Band: ENTWINE
Country of origin: Finland
Style: "love metal" or goth / metal or call it whatever you like
Questions by: Kai Mathias Stalhammar
Answers supplied by: Aki Hanttu (drums)

First of all, let me wonder if you guys have any significant news to share us with?

A: We are going to studio this month (January 2002 - ED) to record our next album. The new album will be released somewhere in Spring.

Off to your latest offering. Could you please tell us few words regarding “Gone”; I mean, everything we should know about it…

A: I invented that title “Gone”. When we were recording this album in Autumn 2000, I had a very difficult time in my personal life. I felt that everything falls down on me. I was really broken deep inside and I felt that everything is gone. There are quite similar feelings in our album and when we tried to find a title to our album, I proposed that. It describes our lyrics and our album's autumnal theme so well that we decided to name our album as “Gone”.

“Gone” was forerun by “New Dawn”, a single-CD, with both tracks actually taken off your second full-length work, and therefore far from being a valuable piece… at least that’s how I perceive it.

A: Yeah, the “New Dawn” single's meaning was just to give a sample of
upcoming album “Gone”. There aren't any special B-side tracks or something.
But usually the first single from the album is just a sample from the album
without B-sides. So people can become acquainted with the band with low
price and after that decide if they will buy the record or not.

Lyrically, “Gone” is all about emotional experiences, I suppose Tom and Mika both once suffered? Is that correct?

A: Our singer Mika did most of the lyrics to album “Gone”. His lyrics are
very simple. The most important thing in his lyrics is that they are very
easy to understand and they stay in mind. The lyrics are things and feelings which have stayed in his mind over the last three years and now has came
out.

Do you consider ENTWINE a 100% metal band?

A: No. We have so much influences from so many music styles that we aren't
100% metal band.

Do you think “Gone” will be of interest to those who get high on more extreme types of music, such as death or black metal forinstance?

A: We have very much different kind of listeners. Mostly they are gothic, metal or rock listeners but I also know people who like death or black metal and ENTWINE too.

Could you please describe your bandmates in few words? Like some typical characteristics, temper and attitude, y’know…

A: Mika is a very restless person who speaks all the time and runs around
the walls all the time. Tom is quite easy guy but when he gets angry he
really shows it. Sometimes it's very hard to understand him because if he
gets angry he usually don't say what is wrong. Riitta is a very easy person. She never complains of nothing. Joni has his own very strange way to think
everything and he can change his opinion very often.

Aren’t you going to be featured on MTV? Any videos already shot?

A: We have one small budget video from track “New Dawn”. It's not so amazing video.. But our next video from our new album will be much better. We will
get a much better budget to it. Maybe then it could also appear in MTV too… (*laughs*) Let's see..

Do you think of ENTWINE as of more or less commercially successful band?
Music of this kind simply can’t be passed on, whilst many acts coming up
with this “love metal” thing (f.ex. HIM) serve a perfect proof to these words…

A: Commercially successful band? I don't know.. Maybe a little bit... I think that situation is different in here. In here that kind of music is really not so popular or commercial as everybody perhaps outside of Finland thinks…

By the way, what’s your attitude to Ville Valo and co.?

A: HIM is a very great band and Ville Valo is a very great singer. We all
like HIM's older material very much but the new album is very, very weak.

Can you already say you know what the third CD by ENTWINE is all about
in terms of musical / lyrical approach?

A: Our new album will be quite a rocking album. There will be more nuances
than in “Gone”. There will be some quite easy, rocking and heavy stuff.
There also will be more guitar parts. There will be a lot everything. It's
going to be a great album.

Lastly; Finns are well known for their passion for booze – and you aren’t an exception, are you? What do you prefer personally, and do you have any special advice to those who’d like to escape hangover?

A: No, we aren't an exception. Especially I prefer Finnish Salmiac Koskenkorva (we call that as “Salmari”). It is soooo good!! No, I don't know any special trick to avoid hangover. You just must suffer it.

Do you know at least anything concerning Russia?

A: Actually I don't know so much about Russia. I have been in Russia once
but I was so young then that I don't remember much of that trip. A very big
neighbour country and we have a lot of common in our history.

Thanks for your willingness and cooperation. Any last comments?

A: Visit our updated website at www.entwine.cjb.net and if you haven't
heard our music yet, you can download mp3 samples from our website. There
are also merchandise link where you can order some ENTWINE stuff (CDs, shirts, posters, etc…). Feel free to contact us by email:
entwine_@hotmail.com or by letter: Entwine PL 95, 15141 Lahti, Finland.
Hope to see you soon on tour!
ROCK ON!!!