Behind The Tracks: Beyond A.C. - Behind The Sun (Single) (2023)

Ari Väntänen: ”’Behind the Sun’ comes from a different time and place. Believe it or not, the first version was written in the spring of 1991. We had a band with almost the same line-up we have now in Beyond A.C.

Jake Tani, our bass player, wanted to write a song that had some unison riffing, meaning a part with bass and guitar playing the same thing. Janne Särkelä, the lead guitarist, had this dreamlike song with beautiful arpeggios, and a riff for their unison ambitions. Jorma Tabell, who’s on drums, wrote the original lyrics. Personally, I just remember that I didn’t really know what to play in that early version. But I strummed along, and we even played the song live.

More or less fortunately, both of the two gigs we had were recorded, and we had the early versions when we decided to start working on those tunes. Our new singer Kristian Herkman came up with new vocal parts and turned the unison part into a proper chorus, and even added some piano and strings at the end of the song. He also wrote new lyrics, albeit we saved the title and some of the old lines. And I finally came up with some decent ideas for my guitar parts! I think Janne’s and Jake’s parts are a lot like they were in the early version.

I’m very happy with the new version. There’s something strange in the mood and the atmosphere. There’s a strong sense of longing and sadness in it, but also something else that is in the air but not said out loud.

It’s a ballad but not a power ballad, more in the vein of ’Solitude’ by Black Sabbath or the slightly psychedelic Californian bands in the sixties and seventies.

Jukka Vierimaa, who mixed and mastered the single, was around back in the day when the song was written. I think we shared a rehearsal space. In a way, some circles are closing with this one.”