Power of
Metal.dk – ‘Pale Sister of Light’ is a very professional release with all the
ingredients to make it big. But for reasons beyond me it has only seen the light
of day in Finland, how come? Any chance the rest of the World will see your
album as a regular release any day soon?
Free Spirit – The
album has indeed been released officially only in Finland, although it is
available
worldwide from various on-line stores. It’s also available on iTunes, Amazon.com.and
many other download stores. This is simply due to the fact that we have not yet
secured an international distributor for the album. We are doing our very best
to get noticed by the record industry and get the album out in as many countries
as possible.
Power of
Metal.dk – what kind of expectations do you have for ‘Pale Sister of Light’?
Free Spirit – We have high expectations, since we
believe the year-and-a-half of hard work we’ve put into it has indeed
contributed to make it a strong album, and especially because of the positive
feedback we’ve had so far. At the moment we have a few very interesting
developments coming up with respect to the album, although I can’t really say
anything more about those before we know more.
Power of
Metal.dk – If you had to chose one song you feel represents Free Spirit today,
which song would you choose and why? Personally I would have a really hard time
a favourite.
Free Spirit – Yes
it’s hard to pick up just one song but if I have to choose one, then perhaps it
would be ‘Pale Sister of Light’, for many reasons. First of all, it’s obviously
the
albums’
title song. It’s also a balanced mix of Free Spirits style from the bands early
days, being an older song which has been remade on the album to fit perfectly
with our new style and to sound much stronger and more confident, blending the
bands history with the present.
Power of Metal.dk – The album was released in February in Finland
– how has the reactions been?
Free Spirit – In Finland the reaction has been
surprisingly positive especially with the Finnish metal scene, when it comes to
reporters and critics, is somewhat biased towards the more aggressive metal
genres. But nonetheless it actually feels at the moment that we’re probably
better known in many foreign countries than we are in Finland. People abroad
seem more willing to accept our melodic approach to music, which concentrates
more on catchy hooks rather than maximising attitude and aggression.
Power of Metal.dk – How did you come up with the title for the
album?
Free Spirit – The title comes, obviously, from
the homonymous song, in which the metaphor ‘Pale Sister of Light’ refers to the
moon or the spirit of the moon, who is acting as a guide for the songs’
protagonist on his journey to escape from everyday life on to new experiences
and scenes. Since this kind of a journey is a recurring theme and somehow a
backbone of the whole album, one of the guides during that journey seemed like
an appropriate title for the album. We also believe it sounds interesting and is
a bit different than the average hard rock album name.
Power of
Metal.dk - Who has produced and mixed the album? How does the final result
compare to the idea you had going into the studio?
Free Spirit – The production is mainly by me,
Sami (lead singer), although Pasi and Vesa also contributed important parts
during the recordings. I mixed the album in my home studio, and it was mastered
at Chartmakers in Helsinki by Henkka Niemistö. The final result, when compared
to the original idea before we even started recording, is actually much better
than we had hoped, as many of the songs ended up being significantly reworked,
and a few of them were practically recorded two or three times over as we had
better and more refined ideas about them. The mix also satisfies many of the
hopes we had on it, especially in that we believe it sounds both modern and at
the same time takes on some of the best sides of classic hard rock.
Power of
Metal.dk - Tell us a bit about artwork…
Free Spirit – The picture on the cover of the
album is by our trusted photographer Paulus Konttinen. Also the portrait
pictures in the booklet are his artwork. The cover photo was the last shot after
a long promo shoot for the album. When we saw that picture, it was immediately
obvious that this would be the cover of the album, because it captures the mood
of the album.
Mikko Mäkelä from RUFFNEKK was the art designer
and he edited the basic layout adding the effects to emphasize the mood in the
artwork. Lasse Ilano from Mediatoimisto Elena created the landscape on the
centrefold of the booklet which is a great view to the world of Pale Sister of
Light. Tuomo Holopainen also did a great job with finishing the Free Spirit
logo, which is by the way originally designed by our drummer Pasi.
Power of
Metal.dk - Free Spirit – any special story behind your name?
Free Spirit – The name comes from Friedrich
Nietzsche’s book ‘The Antichrist’, in which he declares a Free Spirit as a
person who is free from any old preconceptions and rules, and evaluates and
re-evaluates all morals and decisions by his own reason instead of subduing,
without criticism, to old customs and the ideas of others. Considering the
dictionary definition of Free Spirit on top of it, it seemed like the perfect
name for a Hard Rock band.
Power of Metal.dk –
Any touring plans – any festivals booked?
Free Spirit – At the moment, only one, at a local
festival in Finland, but we are looking forward on arranging a tour in the near
future. At the moment we are concentrating on finding partners to release the
album in different territories, because it’s easier to arrange a tour when the
album is out.
Power of
Metal.dk – Name the five musical pieces that you want to bring with you when we
send you to hell or heaven!
Free Spirit – This is a tough one…
Led Zeppelin: The Battle of Evermore
Iron Maiden: Aces High
The Doors: Riders on the Storm
Def Leppard: Animal
CCR: Run Through the Jungle
Power of
Metal.dk - Thank you very much for answering my questions. Do you have any last
rants for our readers?
Free Spirit – Have a kick ass summer and we hope
to see you all at a Free Spirit show in the near future!
