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| Interview by Burt Wolf with Harri Pikka, guitarist for TOTAL DEVASTATION. Interview done April 1st 2006. |
| TOTAL DEVASTATION CAME TO BE IN 1998. CAN YOU GIVE US SOME OF THE BANDS HISTORY UP TO THIS POINT. HOW YOU GOT TOGETHER? ANY PREVIOUS BANDS MEMBERS WERE IN BEFORE? Lauri & Jaakko (both singers) got an idea to start to make some industrial madness music back in the year '98. They made few demos, I joined the band to play guitar & after gig proposals we asked more people to play with us. Those people are my brother Jarmo (drums) & identical Hakuli brothers Saku & Pasi (guitar & bass). We've released two full length albums so far. Our 3rd album will be out later this year. WHY WAS TOTAL DEVASTATION THE NAME CHOSEN AS THE BANDS NAME? I think it was taken from IMPALED NAZARENE lyrics, some song from the "RAPTURE" album. WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD SOME IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE & CREATING MUSIC? SEPULTURA & METALLICA were big influences for me & my brothers to start playing. IMPALED NAZARENE & DIABOLOS RISING were first influences for TOTAL DEVASTATION. Today our music is more like Progressive Metal. Our parents have been the main thing behind this because they bought our first instruments & let us play AUTOPSY covers & grow long hair. Now all the Pikka brothers are bald because our genes. But it's cool. We have beards now to be proud of. Thanks to our parents for all this. |
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| TOTAL DEVASTATION HAS A DIFFERENT SOUND THAN MOST BANDS PLAYING YOUR STYLE OF MUSIC. HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE THE STYLE & SOUND OF TOTAL DEVASTATION? I think it's some kind of Death Metal with Rock attitude now a days. Death Metal in a sludgy way with some Industrial touch. All of us listen to lots of Sludge & Stoner stuff so there's some of those elements mixed with this harrowing Death Metal action. ENTOMBED & AUTOPSY can hopefully be heard beyond the riffs also. |
| I ONLY HAVE YOUR "ROADMAP TO PAIN" CD WHICH CAME OUT IN 2003. HOW WELL DID THIS CD DO FOR YOU GUYS? WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE LIKE TO IT? The reviews were very good & we got a booking agent in Finland after this album. We haven't toured outside Finland yet, but we hope to get a chance to after our 3rd album. THIS CD WAS PUT OUT BY FIREBOX RECORDS. HOW DID YOU GET HOOKED UP WITH THEM? HOW HAS IT BEEN WORKING WITH THEM? They liked our demo & it's been really good ever since. They are getting stronger & they are letting us do our thing & then they do their thing. YOUR CD "RECLUSION" CAME OUT LAST YEAR. HOW HAS THIS NEW CD BEEN DOING SO FAR? It's more of the music were really liking & our new stuff will be in the same spirit. Good reviews again & lots of gigs in Finland. WAS THIS ALBUM ALSO RELEASED BY FIREBOX RECORDS? Yes. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE ALBUM COVER CONCEPTS A BIT & WHO DID THEM? Both album covers are done by Teemu Kumpulainen. I think there's some reclusive thoughts in the brainbox there. Teemu didn't explain us what he was thinking there. It fits the mood of the album. Heavy stuff. Brains n' all. WHAT IS SOME OF THE LYRICAL CONTENT IN YOUR SONGS? There are themes that we come up with after the music is ready. Different kinds of stuff. There are now six people who write lyrics in this band, so the style varies a lot. Lyrics include stories & stuff going on around us & also some ficticious themes. |
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| WHO DOES THE MAJORITY OF THE WRITING IN THE BAND OR IS IT A WHOLE COLLABERATION THING? Everyone does stuff in TOTAL DEVASTATION. Majority of the guitar riffs are done by me & Hakuli Bros. On our upcoming 3rd album most songs are done by Saku & Pasi Hakuli. Everyone of us writes lyrics also. HOW DO YOU FEEL THE BAND HAS PROGRESSED BETWEEN THESE TWO RELEASES? There's more of a band feel now. The first album was more stiff & more like "Industrial Metal". Now we play more progressive & challenging stuff. |
| DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW MATERIAL IN THE WORKS ALREADY? CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INFORMATION ON YOUR OTHER RELEASES & THEIR AVAILABILITY? We're entering the Sound Supreme studio in a month (it's end of March 2006 when writing this). Our new album will be out in Autumn 2006. It will be released through FIREBOX RECORDS. It should be available world wide by the end of this year. YOU GUYS WERE ON TOUR RECENTLY. WHO WERE YOU TOURING WITH & WHERE DID THIS TOUR TAKE YOU? We have only toured in Finland so far. In January this year we did a mini tour in Finland with ROTTEN SOUND, SAYYADINA & CAUSE FOR EFFECT. It was really good. Best gigs were done in Finland. ARE THERE ANY GOOD OR INTERESTING OR FUNNY BAND STORIES YOU COULD SHARE WITH US? We get usually very drunk after gigs so there's always something stupid going on. Usually we forget stuff to different places which sucks big time. WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BEST & WORST PART ABOUT BEING IN A BAND? Playing & making interesting song, recording & playing gigs is fantastic, meeting new people, after parties & all of that. It's an awesome hobby! WHO ARE SOME OF THE BETTER BANDS, LABELS, ZINES IN FINLAND? Some good bands from Finland: KAIHORO, OMNIUM GATHERUM, RITE, CALLISTO, ROTTEN SOUND. Some fine labels: FIREBOX, SORBUS PRODUCTIONS, etc. ARE YOU INTO ANY OTHER STYLES OF MUSIC BESIDES WHAT YOU PLAY? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOUR CURRENTLY LISTENING TO? I like lots of different kinds of music: FU MANCHU is always on my playlist. David Gilmore's new album, new KATATONIA album, BIG ELF, QOTSA, KING CRIMSON, MARS VOLTA, etc. Everyone of us likes all sorts of stuff. |
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| WHAT WAS THE FIRST ALBUM YOU REMEMBER BUYING? WHAT WAS THE FIRST CONCERT YOU REMEMBER SEEING? First album was something by ALICE COOPER. First concert was some local Metal party happening with local Death Metal bands playing. First really good memorable concert was in '95 when ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER & AMORPHIS played Helsinki, Finland. I was 14 years old. Great gigs! |
| WHAT IS ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? Cross country skiing has been one of my sport activities this winter. WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND DO OUTSIDE OF WORK FOR THE BAND? OTHER JOBS, HOBBIES, ETC? We have another bands besides TOTAL DEVASTATION. Music is very important. Some of us work, some go to school. We do sports, movies are important leisure time entertainment & stuff like that. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE NEXT FROM TOTAL DEVASTATION? New album at the end of 2006. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE THIS INTERVIEW? WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW THAT IT'S DONE? I came from the booth, bought some batteries. I'll eat fish & potatos. THANX FOR ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS. FEEL FREE TO ADD ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO CLOSE OUT! Thanks for the interview man! And everyone who reads this, please visit our website to check out some songs & videos. |
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| ALL GRAPHICS & PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOTAL DEVASTATION INTERVIEWS MAIN PAGE |