VON HERTZEN BROTHERS: Vibes, Energy, Emotion and Love
Probably the best known bros on the modern rock scene, Finnish band Von Hertzen Brothers return this month with their new, fifth studio album entitled “New Day Rising,” out via Spinefarm Records.
Talking about a creative process that informed their new album, Mikko von Hertzen says: “The three of us brothers started planning the album already when we were touring with ‘Nine Lives’. We planned “writing periods” for all of us, when the other two would take over all the other work apart from writing. All together I think we had 30 or so ideas that we started playing around with. The general idea was to make a more straight forward rock-album and in line with the idea we started scouting for a fresh pair of ears to produce the album. Everything clicked in its placr when we talked with GGGarth. After that it was more or less clear what the album was going to be like.“
The band spent ten days in Helsinki doing pre-production with Garth “GGGarth” Richardson. “The recording of the album took six weeks or so in at GGGarth’s studio in Vancouver. The were assistants making notes of each step of the process, so if we have to go back to find something, it’s all there in the files. And of course we kept all the versions of the songs that lead to the end result,” Mikko explains.
The dynamic flow of the pieces was this time a bit more architected than on the band’s previous albums. “This time around it was maybe a bit more architected than on the previous albums. GGGarth was pretty thorough with laying down properly the foundation to the songs before we started building the rest of it,” Mikko says.
Asked about the approach to recording “New Day Rising,” he admits that they tried to make the core of each song as clearly audible as possible. That led to the fact that there is a lot of different kinds of songs on the album, what speaks of how diverse release it is.
“The new album deals with mostly new beginnings, the roughness of a challenge we face when we are trying to evolve as humans.“
Asked to compare “New Day Rising” with their previous releases, Mikko comments: “It’s sonicwise a bit clearer and maybe also more approachable to a bigger audience, not just the prog-lovers.“
”When it comes to leading the band, we are pretty much a four unit outfit. The three of us brothers and our manager Virpi. Musicwise it’s a five-piece with two other guys playing with us. I do most of the promotion, Kie is in charge of the visuals and Jonne oversees the production and tours,” Mikko admits.
Asked about the gear they used for recording “New Day Rising,” Mikko says: “Whatever there was in the Studio in Vancouver. Lots of different kinds of guitars, amps, cabinets, drums, etc… I don’t even remember. It was such a intense six weeks recording this thing we didn’t stop to make notes. But someone did. So it’s all there if we need to know.”
The brothers accept technology in music, but still they pay a lot of attention to emotion. “Technology is just a tool to bring the vision on tape. We are not much of tech nerds our selves. The emotion and the melody of the song is so much more important than how it’s done.”
Ask if Von Hertzen Brothers’ music serves a purpose beyond music, Mikko agrees and says: “It’s life. It’s all we are as persons. It’s not just “music” for us. It’s vibes, energy, emotion and love. It’s the easiest and most natural way to express who we are.”
“New Day Rising” is out on March 23rd via Spinefarm Records. Pre-order it here.
Cover photo: Ville Juurikkala
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