Tracedawn | Interview with Tracedawn
Scratch the Surface had the opportunity to learn more about Tracedawn’s history and future endeavours from guitarists Tuomas Yli-Jaskari and Jeremy Qvick and bassist Henkka Vahtere. Read on…
While some have found success with a mixture of aggressive and morose Death-Metal inspired by the bleakness and darkness of their native landscape, others have drawn influences from slightly more joyful and melodic sources like German Power Metal.
Tracedawn a stunning young band from
Tracedawn is a relatively young band that started out in late 2005 so there're still a lot people out there that don't know much about you, so could you tell us a bit about the band and its history?
Tuomas: The roots of Tracedawn go back to late 2005 when the band was founded. The first line-up consisting of guitarists Tuomas and Jeremy, bassist Henkka and drummer Perttu was soon formed. The band now had a chance to arrange the songs I’d already composed.
Finally, in late 2006 after several trials the band found the lead singer Antti Lappalainen and we all knew that the final tune for Tracedawn was there!
Jeremy: Our metal band with 6 guys is coming from
Henkka: Tracedawn plays melodic metal, and music is a mixture of different styles and elements among metal genre and other music. The band was formed by Tuomas Yli-Jaskari, who through internet found other members to the band to carry out his vision. Every member brought their own musical experience to Tracedawn. During first 6 months the players came to know each other and band found their Tracedawn tune. After that everything has happened really fast. Now the album is ready, and thanks to our record company Redhouse FMP for pushing us forward and this far in such a short time! This is just the beginning!
Tracedawn have recently released their self titled debut album through the newly created label Redhouse FMP, which already charted on the Finnish official Top 40 album at the incredible and surprising position of 29th. Are you surprised by the reactions your debut album have garnered so far in your native
Henkka: It was really absurd to hear that we are on the Finnish top 40 album list and number 29! We were really surprised and though our expectations are high, we want to keep our feet on the ground. This was a nice surprise for us!
Vili: Of course we are surprised. It’s unbelievable that we got so much publicity in Finland right after the album release as were are an unknown and young band. We hope this success is not only related to our first album but would be seen as a growing trend in future as well.
Jeremy: I must say I was surprised, as we were really not thinking any sales figures when releasing the album. However, we want neither any sales number nor age to give a stamp to our music.
And what type of reactions is your debut work getting outside
Vili: We’ve not heard much from abroad, but the feedback so far has been mainly positive.
Henkka: We have not heard much from abroad – yet!
"Tracedawn", their first work is a remarkable collection of eight songs that could be described as well-measured blend of shimmering and memorable melodies nodding towards Power Metal acts like Stratovarius and Sonata Artica with the rabid aggression of a Death Metal unit like Children of Bodom. Was this a purpose the band had in mind when these songs were being written, to balance the melodic leanings with a harder, raspier edge close to bands like Children of Bodom, Norther and so on?
Vili: We’ve never had plans for making exactly certain type of music. However, we try to keep some consistency in our production and currently it’s been a mixture of power, death metal and some progressive here and there. Maybe our own sound is mostly coming through our vocalist Antti who has two voices: growl and clean. In latest songs also keyboards have an important role in dynamics.
Henkka: From the very beginning the idea has been to mix different styles and elements of metal music. After Antti Lappalainen, our vocalist joined the band this idea got final confirmation. Antti has great talent in clean singing but he also has an angry growl, so why not use them both? Our music is very guitar oriented and our guitarists are very talented with melodic guitar solos: You give them a guitar and you’ll soon find yourself listening to a half an hour fierce solo. Our style includes also growl with telling death metal guitar riffs and also these riffs Tumppi just picks from his back pocket whenever he feels like, and all elements for a great chaos are there! Tracedawn!
Which bands could be stated as a source of inspiration for Tracedawn?
Vili: We all have our own source of inspiration. All of us listen to different type of music, and therefore it’s not really a point to start listing them all here. Let’s save your column space!
Henkka: Difficult to say, though everyone listens to different type of music - and because of that we all have thrown our mixtures and spices to the soup. Personally I would point out names like Children of Bodom, Stratovarius, Norther … etc. etc.
Jeremy: Well, to start with I would like to mention the whole Finnish metal scene itself…
What would you say was the most difficult part of putting this album out, did the recordings went smoothly?
Vili: I would say recordings were the most difficult part as we could have spent more time with fine-tuning some of the songs but time was limited. However, we are pleased with the outcome.
Henkka: We really had a hectic schedule at Sonic Pump Studios, and that made it difficult from time to time to all of us. However, the recording session was a constructive process. And we had fun!
The album also displays a maturity rarely seen on a young fledging band such as Tracedawn, even more surprising is the fact that all of band members have yet to celebrate their 21st birthday, some are even in their eighteens, which in some countries are not allowed to drink. Do you get people picking on you, or treating you differently due to your ages?
Vili: Unfortunately so, but we cannot really avoid it. It’s a pity though that some cannot take our music seriously enough due to age. You should just take our music as such and leave other things aside. I think age is just a number and should not be seen as a restriction to the band.
Henkka: Sure we hear all kinds of comments due to age, but so what? It’s great to be young! I can assure you, we know how to answer to this type of comments! However, I think also Children of Bodom guys were young at the time of releasing their debut “Something Wild”. Or how about Stone? Or Sonata Arctica? It seems that nowadays age just gets the focus.
Jeremy: That’s a fact and a pity. On the otherhand we don’t really let it bother us.
What are the plans for Tracedawn now that your debut album is already available for purchase?
Vili: Now we are having gigs as much as possible. And as usual, we are also writing and practicing new material at the same time.
Henkka: Next album is already in our minds. However, we now want to be seen on tour as much as possible.
Jeremy: To play and have fun!
More info about Tracedawn’s remarkable self titled debut album at: http://www.redhouse.fi or at http://www.tracedawn.com
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