The Median Man had the pleasure of sitting down with Valtteri, the vocalist from Celesti Alliance, to talk about the upcoming album and the band’s history.
The Median Man had the pleasure of sitting down with Valtteri, the vocalist from Celesti Alliance, to talk about the upcoming album and the band’s history.
JOIN THE ALLIANCE
What inspired the formation of the band?
Celesti Alliance was originally founded by our guitarist and songwriter Tuukka.The story of our name goes something like this. When you look into the horizon and wonder what lies behind the skies and clouds. You’d want to believe that somewhere over there is a whole nation of people living in some kind of a sci-fi- dream full of adventures. You “join the alliance” and then you are a part of them. A celestial alliance. Or Celesti Alliance for short.
The concept of our band is tightly wrapped around a common passion for traditional heavy metal. We really don’t have a need to find the “factor X” that would distinguish us from other acts or to make us look somewhat unique and ground-breaking. Our only goal is to make powerful music we enjoy. This is basically the ground Celesti Alliance was founded upon.
How much do your musical influences
shape your musical direction?
Our influences are pretty obvious if you listen to our music: the good old 80’s heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween and Accept. Also a bit more modern European power metal outfits like Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Stratovarius and Beast In Black have influenced us a lot. We pretty much write and perform the kind of music that we love. As pointed out already in the previous answer, this is definitely not reinventing the wheel or creating something revolutionary and new in the heavy metal genre. By our music, we just simply wish to offer as good songs as possible and honour our above mentioned idols.
Personally, as a singer, I have always respected and admired legends like Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio. From a bit more recent singers in the genre, Ralf Scheepers (I also happen to be his singing student), Stu Block, Sir Russell Allen and my fellow Finn Marco Hietala are the ones that I really look up to. I’m pretty sure that you’re able to hear the influence of these fine gentlemen in my singing!
SINGING STUDENT
SINGING STUDENT
How much do your musical influences
shape your musical direction?
Our influences are pretty obvious if you listen to our music: the good old 80’s heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween and Accept. Also a bit more modern European power metal outfits like Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Stratovarius and Beast In Black have influenced us a lot. We pretty much write and perform the kind of music that we love. As pointed out already in the previous answer, this is definitely not reinventing the wheel or creating something revolutionary and new in the heavy metal genre. By our music, we just simply wish to offer as good songs as possible and honour our above mentioned idols.
Personally, as a singer, I have always respected and admired legends like Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio. From a bit more recent singers in the genre, Ralf Scheepers (I also happen to be his singing student), Stu Block, Sir Russell Allen and my fellow Finn Marco Hietala are the ones that I really look up to. I’m pretty sure that you’re able to hear the influence of these fine gentlemen in my singing!
NOVELS AND MOVIES
Did you choose a specific theme or themes for your new album, if so why?
Well, since I write most of the lyrics, the themes are pretty much shaped up based on what I have in mind at a moment of my creation process. Most of my ideas come from novels that I read or movies that I watch but also from some real life experiences. This is also the case with Hybrid Generation album. If I see a movie that I like or read a good novel, the song lyrics are a perfect way to make my own interpretation of the story and turn that into heavy metal context. As for the real life experiences, lyrics are a good way to spill out some emotions which need to be set free.
Lyrics of the title track and album opener are based on sci-fi novels and movies. The title track tells an epic story of a war between mankind and an almost-human-like cyborg race. The influences for that one come from Dan Brown’s latest novel Origin but also some classic sci-fi movies such as Terminators (the first two) and Blade Runners. Celestial Law has a bit more lightweight theme since the lyrics are based on Guardians of the Galaxy movies. There are also some more personal lyrics involved which are based on some experiences from my past life such as Shadow Children and Fierce and Free. Going back to novels and movies; the lyrics of the music video song Broken Memories are based on S. J. Watson’s When I Go To Sleep novel and Bourne movies.
In a nutshell, there are a lot of various themes which I thought were perfect for the music.
How do you transpose your songs from the record to the stage?
Personally, an ideal situation for me to start recording songs is when a) I have rehearsed them well with the rest of the band b) even better, I (or we as a band) have already performed them in a live situation. This is how I have been able rehearse the songs carefully and thoroughly and adaption to the studio mode becomes pretty naturally.
Now, when the studio work is done and it is time to move back to stage mode, I just usually listen to the recorded material and make it clear what changes have occurred during the recording sessions. I familiarize myself with the recorded songs and rehearse them with the rest of the band. And at this point, we are ready to bring the material on stage again.
FAMILIARISE MYSELF
FAMILIARISE MYSELF
How do you transpose your songs from the record to the stage?
Personally, an ideal situation for me to start recording songs is when a) I have rehearsed them well with the rest of the band b) even better, I (or we as a band) have already performed them in a live situation. This is how I have been able rehearse the songs carefully and thoroughly and adaption to the studio mode becomes pretty naturally.
Now, when the studio work is done and it is time to move back to stage mode, I just usually listen to the recorded material and make it clear what changes have occurred during the recording sessions. I familiarise myself with the recorded songs and rehearse them with the rest of the band. And at this point, we are ready to bring the material on stage again.
WHAT WORKS
HYBRID GENERATION
What plans do you have for the future?
It is very interesting to see what kind of reaction people will have for Hybrid Generation. Some early feedback has been very positive already and we are of course also very happy with the result!
We hope that Hybrid Generation is received well by the audience and opens some new doors for us. Generally, our plan is to continue making music in a similar manner to the present and at the same time, constantly become bigger and better!