykauppax.fi/artist/voidfallen/the_atlas_of_spiritual_apocalypse/).
Pix666: How do you create your songs? Is there a certain plan? Who in the band is responsible for what and what themes are the lyrics of your songs about?
Tommi: Henri creates most of our music, I’ve contributed to two songs with riffs but everything goes through Henri’s hands and ears to make it sound like we do. The lyrics are mainly done by me, the themes vary but the connecting theme is the narrowness of the human mind and the distress caused by that, and the moral confrontations that follow.
Henri: Yeah, as for music, I don’t have any certain “plans” when I write. I just write what sounds initially good for my ears and then I let Tommi hear the first demo or draft of the song and if he thinks it’s great then the process goes on from there.
Pix666: You founded Voidfallen about two years ago. What have been the best experiences in your band’s career so far?
Tommi: Seeing people sing along to the songs and to see the rapid growth of the band, not only in streams and followers but the growth in our music and as a band. Stuff that money can’t buy.
Henri: Same for me what Tommi just said. Also meeting fans live on venues has been great.
Pix666: You have already shot and released a few video clips. Who comes up with the ideas for the clips and do you have a particular film team that you work with?
Tommi: Since the beginning visual aspects have been important for us. Even though we are a band our goal is to create art that is more comprehensive than just audio. Most of the basic ideas come from me which we finess with Henri. I work in video productions so it’s a natural format to me. Some of the work is done by me and some by the great Petri Inkinen of Guilty Visuals who also makes all of the rest of our visual material like album covers, promo pictures and so forth.
Pix666: The clips have lots of views on YouTube. Do you look at statistics like that? Do you know which countries your listeners and fans come from?
Tommi: Yes. In addition to creating art there is another aspect of doing things as well as we can and that is the “business” side of things. Unfortunately these days it’s not enough to just play music so we do what is in our power to reach the people that potentially would like our stuff and one part of those things is knowing what the target audience likes and where it’s from.
Henri: Yeah the business side of music is something that must be done well as well the music too of course.
Pix666: On stage you have an outfit that is “a bit” eye-catching and visually distinguishes you clearly from other bands. How important is the visual aspect of your band to you guys?
Tommi: Second only to the music itself. The outfit and especially the masks are more than just visuals though, it’s a psychological thing. When the masks go on its 101% focus on the music.
Henri: Yeah, it’s really surreal to go on stage with the mask on and just let yourself speak through the music. I think our fans love the vibe from that too.
Pix666: Have you played any live shows this year or did you have to postpone most of them and are there any live dates planned around the release date of the record?
Henri: We were supposed to have a tour with Scar Symmetry and Torchia this year but it was postponed to 2022, but we have one live show planned for November in Helsinki with Metsatöll and Vetten Äpärät. Of course we are planning to do more shows later and we let people know of those later!
Pix666: How important is social media for Voidfallen and on which channels can your band be found?
Tommi: Social media is not that important for itself but it’s an important outlet to reach our fans and also to interact with them. As of now we can be found from Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok.
Henri: Yeah, it’s important to reach also those people who live outside Finland. For that Facebook, Ig and Youtube have been great tools to use.
Pix666: As musicians, you certainly spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to get your mind off things – are there any interesting hobbies that you pursue?
Tommi: I am an entrepreneur in two companies and I have soon 3 children so in addition to music I am pretty occupied. When I have the time I like to play games with the PC and PS5.
Henri: I really like to play games on PC and on console. Really helps to forget the mundane things of life. Music comes first of course when the inspiration hits.
Pix666: Do you have your own sauna, like so many Finns?
Tommi: In a month yes!
Henri: Not in my current apartment, but I would love to have my own someday!
Pix666: Do you have any other news, that you would like to share with the fans?
Tommi: We’ve put out pretty much everything we have right now but huge thanks to everyone one who has bought our album and merchandise, thanks to everyone who has streamed and shared our music, and to everyone who has given us their support and feedback. It means a world to us.
Henri: Huge thank you to everyone who have found us! Special thank you for those who have bought the physical CD and/or merch as well! Hopefully we’ll see you soon!
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck and stay healthy!!!
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photos © by Voidfallen
