NOME – Interview with the band

NOME comes from Scandinavia, exactly from Finland. The Finns' music is not the blasphemous black metal but it is the heavy metal-rock sounds which oscillating around gentle darkness, melancholy, considerable quantity of melody with the suitably dosed dose of rapacity… Who are interested this short prelude I invite on equally the short interview!

What is playing metal music in Finland? What is the local metal scene (underground and official)?

Sometimes it's very frustrating, because there are SO many bands… And SO many of them are pretty damn good. This means it is very hard to separate from the group. Of course this is just a good thing for us as music consumers, 'cause there is lots and lots of great music to choose.About the scene… Well the number of bands from our area (Southern Osthrobotnia) is growing all the time, and the quality is getting higher. Best examples could be Mortyfear, Nicole and Mirzadeh. I think the underground seems to be in good condition these days. Kids have realized, that it is better to be “rock star” than “sport star”!

What is the interest your band in Finland and beyond borders of country?

Of course a recording deal would be “the real thing”. We keep searching it all the time. A decent label could give us a better chance to do spread our music for a larger audience. Live appearances for example in Europe would be great! That is one of our goals too! I think these are the basic answers that you hear from almost every young band… But they're almost always the main reason to rock in a band!

The line-up of NOME changed almost entirely some time ago. What was this reason?

First a band called Nome was only a project. The goal was to record couple of songs and see what it will turn out. Since that things started to get more serious along the recording deal from World Chaos records. That fucked up… After that we had different opinions what to do next. This situation caused most of the line-up changes. I think the one reason is that all of us (and all the ones that played in Nome) have… how do you say… Well, we all have our personal lives, which are totally different from each other. So sometimes it causes difficulties to get time for the band. Also we are pretty young band, and until these days we've been searching for our musical directions and goals.

The demo “Nome” you recorded in 2005 year in Iruustage studio, in Vimpeli. I read that this is the mysterious place, where weren't many people…

Yeah! It is pretty bizarre place indeed, but at the same time unbelievable: a studio about 10 kilometers from the center of our home village. Only couple houses are near… The bands that record there are mostly traditional dance- or rockmusic groups. I think we were first metal band that had ever played there! The atmosphere of the place is something worth mentioning. You sit still and smoke a cigarette outside the building at 4.00 pm… It is minus 15 degrees and snowing… And you just don't hear nothing but the silence (sometimes maybe a moose or some other wildlife). It's awesome!!

This what you tell confirms, that the atmosphere (the weather) in Finland influences on the atmosphere of the songs… More melancholy and also dusk…

It just might be true… But we don't do it with a purpose. It is just a natural thing that the songs are melancholic. I think we will also arrange more “happier” stuff some day. Well not happy one, but something in good old heavy rock -style!

Some the vocal phrases associated me with James Hetfield or Glenn Danzig – surely by the sound of the voice. Did these men' bands influence on the vocalist's works some?

No. Actually… I think most of his influence comes from non-metal bands. It's just his natural voice, which is pretty “dark” and deep. On the other hand we've been playing the classic Danzig track 'Mother', and Mikkos vocals really reminds me of the original version. That just might have something to do with his vocals on a larger scale!

What does the title of tune “Katana Mind” mean? “Katana” associated me with a Japanese sword…

You are absolutely right. The lyrics of that song aren't really very typical for a metal band (like most of our lyrics!!!) Song tells about a guy who looks like shit outside, but from inside he's a real cool guy. The term 'katana' symbols this sharp dude, who is always a thought ahead from others, but never says it aloud.

Well, it isn't the lyric for metal band. Hahaha… Does the illustration on cover (an eye) for “Nome” have concrete meaning?

Well it might have something to do with the lyrics… But let's leave it to the people to find out themselves.

Are you nearer to heavy metal or else to gothic metal?

Good question! First of all we are sooo anti-gothic persons! No one of us listens gothic music (or maybe just a bit) or dress like one. And we have NEVER considered our songs to be gothic… Maybe it is the tone in Mikkos deep voice or something that gives the impression of that style. We just call our style some sort of heavy metal/rock.

But I read, that you define your music as “recycle metal”? What does this definition one should interpret?

The recycle metal is partly a joke. The first couple Nome songs, were pretty much straight copies from Sentenced (I meant among other things just such gothic metal. – Gnom) & other bands like that. Nome recycled their ideas, and that's where the term comes. Nowadays it is just a relic from those days. I think our influences aren't so visible anymore and we have our created our own sound.

Just. I know your music from the previous demo “Macrocosmos”, but I noticed that you followed the same own musical path.

Yes. That is mainly the way we are going to follow in the future too. Melodic songs with catchy choruses… But I think we also keep mixing the “soup” with other kinds of solutions in arranging & with some other cool additions.

But the sharper parties of vocal and some mysterious screams appeared on “Nome”, in the tunes “Wake-up-eyes”, “Malice”” and “Hide”. That is on the three of four… Is that some evolution?

One kind of evolution… Also a kind of experiment. Sounds pretty good indeed… We'll see what happens in the future. I don't know are me going to use that kind of stuff anymore.

You have the several demo behind. Supposedly you plan the release of full-length album . What will is it? And obviously when does it appear?

Hopefully soon… It is up to the labels and their offers. Actually we have been talking something about paying the whole thing ourselves, but it is the last choice. It would be nice if we had a date for the full length, but this is the situation now. Let's see what happens next…

Do you play concerts often?

So far we've done only two live appearances, both in last autumn. In the near future there will be 4-5 gigs around Finland. We would like to do that more often, but it is very hard to find opportunities for gigs because we have to manage through all the searching by ourselves.

And this is all. Thanks for this interview. On the end I ask some of your favorite lyric…

Thanks! All of the lyrics are sort of favorites… But maybe the track Corner god (from Macrocosmos) has something very special inside! I hope we that someday we have a chance to tour around Europe. Then we will try to make a visit to Poland too!

nomeband@gmail.com – www.mirzadeh.org/n/index.php