As part of a new episode for Beniy Talks Metal, we are travelling quite far, to London to be precise, to be at the last stop for Omnium Gatherum‘s European tour. There, we chatted with lead guitarist Markus Vanhala about music, tv shows and women in music!

Benedetta

Hey Markus, how are you doing?

Markus Vanhala

I’m fine, thank you. Exhausted and tired as always at this point of the tour. But it’s been four weeks of pure awesomeness, so that’s why the tiredness. I’m really looking forward to going home, too, but we still have one show to do. That’s going to be the best show, of course, always. You give a full blast to the last one. Or at least we give it all that we have left.

Benedetta

So, yeah, it’s the end of the tour. And would you say that, for the rest of this tour, you are satisfied? Like, was it like what you expected?

Markus Vanhala

I have to say, I’m really satisfied and surprised because I was the pessimistic one when we got this news from a really last-minute announcement from our singer Jukka that he got this diagnosis and that he cannot join us here. So I was the one saying, like, “No, then we are not leaving.” And I didn’t want to do this because you can fill in for anyone else except the frontman or frontwoman. The other guys got me to do this. Let’s do this with Henry. And I didn’t even know Henry before this tour. I’m glad I was wrong; he’s been great. The shows have been really great. Henry’s been doing an amazing job, and fans have been really understanding of the situation. All the bands on this tour are great. In Mourning have been our old friends for the past 10 years, and on many tours. And Fallujah are an awesome band, awesome guys. And now they are new friends. Didn’t know them beforehand.

Benedetta

Music is a reflection of the world. Could it be like the inner world or the world around us?

Markus Vanhala

Both. Jukka’s lyrics deal quite a lot with the inner workings of the human mind and conflicts. Even the new album, which is like a story from the road, still has two different meanings. Telling stories about the inner people’s minds and stuff. And then also easier like the outside world. Because we were ’90s kids, we hung out in the streets a lot back then. And that’s where we grew. And hung out with friends, skateboarded, and bicycled. And after that, we raced with cars and stuff. And we went to see people in the streets. That’s where we were back in the 90s, before these things that somehow ruined our freedom; the new album reflects that. And OG‘s message has always been more uplifting, even though we are from Finland. But we are not your usual melancholic Finnish band. Finnish metal is melancholic metal. In some way, we are, of course. But we are trying to be more uplifting. For example, another band I’m in plays really authentic, traditional Finnish melancholic music. So OG has always been a bit different. More like a heavy metal kind of band. And positive notes. But not too positive. That’s OG in a nutshell, like how we think about that stuff. And we are not so evil. That was what Henry also said since the first show with us. He was like, “This is so fun. You don’t have to be so grim and grumpy and evil on stage.” And we were like, “Yeah“. That’s really not OG‘s thing, because he’s playing in Shade Empire, a Finnish band that’s more grim. And we have always been more like a so-called rock’n’roll band. Trying to have the ’80s rock’n’roll spirit in high gear.

Benedetta

Do you think there’s a part of Omnium Gatherum that is still misunderstood by the audience?

Markus Vanhala

Yes. Of course, as an artist, you always feel that. Everyone who does music from their pure heart or art always feels a bit of that. I think OG’s been, like I said, we are not that melancholic death metal. And still we are not that happy heavy metal. So we’ve always been like between two worlds. Some people think we are not metal enough or death metal enough. And some people think we are not catchy enough for traditional metal, so we are somewhere in between. But that’s what I’ve seen many times. Every now and then, people don’t get our goofiness on stage, like silly things we do and say. But after all, I don’t care. Everyone can do their own interpretations. And if they like it, good. If they don’t like it, it’s okay for us. Yeah. In some way, music always has to be selfish. When you are composing music, you have to do it yourself and do it for your band first before you do it for the people; otherwise, you would be a poser. So you have to please yourself. Of course, it’s nice to say we do this for the fans. And we also do this for the fans. But first, you have to please yourself and your band. Then that’s the original band sound, and the followers will like it. But you cannot play music you don’t like yourself. That’s what I meant. You have to please yourself before the fans, to be honest.

Benedetta

When you’re creating music, how much of instinct and overthinking contrast?

Markus Vanhala

I will rewrite it three or four times before it goes into my music. It’s really different every time. There is no magic recipe for that. It varies. You can get inspiration from various things. And always starting to compose it. Sometimes you have some idea that won’t leave you alone. And sometimes you don’t have anything and just jamming. And sometimes it’s just like now, I’m going to do a song. And even if you are banging your head against the wall. Then, at some point, you find a little clue about where this would go. And then the world opens. That is strange how it goes. Nowadays, it’s even stranger for me, because back in the day it was only OG and Insomnium, and we always worked on different shifts. When Insomnium was on tour, OG was in writing mode, and vice versa. But nowadays there is Cemetery Skyline, and even I Am The Night (my black metal project). Funny thing about the new OG was that we had deadlines to meet, and it was quite strict because I’m touring too much. And I cannot write music on tours at all. I need to isolate at home, and I have to be alone. Usually at night, because then nobody is calling. It’s nothing like I need the darkness to do music. It’s more like you are free from everything else surrounding you. And now, when I had to write OG stuff, there were many, many days when nothing was coming out. And then I accidentally did a lot of Cemetery Skyline songs. So I tricked my brain. Nothing is coming out; this might go for another band. Helping to have many different outlets where you can put music. My brain is weird. It’s always difficult to create new stuff. And it’s always been, it always should be. I don’t think doing music should be too easy. And if it feels too easy, then is this really good or worth it? You always have to go through the needle’s eye when you are doing music. And the creative process. First, you think you are a genius, and then you feel shit; a roller coaster of emotions. I cannot do this anymore. And then you start to climb back up, and then this becomes good. So there would be easier ways to live than being a music composer. It’s always hard. But it also gives some more value.

Benedetta

Can you share with us something that you have said no to with Omnium Gatherum during your career?

Markus Vanhala

I bet many things. For example, doing Christmas songs. We were asked once by our label. If you see me on stage with Raskasta Joulua, you can see that I don’t have many days left to live. Something is broken. Sorry if you liked that. I don’t know. Many things, like some tours that didn’t make sense. I cannot think of anything else at the moment than Christmas songs and some tours. And playing some festivals which you think don’t fit your image. For example, one Finnish metal festival had a bad vibe. So-called Steel Fest. But we are not usually that grumpy. Many of my friends say I’m a yes man. And that’s why you can see my touring schedule, which is a bit too much. Maybe saying no to new bands at this moment. But we’ll see about that. I’ve been talking about this with my good friend Mikael Stanne. We have a strong urge at the moment to find new bands. And try to do these four that we both have. I saw Mikael in Paris two days ago because The Halo Effect was playing there the same day we were there. We were having a really fancy beer next to the Louvre. All the other people were looking like James Bond and really fancy people. And then us punks. We were just on the museum terrace. And see the square. But I was there two years ago, on holiday in Paris.

Benedetta

What is your favourite TV show at the moment?

Markus Vanhala

Favourite TV show? This is embarrassing. Because we are here. At the moment, I’ve been watching Crown. I’m on the fourth season. I was surprised to fall in love with that series. Before that, I watched Stranger Things. The fourth season was the best for me. But my all-time TV series is Twin Peaks. That’s what I’ve been actually visiting. The spots in Seattle, USA, where it’s been filmed. That’s why I’m a fanboy.

Benedetta

Makes sense. Is there a question you wish people would ask you, but they never do?

Markus Vanhala

Something with old US cars because I love them. That’s my other world. That’s my hobby. But I’m also happy that people in the music business don’t ask me about that. And people on that side aren’t asking about my music side. So that’s my other world, which I love to be like, a totally different side of things. Yeah, that’s what I’m always thinking about, like big cities. Because I’m living in a small city. I’m a small-town maniac. 100 kilometres from Helsinki to the east coast, so it’s easy to have that kind of hobby. My newest baby is a Dodge Charger year model 70, really Mad Max style. It’s really worn out, but made to be worn out. That’s what I’m mostly waiting for when the summer arrives. They are still in their winter sleep in the garage. But the question that people are always asking. Another side is, how do I have time for all of this? Like all these bands, and then my answer is always, like, I don’t know. We’re speaking with our tour manager, Paulo, today about that. And then you don’t think about that thing ever beforehand. But that’s because that would make you crazy. But then, at the end of the year, you can say, like, how did I get all this done? At the moment, I’ve been checking the calendar ahead, and next year there’s still gonna be three European tours, a US tour, and festivals. I have to do the Insomnium album. Hopefully, the Cemetery Skyline album will be released next year as well. So it’s a bit crazy every now and then.

Benedetta

Do you think that it’s harder to be a woman in metal or in general in the music industry?

Markus Vanhala

Things have been changing really rapidly on this. Or still it can be. But it’s changing so fast that, in a few years, that’s gonna be totally normal. In the ’80s, I loved bands like Vixen, Lita Ford, the Runaways, Joan Jett, and this stuff. In the 80s, it was really hard. I could imagine. But nowadays, with so many female-fronted bands coming and now all these female bands. So it’s going to be uncommon. And at some point, we men will be dropped. I don’t know. We’ll see. We actually had a talk about that with Santeri [Kallio], Amorphis‘s and [Cemetery] Skyline‘s keyboardist. But that was not even a joke, because so many women are entering the music field right now, and they are doing it so wholeheartedly and seriously. So at some point, lazy guys will be dropped out. I’ve been working for years as a guitar teacher beforehand. The younger boys are just lazy. They don’t have the passion that, for example, I had when I was a kid and a teenager for doing music. So we’ll see. When I’m a grumpy old guy, I will be watching the scene, like, was I right on this case?

Benedetta

I wanted to play a little game with you. Inside this little box, there are some notes, and each note is gonna have an Omnium Gatherum song but disguised as emojis. So you have to guess which song it is, and if you get most of the answers correct, there is a prize. I can help you with this. Each note is a song from a different album, so there is no song from the same album.

Markus Vanhala

You know, I’m also very bad at this type of game. I can never get it. I’m really bad even with our song titles. I know the working title songs. 👦🏼💭 “Son’s Thoughts“. ⬛🌊😭 “Black Seas Cry“. You know I know the songs, but I know names. That’s one of my favourites. I don’t know why we don’t play that. 🔥🔥🔥 Is it “Refining Fire“? “Third Flame“. 🎶4️⃣🗓️ “Song For December” 🛣️ “Distant Light Highway“. Is it from Redshift? Oh, “The Distance“. 🌃🚶🏼”Nightwalker“. 🤴🏻🤫 “Majesty in Silence“. 😴❤️ “Rest in your heart.” I was first thinking like “Solemn“. Because it’s sleepy, but I was thinking like… 🌪️ I would have said “Stormfront“, but… “Tempest“. ⏮️🦸🏼 …. “The Last Hero.“

Benedetta

Markus, thank you so much for being such a good sport and for taking taking the time to chat with us. Is there anything else that you want to add to our readers? 

Markus Vanhala

Nothing except this was really an awesome interview, something different.