Recently, Finnish folk metal stalwart Korpiklaani completed its third tour of North America, which is a feat for the folk metal movement, and Finnish bands in general. Touring in support of its seventh studio album, UKON WACKA, the band has made a name for itself blending spiritual shamanism, ancient musical traditions, metal and alcohol into a frothy brew that can only be described as Korpiklaani.
As the year draws to a close, we took some time with guitarist Cane (real name: Kalle Savijärvi) and vocalist/guitarist Jonne Järvelä to discuss Korpiklaani’s present, the near future, and what almost happened when they did not play “Happy Little Boozer!”
What goes into the emotional base of each album? The last album, KARKELO was light and romping, but the one before it, KORVEN KUNINGAS, was really dark.
CANE: Of course, we have different kinds of feelings that we put into our music. And what we noticed over time is that people actually want both sides of us.
Do you have any difficulty bringing those worlds together live? I am reminded of W.A.S.P., which has one school of fans completely devoted to the drinking/party/fight songs and another school that swears by the progressive moodiness of THE CRIMSON IDOL.
CANE: We’ve actually been trying to mix that all together, so that everyone gets something. People are always yelling “Play ‘With Trees’” or some other really slow song. Especially girls; I think they like the dark side of us. And the guys are always screaming “Vodka!” [Laughs]
Since you have fans of different mindsets, does it bother you at all that a portion of your fans are missing out on a big part of Korpiklaani’s charm just because they focus their energy on the drinking songs?
CANE: Well, as long as they are coming to see us for some reason, I am okay with it. And maybe they will get what they want, and maybe they won’t.
Yeah, but I can’t imagine that you would do a show and not play “Vodka.” Do you feel obligated to play certain songs, because a portion of your fan base is so loyal to that side of you?
CANE: No, because we don’t actually play those songs all the time.
JONNE: But our merch guy almost got killed once by a fan, because we didn’t play “Happy Little Boozer.”
When the folk metal explosion happened in America, I began to fear, because whenever America latches onto a new genre or new sound, it consumes it so much that that genre ends up cannibalizing itself and no longer has any special value. Did that concern you at all?
CANE: No, definitely not. If nobody likes it; goodbye!
JONNE: We just do our own thing, and that’s it. Every one of our albums represents what we like to do.
CANE: I know there are some bands that do the same thing over and over again, as long as it is what they think the people want. But that is not how we do things.
When the folk metal scene hit here, it seemed like you guys and Finntroll were right there on the forefront, spearheading the movement, so to speak. How does it feel to be essentially an ambassador of an entire music genre?
CANE: It feels very good! It warms my heart! [Laughs] But like I said, we just do what we like to do.
JONNE: We’re really just trying to be true to ourselves and represent ourselves as good of a band as we can be.
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