Interview with Church of Misery

An interview with Church of Misery before their show in Helsinki at Kuudes linja, on April 24th, 2014.

Welcome back to Finland!

Tatsu and Hideki: Thank you!

How are you doing?

Tatsu: I’m very excited. It’s nice to be back in Finland again. We’ve been here three or four times before.

How was your gig in Tampere yesterday?

Hideki: It was great, we had a good time.
Tatsu: It was the very first time we played in Tampere.

You’ve also been in Helsinki and ... Oulu?

Hidek: Yeah, we’ve played in Oulu a couple of times before.

How was the weather? Was it cold there?

Tatsu: Yes! For some reason we’ve been in Finland mostly in winter. But in summer it’s beautiful and green here. Once we even rented a summer cottage here in Finland.

Really, did you?

Tatsu: It was fun! We were fishing, drinking and doing some barbeque ...

It’s pretty awesome that you’ve seen also that side of Finland! What kind of music did you use to listen to when you were kids?

Tatsu: I have an older brother, who used to listen to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and other hard rock bands like that. He had a huge influence to my taste in music.

Your lyrics are mostly about serial killers. Has there ever been a moment when you have thought that it’d be nice to write about something else for a change? Or have you thought about changing the concept?

Tatsu: Serial killers are what I’m interested in. Since I was a kid I’ve been reading about serial killers and I’ve been watching movies about them.
Hideki: Since you were a kid ... (laughs)
Tatsu: (laughs) However, this theme goes well with our music.

Do you agree? (from Hideki)

Hideki: Yeah, I do. But I like Disney movies too...
(everybody laughs)

I’ll stay tuned and wait for your Disney song!

Tatsu: Another thing I’m very interested in are spaghetti western movies so maybe in the near future …
Hideki: We will do a Disney song.
(everybody laughs)
Tatsu: No, we have to do a western song!

The song Düsselford Monster (Peter Kürten) from your new album Thy Kingdom Scum is the longest song of the CD as well as Peter Kürtens picture is on the album cover. Why did you choose him?

Tatsu: Simply because he is the most interesting and brutal serial killer in the history.

Nowadays, metal music around the globe is getting more and more similar. What differences do you see between different metal bands, for example Japanese bands compared to foreign metal bands?

Tatsu: The techniques of producing music and the quality of the music are pretty much at the same high level around the world. However, the bands focus on different aspects of metal music and that makes up the differences between the bands. Some bands are just focused on producing album after album, but I think it’s more important to tour around the world as much as possible.

You’re quite an active band when it comes to touring.

Hideki: Yeah, we are. Japan is such a small country, you can’t stay stuck in there.
Tatsu: Only a few Japanese metal bands tour as much as we do.

Last week you were on the Inferno cruise in Oslo. Was it the first time you did something like that?

Hideki and Tatsu: Yeah.

How was it?

Hideki: Amazing!
Tatsu: When we got an invitation from Inferno, we didn’t know what it was all about. ”Inferno cruise with Church of Misery? What the hell?”, we thought.
Hideki: Yeah. ”The Pirates of Misery?”
Tatsu: However, the cruise was a great experience.

What about the other bands?

Tatsu: There weren’t any other bands, only us. And in the audience there were only about a hundred people.
Hideki: It was also a very small stage.
Tatsu: The weather was good, sun was shining, people were drinking, relaxing and enjoying our music. It was awesome.

Lately you’ve been only focused on your concerts. Or have you been working on some new material?

Hideki: We’re actually creating new music at the moment.
Tatsu: We’ve already made a couple of new songs and I have loads of ideas. We’re trying to finish some new material during this year. We want to release a new album.

At the end, what is the best thing about being a musician?

Hideki and Tatsu: Definitely touring.
Tatsu: Meeting fans and talking to them.

Alright, that’s it guys. Thank you very much!

Hideki and Tatsu: Thank you!



JaME thanks Blow Up That Gramophone, Vibra Agency and the band for the interview!