On Thursday, March 3rd, I got to watch Daniel Lioneye perform live for the first time when their current U.S. tour made a stop in New York City. I also got to sit down with guitarist and vocalist Linde to chat about their latest album, Vol. II, and their current tour.
Here are some of the highlights of the interview:
MC: How did you come up with the whole idea for Daniel Lioneye?
DL: It actually got started 10 years ago. In 2001 we released our first album. Then it was Ville from HIM and Mige playing base and I was just playing the guitar and singing.
MC: Yes, I noticed that your previous album came out like 10 years ago.
DL: Yeah. Exactly.
MC: What about this album? Are you happy with how its doing?
DL: I actually don't know. It's probably not very commercial but it's something that needed to be done.
MC: How did you end up getting together with The End Records?
DL: Well, the CD was kind of bouncing around in labels and someone from The End Records got their hands on it and loved it and did all they could to sign us.
MC: The sound from the first record is very different compared to this one.
DL: Yes, It is.
MC: Why the big difference in sound?
DL: Well, there's like 10 years in between and you know, there was a lot of personal shit going on in my life so it kind of turned me into more aggressive music.
MC: Yeah, I actually got to hear it and it's a pretty heavy one and very different.
DL: Yeah, it's very different. I listen to a lot of different types of music and I've always been a big metal fan.
MC: Are there any influences on the record?
DL: Yeah. There's always influences. There's a lot of metal bands. I also love Iggy Pop. It's not very metal but there's still influence from him.
MC: Well, who doesn't love Iggy Pop!?
DL: Yeah!
MC: The line-up for this album is different from the previous one. Why did you decide to change the line-up?
DL: Well, we couldn't do this kind of music as a trio and Ville doesn't do double base drums either.
MC: The singer from HIM right?
DL: Yeah. He's a great drummer but not for this type of stuff.
MC: Yes. I heard he did the drums for the previous record.
DL: Yes, he did.
DL: For this line-up, we were practicing for HIM in Helsinki and the drummer Seppo, he practices in the next room and I would hear him play and be like who the fuck is this dude? So I finally got the courage to ask him if he wanted to play with us and he said "Yeah, sure". The screamer dude is my fiancé's friend's boyfriend and I saw their band play there like 3 times and I was blown away so I asked him to join.
MC: Have you guys done any music videos for this album?
DL: No, we don't have any music videos. We had a contest like 6 months ago for fans to make a video and that was about it.
MC: Do you have a favorite song on the album?
DL: "Neolithic Way" is my favorite song. We're actually trying to make a new version of it at the end of this tour because we're playing South By Southwest on the 17th of March and the tour ends the 13th so we have a few days off so we're trying to record a new song.
MC: I noticed that you guys have been doing a lot of shows in a row and haven't really had a lot of time off.
DL: Yeah, It's been a really rough tour. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Last night our trailer broke down. We didn't even get our own gear and we barely made the show. It was a fucking nightmare but it's been fun at the same time.
MC: How has the other aspects of the tour been doing? How has the audience been reacting?
DL: The shows have been going great and you know, that's the main thing.
MC: When you play with HIM you only play guitar, has it been very different for you now that you have to sing and be kind of the leader of the band?
DL: Yes, of course. it's been very different.
MC: So would you say you like doing this more? or would you rather just play the guitar?
DL: Well, there's a side of me that enjoys this and then there's the other side where I like to be in the background. We've been working with HIM for over 10 years and I haven't really been working on anything else so it's refreshing getting to do some different stuff.
MC: When I chose to do the interview with you I wanted to hear some of your HIM stuff too to balance the difference and I like it a lot too.
DL: Thank you
MC: Maybe when HIM come around I get to interview all of you guys.
DL: Yeah, sure.
MC: When some of the people found out I was interviewing you they kept telling me to ask you about HIM then they asked me if I knew anything and I told them that I don't know anything. I'm just meeting with the guy tomorrow!
DL: Well. I don't know. We're on a break. We're gonna have a meeting after this tour and we'll see what happens.
MC: Good. Everyone's like "are they breaking up?!" and I told them I had no idea.
DL: No no, we're not breaking up. Just on a break.
MC: I'm guessing you need it or you guys would get sick of each other.
DL: Yeah, exactly. We're tired of smelling each other's farts.
MC: On this tour, have you been happy with the people's reactions?
DL: Yeah. There's a lot of people who get to see us play and don't even know who we are but at the end of the day they're just like "Yeah!!".
MC: That's great. There are a lot of HIM fans here too that are excited to see you guys play and do something different.
DL: Yeah, the audience has been really great and I've been really surprised. Everything's been going good.
Most people who follow the internationally-acclaimed rock band HIM recognize its handsome frontman Ville Valo before anyone else in the band; with his smoldering good looks and trademark voice, Ville is the totem of the band and the one most often sought out for interviews and photo shoots. However, the rest of his backup band are just as talented and charismatic, and one member in particular has always been my favorite. Mige Amour, the bassist for HIM, is a heavyset man with an unruly beard, long hair, and piercing blue eyes. He is also a lifelong horror fan who has referenced his love many times in various interviews, a fact that led to me arranging to interview Mige specifically about this interest when he came through Dallas, Texas on February 2 with side-project band Daniel Lioneye as part of the "Creatures from the Black Abyss" tour with Cradle of Filth and fellow Finnish rockers Turisas.
Once we were settled in the dressing room, the usually-quiet Mige opened up immediately about his appreciation for horror films, where he thinks the genre's headed, and his own memories of growing up with the love.
†
Amanda Rebholz: Can you talk a little bit about what it was like to grow up in Finland, what the horror scene was like over there when you were a child?
Mige Amour: When I was a kid Finland was sort of a fascist country when it came to censorship. Horror films would be cut into pieces, and they might cut thirty minutes of the goriest parts out of a two-hour movie. So to get really cool horror films, you'd have to get them from the UK or somewhere. It was very hard to come by for us, so all of the copies of horror films that were around were like VHS copies of a copy of a copy. They were really bad quality, but that was sort of the thing. It defined the scene for us. Everyone was swapping bootlegs back and forth, trading, making bootlegs themselves from VCR to VCR. It was pretty underground and secret.
AR: Do you remember the first horror film that really made an impact on you?
MA: It's hard to say the first, but the old "Demons", you know, the first two of those really stand out. They are classics now but I remember seeing them with my friends, in a boiler room or basement or something. I loved it. I got a copy and ran to my friends with it, it was very nice. I probably saw "The Exorcist" around then too because that was the right time, but that was one that my buddies and I very much went through a lot of trouble to get a copy of. We had to beg and borrow to get that one. But then we got it and it was awesome, so, that was very good for us.
†
AR: Do you have a favorite type of horror movie?
MA: I am very old-school, I don't like the newer films and what's happening now. I like a certain kitsch when it comes to it, like the old slashers from the 80s. There are some very good slashers coming out now, you know, things like "Dog Soldiers", which is one of my favorite films ever, but for the most part now it is very different. The whole attitude is different than it was back then.
AR: There's so much going on with CGI nowadays.
MA: Exactly, yeah. I miss the practical effects, the work that went into things. It was great to see all of the heart in it, the craftsmanship. It's a whole niche thing now of computer guys who are not into it the way the hands-on people were.
AR: We're seeing a trend here in America that's just starting out, where studios are beginning to screen unrated horror films that are completely uncut to see how the audiences react. One of them was "I Spit on Your Grave", another was "Hatchet 2"... do you think anything like that would ever happen in Finland?
MA: Well, the horror audience is so small and so underground over there... it is a very small country, it's probably a similar ratio of horror fans to regular people as here but the country just has so few people in it that it wouldn't really happen. We do have something sort of like that, it's called "Night Visions" and an old movie theater will play horror movies at midnight. They play all kinds of good stuff, all horror movies from different kinds. They've had screening parties with the filmmakers and things. I haven't seen "Rare Exports" yet but I want to, I hear good things. There is an unusual horror film--- well, it's not really horror, it is but not specifically--- called "Sauna" that is very frightening, but aside from that I don't think there are really many Finnish horror films being made.
AR: Which do you think is more frightening, ghosts and the supernatural or serial killers and slashers?
MA: I don't think I'm really afraid of those... I'm more scared of something that could realistically happen. I don't fear the living. I don't think a serial killer would be what kills my father, you know? I fear things like that, things we can't control or help. Things we can't stop. It's more natural, and that's very frightening. General mortality.
AR: Out of the people you are friends with, if you were in a horror movie would you survive?
MA: I'm totally a goner, are you kidding? I'm the annoying fat guy, I'm the first one dead.
AR: No, maybe not! You're very funny, they keep the funny ones.
MA: That's true, yeah. I love those kinds of characters. Like from "Shaun of the Dead". Perhaps that could be me.† He stayed until the end, didn't he?
†
AR: He did. You'd absolutely survive for awhile, anyway. So do you have a favorite horror icon?
MA: Oh, absolutely Bruce Campbell. I'm a huge Bruce Campbell fan, he's my all-time favorite.† He's obviously very humorous as well, especially back in the day. "Evil Dead", his performances as Ash, were some of the best performances in horror I think. As a director, obviously, I love Argento. I like the same people that everyone likes, but I suppose that's for a reason. They're all so great.
AR: What're your thoughts on the new upsurgence of popularity in horror when it comes to vampires and things? Obviously the 'Twilight' franchise, while it's not really horror, has really put vampires and werewolves in the mainstream.
MA: Yes, I would never call "Twilight" a horror film at all... but I see what you mean. It did make them very mainstream. Vampires are not supposed to be that way though, are they? It is very odd and very... wrong, I think. I think it's great that younger people can get into it now though, that it's fashionable. They aren't my cup of tea but it's good that they are popular, and opening up doors for young people to become introduced to horror. It's becoming a bit cool to like horror. Growing up we were the outcasts, the outsiders, and now it is very normal to like these things. It's celebrated.
AR: It is. And with the popularity of shows like "True Blood" and "The Walking Dead", it's really reaching a much wider audience. It isn't a secretive thing anymore... people's mothers are watching these shows, you know? "The Walking Dead" was even nominated for some major awards, which is the first time a horror show's ever had that honor.
MA: I still haven't seen "The Walking Dead" but everything I've read is wonderful. I've read the synopses... what's terrible is I am not a comic person, so I've never read those, but I should. It's very cool that they were up for an award against a lot of normal shows, that makes me very happy. I am glad that horror is getting some recognition from the 'normal' people.
AR: What would you like to see out of the genre? After the phases of 'torture porn' and now this whole 'vampire' thing, what do you think should be the next big thing?
MA: Those old sci-fi movies would be great, wouldn't they? The ones with the creatures. They are so funny to chill out to, and they were just fun, they had no purpose. I like that.
AR: We do have those wonderful Syfy movies, about the mega-sharks and giant sea animals...
MA: Those are so great, yes. I don't see them often but they are so funny when we do catch them on. They are so hilarious to see with like-minded friends. Like our own Mystery Science Theater.
AR: How do you think that music and horror movies interact? Bands like The Misfits and Black Sabbath and even HIM to a degree use so much dark imagery and references to that culture, do you think that horror movies have influenced your music?
MA: I think there is so much crossover, yes. It's so many people who think the same way, like a club... they tend to like the same music as well as the same movies. The inspiration probably goes both ways, and so many musicians are in horror movies, and so many horror movies use dark music in them...
AR: Speaking of the crossover, Dani Filth's on tour with you... he made a horror film a few years ago called "Cradle of Fear" in which he plays a serial killer. If anyone ever offered you a role in a horror film, would you be interested?
MA: Sure, why not? I wouldn't like to do voice acting or anything like that, but it would be so fun to have the prosthetics, to wear those things.
AR: Have you ever done anything like that before?
MA: No. We did a Halloween gig once where I was in makeup, we had makeup artists to decorate us, but it was not very detailed. I would like to be in the very serious makeup, with the monster prosthetics and things.
AR: That would be really fun.
MA: The mask would let you be someone else, very scary.
AR: Yes. So what, in your opinion, makes the perfect horror film?
MA: Well, for me you have to have the balance between humor and horror. I like little moments of laughter in there because... it just makes the violence and things that much more scary. You are not expecting it, so you let your guards down and then when it happens it is so frightening and surprising all at once. I know not everyone likes that, but I really prefer it to be that way. When I watch a horror movie, I don't want to be uncomfortable, I don't want to have to think of so many things while I'm watching. I like to just laugh and then jump out of my seat, and then laugh again. But everyone is so different, which is why the horror industry is so much fun. There really is something for everyone, no matter what scares you there is something there which will get to you.
†
Catch Mige Amour on tour with Daniel Lioneye and Cradle of Filth throughout the US right now, or check him out playing on the new Daniel Lioneye album "Vol II".
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