THE CROWN - October 22nd, 2003 - Interview with Janne Saarenpää (drums).
Written by Alina Michelle.

PHOTOMISTRESS: In ONE word, describe each band member, including yourself.

Janne Saarenpää: Marko - stubborn, Magnus - stubborn, Johan - honest, Markus - easy-going and myself, hysterical.

PM: You have toured quite a bit in the last few months. Can you really compare the larger shows, such as the festivals, to the smaller club gigs? Which one do you like better?

JS: We like them all, we really do like all kinds of shows. Being close to a small audience gives much more energy actually than to be far away from a big audience. They both even up in the end. 

PM: How was your gig at Wacken?

JS: Obviously we didn't expect that big a turnout and I actually had my own drum kit with me, so I could totally relax and just enjoy it. I watched the audience to see if people would be leaving in the middle of the show, but they were actually gathering more and more… it was fantastic!

PM: The new album, Possessed 13, pretends to be a horror flick. Who came up with that concept and why?

JS: Magnus came up with the idea and being our sixth album, we wanted to try to do something different this time. Also, when Magnus got a hold of this local construction team, we wanted to put much more effort into the packaging… to make it look better and give people more value for their money. No one can argue that while CD prices are going up, the booklets are getting thinner and thinner. We wanted to give something extra especially now when we are celebrating our 13th year together and everything.

PM: The new album is quite thrashier than any other album you have released. Is this change likely to continue for the next album?

JS: I actually don't know because we have lately been doing this thing with mixing our old riffs from our old demo songs with new stuff and that stuff is now gone, we don't have any more old demo songs to pick riffs out from. We are actually biting our nails ourselves and trying to figure out how we are going to top this album. It's going to be a tough job. We have never been this pleased with an album, no way. We really don't know what we are going to sound like in the future.

PM: Can you even compare Possessed 13 to Deathrace King?

JS: Crowned In Terror was so heavily influenced by touring with fast bands like Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Krisiun and Nile, so the whole album came out very, very fast and brutal. Now that we didn't tour that much we got more time in the rehearsal just to sit down and work on the material and this is what naturally came out. It actually feels like a step back to the Deathrace King era. We're more relaxed now because all those singer troubles are wiped away and we focused on doing the things more straightforward.

PM: Speaking of singers, why did Johan decide to return to The Crown and has he changed?

JS: He quit because The Crown was equal to an economic disaster. For Deathrace King we did 70 shows, which was a lot for us, and not being paid from one single of those shows… It's hard to come home from tour and try to pay bills with nothing in your pocket. That was a big issue. And he was always catching a flu on tour so having a sore throat and singing wasn't a good combination. He also had stuff going on with his family and personal troubles, so he really needed to leave the band then. It was devastating for us but now when we without a singer again he had (already) dealt with all his problems. He came to the conclusion pretty quickly that leaving the band was almost like a mistake but he had a second chance now so he thought he would come back with full force. You can see the difference. Things have been sorted out and he's like a new guy. It's perfect to have the good old family gathered again.

PM: In a hundred years from now, when you're dead, would you rather be hatefully remembered or totally forgotten and why?

JS: Totally forgotten. If people had bad memories of me, that wouldn't be good, you know? I'd rather have my memory be left alone.

PM: Your drumming sounds even more tight on this album compared to your previous albums. Have you found more time to practice or a new technique or what exactly?

JS: It's a combination of more time for rehearsal and no touring really and lots of work. We made the decision to play more straightforward and it's a good combination. I guess it works because you are telling me that you are also experiencing that it's better and everything. It's because it's simpler, not so much showing off how much and how fast I can play. It's more like playing more secure in a way.

PM: You had been going to school while being in The Crown. What was your major and why did you choose it? Will you be going back to school at some point?

JS: My studying is pretty much on hold right now, but I'm studying electronics. I really don't know how I'm going to deal with it, certainly now that we are planning lots of tours and everything. I have this 10 to 15 year plan to study… I don't know when I'm going to finish it, but I do want to do that because there is a time after the band also.

PM: Was it hard to keep up with everything… Going to school, going to work and staying in the band?

JS: I think that's what made Crowned In Terror sound almost like we wanted it. I didn't have enough time in rehearsal or in the studio or in anything. Everything was like half-hearted on my part and for many other members also because we all had major jobs and everything. It didn't feel that good. Looking back it's like the album was half made.

PM: Do you think you're going to tour the States soon?

JS: That's a tough one. Usually Metal Blade helps us with our working visas as the cost a lot of money. They usually pay for them and deduct it from our future royalties, if we ever make money. But this time, this is our last album on Metal Blade. They wanted us to sign for a new album but we want to take a breather and look around. You never know what's out there. We wanted to take a break from Metal Blade. It's very possible that we will sign with them again, but we want to see the atmosphere out there. So of course they don't want to continue pumping money into the band if we're not continuing on the label. I guess that's a pretty natural reaction from their side. So I don't know how we're going to solve it, but we are going to do everything possible to make it happen. We do love playing in the States.

PM: What is the hardest song to play live?

JS: It was really hard touring for Crowned In Terror and doing the Crowned In Terror song as an opening song being that I was still stiff and everything. It's really hard. And having the middle part with a kind of a drum solo in it, it's really hard doing that. It feels great that we will have that song further along in the set list on future tours. I'll be all warmed up before I do that song. I don't know from the new album which will be the hardest, but I think Deliverance will take a lot of my strength.

PM: What's your favourite song to play live?

JS: It's been actually Satanist but off the new album I think it will be maybe Face of Destruction/Deep Hit of Death. I do like playing this, it's pretty straightforward and I like the speed of it.

PM: What was your worst gig ever?

JS: I think our worst gig ever would have been in a small German town during our very first tour in an East German town called Kotbus. Maybe we had like five people in the audience. I dropped my drumstick five or seven times, it was a real disaster. We were so nervous and at the same time disappointed with the turnout. We thought we were the only band on earth or something at that time, so maybe that's the show.

PM: What's your favourite gig?

JS: That would be maybe Wacken this year. With ten to fifteen thousand people in the audience, that blew me away totally.

PM: Do you have any tour plans soon in Europe?

JS: In November we will do a week in Finland to begin with. On the 14th of November we will continue with a tour through central Europe for two weeks. Then we have a lot of stuff going on, as usual. Especially in the music industry, when nothing is confirmed or even WHEN it's confirmed, you still can't be 100% sure about it. We are looking into different possibilities.

PM: Anything else to add?

JS: We are actually doing the Crowned In Terror with Johan on vocals and we are laying the bass tracks again so we're right in the middle of it. I had to take some time off out of the studio to do these interviews. We are getting short of time. We have to be done on Friday and we're not through at all. But we're working on it.