Interview Children of Bodom

Interview
Henkka Seppälä
Children of Bodom

Henkka T. Blacksmith of Children of Bodom (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

Lineup:
Alexi Laiho – vocals / guitar
Henkka Seppälä – bass
Jaska Raatikainen – drums
Roope Latvala – guitars
Janne Warman – keyboards

The Unholy Alliance Tour 2006
Slayer
Lamb of God
Mastodon
Children of Bodom
Thine Eyes Bleed
6/20/06 (Chicago – Aragon Ballroom) &
7/07/06 (Milwaukee – Eagles Auditorium)
Interviewer: Karma E. Omowale
Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

"I love it when people ask me 'which band I would like to open up for in your dreams' and I always said “Slayer”! And now when it’s true, it’s amazing of course."

In case you could not have told by now, we here at FourteenG have a soft spot for Children of Bodom. The latest installment to our ever-growing anthology if you will is a follow-up interview, which was conducted with frontman Alexi Laiho back in March, and specifically the 2004 interview that was done with bassist Henkka Seppälä. We caught up with Mr. Blacksmith (yes one in the same person) on the Chicago leg and then later in Milwaukee on The Unholy Alliance Tour. Did I mention Henkka was very much under the weather but still sat down with us in Chicago?

After fulfilling a dream of being able to play with Slayer, what’s left you might ask. Well he answers this question amongst a host of others as Henkka discusses their aggressive touring schedule, their highly anticipated DVD, Chaos Ridden Years – Stockholm Knockout Live, the new album, along with him answering questions from their beloved fans which turns up some very interesting tour tails, oops tales… Read on…

Karma: Has the transformation been difficult if at all from headlining two back-to-back tours here in the States then to have to openers?

Henkka: It’s a different mentality of course when you go on stage but I like them both. When you headline, you have a responsibility because you’re the ones that are bringing everybody in and then also the shows are really late and you have to wait the whole day. Here the shows are early because we are opening, then you have the rest of the day to be free.

Henkka: [Beams] It’s the best thing that’s happened for this band so far. It’s amazing! You know, I love it when people ask me “which band I would like to open up for in your dreams” and I always said “Slayer”! [Emitting a huge smile] And now when it’s true, it’s amazing of course. Yeah! And every show has been good, a lot of people like…[Pauses]

Henkka: No, not all of them. Yesterday, for example, in Cincinnati, there were not so many people there.

Henkka: I think it’s more; it’s huge! [Note: Well he’s right about that, The Aragon Brawlroom maximum lawful capacity is 5000]. But yeah, it’s a lot of people; and the reaction has been good for us too. Because we kind of afraid for the Slayer fans to be a little weird and narrow minded. [We thought] they would be like, scream “Slayer” in between songs of ours, but it has been really good reactions for us.

Karma: That’s awesome to hear! For the next go round of touring, are you planning on hitting the markets/places you haven’t toured yet like Mexico, Turkey…?

Henkka: After that, I don’t know…then we first do the new album, and then I hope we can go everywhere we haven’t been so far.

Karma: Since you mentioned the new album, where are you with that? Have you written any material for it so far?

Henkka: No, we’re gonna start after this US tour, then we have a couple of months off and then we have the European tour with Slayer and then we have a headlining tour in the States and then we start to write.

Henkka: Yeah, we don’t know yet. There’s been a lot of options but we haven’t decided yet.

Henkka: In November/December, it’s gonna be like twenty shows. It’s going to be quite a short tour but the biggest cities; it should be nice. [Smiles]

Henkka: I’ve been listening to this one Finnish band, Egotrippi [Thanks Hated^] What else, what else… [All of a sudden the door opens up, Alexi peers in looking about.] What are looking for?

Alexi: [Laughs] My hoodie! Just keep going!! [He then exits the room a couple seconds later]

Henkka: [Resuming his train of thought] That’s what I’ve been listening to for the past few days when I try to get sleep. I've been a little sick now.

Henkka: [Smiles] I’m getting there. I've been going to bed quite early and I’m trying to get sleep while the other ones are partying here so I just put my headphones on and put this Egotrippi on and try to catch some sleep. It usually works.

Karma: Getting back to your current material, what is your take on the new musical direction of COB? Moreover, what are your thoughts on AYDY? and fan reaction to it?

Henkka: Fan reaction… Well, ummm...I don’t know, you usually get from the fans positive reactions, people don’t give you the bad. The people I've been talking to have been pleased with it, with new, the sound of the new album anyway.

Henkka: It’s hard to say. We never plan anything when we start writing new songs, you know. We start to jam and they just grow up and become what they are. We don’t even know what it’s actually going to be ourselves. [Chuckles] We just start to do the riffs and put them together and then we’ll see.

Karma: On an unrelated note, I know the last time we talked you were studying at the University.

Henkka: [Laughs] Yeah, quite slowly because I’m always here! But it’s more like a hobby nowadays for me. I don’t take it anymore as serious; I don’t like to stress about it or anything. Whenever I have time I try to do some studies there. I even brought some books with me here now; I’m supposed to do an essay…we’ll see. [Chuckles]

Karma: Well good luck with that one! [Laugher ensues] Being AYDY marking your the 5^th studio release, what lessons have you learned thus far?

Henkka: Oh! What have I learned? [Pauses and stares out the window] This is a hard one! I guess I've learned that when you go into the studio to start to record your parts, you shouldn’t be anymore…scared about it. The first album, I was very scared when I started playing my parts; I didn’t feel comfortable. But then later on I realized that you can actually be relaxed and you can always fuck up! You know it doesn’t matter if you try something you can always fuck up and try it again. Yeah, so I learned a way to be more relaxed and easier in the studio.

Karma: Well here are a series of fan questions, because you know how much your fans love you!

Karma: He wanted to know your opinion on the “Are You Dead Yet?” video. Do you like it?

Henkka: I think it’s cool because it’s different and we’ve never done anything like that before. So I think it’s fresh for a Children of Bodom video. [We all laugh] It’s not something that’s the most expensive or looks the professional, but I think it was a fresh idea for us.

Henkka: We had the idea to do another performance video so then we got some scripts from other directors and we chose the best one and then we decided to go with this guy.

Karma: As far as the DVD’s [Chaos Ridden Years – Stockholm Knockout Live] concerned, is there a definite release date?

Karma: Fair enough. Are doing an EP to tide us over until the new album or would you ever entertain doing a CD full of cover songs?

Henkka: Of cover songs? [Snickers] We’ve been thinking about that, to just put all of the covers that we have done on the same album. I think it would be more than an EP, I don’t know how many we have, maybe fifteen? So yeah, that’s a good idea but I don’t know how that would work with the copyrights but we’ve been seriously thinking about it. Somehow we always forget it! We have to tell the label to check into that to see how it is possible, that would be really fun.

Karma: Do you improvise while playing on stage or do you think it's hard enough to play it? And having said that, how much input do you have on your parts? [HomerJ-123 / Grimes]

Henkka: Yeah, I have the parts that I record are…of course; usually most of the riffs are Alexi’s riffs so he has an idea what to play for the bass line too. Of course, I can do whatever I want to in the end. So it’s like I have a lot of input in that and as far as playing live, mostly I play the same things I have on record. Of course, there's space for improvising if you want to.

Henkka Seppälä of Children of Bodom (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt) of Children of Bodom (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

Karma: See, why is it that they are never done, it’s a shame since many of your own fans wish to see you do one.

Henkka: I just don’t think bass solos are interesting. I haven’t heard that many good bass solos. I’ve heard so many good guitar solos, I've heard so many good keyboard or drum solos but bass solos are hard… The instrument is not a solo instrument and that’s what I think.

Karma: So then its function is for support in your opinion and cannot stand alone.

Henkka: Kinda yeah, yeah, not to be in the background. I know some people that could pull off some good solos with bass.

Henkka: For example [Said in his best Finnish accent] Lauri Porra, he’s a bassist, he can do it and Flea has done some little nice tricks on his album as well, and of course Les Claypool [Primus fame], that’s about it.

Karma: Speaking of solos, who does the best one out of your band? [Feel The Force]

Henkka: I think Roope and Alexi. It’s hard to say, they both have little different styles so you can’t actually compare them together, so I’ll say Roope and Alexi together.

Karma: Since you are a fan of Flea, which Red Hot Chili Pepper album is your favorite? [ND24/7]

Karma: They both are jazz bassists oddly enough. Wooten plays for the Dave Matthews Band.

Karma: I wasn’t either at first. I looked them up on Wikipedia! [We all laugh] What is your dream line-up for a tour now that you are touring with Slayer? What would be the “be all – end all” tour for you?

Henkka: This is such a great tour, I would say this one. [Smiles] After this, I don’t know, [pauses] in Europe it’s going to be with In Flames so it’s like it’s getting even better. It’s hard to say. It’s hard to top this (Slayer) for right now.

Henkka: Well I don’t know. I think it’s kind of cool for him to start playing again. Obviously, he’s been playing the whole time he just hasn’t done anything in the public. I think it’s cool because he’s a good musician and he has talent so I think it’s good he can use it now with somebody. I’m happy for him. [Smiles]

Karma: [Smiles] If you could have one super power, which one would you choose? [I AM CANADIAN]

Henkka: Superpower…hmmm. Move from some place to another like they did in Star Trek. What do they call that?

Karma: I’d imagine so since you’d be doing it without the assistance of a machine. Oddly enough, they want to know if you ever appeared in the Nightwish video "Over the Hills and Far Away"? [Brightkelly]

Henkka: [Shakes his head in disbelief] I don’t think so, not that I know of. [Laughs boisterously] I don’t know if they have some sort of video where there's a lot of fooling around but I don’t think they have that kind of a video.

Karma: Well if you have to think about it I am sure you weren’t in it. [We all laugh]

Henkka: Is it the one where they are playing in a big hall or something? Do you remember?

Karma: Not off hand, I can’t. Well now for more hilarity, they want to know about your views on Lordi winning the Eurovision awards. [Saarte]

Henkka: [Laughs] I think it’s good for...yeah…heavy rock but not metal in general. I don’t know, I guess it gives a lot of good exposure and people maybe don’t have the prejudice that much. Because now all of the people who are Eurovision fans they [laughs] have to listen to Lordi and they start to like it. And Lordi is now playing on all of the radio stations everywhere so I think at least it’s going to be good exposure for metal. Maybe there’s not so much prejudice against many music but in the long run, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not. [Snickers]

Karma: And what’s your take on the whole misunderstanding with the pictures of Children of Bodom being Lordi unmasked. It’s quite ridiculous really!!

Henkka: [Chuckles] Yeah, a couple of tabloids in Germany and in UK who showed a picture of us back in 1997-98. And that was because from the first two tours we did in Europe, Janne couldn’t make it because he was doing his finals in school and we had to get this session girl, keyboard player who played in Lordi [Erna "Enary" Siikavirta]. She doesn’t play anymore but she played for a couple of years in Lordi, and umm…and there were these press pictures that had her on it on the pictures with us so that’s was kind of their “hookup” with these tabloids. [Scoffs] Of course that was a big mistake from them but it was a little awkward for us.

Karma: I can imagine. I understand you have a couple of CD’s left on your contract so does that create a lot of pressure from doing other things…? [Joonas Lehtonen]

Karma: So I am guessing the label leaves you up to your own creative devices then…

Henkka: Yeah! I think we now have two CD's to go with this, so. Yeah, they totally leave everything up to us. The only thing is they try to put a little kind of schedule like when the album should be out but that’s the only pressure we get. In the end, it’s up to us because in the end, they don’t want that we are rushing in and doing some crap songs and put it out there. They want it to be the best we can do. In the end, everything is up to us. They want the little schedule so that the gap between the two albums shouldn’t be too long.

Karma: Having said that, have you entertained the thought of going elsewhere weighing your options with other labels or would stay with Spinefarm?

Henkka: I don’t know because we know the whole company, everything is so big and the bureaucracy is so huge so it takes a little while to get things rolling we don’t know yet how it’s going to be. I mean we have been really busy now with a lot of press and a lot f big stories everywhere so we’re happy now. Let’s see what it’s going to bring us for the next album.

Henkka: [Laughs] Well, yeah. I’m 1 meter 84 and I’m the tallest. Jaska would be maybe 1 meter 80; Janne 1 meter 79, Roope would be the same and [giggles] Alexi would be 1 meter 73.

Karma: If you could catch golden fish, knowing that she would fulfill three wishes, which three would you wish for? [Natali (Croatia)]

Henkka: [Look of incredulousness crosses his face] A what? Come again. [Laughs while starring down at my questions]

Karma: [Laughs] As I understand it, a golden fish is a European version of a genie in a bottle.

Henkka: Oh, okay. If I had three wishes to fulfill…they would be pretty boring ones. I would make all the weapons in the world disappear; [pauses] I would take all the starvation away, and umm…well that would be pretty nice actually! What else? I think that’s about it.

Karma: Wow, like that’s not enough. You've succeeded in fulfilling almost all your dreams! At least when it comes to music ones...SLAYER again. As a recap: you've been at this since you were a teen, toured almost all over the world, granted soooo many interviews, having played so many festivals, got to meet an army of fans along with the status of internationally selling five albums. Are there still any dreams, which you wish to happen, and it still haven’t happened?

Henkka: You know I never had those kind of dreams when I was a kid like, “Ohh, I wish I could be a rock star playing for thousands of people!” I never had these kinds of dreams so I‘ve always been playing it kinda like day-by-day. Yeah, but the Slayer thing was always the biggest thing so, I don’t know. Well, one thing would be to do this type of show that Slayer’s doing by ourselves someday. Of course that is amazing but I don’t know if there’s a band that could be as big as Slayer can with this type of music…so…It’s quite a unique situation, but we’ll see.

Karma: Do you believe in “eternal love” and is it possible being in a situation that you are in as in being away from home constantly, etc.

Henkka: It is possible, yeah. Eternal love? Yeah, I do believe. [Long pause] Yeah, I think it’s possible to be in love forever with the same person. [Eyebrow raises and we both laugh] Yeah sure, of course there are always ups and downs but I’m sure it’s going to be possible, in this position as well.

Karma: As far as your bass playing is concerned, where do you derive your inspiration from? Is it something from within?

Henkka: Comes from within yeah. It comes with the music that we actually do, the songs itself. It gives me…the interaction for me, playing live for example I get a lot of [inspiration] by the crowd, by the fans, that’s cool.

Karma: That is cool indeed! Here’s an interesting one, if you could give any artist/band member/collective band a smack in the mouth, who would it be? Especially if it had to be from the metal scene? [Coolsnow7]

Henkka: I would probably go for…[makes thinking noises] Umm…I would go for Randy from Lamb of God. [Hysterical laughter ensues] I’m sure he would take it the right way! [Laughs]

Karma: Okay! When switching from guitar to bass, did you consider playing bass with your fingers instead of a pick? Do you have a preference in the sound quality, picking of fingers? [Cliff Burton]

Henkka: I took the pick because yeah, I was a guitarist. Actually, I never thought about then using fingers. I don’t know maybe all of the bands I was listening to all the bassists were using a pick at that time so I didn’t even consider playing fingers. Later on, I realized that maybe I should learn it but I just never did. I can do it a little but I cannot play it fast.

Karma: Being the only Bodom member to not do side projects, would you ever consider doing some, perhaps playing guitar and/or singing for one or would that take away from your studies?

Henkka: Of course that would take away from the other things…I could! There was a point when I was almost asked to join one Finnish hardcore band, bassist, I would have said yes if they actually had asked, then they got someone else. So yeah, if there would be a band with music that I could play, then of course but so far I’m completely happy with these guys so I don’t have to.

Karma: Suffice it to say, you don’t have many if any regrets being in the band. [Orelinde]

Karma: Describe yourself and then the other members in one word. (You = ..., Janne = ... etc)

Henkka: Ummm…positive. Band members, that would be: Janne would be funny, Alexi would be [pauses] negative [we all snicker], Roope would be spontaneous and Jaska would be…ummm…philosopher.

Karma: If you could impart one very important life lesson to your fans, what would it be? [OceanQueen44]

Henkka: Hmm…life lesson. [Laughs] Just, uh, just be yourself. Don’t try to do anything else than what you are that’s the best way to go. And you are what you do.

Karma: [Laughs] For the next one your friend wanted me to ask you to elaborate on the story stemming from your first tour at a San Diego show where you needed to call security. [Anthony]

Henkka: [Chuckles] We were in San Diego and we were flying the next day to Dallas with Jaska and Anthony. Uh, we had to take a hotel from San Diego and then this one little crazy…girl just hook up with us and came to our room. And then she tried to sleep in the same bed, and then the girl was just fooling around there. I guess she somehow slapped Anthony in his face. [We all laugh] Then, [he was like] “let’s get the security” or something. “Let’s get the girl out”, then we never did but then the girl left. So that’s the story.

Karma: Okay! Here’s a bit of a role reversal, if you could interview a band, who would you interview and what would be the one thing that you’d like to know about them?

Henkka: Hmm, I’d like to interview Mike Patton and ask him why does he do that kind of stuff like Fantômas or Tomahawk (US) and where he gets his direction.

Karma: If you could commission a band to cover a COB song, who would do it and which song would they cover?

Henkka: Nothing special, I just want to thank everybody that’s been coming to support us, coming to the shows always. Even though we’ve been touring so much, here are there are still people. [Smiles] Respect!

Karma: So why do you think that there is that magical feeling that surrounds you in which I have heard this a lot that fans feel like they are seeing you for the first time no matter if it’s their first or their fiftieth time seeing you play out.

Henkka: I don’t know. I’m always afraid that there is no such thing, that kind of magic. I’m always surprised when people are so excited about seeing us, it’s hard to say. Of course, we always try to put each time our best and give everything we have. Maybe that's enough then for some people.

[At this time their merch guy opens the door and the interview in Chicago ends. Haha but now, this is where we catch up with Henkka in Milwaukee. In which we are happy to report that Mr. Seppälä recovered from his illness from three weeks prior]

Henkka Seppälä of Children of Bodom (Photo: Erika Kristen Watt)

Karma: Last time we left off talking about magic, that your fans feel you create. So the perfect tie in is we’d like for you to explain “Sisu” and what it means to you. [Michelle H.]

Henkka: I don’t know if it’s only for Finnish people, I guess everybody can have some sisu but it’s a Finnish thing. Anyway, it’s a Finnish word. [Laughs] So I think guts is what it means. It means some inner strength. You can carry on some things even though they might seem too difficult or too heavy for you or just impossible but you can still overtake [through] some kind of inner power that Finnish people have. One good example would be the Second World War, the winter war when Soviet Union tried to invade Finland. Finland didn’t let them, that would be a good example of Finnish sisu.

Karma: What do you enjoy playing more, smaller club scenes, (like the headlining tour with God Forbid), or big arenas, (Like the Unholy Alliance)… [Ilikehemi]

Henkka: …actually, when I first heard about this tour I was actually a little afraid…not afraid but I figured it was going to be boring to play on stage: huge stage, the crowd is far away…But it has been really nice in the end. You can get the interaction with people. [Beams] So this one has been a surprisingly good vibe on stage, some places we have never felt that good. Like a couple of nights ago in Montreal for example, it was amazing; it was a huge hall, lot of people. You could feel the energy from the people.

Karma: That’s so awesome! Which song has been the biggest crowd pleaser so far?

Henkka: It depends on the area I guess but it’s been “Needled 24/7”. It’s a really weird song because it’s very mid-tempo. If I was a fan I wouldn’t go crazy over it, even though it’s a good song because it’s kind of mellow. But it’s been pleasant to see how people go total nuts over it. It depends.

Karma: One of your fans was wondering what the origin of the reference of Alexi calling you a "DM/BM Scene whore". [Ryan K]

Henkka: Not anymore. It was just because when I was teenager, before I joined the band, I was really into the black metal scene and death metal scene in Finland. [Pauses] I wouldn’t say I was a whore! [We all laugh]

Henkka: It is a little harsh! But I was doing a little magazine as well and that’s what it comes from. I was trying to get interviews with all of the bands. But usually “scene whore” is a little negative. It’s a negative thing, but he was more joking about it…I hope! [Laughter ensues]

Henkka: It was really good, really cool! I remember some nights I realized at some show in Germany in the middle of the first tour and I was like, “Wow!” touring with my band, I never would have believed this; it was totally amazing. It was a moment I just realized and it felt good. [Beams]

I’d like to thank Henkka for speaking with FourteenG again and to the band's camp for setting it up!