Iron Griffin Pt II
In the last post, Oskari Räsänen told us everything there is to know about his unique Heavy- Metal project; Iron Griffin. A highly interesting ambition that 2019 resulted in a debut LP that became one of the highlights of that year. This time he tells all about this special achievement and reveals some of his thoughts about what kind of categories of musicians there is.
Read further to know more about the universe of the Griffin…
In our earlier correspondence you mentioned that your latest LP was a very personal achievement. Would you mind telling us a little bit more about what you were referring to then?
Let me tell you, when you produce a whole album by yourself, in some point it turns out into a real mental battle. But overcoming that battle, and getting the music done and released, is amazing. These two albums I have released so far have taught me a lot. Trusting your own instincts is the most important thing and maybe the most difficult one. At some point during the progress of recording an album, the uncertainty unavoidably fills my head. That’s something that you have to overcome. And because I’ve struggled through that phase two times already, it has made me much more confident about my music. I’ve learned that I can actually do whatever I want, I don’t have to please anyone else than myself. Thats why the latest LP, ”Curse of the Sky”, is really important for me right now. It’s my latest achievement in this really crazy journey of making music alone, and I’m really proud of it.
I think it´s fair to say that the sound on "Curse of the Sky" is something quite remarkable and unique. How close would you say that the final result became in comparison to what you were aiming for? Was it hard to accomplish or did you just get lucky by chance? Please tell us the secrets behind the lovable sound of this particular recording!
Okey, a long rant ahead! Theres no such thing as a perfect music. I have thrown perfectionism into trash bin many years ago, and I suggest that for everyone. Rather done than perfect. I like to think there are three types of artists;
1 – Artists who really actually get something done. The DIY people!
2 – Artists who wank their instrument into infinity, but usually don’t get anything concrete done. Sad but true.
3 – A really rare breed of professionals, who are both skillful with their instruments, and get good music releases done.
Nowadays it’s almost impossible to be in that mythical third group of professionals. And thats because it’s nearly impossible to make money enough to make a living out of music. That’s why you need to go to ”real work”, and that simply takes too much of your time to become a real pro.
This is a thing I’ve been thinking about a lot, and in the end, I’m totally fine in being the group 1. I am not very good at any instrument I play, but I’m fine with it. I can work with the skills I have, and like I said before, good music does not need to be technical. What matters is the purpose and the idea of the music. Not some guitar wanking, really.
So, back to ”Curse of the Sky”. I knew my limits. I dealt with them. There’s like two or three guitar solos in the album, and they’re in good spots. Solos should be a tool, and not taken for granted. And same goes with many other things of course. One of the problems in todays metal music is that everything is calculated, every song has a solo, it’s full throttle all the time. I like to fight against it.
“Curse the Sky” -Released by Gates of Hell Records 2019
When I composed the songs for the album, I did not know who would actually sing the vocals, but I wanted them to be high pitched and loud. I constructed all the vocal melodies bearing power and epicness in mind, sucking inspiration from US power metal classic vocalists in the veins of those like Majestic Ryte, Stormbringer, Enchanter, Lethal, Mystic Force… But somehow, they turned out to be quite folky, you know. I am a huge folk rock fan also, especially with female vocalists, like Pentangle, Carol of Harvest, Renaissance, Chimera (from Netherlands), Comus etc. And I absolutely ADORE those vocals these bands deliver. So it’s only natural I combined these elements pretty unconsciously. But now when I think of it, thats exactly what I wanted, and I’m really happy with the vocal compositions in ”Curse of the Sky”. It’s pretty common for me to create vocal melodies before anything else, then starting to add some other instruments.
I made some demos from the songs of the album, mainly just to get the right feeling of the album entity. Recorded some drums and added guitars and vocals in top of it, nothing fancy. When I thought that it was good enough, I started recording the album. During this time I really did not know who would sing the vocals for the album in the end, but I didn’t want to stress it. So I just started recording.
The whole progress began with drums. A good friend of mine, Tommi (drummer of death metal band Kruor) came to help me with tuning my drum kit. Placed a brand new heads for all the drums of course and such. The natural sound should be as good as possible. But the set balance is most important, you can’t get a natural sounding drum sound if your playing is not naturally in balance.
My drum setup was:
80s Ludwig classic maple set (20” bassdrum with 13”&16” toms) with clear Aquarian heads
70s Ludwig supraphonic, 6.5” deep, with Aquarian vintage coated head
14” hi-hat, mixture of Bosphorus master vintage and antique series
21” Bosphorus antique ride
16” Silken basic crash
20” Bosphorus master vintage ride/crash
I actually still use all the same drum equipment, I have not had any need to upgrade anything, I love this setup.
As an overhead mic I used Schoeps MSTC 64 U stereo mic, and in every drum I placed a classic Sennheiser MD421. That’s it.
So I recorded all the drums. It’s really frustrating and difficult thing to do without other players. I did not want to use metronome, because it kills the humane groove, which is pretty much the only thing that matters in drum playing if you ask me. But yeah I recorded all the drums alone, just playing them and singing the song in my head. I really cannot suggest this method, it’s absolutely crazy. Of course I had to play some guitar from time to time to check that the tempos and parts of the songs are correct. And of course it took a lot of time…
I recorded guitars and basses straight to line at home. I used digital amp simulations in this phase. Later on I’d reamp them them with Marshall amps and cabinets, miked with Sennheiser MD421 once again. Also all the vocals are recorded with the same mic! I used basic Focusrite audio interface and Reaper software, with basic Waves-vst plugins.
So I recorded a demo vocals by myself into all the songs. I had a clear vision how the vocals should go, but I am not a good singer myself. I can sing enough to make demos for the real singers to hear what I’m after, though.
The sound of the album is pretty natural, I wanted to keep the plugins and effects in minimun. So the main plugins used there is some compressors, reverbs and delays. Thats pretty much it. I am satisfied with the sound; the album sounds best with good speakers, played loud.
Oskari and Maija; guilty of epicness!
All the vocal parts on the first Iron Griffin record were sung by yourself if I´m not mistaken? On the sequel there is a new excellent voice to be heard though. How did you get in contact with Maija and how would you describe the praxis of working together with her on the songs?
In the first EP, the lead vocals were actually sung by my dear friend Toni Pentikäinen! He’s making his own music now under name of Sanity Scale. You can hear me doing all the backing vocals, hehe.
When I had the album (Curse of the Sky) pretty much done with my own demo vocals, I started to think of who would be the most suitable vocalist for this album. I had spoken with Toni and he was ready to do it if needed, but I wanted to have someone louder and different this time.
I remembered a certain vocalist, whom I saw performing live couple of years ago in Henry’s Pub here in Kuopio. She was performing European power metal classics (like Rhapsody, Edguy etc) with a great energy and voice. I contacted the bands bassist, who is a really old friend of mine and asked about the vocalist, and as it turned out they are a couple, haha!
So I got in contact with Maija quite easily, and when I explained this album project to her, she was like “of course why not?!”
Soon I took a bus to Joensuu with my laptop and small recording equipment and actually met Maija for the first time. We made some quick demos of a couple of songs and talked about the project, and she seemed to understand my vision really good.
At first I was not 100% sure if she was the best choice, but when I listened to those demos more and more, I become more confident that she was the one! And the idea of having that kind of music with a powerful female vocals were really unique, so I wanted to give it a try; and that’s maybe the best thing ever happened to Iron Griffin. She’s amazing.
I could listen to her sing all day long. I had to record pretty much all the guitars again, because most of the songs needed transposition to achieve the full potential from Maija’s vocal range. Thats really important, and seems to often be overlooked by metal bands. It’s REALLY important that the vocalist vocal range fit to the music! Otherwise it’s a missed opportunity!
After the preparations it was time to start the actual vocal recordings. We recorded Maija’s vocals in two days at Joensuu, in a basement of club Kerubi. It was intense, but Maija nailed it. I was really strict in the way the vocals should go, and gladly it did not seem to bother her. The sessions were really educative for me as a producer and I am really happy to announce that she will sing also in my upcoming, new Iron Griffin album!
Obscure inspiration of Iron Griffin. Maybe you know what it is?
So, tell us all about the new up and coming album! You mentioned that it might become even more folky and doomy, which sounds great, and that you had plans to sneak in some dungeon synth inspired things?
For sure! It’s certainly going to be different. It’s a leap forward to bring more depth to my music, and it’s going to contain more complex instrumentation and structures. It’s turning more progressive, and for me it’s only natural. Acoustic guitars get more space, and there will be more synths and percussions. Vocals will be sung by Maija, but the delivery is more storytelling and vibrant than before. It’s also going to be heavier than before, and there is actually no fast songs in this album. So, it’s very doomy, but packed with folky elements and treats.
I got myself a really crappy analog synthesizer (JVC KB-500) and I’ve been really inspired by that instrument, mostly because of it’s restrictions. I try to do most of the synth parts with this, crappy synth, because it feels just right with my DIY and kind of ”lo-fi” state of mind. I’ve been listening a loads of dungeon synth releases recently as well, and that’s something I want to include in this album. You’ll hear it!
Infusing heavy metal with folk and dungeon synth elements, that’s what I’m after. All the ”folk metal” makes me vomit, and I believe the territory of real folky heavy metal is still to be explored, and I’ll try my best to contribute.
This album is over all about restrictions. I made a decision to record it much more simplistic setup than the previous ones. As I am aiming to even more natural sound, I think it’s a valid choice. I use only two microphones in my drum kit for example. It forces me to focus even more to the balance of playing, and therefore I’m making progress as a musician. Pretty much everything will be recorded with Shure SM57. Drums, guitars, vocals, everything. I like this kind of ”experiments” with my music, and it leaves me more resources to pay attention to actual musicality and how I play my instruments. I don’t want to hustle too much with the equipment, I want to focus in the music now.
The recording methods are different in this album in other ways also; instead of starting with drums, I started with guitar and vocals. When I had a good guitar/vocal take (in a singer-songwriter style), I started to add other instruments in top of that. It’s not optimal, and it possibly drains some groove from the drums, but this felt the right way now, because the songs were pretty much composed in a singer-songwriter style.
During the time I write this interview, I have already recorded all the rhythm guitars and basses, and majority of drums. Some synths and some leads also, but there is still a lot to do. Soon we’ll start doing some real vocal takes with Maija, and I’m really excited!
This interview were made in the month of January 2021 and are to be featured together with part 1 in the next physical issue of Hinsides Magazine. The last copies of the first issue is available here Get it while you can!