INTERVIEW PART ONE...AND NEWS REGARDING NATIONAL NAPALM SYNDICATE

FINLAND THRASHERS

For over 20 years, National Napalm Syndicate has been thrashing out and defying the trends every time they infect the scene. Now, they have returned with a renewed burst of power and extremity, preserving the unadulterated force behind true thrash, bringing it to a new decade and generation desperate for a wake up call. The only change to this thrash behemoth is the departure of guitarist Markku Jokikokko in order to focus on other musical pursuits. A fitting replacement, Harri "Hapa" Lampinen, has come into the field. A seasoned metal player, he has worked with Finnish doom metallers Saattue. Want to see the new line up's crushing brutality first hand? Get over to Steelfest and as an added bonus bang your heads to Destruction and Sodom

NOW FOR THE INTERVIEW

Band/Musician History Questions:

Answer as many yourself as you can, then if possible ask another member to fill in the ones you need.

How did your band start?

-Back in 1984-1985 five schoolmates started jamming KISS and Hanoi Rocks songs. 1986 after a couple of line-up changes
 National Napalm Syndicate mark 1 was born. 1987 Aku Raaska became our singer and the we signed our recording deal with EMI.

    Who are the original members?

-Vesa Ruokangas voc., Jukka Kyrö gtr, Markku Jokikokko gtr, Juha Vuorma bass, Pasi Pauanne drums.
 Aku Raaska replaced Vesa after the first demo-tape.

    Who are the current members?
-Aku Raaska voc., Jukka Kyrö gtr, Tero Nevala bass, Pasi Pauanne drums. We're auditioning guitarists at the moment.

    What inspired the creation of the band?

-Exodus, Venom, Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth and S.O.D., the whole early thrash metal scene.

How does your band form concepts and ideas for songs?

-In the early days, movies, books and comic books were the main source for lyrical ideas. The writing process usually starts with guitar riffs.


    Who usually comes up with them?

-guitarists and later when Tero started playing bass with us he wrote loads of stuff.

    What are your most used sources for inspiration?

-horror movies and religion, I hate religions, all of them.

    What concept/idea has had the greatest impact?

-I don't know, maybe the satanic stuff, the band originates from a ultra-religious town.

    Do you focus on one topic for most of your writing?

-No not really, the world is a fucked up place and we can find good lyric ideas from everyday life.


    Have your inspirations changed? If so, how?

-Some what yes, the movie and book stuff is gone, now I want to concentrate on religion and stupid politicians!!

When did you join?

-Right in the beginning, the core of the band was me, Pasi, Juha and Markku.

    What made you join?

-Passion and need to play aggressive metal.

    How did you come into contact with the band?

-School.

What are some things that helped get your band noticed?

-Tape trading, flyers and gigs.

    What was the most helpful?

-Vesa and his good tape trading contacts.

    How did they happen?

-I don't really know the details but in the 80's tape trading was the only way to get underground metal.

    Who are some of the people responsible?

-The Main man was Vesa Ruokangas and our bass player Juha did lots of trading too.


How did you choose your style?

-The main influence was Exodus, great riffs from the start 'till the end. Of course Slayer was very very important.

    Why did you choose it?

-Guitars and the speed, the overall sound.

    Has your style ever changed? If so, how and why?

-Our latest album "Devolution Of The Species" is a bit different than the other ones, slower and a bit too "rock".
Next album will be back to the thrash metal. We wanted to try out new ideas with "Devolution..", some of them worked, some didn't.

    Who had the idea?

-We did it as a band, I won't name anyone to take the whole blame for it!

    Was it a good idea?

-Yes and no.

What are your influences?

-I like rock music and metal, so you could say it's everything between Elvis and hardcore punk.

    Do you consider your influences to be diverse or stay within a     certain category?

-The whole NNS as a concept is a melting pot of thousand different ideas and influencies, everything from The Doors to some early black metal.

    Have you met any personally? If so, what was it like?

-Yeah, I've met some cool guys which I consider influencies, Mille/Kreator and Away from Voivod come first in my mind.
First I was kinda starstruck but both of them were great guys.

    What kind of influence do you think you have on new bands?

-Good question, I hope we can give some inspiration for younger bands.

    What would be your biggest inspiration?

-Hate and frustration. I am a angry old man.


How has your band evolved?

-Line-up changes changed things.

    What caused the changes?

-Time and life in general.

    Do you think the changes have made an impact on you?

-Well, yes, new band members always bring new energy to the band.

    Would you prefer to go back to an earlier style/status of your     band? If so, why?

-Actually we're now going a bit back and taking some of the early songs as a starting point for our next album.


What's the biggest difference between now and when you joined?

-Age and the scene, back in the 80's the shows were bigger and the stagediving was crazy. You don't see that anymore.

    Do you think the difference is good or bad?

-Bad, the shows used to be real happenings and people were lunatics. Nowadays most of the people just stare and count the notes you play.

    What are some of its effects currently (if any)?

-I stopped going to the shows.

    Do you feel like the difference has caused any important things to happen?

-Nope, I think the scene is slowly dying.

What are some important connections you have made through the band?

- Lots of friends around the world.

    What have the connections helped you with?

-Labels and distribution, cover art, merchandise.

    How have you helped them?

-Sometimes I have helped to get gigs and connectuion to finnish labels and distros.

    What is the most important connection? Why?

-Too many to mention, can't point just one out.

    How did you make those connections?

-Gigs and travelling. e-mails.


What are some challenges you have faced in your band?

-Sometimes you just have to change band members to keep the band fresh and working.

    Do any of them still affect your band? How?

-No not really, if you get kicked out of the band you are out.

   

What do you think is your biggest strength?

-I love to play guitar and I love thrash metal. Sounds stupid but that's the secret.

    What effect does it have on your career?

-If you love what you do even the downside of the music business can't bring you down.
You just grind through the hard times.

    How has it helped you/your band?

-I didn't quit.

    What's the best thing it has made possible?

-Albums.


    What do you want to be stronger in? Why?

-Songwriting. If you are a musician you should always try to get better with your craft.


What do you need to improve?

-Strength, metal is a hard to your hands.

    What do you have to do to make it happen?

-Play and practice.

    What has made it an issue?

-My right hand hurts from time to time.



    Is it fixable in the near future?

-Yes, it's getting better already.

    Are you currently working on it?

-Yes I am.


What are some facts about your band that people would be surprised to know?

-We almost signed with Capitol Records 1988.


What does your band name mean?

-Nothing, it's just something I came up with because I wanted a long name.

    Why did you choose it?

-Three reasons, Kansanturvamusiikkikomissio (KTMK), D.R.I. and S.O.D.

    Were you called anything else before?

-The first version was National Napalm Storm, didn't last long.


How has your band changed the way you look at the world?

-I'm more cynic.

    What kind of things are different now that you are in a band?

-I don't know, I've been in this band for most of my life.

    What is the biggest change?

-Internet is a big change for better and worse.

    How has it improved your life?

-Internet is good for connecting people and it's easy to find contacts.

    Has it caused any challenges? If so, why and how do you deal     with them?

-Internet fucked up the whole music business, sales went down and record labels are dying.
I deal with it with disgust.


What other bands have you been involved in?

-Burning Point, Amazing Tails, Mother Missile, Sacred Crucifix and my new project. Plus ten other projects which didn't really
go nowhere.



    Are you still with them?

-Yes with Mother Missile and my new project.

    Which other band you're in do you think resonates with your musical    style/interest the most?

-Mother Missile and the nameless project.


 PERSONAL/INDIVIDUAL
As a musician, what do you want people to think of or feel like while listening to your songs?

- I hope that everyone who listens to National Napalm Syndicate songs would get the same feeling that I got
when I first heard Venom or Slayer. The aggression and energy. I hope that metal fans can relate to that.

What have you learned from your musical experience?

- First of all you have to truly love what you are doing, otherwise you can't go on for years in this business.
And metal music keeps you young!!!

What would you like to see happen in the metal scene?

-It may sound strange but I'd like to see the finnish metal scene go more back to the underground.
There's just too much bands that are just pop music and mainstream tabloid shit. The feeling of danger seems to have vanished
from metal. It's just too nice.

What is the most rewarding part of playing your music?

-I can release all the frustration and anger without hurting people!!

What impact do you want to have on the metal scene?

-Right now I just want to write the best possible thrash metal songs I can. I think that we still have a thing or two we can give as a
live band.

How do you view your fanbase?

-I think that most of our listeners are pretty much old school thrashers, people who like
their metal straight and without too many gimmicks or posing. Of course we always hope to reach the "younger" metalheads
and show them how things were done in the early 90's.

What's the best thing you've contributed to your band?

-My right hand!

What's the best memory you have with the band?

-I have to say the 80's Metal Massacre shows at Lepakko in Helsinki. Those were great shows, it was the centre of the whole finnish thrash scene.
We played with Stone, Airdash, Faff Bey plus many many more great bands. Everybody who was anybody were there.

What would be your dream tour?

-Slayer, Exodus, Assassin and us of course!

How would you like yourself to be portrayed ?

-Musician, a decent rhythm guitarist and a songwriter.

When you began playing metal, was your musical goal the same as it is now?

-Pretty much yes, I wanted to make albums and play gigs. When I started back in 1984 finnish bands didn't really tour the world or
release albums outside Finland, so I didn't expect to do so either.

If not, how has it changed, and what do you think made it change?

-I'm just a bit older and wiser nowadays, not as naive as I was when I started. The business is cruel.

How would you expect to see the scene 10 years from now?

-I believe that the live playing and touring will be bigger and will be the only way to get any regognition in the scene.
The record labels are dying. I hope that the real metal bands will survive and the trend bands will disappear.

What would be the best possible situation for you musically?

-I hope to be able to continue the National Napalm Syndicate for some years and get my new project together as soon as possible.
Best scenario would be that I'll be able to release new albums from both of my bands.
BAND/GENERAL

When you joined the band, what was your first impression?

-Well we were all friends before we started, so we learned our stuff together.
But we worked well together and I knew we could get a deal if the demos would be good enough.

When you joined the band, what were some of the thoughts and ideas that came to mind?

-I was very much influenced by hardcore punk scene and I wanted to mix that with the metal sounds.
For me the thrash metal was like the punk music was in the 70's, down to earth and something we could do without
expensive gear and stupid stage clothes.

Does your band have one person leading the way or is it more "teamwork"?

-I think that I have always been somekind of a "leader" in National Napalm Syndicate, someone have to take the responsibility
of sorting out the business side of things and arrange studio sessions etc. But musically we have always written and arranged the songs as a band.



Of all the bands you have toured with/opened for, who do you feel has the strongest musical connection with you?

-I dunno, maybe A.R.G. or Maple Cross from thrash scene. But from all the bands we have played with Nazareth is the biggest influence, they were my favourite band as a kid
and it was a big thing for me to open for them.

Imagine you were playing a show like Wacken Open Air, with 70+ bands. What do you think would set you apart from the others?

-Maybe our history and attitude, we still carry the same flag as we did in the 80's. We really never went with the latest trends.
It's old school all the way with us.

What do you think fans would remember you as?

-The northern thrashers with a long strange band name?

What apsects of your music do you want other bands to be influenced by? Why?

-I have always tried to write cool guitar riffs and use the two guitars to create layers to the songs.
Classic songwriting with simple song structures, kinda like AC/DC thrash metal. Real choruses etc. I like a bit of melody in everything we write,
I personally think that there's lots of cool bands who are just lacking in the chorus department.
Don't bore us get to the chorus.

Are you influenced by any music that isn't considered "metal" (such as folk melodies, classical pieces, etc)?

- Sure, I love punk music and old 60's stuff like Steppenwolf and The Doors. I have always listened to rockabilly.
Classical music is cool but not really a influence on me or us.


What would you say has been your best accomplishment as a band?

-The albums we have made and the history we have as a one of the first "modern" metal bands in the late 1980's in Finland.
And the fact that here in northern Finland it was really fucking hard to get album deal etc. we kinda opened doors for many
northern bands with our first album.